Chapter 518: The Former Romeo

Chapter 518: The Former Romeo

Inside the box was the bronze badge Rayne had earned as a swordsman in the Minter Province Swordsmen Division. This was the first emblem he had ever received, and Olena had specifically arranged for it to be sent from the Minstrel Swordsmen Division as quickly as possible.

Rayne's manor naturally had many such personal items, but Olena didn't want to worry Rayne's family unnecessarily before the situation was clear. Therefore, she hadn't shared this information with them, and the personal item was sent from the Minstrel Swordsmen Division.

Grand Astrologist Darian took the wooden box, and when he removed the bronze badge, he paused for a moment. Clearly, a swordsman's bronze badge seemed far removed from Rayne's current status. However, he said nothing and immediately began his ritual.

A few minutes later,

"Lord Rayne is still alive, but his starlight is dim, likely due to severe injuries from battle", Darian said, his expression easing slightly after completing the ritual.

Based on the intelligence, he naturally assumed Rayne had been gravely injured, rather than suspecting any other reason.

"But why would High Lord Reginald say he couldn't find Lord Rayne?" General Augustus frowned, asking.

"Even if Lord Rayne had an obscuring rune array or similar magic tool, it still doesn't make sense. The Federation has already conducted a grid search, practically counting every ant on Reef Island."

"This..." Darian was at a loss to answer Augustus's question.

There was one thing he hadn't mentioned: when he used great astrology to divine Rayne's fate, he found the difficulty of locating him to be exceptionally high, even more so than when searching for Princess Menya.

This suggested that, in some sense, Rayne's strength surpassed that of Princess Menya, which was... impossible.

Princess Menya was a late-stage Dawn Wizard with a royal bloodline and the rank of veteran imperial dragon knight.

Darian was momentarily stumped by this.

The key was that the strength of the divination subject affected the accuracy of the divination.

All divination techniques, whether great astrology, crystal ball divination, water divination, or others, suffered a significant loss of precision if the subject's strength exceeded that of the diviner.

Thus, the level of precision Darian could achieve was limited to what he had already demonstrated.

At this point, Senate Elder Ivan, after some thought, said,

"According to Reginald, they arrived near the island almost simultaneously with the Sea God Cult after the explosion, but at that time, they could no longer see the Abyssal Sea Goddess's avatar, Princess Menya, or Lord Rayne."

"Is it possible that the Abyssal Sea Goddess's avatar defeated both of them and then took them to the temple beneath the sea?"

Elder Ivan's words brought silence to the hall, and everyone present fell into deep contemplation.

Indeed!

That was a possibility!

After all, if they were still on the island, even with an obscuring rune array, Rayne and Menya should have been found by now.

After a moment's thought, Marshal Alfred asked, "Lord Darian, can you determine Lord Rayne's general location now?"

"Yes, he should still be in the vicinity of the Federation's waters", Darian nodded.

"In that case, I agree with Elder Ivan's opinion. It's likely that the Abyssal Sea Goddess's avatar severely wounded both Princess Menya and Lord Rayne and then took them to the underwater temple", Marshal Alfred said solemnly.

Hearing this, everyone thought for a moment and then nodded in understanding.

"Yes, that would explain the anomalies shown by great astrology", Grand Astrologist Darian also nodded.

The three most powerful and influential people on the scene agreed, and the others naturally nodded as well. Even if they still had some minor doubts in their hearts, they kept them to themselves.

After all, this was at least good news!

It meant that Rayne was still alive, and as for Princess Menya, she seemed to have not perished completely either!

With the guidance of the astrologist's platform, the empire's upper echelons faced a dilemma after their research.

While the general area was determined, the Sea God Cult's base was located underwater, making it much more difficult to search compared to land. The ocean's conditions were complex, and finding it would still be very challenging.

Furthermore, even if they located the Temple of the Goddess of the Depths, a fierce battle would undoubtedly break out. If the number of powerful individuals sent was insufficient, they might end up in danger.

However, after the Ferdinand Forest incident, the empire's current territory saw an increase in the activities of various cults. Almost every imperial guardian had a province or region to guard, with only the Imperial Capital, Tamriel, having multiple guardians on standby.

Still, after the last major battle in the Imperial Capital, the number of imperial guardians was necessary.

"Since that's the case, let the Senate send a team", Elder Ivan said, looking around the room and making the final decision.

The news from the high-level meeting quickly spread within the small circle of the empire's upper echelons.

Many top nobles initially heard the news with a mix of skepticism and doubt, especially since Reginald's report used terms like "suspected" and "possible." But now, it was different.

The news had been confirmed by the empire's foremost grand astrologist, Darian!

In Dram's Mansion, on the second floor in the luxurious study.

"Ha ha ha, this Rayne, arrogant and lawless! Now, he has been defeated and imprisoned by the avatar of the Goddess of the Abyssal Sea. Even if he's alive, he will never return to the empire!"

"Pity about Princess Menya", Duke Dram said, slamming his hand on the mahogany desk, his face flushed with excitement.

It wasn't that he lacked depth, but this news was about avenging his son, Greenwood, who had been killed by Rayne!

He had thought that avenging his son would be impossible, given Rayne's terrifying rate of power growth. But unexpectedly, a routine visit had resulted in such a "joyful" event.

"Your Grace, with this, young Master Greenwood's vendetta will be avenged!" the new butler said, smiling and flattering the duke.

"No, it's far from enough!" Duke Dram quickly calmed his excitement, thought for a moment, and shook his head.

"Go and investigate who and what forces have aligned with Rayne. I want to eliminate them one by one, and then, I will completely wipe out his family!"

"Um, Your Grace, his family seems to have settled in the Imperial Capital and is under the special protection of the empire's swordsmen. Besides, wouldn't it be too conspicuous to act now?"

"Then, start with his allies. As for his family, there's no rush. We'll wait until people gradually forget about him", Duke Dram said with a sinister smile.

"By the way, inform Marquis Oren. His family had a conflict with Rayne before and lost their shares in the Axeon Auction House's Minstrel branch."

"Praise to Your Grace, you always make the most wise decisions", the butler flattered.

Below Reef Island.

Beside the underwater volcano's Lava Lake.

Menya had actually awakened not long after Rayne picked her up.

However, she felt Rayne's warm breath on her face, and something poking her from below, which left her completely unsure of how to handle the situation.

In fact, after her consciousness was separated by Rayne and returned to her body, Menya didn't know how to face someone who knew most of her secrets.

She was a woman, and the person who knew her secrets was a man.

A powerful young man with the Multi-Headed Dragon Bloodline.

Although Rayne, due to the system, didn't truly have the Multi-Headed Dragon Bloodline but merely the 'multi-headed' ability, Menya couldn't possibly know this. She naturally assumed from appearances that Rayne possessed the Multi-Headed Dragon Bloodline.

For a moment, Rayne seemed to embody the one Menya had once adored in her youth.

After all, tragedies like Romeo and Juliet are the ones that leave the deepest impressions on a person's life.

Menya was no different; she had never truly moved past this emotional hurdle, and now, it was as if she had encountered her own Romeo once more.

So, when faced with Rayne's impertinence, and even his kiss, Menya didn't know how to react.

Reject him?

It seemed her instinct was to hold back from saying no.

And accept?

Her age far surpassed Rayne's.

Menya's thoughts wandered for a long time before she finally managed to refocus and return to her deep meditation.

On the other side, Rayne was completely unaware of Menya's inner turmoil.

Taking advantage of Menya's deep meditation, he first studied the goblin engineering knowledge he had forcibly memorized, then made his way to the exposed ore veins on the lava wall.

Bang!

With a slight effort, Rayne's fist shattered the surface of the ore, breaking through the thick, dark gray layer of solidified rock that had crystallized from the high-temperature magma. Despite its hardness, it was no match for Rayne.

"Hmm, this is black iron ore? And it's a rich vein!"

Different ores have different criteria for being considered rich, but the black iron ore before him had a content exceeding 60%, which would qualify as a rich vein in any ore.

After a moment's thought, Rayne placed his hand, glowing with a dense Dark Silver light, on the rich black iron ore, which jutted out from the lava wall, more than a meter long.

As the light from Rayne's hand flickered, the metallic black iron within the ore began to seep out like mercury, gradually forming a sphere in the palm of his hand.

But it didn't stop there.

The black iron ore contained more than just black iron; it also included small amounts of other metals such as copper and tin. As a result, in addition to the black iron sphere, four other metal spheres of varying sizes and colors formed in Rayne's palm: a copper sphere, a tin sphere, a silver sphere, and a gold sphere.

This was one of the abilities Rayne had gained after advancing to the fourth-tier Dawn Wizard—his strong affinity for metal elements and the surging psi energy of a Dawn Wizard allowed him to accomplish this with ease.

While he could do this at the Crystalized Wizard level, it was laborious and could only be done one metal at a time. Now, it was as simple as eating or drinking.

Bang!

Soon, a sphere of pure black iron, weighing hundreds of kilograms, was placed in front of Rayne, followed by the other four smaller metal spheres that fell to the ground.

Rayne examined the five metal spheres and then looked at the numerous ore veins nearby, his expression thoughtful.

"This is good. Perhaps I can gather the necessary raw materials and start working on the mechanical constructs from goblin engineering."

Rayne's eyes sparkled as he had an idea.

"However, the few metals here are still far from enough."

A moment later, Rayne flashed to another dark gray ore vein on a protruding rock wall, and after a light strike, he began processing it in the same way as the black iron ore.

"Hmm, this is mystic iron ore!"

After a quick inspection, Rayne's eyes brightened. He had expected most of the ore here to be the same, but it turned out there were other types of ore as well.

"Excellent! It seems my plan is feasible!"

Before long, Rayne had gathered seven or eight rare and over a dozen common metal materials. He was surprised by the variety of ores within the underwater volcano, which was more than enough for him to experiment while learning goblin engineering.

Rayne then followed the proportions, using magic iron as the primary material and adding small amounts of copper and tin to form an alloy. He then used the fire magic 'Scorching Touch' to smelt it.

After it cooled, he quickly used metal shaping to form the magic iron alloy into the shape of a rifle, following the goblin engineering diagrams he had learned. He also shaped the other gun components.

At that moment, the System Prompt sounded:

You have crafted a beginner-level goblin engineering construct, the 'ystic iron rifle', and gained insight.

[You have mastered a new skill — mystic iron rifle]

[Your skill to craft mystic iron rifle has improved. Experience +10]

You have successfully crafted one beginner-level goblin engineering construct, the 'ystic iron rifle'. Due to the host not yet having the goblin engineer class, gnome engineering insight progress has increased by 1%.

"Great!" Rayne looked at the System Prompt, unable to hide his joy.

"Sure enough, learning isn't just about reading; it's about applying what you've learned, combining theory with practice!"

"This efficiency has greatly improved!"

Previously, Rayne had spent several hours of self-study to gain a single percentage point of progress. But just now, he spent less than ten minutes crafting a mystic iron rifle and immediately gained a percentage point.

Now, the progress of 'mastering goblin engineering knowledge' had reached 65%.

The next day, while Rayne was crafting a new goblin engineering construct ‘adamantium stabilizer’, he suddenly heard a delicate hum from Menya's direction.

Rayne immediately stopped his work and turned to look. He saw Menya frowning slightly, her hand supporting her pale forehead as she slowly stood up.

"Princess Menya, how do you feel?" Rayne quickly approached, concerned.

Actually, without even asking, Rayne could already sense that although Menya's psi energy stability was much better than it was three days ago, it was still quite volatile. Additionally, the intensity of her psi energy had shown a noticeable decline.

"It's not good. My strength is still waning, Rayne. How many days have passed? I might need more time", Menya glanced at Rayne quickly, then lowered her head, her beautiful eyes flickering, hesitant to meet his gaze.

"Princess Menya, it has been three days."

"If you need to continue deep meditation to recover, would you like to eat something first? There's a fire-type beast here that might help with your recovery", Rayne suggested.

A level-four dawn wizard, while having more control over their food needs, is still not at the level of a level-five full moon wizard, a demigod, and still requires food to maintain essential life elements.

"Alright, thank you, Rayne", Menya nodded and said.

"Hey, is this a double-sailed dragon?"

When Menya saw Rayne handling a lava sail dragon, she couldn't help but feel a bit surprised.

"Indeed, it's called a double-sailed dragon. I saw the semi-circular fins on its back and just called it a lava sail dragon", Rayne said with a smile.

"Yes, this is a fire-type double-sailed dragon. It should be a descendant of a Red Dragon or a fire dragon and an ichthyosaur from the sea. Given the large number of them, it's likely that a fire dragon lived in this Lava Lake for a long time", Menya explained.

Soon, Rayne had prepared several grilled double-sailed dragon ribs.

Menya took a small bite and found them juicy and quite tender and delicious. But after a few seconds, her expression turned to one of surprise.

"Princess Menya, how does it taste?"

"Rayne, these double-sailed dragons might not be ordinary descendants of fire dragons and ichthyosaurs."

"Hmm?"

"I can sense a trace of bloodline essence within them, which likely comes from an ancient Red Dragon, at least of the ancient dragon level, or even a Jiulao Dragon."

Menya's words clearly startled Rayne!

For the past few days, he hadn't strayed too far from Menya, and the Lava Lake was vast, stretching beyond sight. Now, on closer reflection, it was likely that the Lava Lake wasn't at the bottom of a single volcano but was part of a cluster of underwater volcanoes.

"Are you suggesting that there might be an ancient Red Dragon sleeping beneath this Lava Lake?" Rayne's eyes narrowed, his expression serious.

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end