The wizard starts by trimming the donkey's hooves

Chapter 303: Phantom Strike (Two chapters in one)

Father Ryan's words struck Ryan like a bolt of lightning.

"Well, father, perhaps this legend is true." Ryan looked at his father who was being bullied by his mother Emma and said.

"Hmm? Look, Ryan also agrees." Father Ryan couldn't help but laugh when he heard it.

When Emma saw this, she wanted to scold old Ryan again, but out of love for her son, she stammered and said:
"Ryan is being filial and knows how to say what you want."

My sister Mint was giggling as she listened.

Jenny and Agatha couldn't help but smile.

Only the beautiful woman Jennifer looked at Ryan seriously, her beautiful eyes flickering, as if she was thinking about the meaning of what Ryan had just said.

After dinner, Ryan and the beautiful woman Jennifer chatted for a while in the study. The focus was naturally on the share delivery of the Münster branch of the Axon Auction House.

"Did things go well this afternoon?"

"It went very smoothly. Deputy Minister Olena has strong negotiation skills and sharp words. I basically didn't say a word. By the way, dear, do I need to say anything to Deputy Minister Olena?" asked the beautiful woman Jennifer.

"Just do as you see fit."

Hearing Ryan's answer, the beautiful woman felt a little relieved.

She was quite confused before, why Lady Olena was so dedicated to her own affairs. Now it seems that there should not be that kind of relationship between Ryan and the other party, otherwise, she would not have such an attitude.

If Ryan had found a girl with extraordinary powers, the beautiful woman would not be so nervous.

But the other party was obviously a young woman and very capable, which made her a little nervous. After all, this meant that if Ryan had that kind of relationship with the other party, she and the other party would be competing on the same track.

"By the way, Jennifer, as a shareholder of the auction house, you should have some special rights, right?" Ryan asked.

Relatively speaking, this is something Ryan is more concerned about.

Because Ryan had thought about whether he could obtain some items that were difficult to obtain within the Sword Wielder Organization through the auction house.

"Yes, I took a quick look at the shareholders' charter, which states that shareholders can learn in advance about the items entrusted to the Yaxun Auction House for auction, and they have a certain degree of preemptive purchase rights."

"Of course, even if you have priority to purchase, the price is still high. You need to pay a premium of 130% to 150% of the assessed price, and the price will vary depending on the specific category."

"It's pretty much what I expected. Jennifer, please help me keep an eye out for breathing techniques of excellent quality or above, metal or fire magic, and some related rare items."

"Okay, dear." The beautiful woman naturally had no problem with Ryan's request.

"By the way, as for your security, it is definitely not enough to rely on Matteo and the others at the moment."

"While you are strengthening, if necessary, you can contact Vieri. Although he is also an imperial sword bearer and may have some official business, it shouldn't be a problem if you tell him in advance."

"Vieri? Isn't he your dear colleague? Isn't it inappropriate?" The beautiful woman thought for a moment and said tactfully.

"It doesn't matter. He took the initiative to ask to become my follower, and I agreed." Ryan thought about it and informed the beautiful woman about the matter.

A follower at the level of a great knight?
Or was it proactively proposed?
The beautiful woman was stunned and her beautiful eyes widened.

You know, in order to find a family guardian knight, she almost had to use her daughter Jenny's happiness for the rest of her life as a bargaining chip, but Ryan
Even the great knights wanted to be his followers!
Oh my god! This gap is really huge.

Since the beautiful woman had eaten a lot in the coffee shop in the morning, she was now in a state of having the will but not the strength.

So that night, Ryan did not choose to stay in the mansion, but returned to his residence in the Executor Branch. Coincidentally, he had a few things to do.

After practicing making mithril carved plate armor dozens of times, Ryan returned to the study, opened a diary he had searched from Asimov, and began to read it carefully.

This diary is different from the other not-so-serious diaries Ryan had seized before.

There is no record of any romantic love story in it.

The diary mainly records some blood awakening rituals that Asimov knew about, blood transplant experiments that he had experienced or personally led, etc.

After all, no one wants to be troubled by the aftereffects of a blood transplant forever.

Ryan was not very interested in this diary at first.

The reason was that he had casually flipped through it before and felt that blood transplantation did not seem to be the right way. Also, he himself had nothing to do with blood, and he was not a blood noble.

But since he awakened the dragon bloodline, the situation has been different.

Stones from other hills, can learn.

Even if he doesn't transplant blood, it's good for him to understand the blood ritual.

"In the first day of the first week of the Green Grass Moon in the year 2324 of the Imperial Calendar, I transplanted a portion of the blood essence of a Moon Soul Werewolf into a captive at the level of a formal knight."

"Although the captives were quite strong and survived the experimental surgery, they still died of physical collapse three days later. Damn, they are all useless!"

"Imperial calendar year 2324, second week of the month of flowers, Sunday. Trash! No one can resist!"

Ryan read the entire diary from beginning to end. After a while, he closed the book, closed his eyes and began to think.

He can basically draw several conclusions.

One is about blood transplantation. According to hundreds of experiments led by Asimov himself, blood transplantation has a high success rate.

First of all, the strength of the experimental subject must be strong enough, and secondly, the desire to survive must be strong enough. In this way, the success rate of the experiment will be significantly improved.

However, excessive racial differences can make the body more prone to collapse. Judging from experimental records, this problem does exist, especially in innovative transplant experiments, where the probability is very high.

The other is the blood awakening ceremony.

Most of the rituals are different, but the purpose is the same, which is to increase the blood concentration of future generations so that they become more suitable for practicing the blood breathing method corresponding to the family.

Of course, there are also people who have achieved success by practicing blood breathing method directly without going through the blood awakening ceremony.

But there are only two reasons for this situation.

Either the blood concentration is naturally high enough and no blood ceremony is needed. This is what the blood nobles generally call genius offspring.

Or, one has extraordinary aptitude and understanding in practicing breathing techniques, which can also activate the thin blood.

And Ryan is the latter.

He uses the legendary fire dragon breathing method to gradually reveal certain extraordinary characteristics of his dragon bloodline.

Ryan looked at the Dragon Bloodline (Thin) on the panel, and then looked at the remaining 7 gold skill points.

"I have to keep at least one point of gold skill, which I will use to comprehend the essence of Shadow Spear Throwing. In other words, I can use a total of 1 points." Ryan thought to himself.

After thinking about it, Ryan tried to add points to the Fire Dragon Breathing Technique.

As he invested gold skill points bit by bit, Ryan could clearly feel that changes were slowly taking place inside his body, as if magma was flowing inside his body and slowly strengthening.

After investing three gold skill points in a row and reaching level 15 in Fire Dragon Breathing, Ryan noticed that the description of Dragon Bloodline on the attribute panel had changed:

[Dragon Bloodline (Thin) Effect: Fire element affinity is slightly increased, Giant Strength talent effect is slightly increased, Steel Body talent effect is slightly increased, War Cry type secrets are strengthened.]

(Note: The development of dragon blood has reached the current limit of the body. Further development requires increasing blood concentration.)
"Eh? It's still 'thin', but there's an additional description of the battle cry-type ultimate enhancement." Ryan looked thoughtful.

Then, he felt it, and through his keen perception, Ryan could sense that everything including his affinity with the fire element had actually improved.

It will be stronger than before the addition.

However, the improvement is quite small, so the word "small improvement" is still used in the description.

Of course, what concerned Ryan the most was the statement in the notes.

"Do you need to increase your blood concentration?"

"The current 'thinness' of dragon blood has only enhanced existing talents or mysteries, and has not awakened any dragon talents. Could it be that the blood concentration is not high enough?"

"As for how to increase blood concentration?"

Ryan focused his attention on Asimov's diary.

"It is too difficult to directly obtain the dragon's blood essence. The next step is to start with some dragon creatures."

"But there's no rush for this. We can improve our Shadow Spear Throwing skill first."
-
Three days later, early morning.

The training room in Ryan's room.

A tall figure holding a shield was dodging rapidly, while Ryan stood in place with a pure steel javelin in his hand.

As a senior knight, Angus has already mastered the shield defense secret "Barrier", so his strength is not weak.

But facing Ryan's level 8 shadow spear throwing technique, he still found it difficult to deal with it.

Having just taken dozens of spears, his left arm was already beginning to ache slightly, and the surface of his beloved shield was full of pits and dents.

If Angus hadn't known that his captain could repair the shield, he would have been heartbroken.

But the problem is that other than catching the ball head-on, his high-speed movement seems to have no effect.

Basically, within a distance of thirty meters, it was almost impossible for him to dodge Ryan's spear.

"Okay, Angus, shall we take a five-minute break?"

"Ok?"

Angus didn't expect that Ryan would actually ask for a rest.

You know, these past few days, he was the first one to feel exhausted and take a break.

However, Angus would not refuse a rare break, and immediately said with a smile: "Okay, Captain."

In fact, the reason for stopping to rest this time was that Ryan's Shadow Spear Throwing Technique had achieved the expected goal and entered level 9 (1/10000).

And then, of course, we have to rely on adding points to solve it.

After all, after level 9, too much experience points are required.

Even though Ryan had the gift of 'primary supernatural comprehension' and the careful guidance of his previous instructor Yasra, it would take more than a few days to learn a new supernatural combat skill from scratch and comprehend its essence.

Ryan estimated that without relying on additional points, it would take him at least several more months.

Of course, this is much better than the seven or eight years it takes for an average great knight to practice a certain extraordinary combat skill. If you want to get it done in a few days, you can only add points to cover the lv9, 10, and 11 levels that take the longest time and require a lot of experience points.

In the past few days, Ryan has upgraded the Great Armorsmith (Extraordinary) to level 6 by continuously making mithril carved plate armor, thereby gaining two skill points and two attribute points again.

Add the original skill point, a total of three skill points.

Without any hesitation, Ryan invested 3 skill points in a row and directly upgraded the Shadow Spear Throwing Technique to level 12.

Immediately, a flood of memories about the practice of Shadow Spear Throwing flooded into Ryan's mind and quickly merged into his muscle and fascia memories.

For a moment, it was as if he was alone in some mysterious space, undergoing more than ten years of hard training in the art of shadow spear throwing.

At the same time, Ryan could vaguely feel at this moment that he was only one step away from the subsequent derivative mysteries of his combat skills.

Faced with this situation, there is naturally nothing to consider.

Keep adding more!

With the investment of 1 gold skill point, Shadow Spear Throwing successfully entered level 13, and the system's reminder about the secret technique finally sounded:

[Congratulations, you have mastered the basic secret of Shadow Spear Throwing: Phantom Strike! ]

"Phantom strike, done!"

"I am still short of three extraordinary combat skills of different weapon types to meet the requirements for job transfer."

At the same time, Ryan saw a new icon right above the 'Shadow Spear Throwing Technique' on the Weapon Master (Legend) panel.

The pattern inside the icon shows a sturdy man holding a short spear. He is striding forward. A spear has been thrown in front of him, but he seems to still be holding a spear in his hand.

If you look carefully, you can find that the spear in the sturdy man's hand is actually the remaining spear shadow, so it appears to be a little blurry.

At the bottom left, the text description of the secret is as follows:
Phantom Strike (Basic Secret) Effect: Use a special force-generating technique combined with throwing to throw the spear in your hand swiftly, launching a powerful penetrating attack.

（幻影一击提升至中级奥义，需满足下列条件：一、影矛投掷术lv14以上；二、火龙呼吸法lv12以上；三、力量32点，敏捷35点，体质32点以上；四、消耗黄金技能点1点。）
Although Ryan still had three gold skill points remaining at this moment, he did not immediately think of upgrading "Phantom Strike" to an intermediate level.

He planned to save the secrets for the remaining three extraordinary combat skills.

"Angus, let's get started." Ryan was delighted to have obtained a new secret, so naturally he wanted to try it out.

"Okay, captain." Angus was in good spirits after the rest. He struck his sword and shield hard a few times and walked to the center of the field.

"By the way, Neolo, cast a defensive spell on Angus." Ryan said after thinking for a while.

"Ok?"

Ryan's words immediately made the four people, including Angus, look at him in surprise.

"I just realized that I might not be able to control the strength of my attack." Ryan explained.

"I see. Okay, Captain."

Neoro nodded and chanted a spell, and soon a water film defensive magic appeared on Angus' body surface.

Seeing Angus holding his shield in a defensive stance, Ren nodded to signal him to begin.

The next second, everyone clearly saw that the steel spear was still in Ryan's hand, but a silver spear shadow suddenly appeared in front of Angus.

"Dang!!!" A sharp sound of metal collision was heard.

Angus retreated seven or eight steps, and the water film on his body had been penetrated long ago, and the specially made hardened platinum shield was about to be pierced!

Neoro, Evelyn and Vieri, who were standing by, were already stunned!
Is this what you call enlightenment?

I immediately understood the mystery!
Neolo's eyes twitched even more, because according to Ryan's current spear throwing power, some formal wizards with insufficient magical defense could be killed by one spear.

Those who are slightly stronger can be dealt with with just two spears at most.

After our captain mastered the short spear throwing, he was comparable to a wizard killer.

"Boom boom boom!"

"Hey, Ms. Olena." After a few interactions, several members of Ryan's team became familiar with Olena, the Deputy Minister of Affairs of the Mission Hall.

"Hello, Mr. Vieri." Olena nodded slightly to Vieri who opened the door.

At the same time, she turned her head to Ryan and said, "Sir Ryan, the time you agreed with Master Mogaro is almost up. Do you think we should set off now?"

"Of course. Give me a moment."

"Neoro, you guys can continue, I should be back soon."

Ryan put down the spear in his hand, tidied himself up a little, and set off.

On the carriage.

Ryan and Olena sat opposite each other.

In the past few days, Ryan also learned more about the cooperation model between the Sword Bearer Organization and other wizarding schools.

Although the letter of introduction from the sword holder is equivalent to a token that allows the sword holder to directly enter a certain wizard school to study, in fact, this kind of study is more like short-term training.

It is normal to think about it. After spending three months to half a year, what you learn is just the basics and cannot touch the core things.

But this is actually enough for most sword wielders who choose to become wizards.

However, Ryan's situation is different from that of ordinary people.

First of all, he really wanted to learn something.

In addition, there is another problem that needs to be solved on his side. That is, it is unlikely that he can spend half a year completely away from combat and study witchcraft purely.

Because he is different from others, if he wants to maintain a high speed of improvement, he needs to obtain system rewards through various battles.

Only in this way can he make the fastest progress.

In this case, the only solution is to formally join a school and at the same time, contact a mentor in the school in advance to learn some core things in the relationship of teacher and disciple.

Applying the concept from the previous life, this is like going from a short-term trainee to an exchange student who is jointly trained by the sword holder and the school and can obtain a degree certificate.

So, Ryan spent a few days to learn more about the situation.

"Master Mogaro of the Bishu Construction School is currently in the Goddess Church checking on the other half of the Giant Axe Golem Guards." Olena's words interrupted Ryan's thoughts.

Ok?
Renn looked confused.

Half of the Giant Axe Golem Guards are in the hands of the Goddess Church? This shouldn't be the case.

As if she had noticed the hint of doubt in Ryan's expression, Olena smiled softly and explained:

"Yes, Lord Ryan, maybe you don't know it yet, but there are some reasons for this."

"If a complete Giant Axe Golem Guard is stored in our branch, then it is very likely that the headquarters will issue a transfer order to transport this Giant Axe Golem Guard away."

"In that case, we have no way to study the giant axe golem guards."

"But if we find a reason to attribute the other half of the wreckage to the Goddess Church, that would be different. If the headquarters wants to study it, they have to come to Munster."

“Even if the headquarters really wants to transport it away, they will need to coordinate with the Goddess Church first. The whole thing will be much more troublesome, and we will also be able to enjoy some convenience.”

"I see." Ryan nodded and smiled.

The game between the headquarters and local branches is normal.

As a branch that captured the Troll Golem Guards, they always wanted to fight for some autonomy or other rights.

"So, they have already finished researching the other half, and it's now at the church, right?"

"Yes, Lord Ryan." Olena nodded.

"In addition, I have learned again that among the three masters from the Bishu Construction School who came this time, only Master Mogaro is a master who specializes in metal puppets, while the other two masters are masters of clay and rock respectively."
-
at the same time.

Near the provincial capital of Minster, on the edge of the small town of Barrington.

I saw a group of four, strong men wearing knight's plate armor and wizard robes, riding horses into the woods next to the town of Barrington.

"Captain, according to intelligence, there seem to be unknown people active here late at night recently. They are likely to be members of a cult."

"But this place is so close to the provincial capital. It's unlikely that the Black Flame Cult would set up its base so close, right?" a team member questioned.

"Yeah, this place is too close to Munster. If we set up a base here, wouldn't that be seeking death?" Another team member nodded and agreed.

"That's great. We have completed the investigation mission and can take a good rest." The middle-aged knight dressed as the captain said with a solemn expression.

"Yes, it's indeed time to have a good rest!" A deep voice sounded in the woods nearby.

"Who?" The four men immediately drew their weapons and became alert.

Following the line of sight, a tall man in black robe slowly walked out of the dense forest, with a blazing black flame in his hand.

He just pushed his hands, and four black flame pillars suddenly appeared, sweeping towards the four people!

"Black flame wall! It's a second-level evil spell, run!" The middle-aged knight yelled with horror on his face!
But it was obviously too late.

next second!
"boom!"

Four black flame pillars immediately caught up with the four people and ignited them into human-shaped fireballs. Soon, the wailing fell silent!
Inside Exeter's residence.

"High Priest, the little mice have been dealt with. However, you may need to change location. This is the second group of spies from the empire." Boriggs said respectfully.

"Yes, it's about time. Tomorrow is their awarding ceremony, but it is also our ceremony, haha." Exter said with a smile.

"It's time to give the Empire a surprise. It's a pity that I've lived in this small town for so long."

He tilted his head back, drank the last sip of the Bordeaux, stood up and left the room.

"Berriggs, let's just sacrifice this town with blood."

(End of this chapter)