Astartes of the Bear School

Chapter 1863, 1835. The Holy Grail

As Lan En stepped out of the purple light curtain and sheathed the [Demon Wolf Fang] with a soft 'click', the spatial rift that had been cut behind him had already closed up again.

Originally, Lan En was summoned by the velvet ball in the middle of the night. Now, after a trip, he arrived at the western shore of Lake Lienia and found Adam, the thief, who was already imprisoned in the sealed prison, and they had a fight.

The sky was beginning to lighten, and the golden leaves that had previously fallen like rain of light under the contrast of light and shadow were no longer so bright. They had become ordinary.

Several eagles perched on rock pillars protruding from the ground nearby, and the occasional howl of wolves could be heard in the distance. But overall, it was relatively quiet and secluded.

"Boss!" Fluffy Ball trotted over, "Did you find any information inside?"

“We’ve found it,” Lan said, tossing a small bottle to the velvet ball.

"Meow?" The plush ball nimbly caught the bottle with its little paws, shook its head, and said, "Okay, judging from your expression, things aren't looking good. What's this, meow?"

Even the fluffy ball could tell that the news Lan En had received wasn't optimistic. But it wasn't too worried, after all, they had faced countless unpleasant situations together.

Lan En's indifferent attitude was much the same as that of the velvet ball: "This bottle, I saw in Sir Bai Zhi's book it's called the 'Red Dewdrop Grail Bottle'."

The bottle is mostly made of crystal, but it is covered with a layer of openwork gold decoration.

It was exactly the same bottle that the Cuckoo Knight had poured into his mouth after being seriously injured, right there in the hollow of the mountain wall beneath their feet.

"This bottle was made based on the Holy Grail that once received the dewdrops of the Golden Tree's grace. You've seen the effects; the naturally occurring red potion inside has a strong ability to repair the body."

"This thing isn't uncommon among soldiers in border areas, but it's extremely efficient."

Lan En had seen quite a few things that could instantly repair large-scale damage to the body.

The Witcher's potions include the Pure White Raphael, Yharnam has the Blood Vial, the Firelands has the Element Vial, and the Warring States period of magical Japan has the Elixir of Gods crafted by the Wood Spirits.

Soldiers in dangerous environments are often drawn to these kinds of things.

However, these things are powerful and can almost instantly save a dying body, but they also have many requirements for use.

A witcher's potion must first be able to withstand its toxicity, otherwise it's suicide.

Ya Nan's blood collection bottle... who in their right mind would dare to inject that thing into their body?

For non-undead groups, the elemental vials of the Fire World are like pouring magma directly into their mouths.

In the magical Sengoku period of Japan, only Kodama (spirits) could create the elixirs. Whether they would be effective on any given individual depended on the elusive concept of 'fate'. If there was a connection, they would work; otherwise, they were just bitter licorice candy with a herbal aroma.

When it comes to the most versatile and safest recovery potion, Lan En still highly recommends the recovery potion from the New World.

Hunters, Palicoes, and even Kirin can use it.

When Palicoes are Palicoes, they always have a small water bottle with a cat's paw, which is specifically used to hold healing potions.

However, the raw materials for the restorative medicine rely on local medicinal herbs that are rich in life energy in that world's natural environment.

Procurement is troublesome, and when Lan En is on a long journey, it is not easy to support the consumption.

In other worlds, the efficacy of this herb would obviously be significantly reduced, to the point that the benefits wouldn't even match the effort put in.

Therefore, there are currently no efficient and safe methods for quickly restoring velvet balls.

However, the borderlands truly live up to their reputation as a world still in the prosperous age of gods. The Red Dewdrop Holy Grail Bottle, a wonderful item that can revive the bodies of those on the verge of death, is not only possessed by famous warriors, but also by ordinary knights in the Cuckoo Knights.

"Wow!" The fluffy ball turned around, carefully put the red dewdrop chalice bottle into its little waist pouch, and exclaimed, "I feel so much safer now, meow!"

Just as it placed the Holy Grail bottle, the Kirin strolled over, and the Palico nimbly jumped onto the Elder Dragon's head.

"So what's next, meow?" The plush ball tilted its head. "Are you going to wait until tomorrow, boss?"

“No.” Lan En said decisively, and at the same time, he mounted his horse. “The information revealed by the items on this thief is a bit complicated.”

The Witcher looked up at the sky: "It should be about time by now. Don't they say old people don't need much sleep? Let's go."

As he spoke, Lan En tugged at the Qilin's mane and turned it towards the northeast.

Shortly after they left, a fire-wielding martial arts practitioner, seemingly on routine patrol, arrived near the sealed prison.

Adam, the thief who was the main prisoner maintaining the seal in the sealed prison, was still alive. So, in the center of that neatly arranged pit, the textured stone bricks still emitted a purple light as usual.

However, the color of the light was dimmer than before Lan En went in.

On one hand, Adam was defeated and injured inside; on the other hand, Lan En had just cut open the independent space to walk out, leaving damage to the sealed prison's independent space. The fire-wielding martial arts cultivator didn't pay much attention, assuming that the sky was gradually brightening and the difference between light and darkness was weakening, which made the purple light appear somewhat weak.

The area is high up and far from the lake, so the fog is not heavy. Therefore, the light is not affected by the fog scattering, and it is normal for the light and dark to vary clearly.

But after the fire-wielding martial arts cultivator had surveyed the surroundings and was about to turn around and return to the camp, the sky became a bit overcast, as if it were about to rain.

For the Lienia region, such weather changes are quite normal.

However, in the rain, the change in the brightness of the purple light on the sealed prison became immediately obvious.

Beneath the fiery red hood, the Flame Martial Arts cultivator's expression suddenly changed drastically! He hurriedly headed towards the northern camp.
-
"Oh, you've arrived so early?"

The pastor of the church, Milier the giant tortoise, was lying on the grass inside the church, just as he had been when they first met yesterday.

He raised his head and looked at Lan En and the fluffy ball as they walked in.

"It's a good thing to have a thirst for knowledge and experience; I can already sense your curiosity, and I'm delighted. But who is this...?"

When I came here yesterday, Lan En didn't bring his Palico, and even the Kirin was just wandering around outside the church. He didn't really want to listen to an old turtle rambling on about the past and history.

"Hello meow, my name is Fluffy Ball!"

"Oh my! It's actually a wise beast?" the giant tortoise exclaimed, but it remained unhurried as it looked at Lan En and the others. "Your Excellency even possesses the potential to become a king. I was truly negligent yesterday."

Lan En waved his hand, indicating that he shouldn't worry about it.

He walked up to the giant tortoise, took out a page from his robes containing the prayer "The Flame of the Evil God," and placed it on the ground.

“Actually, Miliye, I would also like to learn about this prayer from you.”

The fingernails of Smaug are sharp, lightly touching the parchment.

"And then there's all the history and stories that followed... I'm really curious about all of that."

Lan En said with a light laugh.

The giant tortoise, however, seemed completely oblivious to the deeper meaning, or perhaps simply didn't care, wanting to continue discussing academics and magic as usual.

It nodded up and down as usual, blinked its dark eyes twice, and looked down at the parchment.

“Wow,” Milie’s tone remained as humble and gentle as ever, expressing appropriate admiration, “This prayer… is already at a legendary level, Lann. In the history of the Borderlands, it can be considered a top-tier treasure.”

“Really?” Lann squatted down in front of Milie, and the two began to discuss it over a piece of parchment. “But it doesn’t seem to be very powerful when used? At least the person I met didn’t seem to find it very powerful.”

Milier shook his head: "Whether a prayer or magic is powerful or not cannot be used as a direct basis for judging it, Lord Lann."

"The ultimate purpose of prayer is to tell and explain the faith, and to spread it and generate power."

"The value of this kind of prayer lies in the faith it represents and the theological exploration of the existence of the subject being believed in."

"Similarly, those legendary magics are not necessarily very powerful, but their importance lies in the school of thought they founded and the realities they reveal."

“If that’s not the case,” Milier said, a hint of teasing in his otherwise humble and gentle manner, “then is the value of prayer and magic judged by who can make the bigger and deeper hole?”

“That makes sense.” Lan En nodded in agreement.

Milie lowered his head again, looking at the parchment on the ground.

"Hmm..." it murmured as if it were thinking, "Not simple, not simple at all. Even today, there are still legends and prayers based on the evil fire god on the snow mountain."

"Now that the fire giants have been slaughtered down to just one? That's quite a deep level of faith."

"Are you sure, Milie?" Lann asked. "Are you sure this legendary prayer was created after the fire giants had been slaughtered, and not left behind by those fire giants before the Giant War?"

“Of course,” the giant tortoise replied gently but decisively. “The faith in this prayer is very clear: the evil god of fire is said to still burn inside the giant’s body.”

"If this prayer had been offered before the fire giants were annihilated, it would have been nothing more than a correct but meaningless statement. It is only after the war of the giants that this statement has become so meaningful and important."

Lan En fell silent for a moment, as if he was shocked by the information.

It's as if they already had a guess in their hearts, but it was just confirmed at this moment.

“You’re saying that…” The Witcher shook his head and clicked his tongue at the giant tortoise. “In the current Golden Dynasty, that would cause an uproar.”

(End of this chapter)