Dark King

Study room in the second floor of the Ryan castle.

Old Fulin held the letter in his hands for a long time without uttering a word.

Sander was standing on the other side of the table. He saw Old Fulin's facial expression and asked.: "Father! Has something happened to Dean in the Temple?"

Old Fulin was silent as he handed the letter over to him. Sander reached out and took the letter. He couldn't wait to read ot. However, as he read the content his face changed to ugly. He said in a hurry.: "He want to debate? The senior architects are more knowledgable than him. How is he going to defend himself on spot in front of a public? It's been less than a month that he has joined the Temple of Elements... This, this... "

Old Fulin was thinking so he didn't reply to Sander.

"We should contact him and ask him to withdraw the plea." Sander said to the Old Fulin.: "It was the first time that he has done a task in the Temple and it was natural for him to fail. Since the last time that he had received the 'epoch' medal many wealthy businessmen have come to join our consortium. Although we have rejected them all but still we maintain business relationship. Moreover if he can't do anything in the debate then the fame and prestige we have established will be shattered!"

Old Fulin slowly asked.: "Do you think he is an impatient person?"

Sander was stunned at the question. He thought about Dudian. He remembered the calm smile on boy's face. The first time when Sander had met him the boy gave a kind of unfathomable feeling. The anxiety in his heart disappeared but Sander still continued.: "Father, after all he has joined the Temple of Elements. He didn't have contact with such knowledge before. Even if his calm and clever but it doesn't mean that... Unless he has a plan of his own!? I was just worried that he got awarded with the medal and would act on impulse as he would be afraid to lose face."

"A man who was able to make a perfect jailbreak would never act on emotions and impulses. Unless he faces a crisis of imminent death." Old Fulin continued to slowly speak.: "Although I don't know the purpose of his action but I know that certainly there is a plan. The kid is a daredevil. After a few years the old foxes controlling those other consortium's would not be his opponent!"

Sander saw Old Fulin's relaxed expression.

"You send someone to notify him that if he needs our help we are ready at any time." Old Fulin ordered.

Sander hesitated but still confirmed.: "Yes."

...

...

All the other consortia had got the news. Most of them thought that Dudian had acted on impulse and pleaded for debate as he failed to complete the task. For them the knowledge was gathered through long time of study, research and failure. The mind needed to grow with the accumulation of knowledge and experience. They could understand and accept it even if Dudian failed his first task. He would be considered a genius if he could complete his first task in success.

Temple of Elements.

Dudian was in his research room continueing the production of lightning rod. In the blink of an eye two days passed. Dudian's lightening rod was almost finished. He had made almost everything. Now he had to assembly the parts and melt iron pulp to mold the condensation.

Knock! Knock!

Dudian sensed the smell of previous apprentice knight. He opened the door and saw the youth standing at the door. The apprentice had a cautious look on his face. There was a card and envelope in his hands. The youth was scared when he saw the door suddenly open. : "This-this is for you."

Dudian nodded and reached out to grab them. The card was his pass (ID) to the Temple. He opened the envelope and checked the content of the letter.: "Tomorrow morning at at seven o'clock...." He smiled and throw the letter into the trash box.

Dudian packed up his materials and called the carriage which was standing outside the castle and went back to his own castle.

This carriage was under his exclusive use. It was free of charge and arranged by the Temple of Elements. It was one of the small advantages of being the member of the Temple.

"Black Death Season" April 22nd.

Six thirty in the morning.

Dudian's carriage drover through the Church Mountaint. It was headed over to Architect's Hall built in between tenth and eleventh castle. It looked like a classical cathedtral but covered an rea of thousands of square meters. It was an extremely spacious and huge place. There was an eight meter tall statue in fornt of the hall. It was holding books in his hands. It referred to dedication of the architects towards improving people's living environment.

Dudian saw dozens of carriages parket outside the hall when he got off the carriage. There were some carriage which had banners and flags of different noble families. Most probably they had spent a lot of money only to come here to watch the debate.

Dudian narrowed his eyes and patted his clothes. Afterwards he calmly walked towards the hall.

"Look, that is Dean the creator of the new textile machine!"

"It's him!"

The nearby architects began to call out and tell his name as Dudian stepped out of the carriage. It caused more attention on him.

Dudian was surprised as there was no camera in this era. Moreover newspapers would have only text but no pictures. If there was a big news that needed an illustration then they had to ask a paintor to sketch the outline of the apperance. In such circumstances, he didn't think that there would be so many people who knew his appearance. The charm of the 'epoch' medal was unbeliavable.

Dudian didn't stay much and quickly entered to the hall as he saw these people gather over.

The hall was extremely spacious. There were rows of neat seats. The front was an open place meant for the people to defend themselves.

At the moment, half of the seats were occupied. There were about two or three hundred people. Dudian estimated that people sitting on the final row would be from ordinary background as they wouldn't be hear the arguments spoken in the front.

He went straight to the middle of the aisle and sat down on the left side. There was a desk where his name was written. Moreover the military crossbow made by him was placed on that desk. On the other desk there was the snake crossbow. However the other side hasn't appeared yet.