Azure Scepter

Page 96

Suddenly, a scream rang out from the street.

Trier instinctively turned his head to look.

On the street, a hooded elf moved nimbly and swiftly through the gaps in the crowd, followed by a strange man in black armor.

The strange man walked with heavy steps, dragging a handsome young man along as if he were a dead dog. The strange man crashed into the crowd, causing people to fall over. The madam was knocked to the ground, and the peacock feather fan floated lightly into the mud.

"Hey, hey, how can you all be so barbaric! Radiance, why are you dragging someone along?! Paladin! Paladin! Quick, save him!"

The madam screamed and looked out the window.

The little girl picking the lock was so frightened that her fingers trembled.

The next moment, with a "click", the shackles were pried open.

The little girl was overjoyed. She immediately picked up the backpack she had prepared in advance and carefully jumped out of the side window. After hesitating for a moment, she quickly followed in the direction of Futia.

As she disappeared into the alleyway, the scene crumbled like shattered glass.

"Click."

The scene changes again, but this time, the scene is no longer vivid and coherent; instead, it is a series of blurry images like slideshows.

“These are fragments of the future, or more precisely, fragments of the future that are highly likely to happen,” the group explained.

Trier nodded slightly, then immediately focused his attention on the constantly changing images in front of him.

From a certain perspective, the information we see later is the one that truly helps us find the vessel of Lady Bloodthorn, while the information we see earlier is more about secrets from the past.

blink.

—In a dimly lit dungeon, the handsome Bishop of Vercingetorius held the little girl's wrist with a kind expression. Behind him lay corpses, and the dim light of the oil lamp cast a long, deep shadow of him.

The little girl was deathly pale, her face covered in bruises and wounds.

Blink again.

In a magnificent theater, Edith, her face covered in blood, knelt on one knee, leaning against a broken holy sword. She used her body to protect the little girl with pigtails behind her, while the little girl looked on in despair.

Edith's gaze was resolute as she faced a terrifying, towering mummy. The mummy was surrounded by ghostly shadows, its withered silver hair peeking out from its ill-fitting black robe, and its slender, dry hands resembled those of a decaying mummy from an ancient tomb.

Beside this mummified corpse, which looked like a lich, were fully armed soldiers and priests, including an otherworldly servant with pure white wings, and next to the otherworldly servant were several ferocious-looking tomb knights.

Edith's emerald green pupils reflected the dense array of blade tips as she gripped the hilt of the broken sword, her knuckles turning white.

The last blink.

—In a dark alley, several refugees surrounded a little girl. They were thin and bony, and their sunken eyes reflected a greedy and fierce light.

The little girl held up her left hand, in which a pale fireball burned quietly, the flames making her lips appear white.

In the shadow cast by the flames, a blond paladin could be vaguely seen, gripping the hilt of his sword tightly, his muscles taut.

“That blond paladin is the one arguing with the madam outside the brothel,” Trier said, narrowing his eyes slightly. “He’s the key to finding the little girl.”

"It's time to go back."

With this thought in mind, Trier raised the guiding lamp and chanted a few syllables of a spell in a low voice. In the next instant, everything around him was completely swallowed up by the deathly white ripples that spread through the space.

"boom!"

In the eerie and terrifying corridor, Granny Lor lowered her head and carefully read the book in her hands, "The Application Principles of Spell Sequencing in Magic Counterspelling, and Exhaustive Case Studies".

P.S.: This is just a filler chapter.

Chapter 192 Apprentice

The paper was yellowed, and the dim blue light of the lantern illuminated the text, casting indistinct shadows that swayed with the lamplight, making them difficult to see clearly.

But at this moment, Granny Lor was completely engrossed in watching. She nodded from time to time, frowned from time to time, and sometimes even stretched out her wrinkled hand and scribbled on the dusty ground like graffiti.

Granny Lor was often amazed by the ingenious ideas in the book and smiled at the witty remarks. The old woman's hoarse and sharp mutterings mingled with the wailing that came from the cramped and gloomy corridor, as eerie and bizarre as a witch brewing human bone soup.

As she read, Granny Lor put down her book, stretched her arms, and gave a long yawn.

She covered her mouth with her hand, yawned, and stared at the familiar yet eerie scene, involuntarily recalling the past.

Logically, when making a dream prophecy, the various scenes should be driven by magic and switch between each other, thereby revealing fragmented information and revelations about the "container".

However, in Granny Lor's subjective consciousness, a month has passed, and the surrounding scenery remains unchanged—it is still that cramped, filthy, and gloomy corridor filled with screams and groans. She seems to be frozen in this place, unable to receive any revelation or information.

She originally intended to end the spell and return to the Prime Material Plane, but remembering Trill's instructions before he left, Granny Lor decided to grit her teeth and stay here.

After all, in a place like this where time is disordered and chaotic, no matter how much time has passed in her subjective consciousness, as long as 10 minutes of time has passed in the prime material plane, she and Trier will automatically return.

She blanked out her mind for a few seconds, and once her energy returned, she immediately encouraged herself: "I can't waste any more time, let's continue!"

Before she finished speaking, she immediately immersed herself in reading "The Application Principles of Spell Sequence in Magic Counterspelling, and Exhaustive Case Studies".

To be fair, this book is a bit too profound.

When she first entered the dream prophecy, she casually flipped through a couple of pages, but the obscure and difficult sentences, the incredible principles and formulas, and the logically absurd reasoning were like cold, sharp blades that shattered all her interest.

However, because she was deep within the collective dream, she was unable to move or eat, and the scenes did not change for a long time. She could only stare blankly at the corridor every day. So, out of sheer boredom, she had no choice but to force herself to read.

During the first week, she felt that the book was just the ramblings of a madman, with incoherent sentences, nonsensical vocabulary, and content that was all the delusions of a mentally ill person.

But in the second week, she suddenly realized that the book was trying to reconstruct the structure of magical symbols, replacing the existing traditional symbols with simpler and clearer ones. Through these simple symbols, a wonderful and rhythmic beauty was presented to her.

She was deeply moved, as if a musician who had been deaf for a long time had suddenly regained his hearing, and information from another dimension of the world opened its arms to her.

This book not only imparts knowledge, but also teaches real methodology!

By the third week, she had managed to grasp the basics of "The Application Principles of Spell Sequence in Magic Counterspelling, and Exhaustive Case Studies." The elderly court sorceress had begun to understand the logical arguments presented within. With each sentence she read, she experienced a profound sense of comprehension, and the various confusions that had troubled her in the past were dispelled by the book's elegant and powerful reasoning. All her worries and perplexities were constantly vanishing.

By the fourth week, she was even more engrossed in what she was watching. The novelty she had felt long ago when she was a magic apprentice just beginning to learn magic had returned! The joy of research and learning was back.

The more she studied the book, the more she discovered its contents. The book was like an endless treasure trove, and with each step forward in her knowledge, countless more pieces of knowledge rapidly unfolded before her.

She learned for the first time that protective spells were used in this way.

“I see, I see…” Granny Lor’s eyes were fixed on the words, her old brain working at high speed, her synapses reconnecting during her focused study, sparking countless new ideas and inspirations.

At that moment, a sincere sense of respect arose in her heart.

Trill is a truly admirable master of magic!

Generally speaking, mages are extremely stingy and greedy, no less so than dragons' desire for treasure. They rarely share their knowledge, but Trier selflessly shared his knowledge with her!

Granny Lor sighed deeply, feeling extremely ashamed.

A magic master of Trier's unimaginable skill would never have any designs on Princess Edith. After all, someone with such magical abilities is unlikely to be bothered by trivial worldly matters. And someone with such a noble and selfless heart, even if involved in worldly affairs, could only do so out of kindness, not for any other purpose.

In just one month, the elderly Granny Laura's impression of Trier had undergone three drastic changes:

Her impression of Trier changed from a boastful young nobleman trying to seduce the princess to an ancient lich plotting to overthrow the kingdom; then, this negative impression, mixed with fear and vigilance, transformed into an unfathomable master of magic; and now, it has become a morally upright and selfless model of a mage.

“No wonder His Highness trusts Trier so much. Alas, I’m getting senile.” Granny Lor sighed and muttered to herself.

The next moment, a flash of white light appeared, and Granny Lor instinctively closed her eyes.

Trier is back!

With an agility unbecoming of someone her age, she abruptly stood up and then said quite warmly, "Sir, shall we go back now?"

The time traveler was stunned.

Why is this hostile old lady suddenly so enthusiastic?

His gaze quickly swept across the ground, and he immediately saw the creased copy of "The Application Principle of Spell Sequence in Magic Counterspelling, and Exhaustive Case Studies," which had been turned over and was now crumpled. He instantly understood the reason.

—That tattered book was thrown to me to prevent Laura from getting bored and causing trouble. It wasn't anything valuable. Many of its arguments were too crude, the conditions were not fully considered, and many of its principles could be considered outdated even by today's standards.

But now it seems that Granny Lor benefited greatly from it...

He shook his head almost imperceptibly.

He was indeed the court mage of the Orco people.

Wait, I'm an Orko person now, so I'll refrain from using that proverb in the future.

He took a deep breath, suppressing his lingering dissatisfaction, and asked kindly, "Have you finished reading?"

Laura nodded, then shook her head; the elderly woman now displayed an expression like that of a young girl.

"Thank you so much, sir! I have learned a great deal! Could you lend it to me for a few more days?"

Trier stared into the other person's eyes, and his initial contempt suddenly dissipated considerably.

—This elderly court monk was serious; she genuinely wanted to learn something.

Whether before or after his time travel, Trier held immense goodwill towards sincere seekers of knowledge. He firmly believed that in learning, sustained effort and passion were far more important than so-called talent.

Trier narrowed his eyes slightly.

Granny Lor immediately looked uneasy, clutching the hem of her clothes tightly.

The next moment, Trier shook his head.

"No."

Granny Lor pressed her lips together in disappointment.

Sure enough, her previous offensive behavior had thoroughly offended this venerable master. Although so much time had passed, she still felt a lump in her throat.

"I'm sorry, sir, I was greedy. I could have easily..." she said with some remorse.

Before Laura could finish speaking, Trier waved his hand impatiently.

“Let me finish—you can’t take something like this out of the world,” Trier explained. “If you want to see it, I can rewrite it for you when we get back to the Material World.”

Granny Lor suddenly opened her eyes wide. Amidst the ups and downs, she felt a little dizzy.

At this moment, Trier's figure seemed to grow taller in her eyes, and the gloomy and cramped corridor seemed to have transformed into a golden temple of knowledge.

Granny Lor even felt a little ashamed of herself—Terrell's heart was so open, and the other party was indeed a genuine paladin.

The time traveler put down the lantern and continued, "If you have any questions, you can come to me at noon every day—alright, it's time to go back."

The world spun around him, and Trir was back on the prime material plane. Before he could even look around, a series of cobalt blue messages flashed across his eyes.

"The Battle of the Dreamlands [Legendary Battle]: In early April of the Year of Stars and Crimson Moon, deep within the Dreamlands, you shattered the boundary between the Dreamlands and the Dream Realm with terrifying magic, annihilating the remnants of the Balrog Bagnatro, and simultaneously slaughtering high-ranking succubi skilled in spellcasting. This battle permanently altered the Dreamlands and spellcasting environment of the Eraf region. Your terrifying power instilled deep fear in some of the Dream Realm's native inhabitants, while certain powerful beings have begun to closely and anxiously observe your actions—over time, your legendary status among demons has increased by 8 points, and among the Dream Realm's native inhabitants by 11 points!"

Chapter 193 Return

Trier glanced around briefly to make sure it was safe, then turned his attention back to the information panel.

Now, his legend among demons has reached 20 points. It can be said that among some demons in the Abyss, his reputation is almost comparable to that of some well-known lesser demon lords.

"If we're talking about it like in a game, these legends would give me an extra 20 points for persuasion, intimidation, acting, and deception when I'm dealing with demons," Trier thought to himself. "It's really bizarre that my reputation among demons is greater than it is in the Material Plane."

He took a deep breath and then looked at his experience points.

This unexpected adventure earned him a whopping 180000 experience points!

Because he didn't suffer the aftershocks of slaughtering the dwarves, he not only gained the "Giant Slayer" personal feat but also a massive 130000 experience points. According to his calculations, if he had chosen to slaughter them normally, the aftershocks of those dwarves would have provided at most around 20000 experience points—because he did a good deed, he received nearly six times the amount of experience.

"Generally speaking, the actual benefits of doing good deeds are far less than those of doing bad deeds, but this time is truly an exception." He thought to himself, "It's a bumper harvest, so it seems that sometimes doing good deeds is quite good."

"I have enough experience points to level up." He glanced at the job information, then silently ordered, "Give me some!"

[XP-167000!]

[Paladin lv14→lv15!]

[Based on your Intelligence modifier and primary class upgrade, you have gained 21 free skill points.]

[Based on your main profession upgrade, you have gained 2 skill points]

Trier casually tossed his skill points into the Orco Cross Sword Technique skill tree, then looked at his feat points.

Without any hesitation, he immediately threw 1 point into the "Robust" feat, which could be stacked repeatedly.

Reality and games are different, so even a little more leeway is always good.

[Specialty Point - 1]

[You have acquired the feat "Robust (2)!"]

[Strong (2): Exercise makes you strong. Through long-term training, your physique has far surpassed that of people of similar level. Your well-trained body is approaching the limits of ordinary people. You gain a large amount of extra vitality and stamina based on your level.]

A warm current slowly pumped out from the heart, the gentle and warm breath brushing over the limbs like willow branches in spring. In this gentle caress, the muscle fibers seemed to slowly dissolve, but then they reformed, becoming stronger and more powerful.

Overall, Trier could sense changes, but not significant ones.

Without hesitation, he threw his last bit of expertise into "robustness".

[Specialty Point - 1]