In the garden, four mercenaries were lying in a pool of blood. One of them was blackened, and the other three had fatal slashes. It was not hard to tell from the wounds who killed them. The spatial Mage was lying on the ground, his face swollen and his chest rising and falling. He was probably still alive. Perhaps Uther intended to recruit the spatial Mage for his own use, or maybe it was just for intelligence. It was hard to say.
"Is Karl dead?" asked Barbara.
Liang Lidong replied, "He's dead. Not even his bones are left."
Barbara was rather upset. She said in confusion, "Karl was cold, but I always asked him when I had questions about magic when I was little. I learned a lot of theoretical knowledge from him. He should've been close to the Longman family. Why did he betray us and Hollevin?"
Liang Lidong shook his head. "He didn't betray Hollevin. He only betrayed the friendship of the Longman family. I don't know what kind of person Elric, who has a grudge against you, is, but I believe that he's at least a native of Hollevin. Your struggle is nothing more than an internal struggle of the nobles of Hollevin, not a betrayal of the country. "
Barbara was even more confused. "Then why did he betray the friendship of the Longman family?"
"Because he couldn't see any hope in the Longman family," said Liang Lidong casually.
"Just because I'm a woman?" Barbara looked at Kail and said, "My husband will be in charge of Winterwind in the future. I don't have to manage the government of Winterwind. If he's dissatisfied with me, he can talk to me, and we can discuss why he should join the enemy of our family if Winterwind is to be revived. "
"Actually, that's just an excuse." Liang Lidong looked at Uther who was silent. "The real reason is that the Longman family can't support two Mages at the same time. Barbara, you're very talented. To become a qualified Mage, you'll have to spend a lot of gold coins. Learning magic and improving magic require money, and a lot of money. Personally, I estimate that three thousand gold coins is just the beginning, and six thousand is the normal budget. Although the Longman family has run Winterwind for hundreds of years and accumulated a lot of gold coins, you are a family of soldiers. However many gold coins you have, you can't have more than ten thousand! Although Karl's spiritual space is unstable, his aptitude is actually higher than yours. It will take more gold coins to train him. It's not that I'm belittling the Longman family, but you really can't afford two sorcerers at the same time! Your father would never give up his own daughter to raise an outsider. Karl understood this, and that's why he left. "
"If I'm not mistaken, your enemy, Elric, is very rich. Or perhaps the family behind him is very rich. That was why he could afford to hire a sorcerer as an assassin and persuade Karl to work for them. In this world, large amounts of gold coins can sometimes be converted into personal strength! "
Barbara asked in surprise, "Father, is that so? How many gold coins have I spent all these years learning magic? "
Uther smiled bitterly and did not speak. It was a tacit agreement. Greatly frustrated, Barbara mumbled to herself, "So, Karl's departure had something to do with me. It would have been better if I didn't have magic talents."
"Alright, what's done is done. There's no point in regretting it." Uther comforted her. "You are my daughter. Should I help an outsider if I don't help you? Learning magic is a good thing. We finally have a spellcaster in our family. I'll raise you into a first-class sorcerer even if I have to sell the castle. So, don't worry about money. "
Barbara nodded, but she didn't look too happy. Kyle stood at the side, deep in thought.
Liang Lidong's words were not only for Barbara to hear, but also for Kyle to hear. Liang Lidong knew the hardships of sorcerers very well. In fact, money was only a minor problem. What was most troublesome was analyzing the spells. Because the player Mages had received systematic education, most of them were highly educated. They were adept at research and knew how to learn new knowledge. Besides, because of the Internet, the player Mages could communicate with each other and discuss collectively in chat rooms.
However, NPC Mages were different. They had indeed received a certain amount of education, but it was not systematic. Moreover, they often kept it to themselves. Whenever they came up with something, they would keep it to themselves, unwilling to share it. Liang Lidong had seen too many NPC Mages stumped by a magic model that they had painstakingly obtained. They couldn't learn the spell after analyzing it for years.
On average, the player Mages were much faster at learning new spells than the NPC Mages. Even so, the player Mages still felt that their youth was wasted on analyzing spells, not to mention the NPC Mages.
Liang Lidong snapped his fingers and canceled Mist Manipulation. The mist in the castle gradually dissipated, and the nobles who couldn't see the way all cheered at this moment. They looked around for their friends and family, and for a moment, the garden was very noisy.
"We'll go back now." Liang Lidong pointed at the second floor that was still burning. "I know you have a lot of things to deal with later, so I won't bother you any longer. Send someone to Reed Village for the reward for helping you deal with Karl and the others when you have time. "
Uther said in surprise, "Aren't we comrades? It's too hurtful to talk about money. "
"Hehe, who's your comrade?" Liang Lidong clicked his tongue. "If my reward is gone, I don't mind becoming a second Karl."
"I've never seen such a greedy ascetic believer!" Uther mumbled.
Liang Lidong burst into laughter. "I'm a believer of Goddess Woking. It's only natural that I love money."
Uther was stunned for a moment. He had never heard of the title "Goddess Woking", but he could guess from Liang Lidong's words that this god's priesthood was mostly related to money. He chuckled and changed the topic. Barbara went to the underground of the castle and canceled the magic barrier.
As soon as the barrier was canceled, a large group of cavalrymen rushed into the garden from the drawbridge. The leader was a woman who looked similar to Barbara. Her chainmail was stained with blood and she looked quite anxious. Her eyes searched the garden, and when she saw Uther, she immediately dismounted and ran to him, throwing herself into his arms. "I was scared to death outside just now. Are you okay? Where's Barbara..."
"Let's go!"
Taking advantage of the gap between Uther and his wife, Liang Lidong pulled Kail away.
Crossing the drawbridge with a group of panicking nobles, the two quickly found the old village head, who was waiting anxiously. When he saw his grandson come out and there was no blood on him, he immediately relaxed.
The three of them sat in a carriage on a remote road. The driver was still Kail, who was silent the whole way. When they were about to reach the village, he finally spoke. "Teacher, you said that as long as I can stand in front of Barbara, you will teach me combat abilities. Do I pass?"
"Of course."
Liang Lidong had originally planned to teach Kail to become a professional. Letting him dance with Barbara was nothing more than a way to facilitate a good relationship between a boy and a girl. Moreover, in the battle just now, although Kail did not do anything, his calmness was extraordinary. It could be seen that his willpower far surpassed that of ordinary people. This kind of person was very suitable to become a professional.
"Do you plan to focus on magic or continue learning swordsmanship?"
"Swordsmanship!" Kail said without hesitation.
"Why aren't you learning magic?" Liang Lidong asked with a smile.
"Learning magic requires too much gold," Kail replied. "Even the mayor's family can barely afford a Magician, our family …"
The old village head's face darkened as he listened. Although he did not approve of his grandson becoming a mercenary, he would not object if it was to become a Magician. After all, Magicians had a high status. But now his grandson had given up on becoming a Magician because of his family's circumstances. In the old man's eyes, this was his responsibility. He did not have the ability, and could not even earn the money for his grandson to learn magic.
"Since it's decided, come find me tomorrow afternoon … Yes, and call Belin."
When the carriage returned to the village entrance, Liang Lidong first returned to his little straw hut. He lay on the bed and stretched comfortably. After a tiring day, he could finally sleep well.
Joan Of Arc jumped down from his shoulder and asked, "I understand that you want to teach Kail to become a professional. He is indeed a good seedling. But why do you want him to call Belin? Belin is not suitable to be a melee professional. "
"But she is suitable to be a Priest! Being a Priest does not require physical fitness. Normal intelligence and a pious attitude are enough. " Liang Lidong said, "After a few days of observation, I found that she is very focused, even better than Kail. After the establishment of the Woking Goddess Shrine, there must be someone besides me to deal with daily affairs. If Belin can become a believer, she will be of great help. Besides, if she becomes a believer, it will only be good for her. "
"Then why do you want to help them for free?" Joan Of Arc asked again, "According to the knowledge I got from you, it generally costs a lot of gold to teach others to become professionals. I don't believe the two of them can afford it."
Liang Lidong smiled and did not speak. In the eyes of players, character experience was the most important thing, and money could only be ranked second. Teaching Kyle and Baylin would give him some extra experience, so why not? If he wanted to earn money, it wouldn't be too difficult. He just needed to put in some effort.
But Joan Of Arc misunderstood. "You are too kind. Forget it. You are the master. I can't control you."
It walked to the corner of the bed, rolled up the blanket, and fell asleep.
The next day, Liang Lidong got up, opened the character system, and found that he had gained 23 experience points last night.
"Killing monsters above my level really gives me more experience!"
Liang Lidong exclaimed, and then went to the river to teach the group of little guys how to read and write.
Soon it was afternoon. Kail dragged Belin to the woods behind the mountain. Because he wanted to teach swordsmanship, Liang Lidong asked him to make a few wooden swords. Kyle's face was full of excitement, while Belin's face was full of confusion. She didn't understand why Lord Beta had called her to this place.
"Belin, do you want to become a priest?" Liang Lidong asked.
The girl was stunned for a moment, and then her face lit up. "Lord Beta, can I become a priest?"
"I can't guarantee it, but you have the potential." Liang Lidong patted the girl's head and said, "It depends on whether you are serious enough and diligent enough!"
"I am willing. Teacher, please teach me." Belin was very clever. She immediately changed the way she addressed him.
Liang Lidong used the wooden sword to make a mark on the small tree next to him. Then he said, "Sit on the grass and stare at this mark. Don't blink or move. Even if a bug bites you, don't move. Do you understand? If you understand, start immediately until I tell you to stop. "
Belin nodded and immediately ran to the small tree and sat down. She stared at the fresh mark.
"It's your turn now." Liang Lidong looked at the excited Kail. "I heard you say that you learned a set of swordsmanship from the mercenaries in the city. Show me."
Kail took two steps back, picked up the wooden sword, and began to swing it vigorously. The wooden sword cut through the air, making a whining sound. It looked quite powerful. After about six minutes, Kail put away his sword. He was sweating profusely. "Teacher, how is it?"
"Bullshit! " Liang Lidong mercilessly mocked, "You call that swordsmanship? The mercenary who taught you swordsmanship is just messing with you!"