Astartes of the Bear School

Chapter 1984, 1956: The Secret Sword and Bones
The velvet ball carried the skull of the dead one all the way to the round table hall with Lan En.

The Dead Ones are difficult to kill completely, since even if their bodies are completely pulverized, they are not in much trouble, as their broken bones will automatically reassemble themselves after a while.

They are difficult to kill, but they don't tend to wander around aimlessly; they just wander around unconsciously in the place where they were born.

And so far, we haven't seen any particularly strong individuals.

Furthermore, the dead bird may now be a way for the world to deal with death in this era that is in a continuous process of collapse.

Therefore, there was no deep-seated hostility within Rodel towards the Bird of Death or towards those born of the dead.

After all, the Bird of Death can bring liberation, while the Deathborn is something quite novel. This is the first time such a thing has appeared in the border region. It's still too early to determine how serious the harm they pose.

And so it was just like Gideon Ophnil leading Lann, rushing quickly across the edge of that graveyard at night.

Rodel's attitude toward this can be described as temporarily ignoring it.

Only a few believers in the Golden Law fundamentalism cannot tolerate the existence of the dead.

The old perfumer who stood in the front row at the coronation ceremony of the Blessed King, and even shouted from the pulpit of the Golden Tree Cathedral, that the Deadborn would surely bring profound harm to the world and must be condemned immediately!
However, the Blessed King, who was listening behind the light curtain at the entrance of the Golden Tree Cathedral, and many others felt that the most pressing issue was the demigod alliance outside the city.

Talking about the harm caused by the dead now is a bit of a misunderstanding of priorities.

Lan En returned with the skull stained with spirit fire, but it did not cause any disturbance in the Round Table Hall.

In the past, the Witcher might have been slightly surprised by this, but now, after talking with Melina, he understands: there are far too many people in this Round Table Hall who wield dangerous [Outer Gods] powers.

What is his little bit of spiritual fire compared to that?
The skull on the gun barrel, which was stuck with a velvet ball, had already drooped its jaw and stopped moving halfway through its journey.

It seems to be too far away from the other bones. But fortunately, the spirit fire is still burning, and the spearhead is now covered with a layer of ice.

The kitten, as if playing with a toy, wobbled along holding the spear's tail, maintaining a delicate balance to keep its skull from falling off.

No wonder it's a hunting cat that's been to a professional training camp; it has a very stable mindset.

After entering the Round Table Hall, Lan En was summoned to the innermost room to meet Twofinger again.

The slender figure of the two fingers remained standing before the throne, moving silently. The message was relayed by the old woman beside him, who was known as the Finger-Unraveling Granny.

However, when Lan En came in this time, he subtly noticed that Shuangzhi seemed a little weaker than before.

The broken ring had a significant impact on the two fingers. It transformed them from smooth, vibrant fingers and palms into something dull and lifeless.

However, when Lan En saw Twofinger again this time, although he only looked up at him, he was certain that the area of ​​ulceration on Twofinger's body was gradually increasing, and some rough hairs resembling tree roots or weeds were beginning to grow out from under his fingernails.

During our previous meeting, Shuangzhi was nowhere near this undignified. Almost...morbid.

Yes, the two fingers now look like a thin palm with a skin disease.

As usual, Lan En listened to the deliberately lowered and roughened voice of Granny Jiezhi, who conveyed the message of the two fingers.

Twofinger has already learned of Lann's contribution from Baizhi and has indicated that he will reward him.

Of course, these were all words that Lan En himself had distilled. The words spoken by Granny Enya were much more refined, carrying an ancient charm that seemed to come from a distant past.

In other words, the people of the Golden Tree gained immortality through the previous Golden Law, and their ages are all exaggerated; it would probably be difficult for anyone else to understand.

After listening to Granny Enya's official words, Lan En immediately looked up, pointed to Shuangzhi, and stated the reward and commendation he expected.

"If possible, please give me a prayer regarding the [Cream of a Hundred Elephants], and also a prayer regarding the [Initial Golden Tree] Forge of Life."

"Oh?" Granny Enya looked at Lan En with her dark, hollow eyes. Her normal voice indicated that this was her own speech, not a translation of the will of the two fingers. "A prayer about the [Primordial Golden Tree]? That's quite ancient, little Lan En."

"Why would you be interested in that kind of old craft? Times have changed."

The Witcher smiled at Granny Enya: "After all, I fought a Forge Knight before. His mastery of prayer seems very suitable for use in battle. Very powerful."

“I remember that Forge Knight was loyal to Mount Gemir?” Granny Enya hooked her withered, shriveled foot on her staff, which was propped up on the ground. “He was your defeated foe.”

“Defeat only proves that I am stronger than him and that I performed better than him at the time.” Lan En shrugged. “But the spell he used was a good spell.”

That's not the real reason.

In fact, Lann wasn't particularly interested in the [Forge of a Hundred Elephants] prayer itself. After all, it was just a spell that could expand one's offensive capabilities.

It gives people long tails, sharp horns... but given the diversity of Lan En's technology and equipment, he doesn't lack these things.

Lan En's primary goal was to understand the so-called "Cream of All Things"!
Ultimately, it was all about perfecting the spell he had planned.

He had been making time to observe the captured Forge Knights in the prison cells, using his deep eyes to see the existence and operation of the power within them.

I hope to gain knowledge of the essence of the [Primitive Golden Tree], the 'blueprint for the design of life' that brought the origin of life to the borderlands!
However, observing the process of Forge Knights, the progress is very slow and difficult.

So after returning, Lan En simply decided to pray to the [Initial Golden Tree]. After all, weren't the Forge Knights also trained to become outstanding knights through cultivating these things?

Instead of going through the trouble of observing people who have practiced the techniques, I'll just go find the techniques themselves.

However, in the days leading up to this, Lann had not been able to find any prayers related to the [Original Golden Tree] in the royal city of Rodel. It wasn't in Sir Hundred Wisdom's private collection, nor even in the Golden Tree Cathedral.

Therefore, when he had the opportunity, he directly asked for two fingers.

It's likely that the two fingers, which have been immortal since before the Golden Law era, must have retained something...

“Your achievements are beyond doubt, but you who have faded, the prayer of the [First Golden Tree] is too ancient. Even in the Hall of the Round Table, no complete set of prayers remains.”

The sickly, ashen fingers were swaying on their own, while the old woman who untangled the fingers spoke in a deep voice, conveying the profound meaning behind the swaying.

Lan En blinked, this was truly unexpected.

It is, after all, a prayer spell that represents an era, but does the two-finger spell have no concept of saving or preserving history at all?
The Witcher's lips twitched, but then he thought about it again and realized it wasn't entirely incomprehensible.

After all, the level of civilization in the border region, apart from the extravagant and prosperous supernatural technologies, is actually still quite primitive.

Civilizations that realize the need to archive and preserve history from their very inception are few and far between, making them a rarity among civilizations.

The gods of the borderlands were originally chosen by the two fingers, who then successfully ascended to godhood and established their own era of laws.

Two fingers can guide generations of gods to this point, which is still in its initial stage, so naturally we can't expect Him to have much foresight or wisdom.

The fact that the Golden Dynasty has now reached the stage of 'rule by family' is all thanks to the actions and institutional framework established by [King Fu] Radagan.

Lan En's lips twitched, and he complained inwardly, but the shaking of his two fingers continued, and Granny Jie's words naturally continued as well.

"However, your meritorious service must be rewarded."

"All the prayers of the [Initial Golden Tree] currently in the Round Table Hall will be transferred to you, but the quantity is small and does not involve the [Forge of a Hundred Elephants]. Therefore, this sword will also be given to you."

As he spoke, a ball of white light slowly emerged from the air in front of Shuangzhi.

As the two fingers swayed and moved, a mysterious atmosphere filled the air. A series of continuous white-glowing runes appeared in the air, and these glowing characters were woven into a small sword.

The sword, composed entirely of glowing runes, slowly floated toward Lan En.

The Witcher reached out and caught it; the moment they made contact, Lann understood what was going on with the sword.

The white, glowing runes, like snakes, crawled from mid-air to Lan En's left wrist and circled around him like a bracelet.

After the beginning and end are connected to form a loop, it gradually disappears into nothingness.

Lan En turned to look at it and indeed found that there were no traces at all.

But then he clenched his left hand tightly.

With a soft "tinkling" sound, a string of secret runes, now glowing white again, extended straight out from the back of Lan En's hand, forming a fist-sword.

【Secret Text Pata Sword】.

The term "Pata Sword" is used in the borderlands to refer to the "fist sword" weapon style, while the secret inscription is the foundation upon which this weapon is built.

Lan En casually flicked his wrist, and the sword, composed of glowing runes, left white light and shadow trails in mid-air.

The weapon disappeared and reappeared with the opening and closing of his palm, which seemed very convenient.

Lan En originally thought that Cassandra had rescued a grandfather and grandson who were being hunted in the ancient Greek world and received a weapon called 'Hidden Blade' as a reward.

That weapon is well concealed enough.

However, compared to the fist-sword composed of words in the void, the hidden blade seems to lack surprise.

Lan En put away the rune-covered sword.

Although they didn't achieve their goal of obtaining the prayer related to the "Forge of a Hundred Elephants," the other party did offer some compensation, giving them other prayers from the initial Golden Tree period, as well as this Mystic Sword.

There's nothing we can do about that. We'll have to figure out our own way to learn and research the knowledge about "The Crucible".

Lan En turned and left. Before leaving, Grandma Enya spoke to Lan En in her own voice.

"By the way, when I came in just now, I saw your little cat with a skull burning with spirit fire stuck in its head?"

“Yes,” Lann admitted without hiding anything, “I want to study spirit fire. I’ve never seen cold fire before.”

There are quite a few people in the Round Table Hall who use powers outside of the Golden Law, so Lann has nothing to fear.

"You're still young, kid Lan En. That's why you've never seen the dead bird before," Granny Enya chuckled. "Let me teach you a trick. That spirit fire isn't known for its continuous burning. If you want to preserve and study it, you'll have to keep the flame burning with bones."

"bone?"

"Yes, bones. Any kind of bone will do. Only fire made from burning bones is spiritual fire."

"Thank you, I've learned a lot."

(End of this chapter)