The wizard starts by trimming the donkey's hooves

Chapter 286: Spread of Influence (Two chapters in one)

"Colonel Stanley, is Admiral Edward here? I have something important to report." As Colin spoke, he was about to go forward and knock on the door.

"and many more!"

"Colin, you are already in your forties, why are you still so unstable?" Colonel Stanley looked up at Colin, whose forehead was covered with sweat, and said lightly.

As Admiral Edward's secretary, he naturally couldn't go back to rest early if the Admiral didn't rest.

This is the bad thing about being a secretary to a top leader. It is usually very hard work. Of course, normally, hard work will be rewarded. Being Admiral Edward's secretary is like being on the fast track to promotion.

"Colonel Stanley, I have received an urgent and confidential message from Olena. According to regulations, I need to notify Admiral Edward immediately."

Colin put his hands down awkwardly.

As the Under-Secretary of State for Affairs in the Intelligence Department, he was nearly two levels lower in rank than Colonel Stanley, so he was naturally more reserved when speaking.

"Admiral Edward has an important guest here. What exactly is it?" Stanley said clearly without any intention of making things difficult for Colin.

Because Archbishop Gomes happened to come over in the evening. As the head of the Goddess Church in the Münster Province, he must have something important to discuss with Admiral Edward.

If it is not a very urgent matter, then report it after the Archbishop leaves, it is the same.

Colin thought again. According to regulations, as Admiral Edward's secretary, Stanley should have the authority to know confidential information.

"Colonel Stanley, please take a look at this content yourself." Colin didn't know how to comment on this content for a moment.

So he handed Stanley the original document sent by Olena.

Stanley looked at Colin suspiciously, not knowing what Colin was trying to say. He immediately opened the letter and read it quickly.

"what!"

Stanley exclaimed!

After just a few seconds, his eyes widened and he looked at the letter in his hand with an expression of disbelief.

"This"

Stanley looked at the letter and then looked at Colin, as if for confirmation.

Originally he wanted to say, how is this possible?

But the problem is that it is clearly written in the letter that the fact that the ancient hero Monger of the Black Flame Cult was recognized as an epic powerhouse was not determined by Olena, but by the Imperial Dragon Knight, Her Highness Menia, known as the 'Red Queen'.

As one of the guardians of the empire, could His Highness Menia make a wrong judgment?
This possibility is almost non-existent.

Then there is only one truth, and this thing is most likely true.

"Although I found it hard to believe when I received the intelligence, I believe in Her Highness Menia's determination, and I also believe that Her Excellency Olena would not report this matter to Admiral Edward without any certainty."

Colin saw Colonel Stanley's face full of shock, but he had to believe it, and he smiled in his heart, thinking to himself: "Well, you are also in your forties, and you are still not calm."

After listening to this, Stanley nodded, looking thoughtful.

After thinking about it, Stanley felt that it would be better to let Admiral Edward know about this matter immediately.

After all, it was news related to His Royal Highness the Dragon Knight Menia. Admiral Edward would probably not blame him for this matter.

At this time, in Admiral Edward's office.

Archbishop Gomes and Admiral Edward sat opposite each other, talking to each other with serious faces.

"Old friend, according to the information you conveyed last time, our operatives in Wales County have directly uprooted the Black Flame Cult in Wales County in the past two days. After some interrogation, we have obtained a lot of useful information."

"One of the pieces of news will surely interest you, that is, the reason or purpose of the Black Flame Cult's activeness in Mayest County this time."

At this point, Gomes paused.

"Old friend, I think you may want to ask the Imperial Guardian to take action." Archbishop Gomes said with a serious face.

"Huh? Is the situation so serious? Does it require the Imperial Guardians to take action to resolve it?" Edward said with a serious expression.

"I think so. Because the ultimate goal of the Black Flame Cult should be to resurrect an ancient cult leader. Although it is not clear who it is, the location should be somewhere underground in Mayest County."

"A powerful ancient cult figure?" Admiral Edward looked puzzled.

"It's been so long. Even if he can be resurrected, the weakening of his soul is inevitable, right? How strong can he be?"

"That's right. But even if it's weakened, it still has at least legendary strength. Otherwise, there would be no need for the Black Flame Cult to make such a big fuss." Gomez explained.

"Legend? That's indeed a big trouble," Admiral Edward said with a serious face.

"Boom boom boom!"

At this moment, there was a knock on the door at an inopportune time.

This immediately made Admiral Edward frown and said with a slightly unhappy look: "Come in!"

Colonel Stanley stepped forward respectfully and said, "My Lords, please forgive me for interrupting you. This is an urgent confidential letter from Her Excellency Olena, the Undersecretary of Mission Hall Affairs, who was sent from Meister."

"My Lord, I think you need to take a look at it immediately."

Admiral Edward glanced at his secretary Stanley. He knew that the other party was always steady. This time he came to disturb him even though he knew that there was an important guest, Archbishop Gomes, in his room. There must be a reason for it.

So he nodded and said, "Okay, I'll take a look."

Hearing the news from Meister, the attention of Archbishop Gomes was also drawn.

After all, the issue he just talked about was about Meister's Black Flame Cult.

Admiral Edward took the letter, opened it, and was stunned, unable to hide the shock on his face!

This made Archbishop Gomes, who was standing by, look worried, as his old friend rarely lost his composure like this.

"Could it be that I said it too late?"

"Has the Black Flame Cult found and resurrected that ancient powerful being?" Archbishop Gomez thought to himself.

The next second, Admiral Edward said in a lost voice: "An epic master?"

"This"

Even though Admiral Edward had experienced many storms, this was the first time he heard that one of his subordinates, wielding a sword, had killed an epic warrior.

You know, he has been the head of the Munster Sword Bearers branch for eight years!
During his tenure, killing hostile legendary warriors was extremely rare, perhaps even once a year.

Most of them are at the quasi-legendary level.

But this time, information about killing an epic strong man suddenly emerged, so it's no wonder that he lost his composure.

"Sir Edward, could it be that you have already received accurate information that the Black Flame Cult is going to resurrect an epic warrior this time?" Archbishop Gomes could not help but interrupt the shocked Admiral Edward and asked.

"Archbishop Gomes, you should read it yourself." After thinking for a while, Edward handed the letter in his hand to Gomes.

His mind was a little confused for a moment, and he didn't know how to explain this matter to Gomez. The best way, of course, was to let him see it for himself.

Although it is confidential information of the Sword Bearer branch, since it involves a cult organization, the Sword Bearers will generally exchange information with the Goddess Church.

In addition, as the head of the Munster Sword Bearers branch, Edward naturally has the right to judge on his own whether to share relevant information with the church.

At this moment, Edward was thinking about a person's name - 'Ryan'.

Of course he had an impression of this new young man, and he had been impressed since he knocked down the Obsidian Giant with one blow.

In addition, the remains of the golem guards from the previous two days surprised him again.

But what he didn't expect was that the other party actually did another big thing in just a few days, and it was almost an earth-shattering thing - "killing an epic strong man"!
Although we have to add a suffix - 'severely weakened'.

But no matter how you add prefixes, it's still epic!
"What? He has been killed?" Archbishop Gomez's eyes, which had been half closed, suddenly widened. He stared at the letter with shock on his face.

"That's right, and it was personally confirmed by His Highness Menia, one of the guardians of the empire. I think the result should be correct." Edward understood his old friend's shock and nodded.

He also didn't expect that while the two were discussing how to deal with this problem, unexpectedly, the problem had already been solved.

"Old friend, I'd like to ask you for a favor," Edward said.

"It's this swordsman Ryan who killed the ancient cult hero Monger. You also saw what the letter said. He was marked with some kind of mark. I would like to ask you to find a way to help remove it."

"This... is not my excuse. I have never encountered the mark of the will of an epic master, and I cannot guarantee success." Archbishop Gomez came to his senses, thought about it, and did not agree immediately.

"However, this young man, Ryan, should be your favorite general. I will do my best for this matter."

"Besides, I also want to meet this young man. The letter didn't say how he killed such an epic cult warrior. I'm really curious about this."

"Haha, old friend, I have the same question. I think we will know in two days." Hearing Gomez's doubts, Admiral Edward couldn't help laughing.
-
at the same time.

In the training room on the first floor of Count Habsburg's mansion in Mayest County.

At this moment, Ryan is manipulating his innate magic 'Metal Transfiguration' to constantly transform the hardened gold in his hands, sometimes transforming it into a two-handed greatsword, sometimes transforming it into a two-handed warhammer.

The main purpose, of course, is to test the differences from before.

Ryan he remembered clearly.

When he was still in the 'intermediate steel body', it took him about 0.3 seconds to transform about kilograms of hardened adamantine into a pseudo pig-head hammer.

But now, he has just tested it nearly ten times, and the average is about 0.18 seconds, which is about % shorter than the time.

This improvement is quite huge!

Obviously, after upgrading from 'Intermediate Steel Body' to 'Advanced Steel Body', his affinity for metal elements also increased a lot.

Otherwise, it would be impossible to achieve such a good effect. Don't underestimate the improvement of such a short time.

To put it another way, in the same amount of time as before, Ryan can transform more metal for both offense and defense.

For example, instead of the time it took Ryan to transform three kite-shaped shields, he can now transform four kite-shaped shields for defense. This is an immediate improvement in defense.

The time it took to transform into a two-meter-long sword can now be transformed into a three-meter-long sword.
Although it is not forty meters, it can still have the effect of surprising the enemy in battle.

"The most important thing is that the improvement of affinity with metal elements not only boosts the power of innate witchcraft, but also all metal-related witchcraft."

With a low incantation, Ryan cast a 'sharp spell' on the two-handed sword that had just been transformed.

The light silver is also more intense than before.

This also means that the effect of 'Sharpness Technique' is better!
"It seems that the next step is to find more metal-related witchcraft." Ryan thought to himself.

At this moment, Ryan suddenly looked up and looked towards the door of the training room.

A familiar graceful figure came into Ryan's sight.

It was Claire.

"As expected, you are the one who killed an epic warrior, Ryan. Your perception is really sharp. You noticed me as soon as I came in." Claire teased with a smile.

But Ryan could sense a hint of fatigue on the other person's beautiful face.

"Ms. Claire, are you done?"

"Well, it's over for now. I just finished cleaning up the wounded and fallen guards. As for the problem with the two tunnel entrances in the garden, I just arranged for people to fill them up overnight."

"I have also coordinated with the Griffin Squadron in the fishing town. I hope they can increase the frequency of air patrols." Claire briefly explained what she had just handled.

Ryan nodded repeatedly.

Claire usually has to deal with a lot of trivial matters, and she is even busier after this battle.

Because Count Habsburg, the supreme governor of Mayest, was seriously injured, Claire not only had to manage family affairs, but also had to take charge of the government affairs of the entire Mayest County.

Fortunately, Claire had been trained in government affairs since she was a child, so she was not too flustered when she took over.

"Ryan, you just went through such an intense battle today, don't you want to take a rest? No wonder, Ryan, you can make such great progress in such a short time."

"Talent is a prerequisite, but your diligence is beyond the reach of most people." Claire couldn't help but sigh.

Although she still had many doubts in her heart, such as the witchcraft that Ryan cast that could absorb souls, and the witchcraft that Ryan cast that could absorb the vitality of his combat pets to recover from injuries.

Where did Ryan learn all this?
It doesn't look like the kind of witchcraft that can be learned from sword wielders.

Maybe there will be another adventure.

"Uh, thank you, Miss Claire, but I'm not as hardworking as you think." Ryan smiled.

"By the way, Ryan, you can just call me Claire from now on."

"And the mark on your body that His Highness Menia mentioned, do you feel uncomfortable?" Claire walked closer, glanced at Ryan with her beautiful eyes, and said with a slightly apologetic tone.

"Don't worry, Claire. After returning to Munster, I will go to Monsoon and the Goddess Church. I think it shouldn't be a problem."

"Well, Ryan, because of your bravery, the Habsburg family survived. If it weren't for you, this time, not only my father, but I am afraid I will also be in trouble."

"This is an excellent breathing method. It is also the only excellent breathing method in my collection, the 'Fire Iguana Breathing Method', besides the Habsburg Family Bloodline Breathing Method."

"I'm not asking you to change your breathing method. It's too costly and risky. I just want you to take a look. Perhaps with your outstanding knightly talent, it will be inspiring."

"If I had known you had such a strong talent, I shouldn't have taught you the Giant Bear Breathing Technique. It's such a waste of your knight talent. I don't want the breathing technique to become your shortcoming in becoming a legend."

As Claire spoke, she took out a light yellow parchment scroll from her bosom and handed it to Ryan.

"Well. Okay, thank you." Ryan thought about it and took the parchment scroll that recorded the 'Fire Iguana Breathing Method'.

Ryan is no longer a newbie, so he naturally knows that there are many issues involved in changing the breathing method.

The biggest problem is that the body has become familiar with the original breathing method and has taken the corresponding advanced potion to enter the extraordinary stage. Changing it again at this time will involve adaptability issues.

Those who are lucky, or whose bodies can withstand such changes, may still have a chance to start over after wasting a few years, but more often than not, they fail and their strength is greatly reduced.

However, as for the advanced level of breathing techniques, he had previously thought of looking for them in the Sword Bearer Branch for reference, but later he was delayed because of the exchange of witchcraft.

Unexpectedly, Claire prepared one for him this time.

In addition, when Ryan was still a child servant, Claire was able to teach him the Giant Bear Breathing Technique, and he was very grateful.

Moreover, it was by relying on the Giant Bear Breathing Technique that Ryan, with the help of the Iron Mane Bear King's advanced potion 'Giant Bear Palm', awakened two extraordinary characteristics, 'Giant Strength' and 'Iron Skin'.

It is also the predecessor of the current talents 'Intermediate Strength' and 'Advanced Steel Body'.

"Ryan, the moon is so beautiful tonight." At this time, Claire walked to the window of the training room and looked up at the night sky.

"It's really beautiful." Ryan suddenly realized that he had never taken a good look at the moon in all the time he had been in this world.

The moon in this world is bigger than that in the previous life. However, it seems that due to the distance, there are no spots on the stars, so the moon is brighter.

Neither of them said anything more, but just looked at the night sky quietly.

Early the next morning, the morning light dewed slightly.

Through the window, Ryan could see that the garden, which was full of potholes after yesterday's battle, had been leveled. Although flowers and shrubs had not yet been replanted, the row of trees in the corner of the garden was still lush and green.

It must have rained a little in the second half of last night. At this moment, the leaves are still wet, with water droplets hanging on the tips of the leaves, reflecting a faint golden mist under the morning light.

Ryan thought about it and went to the training room again. He had wanted to test the effect of the high-grade steel body last night.

But this thought was interrupted by Claire's sudden appearance.

As for the Fire Iguana Breathing Method, he planned to study it in detail later.

So, Ryan didn't even have breakfast and went to the training room alone.

With the metal transfiguration technique, the hardened gold in his hand quickly turned into a two-handed sword. At the same time, four-cornered darts appeared on the surface of the broad sword.

"Blade Storm!"

In an instant, Ryan was spinning like a gyroscope with the two-handed sword in his hand. While an extremely powerful whirlwind was sweeping around, a number of four-cornered darts were also spinning at high speed, accompanied by strong airflow, impacting all directions!
"Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding!"

If you listen carefully, you can find that the sound of metal clashing this time is much more frequent than when Ryan used Blade Storm before.

The reason is that before, Ryan could only generate seventy or eighty four-cornered darts in a short period of time. If he wanted more, it would take more time, and there would be obvious pauses in his moves.

This can be quite deadly in combat.

And now, with the increase of Ren's affinity with the metal element, in the same period of time, the number of his four-cornered darts has reached about one hundred and twenty, stacked on the two-handed sword.

When the dust settled, Ryan went forward to check.

Sure enough, this time, he found that there were as many as twelve or thirteen four-cornered darts on the iron and wooden dummies within a range of about thirty meters. The least was six or seven.

From this perspective, his advanced secret skill 'Blade Storm·Modified' is also the beneficiary of the 'Advanced Steel Body' talent.

The power increased by about 20% to 30%.

"That's right. It takes even more hardened gold!"

"It seems that I can only use it three times at most. For the fourth time, the hardened fine gold may not be enough." Ryan suddenly thought of a problem and his face looked a little ugly.

After thinking about it, Ryan couldn't think of any particularly good way to make up for this shortcoming.

"However, in a battle, it is probably very rare to encounter a situation where you need to use 'Blade Storm' three times in a row, right?"

In addition, the main purpose of the talent 'Advanced Steel Body' is naturally defense.

Ryan instantly transformed a dagger and used 50% of his strength to cut his arm. In an instant, a faint silver-gray halo seemed to flash on the surface of the skin, and not even a white mark was left.

This immediately made Ryan happy.

"This level of defense strength seems to be much stronger than the original intermediate steel body."

Next, Ryan kept increasing the power of each slash of the dagger.

In the end, even after increasing his strength to 100%, it only left a white scratch on the skin, and it still didn't break.

This surprised and delighted Ryan.

After thinking about it, Ryan began to apply the "sharpness technique" to the dagger, and gradually increased the force of the dagger again.

This time, with the help of 'Sharpness Technique' and 70% of the strength, the hardened adamantium dagger only slightly scratched the skin.

"It seems that if measured in degrees, the defense of my 'High-grade Steel Body' is about 15 to 20 degrees. The exact value will be known after returning to the Sword Bearer Division for testing."

"However, generally speaking, even if an ordinary great knight activates the Limit Breaking Technique, it would be difficult for him to injure himself."

"I just wonder if the defense will change when facing a witchcraft attack?"

"If I have the current level of defense against energy attacks, I can basically ignore entry-level attacks like witchcraft."

Thinking of this, Ryan's eyes lit up slightly!
After testing the effect of his talent 'Advanced Steel Body' on his combat effectiveness, Ryan returned to his room.

After a short rest, he opened the parchment scroll that Claire had given him last night, which contained the "Fire Iguana Breathing Method".

(End of this chapter)