Chapter 410: The First Trial
Chapter 410: The First Trial
"Have we prepared the special communication devices for the secret realm?" asked Tatiya.
"We're missing one. Since we just confirmed that Lord Raine will be joining the operation, his device is still in production and will be ready the day after tomorrow," Tatiya whispered.
The communication device for the secret realm was unique and intricate, serving two purposes.
Firstly, it allowed the command personnel at the Astrologist's Platform to communicate with the operatives inside the secret realm in a timely manner. However, this was only possible after the secret realm was activated.
Secondly, it had a positioning function.
Operatives within the Dragon Valley Secret Realm could use this device to check if the three Rift Closers had reached their designated positions and were activated, which was the main objective of this operation.
In case of any failure, the device would allow them to quickly locate the carrier and continue the mission.
"Hmm, speed up the process. After the initial trial, distribute the communication devices," General Augustus nodded.
"Yes, sir."
"By the way, sir, should we include Lord Raine in the Rift Squad since he's new?" Tatiya asked.
For this operation, three Rift Squads were deployed, each consisting of members from the Swordsmen, Imperial Military, and Imperial Guard, tasked with placing the Rift Closers.
The three squads were independent of each other but took orders from the Astrologist's Platform.
This arrangement was necessary because the Cult and the Federation had deeply infiltrated various departments of the Empire. Even for this mission, the three squads from different departments were kept separate to avoid putting all their eggs in one basket.
Ideally, the best plan would have been to gather all squad members beforehand, familiarize them with each other, and then assign roles based on their strengths.
However, the Swordsmen's Rift Squad already had a fixed roster, which prompted Tatiya's question.
"No need, let's keep Lord Raine as a reserve. If any issues arise, we can call upon him," General Augustus replied after a moment's thought.
"Yes, sir."
Raine Manor.
In the study.
Facing Claire's seemingly amused gaze, Raine felt as if he had been drenched in a bucket of ice water from head to toe.
The joy of his recent easy victory had long dissipated, and he was now contemplating whether to tell the truth or lie.
If he lied and Claire already knew about Anna's situation, it would be considered a deliberate deception.
Most likely, it would result in an irreversible loss of points in Claire's eyes.
If he told the truth, even in the relatively open private lives of the Imperial nobility, which woman wouldn't be jealous?
After some thought, Raine decided to speak honestly.
Let her be jealous!
"Anna is actually a half-elf," Raine revealed, dropping a bombshell.
"What?" This time, it was Claire's turn to be surprised.
Half-elves were even rarer than elves.
She never expected that Anna was a half-elf girl.
It was said that half-elves were exceptionally beautiful. Claire's gaze at Raine softened slightly.
"When we were in Shiny Gold Town, Anna lived next door to me. Her mother went missing..." Raine began to recount Anna's story to Claire.
Aside from some intimate interactions between them, he didn't hide much else.
"I understand," Claire nodded.
In fact, over the past few days, Claire had already obtained quite a bit of information about Miss Anna from Raine's sister, Mint.
Although Claire wasn't sure if Raine and Anna had an intimate relationship, it was evident that there were feelings between them.
Even if Raine knew this, he couldn't blame Mint for the information leak. A little girl, no matter how clever, couldn't possibly match Claire's conversational skills.
Moreover, Raine had even encouraged Mint to accept Claire's gift, indicating that Claire was trustworthy.
In Mint's eyes, this beautiful, long-legged sister was kind and generous, so she naturally shared everything she knew about Anna.
Additionally, Mint also told Claire about some details regarding the barbarian sister, Raglara.
This made Claire feel a bit gloomy.
In just one year, he had managed to attract the affections of two girls.
A rare beauty, a half-elf with exquisite features, stood before Claire. She was a Barbarian girl named Raglara, her appearance a stark contrast to the typical image of a Barbarian.
Claire had sought out Ren for a spar, partly due to a lingering frustration within her. She had questioned herself before coming here: did she truly like Ren? Or more specifically, what did she like about him?
Firstly, it was his formidable strength. Ren had displayed exceptional power in Meister, aiding the Habsburg family against the Black Flame Cult and the Serpent Cult.
Secondly, his immense potential. At his age, he had already achieved such a high level of strength, and it was highly likely that Ren would become an Imperial Guardian in the future.
Lastly, during their time in Shiny Gold Town, Ren had left a first impression of being pure, kind, and loyal.
Now, the 'loyal' part had to be replaced with 'flirtatious', but the other traits remained unchanged.
The question remained: would she still choose Ren, knowing his flirtatious nature? After careful consideration, the answer seemed to be 'yes'. Even without the last trait, Ren's strength and potential alone could captivate the hearts of countless girls across the Empire.
However, she felt the need to have a serious talk with Ren about his flirtatious ways; it couldn't continue like this.
"Ren, when you go to the orchard, do you pick every big, red apple you see and put them in your pocket?" Claire asked, hinting at her concern.
"Well, I guess I'd eat as many as I pick," Ren replied nonchalantly.
"Hmm?" Claire was momentarily speechless, her eyes narrowing at Ren. She was certain he understood the underlying meaning of her words.
But the conversation was abruptly interrupted as the training room door swung open. Standing outside was Raglara, her expression a mix of surprise and curiosity. She hadn't expected to find Ren and Claire, a noble girl, inside the training room.
"Ren, I'll take my leave now. Just be careful with the Dragon Scale Brotherhood," Claire said, preparing to depart.
Ren currently faced numerous enemies.
In that fleeting moment, Claire suddenly realized something from her perspective. At this point, it was neither suitable nor necessary for her to dwell on this issue, lest it distract Ren from his current challenges.
"Alright, Claire, thank you for your help," Ren acknowledged.
As Claire left the training room, she nodded at Raglara and offered a faint smile, a brief greeting. Raglara returned the smile.
The next day, at the Bishu Armament School's headquarters...
Ren was assisting his mentor, Mogaro, in completing the second-generation Enhanced Hellfire Golem.
"With your help, the progress is more than twice as fast. I'll definitely ask for your assistance when I have the time," Mogaro said, his eyes fixed on the colossal construct. He clapped his hands, brushed off some dust, and took a few hearty gulps from a flattened metal canteen, expressing his satisfaction.
"No problem, Mentor. Just let me know whenever you need help with the Golem," Ren smiled.
With this second-generation Enhanced Hellfire Golem, Ren now had two such constructs. At his request, each six-meter-tall golem carried a massive weapon on its back—one with a four-meter-long double-handed sword and the other with a four-meter-long double-handed hammer.
"Ren, these weapons seem a bit oversized and out of proportion," Mentor Mogaro remarked, stroking his beard as he noticed the slight imbalance.
With his experience, Mogaro easily discerned the disharmony.
"They are a bit long, but they'll do," Ren chuckled, offering no further explanation.
In his mind, these oversized weapons were primarily intended for his Dragon Transformation, especially the powerful Dragon King form.
Although the Dragon Valley Secret Realm capped individual strength at the Epic tier, and his transformation to the Dragon King form might push him beyond that limit, Ren had three transformation stages.
In his first form, the Dragon Warrior, and second form, the Dragon Captain, his strength would approach the Epic tier but fall short of reaching it.
With a hammer and a sword, two heavy weapons in hand, Ren was confident that he could defeat Legendary-tier opponents in either his first or second form.
And let's not forget, Ren's Thousand Blade King profession had never been fully unleashed in his Dragon forms.
Hearing his prized disciple's words, Mogaro knew better than to argue.
"Ren, should we transport these two Hellfire Golems now?" Mogaro asked.
"Yes, please arrange for an airship to deliver them to the Swordsmen Headquarters. I'll have someone receive them personally," Ren replied.
"Alright, Audrey, contact the Airship Hall and have them transported immediately," Mogaro instructed.
"Yes, Mentor," Audrey nodded and promptly left the laboratory.
Two more days passed, and the day of the preliminary exam finally arrived, which was the first Sunday of Harvest Month.
In the Dragon Rider Reserve Camp within Tamriel's Ring 6 in the Imperial Capital, nearly a hundred Imperial Legendary-tier powerhouses gathered, including Ren, Luther, and Halowen.
Due to their powerful auras and the massive flying mounts they rode, which were several times larger than warhorses, the camp, the size of several football fields, was packed with just under a hundred people.
The Empire's vast territory and population of several billion meant that this small group was second only to the Imperial Guardians at the top of the pyramid.
These Legendary powerhouses were not newcomers to the tier; they were at least veteran Legends.
"That's Prince Everett, the Second Prince," Luther whispered to Ren beside him.
Following Luther's gaze, Ren spotted a slightly effeminate young man sitting in the center of the main stage, chatting and laughing with an elderly man beside him.
At that moment, Ren distinctly felt numerous veiled gazes focusing on him, but most quickly averted their eyes after a glance.
After all, at their level of strength, they were highly sensitive to being stared at.
However, Ren was slightly annoyed by the prolonged stares and scrutinizing gazes coming from his right rear.
Casually glancing around, Ren immediately identified the faces of those behind him.
The leader was a middle-aged man with dreadlocks, riding a ferocious beast, a Bonebreaker Vulture, which gave off an intimidating aura.
The Bonebreaker Vulture was several times larger than an ordinary vulture, with blood-red eyes, a bald neck devoid of feathers, and only thick folds of skin. Its small head had an iron beak that appeared disproportionately large.
As the name 'Bonebreaker' suggested, the iron beak of the vulture possessed astonishing power, capable of effortlessly shattering the hardest beast bones and sucking out the marrow.
Furthermore, judging by their mounts, they were not alone.
Although the two men beside the leader wore different clothes, they also rode Bonebreaker Vultures, indicating that the three were likely a group.
This surprised Ren slightly, as he couldn't recall ever meeting these three.
Nevertheless, he memorized their auras.
Despite the chaotic mix of ferocious beast auras in the area, Ren's keen senses detected a peculiar one among them.
"Hmm? This seems like the aura of the Dragon Bloodline," Ren wondered.
"Could they be members of the Dragon Scale Brotherhood?" Ren pondered silently.
Indeed, as Ren had guessed, although each of them had official identities as a front, they had secretly joined the Dragon Scale Brotherhood.
The dreadlocked leader was named Barnes, and the other two were Reagan and Bronson.
A few days earlier, they had received a secret mission from Buchanan, instructing them to obtain Ren's blood essence during the Mystic Realm's second round of exams.
With the Second Prince as one of the main examiners for the Dragon Rider Cadet Selection, they weren't worried about passing the preliminary round.
However, after assessing Ren's intelligence, they all found him a bit tricky and not easy to deal with.
It wasn't all talk when 'Carver' Harold claimed to be the most powerful Legend; his Earth School magic defense was incredibly strong.
Even Barnes, the strongest among the three, doubted he could defeat Harold, even with his bloodline transformation. At best, he might manage a draw.
But the young man before them had defeated Harold, clearly demonstrating formidable offensive power.
Nevertheless, they were three, so they remained confident. Buchanan had also provided them with a Sensory Orb for communication within the Mystic Realm.
Once inside, the trio could quickly assemble and locate Ren based on the orb's connection.
Their primary goal was to reevaluate Ren's strength based on his performance in the preliminary round.
(End of Chapter)
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