It felt so good to be close to the witch!

"call……"

Taking a deep breath, Red turned around and sat down on the bed. He reached out and touched the high-purity magic crystal inside his clothes.

Ever since Lord Roy gave him this high-purity magic crystal, Red felt that his talent in the way of knighthood had completely changed.

In the past, when he practiced breathing techniques, it was like trying to fill a very narrow and cracked container with water. No matter how hard he tried, the opening of the container was only so big, and only a small amount of water could flow in within a certain time. Moreover, during the process of filling the container, he also had to consider whether the container would break.

Now, with the high-purity magic crystal, the cracks on the container are gradually being repaired, and the opening of the container has become larger.

In just a few days, Red felt his fighting spirit had deepened. At this rate, he was confident that he could reach the peak of the Bronze rank within two months and break through to the Silver rank within six months!

This is the transformative change that high-purity magic crystals bring to a knight!

The thought that the Silver Realm, which he had never dared to hope for in the past, was now within reach filled Red with excitement, and he seized the time to practice his breathing techniques.

He's too weak right now.

Lord Roy's talent was beyond his comprehension, and his rapid progress in strength far exceeded his imagination.

Red knew very well that no matter how hard he tried, he could never catch up with Lord Roy, but at least, on the road ahead, he wanted to see Lord Roy's back.

……

South of Chiling Town, in a mountain cave amidst dense forest.

Two figures stared at the screen of a square, silver-white metal device in front of them, using the light-emitting device hanging from the top of the cave wall as a guide.

Several images were displayed on the screen, one of which was a hotel with a faint candlelight glowing in the night.

"Blackstone Territory..."

After a moment of silence, one of them spoke in a low voice.

His voice was very hoarse, like the dry rubbing of a track without lubricant.

“Experimental subject 003 was captured by the people of Blackstone Territory. According to regulation B-023, it must be retrieved, or at the very least destroyed.”

Another voice spoke up. She stood behind the man, and her voice was clearly female, icy cold, devoid of any emotion, like a robot issuing commands.

“I know, but the problem is how to get it back.” There was a hint of annoyance in the man’s voice: “Who would have thought that Experiment 003 would suddenly go out of control and attack passersby, and to make matters worse, it ran into the Black Stone Territory’s team. The knight leading the team was able to take down Experiment 003 so easily. His strength must be at least Bronze Three Star. Those trash probably wouldn’t be a match for him.”

"Then we'll take action." The cold female voice rang out again: "The existence of the experimental subjects must not be exposed."

“All members associated with it must die.”

"You are well aware of the consequences of violating the regulations."

"Violating the regulations..." Upon hearing this word, the man visibly fell silent. After a few seconds, he gritted his teeth and said, "Then let's do it."

"After destroying Experiment 003 and eliminating those involved, we will immediately flee this place and destroy all remaining items."

"Although the Radiant Empire is technologically backward, its top experts are exceptionally formidable. If our whereabouts are exposed and attract their attention, we will be in trouble."

"When will we do it?"

"When they leave tomorrow, keep the operation as quiet as possible. We'll split into two groups. I'll deal with the people in Blackstone Territory, and you'll handle the informants and the destruction experiment subject 003 in Red Ridge. The Bird of Knowledge has already marked them, so we must act quickly and make sure no one discovers it."

"can."

……

Blackstone Territory, the lord's residence.

Roy sat on a cushion in the courtyard, practicing the Flame Breathing Technique.

In the corner of the courtyard, Shanika, dressed in a black and white maid outfit, lay on the stone table, lightening the weight in front of her while gazing at Roy, who was meditating with his eyes closed. Her eyes were slightly unfocused, and a sweet, silly smile would occasionally appear on her lips. She was like a ripe peach, full of luscious beauty.

Lilia stood in the shadows of the corner and glanced at Shanika.

For some reason, she felt that Miss Shanica was a little strange today; she seemed to look even more charming.

Lilia's sixth sense told her that something seemed to have happened.

Lilia pursed her lips, feeling somewhat annoyed, and simply closed her eyes to begin practicing the "Basic Meditation Method".

With the strength of a top-tier witch as a foundation, she cultivates the "Basic Meditation Method" very quickly, and now three runes are already imprinted in her body.

Once she has completed the inscription of the nine runes for the first stage, she will be able to begin her journey to break through to the "Grand" rank!

Lilia desperately desired the "Grand Rank".

If she possessed the foundation of a "Grand" rank at the bottom of the Star Lake in the past, then with the help of the "Dark Moon Seed" given to her by the Moon Witch Cecilia, she could even unleash the power of a pseudo-Grand Witch.

In that case, the Azure Horned Moon Wolf King Xiaoxue, which she summoned through blood sacrifice, could even descend in her true form for a short period of time!

The legendary king of the Shadow World possesses strength comparable to, or even slightly stronger than, the pinnacle of legends.

If he could descend in his true form, he would definitely be able to defeat the legendary three-star knight Sima!

Lilia never wants to experience that despair of being unable to protect Lord Roy in the face of a powerful enemy again!

As they became more proficient in the "basic meditation method," the witches gradually began to practice rune cultivation.

Ais is the fastest, and has already engraved six.

Elena and Vivian are the slowest, having only just completed the engraving of their first one.

As for Miss Shanika... to be honest, Lilia didn't quite understand it.

In her eyes, Miss Shanika hadn't been practicing for very long, but she had one more rune imprinted than her.

This made Lilia feel very urgent.

As Lord Roy's bodyguard, defined as a "combatant," she would feel extremely ashamed if her magic power were ultimately inferior to that of a support "nanny."

We must work even harder in our spiritual practice!

On the eaves of the courtyard, Ais stood quietly, the cool moonlight shining on her, as if draping her in a light veil, like a fairy under the moon.

“Flutter, flutter…”

Just then, a pure white carrier pigeon flew in from afar.

Seeing the small mark belonging to Blackstone Territory on the carrier pigeon's wing, the chill in Ais's fingertips slowly dissipated as she watched the pigeon land on a small tree branch in the corner of the courtyard.

"call……"

Sensing the commotion, Roy exhaled and stopped practicing the Flame Breathing Technique.

He slowly opened his eyes, and a flash of crimson-gold flame appeared and disappeared in his pupils.

Feeling the surging battle qi within his body, Roy's eyes were filled with joy.

After the problem of his foundational instability was resolved, he was finally able to raise the upper limit of his battle qi without any worries.

With the addition of the [Explosive Flame] and [Extreme Bloom] traits to the Flame Breathing Technique, Roy's specific combat abilities are still uncertain, but the training effects far surpass those before.

After a day of training, Roy's battle qi intensity increased from the initial Silver Three-Star level to the top of Silver Three-Star, which is 89 levels. One more level and he will reach the peak of Silver.

Having reached this point, Roy had no choice but to stop cultivating his fighting spirit.

He had a premonition that once he directly reached the peak of Silver rank in a short period of time, he would once again fall into a state of unstable foundation.

Therefore, he decided to suppress his fighting spirit and prepare to continue practical training with Lilia tomorrow to solidify his foundation.

The addition of the [Extreme Bloom] trait to the Flame Breathing Technique further enhanced Roy's battle aura purity, although the increase in purity was not significant due to his limited mastery of [Extreme Bloom].

But when it comes to purity, every slight increase leads to a significant boost in strength.

Therefore, Roy could feel that compared to himself before he mastered [Extreme Bloom], his combat power at the same level had increased by at least 30%!

This is already an extremely alarming figure.

Once your [Extreme Bloom] skill improves further, this increase will be even greater!

Compared to the improvement in the purity of fighting spirit, the Flame Breathing Technique with the added [Extreme Bloom] trait had a nourishing effect on the body that Roy had not expected.

To put it in terms of data, the maximum physical strength that the single [Explosive Flame] trait can nourish at the Silver stage is 10. So, with the addition of the [Extreme Bloom] trait, the maximum physical strength that Flame Breathing can nourish at the Silver stage reaches 12!

Physical improvement is not linear; once a certain level is reached, every improvement becomes a revolutionary change.

Don't be fooled by the small difference of 2 between 12 and 10; a knight with a Constitution of 12 can easily defeat two knights with a Constitution of 10.

The difference in the purity of fighting spirit and the strength of the physique is the key to why a knight who has mastered the [Extreme Bloom] Flame Breathing Technique has a combat power that far surpasses others of the same level!

Suppressing his excitement, Roy turned his gaze to the carrier pigeons on the nearby tree branch.

This was an agreement he and Red made, to report the situation to each other every day via carrier pigeon.

Lilia's Shadow Raven cannot stray too far from her body, and the same applies to the Sound Conch; therefore, this relatively primitive method is the only option.

As Roy raised his hand, the carrier pigeon flapped its wings and flew onto his arm.

After feeding the carrier pigeon a few special foods as a reward, Roy removed the letter tied to the pigeon's leg and began to read it.

Chapter 124 Mechanical Invasion

In the courtyard, after reading the letter Reid sent back, Roy's eyes showed a thoughtful expression.

“Ferocious animals…bandits who attacked the Red Ridge granary…and the somewhat eccentric Lord Thunberg, the Red Ridge lord…”

Roy knew something about ferocious animals.

To put it simply, ferocious animals can be seen as a transitional stage between ordinary animals and magical beasts.

According to Fran, the daughter of the border duke, due to the magic tide caused by the eruption of the Star Lake magic vein, a large number of animals will mutate this winter, and there may even be magical beasts that attack the territory. Therefore, Roy is very concerned about this matter.

Monsters are exceptionally powerful animal beings. Their weakest level is at least Silver rank, and they can wield magical powers with elemental attributes.

In a sense, magical beasts are the animal versions of witches. However, compared to witches, magical beasts are much more difficult to create, and because the materials from magical beasts are extremely rare and are important main materials for making various high-quality weapons and equipment, magical beasts that appear within the empire are immediately attacked by groups of extraordinary knights.

The ferocious animals, having been corrupted by the magic within them, have become exceptionally violent and savage, and their size far exceeds that of their kind. The vast majority of them possess the strength of the Bronze level.

Compared to Warcraft, there are far more ferocious animals.

Every year, countless people in various territories perish in the winter at the hands of ferocious animals.

Ferocious animals and monsters generally only appear during the dead of winter.

After the Feast Festival, magical energy dissipated from magical ley lines all over the world. Although it was not as severe as the outbreak at Star Lake, it was enough to give rise to many ferocious animals.

Logically speaking, there are still nine days until winter, and ferocious animals shouldn't be appearing so early. Could it be that they are affected by the eruption of the Star Lake Magic Pulse Point?

Roy was deep in thought.

It seems the beast plague this winter will be more severe than he imagined...