Chapter 71: For What Reason?
The [Hulk Potion] was only about 50mm and was stored in a test-tube like glass bottle. Fei had given the last mercenary about ⅓ of the potion in his experiment, leaving only ⅔ of this extremely precious potion. Fei had a perfect place to keep them in: the storage units in his Barbarian Belt.
He squatted down and pressed his right hand onto the now buff and tall mercenary's chest and used [Find Potion]. Unfortunately, he got nothing except a puddle of thick blood. There was nothing he could do. Since [Find Potion] was currently only a level 1 ability, the probability of actually finding potions was very low.
All four corpses in the concealed room had been used and the only bottle of [Hulk Potion] was an unexpected surprise, but Fei hadn't obtained the information he needed the most.
How did this powerful magic potion appear when it didn't even exist in the Diablo World? If he had to come up with a reasonable explanation, he thought that it could possibly be an inconceivable mutation of the Barbarian's [Find Potion] ability when he brought it into the real world. Then, the [Hulk Potion] would very likely be the result of the mutated ability. A mutation of this sort was out of Fei's control. He hadn't tested out the chances of obtaining a [Hulk Potion], nor did he know if there were any other side effects on the potion. Lastly, he wasn't sure if anyone could just take this potion and gain the monstrous strength that the tall mercenary obtained.
Before he could use this potion to increase the strength of his subordinates, Fei had to figure out all the answers to these questions. Even if it was on Earth, huge international pharmaceutical companies would still have to conduct hundreds of clinical trials before putting anything on the market.
After he thought through all the key points, Fei sighed lightly.
He concentrated his attention onto the black cloaked four star mage lying on the ground like a dead dog. The mage's "limbs" twitched as blood foamed out of his mouth. It was funny how this mage was probably the most unfortunate mage in the history of Azeroth Continent. In terms of power and strength, the mage could easily conquer a remote kingdom like Chambord on his own; however, he had met Fei. He was beaten like a sandbag by the savage despite being surrounded by thousands of allies. Right now, this poor mage was half dead. Under the instructions of Fei, every time the mage showed signs of waking up, the jailors would hit him hard and make sure that he fainted again. Except for a couple of rib bones that were still intact, all the bones in his limbs were broken. If he wasn't a four star mage and had a strong vitality, he would've been dead by now.
Fei walked up to the mage with a dirty smile on his face.
He grabbed a bottle of [Healing Potion] from his belt and opened the lid. He dripped a couple drops onto the mage's broken limbs. Instantly, a magical force surrounded the limbs and they started recovering...
After four or five seconds.
Although the mage's limbs still looked wretched and there were still bone fragments and rotting flesh showing, his limbs at least resembled them now. Fei didn't want the mage to fully recover. If a four star mage went crazy, the power of a level 16 Barbarian wouldn't be enough to handle it.
During the process, Fei discovered something interesting –
The [Healing Potion] had different effects on different people. The effects were stronger on weaker people, while the effect diminished on more powerful people. Given the same amount of potion, it was enough to almost revive Pierce who was on the verge of dying, but for the four star mage, it was only enough to heal some exterior injuries.
"Splash – !"
A bucket of cold water mixed with salt was poured onto the four star mage.
"Ah...." The mage finally woke up with a long, hoarse groan. He opened his snake-like eyes and glanced around. His eyes landed on the face that he would never forget in his lifetime. Instantly, he started trembling as if he were a girl who had seen the devil take her virginity. He couldn't help but scream, "It's…. you?"
"Ha, you have a good memory. It's me, hehehe!" Fei laughed arrogantly. He couldn't help but feel proud. Seizing and capturing a four star mage despite having less strength than a three star warrior… this record could go into the Records of Great Achievements by all the Kings of Chambord.
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Nueey
"You're done! AHAHAHAHA, you're dead...Ignorant dumbass, stupid pig, funny dog. You're still laughing? Do you know what you've done?" The skeleton-like mage started screaming in shock after he saw the silver masked knight's corpse. His body started shaking as if he was getting an electric shock. "The entire Chambord Kingdom will become hell! You killed Prince Mateja-Kezman of the Eindhoven Empire. The entire Zenit Empire will be crushed into pieces!"
"Damn! You want more torture, b*tch? So arrogant, despite being a prisoner."
After seeing this mage yelling arrogantly rather than begging for mercy, Fei became mad. He rushed to the mage and stomped on both of the mage's thighs. "Crack! Crack!" the sound of bones breaking could be heard. The leg bones which recovered under the effect of the [Healing Potion] were turned into a pile of bone fragments, and the thighs turned into meat paste again. The poor mage puked up more blood foam and fainted again.
Fei dripped a couple drops of [Healing Potion] onto the leg again.
After a few seconds, the mage woke up again slowly. After he saw Fei, he started screaming again, "You...You damn pig! Dumbass, you, you, you..."
"Crack! Crack!"
The recovered legs were stomped on yet again.
Fei squatted down again and patiently dripped some [Healing Potion] onto his legs.
This time, the mage seemed to understand the situation he was in. He was much quieter this time. He sweated and spoke breathing heavily, "You stupid guy. If you want to live, then start running away right now...you...you've made a huge mistake."
"If I were you, I would worry about your own life first. Honorable Mr. Mage, tell me your name and origin...And, is this bastard's name Mateja-Kezman?" Fei pointed at the silver masked knight's body and asked coldly. "You better tell me everything you know. Otherwise... Hum!" A murderous expression appeared on Fei's face.
"My life?" The mage bit his teeth angrily as he spoke, "I'm injured to this point. Do you think I have a chance to live on? Hehe, but you, young king...Tremble! You will spend your entire future in fear. You'll be hunted, and you'll witness the deaths of your loved ones and see their skulls get turned into wine cups. Their souls will be cursed and their limbs will be cut..."
"Pia! Pia! Pia!"
Fei held up the mage by his collar of the black cloak and slapped him multiple times; a couple bloody teeth flew in the air and landed onto the ground. "You reckless f*g, how dare you curse at me? My patience is wearing thin. If you speak rubbish one more time, I will turn your skull into a wine cup!"
"Pooh! You killed Prince Mateja-Kezman of the level 4 Eindhoven Empire. Hahaha, once the Eindhoven Empire knows about this, not just your little Chambord Kingdom, but also your parent Empire Zenit will be crashed into pieces..." The mage spat a mouthful of blood onto the ground. Under the threat that Fei imposed, he answered Fei's questions honestly. A malicious looked flashed on his face. As he said the words "Eindhoven Empire", a gloating smile came on his face. He was waiting for the little king to mentally collapse, because a level 4 Empire wasn't something that a little remote kingdom could defend against.
But, he was disappointed.
"This dude is a prince of a level 4 Empire?" After a brief moment of surprise, he laughed as he pointed at the corpse of the silver masked knight. "So I've killed a prince of a level 4 Empire? Hahaha, after hearing you say that, I feel very refreshed. The feeling of killing a prince is really different... Hey, does that damn Eindhoven Empire have more princes?"
"You..." The mage was shocked. His lips swelled after Fei's powerful slaps as if two sausages were hanging off of his mouth. He couldn't speak clearly due to his lost teeth. Plus, he didn't know what to say. Didn't the dumb pig in front of him know the consequences of angering a level 4 Empire?
After seeing the mage being beaten, Fei spoke slowly, "Hehe, after you fainted, your soldiers were cleanly wiped out by the Zenit soldiers. Not a single one escaped. Hehehe, I guess your troops snuck to Chambord. Now that everyone else is dead, you're the only person who's alive, and you're locked up in the Iron Prison – Water Dungeon which even moon ranked masters can't even escape from. How will the Eindhoven Empire know that their prince died here?"
"You..." The mage's eyes instantly opened wide. As if he was struck by a lightning, he blurted, "How did you know?"
"Wasn't it easy to find out? From the beginning, I was wondering why my enemies didn't display any banners and flags. If you guys were bandits, your troops wouldn't have been so organized and well trained. The black armoured enemies had a ton of star ranked warriors and a lot of sieging machines. Anyone could tell that you were part of an elite formal army... Therefore, there was only one explanation – you guys took off your banners and flags on purpose to hide your origins. You guys didn't want others to know who you were. That raises another question… why? It's because you guys were engaging in a secret military operation and it was very likely that this operation was so secretive that it couldn't even be known to strangers or your own people...Hehehe!"
Fei was actually spouting complete bullsh*t; he was becoming more fluent and his story was making more sense as he continued the BS.
But after seeing the mage's facial expression turn sour, Fei was secretly stoked. He knew that his BS was getting onto something. Maybe something he said was the truth. He smiled nastily as he got closer to the mage. His expression suddenly turned cold and he threatened, "Old thing, hehehe, give up. If you don't want to be tortured, then tell me why you guys snuck into Chambord Kingdom? For what reason?"
Chapter 72: Origin
A couple expressions flashed through the mage's face, followed by a moment of silence. He suddenly sighed, "Young man, I have to admit that you are very smart to be able to accurately guess the truth from such few clues. However–hehe –it's useless. Even if the Eindhoven Empire temporarily doesn't know where the prince has gone, once they realize that something is wrong, nothing can hide from the Eindhoven Empire's ears. Even if they lose a single horse, the imperial secret spies can investigate and find where it is, not to mention his highness and his three thousand black armoured elite soldiers. When they find out what has happened, Chambord and Zenit Empire will be doomed. Everyone will die!"
"Die your mom!" Fei threw the mage two more slaps to his face, making the mage "climax"; a portion of his teeth flew out of his mouth again. Fei threatened, "Old Douche, tell me honestly why you guys came to Chambord!"
The mage sneered. A look of viciousness and spitefulness flashed in his eyes as he kept his silence.
"Yo! Trying to act tough in front of me?" Fei was so angry that he started laughing. "Alright old thing, you have some balls. Hold yourself together for this!"
Fei sneered as he grabbed onto one of the mage's bones that had just recovered; he applied some of his strength and crushed the bone again. The mage took in a deep cold breath and passed out. Fei took out the [Healing Potion] and dripped some of it onto the bone. Soon, the old mage woke up and looked at his own leg bone in shock. "My bone has recovered already? This..."
"Old douche, look at this..." Fei lightly shook the half-filled [Healing Potion] bottle in his hand and smiled as if he was a devil ready to make a dirty exchange. "The potion in this bottle is enough to revive a life and heal anyone. It doesn't matter how severe an injury is; a few drips of the potion will heal it. If you still try and act tough and stay silent, hehehe, I'll crash and shatter your bones, heal it again, break it again, and heal it again...If you have the patience to play with me, I'll let you feel the pain of getting every bone in your body crushed thousands of times. That feeling... Hehehe, hahahahaha..."
The mage broke down instantly and cried, "Devil, you devil..."
Fei laughed, "If you tell me the truth, I'll save your life with this potion. All the broken bones in your limbs and body will be completely recovered. If there's a chance, we might even be able to cooperate! Hehehe!"
The mage rolled his eyes a couple times and hesitated as he contemplated his situation. His limbs had already been beaten and crushed into meat paste and had no life in them. The only way that he survived until now was by relying on his powerful magic powers. He had no desires and no needs anymore. This was why he was super brave and tough. But as soon as he saw hope for survival, the mage's resolve finally wavered. Desperation could make heroes, but hope could turn even the best hero into a coward. The red potion in the devil's hand was the only hope for the black cloaked mage; everyone treasured their own lives, and a huge opportunity had been presented right in front of him. If he could handle it properly, he could soar back to his prior status and power level...Therefore, he eventually submitted to Fei. He nodded, "Alright, I'll tell you everything I know, but before that, you have to swear that once I tell you everything, you will heal me. If you aren't a man of your words, you will..."
"I swear to the God of War that as Alexander, the King of Chambord, if I don't honour my words, then I shall fall into the deepest part of hell and be tortured for eternity!" Fei raised his hand and vowed solemnly.
The mage believed Fei.
"My name is Evans and I'm a four star mage. I'm from the faraway – Level 9 Manchester Empire. I was traveling around the continent in accordance with my tutor Ferdinand's instructions. Three months ago when I was traveling through the deep forest to the North of Eindhoven Empire, I accidently ran into two mercenary teams fighting to the death over a mysterious black map. In the beginning I was only curious, so I killed off all the hundred or so mercenaries and laid my hands on the map. I wasn't really paying attention to it at first, but then I found out that the materials necessary to make the map were things that I, a four star mage, had never seen before. After some translation and research, I was shocked to find out that I had inadvertently picked up a huge surprise – The map was an antique passed down from the Battle of Gods and Demons thousands of years ago. Many locations were circled by red marks. Those areas are likely the ruins of the Mythical Wars between the God and Demons. Besides those ruins, many other locations were marked as well, but I don't know what they represent...After I found out about this surprise, I wanted to explore the ruins of the Mythical War. I spent about two months researching and studying this map in great detail and finally located one of the many ruins..."
"So one of these ruins is at Chambord Castle?" Something triggered Fei as he asked calmly.
"En, that's right. It was at Chambord Castle. More than a month ago, I came to Chambord Castle a couple times and searched for the ruins in the castle carefully. Although I found some rough clues, I never found the real entrance to the ruins. After that, I realized that finding the ruins would likely be a time and energy consuming operation. I couldn't do it all by myself. Plus, there were so many people living in Chambord. Therefore, after some thought, I had to find a helper..."
"So you went and found that damn Prince of Eindhoven?"
"I knew the Prince Mateja-Kezman beforehand. He knew that I was powerful and tried to recruit me under his belt to help him battle for the throne of Eindhoven Empire against his two brothers... I found him and told him that I had discovered ruins from the Mythical War thousands of years ago and invited him to explore it together. Once he acquired the ruins, he would be able to easily beat his two brothers and become the next Emperor of the Eindhoven Empire. Mateja-Kezman was stoked and accepted my invitation immediately. To prevent his two brothers from finding out what he was up to, he pretended to travel for leisure and brought his elite soldiers to the edge of Zenit Empire. We immediately changed our appearances and took off all our banners and flags. Then, we snuck through Zenit Empire's sentries, crossed the valleys and forests and surrounded Chambord in the blink of an eye. The plan was to conquer the castle at light speed and massacre all the citizens and royals. After we gained ownership of the castle, we would create a false impression that nothing had happened and search the castle for the ruins. After all, no one would pay attention to a remote little kingdom such as Chambord. Until Zenit Empire found out about us, we would've already acquired and took over the ruins, hehehe..."
"That's strange… by your gloomy and vicious look, you probably don't have the kind of heart to help that idiot prince fight for the throne, moreover to share the Mythical Ruins with him. You're up to no good as well..." Fei stared at the mage and sneered.
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"Ake, ake...." The mage coughed up a mouthful of blood. He said weakly, "Of course, the Mythical Ruins are so precious; why would I share it with him? Once we found the entrance to the ruins and started exploring, I would kill him, take control of the three thousand soldiers and order them to continue exploring the ruins for me. Hehehe..." The mage started laughing when he spoke of his master plan.
"Aren't you afraid of Eindhoven Empire's revenge?"
"To avoid other people from finding out what we were doing and prevent unnecessary fights over the ruins, we wiped out all the traces. No one would be able to find out where Prince Mateja-Kezman and his troops had gone... Hahaha, Prince Mateja-Kezman dug his own grave. Everything was going according to my plan."
"So all the stuff you said about the Eindhoven Empire eventually finding out what had happened was just to scare me?" Fei sneered. "Will they never find out that their prince died here?"
"Nothing's certain. You can't underestimate Eindhoven Empire's strength. They will find out eventually. However, even if they do, so what? I'm from the level 9 Manchester Empire, and my mentor Ferdinand is a very important official in the Empire. When they find out about this, I'd already be done exploring the ruins and have reported the ruins to the Manchester Empire. By that time, I would have the appraisal of the Empire and my status would soar. Hehehe, what could a level 4 Empire do to me at that time?" The Mage had a vicious expression on his face as he said that.
"Your idea was great, but unfortunately, your luck wasn't on point. You met me and were beaten like a sandbag. Aren't you a weak prisoner now, begging for mercy?" Fei was being sarcastic. " I have to thank you. If it wasn't for your detailed planning, Chambord may have truly be doomed under Eindhoven cavalries' iron hooves.
The Mage was enraged after he heard that. He stared at Fei angrily and wanted to say something sarcastic back, but after a moment of hesitation, he lowered his head and sighed sadly. "What could I do? Calculations can't stand against fate. I would have never thought that such a magnificent character like you could exist in the small Chambord Kingdom. However, we wouldn't know each other if we didn't fight. What you said earlier was true. We can cooperate and work together in the future."
Fei didn't comment on the mage's recommendation.
He was shocked on the inside. What the Mage said had proved some of his early hypotheses. Chambord did have a long history behind it, and the huge underground maze-like prison was probably a part of the Mythical Ruins.
Fei didn't shown any emotion on his face; he continuously asked, "Tell me about the Mythical Ruins."
"You've never heard of the Mythical Ruins before?" the Mage laughed disdainfully. But after he saw the murderous glare in Fei's eyes, his ego disappeared like melting ice cream and answered humbly, "According to legends, thousands of years ago Gods and Demons ruled the Azeroth Continent. Both races were crazily powerful. They could crush mountains, rip open the skies, shatter the land and do whatever they wanted. But for some reason, both races couldn't bear each other; one race had to die. Since the beginning of their existence, they had fought and battled against each other. The war lasted more than tens of thousands of years. Gods and Demons battled across the continent and the ruins of war spread across the whole continent. However, the ruins were slowly buried by in dust over time... afterwards, the two powerful races of Gods and Demons suddenly disappeared mysteriously from Azeroth Continent. After a long period of time, the human race slowly rose... Of course, these are only legends told by traveling poets and storytellers. But, people did find quite a few mysterious ruins on the continent and gained a ton of incredible items from them. Even the training methods of energy and magic powers extremely popular on the continent right now were discovered from the ruins. People had gotten magic items and devices, wealth, energy technique scrolls, magic training scrolls... and much, much more from the ruins. 'Once you acquire a Mythical Ruin, you will obtain everything.' That was the golden rule on the continent. Level 9 Barcelona Empire, the number one empire on the Continent, and a few other Empires such as the Milan Empire, Chelsea Empire and Anfield Empire all rose to power and got stronger after they discovered large scale Mythical Ruins. Even our Manchester Empire was no exception; the great imperial creator Master Matt-Busby created the Manchester Empire after he discovered a great Mythical Ruins and acquired of its resources."
As the mage spoke, a rare and proud expression appeared on his face. The man named Busby must have been super powerful.
Chapter 73.1 – Means of a King (1)
After Fei heard everything the mage said, he had some ideas about what was going on.
The so called Mythical Ruins was similar to a pirate's buried treasure. If anyone was lucky enough to find an unexplored Mythical Ruins, they would obtain magic devices, training scrolls, and more from the gods' and demons' era. And if those items were utilized properly, even if the so called Eindhoven Empire tried to wage war against Chambord, Chambord wouldn't be scared.
"Alright, you've spoken enough. Now give me that map!" Fei reached out his hand and smiled, "Sir Elvis, you're right. It looks like we will have many opportunities to cooperate... Eh, but before that, give me the map so I can inspect it. What if the map and what you said were all fake?"
"Haha...Cough, cough...Hehehe, young man, do you think I'm an idiot?" The mage coughed up mouthfuls of blood as he spoke with a ridiculing expression on his face. "I'm afraid that as soon as I hand over the map, I'll be turned into a corpse."
Fei didn't get mad at all. He squatted down and tapped the mage's shoulder and winked as he said: "How could I? Sir Elvis, I've already swore an oath to the God of War with my honour as a King; how could I trick you? Plus, to explore the Mythical Ruin at Chambord, I will need powerful mages and warriors to help me. You are exactly what I need. Hahaha, we have a common interest and need each other's help. Why would I kill you now?"
After hearing Fei's words, the mage started hesitating.
Throughout the ages, there were two things on Azeroth Continent that people weren't allowed to tarnish; the first one was the Principles of Knights, and the second on was the Honour of a King, especially the kind of oath that Fei did in honour of the King to the God of War. Originally, Elvis would have believed Fei, but for some reason he felt that the king in front of him was kind of sketchy and slimy and not very dependable.
Fei's expression turned cold after he saw Elvis' hesitation.
He 'humphed' as he stood up and suddenly switched to Necromancer Mode. A cloud of cold and dark death energy surrounded him. Fei raised his hand and pointed at a location. "Crash!" Something incredible happened; the mage's eyes opened wide and his eyeballs almost fell out of his head.
In the splashing blood, a vicious skeleton holding a bone shield and bone blade climbed out of a dead mercenary's corpse. The skeleton made "cracking" sounds every time it moved; it was the sound of bones grinding on each other. With two black holes in its eye sockets and white bones, it looked like the demons from hell.
Necromancer – [Raise Skeleton].
"Ah? You..." The mage started trembling as if he was freezing. "You're...a....actually an evil undead mage? I...I...I..."
Fei slightly frowned.
He surprisingly sensed a familiar energy from the mage. It was also a dark death energy. Although it was weak and pretty well hidden inside the mage's body, it couldn't stay undetected in front of Fei who had the power of a level 6 Necromancer.
"Haha, this is pretty unexpected. Sir Elvis, you actually know undead magic. I won't say anything more. If you hand over that map peacefully, we can still cooperate friendly and explore the ruins together.... otherwise, you know that to a Necromancer like myself, even if you die, your soul can't escape from my palms. I have many ways to "refine" and torture your soul. You'll give me the map sooner or later, so why would you want to go through all the pain and trouble?"
The white cloud of death energy spun crazily in Fei's palm. Fei tried to put on an evil and sinister look as he threatened the mage.
Fei honestly felt like he was a super villain in the superhero movies and was torturing a sidekick to get some secret about the superhero. "You don't have to go through all of this...". Fortunately, he wasn't the Joker and the mage wasn't Robin.
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The mage looked at the ferocious skeleton and hesitated a little. He eventually handed over the map to Fei. Although he was tortured quite a bit, he still had enough magic power to open up his own storage ring. Fei's incentives and threats made the mage dubious, but he ended up making the hard decision. He raised his hand and a folded map made of a mysterious material appeared in his hand. "Young man, this is the map. You have to be a man of your words. Without a four star mage, you won't ever be able to open and explore the Mythical Ruin. You won't get anything from killing me."
Fei grabbed the map and opened it to inspect it.
The map wasn't small; it was a square map about 3 yards (m) on each side. It was made from an unknown yellow material and felt weightless. The map itself had a weak floating force; Fei shook the map, causing it to completely open itself in the air. Mountains, hills, rivers, lakes, forests... Numerous terrains were recorded on it. It contained a wide area and many various colored circles and dots marked a lot of areas. The notes on the map were in strange characters. Fei felt like those characters were familiar, but he couldn't figure out where they were from.
Although it was the first time that Fei had seen this map, his intuition told him that Elvis didn't give him a fake map to trick him.
Fei waved his hand; "Crack!" the skeleton warrior shattered into a pile of bone fragments. He also switched from Necromancer Mode back to Barbarian Mode. The thick death energy that surrounded him disappeared as if it never appeared.
This change made the mage's eyes shine in greed.
His wasn't a talented mage; he followed and studied under the moon ranked master Ferdinand for more than twenty years, yet he was only able to reach the power of a four star mage. He was once mocked by everyone in the Manchester Empire. However, due to his greed for power, he wasn't able to resist studying undead magic which could advance and give him power quickly. As a result, he was shunned and prohibited by the "Overlord" on the Continent – The Holy Church. Due to the fear of other people finding out about it and sending him into a pit of fire, he hid his undead magic powers in his body carefully and no one had found out about it yet. The main reason that he left Manchester Empire and traveled the Continent was to hide from the higher ups and powerful priests at the Capital of the Empire. Fei's method of hiding his undead magic power in the body gave him a huge hope. If he could learn the method, he could then train and study undead magic to the limit and wouldn't have to worry about the priests finding out about it.
After seeing the bones fragments on the ground, Elvis was a little relieved.
It looked like that young man in front of him didn't have any intention to kill him; he was needed for the exploration of the Ruin. "This is great. After I recover and restore my powers, I'll pretend to cooperate with this king and slowly take control of Chambord in secret, as well as figure out how he's hiding his undead magic powers. By that time, I'll sneak attack and kill him with a surprise...Hehehe, I can monopolize the resources in the Ruins and no one will know."
"Young man, I have already given you the map, please heal me quickly. I can't hold any longer..." The four star mage Elvis reminded Fei.
"Ah? Okokok. I'm a man of my words..." Fei folded the map back into a small square and put it into the storage space in his belt. He then took out a bottle of [Healing Potion], squatted down and said, "Sir Elvis, it's my pleasure to cooperate with you. After we join forces, we can keep the Ruins all to ourselves. Hahaha..."
"Haha, young man, you made the right decision." Elvis was finally relieved. He smiled, but an undetectable viciousness flashed through his eyes.
"Unfortunately, you made a not-so-right decision..." Fei's expression suddenly turned cold and his hands instantly grabbed the mage by his neck. With some force, "Crack!" Elvis' upper spinal cord and throat were cracked into pieces.
"You..."
The sign of life slowly disappeared from Elvis' eyes. His was stunned up until his death and the smile on his face still hadn't faded away. Never in his wildest dreams would he have understood why the young king in front of him dared to kill him. He knew that the king needed a powerful mage to open and explore a Mythical Ruin. How and where could the little Chambord Kingdom recruit a suitable mage?
Of course, if he knew that Fei had the confidence and ability to advance to a four star mage in the Diablo World, he wouldn't have given up that map so easily. Also, Fei didn't swear to God of War under the name and soul of Alexander, but how could Elvis had known that the real Alexander and his soul was already gone.
"With a snake like you, how could I attempt such an impossible cooperation?" Fei shook his head and whispered.
This mage named Elvis had devastating power and had a strong background. Also, with his vicious mind, Fei didn't dare heal him back to full health. If he became careless for a moment, he would lose the whole game and get bitten by the poisonous snake. By that time, the fall of the kingdom and the slaughtering of civilians would occur in seconds. The story of the farmer and the snake was told by Aesop thousands of years ago. Fei wasn't dumb enough to use his warm body to save a vicious poisonous snake.
Chapter 73.2 – Means of a King (2)
The secret about the Mythical Ruins, the history of Chambord and the death of the Prince Mateja-Kezman of Eindhoven Empire would be forever buried in this Iron Prison – Water Dungeon. No one would know except for Fei. No one could blame Fei's ruthlessness. On Azeroth Continent which followed the "rule of the jungle", Fei couldn't allow himself to be negligent, not even once.
"We maybe similar, but luck just wasn't on your side."
Fei took out a bottle of [Mana Potion] and sipped some down his throat. He had to replenish the mana that was depleted when he used [Find Potion]. Then, he pressed his palm on Mage Elvis' corpse and lightly roared and used the ability [Find Potion]again.
"Plump!"
A sound from heaven rung in Fei's ear.
"Yes!"
Fei was stoked. Another bottle of green [Hulk Potion] appeared in mid-air; it shined a mysterious light. The weak newborn-like spirit energy surrounded the bottle and gave Fei a feeling of intimacy.
Fei put this precious bottle of [Hulk Potion] back in his storage space in the belt and thought for a second. He switched to Sorcerer Mode and shot a few [Fire Bolts] onto the corpse lying on the ground and the bone fragments left by the skeleton warrior. The remains burned into ashes, destroying the last bit of evidence.
After the corpses were burnt, Fei's eyes landed on the magic armour and a few magic weapons and devices that belonged to the silver masked knight. Except for that, in the ashes, Elvis' storage ring wasn't destroyed by the fire; it was still shiny, giving Fei an unspeakable temptation.
Fei knew that with Elvis' power and background, there must've been a lot of treasures and valuables in his storage ring. Moreover, the silver masked knight was royalty from a level 4 Empire, so his amour and items had to be valuable. If he rewarded them to the leaders in Chambord, the strength of Chambord would increase. Even if he didn't distribute them to the others and sold them off on the black market, he could get a lot of useful resources in return.
"But.... it's too dangerous."
Elvis and the prince had a ton of status. Their items would attract a lot of attention. If someone found out about them and traced their origins back to Chambord, many incidents would be instantly exposed. Neither Fei nor Chambord would be able to bear this level of risk and danger. Fei had to take out any kind of dangers right off the bat and do all he could do to give more time for Chambord to grow stronger. Fei wasn't powerful enough to take on the Level 4 Eindhoven Empire.
Fei felt his heart breaking.
But finally, he made up his mind and shot out a ton of [Fire Bolts] at the ring, armour and items. He burned them in the fire and tried to destroy these valuable items into a pile of junk to eliminate any possibilities.
However –
"Eh? Not afraid of fire?"
Fei surprisingly found out that although the fire covered and buried the ring, armour and items in it, after a few minutes had passed, there were no signs of them melting or being destroyed. The blue magic power was still surrounding the armour, and the ring was still shining a white light. No matter how the fire burned, they were still maintained their form.
"Looks like treasures are truly treasures, but what should I do? These things will be the causes of disasters..." Fei tried [Ice Bolts] and [Charged Bolts]; he even switched back to Necromancer Mode and tried to destroy the items using his death energy, but it was no use. He also wanted to try to crush them into small pieces, but after thinking about the different situations that might occur if the magic items were shattered into pieces and the magic power in them were released, he didn't want to do that anymore. After a while, he ended up putting all of them into his storage belt and decided to destroy them later when he became more powerful.
At this time, there were only a few iron chains left in the concealed room. Fei calculated the time and realized that he had stayed at the Iron Prison ��� Water Dungeon for more than three hours. It was probably dark outside already; it was time to leave.
But before he left, there was one more thing that he had to do – test Warden Oleg.
"Oleg, come on in!" Fei shouted.
Warden Oleg rushed in a couple of steps. As soon as he arrived, he surprisingly found out that all the prisoners had disappeared. What was left were three sets of iron chains and five piles of black ashes. He knew that the three mercenaries and the mage were all killed, and their corpses were burnt alongside the silver masked man's corpse. He suddenly felt devastated and was even more scared of the young king's ruthless heart. He didn't even dare to take a long breath as he stood behind Fei timidly.
"Oleg, tell me, when you rushed in earlier, what did you see?" Fei asked causally.
But Oleg on the other hand was shocked by the question and started to sweat like crazy. He thought that Fei wanted to kill him, so he kneeled down and begged, "Your Majesty, please forgive me. I beg for your mercy! I didn't see anything. I only...only saw Your Majesty studying the carvings and lines on the stone wall... Please pardon me!"
Fei looked at Oleg who was shaking as if he was having a seizure and smiled. "Get up, when did I say that I was going to kill you?"
"Thank you, Your Majesty!" Oleg didn't dare resist Fei's command. He stood up as his body shook in fear.
"His highness – the God of War created a miracle and restored my intelligence four days ago. In these four days, too many situations occurred. I've gained a rough understanding of the situation in Chambord the past three years. The evil conspirator Bazzer abused his power and threw the kingdom into chaos and persecuted my citizens. The former Military Judge Conca also assisted him in his conspiracies. Bazzer fled and is now getting chased, and the latter was executed by me. You, Oleg, helped Bazzer in executing a few of his evil plans in the past three years. Even if you die a thousand times, it's not enough to quell the public anger..."
Oleg started shivering more and more as he heard Fei's words. As if he was walking on a tightrope between skyscrapers, he felt his heart was about to burst out of his chest while his body was being kept in a freezer. As he heard the last sentence, he kneeled down to the ground and started to beg for mercy again.
Fei looked at him and continued, " I'm not a brutal killer. You followed me to the stone bridge that day to battle our enemies; you killed forty-five enemies and injured yourself while saving four of your companions' lives. All of these things were clearly observed by me. That counts as you redeeming yourself, so I didn't punish you for what you did before... Merits shall be rewarded and wrongs shall be punished. This is my governing principle of the kingdom. Your companions such as Brook, Pierce, Drogba have all received great rewards, and you were the only one who remained at the same position without obtaining any rewards. Have you ever complained about it?"
"Your Majesty, Oleg wouldn't dare do so...I understood that Your Majesty was pardoning me on purpose, so you sent Mr. Brook to the Prison this morning to give me a heads up and allow me some time to prepare and get rid of all the bad things in the prison to make up for all the mistakes I've committed. Your Majesty is gracious and I'm very grateful of it. I'm willing to give up everything I have to assist Your Majesty, even if I have to bleed to death!"
"Eh, as long as you understand." Fei said lightly, "Right now in Chambord, Brook is intelligent, but due to his integrity, he lacks the necessary roundness. People such as Pierce and Drogba are all great warriors on the battlefield, but their heads aren't that good. Uncle Lampard hates political affairs and Uncle Bast is tied down by other duties. Chambord is only lacking someone like you who is shameless, slimy, deceitful that can do the dirty work for me. I have the intention to use and depend on you, but..."
Fei paused deliberately for a few seconds here.
Oleg knew that Fei wanted. He patted his chest and swore, "To the God of War, I, Oleg am willing to become the most loyal hyena of His Majesty Alexander. I shall be on the front line wherever he points. If my words and deeds don't match, I shall go to hell when I die and face torture for an eternity."
"I'm not a huge believer in oaths..." Fei continued, "I emphasize practical actions. There are a few things that I need you to do for me as soon as you can. I will wait for your performance."
"Please order me, Your Majesty. I will do my best!"
Chapter 74: The Right to Chase Dreams
"Eh, first of all, I feel that this Iron Prison – Water Dungeon is very dark and humid. There isn't any sunlight in here all day; the entire environment is horrible. I also read in the documents that many weak prisoners died in the prison due to illnesses that weren't treated in time. This proves that this place isn't too suitable for keeping prisoners, especially since the citizens of Chambord are simple folks. Even if they commit a crime, they are likely only minor offenses. Disputes between neighbours and minor offenses shouldn't be treated this way. Therefore, I have decided construct a simple prison outside of this underground maze to keep all the minor offenders. Oleg, take care of that for me as fast as you can."
Oleg was surprised.
He didn't expect that the first thing the King wanted him to do was this. Logically speaking, this Iron Prison – Water Dungeon was 100% secure. No one had escaped from here in centuries; it was the perfect prison. However...Oleg didn't dare to object and question any of the king's decisions. He quickly flattered the king to show his loyalty, "Your Majesty is kind and very compassionate towards your subjects. Please be assured that I will build this external prison in the shortest amount of time."
Fei nodded and added worriedly, "Eh, great. But you have to remember, don't disturb the public and don't forcefully recruit citizens into compulsory labour...Hmm, the tattered Healing Facility for wounded soldiers is unbearable to look at. How about you just bring some people and fix that place up; transform it into a simple prison. The Kingdom currently has limited financial resources, so just do some simple repairs to it."
Oleg knew it was an opportunity for him. He immediately took it upon himself, "Your Majesty, Oleg will bear all the costs associated with repairing and transforming the new prison. The Kingdom doesn't have to spend a penny."
Fei was waiting for Oleg to say that.
He smiled as he tapped Oleg's shoulder and agreed, "Eh, I'm very pleased by your loyalty. Remember, my governing principle distinguishes between reward and punishment. If your merits and sacrifices are valuable and recognized by all the citizens, I won't let you suffer any loss."
After he said that, Fei smiled as he walked toward the exit of the water dungeon.
Oleg was excited when he heard those words of encouragement.
Even his shoulders that were tapped by the King's hand felt warm. He knew that transforming the prison was a great opportunity for him. He made a decision that he would do a good job of completing the operation, even if it took all his wealth. Moreover, the King had clearly hinted that he didn't just need to satisfy him, but also the citizens as well... This kind of hint gave him more confidence.
...
...
After leaving the dark and gloomy prison, Fei sent away the guards and slowly walked towards the city centre on his own through the path on the mountain as he enjoyed the beauty of his kingdom under the sunset.
He accomplished a few things today: revamping the Iron Prison – Water Dungeon and surprisingly discovering and acquiring the precious Map of the Mythical Ruins. Fei was hyped; under the beautiful scenery and sounds of nature, he had the urge to roar into the sky.
Under the sunset, everything seemed golden. It was supper time, and smoke from cooking curled up across the residences. Birds returned to their nests and leaves returned to their roots.
Fei was walking leisurely in the castle; he was in no rush to get back.
He wanted to observe the daily lives of his citizens close up. Every scene was new and fresh to Fei who just gotten to this world. It was as if he walked into a fantasy world; the stone structures and building, huge stone statues of Gods, exotic culture, and everything around him were things that he had never seen before. Beside opening his eyes, he had a strange feeling that he was merging into this world.
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This castle was quiet and peaceful, as if it was in heaven.
Fei's "fame" in the kingdom was unparalleled; there wasn't a single person that didn't recognize him. When he was walking on the street, people came up and greeted him frequently. Although there was a huge status separation on Azeroth Continent, it wasn't like ancient times on Earth where subjects had to kneel down to the empire every time they saw him. That saved Fei a lot of trouble. He smiled and responded back to them as he walked in the castle and enjoyed the exotic sceneries. He was surprised to find that he was slowly getting attaching to this small remote kingdom and becoming a part of it. The feeling of inseparability grew in his heart crazily like grass after a heavy rain.
"Hey, you sly Zacker, stop running!"
Children's laughter sounded beside Fei's ear. A clumsy boy rushed out of a dark alley and crashed into Fei by accident. The little guy opened his crystal blue diamond-like eyes widely and stared at Fei. A bunch of kids were chasing behind him, a mix of boys and girls. They were dirty; they all had dust on their little faces and wrinkled clothes. They smiled as they saw Fei.
Fei was surprised to see Pierce's 12-year-old daughter Louise in the crowd. The girl who looked like a pretty and delicate doll was currently messy. Her red hair was scattered around her shoulders, and a few dark mud stains "decorated" her white face. It was hard for Fei to relate her to the girl who was cold and mature and willing to become his lover if he saved her father. She was a child after all; she would show her childish and playful side when she was playing with kids in her age group.
"It's King Alexander..."
The moment that Fei recognized Louise, she had also recognized Fei as well. An undetectable shyness and slyness flashed on her face. She and her friends quickly surrounded Fei.
Soon, the citizens of Chambord discovered something very interesting.
As if they found a new favourite toy, more and more mischievous kids formed a circle on the small square. They sat quietly on the ground as they rested their heads on their knees and burst into laughter occasionally. In the middle of the circle, it was their supreme King Alexander who was telling stories to the kids. He had a bright smile on his face; just like the traveling poets and storytellers, he held kids in his lap and arms and told them stories and tales, disregarding the dirt on their clothes.
"God of War, thank you for your generosity for giving us such an brave and honourable king."
Everyone who saw the scene felt something growing in their hearts. Originally, some women were looking for their kids for supper angrily with a broom in their hands. However, after seeing their kids listening to King Alexander's stories, they were surprised and delighted. They all stood on the side and waited patiently.
...
In the middle of the circle.
"Haha, alright. That's enough for today. There are more stories to the adventure of the Evil Master Mage Bumblebee and his lazy servant Sam. If you guys want, I will tell you guys more tomorrow. It's dark already, quickly go home and eat your supper!" Fei rubbed the dirty face off a little guy who was sitting beside him. He then stood up and slapped the dirt off of his butt and smiled as he ended the storytelling session for today.
"Oh...I don't want to go home. It's so boring." The kids murmured as they complained.
The little guys wanted more. They all stared at Fei as they were reluctant to leave Fei. It made Fei feel very proud, as if he had won a war. He laughed, " You guys are still young. When you grow up, you can become prestige mages and honourable warriors. Just like Bumblebee, you guys will have experiences and adventures with your servants..."
"But we can't become mages and warriors... Your Majesty, my dad only knows how to work with metal. I can only become a blacksmith." A boy said in pity.
"Yeah, no mage would want to teach kids from an ordinary family, and we don't have energy training scrolls..." Another boy said in wrinkly clothes. "My family is too poor. We can't even have full meals. My dad said that he will send me to Viscount Lousie's mansion to become a servant..."
"Only nobles and rich merchants in Chambord can afford getting a Mage or warrior teacher for their kids..." The red haired Louise added as she winked her eyes. "Only if someone is willing to teach us... it's too bad, but my lazy dad doesn't know anything about energy, humph!"
The kids were all suddenly disappointed. The smiles disappeared from the little dirty faces and they were replaced by sadness that didn't belong to kids of their age. They all wanted to become heroes, but the cruel reality murdered their dreams at the infant stage. The low social status and pressure for survival took away their right to chase after their dreams.
After seeing the sad and disappointed faces, Fei felt his heart ache.
Suddenly, a lightbulb flashed in his head and he had a terrific idea.
...
After he returned to the palace, the servants had already prepared the dinner. Angela and Emma were no where to be found; Fei felt a bit strange. The royal "chefs" skills were not that good; for the last couple days, except for roasted meat, bread and milk, there were only fruits. Fei was already over them, but he had to get some food into his stomach. After eating a few bites, he walked to his private quarters in the palace. He wanted some peace and quiet so he could think through the couple of important plans he wanted to execute.
At this time, Angela finally returned with Emma.
"Where did you guys go? I haven't seen you guys all day." Fei smiled.
"Hehehe, Your Majesty, did you miss Angela?"
Emma winked at Fei as she pushed Angela into Fei's arms. She giggled, "it was quite a coincidence. We bumped into Princess Tanasha in the Royal Canonization Legion and chatted with her for a long time... Your Majesty, her highness is very friendly. She didn't talk to us with any air of superiority. She had a good conversation with Angela...Hehe, she also asked a lot of things about Your Majesty."
Chapter 75: The Time Has Come
After hearing Emma's words, Fei sensed something.
How could it have been so coincidental that the Eldest Princess bumped into Angela on the street and had such a heart to heart conversation that took the whole day? That princess of Zenit Empire was very cunning. Angela and Emma were both too naive to be Tanasha's match. Fei was almost certain that the princess intentionally "met" them to steal a lot of information calmly and collectedly.
Although he knew what was going on, Fei put on a smile, "Really? Hahaha, who doesn't love a girl like Angela? It looks like the eldest princess of the Zenit Empire was charmed by our beautiful Angela, hahaha... Oh right, Angela, what did you talk about with her highness the whole day?"
"We talked about a lot of stuff..." Angela blushed due to Fei's bold praise, and a shy expression appeared on her face. She pretended to fix her hair calmly, but she looked down and was too shy to look at Fei. She continued, "Her highness was very interested in Chambord's history. We talked about a lot of old stories from when the old king was still alive, the current influential figures in Chambord, eh, and of course the Defensive War that just ended... Alexander, her highness really admires your actions when you took on the entire enemy troops by yourself. She said that you're a brave and intelligent king that is worth of all our respect."
Fei could only bitterly laugh at that in his mind.
The two naive girls completely fell into that elder princess' trap. After today, Tanasha probably knew all the things that she should and shouldn't have known; including all the mysterious, bizarre incidences that happened to Alexander in the last couple days.
"We also talked about...Ah?" As Angela was speaking, she suddenly gasped. This pure, flawless girl finally realized something; she raised her head and looked at Fei and asked timidly, "Al...Alexander, did I say something that I shouldn't have said?"
Fei smiled as he shook his head, "No, the things you said aren't important...Oh, Angela, let's not talk about that now. I have something to show you. You should give me some recommendations." Fei grabbed Angela's soft hand and walked towards the main palace. Angela pretended to try to pull her hand away, but after a few "unsuccessful tries", she "gave up" and let Fei hold onto her hand. Emma who was behind them saw the whole thing and started giggling...
Emma didn't follow them.
Fei didn't want Angela to know what really happened. Even if Angela didn't talk with Tanasha, she would definitely find about what happened in Chambord through other means. He never expected to hide everything from Tanasha.
They soon arrived at the main palace.
Fei took out a delicately tanned soft animal skin that was as thin as paper. He also took out a quill and started to draw on it. Although he was studying to be a linguist, he loved making sketches and was quite good at it. Quickly, a series of vivid drawings appeared on the animal skin.
Angela stood on the side and watched quietly, from confusion to a rough understanding, to staring at Fei in surprise. The smart girl finally knew what Fei was drawing on the animal skin when he was almost finished – They were a series of designs of strange looking clothes.
"Hehe, done!... What do you think?" Angela, take a look. If we make clothes according to these designs, would you want to wear them?" Fei pointed at the animal skin and asked proudly.
The designs that he drew out were thoughtfully selected. After taking into account the history and culture on Azeroth Continent, he didn't draw any outrageous outfits such as jeans, stockings, and mini-skirts. There were a total of 10 designs. The five female designs closely resembled European Crinolines; Fei intentionally referenced the females dressed in Pirates of Caribbean and tried to make each design very classy. The five male designs were closer to modern day men's clothing. The main change was that Fei add on trousers – Chambord's custom of men not wearing any pants was very uncomfortable, so Fei added pants into the designs.
Angela held the animal skin in her hands and stared at the designs. Her long eyelashes fluttered as if they were lightly brushing and tickling Fei's heart... She looked at them closely and opened her pretty mouth in surprise, "Alexander, these dresses are so beautiful, I like them a lot….. But, what are these things for?" Angela pointed at a few parts on the designs and asked curiously.
Fei took a look at those parts and patiently explained the function of each piece. A few dresses in Pirates of Caribbean were pretty sophisticated and complicated to make. Fei greatly simplified them using his understanding, but Angela still took the trouble to ask several times... Fortunately, women were born with a great instinct on clothing. At last, after some in-depth explanations, Angela had completely fallen in love with these 5 sets of female clothing designs.
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"I can't wait to put these on!" the beautiful girl said.
Fei laughed.
It seemed like human's pursuit for beauty was common, no matter where one was. The 10 designs represented an era and civilization, and they quickly conquered the future queen. This gave him a bit more confidence on one of his future plans.
"Angela, I might be very busy the next few days. Could you and Emma help me make these sets of clothes and see how the results are?" Fei asked.
"No problem. Aunt Sophia, Laura, Danny, Uncle Lawrence and I are very close. They are the best tailors in Chambord. We can definitely make these clothes in the shortest amount of time." Angela was very happy that she was finally able to help Alexander out. She agreed without any hesitation.
"Haha, that's great." Fei was stoked. He rolled his eyes and suddenly said again, "Angela, to thank you, I decided to design a special gift for you."
After he said that, he picked out the quill again and started drawing on another sheet of animal skin.
Angela was overjoyed. She couldn't wait to see what Fei had specially designed for her. However, until Fei finished, she had no idea what was being drawn on the animal skin. There were three thin ribbons connecting two circular cloths together. Although it looked familiar, the naive girl couldn't figure out what it was for. "Is this also clothing? How do I wear this thing? Where do I wear it?"
After seeing the puzzled look on Angela's face, Fei whispered into the girl's ear to explain....
"Ah....It's..."
Two red clouds suddenly appeared on Angela's fine white face. She stared at Fei "angrily"; her bashful expression suddenly took away the color in the whole world. The girl covered her face and ran out of the main palace.
...
...
In the next few days, a couple strange incidences occurred in Chambord.
The first thing was that the greedy and vicious Warden Oleg dramatically changed his attitude. He unexpectedly spent his own money and fixed up the old crumbling Healing Facility for the wounded soldiers. He also started renovating the place. According to his words, he was following the king's command and building a new prison to keep prisoner who committed minor crimes.
It was a great feeling.
The citizens of Chambord could finally get away from that terrible hell-like Iron Prison – Water Dungeon. Before, a few citizens who only got locked up for a few months because of disputes and fights between neighbours died in the prison due to illnesses caused by the humid and cold environment. The new prison would definitely solve that problem. After considering it, a lot of citizens volunteered in the operation of building the new prison. Oleg was surprised and stoked at the same time. With more manpower, the duration of the project could shorten by a ton.
The second thing was that every night, the brave and honourable King Alexander would appear on the stone square on the north side of Castle and tell stories to the kids in the kingdom. Quickly, the story of the Evil Mage Bumblebee and his servant Sam, the Holy Druid Garfield and his summoner beast friends traveling to the west and slaying the dragon, the pure snow and the seven dwarf warriors who help defeat the female Lich King and free her kingdom, started to spread in Chambord through the kids. Gradually, except for the kids, even adults started to come to the square and listen to the king's stories.
After a few days, the people surprisingly saw King Alexander wearing a set of strange looking clothes that no one had seen before. Although the clothes looked strange, the citizens of Chambord quickly got use to it. After seeing it for a while, the citizens gradually felt that the clothes worn by King Alexander were great. The two "cloth tubes" looked especially good and kept in a lot of warmth.
Finally, on the eighth day, Fei arrived on the square and brought a whole carriage of those special clothes. As a present, he gave them to the kids and the poor families. It was approaching late autumn and the weather was getting colder and colder. These clothes could help the poorer citizens stay warm.
Of course, Fei also wanted these clothes to become popular in Chambord through this method – his lowest goal was to at least let the citizens start to like to wear pants.
The third thing was that at the tenth day's evening after Fei finished his story session, he announced a new law as the king – All the kids between the age of 6 to 15 had to take out one hour everyday to receive all kinds of training from the Chambord Civil and Military Acadamy. It was also recorded into the Kingdom's Law Book, so it had to be complied with, and no parents could stop it or else it would be considered illegal.
The so called Chambord Civil and Military Academy was established in the mansion of the former Head Minister Bazzer. After some simple restructuring, the environment and the condition were very good. What made everyone go crazy in Chambord was that the teachers in the Academy included people such as the number one warrior Frank-Lampard and the new military Guru Brook. King Alexander even personally took on the role of Principal at the Academy...
After hearing of the teachers and instructors at the Academy, everyone scrambled to put their children into the Chambord Civil and Military Academy.
Some poor families were still worrying about the high cost, but after hearing that the Academy didn't charge any fees, all their fears vanished. On Azeroth Continent where people followed the rule of the jungle, there wasn't a single parent that didn't want their kids to become strong warriors or powerful mages. These dreams were unreachable for them, but after hearing King Alexander's command, their unreachable dreams were getting closer to them than they ever imagined; they could even smell it. They all knew that the word "gift" was more fitting than the word "command"; it was the generous gift from the kind King Alexander. Letting their kids get instructed by the strong star ranked warriors was an opportunity for their kids to change their own destinies and lives.
Great and Merciful King Alexander.
Chambord had never been so busy and cheerful these past couple of days. The young King Alexander continued to bring his subjects one unexpected surprise after another. The citizens had gotten used to wearing the good looking and comfortable trousers when they chatted and drank. When they proudly talked about their son or daughter getting praised by Mr. Lampard, they were always tempted to shout "Long live the King!", as they hit their wine glasses together, sending their young king the best wishes with stunning sounds.
...
Of course, Fei didn't relax either these couple of days.
Except for taking care of trifling matters, he spent a ton of time in the Royal Library. He read almost all the books and his understanding of Azeroth Continent grew exponentially. At the same time, Fei didn't give up on studying the various skills from the Diablo World. His Barbarian was already level 20. the Sorceress was level 10, his Paladin was level 12 and his Necromancer Character was level 12...
He also had accumulated about a dozen bottles of [Hulk Potion]. Through these days of research and experimentation, Fei almost fully understood the effects this "mutated potion". He felt it was time to use this potion to enhance the strength of the leaders in Chambord.
Chapter 76.1: There's one more bottle (1)
Since more than ten days ago, the little second commander of the King's Guards was promoted by the young King Alexander to the number one seat in Chambord's Military. Brook now had control over all the military power in Chambord and was called one of the [Two Gurus] in Chambord along with the new Head Minister Bast. One star warrior Brook's future skyrocketed and became one of the most influential figures in Chambord, above everyone else except for one person. Even the richest merchants who didn't even bother to acknowledge him before would now put on a big smile on their faces, invite Brook to their parties frequently, and send him gifts and cute maids. People visited his place from morning till night everyday. The hinges on his door were almost worn out because of it.
If it was anyone else, this huge change in status would probably make them dizzy and get them carried away. However, this warrior born in a poor family had finally shown his integrity, boldness and flexibility. To anyone who was trying to network and befriend him purposely, his principle was quiet surprising – he would neither accept or coldly reject them. He would mildly satisfy everyone that came to his door.
He used painstaking effort in order to achieve this – Chambord was currently greatly weakened after the war and needed to recover. Moreover, in half a year Chambord would have to take on another life and death challenge in Zenit's Military Practice. King Alexander said that the goal in front of them was to unite all the powers and strength they could and build up Chambord quickly with the least amount of resources. Therefore, Brook didn't want to stimulate any hidden conflicts between the young king and the old school nobles. He had to at least maintain a superficial friendliness.
Except for burying his head into rectifying military affairs, Brook spent a lot of his time on reforming the military planning. It was his main objective for the next thirty days. King Alexander had mentioned a few requirements and also vaguely expressed some stunning ideas. Brook carefully studied and thought about these ideas; the more he thought about it, the more excited he got. There were many things that he never considered. He was even confused and didn't understand when the king mentioned them for the first time. But slowly, he felt that those ideas and plans were impeccable. After tailoring those ideas to fit them into Chambord's current situation, Chambord would experience an enormous change for the better.
Of course, as the power in his hands grew heavier and heavier, Brook also felt huge unprecedented pressure.
After King Alexander returned to normal, his strength and long-term vision both increased at an astonishing rate. Recently, during a chat in their free time at Chambord's Civil and Military Academy, the number one warrior Lampard actually implicitly admitted that the King's strength had increase to a level that he couldn't even estimate. He probably couldn't even defeat Alexander.
That left people such as Brook and Pierce a ton of pressure.
They knew that if they wanted to follow the king and battle and bleed for Chambord, they had to improve their strength; that was essential. If they couldn't keep up with their majestic king, they would be gradually left behind and eventually become useless men.
During this time, the strongmen such as Pierce and Drogba "got" a set of strange training methods from the King and started to excessively train themselves everyday. Brook on the other hand was busy with military affairs and had limited time to train. He gradually felt that he was falling more and more behind and there was nothing that he could do.
When he was struggling one day, Fei sent his guard Fernando-Torres to Brook along with a king's command – "Mr. Brook, His Majesty has asked you to head to his palace right away. There is something very important that His Majesty wants to talk to you about."
Brook was lost; he didn't remember Fei previously telling him that he wanted to discuss an important matter today. He followed Torres to the main palace.
After he stepped into the palace, he was surprised to find out that the First Commander of King's Guards Peter-Cech was sitting down on a chair and having a conversation with King Alexander. Except for the two of them, no one else was in the palace.
"Haha Brook, you got here just in time. I have something very important for you two to see."
After seeing Brook's arrival, Fei laughed as he walked down from his throne that was surrounded by two lion-like monster statues. He tapped Brook's shoulder and suddenly opened up his palm. Cech and Brook both felt something flash in front of their eyes as a small green bottle appeared in Fei's palm. A green liquid was stored in the elongated crystal bottle...It had a light touch of magic power.
"This is..." Both Cech and Brook were surprised.
"Hehe, this is a violent energy potion that I recently put together..." Fei explained with his nonsense. He spoke proudly, "But I prefer calling it [Hulk Potion]. Hehehe, this is a very magical potion...." Fei paused a little bit to create more suspense.
"[Hulk Potion]? That name is very strange..." Brook could feel the light magic power hiding within the potion. He subconsciously asked, "Your Majesty, what's the special effect of this potion?"
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"Of course, Hehehehe, it has the effect of instantly increasing one's strength by a few times..." Fei wanted to show off. "It sounds like the [Mad Potion] that magic pharmacists put together, but the difference between the [Hulk Potion] and those low class [Mad Potions] is that the strength enhancing effect is permanent!"
"Permanent improvement?" Cech and Brook were both flabbergasted. They stared at the potion in Fei's hand and gasped involuntarily, "How is that possible? Could this be one of the epic potions from the legends?"
Under the mage classifications on Azeroth Continent, there was a branch of magic pharmacists. These magic pharmacists could create a lot of strange potions. The potions all had different effects, and due to the differences in effects and materials required for each potion, there were many ranks from low to high. The epic potions from legends were one of the highly ranked potions. They all had incredible effects and there were a few recorded epic potions that could permanently enhance one's strength...
But those were all items from the legends. Epic potions could only be created by epic leveled magic pharmacists, they also need a lot of rare and precious raw materials. These raw materials would even be considered rare by the level 8 and 9 super powerful Empires on the continent. Fei casually took out a potion that he claimed to have the same effect as epic potions, so Cech and Brook naturally had a hard time believing their eyes and ears.
"Ah? Epic Potion? How is that possible, I don't have any of those precious raw materials to make such a potion..." Fei read a ton of books in the Royal Library, so he knew what the epic potions that the two were talking about was. He rolled his eyes and rejected that idea while smiling, "Hehe, although the [Hulk Potion] has such a powerful effect, it has a terrifying side effect... that's why I hesitated for a long time before telling you guys about it. If you guys can endure through the side effect, the real effect would definitely be satisfying. The potion is here, if you wish, you guys can decide among yourselves who wants to give it a try."
"Terrifying side effect?"
Brook and Cech looked at each other in unison. The shock in their eyes quieted down a bit. They believed this explanation a lot more. If the potion didn't have any side effects and could enhance one's strength permanently and flawlessly, then this [Hulk Potion] would definitely be ranked as one of the epic potions; it would be too precious.
Brook hesitated for a few seconds, and suddenly raised his head and said, "Let me try it out!"
The date of Zenit's Imperial Military Practice was getting closer and closer. There was nowhere that Chambord could back off to. If Chambord lost in this event, their kingdom would be gone. Even though Chambord had two trump cards – Lampard and King Alexander, the military practice was based on the total score for the ten matches. There was no way that the Kingdom could depend on just the two of them. If Chambord wanted an overall win, other people's strength had to improve as well. Time was tight, and to Gordon-Brook who was single-mindedly focusing on increasing his strength and fighting alongside the king, the potion in front of him might've been dangerous, but perhaps it could be his last and only opportunity.
Brook made up his mind and reached out for the bottle of green potion.
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Note: I split this chapter into two parts because the chapters are pretty long and Big Udon is pretty busy, so he sends me the translated version in parts so that I can edit it as he translates and so that I won't have to edit super late at night. Don't worry, despite the chapter being split into two parts, it still only counts as one chapter!
Chapter 76.2: There's one more bottle (2)
However –
"Whoosh!"
Peter-Cech who was standing quietly beside Brook suddenly moved first and grabbed the [Hulk Potion]before Brook did. He pulled open the lid on the bottle and chugged down the entire bottle.
"You..."
Brook panicked.
Cech was only pardoned more than ten days ago by the King and barely got out of Iron Prison – Water Dungeon alive. He got ill from the moist and dark environment and the torture in the prison, so his body was very weak. His two energy swirls that represented his two star warrior strength and status was torn and ruined by the former Head Minister Bazzer's vicious methods. All of his two star energy had mostly disappeared and his strength dropped significantly. Although he could get it back and return to being a two star warrior, it would take a long period of time. Cech's body was at its weakest stage; by taking this [Hulk Potion] which had a terrifying side effect, if he wasn't able to endure through it, his life might even be on the line...
He knew that Cech didn't want him to take the risk which was why he took the potion first.
At this point, Brook was very nervous. However, there was nothing that he could do. He could only stare at Cech closely; he didn't even dare to blink his eyes, because he was afraid that he might miss some signs of dangers.
Fei on the other side was secretly laughing to himself shamelessly.
After a few seconds, the side effects that Brook was worrying about appeared –
At first, a bright green light suddenly appeared on Cech's forehead between his eyebrows. It gave off an indescribable magic power. Then, it gradually began to spread downwards in a cloudy fashion. The green light became more and more dense, and soon Cech's head was dyed in green, and even his hair became green as well. It seemed very strange.
As the same time, drops of sweat the size of beans started dripping down his green forehead. The muscles on his face also started twitching unconsciously. Clearly, he was under unimaginable pain.
Brook was shocked.
He turned his head and looked at Fei, and found that he didn't panic at all. Instead, he had a faint smile on his face. This calmed Brook down a little bit; he held back his worries and concerns and continued observing Cech's state.
That green light was getting thicker and thicker and started spreading onto Cech's whole body. Starting from his head, it quickly covered his neck, chest, waist, arms, hands and legs...After more than tens of seconds, the First Commander of the King's Guard Peter-Cech had become a green person. Even his arm hair was glittering green like a jade. This condition was no different than getting poisoned by exotic toxins. What worried Brook more was that he could clearly see that it was as if there was something alive that was drilling and surging underneath Cech's skin. It created many bulges that continued rushing around in Cech's body. The blue veins bulged and sweat dripped down like rain...This process was obviously extremely painful.
"No wonder why it's called [Hulk Potion], Cech is getting bigger and bigger." Brook thought.
Fei had a chill when he saw that.
Fei tried the potion on himself when he was doing the experiments, and the pain of the body enhancement was unbearable; it was like having tens of thousands of ants crawling through his body and devouring every bit of his muscle, having someone cut the flesh off of him piece by piece and deep frying his entire body...even though Fei was tough, he didn't want to experience this hellish pain ever again. This was especially true since the [Hulk Potion] wasn't effective on Fei.
After half a minute, the painful expression on Cech's face toned down a bit, and the dense green light dimmed down. Suddenly, a powerful sensation came off of Cech's body. Brook was very familiar with this sensation. He often felt this sensation from King Alexander. It was the sensation of a breathtaking and dragon-like pure physical strength. What surprised him even more was that this sensation was getting stronger and stronger. This meant that the strength in Cech's body was increasing very quickly.
After another minute, the greenness on Cech was almost negligible, and the sensation finally stopped growing stronger.
"Huh-"
Cech exhaled heavily and finally opened his eyes.
He observed his body and felt the long-lost strength. This strength was even more powerful than his former strength at his peak. He was so excited that tears filled his eyes. Before when his energy swirls were destroyed by Bazzer, he felt hopeless and thought that he was going to become a useless man, but now the light of hope shined through the dark clouds. He instantly turned around and kneeled down before Fei and said with an uncontrollable excitement on his face, " Thank you, Your Majesty! I have recovered...I can feel the monstrous strength in my body, and the energy channels in my body have widened by a few times. I can restore my two star warrior's energy at my peak state in less than half a year..."
Cech was so excited that his sentence structures weren't making any sense.
After some rough observations, Cech had completely understood the effect of the [Hulk Potion]. Although his energy swirls didn't come back, his physical strength and his body's firmness had reached an unimaginable level. He could fight a two star warrior with pure physical strength. The effect didn't just stop there. What made him more excited was that the channels that the energy flowed through in his body was widened by a few times. This meant that when he started training his energy, his improvement speed would be faster than other ordinary warrior by a few times... The actual effect of the little [Hulk Potion] was far superior than the epic potions in the legends.
Fei said calmly with a serious face, " Peter, don't be so overjoyed. [Hulk Potion]'s terrifying side-effect hasn't completely passed yet."
"Ah?" Cech and Brook who were finally relieved were surprised again when they heard that. "What other side effects are there?"
"It's this green light. See? The greenness on your body hasn't fully disappeared yet. According to my calculations, it needs three to five days to completely go away."
Cech asked with a strange face, "Your Majesty...eh, was the terrifying side effect that you were talking about before this greenness over my entire body after taking the [Hulk Potion]?"
"Yes, yes." Fei held back his laughter and nodded firmly. "This greenness will take a long time to disappear; isn't that terrifying?" But right after he said that, he couldn't hold back anymore and started laughing loudly like a kid who had just pranked someone successfully. His kingly temperament instantly disappeared.
Cech and Brook felt like they were about to faint.
That counts as a terrifying side effect?
"Brook...I..." Cech was a little bit embarrassed at this point. He was originally worried about the "terrifying side effect" and took the potion before Brook could react; he wanted to take on the risks himself. Who knew that the king was only joking? Now, it looked like that he had jacked Brook's opportunity of becoming stronger. It didn't matter if it were merits or official titles and positions; Brook deserved it more. Cech instantly regretted his action.
"Mr. Cech..." Brook was still used to calling his former leader mister. " You're being too polite. If Chambord can get another powerful warrior and increase the chance of us winning the upcoming Zenit Military Practice, it doesn't matter who takes this potion." Brook's words were really sincere and didn't feel fake or superficial at all. Cech didn't know what to say. Fei on the side nodded secretly. He knew that he had chosen the right person. This one star warrior was just, dependable and had integrity. The best part of all was that he was extremely loyal to him.
"Actually, you guys don't need to panic, hehehe..." As Fei was speaking, he flicked his wrist and another bottle of [Hulk Potion] appeared in his hand out of nowhere." I have a few more bottles of this potion!"
Chapter 77: Teleport Portal in Real Life
Cech and Brook were about to go crazy; both of them stared at Fei with "resentment". At this moment, they finally knew that they had been pranked by the young king and everything was a friendly joke.
Brook drank the other bottle of [Hulk Potion] in excitement.
In his prior experiments, Fei had tried the potion on animals like chickens, pigs and cows, as well as on a few heinous prisoners on death row. He had accumulated a good understanding regarding the effects, dosage, side-effects and long term effects. After experiencing the indescribable pain, Brook gained a huge boost in strength. His physical strength was enough to take on a two star warrior. The energy channels in his body had also expanded. This had a more significant long term effect; it meant that Brook who was average in terms of energy training had suddenly become a genius at it.
To maximize the efficiency of the [Hulk Potion], one would need to train. Therefore, the remaining potion was still stored in their bodies. When looking at them closely, the greenness on Brook's and Cech's skin could still be seen. They looked at each other and laughed.
The king's action of continuously taking out such potions with ridiculous effects had shocked both Brook and Cech. If this information leaked out, many people would fight and start a war to get their hands on the potion. They now knew why the King talked to them in private; except for Fei's personal guard Fernando-Torres, all the other guards had been dismissed.
"[Hulk Potion]'s effect is astonishing, but it doesn't accumulate, so it only works once. The effect will be minimal if you guys take it again. However, you guys shouldn't relax on your training... I do have some extra potions on hand, but there aren't a lot. They're all for the improvement of Chambord's overall strength. You two are the ones that I trust the most, as well as ones who took the [Hulk Potions] first. Remember, this matter must be kept confidential and can never be exposed. For the reason of your increase in strength, think of ways to explain it yourselves... We have to be very careful on this matter. You guys know exactly why we must be."
After their excitement, Fei returned onto his dual lion statue-clustered throne on the stairs and suddenly switched back to Paladin Mode. The holy and majestic temperament of a level 12 Paladin instantly filled the hall; the majestic sensation surged in the hall like tides. At this time, Fei had restored the King's superior prestige, controlling everything like an inviolable god.
After hearing Fei's words, Brook and Cech finally knew that they were the first ones that touched the [Hulk Potion]. Their hearts were filled with gratitude; they felt their blood boiling. Both of them kneeled down and said in unison, "Rest assured, Your Majesty! No one will know about this!"
Fei nodded in satisfaction.
He suddenly opened his hand and another bottle of [Hulk Potion] appeared in his palms. He pushed it out and the level 12 Paladin's aura wrapped around the potion and slowly flew into Brook's hand.
Fei continued, "When you get back, immediately choose two hundred loyal soldiers with clean backgrounds. Then, dilute this bottle of [Hulk Potion] into four barrels of clean water and feed it to the two hundred soldiers in the next three days. This way, although they won't receive the same benefit that you two received, it will still be a good boost in the soldiers' strength and physique. Remember, these two hundred soldiers will be the elite force that participates in the Zenit Imperial Military Exercise. We couldn't afford any kind of carelessness. They must be carefully selected; loyalty comes first, and ability comes second. It would be the best if all of them were born in Chambord...Brook, after you finish that, hand these soldiers over to Commander Cech and let him train and direct them. I want the two of you to build an invincible iron force for Chambord in the next six months. Can you two accomplish it?"
"Yes, Your Majesty. There's absolutely no problem!"
Brook held onto the potion tightly as if he was holding the key to a peerless treasure. He said with full confidence, "With the help of this [Hulk Potion] that can compare to epic potions, we can absolutely construct an elite force of terrifying strength. Our chances of winning in the Military Exercise half a year from now will increase by a lot."
Even Cech who was taciturn nodded excitedly and said, "Your Majesty, Peter-Cech guarantees to build you an invincible iron force in less than six months!"
Fei nodded.
He wasn't concerned about accidents that might occur when using [Hulk Potion]. Before when he was testing the [Hulk Potion], he discovered a satisfying phenomenon – regardless of whether it was a human or an animal, after taking the full potion and enduring a few minutes of severe pain worse than death, the test subjects all had a huge boost in strength and instinctively developed a heartfelt dependency towards Fei, which made them become more loyal towards him. It was like the emotions that kids had toward their parents. After some deep thinking, Fei believed that this phenomenon was caused by the weak spiritual energy in the potion. When every [Hulk Potion] was created, they all contained some weak spiritual energy in them, as if they had lives and had some intimacy towards Fei, like a newborn lingering onto its mother. It seemed like that weak spiritual energy quietly affected the user of the potions' soul and increased their loyalty towards Fei.
The incident of [Hulk Potion] had come to an end. In the next ten minutes, Fei and Brook chatted about the restriction of Chambord's military. Fei wasn't some kind of military genius, so he only briefly outlined some main principles from his memories and knowledge from Earth. However, it deeply inspired Brook. During the chat, Cech also gave some great recommendations. Fei realized that this First Commander of the King's Guards was also quite talented in military affairs. During the chat, Brook happily recorded three full animal skins worth of notes. After seeing that it was getting late, Brook and Cech got up and bowed as they left the palace.
10 Places All Men Must Visit While They're Single
Nueey
Finally, only Fei and his personal guard Fernando-Torres were left in the hall.
After he felt the shiny eyes staring at his back, Fei turned around and saw Torres staring at him eagerly. Fei knew what he was thinking and directly asked, "Fernando, do you also want a bottle of [Hulk Potion] to increase your strength?"
Torres hesitated a little; he knew that the potion was extremely valuable and limited. However, he wasn't able to resist the temptation of power and kneeled down as he answered honestly, "Your Majesty, it's my greatest honour to be able to follow you. I want to fight for Your Majesty, but I'm too weak; I even have a hard time holding up a sword... Therefore, I beg Your Majesty to grant me a bottle of [Hulk Potion]."
"One of the [Hulk Potion] is yours, but I can't give it to you right now..." Fei gestured Torres to stand up as he continued, "The effect of this potion is significant, but the potion itself is extremely brutal. An ordinary person is not able to endure the unbearable pain during the body transformation process. If you pass out, it would damage your body severely. Both Mr. Brook and Mr. Cech are strong warriors that have fought numerous battles, and they have the basic strength and mental toughness to handle the painful process and successfully benefit from the potion. You on the other hand are still too weak and can't bear the brutal impact of the potion. If I give you the potion now, it would be a disservice...If you want to quickly reach the minimum requirement to take the potion, go find Pierce and Drogba. Train with them according to the method that I gave them. Once your body becomes strong enough, I will give you the potion."
After hearing Fei's explanation, the expression on Torres' face turned from the initial disappointment to hopefulness. He clutched his fists excitedly and said, "Thank you, Your Majesty. I will go find Mr. Pierce right now..."
After he said that, the blonde boy turned around and rushed out of the hall.
Fei looked at the boy's back and laughed quietly.
After his observations for the last couple of days, the blonde boy Fernando-Torres had great potential. He was clever, thoughtful, brave and honest; he had all the necessary qualities of a true warrior. He also grew up in Chambord and was loyal to the kingdom. He looked up to Fei as an idol and worshiped Fei as a god. Fei had no reason to not promote this young man.
The only thing holding him back was that Torres was still too young, so Fei wanted to sharpen him a little bit more first.
However, the brutal damage of the potion that Fei was talking about was true; he didn't exaggerate in the slightest. In his prior experiments, there were a total of eighteen sheep, thirty-three pigs, and numerous little animals such as chicken, ducks, and geese that had died from the potion. Even most of the heinous prisoners Oleg brought to Fei who were on death row died during the process of the body transformation. This was the dark side of the potion.
Fei sat in the hall for a little bit longer and thought through everything that had happened and made sure that nothing was left out. He exhaled slowly as he switched to Barbarian Mode. After looking around and making sure that no one was around, he stared at the open space in front of him and inexplicably whispered, " Elena... You can come out now!"
As soon as he finished, a slight buzzing noise sounded.
A small blue flash of brilliance appeared in the mid-air that grew larger and larger. Soon, it formed a huge blue oval shaped "door". It gradually stabilized itself as blue light circulated on its surface. It was actually a portal from the Diablo World! Then, a beautiful figure slowly emerged through the portal and appeared in the King's Palace.