Imperial Crown.

Chapter 262 Embrace the Sun
I am very grateful to the starting point dad [Fat Pig Mushroom Duke] for the 500 reward! (I owe you another chapter, damn)

……

Raven officially moved into Eagle City, and various supplies began to be transported here from Eagle Castle.

Due to the large number, Eagle City became busy early the next morning. Carriages compacted the snow with a creaking sound and drove into the gate like a long dragon.

The waiters and maids in the city were busy with these goods. After all, in addition to gold coins and equipment, there were also many fragile items that could not be handled by force and needed their help to deal with.

However, Raven can now have complete leisure time as the competition has ended and there is nothing that needs him to deal with personally at the moment.

After having breakfast with Nancy, Raven went to his meditation room.

This room was half the size of an ordinary classroom. It had no windows, and the magic lamps on the walls emitted a dim and gentle glow. The overall layout was clean and elegant. Apart from a soft bed in the middle that was specially used for meditation, the only furniture was a rosewood table in the corner.

Raven walked to the table and lit the magic-infused lemongrass and placed it on top.

The one that Archbishop Thomas gave two years ago had been used up long ago. This one was handed over by Savanna half a month after the end of the competition.

This time point is quite intriguing.

However, Raven did not ask about the purpose behind it, nor did he refuse. Now he has the confidence to take on some favors from important people.

A fragrant citrus scent spread, and purple smoke slowly dissipated into the air. Raven breathed steadily, came to the bed and sat cross-legged, sinking into a world of meditation.

The spiritual force penetrated into the pool of magic power like the roots of an old tree, engraving the final lines on the pool wall.

In fact, according to common sense, even if it is a first-level magic, it will take at least two or three years to successfully engrave it.

This has nothing to do with a wizard's diligence. The key limitation lies in magic power. Once the magic power is exhausted, engraving will naturally stop.

But Raven is different. Due to absorbing the blood core of the True Ancestor, the magic power in his body is three times that of a wizard of the same level. It is no exaggeration to say that although Raven is only at the third level and three stars now, even a third level and ten stars wizard does not have as much magic power as him.

As time went by, the magic power dried up little by little, and Raven's breath brought out more and more intense heat. The temperature in the room slowly rose, the air twisted, and the sandalwood cabinets on the wall dehydrated, deformed, and cracked with crackling sounds.

Raven mobilized his mental strength and accurately, steadily and without hesitation engraved the final stroke on the magic pool.

The three structures of the Fireball Technique were finally perfectly linked together. It shone and breathed blue light, then changed from blue to white, and from white to red.

The flames burned.

The flame began to flow from the pool of magic power, rushing into Raven's mental power center, and then burning his soul!
A moment of burning pain.

When Raven opened his eyes, what he saw was not the scene in the meditation room, but only a deep void.

Under the void, flames were born and turned into a sea of ​​​​lava. Even the steam was fiery. Even steel would melt in this ocean.

The flames crept up his body and Raven subconsciously held his breath.

However, it wasn't long before he could no longer bear the pain of suffocation and instinctively opened his mouth. A stream of hot air rushed into his mouth and nose, burning his mouth and causing his entire chest to begin to burn.

A hint of enlightenment arose in Raven's heart.

Since the flame has been engraved, you must accept the flame.

He breathed in deep breaths of the hot air and felt his flesh being cooked.

Standing up, Raven stepped on the molten lava, his bare feet turned into charcoal black, revealing his white bones, and were swallowed up in the blink of an eye.

Slowly sinking into the lava, the burning heat spread throughout Raven's soul and nerves, which turned into an illusion of extreme coldness.

As the eyes were engulfed, the molten lava flowed into the brain.

Raven's thoughts paused for a moment, and when he came back to his senses, he was already high in the clouds.

The sky is clear and the white clouds are like weaves.

The red sun is high in the sky.

I raised my head, the scenery around me changed rapidly, and the strong wind blew in my ears.

Soon, the sound of the wind disappeared, the blue sky was no longer there, the white clouds gradually moved away, and the black void dotted with stars became the mainstream, and Raven could only see the orange-red sun.

It was getting closer and closer, until all I could see was an endless sea of ​​fire, with long flames surging like dragons and snakes.

The strong light brought out tears, but they evaporated in the blink of an eye.

The body has been evaporated and reconstructed by the terrifying high temperature.

Consciousness began to blur.

A voice urged Raven to step inside.

He must step into it!
Raven stretched out his hand, gathered the sun's rays in his palm, then closed his eyes and let himself fall into the eternal fire.

come down.

In the meditation room, Raven suddenly opened his eyes.

He opened his mouth and spit out a ball of flame. As far as he could see, the whole room was burning.

The stones were burned red and turned into molten lava flowing on the ground.

Raven was startled. He reached out and scooped up the molten lava on the ground. He watched the molten lava flow out from between his fingers. A smile appeared on his lips.
"--Come!"

The flames in the room suddenly seemed to be frozen, and then rushed towards Raven's palm.

It’s strange to say, no matter how many flames came, there was only a little candle-like flame in Raven’s palm.

The lava gradually solidified, leaving only wisps of blue smoke.

With a gentle blow, the fire in Raven's palm was extinguished like a candle.

If there were other mages here, they would be shocked by this scene, because it represented Raven's unique and profound understanding of the element of fire.

Not to mention an ordinary third-level wizard, even a fifth-level or sixth-level wizard who specializes in fire magic may not be able to do it so easily.

At this time, the engraved fireball spell has merged with the pool of magic power, and no difference can be seen. It will only light up again when Raven casts a spell and magic power flows.

The engraving of the fireball was finally completed.

To become a fourth-level wizard, all that is left is to accumulate magic power and purchase formulas for magic-enhancing potions.

"Hiss, what a pity..." Raven took out a new set of clothes from his belt and put them on. He looked at the cave-like room with a crooked stone door and frowned, "This is a newly built house!"

It seems that I have to notify old Gordon and find someone to rebuild it.

After removing the door and walking into the corridor, Raven turned around and came to another room not far away.

There are five rooms on both sides of this corridor, including the end. The walls have been specially thickened. In addition to the meditation room, there is also a magic laboratory, an enchantment room, an alchemy room, and a small warehouse for storing magic materials.

Raven came to the alchemy room.

Pushing open the door, a beautiful figure appeared in front of Raven.

Her chestnut hair was tied up neatly at the back of her head, but a few strands of hair still hung down on her smooth, slender neck. The light outlined the profile of her face, with a straight nose and plump lips. She was wearing a white cotton gown and was concentrating on dealing with the bottles and jars on the table.

Hearing the door open, the woman turned around, a flash of panic in her eyes, and put something in her pocket: "Master, you are here!"

Raven walked into the room and came to her side, gently patting her buttocks: "What are you doing?"

Petty's face flushed, and she bit her lip gently: "I just added some water to the magical fruit..."

"Then try to make some 'love potion'?" Raven smiled and took out the magic plant she had stuffed into her pocket: "The magic apple is ready."

The magic apple is the main ingredient of aphrodisiacs, which are usually used to enhance pleasure between couples.

"That's because, uh, I..." Patty was flustered.

"Master, I am a third-level magician." Raven whispered in Petty's ear: "If you want this to work on me, you have to at least use a second-level potion."

"Is this the recipe that Margaret gave you?"

Patty nodded shyly: "I took the initiative to ask her, because my room is on the second floor, and I wondered if the master hated me..."

"2nd floor?" Raven was stunned. "Oh, I neglected this. Go find old Gordon and ask him to move the room to the 6th floor."

"Ah?" Patty showed a look of surprise, but immediately lowered her head: "But isn't this too much? I'm just a personal maid..."

She had originally thought that it would be nice to be closer to Raven, but she had never expected to move to the 6th floor. "You are my alchemist." Raven said with a smile, "If others knew that I treated my alchemist like a maid, they would be jealous and crazy!"

This is not a joke.

Magicians have a high status. A first-level magician is enough to become a guest of honor for barons and viscounts. If he is a third-level magician, even the earl's family will look at him differently.

Although alchemists are far inferior to mages, they will still be highly respected if they join an ordinary baron or viscount family.

After all, the role of alchemists is much more powerful than that of doctors in this era; and many of the potions they refine have functions that cannot be replaced by divine magicians.

Take Bucky for example, he just likes the life in Mon'en City and doesn't want to live a boring life in the countryside, otherwise he could bully the local nobles.

"How dare you insinuate that I am heartless." Raven rubbed his chin: "You deserve to be punished!"

"Then let me thank you very much, Master, as a token of my forgiveness."

Patty unbuttoned his collar and squatted down.

Raven exhaled slowly.

……

Not everyone can enjoy the joy of the completion of Eagle Castle. Raven's territory is still operating as usual, and the most orderly is the military camp.

Just after noon, under the scorching sun, the soldiers who had finished their lunch continued their training.

Link, wearing armor and holding a spear, stood at the front of the team, and the adjutant beside him kept shouting:

"prick!"

"prick!"

"prick!"

Although winter has already begun, these soldiers wearing double-layer leather armor are sweating profusely, and white mist is constantly coming out of their heads, mouths, and armpits.

They stretched their legs out on the ground, holding nearly 4-meter-long spears in their hands. They thrust forward and retracted them continuously in response to commands. Their arms were already trembling slightly, but they still gritted their teeth and persisted.

Link stabbed continuously just like them, with standard movements, using all his strength each time without any deformation.

He counted silently in his mind, and when he reached 100, Link raised his arm and shouted, "Stop!"

"Next, we will have queue training, running around the field for twenty minutes, and then we will continue with stabbing practice."

For the exhausted soldiers, this order was inhumane.

Although the soldiers did not utter any complaints after two years of training, the looks they gave Link were full of resentment.

You are extraordinary, and we are not!

This is Link's usual training style. Since he has the power of fire, the soldiers privately call him the "Fire Devil."

Link knew it, but he didn't care. All he wanted was the results of his training.

In the Keynes Empire, a kind of knight novel was once very popular. The routine was the same. It told the story of a protagonist who had served in the army and returned to his hometown. He was appreciated by the lord because of his outstanding martial arts skills. After making meritorious services, he was given a divine potion and became extraordinary. After defeating monsters and repelling bandits, he was awarded the title of knight.

Link scoffed at this.

Soldiers in the army can be strong, obey orders, and understand some basic tactics, but this has nothing to do with outstanding martial arts skills.

Soldiers have no martial arts skills, nor do they need them.

They just need to do their best.

Spearmen practiced stabbing 500 times a day; sword and shield soldiers raised their shields and swung their swords 500 times a day; crossbowmen needed to hang a water bag on the head of the crossbow and not put it down for 10 minutes or even half an hour, and train at least 10 rounds a day.

Only by practicing these movements until they become instincts can you have a greater chance of survival on the battlefield.

Victory is never a matter of luck. One point of sweat, one point of gain. Link firmly believes this.

The queue training began. It was not a simple running around the field. The ten leaders among them had to distinguish different trumpet sounds and lead their soldiers to continuously change formations.

Looking at their skillful movements, Link nodded slowly in his heart. This already had some elite flavor.

But it's still not enough.

A soldier who has never seen blood is just a rookie no matter how long he trains. It would be good enough if he can perform one-tenth of his ability on the battlefield.

"Sir!" A captain of a hundred men came up to Link and said, "Something happened on the playground. I need you to go take a look."

Link nodded and followed the centurion to the small playground.

The so-called small playground is where the orphans train.

At this moment, the orphans in leather armor were sitting scattered on the ground, with weighted wooden javelins beside them. They were all breathing heavily, and some were even crying softly.

But when they saw Link coming, they immediately stopped crying and looked at him with a little panic.

After all, the name "Fire Devil" is deeply rooted in people's hearts.

"What? You don't want to practice anymore?" Link looked around the room and asked, "If you don't want to practice, leave now. Anyway, the youngest of you is 14 years old. You can have a way out of the orphanage!"

None of the orphans left, but they didn't make any other moves either. They just sat on the ground dejectedly.

This is also the most headache-inducing part for the soldiers responsible for training them. They are a group of half-grown children. If you talk lightly, it won’t work, but if you use too much force, you may really hurt them.

"It seems that no one wants to leave. So what are you doing sitting on the ground?" Link pointed at an orphan who was crying the loudest and said, "You tell me!"

"I, I..." The orphan stood up and said, "It's not that we don't want to practice, but we are really too tired. We have practiced more than 200 times today!"

"Look, my arm is swollen!"

He took off his shoulder armor and rolled up his sleeves, and sure enough, his arms were already swollen with purple bruises.

"So?" Link asked, "If this were on a battlefield, you would also take off your armor, expose your arms, and cry to your enemy that your arms are swollen and you can fight again next time?"

The orphan was speechless.

"I set the goal of 300 times a day." Link said with his hands behind his back, "Now it seems that it is still not enough. I hope you will not have the energy to complain! What you have practiced today does not count. From now on, do another times! I will accompany you!"

A wailing sound was heard, but Link remained unmoved: "I don't care what your relationship with the Baron is. This is a military camp, not a nursery! I will count to three. If anyone still doesn't stand up, I will personally send him back to his mother's belly!"

"3..."

"2..."

"1!"

There was a clattering sound of armor colliding, and the orphans jumped up from the ground.

"Very good, start training!"

The orphans wiped their tears, picked up the javelins at their feet, and began to throw them with all their might, gritting their teeth. They did not dare to stop even though they were crying.

Link kept his word and commanded them to train together. Whenever he saw anyone slacking off, he would immediately hit them with a spear.

From noon to night, until it was completely dark, the 300 training sessions were finally completed. The orphans could no longer lift their hands, so they left the barracks with grimace and rubbing their arms.

But Link did not leave. He ordered his soldiers to put away their javelins, then went to the training ground and started stabbing with spears.

Among the same batch of awakened extraordinary people, Link's talent is the worst, and he himself is aware of this, so he must work harder than everyone else in order to catch up with others and not fall behind.

Be strict with others and even stricter with yourself.

This is why, even though his training attitude is the most rigorous, it does not really cause resentment among the soldiers.

Link practiced until the moon was at its highest point in the sky, then he returned to his tent to rest.

The servant who had been waiting here for a long time came forward immediately: "Master, you have finally finished your training!"

"The time is set, it's tomorrow!"

……

(End of this chapter)