Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Becky was foaming at her mouth, telling stories about the female marshal. Hao Ren however was not that interested; for one, she was not related to their mission, and also, he did not think that he was going to have anything to do with this otherworldly hero.
Anyhow, he had heard enough of this legendary Marshal Ophra.
When speaking about the marshal, it was necessary to look into something they called, "the Ancients". It was a new term Hao Ren had encountered. He was lacking an excuse to openly ask about it. Becky's narrative was the only source by which he could find out about the race. The Ancients were an almost human-like, unique race. Most of the time, they mingled with humans. Their population was small, scattered all over the world, without their own cultural identity. They totally assimilated and co-existed with humans. The Ancients were different from humans in that they lived much longer and were far more stronger. They were better in every single aspect from their physical to mental states. Many of the Ancients were remembered as heroes in history. Ophra was one of them. She had been the most renowned for the last several hundred years.
Other than that, Hao Ren was totally clueless regarding the origins of the term "Ancients", and as to how they acquired such extraordinary qualities.
Marshal Ophra had been the most active descendent of the Ancients for the last several hundred years. Back then, King Geddon III, the Iron Fist helmed the throne of the Kingdom of Holletta. At the time of Geddon III's coronation, the Kingdom of Holletta was experiencing severe changes and turmoil. This oldest kingdom on the continent had seen the rise of the art of alchemy and new academics. Emerging civilian R&D alchemy factories and production models challenged the old Royal Academy of Magic. More and more advanced technologies were being invented by the civilians instead of being under the control of the Royal Academy of Magic. This caused a rift between the elites and the civilian class; at the same time, a faction within the elites opposed the conservatives—an inevitable fate as a result of the feudal dynasty becoming too old and bloated, and also from the massive achievement of social progress. At that time, newly emerging countries around the Kingdom of Holletta were adopting new technologies and social ideologies with tremendous pace. Within a short period of time, these kingdoms had left the arrogant and old kingdom in the dust—at least, in terms of technology.
The Kingdom of Holletta back then was not as moderate as it was in the present—there were no more radicals now on the outside. They were a superpower and, had and found themselves quite a lot of enemies as a result. Because of that during the reign of Geddon III the kingdom was facing a multitude of crisis: factionalism of the ruling class, the royalty was losing grip on social order, and the old-fashioned royal advisers were at a daze in handling the new social problems. At the same time there were at least tens of newly emerging, technologically-advanced, smaller countries planning to invade his kingdom.
That was when Ophra came into being.
There were many versions to the legend about how the new king and The Ancient met, and how they had become a comrades in arms. The stories became much talked about topic of historians and playwrights alike. As a retarded fan of Marshal Ophra and typical gossiper, Becky was a proponent of dramatist's narrative: the young Geddon III was touring the kingdom in search for solutions to the problems in his kingdom. When he arrived to the east of the kingdom he was ambushed by his enemies.
At that critical juncture, Marshal Ophra, the then adventurer—there was no differentiation between an adventurer and a mercenary back then—came to his rescue. They fought their way out and the fate of the kingdom as well as theirs were sealed from that moment.
The ambitious young king and the skilful knight maiden began their fateful relationship. Together they had suppressed the revolts within the kingdom. Subsequently Geddon III, against all dissenting views from the old elites, declared the knight maiden as a new elite, and placed the kingdom's military in the hands of this confidante. The talented bold young king and the battle savvy female fighter had put down all internal rebellions and rebuilt a new ruling order, and at the same time suppressed the external enemies.
From that day onward, the famous Iron General became the protector of The Kingdom of Holletta for 435 years.
Any qualified dramatist would have known something else: Geddon III and Ophra were trying to work out the relationship between them since the very first chapter, but still nothing had come to fruition after forty over chapters. At the end of the day Geddon III was lying on his deathbed, holding Ophra's hand and saying his last wishes, "My reign will end soon in two days, you must make sure my son succeeds to my throne..."
Becky's eyes lit up when she told of the story. But Hao Ren felt that the ending of the story could be a sham made up by some motherf**ker, and widely circulated among the spinster mercenaries. If you dare to discuss this gossip in the royal court, they would kill you first and ask question later.
Much had been learned about the glorious past of Marshal Ophra, Hao Ren knew she was the most legendary figure in the kingdom. Ophra, a descendent of The Ancients, had been the kingdom's marshal for over 400 years, witnessing tens of royal successions and she remained the top fighter and sword instructor for each and every king of Holletta. It was incredible, Hao Ren thought. He had hard time to imagine why would someone as powerful as her was willing to serve a dynasty and remained loyal for four centuries, and how the royalty of Holletta still trusted Ophra despite after going through tens of royal successions. Perhaps something must have really happened between the hero and King Geddon III the Iron Fist.
They had witnessed the argument between the female marshal and the bishop today. It seemed the two had differing views on the matters of the orb incident and religious interpretations. Unfortunately Hao Ren had no idea where to began investigating the reasons behind the argument.
The group was spending the night in Leyton before they set off on the road to The Beinz Blood Lake the next morning.
The lockdown was still enforced in the town. It seemed the stored energy beneath the church and the church's mage regiment stationed here were enough to sustain the shield above the town. But there was no telling how long the lockdown would be. What bothered Hao Ren most was the tough rock monsters. He wasn't sure if the local knights were able to handle them, but the bishop seemed to be pretty confident. Perhaps the bishop had informed his superior about the situation and soon a massive mobilisation of the kingdom's machinery and church power would began. He chose to believe these VIPs had what it takes in handling the situation.
They left the rented horses behind in the town as horses could be easily affected by the magic near Beinz Blood Lake and becoming frightened and agitated. There was a handover point specially for mercenary in the town, the horses would be in good hand. They left the town on the west onto the highway, on foot. It wasn't a long journey.
"It's the the gnarled grove." Leading in front of the group, Becky pointed to a vast piece of fuchsia area far ahead. "Keep you eyes open. Once we're in there, don't use magic. If there's an encounter, end it quickly. Most of the monsters inside have sensitive senses, they could smell magic and come in groups."
"Copy that." acknowledged Hao Ren. Lily and Vivian had transformed since leaving the town. Not far ahead was the danger zone infested with monsters, so they could never be too cautious. Vivian sent her a squad of bats flying a hundred metres in the air monitoring the road ahead, while Lily was sniffing around for any suspicious scents. Nangong Wuye looked at Becky who was still leading in front, recalling what she had seen on the way out from the town when two groups of mercenary were returning from the grove, injured and bloody. "Actually you don't need to do that. Your job's finished when you've brought us to Leyton."
"Are you trying to say going forward's too dangerous?" Becky could read Nangong Wuyue's mind as she too had seen the returning mercenaries. "From what I was told, they were beaten by some average monsters. The situation around Beinz Blood Lake's not as bad as what the bishop tried to paint. I'll keep my word and bring you lot right to the edge of the lake. And furthermore I'd like to try my luck if I could find some treasures."
Hao Ren smiled. He decided to bring a tablet for this frank maiden the next time he came. After all it was at the expense of Raven 12345.
Once they entered the Gnarled Grove, instantly Hao Ren felt the atmosphere was totally unlike the outside.
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Becky was foaming at her mouth, telling stories about the female marshal. Hao Ren however was not that interested; for one, she was not related to their mission, and also, he did not think that he was going to have anything to do with this otherworldly hero.
Anyhow, he had heard enough of this legendary Marshal Ophra.
When speaking about the marshal, it was necessary to look into something they called, "the Ancients". It was a new term Hao Ren had encountered. He was lacking an excuse to openly ask about it. Becky's narrative was the only source by which he could find out about the race. The Ancients were an almost human-like, unique race. Most of the time, they mingled with humans. Their population was small, scattered all over the world, without their own cultural identity. They totally assimilated and co-existed with humans. The Ancients were different from humans in that they lived much longer and were far more stronger. They were better in every single aspect from their physical to mental states. Many of the Ancients were remembered as heroes in history. Ophra was one of them. She had been the most renowned for the last several hundred years.
Other than that, Hao Ren was totally clueless regarding the origins of the term "Ancients", and as to how they acquired such extraordinary qualities.
Marshal Ophra had been the most active descendent of the Ancients for the last several hundred years. Back then, King Geddon III, the Iron Fist helmed the throne of the Kingdom of Holletta. At the time of Geddon III's coronation, the Kingdom of Holletta was experiencing severe changes and turmoil. This oldest kingdom on the continent had seen the rise of the art of alchemy and new academics. Emerging civilian R&D alchemy factories and production models challenged the old Royal Academy of Magic. More and more advanced technologies were being invented by the civilians instead of being under the control of the Royal Academy of Magic. This caused a rift between the elites and the civilian class; at the same time, a faction within the elites opposed the conservatives—an inevitable fate as a result of the feudal dynasty becoming too old and bloated, and also from the massive achievement of social progress. At that time, newly emerging countries around the Kingdom of Holletta were adopting new technologies and social ideologies with tremendous pace. Within a short period of time, these kingdoms had left the arrogant and old kingdom in the dust—at least, in terms of technology.
The Kingdom of Holletta back then was not as moderate as it was in the present—there were no more radicals now on the outside. They were a superpower and, had and found themselves quite a lot of enemies as a result. Because of that during the reign of Geddon III the kingdom was facing a multitude of crisis: factionalism of the ruling class, the royalty was losing grip on social order, and the old-fashioned royal advisers were at a daze in handling the new social problems. At the same time there were at least tens of newly emerging, technologically-advanced, smaller countries planning to invade his kingdom.
That was when Ophra came into being.
There were many versions to the legend about how the new king and The Ancient met, and how they had become a comrades in arms. The stories became much talked about topic of historians and playwrights alike. As a retarded fan of Marshal Ophra and typical gossiper, Becky was a proponent of dramatist's narrative: the young Geddon III was touring the kingdom in search for solutions to the problems in his kingdom. When he arrived to the east of the kingdom he was ambushed by his enemies.
At that critical juncture, Marshal Ophra, the then adventurer—there was no differentiation between an adventurer and a mercenary back then—came to his rescue. They fought their way out and the fate of the kingdom as well as theirs were sealed from that moment.
The ambitious young king and the skilful knight maiden began their fateful relationship. Together they had suppressed the revolts within the kingdom. Subsequently Geddon III, against all dissenting views from the old elites, declared the knight maiden as a new elite, and placed the kingdom's military in the hands of this confidante. The talented bold young king and the battle savvy female fighter had put down all internal rebellions and rebuilt a new ruling order, and at the same time suppressed the external enemies.
From that day onward, the famous Iron General became the protector of The Kingdom of Holletta for 435 years.
Any qualified dramatist would have known something else: Geddon III and Ophra were trying to work out the relationship between them since the very first chapter, but still nothing had come to fruition after forty over chapters. At the end of the day Geddon III was lying on his deathbed, holding Ophra's hand and saying his last wishes, "My reign will end soon in two days, you must make sure my son succeeds to my throne..."
Becky's eyes lit up when she told of the story. But Hao Ren felt that the ending of the story could be a sham made up by some motherf**ker, and widely circulated among the spinster mercenaries. If you dare to discuss this gossip in the royal court, they would kill you first and ask question later.
Much had been learned about the glorious past of Marshal Ophra, Hao Ren knew she was the most legendary figure in the kingdom. Ophra, a descendent of The Ancients, had been the kingdom's marshal for over 400 years, witnessing tens of royal successions and she remained the top fighter and sword instructor for each and every king of Holletta. It was incredible, Hao Ren thought. He had hard time to imagine why would someone as powerful as her was willing to serve a dynasty and remained loyal for four centuries, and how the royalty of Holletta still trusted Ophra despite after going through tens of royal successions. Perhaps something must have really happened between the hero and King Geddon III the Iron Fist.
They had witnessed the argument between the female marshal and the bishop today. It seemed the two had differing views on the matters of the orb incident and religious interpretations. Unfortunately Hao Ren had no idea where to began investigating the reasons behind the argument.
The group was spending the night in Leyton before they set off on the road to The Beinz Blood Lake the next morning.
The lockdown was still enforced in the town. It seemed the stored energy beneath the church and the church's mage regiment stationed here were enough to sustain the shield above the town. But there was no telling how long the lockdown would be. What bothered Hao Ren most was the tough rock monsters. He wasn't sure if the local knights were able to handle them, but the bishop seemed to be pretty confident. Perhaps the bishop had informed his superior about the situation and soon a massive mobilisation of the kingdom's machinery and church power would began. He chose to believe these VIPs had what it takes in handling the situation.
They left the rented horses behind in the town as horses could be easily affected by the magic near Beinz Blood Lake and becoming frightened and agitated. There was a handover point specially for mercenary in the town, the horses would be in good hand. They left the town on the west onto the highway, on foot. It wasn't a long journey.
"It's the the gnarled grove." Leading in front of the group, Becky pointed to a vast piece of fuchsia area far ahead. "Keep you eyes open. Once we're in there, don't use magic. If there's an encounter, end it quickly. Most of the monsters inside have sensitive senses, they could smell magic and come in groups."
"Copy that." acknowledged Hao Ren. Lily and Vivian had transformed since leaving the town. Not far ahead was the danger zone infested with monsters, so they could never be too cautious. Vivian sent her a squad of bats flying a hundred metres in the air monitoring the road ahead, while Lily was sniffing around for any suspicious scents. Nangong Wuye looked at Becky who was still leading in front, recalling what she had seen on the way out from the town when two groups of mercenary were returning from the grove, injured and bloody. "Actually you don't need to do that. Your job's finished when you've brought us to Leyton."
"Are you trying to say going forward's too dangerous?" Becky could read Nangong Wuyue's mind as she too had seen the returning mercenaries. "From what I was told, they were beaten by some average monsters. The situation around Beinz Blood Lake's not as bad as what the bishop tried to paint. I'll keep my word and bring you lot right to the edge of the lake. And furthermore I'd like to try my luck if I could find some treasures."
Hao Ren smiled. He decided to bring a tablet for this frank maiden the next time he came. After all it was at the expense of Raven 12345.
Once they entered the Gnarled Grove, instantly Hao Ren felt the atmosphere was totally unlike the outside.
