Astartes of the Bear School

Chapter 1614 1586. Morning Exercise
Garstang Palace still stands on Thanedd Island, but now it is truly the tallest tower.

Tor Laura, the Tower of Seagulls in the ancient language. The portal was forcibly activated during the last rebellion.

Lan guessed that it was Ciri who went in to avoid Vilgefortz and the Nilfgaardians who were chasing her. The power of the ancient blood in her body opened this completely unstable portal.

The burst portal exploded, and the tower collapsed directly, thinning the mountain on the island of Thanedd that it was connected to by more than half.

Thor Laura's power is so strong that even when it is in its normal state, its existence can distort all means of space transmission within a large area.

This was also the reason why on the night of the rebellion, when the wizards were frantically fleeing for their lives, no one even opened a portal.

After all, escaping could result in failure or death, but using a portal near Tor Laura would basically mean death.

The explosion turned the entire island where Thor Laura was originally located into chaos.

The blast destroyed the thin layer of soil covering the reef, blowing away the vegetation along with it.

The greenery and decorations that the sorceresses had painstakingly arranged disappeared in an instant.

The Gastang Palace, which was already fragile due to the magic battle, was turned into a tilted tower.

But the sorceresses did not seem to have any intention of abandoning Gastang Palace or tearing it down and rebuilding it.

Instead, they left it as it was, reinforcing the already crumbling structure.

Gastang Palace was first heated and then cooled that day, and cracks appeared on the outer walls.

The entire tower looked like a candle that was lit, melted, dripped wax, and then extinguished and solidified.

It is meant to serve as a warning and memorial building.

It would be impossible for wizards to hold meetings with each other, as the wizard management organization that has lasted for hundreds of years.

The Association of Talents and Skills and the Supreme Council of Warlocks, both organizational structures disappeared that night.

Now, only Tishaya and Heng Gedimitis survived that night. The two oldest and most powerful spellcasters among humans are still alive, providing an additional layer of insurance for spellcasters throughout the north.

As mentioned at the dinner last night, many kings no longer listen to the advice of their mage advisors, and the more radical ones have already driven them out of the court.

But privately speaking, Lan En doesn't really care about this.

Because Lan En always felt that there were not many capable people among those warlocks who tried to make their presence felt around the king and devoted more energy to politics than to studying magic.

The talent for ostentation is much stronger than politics, so it is better to stay out of it.

Tishaya and Gedimitis had also expressed a sense of relief in their previous private communications.

These two old-school wizards have always wanted to change the extravagant style and hedonistic mentality of today's young warlocks.

The coup d'état six months ago did cause heavy losses, but it was also a bloody act, a bloodletting treatment for the increasingly corrupt warlocks.

But it is destined that those warlocks with enough weight will not be discouraged by a setback.

"Meow!"

A powerful yet very cute cry was heard, and three kinds of furry figures, with a layer of light red fighting spirit flames, rushed towards Lan En!

The two swords were held upside down in the fluffy ball's hands like daggers, and the whole cat passed by like a shadow.

"Look at my demon dance, meow!"

The Blade Beyblade brought Lan's mind and attention back.

The demon hunter's spirits were lifted!
The long sword that was originally casually held in his hand was immediately placed in front of him!

"Dang!!!"

[Water-Shaped Sword·Reverse Wave]!
It was like a steel pipe was suddenly inserted into the rotating fan blades, and violent sparks flew out.

As the fluff ball meowed, its relatively small body flew straight back.

The black and white mosaic bridge deck, like a chessboard, was very wide, but the reaction force caused by Lan's blocking was too great.

It seemed like the ball of fluff was about to fly out of the bridge and fall into the strait several hundred meters below the bridge!

But Lan En was not worried at all, and the fluff ball itself was not panicked at all.

"Hey!"

The light red fighting spirit burst out, and as the flannel ball flew backwards, the long sword in one hand rested on the gargoyle sculpture that served as a decoration for the bridge guardrail.

The clever use of force did not damage the sculpture or the sword blade, but instead allowed the flannel ball to smoothly hook back onto the guardrail.

The whole furry kitten stood on the top of the gargoyle sculpture with great momentum, the two swords in its hands still in stance.

"Interesting." The collar of Lan En's shirt rustled in the sea breeze through the canyon, but his tone remained calm and relieved.

But then he changed the subject: "But you're not smart enough!"

In the blink of an eye, the demon hunter appeared not far from the guardrail where the flannel ball landed.

He held the Sword of the Lady of the Lake in both hands, raised it above his head, and let out a clear and loud roar.

"what!"

【Water-Shaped Sword·Sword Energy】!
"Meow!"

The invisible air wave brushed across the tricolor fur of the fluffy ball, and the kitten suddenly became limp as if it had lost all its strength, unable to even stand. It fell from the small sculpture toward the bridge.

In mid-air, Lan En was kicking the ball like a football.

With a bang!
The fluffy ball in the air was almost kicked to the other side of the bridge!

On the way, it rubbed against the bridge surface, bouncing up and down like a stone skipping on water.

Finally, when it was about to hit the stone wall at the other end of the bridge, the fluff ball regained its strength and control of its body in mid-air.

He turned over, put his two hind paws on the stone wall, and landed lightly.

"That's awesome! Come again!"

The fluff ball instinctively bared its teeth, revealing an expression that was cute even though it looked fierce.

It is indeed furry and cute, but it is also a very persistent and dreamy hunting cat!

Even though there was a layer of armor between them, his chest still felt stuffy after being kicked by Lan En.

But it doesn’t matter, the flannel ball feels just right now!
But it was very exciting, and Lan had to stay calm.

"This isn't actual combat training, it's just a test of your proficiency in fighting skills. Don't get carried away!"

The demon hunter casually swung his sword in beautiful patterns and walked towards it with the pleasant sound of the blade breaking through the wind.

"Normally, the [Reverse Wave] just now should be enough to knock you down, but you held back the power of [Demon Dance] beforehand. This is very smart, and it also proves that you have great control over your moves. That's why you weren't knocked out by my attack the first time."

"But you still slipped up, fluff ball."

"You know exactly what kind of skill [Sword Qi] is. The more tense and defensive you are when facing it, the greater the impact you will receive. When I took that stance, you should have relaxed and calmed yourself down. But you reacted instead."

"This caused your already consumed physical strength to be directly drained away by the Sword Qi. You fell into temporary exhaustion."

[Water-Shaped Sword: Reverse Wave] is a technique that Lan En developed after training, integrating and blending the Ashina-ryu's [Tonkei].

【Dengli】is the accumulation of small amounts, through blocking the enemy's posture becoming increasingly awkward, until eventually they collapse.

【Ni Bo】Life and death depend on a single moment.

The combination of the two is the result of Lan En's martial arts having reached the pinnacle and become extraordinary.

Even though he failed to perform [Reverse Wave] at that moment, he could still maintain the blocking posture afterwards and bring into play the effectiveness of [Ascending Carp].

Just now, the fluff ball deliberately held back its strength. If it was facing an ordinary [Reverse Wave], it would have been able to directly bypass the failed moves and hurt the opponent behind it.

Unfortunately, when facing Lan En, not only did its own attack make no progress, but a large part of its physical strength was also consumed.

"Oh!" The kitten was not discouraged. Instead, he carefully adjusted the small helmet on his head and nodded repeatedly to Lan's correction. "I understand, meow!"

"But then again, you are actually quite remarkable, Flannel Ball." Lan En squatted down with the Sword of the Lady of the Lake in his hand, and looked at the kitten from left to right. "You are able to practice explosive moves like [Demon Dance] to the point where you can hold back easily."

"From the perspective of fighting skills alone, you are completely qualified. Then, let me teach you what we learned in the Japanese Warring States Period!"

"Great!" the calico kitten cheered.

Lan En's morning exercises and guidance on the flannel balls are almost complete here.

The long sword was sheathed, and the flannel ball followed him, and together they walked into Aretusa.

In the Aretuza Castle overlooking the bridge, Tissaya was leaning against the window with her arms folded, the gauze curtains fluttering in the sea breeze, watching their figures.

The intellectual and dignified Tishaya has a cool and ascetic beauty in such a scene.

The door behind her opened and a footstep approached her.

"Even if you were wearing only one of his shirts, would you have to be so neat?"

Margarita's voice was teasing.

She reached out and affectionately unbuttoned a few buttons on the collar of Tishaya's loose shirt, then pulled half of the collar to Tishaya's shoulders, revealing her delicate collarbone and shoulders.

"Like this! This is how it looks. A lazy and messy beauty. Tishaya, keep your cold expression, it will be more attractive this way!"

Tishaya didn't even turn her head. She just waited for her naughty student to finish fiddling with his clothes, then pulled back the collar of her loose shirt and buttoned it up.

She glanced back and saw that in addition to Margarita, who was both her student and friend, Cassandra was also standing at the door.

He raised his eyebrows and looked at her, his expression just short of whistling a hooligan's whistle.

"Malaca," Cassandra muttered in a playful, 'Greek' voice. "So Lan was here late last night? He's a busy man. But I can understand if you're like that."

The shirt that Lan En took off was not thick. It was made of high-quality material that was breathable and thin. At this time, the sunlight from the window shone in, and the light cast a graceful and hazy silhouette on the shirt.

"He is always very pleasing and never forgets anyone. Don't you know that?"

Tishaya shook her head, her face flushed and shiny.

But before Margarita could make another joke, Tishaya's next sentence made her face change.

The former dean of Aretuza looked at the current dean and said, "I told him about the gathering house."

(End of this chapter)