It felt so good to be close to the witch!

Cultivation, development, combat...

Because of [Infinite Desire], he was able to survive from Ais, who had once harbored murderous intent towards him, and used this as an opportunity to cooperate with Ais. In the end, Lilia, Shanica, Elena, Vivian, and even Tonine all gathered around him.

Because of [Infinite Desire], he possesses knightly talent far beyond what ordinary people can imagine. Even Fuma, the daughter of the border duke who is known as the most talented knight in the empire, is not as good as him.

It can be said that without [unlimited desire], he wouldn't be who he is today.

Therefore, instead of spending a huge amount of money to gamble on the original sin master's traits when the energy reserve progress reaches 100% next time, it is better to carry out talent evolution now.

He was eagerly anticipating what changes would occur after [Infinite Desire]'s first evolution.

Of course, Roy also noticed the reminder on the gray character panel, and he had no intention of evolving his talent right now.

At the very least, he will not begin his talent evolution until he has cleansed Vivian of the pollution and settled matters concerning her territory.

Roy turned his gaze away from the gray character panel and looked at Elena on the bed, only to find to his astonishment that the little fox girl had her eyes closed and a faint magical light was emanating from her body.

Roy was all too familiar with this unique magical fluctuation.

This is precisely the manifestation of the witch's first talent evolution!

After the initial shock, Roy quickly calmed down.

It's perfectly normal for Elena's talent to evolve at this time.

Whether a witch will evolve her talent depends on two factors: the degree of corruption and the upper limit of her magic power and her control over it.

In the past, Irina would have fallen far short of meeting either of the two criteria.

But now, having been completely cleansed of the pollution, she has perfectly met the first condition, and the second condition, the upper limit of her magic power and the degree of control over her own magic power, has also been met as she has reached the final stage of her basic meditation practice.

Under these circumstances, it was only natural for Elena to undergo her first talent evolution.

Looking at Elena, whose cheeks still had a blush on her face, Roy smiled, feeling very happy.

After her talent evolves, Elena's illusion abilities will be greatly enhanced. At that time, even if she creates a large number of Silver-rank Black Stone Knights, under Elena's hypnosis, there will be no rebellion or spies.

Once Elena ascends to the Grand rank, even a Gold Knight would likely be unable to escape her after a period of psychological suggestion and hypnosis.

It can be said that Elena's power ceiling determines the power ceiling of her Black Stone Knights.

……

It was unknown how long it would take for Elena's talent to evolve. Roy did not wait long in the hidden place. After observing for a while and confirming that Elena's condition was stable, he left the hidden place and came to the courtyard to tell the witches that Elena was undergoing talent evolution.

Upon hearing this news, Ais rushed into the hidden place immediately.

Although she knew that even if the talent evolution failed, the witch wouldn't suffer any fatal damage, she still couldn't help but worry.

After so many years of wandering together, she had long regarded Elena as her own sister.

"Shanika, could you please go in and check on Elena's condition?" Although Roy had confirmed that Elena's condition was stable, he was, after all, an amateur and not as professional as Shanika, the "professional nanny."

Shanica nodded gently. She first reached out and took Roy's hand, activating her "Healing" talent. Pale blue magic swept away Roy's fatigue, and then she moved gracefully toward the secluded place.

"Vivian, please wait a while. We'll proceed with your pollution removal and talent evolution after Elena's talent evolution is complete." Roy looked at the worried little angel Vivian beside him.

"I'm fine." Upon hearing this, Vivian shook her head, clasped her hands together in front of her chest, and made a prayer gesture: "I hope Nana's talent evolution will be successful and smooth."

Of the witches in the courtyard, besides Ais, Vivian was the one with the best relationship with Elena.

"Don't worry." Roy smiled. "With Elena's current strength, evolving her talent is not dangerous for her."

After comforting the little angel, Roy headed out of the courtyard.

He was going to find Red to arrange the "important work" in Blackrock Territory and Iron Mountain Territory for the next period of time.

Only in this way can he proceed with the first evolution of his [Infinite Desire] talent with peace of mind, even though the time required is uncertain.

Chapter 146 The Arc of Light Dancing at Fingertips

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In the inner training ground, Roy found Red, who was practicing breathing techniques while supervising the daily training of the Black Stone Knights.

A middle-aged knight clad in menacing black armor sat on a high platform at the edge of the training ground. The Black Stone Knights below, during their training breaks, would glance at this figure, their eyes filled with awe.

Knights have always revered the strong, not to mention that Red, as their captain and instructor, was extremely strict during training.

Roy's undisguised footsteps caught Red's attention. Sensing the familiar presence, he quickly rose and respectfully performed a knightly salute: "Lord Roy."

"Lord!" The Blackstone Knights below also paused what they were doing and bowed in unison.

"It's alright, it's alright, you all continue your cultivation."

Roy smiled and nodded at the Black Stone Knights, his gaze sweeping over their newly refurbished standard Black Stone armor and the knight's sword at their waists, a look of satisfaction on his face.

During the three days he was away searching for "artificial miniature magic points," the mechanical witch Toninet used the stockpiled black ore and some black essence she extracted from the mines herself to create standard black stone armor and standard black stone knight swords of the "rare" grade for the Black Stone Knights.

It should be noted that the armor and weapons left to the original owner by the old lord of Blackrock Territory and the original owner's father were only of rare quality.

And now? Every member of the Blackrock Knights has one!

"Rare" level weapons and armor are enough to support the full-force combat of Silver-ranked warriors. It's just that Bronze-ranked Black Stone Knights feel "unworthy" to use such equipment.

Of course, such precious standard equipment could not be given to the Blackstone Knights for free; they only had the right to use it.

There are two ways to acquire ownership of this set of equipment.

Alternatively, the Blackrock Knights could buy it themselves for a huge sum of money.

Alternatively, serve Blackstone for twenty years.

The former is almost impossible. Even if all the Blackrock Knights' assets were emptied and doubled, a single set of rare-level knight armor would still be far from enough.

The latter, on the contrary, is not difficult for the Blackstone Knights. Once they choose to pledge allegiance to the Turenbell family, unless a particularly significant event occurs, such as the destruction of the Turenbell family, or even the destruction of the Radiant Empire, they will not easily choose to leave.

It's only twenty years; they're all serving the lord anyway, so it makes no difference to them.

"Uncle Red, come with me for a moment."

Roy greeted Red and headed out of the training field.

Upon hearing this, Red immediately took a step and followed.

In the study room.

The burning fireplace dispelled the chill, causing Reed's tense face to relax slightly.

Roy looked at Red and asked, "Uncle Red, have there been any unusual developments in Blackrock Territory and Iron Mountain Territory these past few days?"

“Special circumstances…yes.” Red’s eyes turned serious: “In the past few days, the continuous blizzards have collapsed the houses of several people. Fortunately, before winter, I had the craftsmen build some spare houses in advance, so no people froze to death.”

"But if the blizzard continues like this, more and more houses will collapse, and there simply won't be enough spare houses."

"Besides the blizzard, there have been two more incidents of ferocious animals in the territory recently, one near the mine and the other in the forest by Star Lake. Although the patrolling Black Stone Knights managed to eliminate them in time, it resulted in two citizens being seriously injured and five others being slightly injured. The injured are currently recuperating in the infirmary."

“Blizzard… ferocious animals…” Roy sat in his chair, tapping his fingers lightly on the desk, and said slowly, “Blizzard is indeed a problem. Building houses in this weather is not practical. Uncle Red, have the Blackrock Knights lead all the craftsmen to reinforce each house one by one, and take this opportunity to count the living space and population of each household. In case of emergency, forcibly requisition houses so that the affected people and the unaffected people can live together, and make sure that no one freezes to death.”

"Furthermore, inform the people that the lord's manor will cover the medical expenses for all those injured by ferocious animals."

"Your Excellency is merciful." Red bowed respectfully.

"That's the general direction. You can decide on the specifics yourself." Roy waved his hand. "You should also keep an eye on the training of reserve members for the Black Stone Knights. Although there are no plans to recruit more members for the Knights at the moment, we need to ensure that there are people available when needed."

“Yes,” Reid replied.

"Next, I need to go into seclusion for spiritual practice. I can't determine the exact time. It may take less than a day, or it may take three days, a week, or even more."

After hesitating for a moment, Roy continued, "If any particularly serious or urgent situation occurs, such as the discovery of traces of magical beasts within the territory, and high-end combat power is needed, you can go to my courtyard and find the Ice Witch or the Shadow Witch."

Red knew about Roy's "cooperation" with the witch, but he had always known very little about the witch's specifics.

Now that Lord Roy has said that "in major emergencies, we can ask the witches for help," it means that the witches' strength is definitely far above that of the Silver Witches.

“I understand.” Red nodded vigorously.

……

The sound of the crashing waves woke Elena slowly.

She opened her eyes, and what met her pupils was a boundless black sea.

She was standing on the edge of a cliff overlooking the sea.

The seawater, so dark that even the night couldn't penetrate it, surged and roared, as if some indescribable behemoth was struggling madly in the endless depths of the ocean.

The sticky, thick black seawater was less like the sea and more like some indescribable substance of flesh and blood.

"Whoosh..."

A sea breeze carrying a faint fishy smell blew in her face, mixed with a biting chill, and Elena subconsciously shrank her body.

The chill in the sea breeze was colder than the minus thirty degrees Celsius climate of Blackrock Territory. No, that's not quite accurate. The cold in Blackrock Territory was merely physical, but the chill in this sea breeze seemed to pierce the soul, causing even thought to stagnate.

Is this the space where my talent can evolve?

Elena's small eyes were filled with great confusion.

So far, among the witches of Blackrock Territory, Ais, Lilia, and Shanika have completed their first talent evolution. From them, Elena learned about the possible situations that might occur in the talent evolution space.

They are either "test-type" like Ais and Lilia, or "special type" like Shanika.

Given the current situation, does it mean that my talent evolution potential is also a special type like that of Sister Shanika?

Elena's large fox tail swayed twice as she thought to herself.

Just then, the sea breeze subsided, and a faint fragrance suddenly wafted from behind, entering Elena's delicate nose.

In this world filled with the stench of fish, this faint fragrance is like a ray of light piercing the darkness; even if it is just a tiny bit, it is enough to attract everyone's attention.

Elena turned around following the scent, and what she saw made her eyes widen in surprise.

On the cliff, a sword-shaped stone tablet, nearly three meters tall, was inserted straight into the rocky ground. There seemed to be something engraved on the tablet, but because of the long time that had passed, the traces were so blurred that they could not be identified at all.

What surprised Elena was not the sword-shaped monument, but the woman lying next to it.

She wore an exquisite long dress woven from white and light purple, a style she had never seen before. The skirt was so long that it stretched from the woman's feet all the way down to the cliff, fluttering in the sea breeze like a butterfly dancing gracefully, exquisitely beautiful yet delicate.

When Elena looked directly into the woman's face, she felt a complex mix of emotions. At first glance, the woman seemed like a young girl in her late teens, elfin and quirky. The next moment, she became mature and alluring, full of seduction. Then, she became aloof and noble, like a dignified queen...

With a thousand different looks and a myriad of charms, it seems that any stunning beauty you could want could be found in a woman, but what attracted Elena's attention the most was the woman's eyes.

What kind of eyes were those?

Sadness, stubbornness...