Soul of Searing Steel
chapter-174

Just as Ying was exchanging looks with 03 across the room, Joshua looked interested in observing the Divine Armament girl that seemed to have completed advancing higher into a new tier.

Judging only from her appearance, it was natural that there were no changes at all. Regardless of her height or her body figure, Ying still looked exactly the same as before. It seemed that the changes only applied internally.

Joshua's eyes could directly see the flow of the energy. Meanwhile, the flow of energy in Ying's body was no longer shielded from him ever since Ying had formed the pact with him. He could easily see through it.

"It seems that output of your core has obviously increased. The flowing route of your energy seemed to have a structure to supercharge your magic power now. You can unleash much more outburst of your power in a brief period of time now…"

Analysing the approximate magic path within the body of Ying, Joshua could not help but to applaud and praise those alchemists who designed these Divine Armament four hundred years ago. Although he completely could not understand deeper into the layers of the routing structure in the Divine Armament, he could still see that the humanoid body of Ying had already attained the pinnacle of Silver tier. She might even break through into the realm of Gold tier really soon.

The psionic body of a Divine Armament had no need to consume food. The body would only need to absorb ionized energy to keep functioning, to have the ability to heal themselves, to grow back limbs that were being cut of… All kinds of special abilities were blessed in this little body, and she could even grow stronger along with every battle she took part in, along with every enemy she killed. After all, the Divine Armament could really be deemed as the best masterpiece alchemy had ever achieved in history.

However, the main body of the Divine Armament was after all, still a weapon. The human form was only designed for the purpose of convenience in term of bringing along and in term of communication. Her strength was not really important. If Joshua would really want to know what new capabilities or skills that Ying had attained from crossing into a new higher Tier, he would really need to find a chance and let her transform into her weapon form over for a battle.

"Ying, how do you feel after you've advanced into a new tier?"

Upon lifting his head up and looked at his own Divine Armament in her eyes, Joshua was looking forward to asking for Ying's opinion. He was not really proficient in alchemy. And sometimes, it would be better to ask his own Divine Armament about it.

However, the silver-haired girl was obviously absent-minded at the moment. She had been staring at the bluish-violet piece of runic core that Ling was holding in his both hands. After that, she only blinked and reacted to the situation.

"This… I feel pretty good… Master, who is this?"

So what does it mean by feeling good then… Joshua furrowed his brows. However, after putting some deeper thoughts about it, he suddenly noticed that it was actually pointless to ask Ying about it. She had no knowledge of alchemy to begin with. So how could she actually be able to describe all sorts of changes that had happened in her own body?

Looking obliquely at the projection of 03 that was floating in front of the bed like a ghost, Joshua took a moment to think. After that, he spoke slowly, "This is… a new home decoration I brought back to decorate our home?"

"Ying, 03?"

Just as Joshua continued to deal with his own affairs in his own territory, the Empire, back at the Holy City of the Triplet Mountain, in the Morlaix Palace.

The weather in the Central Empire was already very warm at that time. Most of the pedestrians on the streets had taken off their sweaters and jackets. Instead, they were wearing only their single long sleeves. After sending his apprentices back to the Royal Academy, Nostradamus did not stop for a rest at all. He went to the palace straight away. Once again, he found the Emperor who was dealing with serious business at the current moment.

With the good relationship the old mage had with the Emperor and the old mage's status, he need to have to give prior notice in order to enter the palace. The guards along the way did not stop him from walking in of course. In a short while, he saw the man who held the highest power over the entire Empire in his study room.

Upon pushing the door of the study room opened, Nostradamus saw a man with dark gold hair that went past his shoulders. That man was sitting in an armchair in the study room. He was looking at an ancient book with a bright silver cover. In the meantime, there was also a little boy sitting on his lap. The boy had the same hair color as the Emperor, dark gold, with a pair of blue eyes.

"Oh, the Seventh Prince is here as well today."

The old mage frowned. Then he brushed his white beard and spoke in surprise, "This is really rare."

"This little man said that he wanted to see how I handle official matters…" In front of his own children, the Emperor of the Empire did not reveal the dignity of a legendary warrior. He laid down his ancient books and turned his head over to look at the old mage, "My teacher, you must have taken care of things back in the north. That is why you came."

"That's right. The three of them have come back from the other world. They seemed to have looked for the dimensional rift themselves. When I activated the rift, they had already returned in a flash."

He waved and summoned a chair out of thin air. Then the old mage sat down on the chair with a top pad made from lambskin. He gave some thoughts about it for a while and said, "Israel, there is something worth spending attention on. I think it's worth for me to bring it up."

Even his teacher, a Supreme-tier mage would treat the matter carefully. So it seemed that, as an Emperor of the entire Empire should not oversee that matter as well. So Israel asked out of his own curiosity, "What is it?"

Nostradamus roughly told Israel about the experience of Joshua and the others back in the other world.

The entire study room instantly descended into silence.

"Supreme Aragami… even with the support of the others, it would still not easy to slay one… It seems that the Radcliffe has indeed understood the meaning of 'Supreme'. Meanwhile, the turbulence caused by the dimensional rifts in the north has disappeared, the line of defense that connects the Inner Sea of Starfall and the Lost Sea will become stronger and much more stable."

Israel muttered to himself. The other world on the other side of the dimensional rift was no longer a threat. It was a huge change to the strategic deployment of the entire Empire as well. Israel was still brushing the hair of his child gently with his hand. The Seventh Prince that seemed very young was attempting to move his father's hand away. After a brief moment, the Emperor opened his mouth again to speak, "It seems that the Evil God that invaded the other world has left the world on its own to perish. Looking at the distance between that other world and Mycroft, and also the Chaos forces that emerged at the far South, it is very likely that everything that has been happening is related to the very same Evil God. The Kaos family is also investigating matters regarding this as well."

After that, he paused for a short moment. Then, he smiled and shook his head. "And I've never thought that someone would actually cross into higher tiers at a pace faster than me. The time has really changed. Everything is improving, getting much better."

"Well, he's just lucky."

As for the Seventh Prince who was trying to move his father's hand away, after struggling for a long time just to realize that his attempts were futile, he stopped trying anymore. However, after hearing what his own father had to say, he was feeling a little unhappy about it, "No matter it is Brandon or that Radcliffe guy, they merely inherited the Sage's Legacies. With the Sage's Legacies, anyone could have accomplished those things. But father, you're different…"

It seemed that although the seventh prince appeared to be young, he actually knew a lot of things. He spoke in an organized manner though, unlike any other normal child.

However, Israel shook his head and continued to brush his hand across the hair on his son's head. Then he continued to speak, "Alvar, these things can also be done without having the Sage's Legacy. Besides, those who can do it will only be capable of awakening the Sage's Inheritances."

"Don't be blinded by this kind of negative emotion such as envy. You are my child and you need to see a problem from all angles- the Azurite has been inherited down for thousands of years ever since the Sage passed it down. However, ever since the third Saint had been guarding the abyss, it had become silent, until 400 years ago. That was the time when the ancestor of the Radcliffe family annihilated the Chaos forces and awakened the power of Chaos Guardian. Currently, the Radcliffe of this generation has done it even better than his ancestor. That is his strength."

He lowered his head and looked at his child solemnly. Then he said, "Luck is a part of our strength. Well, you are right in that regard. A person's life is unpredictable. But without strength, you'll never be able to grab the opportunity even if fate is presented right before you."

Having said that, he did not get bothered by the unconvincing eyes of his son. However, he was caught in deep thought.

Before hitting twenty-five years old, this warrior had already grasped over the way of the 'Supreme' and crossed into the realm of Upper Gold tier… it would mean that he would become a Supreme tier champion for sure. Furthermore, the man was still so young. It would be possible that the man could cross into the Legendary tier soon in the future.

Concentrating his eyes as he looking at his own son, the Emperor of the Empire had evoked a different kind of thought in his mind.

—

As time passed, the entire land of the Empire across the north was gradually warming up as spring approached.

Because of Nostradamus's apprentices, the news about Joshua and his friends traveling over to the other world had been spread across the entire Imperial Royal Mage Academy. And soon after, the same news was spread across the upper-level noblemen in the entire Imperial City.

When dealing with the outsides, the dwarves did not cover up the matter in the slightest way possible either. As a topic that was worth to be used for bragging, well, through their mouth, Joshua had become a side character rather than the true hero in the story of course. Instead, Moreila had become the hero of the story.

In the mouths of the two races, Joshua, Moreila and the others that went over to the other world together had become legends, especially, the black-haired warrior who tore the rift right before everyone's eyes. Currently, even the hunters and adventurers who would focus their days ahead of them in hunting and gathering materials would know Joshua by his name and his heroic act.

It did not take long for the entire Empire to know that in Moldavia, the territory in the north, there was a mighty baron with great and extraordinary power. Meanwhile, in his territory, there was even a passage connected to the other world- in that world, there was a secret about him being so powerful.

Although the news had swayed a little away and strange from the truth, however, what they were spreading was not entirely false as well. And that had many hunters and adventurers wandering to the other world in hope to explore about that secret that everyone had been talking about.

Starfall Year 832, 27th of March.

The snow melted away as spring made its entrance into the land.

Right in the middle of the Dark Forest in Moldavia, the sun vines sown by Clyre had spread to every corner of the forest. Its root system deeply penetrated deep into the soil, capturing the negative and chaotic atmosphere all around the earth. The original white surface was gradually dyed with a layer of black flowing lights. By the end of it, the flowing lights even became dark brown.

After nearly two months of absorption and transformation, the Chaos energy that was imprisoned by the sun vines had finally reached the limit. When the first warm wind and sunshine of the spring came into the miserably cold land, along with some cracking noises, black vines were seen growing with countless green sprouts. Those sprouts that were cultivating lives were growing on so quickly that even normal people could see how fast they were growing with their own eyes. They then turned into flower buds one after another as they were bathing in the sun.

As the flowers blossomed and burst into numerous gray flying catkins, along with slight crackling sounds that sounded like the cracking of burned crispy dead woods, gray flying catkins were dispersed into a layer of cloudy mist that engulfed the entire Dark Forest. These flowers were carrying tiny traces of Chaos energy. They were flowing along with the wind, and under the shining of the sunlight, they were purified into glittering flying dust, scattering onto the surface earth, improving the fertility of the land.

This year was definitely a good year.

Numerous adventurers came to live in the main city of Moldavia. After that, they departed from there, going into the depths of the mountains, exploring and slaying daemons. After that, they would bring back the corpses of the demons they slew, mining precious ores they gathered from the mines deep within the mountains. To celebrate their achievements, they would just drink at the pubs, laughing endlessly with joy.

Large teams of merchants were bringing along some rare goods over to the city with their caravans as well. They were there to sell their goods to the local customers and generous visitors that were just passing by. Regardless of whether it was the weapons or the fresh fruits and vegetables, everything would be sold out fast. These merchants who had obtained Moldavia's trading permit did not hesitate at all. Upon selling out their goods they brought along with them, they immediately traveled back to the center region of the Imperial City with their earnings and a large quantity of special local products from the North. Before the next winter arrives, they could probably go back and forth to the northern lands to trade for about three times. Well, the profits they could earn from each trading would be enough to set the others insane.

In the meantime, Joshua was currently training his city guards and his knights. While he was doing that, he had also received the news coming from the Imperial City.

The news came from the businessman Alphonso.

"So, the auction for the first spring is about to begin, huh."