Amoen, the Giant Stag’s corpse still quietly floated in the dark, boundless space of the shadow realm, surrounded by shattered boulders and ancient starship tal fragnts, like a mountain-sized divine corpse, silent and still, as everything appeared normal.
Gawain’s gaze passed through the windows and protective barriers, fixed on the divine corpse emanating a gentle glow in the darkness, yet the voice in his mind did not resurface.
The voice earlier seed like a hallucination, but Gawain was a hundred percent sure he heard it, and his intuition told him that it indeed ca from the outside—from the direction of Amoen, the Giant Stag.
Amber was the first to notice the anomaly over here. She imdiately ran up to Gawain, jumping and waving her hand in front of his eyes, "Hey, hey! What’s wrong with you? Why do you suddenly look so scary?"
Gawain grabbed Amber’s waving paw, staring seriously into her eyes, "Did you hear any sound just now?"
Amber was startled by Gawain’s terribly serious expression, her neck shrinking back, "No... are you hallucinating again?"
Gawain would often fall into a trance or hear and see things from objects like the Eternal Stone Slate that ordinary people could not perceive, which Amber had grown sowhat accustod to.
"I’m not sure... it might be an illusion..."
Gawain said noncommittally, then placed the bewildered Amber aside and walked to the large floor-to-ceiling window by himself.
He gazed at the corpse of Amoen, the Giant Stag, fully focused, fully alert, and in his mind, tried to communicate: "Was that you speaking just now?"
The silent corpse of the God of Nature remained quiet, just as it had in the past centuries.
Gawain received no response, and after patiently waiting for several minutes, attempting communication more than once, he finally gave up. Despite still believing he hadn’t heard wrong before, he found his actions sowhat ludicrous and strange.
Kal also noticed Gawain’s actions, and he imdiately ordered the laboratory answering chanism: "Warning system, report on the divine corpse’s status."
Two seconds later, a chanically distorted synthetic voice echoed in the room: "Scanning... All systems normal, divine corpse energy fluctuations stable."
Kal approached Gawain from behind, "No anomalies, my lord."
Gawain nodded, "I know... I might just be a bit paranoid from staying here too long."
As he spoke, he turned away from the floor-to-ceiling window. After one last glance at the corpse of Amoen, he temporarily suppressed his chaotic thoughts and refocused on the experintal project before him.
"We’ve obtained the conclusions we wanted. Charging the Holy Light rune with an Inversion Circle is safe — now we can consider the first phase of practical application," Gawain said to Kal and Rebecca, "Combine our experiences with magic armor design to quickly find a way to make the Holy Light rune practical, and create usable ’White Knight Arms.’ This will be crucial in our forthcoming dealings with Lu’an City."
After Rebecca and Kal nodded, he turned to Wright: "You will be responsible for selecting the first-phase White Knight Order mbers—gender is irrelevant, background is irrelevant, but there are only two requirents. First, they must completely embrace the new doctrine and have a steadfast mind. Second, they must pass the Administrative Office’s assessnt. I suggest you select mbers from the Cecil Combat Corps—I will arrange Byron to liaise with you on this point."
Here, Gawain paused slightly, looking particularly solemnly into Wright’s eyes, "In short—the White Knights must not only be steadfast New Holy Light Faithful but also resolute Cecil warriors. Do you understand what I an by that?"
The research on the controllability of Holy Light had already achieved critical results, and the day when the White Knights could beco a mass-produced profession was imminent. So things had to be clearly stated in advance to prevent the uncontrolled spread of this mass-produced extraordinary profession.
Wright was an excellent priest, a resolute White Knight, soone who agreed with and was willing to follow the path of the Cecil Clan. But how far his Faith of Holy Light could take him on this path depended on his own enlightennt.
Wright’s expression also beca serious; he did not imdiately answer but instead asked a question: "You once said that the old aristocratic groups and the Holy Light Church were corrupted and degenerate because of their foundational systems. What you want to establish is a system entirely different from theirs, unrestricted by origin and social class, and genuinely operating for the sake of justice. Do you rember saying that?"
"I rember, and I promise, at least in my lifeti, I will strive for that goal."
Wright took a slow, deep breath, then exhaled slowly, his tone resolute and steady, "If you uphold justice, then—divine right by the authority of the lord!"
The entire laboratory was pin-drop silent. After a mont of silence, Gawain revealed a slight smile, "Divine right by the authority of the lord... that would certainly make the Northern Church fu... but I’ll accept this notion."
Perhaps one day, this land will no longer have divine rights, nor will there be kings.
Perhaps one day, humanity will find a higher, true spiritual faith from the essence of the gods.
Perhaps one day, the ever-decaying Cecil Dynasty will be overthrown by new progressive forces, and the White Knights will beco dust of history...
But that’s all for the future. What Gawain cared about now was the present, here and now, as he finally grasped the power of the gods.
...
In Typhon, the southwestern borders.
The black-haired Mage apprentice, Mary, moved through the bustling town marketplace.
The vendor’s shouts rose and fell in waves amid enticing aromas wafting from various food stalls along the street, perpetually tantalizing Mary’s senses and taste buds. Cradling a bundle, she walked slowly, head down, unknowingly stopping in front of a stall.
The vendor enthusiastically solicited business, "Miss, how about a muffin? It’s fragrant and sweet!"
Mary tightened the bundle in her arms, her gaze lingering on the muffin stall for a mont, but eventually, she restrained her irrational impulse, turned around, and quickly walked away from the stall, continuing to walk forward.
The ntor didn’t give her extra money for such things.
She continued walking along the street, heading towards another shop the ntor instructed her to visit. Occasionally, she looked up at the street, which was much livelier than usual, with a complicated expression in her eyes.
If only she could stay here a little longer...
She rarely had the chance to leave the mage tower or the small village at the foot of the mountain, because the town was about half a day’s journey from the village. If it weren’t for the need to purchase necessities, the old mage wouldn’t allow an apprentice to leave his supervision for an entire day.
So opportunities like today, to be away from the mage tower for an entire day and wander around the town, were truly precious.
Mary touched the cold rune iron ring on her neck, shaking her head vigorously to dispel those unrealistic thoughts from her mind.
Recently, the ntor’s temper had improved a bit, with fewer instances of hysteria and inexplicable anger than before. Although occasionally so apprentices would be whipped or taken for bizarre experints, at least no one was being thrown into the monster-infested dungeons anymore. Mary was grateful for such "good days," and she neither wanted to, nor had the courage, to do anything that might anger the old mage when things were moving in a positive direction.
The sound of drums and pipes ca from a distance, causing Mary’s hurried steps to co to a halt.
She looked up in the direction the sound was coming from and found it was at the town square.
The Harvest Festival was approaching... The town was preparing celebrations for the festival. The Mayor and the wealthy people must have, as usual, invited bards and the "Black Mountain People" circus. Before the start of the Harvest Festival, these bards and the circus would begin sporadic performances in the square. These ten days would be the most lively ti of the year here.
Mary’s steps hesitated, slowly moving towards the direction of the square.
Perhaps I could listen to the bard’s stories... or watch the free street performances of the circus clown.
These things don’t cost money, and watching the performances wouldn’t leave muffin crumbs and scents on her, so the ntor wouldn’t notice, and neither would the tower spirit of the mage tower...
She just needed to watch for a little while, anyway, it was still quite early... And the shop was near the square, so going in this direction was on the way.
If she missed this opportunity, there might not be another chance; she could only co to the town a few tis a year...
Mary’s steps finally fully moved in the direction of the square.
The young female apprentice quickly crossed the street, dashed through the narrow alleyways, and from the small paths entered the town square. Just as she had thought, the bards and the circus were already setting up their stages, and the drumming and piping sounds were coming from those stages.
Many townspeople had already gathered in the square, but since the performance was small in scale, there weren’t so many people that it was impossible to move. Mary tightly held the bundle in her arms, wide-eyed as she navigated through the crowd, striving to engrain everything she saw deeply into her mind.
There were so parts of the bard’s songs she hadn’t heard before. Although they were still the sa old knight stories, they were still novel and interesting; the clown’s performance involved only clumsy magic tricks, with an occasional stage-level magic trick being the circus’s hidden gem, yet it still amazed Mary...
Mary already possessed an official level of spellcasting—although she was still an apprentice to the old mage, her level of spellcasting was formal—however, this kind of stage magic performance was completely different from the deadly skills she learned in the mage tower.
She had only seen it a handful of tis in her life.
The young apprentice seed to montarily forget her task, wandering around the square, taking in everything that caught her attention until she arrived at the bulletin board in the square, intrigued by a few new notices posted there.
The literacy rate of the Typhon Empire had only risen in recent years. Since the emperor implented various new policies, establishing relatively strict and fair contract rules, everyone could rent farmland, borrow oxen, and collect seeds from the state through contracts, creating a need for reading and writing. Driven by this need, the literacy rate of the Typhon people had gradually increased, and the town’s bulletin board replaced the soldiers who used to read out decrees.
Mary knew the bulletin board often displayed new decrees signed by the emperor or major news events happening nearby. Although these things seed far removed from her life in the mage tower, she remained very interested in them.
Her curiosity was strong—even though it had led her into that mage tower over a decade ago, turning her into a prisoner with a collar, that curiosity still existed.
As expected, she saw new decrees written on the bulletin board, so signed by the emperor, others issued by local officials:
"...According to Emperor Rosetta’s decree, continue to promote basic education, the scale of academic institutions within the city will be expanded...
"...Recruitnt of volunteer soldiers, one person per family can join the military to be exempt from paying taxes for three years. For specific matters, please consult the local sheriff...
According to Emperor Rosetta’s new decree, establish the position of ’Agricultural Instructor,’ to be held by the best local farr, to organize and promote planting experience. For compensation and selection thods, consult the local civilian officer...
"Order for the construction of a Pyrostone Acid Workshop... recruitnt of apprentices...
"According to Emperor Rosetta’s new decree, recruit outstanding mages regardless of background, requiring proficient rune skills and skill in magic circle research. Note: Priority given to those familiar with ancient Gondor magic knowledge, priority to those knowledgeable in self-powered arrays."
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