Chapter 12: Things That Cannot Be Refused
Just as all the students and teachers had left the hall, Baniel ignored the deliberately stern expression Joshua had put on, grinning as he approached and said, "Joshua, don't be so serious. This thing is actually pretty fun."
"Yeah, it really is. Baniel and I have played it several times already. It's a great form of entertainment."
William chimed in from the side. At this moment, the two finally showed the tacit understanding of close friends, as if their previous mutual sabotage and cheating had never happened. William even turned enthusiastically to the silent Adrian and asked, "Do you plan to manufacture and sell these card tables as commercial products?"
"I know it's indeed quite fun..."
Faced with the enthusiasm of Baniel and William, Joshua could only give such a response. Although he wasn't being dismissive, both legendary mages frowned slightly, unconvinced. But after thinking it over carefully, they did feel that a brutal warrior who amused himself by torturing demons in the Abyss, someone without blood or tears, probably wouldn't be the type to play this game, so they didn't press further. At this time, Joshua turned his gaze to the Sixth Prince and Seventh Prince, who were standing beside the three legendary experts, barely daring to breathe. He frowned slightly and said, "Hmm, judging by this amount of battle qi, Alva, you haven't been slacking off lately. Not bad. As for Adrian... did you bring this card table?"
Although his actual age wasn't much older than Adrian's, Joshua and Israel usually interacted as peers. Coupled with the aura of a legendary expert, Prince Adrian could only answer obediently like a well-behaved cat: "Yes, Lord Count, I did bring it... but I didn't expect it to be so popular..."
Just then, he noticed Joshua frowning and scrutinizing him from head to toe. Adrian immediately felt as if every shred of flesh inside and out had been seen through, and a chilling dread spread from the depths of his heart.
But Joshua didn't have that many thoughts. At this moment, he was simply curious.
—So this is the little guy?
In his past life, the one who had always hidden behind the fairies and dwarves, orchestrating the development of Fae Cards, whose name no one could ever uncover no matter how much they investigated, the person responsible for balancing the card professions—was actually this little guy?
Joshua couldn't help but feel a bit amazed. Israel's descendants were truly full of talent. There was Di Mo Er, who inherited his methods of command and potential for power, the future Iron-Blooded Emperor; there was Alva, a rising star with excellent potential; and now, it turned out there was even an entertainment genius. The coverage was truly broad.
However, when Fae Cards became popular in his past life, the civil war in the Northern Empire should have already ended. Adrian should have been killed by Di Mo Er along with the other princes and princesses... unless he hadn't died back then? That wouldn't be surprising, given the protection of the fairies. If that were the case, even Di Mo Er would turn a blind eye. After all, he wasn't the type to insist on exterminating everyone. As long as Adrian genuinely wanted to withdraw, he wouldn't make things difficult for him.
Thinking this, Joshua glanced at Adrian again, nearly causing the usually composed Sixth Prince to involuntarily step back several times, his face full of unshed tears.
But at this moment, the warrior shifted his gaze to the fairy perched on Adrian's shoulder, grinning cheerfully—'Chang Feng'. She was currently looking delighted as she watched the two legendary experts discussing card balance, a ball of white, shimmering light condensed in her hand.
"Alright! Card creation complete!"
Suddenly, with a cheer, a brilliant light burst from the fairy's hand. Accompanied by a dazzling golden rainbow, the phantom images of two cards materialized from the void, radiating a striking presence.
Joshua's gaze was naturally drawn to them. He looked at the descriptions on the cards.
[Master of Minds · William (Warlock Legendary)]
[10 Cost, 3 Attack, 3 Health, Cannot Be Attacked]
[Entrance: Swap control of all cards on both sides of the field, except for yourself and field cards, and attach the marker 'Mind Erosion' to them.]
[Curtain Call: Destroy all cards with the marker 'Mind Erosion'.]
[—The human heart is like an apple: lovely, bright, delicious, and fragile.]
The young bard, carrying a harp, walked with a faceless companion through a crowd of bowing soldiers.
[Rune Master · Baniel (Neutral Legendary)]
[9 Cost, 5 Attack, 5 Health]
[Each time you play a Rune-related card, summon a 'Rune Token' (Rune Token, 2 Cost, 2/3, Taunt).]
[Every Rune spell card you play has its effect doubled.]
[—Runes are the condensation of human wisdom, the manifestation of eternal truth in the mortal world.]
The middle-aged spellcaster, staff in hand, stood on a cliff with a faceless companion, facing an endless tide of beasts surging toward them.
"Those two cards, huh."
Seeing these cards, Joshua raised an eyebrow slightly. Just like all card games, Fae Cards had varying degrees of rarity. The most precious were the 'Golden Rainbow Legendary' cards like these two. Each legendary card corresponded to a legendary expert from real history. The warrior had originally wondered how the fairies managed to get permission from living legendary experts to use their likenesses for everyone's entertainment, given that the dead ones were fine. Now it seemed that Adrian and the fairies had visited them one by one and obtained the rights to their portraits.
After all, legendary experts weren't stubborn old fossils. This was also a way to increase their fame, and they were happy to accept new things.
"Let me see, let me see!"
Hearing that the cards were complete, Baniel and William, who had been arguing about whether their earlier cheating was reasonable, hurried over. They glanced at the cards representing themselves and immediately showed satisfied expressions: "That's my style!"
"Of course!"
One of the incarnations of the Four Elemental Fairy Queens, 'Chang Feng', said proudly, "My cards are all carefully crafted by referencing the real personalities and past deeds of the individuals, blending their most widely spread legends and achievements!"
On this point, Chang Feng wasn't lying. As a legendary expert, William's most famous achievement was decades ago, when he had just reached the legendary realm. He used his overwhelming mental power to directly control the army of a Western Mountain kingdom sent to besiege him, turning them around to hang the royal family on apple trees. He even made those royal members believe they were actually apples, and they didn't return to normal until autumn that year.
Baniel's story was simpler. Back then, relying on his own strength, he teamed up with William to forcibly suppress a massive beast tide in the Western Mountain region, caused by cultists' scheming. William was responsible for luring the magical beasts into an ambush, while Baniel used large-scale rune spells and various elemental summons to slaughter over 300,000 large magical beasts in half a day. Normally, even if the beasts stood still and let you kill them, a tide of that size would take at least a week to finish off. But Baniel used runes to shape over 70,000 temporary elemental creature armies out of thin air, completing this impossible task.
The cults across the entire Western Mountain region went into hiding for decades due to the blows dealt by these two, only recently recovering some strength.
Hearing someone boast about their past achievements, both legendary experts' expressions turned slightly serious, as if recalling the scenes from those days. Just then, Chang Feng wobbled up from Adrian's shoulder and floated in front of Joshua. She asked expectantly, "Human... Count Radcliffe, the newly ascended legendary warrior, could I also add your likeness to the legendary list of Fae Cards?"
She muttered an addition: "Without the direct bloodline of the Diamond family, I wouldn't be able to come out at all. This is a once-in-how-many-years opportunity, so please don't refuse..."
"Haha, I agree."
Joshua wasn't a rigid person, after all. Faced with the fairy's straightforward request, he straightforwardly agreed. After all, he also wanted to see what the legendary card representing him would look like.
But clearly, card creation wasn't something that could be completed quickly. After receiving Joshua's permission, Chang Feng cheered and returned to Adrian's shoulder, whose expression was complex. Joshua then roughly understood the detailed sequence of events from the Sixth Prince's account.
A few days ago, the craftsmen under Adrian completed the first-generation card table for Fae Cards. However, due to its high cost, it couldn't be mass-produced. Urged by Chang Feng, the Sixth Prince planned to head to the Northern Lands, to the most open-minded settlement of Rune Dwarves in the empire, which was also the strongest dwarf settlement in terms of mana technology. He intended to discuss with the dwarves how to make this mana machine cheaper and easier to popularize.
But after learning of Adrian's plan, Israel told him to take the opportunity to check on Alva's training progress. So he came to Winterfell Academy and happened to encounter the legendary mage duo waiting for Joshua's return. The result went without saying: the curious legendary mages played a couple of rounds at Chang Feng's invitation, got hooked, and even drew the collective attention of the entire academy's faculty and students.
—After all, it's a world lacking in entertainment.
Joshua couldn't help but shake his head. The entertainment options on the Mycroft Continent were truly too few. No wonder they were so focused on Fae Cards. Even Joshua, who came from a utopian society, found the game enjoyable, let alone these people who had probably done little more than roll dice their whole lives.
But now wasn't the time to discuss this.
"Alva, take Adrian to the classroom to sit in on our lessons. I'll check on your training results later."
Joshua dismissed the two somewhat similar-looking royal brothers. He had come to Winterfell for serious business; contacting the Northern Dwarves or promoting Fae Cards were minor matters to be dealt with later.
"Yes, teacher!"
Alva, who had been standing stiffly nearby, too nervous to speak much, let out a sigh of relief. With three legendary experts present, including a teacher who had caught him slacking off, the Seventh Prince not being drenched in cold sweat was already a sign of decent mental fortitude. Hearing Joshua's order to leave, Alva immediately grabbed Adrian's hand and hurriedly led him out of the hall.
After the two left, the warrior turned to Baniel and William. Without any formalities, he asked curiously, "You two, why the sudden visit? Is there a problem with the Writhing Forest?"
What kind of problem could stump two legendary spellcasters to the point of needing to come find him, a warrior? That was the reason for Joshua's confusion.
"It's related to the Writhing Forest, but..."
Baniel frowned and said a sentence, then looked up at Joshua's back. The warrior noticed this and introduced, "Hill and Faina, members of the Sea Dragon Knight Order, my friends. If it's not something particularly secret, you can speak."
"It hasn't reached that level... This lady looks like a hybrid of Blue Sea Dragon and Sea Sword Dragon? Not bad. Both bloodlines are quite pure, though the hybrid nature might make advancement a bit difficult. But you should break through in about a dozen years."
At this point, William took over the conversation. He glanced at Hill and Faina, who had also been unsure how to chime in, and gave a precise assessment: "Your talent is excellent. Surpassing your parents won't be hard."
"Thank you..." Hearing a legendary expert praise her potential, Faina was naturally pleased. A dozen years was just a blink for a dragon, but thinking about her need to advance soon, she couldn't help but feel a bit worried.
But by then, Joshua was already talking with Baniel.
"By extracting the ancient dragon aura from the Writhing Forest, William and I have roughly recreated part of that ancient dragon's bloodline in the research lab at the Sky-Piercing White Tower."
Once they got down to business, both Baniel and William became serious, shedding their earlier casualness. Baniel frowned and said gravely to Joshua, "But just as we were about to use that part of the bloodline to create a portion of the ancient dragon's body, the experimental material instantly self-decomposed due to bloodline collapse."
"You mean... that ancient dragon is still alive?"
Joshua immediately understood the implication of Baniel's words. He said with some surprise, "And it's in a conscious state, actively destroying anything that tries to pry into its power?"
"Yes, exactly."
At this point, Baniel's expression showed a hint of fervor. He suppressed his excitement in front of the warrior and said in a low voice, "Do you know what this means, Joshua? It truly exists! It hasn't been sleeping! It's awake, and it's right beside us!"
Although he wasn't an ancient dragon chaser, Joshua could still feel the excitement of Baniel and William. After years of pursuit, the target they weren't even sure still existed was now confirmed to be real, and it was awake, roaming between worlds. It was even patrolling near the Mycroft Continent, which was why it could instantly destroy the two legendary mages' attempt to clone its bloodline through the bloodline connection.
"You are a legendary expert in the domain of life force, a master of Steel Force."
At this point, William revealed the true purpose of their visit to the Northern Lands. He looked seriously at Joshua and stated their request, "Joshua, though it may be abrupt, I hope you can assist us. Rest assured..."
"Alright, I'll help."
Before the two could even finish speaking, Joshua readily agreed. "You want me to use the information sensing of Steel Force to reversely pry into the world where the ancient dragon resides, right? No problem."
"..."
William's face twisted in pain. Even though he could control minds and pry into hearts, he couldn't pry into the mind of a fellow legendary expert like Joshua. Interrupted to this extent, he couldn't continue and could only choke out, "Don't be so hasty, Count Radcliffe. This isn't as simple as you imagine. The power of an ancient dragon is so immense that even legendary experts cannot underestimate it..."
"Isn't that perfect?" Joshua nodded with some satisfaction. "I don't do things without challenge."
"No, you should think it over more. This matter is very difficult. To make up for the loss of tricking you, we're willing to offer compensation... What do you think of this large-scale rune war machine blueprint?"
Baniel also spoke with a pained expression, shaking his head in self-mockery. "Damn it, why am I advising you to be careful? And voluntarily offering compensation? William, did you control Joshua?"
"Control him? Even if I could control a rock, I couldn't control him. Just look at this mental defense. I wouldn't even bother touching it..."
Watching Baniel and William fall into another argument over a trivial matter, Joshua shrugged. Unlike the two legendary mages, who always overthought things, he really hadn't thought that much.
It had nothing to do with status or strength. He just didn't like refusing people's dreams.