Imperial Crown.

Chapter 245 Results
In the midday sun, Eric looked like a steel statue, devoid of any life.

"Eric--" Link shouted loudly with sweat on his forehead, but he didn't dare to go forward to confirm his condition.

Crack.

A crack appeared on Eric's body, causing everyone present to stop breathing.

The cracks began to spread, like cracks on a porcelain bowl, and then pieces of metal fragments peeled off Eric's body, revealing his strong body.

"hiss--"

Eric took a deep breath, his chest swelled, and more metal fragments fell from his skin until he opened his eyes!

It contained unprecedented confidence and was also very impressive.

Slowly raise your arm into a fist and give it a gentle shake.

Silver-colored fighting spirit came out of his body, lightly fell to the ground, and cut out a deep hole as big as a bowl!

"Level 3!" Link's eyes were filled with envy: "You succeeded!?"

When a Dou Qi user is promoted to the third level, he will have the ability to release Dou Qi and carry out long-range attacks.

Ever since he chose the military camp as the breakthrough site, Eric had never thought of hiding the news of his breakthrough to the third level.

So the news spread quickly, and from the Sky Eagle Platform to the Eagle Town, it ushered in a wave of heated discussions.

Whether those who support Raven or those who dislike Raven, they all come to a similar conclusion: Eric can walk more steadily, but it is difficult for him to go further.

The reasons are basically the same.

Eric had just been promoted to the third level, so there was almost no chance of him failing against a second-level opponent. However, his mastery of third-level combat skills, his use of third-level fighting spirit, and his total amount of fighting spirit were not as good as those of other third-level contestants.

But at least, Eric, who has been promoted to the third level, can make the Griffith family's performance in the competition less ugly.

Of course, Raven saw all these speculations, but he felt quite disdainful of them.

For the Nordic province, this competition is a national carnival; but in the eyes of the real bigwigs, it is a tool for political struggle.

On the surface, it was the Marquis Anthony and Montreal who were at loggerheads.

In fact, it is the embodiment of the confrontation between His Majesty the King and the Holy See.

But whether it was appearance or reality, it was the same to Raven - these guys turned his wedding into a battlefield for fighting each other.

Do you really think the Sir has no temper?

If Eric fails to break through to the third level, then no matter how dissatisfied Raven is, he will have to accept the reality. After all, as he said before - he can't do it himself, right?

Not to mention whether it is appropriate for him to enter as a groom, if he really goes down to compete with others, he will be transformed from a chess player to a chess piece.

But now that Eric has successfully broken through, Raven has the possibility of regaining face in his home court.

Reach the semi-finals... or even gain higher honors.

But Eric can't do it alone, he needs help from Raven.

So, Raven returned to his secret room, and soon after, a set of misty heavy iron armor tailored for Eric was delivered to him.

Raven, make a set of second-level enchanted armor!
Armor enchantment has always been much more complicated than weapon enchantment, so the price of armor of the same level is often several times or even more than ten times that of the weapon.

After planning the types of enchantments in his mind, Raven wrote them down on parchment, but did not act immediately. Instead, he took out his Life Root Staff.

The staff was still gray and top-heavy, looking no different from before, but as Raven input his magic power into it, he could see many magic lines lighting up layer by layer, while some were still black, making it difficult for magic power to penetrate.

After enchanting the staff to the first level, Raven never forgot about it. Whenever he had free time, he would add some enchantments to it.

It's just that I've been too busy lately, so it's been delayed.

At present, although the newly drawn enchantment configuration has not yet taken effect, the distance to the second-level staff has been upgraded, and the overall progress has reached about 40%.

Since it has been a while since he last enchanted it, Raven needed a little "rehabilitation" before starting to work on the Misty Iron Armor, so it was just right to use it.

Taking out all the enchanting tools, Raven started to work after careful consideration.

Going from level one to level two is different from directly doing level two enchantment.

If directly drawing a second-level rune is equivalent to building a tall building on flat ground, then upgrading a first-level enchantment to a second-level is like adding floors to an existing building.

In terms of technical difficulty, the latter is undoubtedly higher, and it also has considerable requirements for basic enchantments.

If the design is not good from the beginning, then it is very likely that the whole thing will collapse - not only will it not be able to be upgraded, but even the original enchantments will be wasted.

Fortunately, when Raven was doing the first-level enchantment, he had a clear direction on how to strengthen it later, so it was not particularly difficult to draw.

Even so, after about 4 hours of enchanting, the progress was only about 5%.

In other words, Raven still needs at least 44 hours to upgrade this staff to the second level.

After finishing the enchantment of the staff, Raven put it away and walked to the side of the misty iron armor: "Next, it's your turn."

This set of armor needs to be completed as soon as possible.

So in the next few days, Raven spent most of his time in the secret room, enchanting the armor.

The difficulty of armor enchantment lies in the fact that a set of runes need to be drawn on different accessories. It is necessary to consider the integrity of the enchantment and to carry out a large amount of redundant design to prevent the entire enchantment from becoming invalid due to damage to a certain part.

This was a huge project, so much so that even after a three-day break and eight days of competition, it was not completed until the fifth round of matches.

During this period, Akori maintained his usual arrogance and dominance, and no contestant could force him to use his fighting spirit.

This is certainly because Akori himself is quite powerful and the opponents he faces are all second-level, but the fundamental factor is the current situation of the Nord Province where military preparations are in disrepair and people are at ease.

This strong performance has created a long-term gambling project in the arena: when will Akori use his fighting spirit, and what his first fighting skill will be.

In addition to Akori, there are some other noteworthy players.

Gul'dan crushed his opponents all the way and gained a good reputation; although Senn, the third-level knight of the Slater family, was low-key, he was equally strong and his popularity was higher than Gul'dan; Versacine and Judra also successfully made it to the sixth round, competing for the title of the strongest man in Snow Maple County.

Simon, who had just made a breakthrough, fell in this round, but he did not receive much ridicule. In the eyes of the outside world, he is tough enough to get to this point.

The good news is that Eric, who was promoted to the third level, defeated his second-level opponent in this round with a crushing force. As the organizer of the event, Raven would naturally not let him face the third level in the next round.

In order to leave enough time for himself and to allow Eric to better adapt to the third-level fighting spirit, Raven arbitrarily extended the off-season between the 5th and 6th rounds to 10 days, and there were a total of 6 games in the 16th round, with only 2 games per day.

And also scheduled Eric's game for the last day.

After all, Eagle Town is still Raven's home ground, so even though there are some complaints and sarcastic voices, the big guys have no objections and they can't make any waves.

On the second day of the offseason, Raven came to the orphanage.

"My Lord Baron." Simon looked guilty: "I'm sorry, I..."

"It's okay." Raven interrupted him with a smile, "You performed brilliantly in the last battle. You did your best to win. You deserved it for yourself and for everyone else."

Simon felt even more embarrassed by Raven's considerate attitude.

"Well, you dignified Knight of Morningwind, you don't want me to comfort you, do you?" Raven said with a smile, "I heard that the children brought the Wind King to school today. Did he cause any trouble?"

After changing the subject, Simon felt more relaxed: "No, you came at the right time. We just gathered and were preparing for training."

In a separate playground, the orphans were playing with their respective Wind Kings. Trainer Morgan was watching from the side. When he saw Raven coming, he quickly stepped forward to salute.

Now, it has been nearly 4 months since the little wind kings hatched. Originally only the size of cats, they have grown to more than half a person's height with adequate food. When their wings are spread, they can cover a person completely.

Simon picked up the drumstick and struck the war drum erected on the edge of the playground. The orphans who were playing and frolicking suddenly came to their senses and gathered together in just a few tens of seconds.

Their respective little wind kings also moved with their masters, standing at their feet, as if they could also understand the drum beats.

Looking at Raven, the orphans' eyes were filled with excitement, but no one spoke because they had not received any orders.

"I know you are all very happy that the Baron is here." Simon said loudly, "But the Baron has taken good care of us, and we must repay him with practical actions."

"Everyone, throw practice, get ready!"

The orphans all said in unison, "Yes!"

They walked to the edge of the playground to get their weapons.

Now that they have long passed the time of training with wooden weapons, they all use the Eagle Collar standard short spear, which is 72 cm long, 3 cm in diameter and weighs 8.8 pounds, or about 4 kg.

58 people lined up in three rows and stood about 20 meters away from a group of dummies.

The arrangement of these dummies simulates a classic infantry battle formation. There are 80 dummies in total. The dummies in the front have shields nailed to them, and the ones in the back are spear infantrymen. Each dummy is wearing double-layer leather armor.

The youngest orphan was only 15 years old, and the oldest was just 17 years old, but when they held the short spears in their hands, their eyes became extremely firm and confident.

"Ready - throw!" Taking the short spears from their backs, the orphans slightly separated their legs, straightened their front legs and pressed back, then bounced up, tightened their waists using the strength of their legs, transferred the strength to their shoulders, and suddenly threw the short spears in their hands out!
whoosh-

A clear sound of breaking through the air was heard, and 58 short spears whizzed through the air and slammed into the range of the wooden targets.

Wood chips flew everywhere.

"Ready—throw!!"

"Ready—throw!!!"

Three rounds of short spears were thrown in succession, and smoke and dust rose on the ground. When the wind blew, the smoke and dust dispersed, and the originally neat dummies had become scattered.

The shields of the dummies in the front were broken and riddled with holes, while some of the dummies in the back row were pierced by spears thrown from the sky and fell into the ground.

Of course, not all dummies were in trouble. About one-third of them fell down or were seriously injured, and more than half were not injured.

But this result is already rich enough. If one encounter can reduce 1/3 of the enemy's number, it will be enough to make an ordinary army collapse!
"Well done!" Raven did not hesitate to praise.

The group's spear throwing does not require accuracy, but rather seeks to quickly project effective firepower to the same area, and the orphans' performance has clearly reached the qualified standards.

Hearing Raven's praise, the orphans straightened their chests. Simon also smiled and issued a new order: "Execute Tactic No. 1!"

This sentence made Raven a little curious - he didn't know what tactic number 1 was.

The next moment, the orphans squatted down, and the little wind king beside them took off into the air, then flapped its wings together and used its innate magic, the storm vortex.

Although they are not yet adults, when a group of 4-month-old wind kings gather together to perform their skills, the momentum is truly astonishing. The wind blows violently, smoke and dust suddenly rise and are blown away. The dummies that had been hit before are shaky, and some are even broken in the middle and blown up by the storm again.

The short spears stuck in the ground were shaking and whimpering.

It can be imagined that if facing an ordinary army, this storm vortex would be enough to blow people to the ground and tear a gap!
Raven clapped his hands and said, "You really gave me a surprise. When did you do it?"

"In fact, we just practiced it a dozen days ago." Simon said, "The Wind King is worthy of being the Wind King. He is much smarter than ordinary Hippogryphs and more obedient, but..."

Before he finished speaking, there was a sudden sound of "ka". It turned out that there was a wind king in the air. Due to its flying position, it was swept away by the storm vortex and blown far away.

"My Thunder Tyrant!" Lennon screamed. If there hadn't been people holding him down on both sides, he would have been blown up.

"...But I'm not very proficient at it yet." Simon finished his words awkwardly: "Sometimes, this happens."

"But don't worry, the little guy will recognize his master and will fly back soon!"

Although there was a small accident, Raven was still very satisfied with the training results and was full of expectations for the future.

At present, the little wind kings have not grown up and are unable to engage in real aerial combat; and suitable tactics have not been developed for the second kind of innate magic pulse surge.

Of course, a storm vortex is enough to cause trouble. It is better to be cautious when practicing something with high destructive power such as pulse surge. It is estimated that it will be difficult to see results in a short period of time.

Not only did Raven have time to come and check on the orphans' training progress, but with the arrival of the off-season, everyone in Eagle Castle could also take a breather.

For example, Fiona.

The recent life of this socially anxious academic master can be described as hell. Old Gordon is now a knight, and she has become the daughter of a knight family. In addition to helping her grandfather with paperwork, she also has to participate in some social activities among nobles.

God have mercy on her, when she was huddled in a corner wearing a beautiful but restrictive dress, holding a glass of Angel's Tears, the thing she wanted to do most was to knock herself out with a stick.

But there were always many people who came up to her and invited her to dance. She could only pretend to be deaf and dumb and sit there from the beginning to the end. Even so, there were still some nobles who kept pestering her.

It's torture!
After attending one, you may not be able to recover even after three days.

As a result, she received the "magical fruit" given by Baron Raven early on, but had no chance to take it.

I finally have some free time today.

She took a nice bath, dried herself, put on the softest clothes, rubbed the face of the stuffed bear Baoli, and asked in a low voice: "... Baoli, do you think I can succeed?"

Of course Polly wouldn't answer, but the constant smile on her face always made Fiona feel at ease.

When her mood gradually calmed down, Fiona opened the box and held the magical fruit in the palm of her hand. A tingling sensation spread across her skin.

Fiona's heart began to beat again.

It's like this every time. No matter how well prepared she is, she will feel uneasy when facing the magical fruit.

This fruit that can turn a person into a magician is truly precious.

Fiona had no doubt that if it were put up for auction, it would be enough to drive the nobles of the entire Nord province crazy!
"We can't delay any longer." Fiona whispered to herself, then took a deep breath and swallowed the fruit into her mouth!
She thought it would have a crisp taste, but it melted in her mouth and turned into an icy cool feeling that spread throughout her body.

It was like swallowing a mint.

The slight trance made the world in Fiona's eyes somewhat distorted.

The next moment, a strong vibration exploded in her mind, and her heart beat so violently that she could even hear the sound of blood flowing in her veins.

A glimpse of blue appeared in her vision.

The air around began to become humid, the curtains and quilts were damp, and water droplets condensed on the walls.

A silver light flashed through her mind, that was the birth of spiritual power from nothing.

The pool of magic power was quietly opened up.

She spread out her palms without saying a word, but relied on her mysterious intuition and instinct to use her magic power. The water droplets on the wall flew up quietly and condensed into a ball of clear water in her palms.

Succeeded?
As this thought arose, the original wonderful feeling disappeared, and the clear water in the palm of my palm began to flow down.

Fiona was stunned for a long moment before she looked down at her palms.

When she used her magic power to condense a ball of clear water again, complex emotions flashed in her eyes.

After the water flow stopped, she suddenly took a step forward, rushed out of the door with a stride she had never taken before, and headed straight for Lei Wen's office.

When she arrived, Patty was standing at the door. Fiona asked, "Sister Patty, is the Baron here?"

Patty smiled and said, "Of course, I'll do it for you right away..."

Before she could finish her words, Fiona rushed in without caring about etiquette.

Raven, who had just returned from the orphanage, looked up.

Seeing Raven's eyes, Fiona wanted to speak several times, but suddenly she didn't know what to say.

She became a magician, and her heart was filled with joy, which she wanted to share with Baron Raven.

From today on, she no longer has to worry about her future, and everything she has ever dreamed of can come true.

She can legitimately own her own library and her own office without having to endure extra strange looks.

From then on, she had the power to say "no" directly, she could choose not to participate in social activities she didn't like, and she didn't have to go through the trouble to politely reject those persistent suitors.

Most importantly, she can follow in the Baron's footsteps and help him complete the work that only a magician can do.

She has always hoped to gain the Baron's approval.

But now, facing Raven, she was unable to speak. She was so anxious that her face turned red and her breathing became uneven.

Raven smiled gently and asked softly, "Did it work?"

Just three words made Fiona feel completely relieved. She nodded vigorously, wiped the tears that inexplicably flowed from the corners of her eyes, and smiled: "Yeah!"

"Okay, stop crying, as if I did something to you." Raven joked, and as he stood up and walked out, he said to Patty who followed him in, "The rest is up to you."

Patty had a strange smile on his face: "Yes, sir."

Fiona was a little confused until she saw herself in the desktop mirror. She screamed and lowered her head, her face burning.

She was so excited that she ran out in her nightgown!

Although this nightgown is not revealing, it is private clothing after all, so it is really...

It's so embarrassing.

No wonder the Baron left immediately.

Patty held her hand and said, "Just stay here for now. I'll get you some clothes."

After the door was closed, Fiona's heartbeat slowly calmed down, and she twisted her temples in annoyance.

Suddenly, she saw that there seemed to be something on Lei Wen's desk.

"This is……?"

……

(End of this chapter)