Pillars of Ita

The port suddenly rang the bells rapidly, dang dang dang, the sharp bells sounded one after another. The messengers were running towards the center of Otric City, bringing the news that a big storm was coming. The sailors turned back and looked at the huge black waves weaving in the outer sea.

Among the waves, shadows are sneaking.

All personnel had entered the city. The commander watched everyone leave before turning away from the side and walking onto the towering poop tower. He looked at the silver wave marks on the sky in silence, and then issued an order to the fleet:

"Launch anchor."

The scholar next to him trembled and questioned: "Dear Mr. Rodrigo, I should not question your authority, but there is a storm on the open sea. Is it necessary to leave the anchorage at this time..."

"Call me captain, Mr. Hales," Rodrigo de Andres turned back, "The empire asked you to come here to find the last ether node, and my task is to protect the safety of this city. If the navy fails, everyone will They are not immune either.”

He pointed in the direction of the outer sea, where sharp fins were passing through the clouds, leaving a trace of silver on the wind element layer. The scholar can almost clearly see the shadow between the huge waves, the four outstretched arms, the flashing blade, and the long snake-like hair, which looks like a ball of waterweed when passing through the elemental layer.

He couldn't help but take a step back.

Rodrigo did not accuse the latter of being weak, as the other party was not a soldier in the first place.

"Imperial Navy ships should not be sunk in the harbor," the man turned around and replied: "We will go outside the island to meet the enemy, no matter what the wind and waves are, until this storm passes, or each of us falls asleep. Under the abyss. But this is a soldier's duty, and it has nothing to do with you. Mr. Hales can take my warrant to the castle-may it be strong enough, and my deputies can be there to protect you."

The scholar expressed admiration for the courage of the fleet commander and asked:

"What is the empire's plan, Captain?"

"Will the empire provide support?" Rodrigo asked.

"Perhaps," the scholar replied. "We have asked the Empire for assistance."

"The situation has changed now," Rodrigo said. "If the worst happens, we have to evacuate all the residents of Altric in advance."

He looked up at the scholar: "Mr. Hales, I will buy you enough time, but you must tell us the time limit before the ultimatum is issued. My assistant is still in the city, and the safety of everyone in Alteric City The safety is all in your hands. In addition, take this letter to Mr. Craftsman. I don’t doubt his courage, but please remind him not to be so obsessed with his work that he loses track of time.”

The scholar nodded and got off the boat under the escort of the guards.

The fire in the hearth was still bright.

The lady in warrior attire in the room raised her head, took the letter from the scholar, and asked: "Is this given to us by the captain? Let us stay here and find a way to get Ultra before the plan is implemented." Are the residents in Rick City evacuated?”

She looked out the window. Rain dripped down the stone eaves and fell on the railings. The water splashed. The light of the fire reflected her long brown hair, which was braided into a bunch and hung down on her chest. She pondered for a moment, "I understand, I will stay to protect you all."

She put the warrant on the table, "Next, I will send people to strengthen the city's defenses to prevent any naga from sneaking into the city. Others will organize the residents and arrange evacuation points. Bachelor Hales, what do you have? Do you want it?"

The scholar shook his head, "Just do as your Excellency Commander said. We can't get involved in things here. If possible, please send some people to protect the crystal tower in Altric City with us. The ether node we measured is Down there.”

He paused: "That's the empire's plan, and it must be foolproof. It doesn't matter what accidents happen to us, but that plan is related to Xinta'an's future."

The lady nodded and looked at the person in the room:

"Senev, take them there."

……

"Seinef Agathe."

The old sentry woke up from his nightmare and listened to the sound of water pattering outside. The strong wind was making the wooden boards creak. Raindrops drifted into the building from time to time. Through the window, he could see the rainwater outside weaving into threads. It became a curtain of rain.

He loosened his arms around himself, his arms were numb from the pressure, and looked at the guards who were watching him not far away. Everything in the past seemed to sneak into his memory along the cold rain, calling his name over and over again with that cold voice.

He gradually realized that the voice was not a ghostly hallucination, but came from the young man in front of him. The Holy Chosen One named Issa held a torch in his hand, causing the firelight to reflect his old face. He looked at him and said:

"Mr. Senev, you should be familiar with this place, right?"

The other party removed the torch and let the firelight shine on the hall that had been silent for many years. A hole had been opened in the hall during the earlier war. The roof somewhere above had probably been broken, and the rainwater gathered from there, forming a waterfall.

The young man looked at all this with pitiful eyes.

Time seems to be frozen in the past.

The old sentinel was silent. The hall was supposed to have another name - the Ortric Artisans Guild, but it was no longer there. Under the towering pillars there was supposed to be a foundation with towering beryls inlaid on it. crystal.

There were about a dozen half-human, half-snake-like gray-white corpses crawling on the base, as if they had already suffered a disaster as soon as they broke into the hall.

There was originally a human on the cracked crystal, but it had already turned into withered bones. The knights of the Court of Swords took it down, but there were no valuable clues on it, only the fragments of robes hanging on the bones. .

"This man is Bachelor Hales," Isa said softly, "Bury him properly. He has nothing to do with the Empire. Maybe he has some things to do with the residents of Altric City, but that's not his fault. That's the Empire." decision."

The tall Rudene standing next to him remained silent, but Duol, the governor of Andreus who entered with the imperial soldiers, trembled a little after hearing these words. He looked around in surprise. Knights of the Court of Swords.

Someone questions the supreme empire in public, shouldn't you take care of it? Isn’t the person who holds the Sword Court the sharpest sword of His Majesty the Emperor?

But everyone seemed to be not surprised by Isa's words. He is the Holy Chosen One, and the Holy Chosen One has privileges in the empire.

The silverfish-like governor seemed to remember something again and asked: "Senev? I seem to have heard this name somewhere?"

Isa glanced at him: "Don't ask what you shouldn't ask."

After saying this, he seemed to be no longer interested in anyone, and walked forward on his own, coming to the foot of the crystal tower.

Isa raised his head, "The ether node that was measured was under this hall. Rodrigo's deputy, the lady, sent a team of people to garrison here when the battle broke out. Bachelor Hales was there. in."

He seemed to be asking, but also seemed to be talking to himself: "As for what happened next, why did the ether torrent go berserk, and the deathly starlight swept everything, turning the entire Otric into a dead realm, even that The last ether node is also missing, but people don’t know—”

"But in fact, there were still survivors at that time." The young man turned back and looked at the old sentinel.

With these words, Duol seemed to think of something, turned around suddenly, and looked at the old sentry in front of him as if he had seen a ghost. He opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but remembering the young man's words, he couldn't make a sound for a while.

The young man didn't seem to expect that he would get the answer. He walked forward and put his hand on the base.

Suddenly, everyone heard a low sound, and the base slowly moved to the side. The next moment, the water on the ground surged in, forming a whirlpool. After the vortex dissipated, the water from under the base A dark hole was revealed.

The old sentry looked at this scene with some confusion.

The young man turned back, "Don't be surprised, Mr. Senef," Issa replied: "You were not the only executor of that order. Later we found other survivors at that time and naturally understood everything that happened here. "

"It's not complicated for the empire to get a secret."

The old sentry spoke for the first time: "So why did you bring me here?"

His voice seemed a little hoarse.

Isa looked at the stairs extending downwards and replied: "I know that everyone who participated in the mission only accidentally discovered Your Excellency in Andreus. You are the one who has followed Rodrigo for the longest time. The information you have may help us—"

"So you are also here for that final node?"

"More or less," Issa replied, "This is my mission, but the purpose of the empire is more than that. Of course, as a reward, we will tell you how the story about William continues."

The old sentry shook his head: "I will never trust the Empire again."

"It's understandable," Issa said: "But this is not forced, you can regard it as a transaction. You have witnessed everything that happened here in the past. I have no right to comment, but the order of the empire at that time may have led to It’s everything, but it’s not meaningless.”

"What's the point?"

Isa was silent for a moment, "For tomorrow."

……

Fang Plover looked at the fine spray of water sliding down the porthole, and the water droplets slapped on the bulkhead outside, making bursts of sound. The strong wind was blowing hard, and the pouring rain was coming one after another.

It was almost impossible to see the sky outside the window, and the storm had completely enveloped the entire island. If the Seven Seas Traveler was just an ordinary sailboat, it would be almost difficult to sail in such weather. However, despite this, almost everyone got on the deck. , help Miss Tata control the sail.

On the contrary, he had some free time - almost all the spellcasters on the ship were making final preparations - Miss Naturalist, Trixis and the box. These professions linked to magic require a lot of time to prepare their own things, such as plug-ins and Crystal charging, but also to provide technical support for other combat professions in battle.

As for him, he also has his own affairs.

It's not just the captain's function - the magic crystal as the craftsman's reserve has already been charged, enough to last for several battles, and the spare plug-ins maintained for others have also been checked one by one, and those don't even take much time.

Cui Xisi, who was still worried outside, came to ask him how a small Seven Seas Brigade needed so many logistics plug-ins. Luo Hao needed to prepare more than three sets of warrior plug-ins for a shield guard. Is this necessary?

But when the goblin craftswoman pushed the door in and saw all kinds of plug-ins and magic equipment neatly prepared on Fang Pliant's table, almost piled up into a hill, she was speechless for a moment and had to ask: "... …This…are these?”

"This is what we have always been used to," Fang Yu explained patiently: "This time, the number of opponents is expected to be far greater than ours, and to deal with different enemies, we need to prepare different equipment to avoid being in a hurry. Everyone is used to it. Bring a few more sets of different plug-ins, as long as everyone's load is still enough." "But this is too much..." Cuisi said nonchalantly: "There are only two craftsmen in the group, can we handle it?"

"It's nothing, I'm used to it," Fang Yu thought back to when he was in Dawn Star, where was he now? "In the past, Miss Scarpet... forget it, let's not talk about this. I have almost finished debugging it here. If you are still not used to it, you can hand over some of the plug-ins to me."

"No," Cuisi blushed and shook her head quickly. She didn't know who Scape was, but when she thought about her previous boasts and thought that the leader of the craftsmen was inferior to her, she wanted to find a way to get through.

Fortunately, she was just thinking about it in her mind and didn't say it out loud, otherwise she would really be in social death right now. She changed her mouth and said: "No, no need, I'm busy, it's just a little strange."

In fact, it is not that other teams do not have the need to cope with various combat environments, but she is in the Sacrament Guild. Generally, when encountering such a situation, everyone chooses universal plug-ins, and even matching magic furnaces and high-level magic equipment. .

Those higher level magic tools naturally have more versatile properties.

Fang Plover's answer to this question is simple - no money. Almost all the magic equipment of the Seven Seas Brigade was made by himself. Although the quality is still excellent, those higher-level magic equipment are all made by higher-level craftsmen.

A very realistic problem for him is that he has the level of craftsmanship, but the craftsman level is a dead limit. If the high-end equipment does not meet the requirements, it will not meet the requirements. It is as if he can complete the beta crystal at this stage. Even gamma crystal, but it is impossible to make it the same as holy crystal.

Teams such as the Sacrament Guild, which are backed by big clubs, can naturally spend money to purchase higher-end equipment, but for the Seven Seas Brigade's already stretched financial situation, maintaining the Seven Seas Traveler almost costs the team the vast majority of expenditures.

As for the rest, it is unlikely to purchase these 'luxury goods'.

And Fang Plover spread his hands.

Cui Xisi was also speechless for a while. She felt that she seemed to understand less and less about this team. It looks extraordinary in some places, but every other aspect seems to be full of the atmosphere of Caotai Team.

"So all the equipment in the group was made by you alone?" The girl was speechless for a moment. What kind of monsters are these? No wonder the other party knows these plug-ins and magic equipment very well. If these are his own works, how can he not understand them?

There is a natural benefit to doing this.

As the chief craftsman of the team and also the leader, he has a deeper understanding of the team's strength due to his mastery of the team's overall equipment. Many craftsman leaders have such a major advantage.

But there should be no equipment like this that involves all aspects of the team. From the magic equipment and weapons on the body to every plug-in on the equipment, even the magic furnace and magic crystal are all handled by him.

Let’s not talk about whether it is necessary to do this. Is there any craftsman who can span the three fields of plug-ins, magic tools, and crystals? Needless to say, Fang Plover himself is also a combat craftsman. Come on, now he is also a construct craftsman.

If she hadn't confirmed that besides herself, there was only one alchemist on board the Seven Seas Traveler, Fang Plover, Cui Xisi would have thought that someone was bragging. But before she got on the ship, it seemed that the team had only one magic craftsman, the Dragon Alchemist.

She fell silent, with some subversive thoughts running through her mind. It took a lot of effort to prevent the worldview she had established from collapsing. She looked at Fang Plover with an indescribable look: "Can you teach me?"

"what?"

This time it was Fang Plover's turn to be stunned.

"These plug-ins were all completed by the team leader. There should be no one here who knows them better than you. If you can give me some advice, it will be much easier for me to maintain these plug-ins in the future," Cui Xisi replied in a low voice: "Within the team There are only two of us craftsmen, if I can help you share some of the work, it will be a big improvement for the entire team."

Fang Yu finally understood, "You recognize us and plan to stay?"

"I had no intention of leaving in the first place," Cuisi said. "Since I agreed to stay, how could I go back on my word?"

Although she did have some small thoughts, she shook her head slightly at this moment. It was not just the mission of the Holy Chosen Battle - although it was a bit shocking to upgrade after just boarding the ship, but the Holy Chosen Battle It is not like she has never been exposed to military-related tasks in the Sacrament Guild.

Not to mention, she was involved in the mission of the seven obelisks and the empire's plan. Although she was not the most core member, as an elite member of the brigade, she was able to rise in level to keep up with Shang Plov and his group, so she was not without adventures.

But the ability that Fang Yu showed at this moment completely calmed her down.

She is an elite craftsman herself, so she naturally understands what level the craftsmen should be in. At least before boarding the Seven Seas Traveler, she had never imagined that there would be such a level.

Even during the trial at the Silver Tower, the ability of Fang Plover that she saw at that time never surprised her so much.

After all, the knowledge mastered by alchemists and the actual level of alchemists are sometimes two-dimensional things.

Theoretical alchemists will have more advantages in the trials of the Silver Tower, but actual craftsmanship can only be accumulated slowly through practice. No matter how talented you are, you cannot surpass time itself.

For the first time, she felt an aura similar to Loofah from the leader in front of her. It might even be far better than that legend. No one would not want to stay in a legend and be proud of it, especially for her. For a member of such an elite group.

Although most people wished her well when she left the Sacrament Guild, she also knew that some people were actually eager to give up that position. Those guys in the Sacrament Guild who had their eyes high above their heads would not think that just any little person outside would What can she achieve in the team?

She might eventually return to the Congregation of the Blessed Sacrament, but time lost is time spent.

Trixis herself once hated the inexplicable contract that forced her to be bound to this group of people.

But at least she is a pragmatic person. Now that she has arrived on this ship, she will use her abilities to make this team a real elite team. Even if it is not as good as the top teams in the guild, at least it will not be beaten. Fallen too far.

But at this moment, the girl did have some different hopes in her heart. Maybe she could go further, reach a higher height, and surprise those people.

Once there is hope, ambition grows like wildfire.

Of course, Fang Yu was no longer the ignorant guy who didn't understand anything in the past. He naturally understood the girl's statement. He smiled and did not expose it. Everyone on the Seven Seas Traveler has more or less their own purpose, whether it is him or Sylvester.

He actually doesn't care that everyone uses the Seven Seas Troupe as a platform, but as long as they can identify with each other, it's fine, because identification is a bond, and only cohesion can make everyone on the same ship go further.

He nodded and for the first time began to introduce the affairs on the ship to the goblin craftsman from the Sacrament Guild. Of course, it was mainly about the craftsman. The alchemist was often an important part of a team. In the past, he was responsible for it alone. Performed almost all related work on the ship.

Although Luo Yu helped him, Luo Yu himself was not a full-time craftsman after all, and he was not fully qualified for many tasks. He also trained Pasha, the young man from Kaolin-Ishulian, but the growth cycle of the aborigines was long, and he could not count on this little guy for the time being, so he only placed him in the second group for training.

Now judging from Ms. Kusu and the news from the forest, Pasha has done a good job in his work. He has passed the test of the apprentice craftsman of the Craftsmen Association and will soon become an official working alchemist. .

Originally, Pasha was supposed to be the second full-time alchemist of the Seven Seas Brigade, but due to the addition of Trixis, the little guy's order had to be postponed one place, and he became the third alchemist of the Seven Seas Brigade.

As for Trixis, as a professional goblin craftsman, simple maintenance work is not a problem. She can even participate in the maintenance work of the Seven Seas Traveler itself, not only to help him, but also to help Miss Tata share the work.

"The Seven Seas Traveler is not just a dragon knight battleship?" This was the first time Trixis learned the news. "It is loaded with fairy cores?"

She had actually expected that the Seven Seas Traveler was a Dragon Knight battleship. After all, anyone who was not blind could see Miss Tata's work, but the Dragon Knight battleship and the Fairy Dragon Knight were two completely different concepts.

After all, no one can tell from the appearance the difference between an ordinary Dragon Knight battleship and a Dragon Knight battleship loaded with a fairy core.

But the girl's eyes widened: "How is this possible?"

"You have seen me making non-attributed crystals," Fang Plover replied, "then you can guess that I also master the technical route of non-attributed holy crystals. This is the biggest secret of the Seven Seas Traveler. It is actually the Fairy Dragon Knight. verification.”

Trixis's heart was pounding. She certainly understood what the Fairy Dragon Knight meant. "Isn't it finished yet?"

"It's not finished yet," Fang Plover nodded, "But it's not out of reach. It's just that our level is not yet at a certain level. The technology has yet to be verified. We are going to the second world to gain more relevant knowledge."

"Since the non-attributed holy crystal exists," Trixis asked cautiously, "then can craftsmen also become dragon knights, and can I also become a dragon knight?"

"Yes," Fang Plover replied meaningfully: "Everyone has this opportunity."

Trish took a deep breath: "I understand, I will help Miss Tata share the work, and I will keep this secret... before getting off the ship."

She paused and added the last sentence. In fact, she could not mention this sentence, because it was an agreement between the Seven Seas Troupe and the Sacrament Guild. When on board the Seven Seas Traveler, she must identify herself as a crew member of the Seven Seas Traveler.

As for when she will disembark, it is up to Fang Plover.

Fang Yu nodded, naturally understanding what Cui Xisi meant. The two parties could talk openly and honestly without any grudges. This was a good start.

"By the way, there's another thing." Fang Pultru picked up a faint blue crystal on the table. It was her father's star device that Adni gave him. "Actually, the reason why we have to prepare such a Multiple plug-ins and equipment are not only for preparing for a rainy day, but also have another plan. You are a fairy user, have you ever heard of the advanced application of margin skills?"

Cui Xisi was startled: "You mean the Chapter of Keys?"

Fang Plover nodded.

He looked at the blue crystal and said, "If the first chapter of the Key Chapter can be realized, what do you think will happen?"

"That's impossible." Trish blurted out.

...(End of chapter)