Soul of Searing Steel

Standing on the wall of White Pigeon City, Joshua took binoculars from Ling and looked into the distance, towards the direction where the sun would set. His vision extended into the distance along with the focus of the lens of his binoculars. There he saw broad stone paths across the ground, the scattered trees, and the green plains. Everything was gathered on top of the three mountains in the distant.

The falling sunset was projected into patches of orange and red clouds, and the remaining sunlight was revealed through the gaps between the peaks. With the use of the binoculars, Joshua could see that there was a meandering road that connected from the foot of the mountain all the way straight into the depths of the mountains. At the top, thin clouds were shrouding around each of the fortresses at the top of each peak, making them looked extraordinarily hazy.

“Master, are we not departing anytime sooner?”

A question was heard from behind Joshua. He could also feel someone pulling the corner of his sleeve a little. Hence, the warrior could only helplessly turn his head around and reply, “Don’t be hasty, Ying. I just want to have a look at the terrain nearby Imperial City.”

“Oh…”

Ying nodded with a little regret. She took a small step forward and came to the warrior’s side. The silver-haired young girl also pulled Ling along with her. Then the two of them leaned on the rock wall of the city as they looked towards the same direction as their master.

Imperial City, the Holy City of Triplet Mountain was located in the middle of a hill southeast of the Empire Kingdom, surrounded by terraces and pastures that were all connected together. On the east side, at the end of the horizon, one could see a blue reflective surface of a mirror. That would be the largest freshwater lake in the Empire Kingdom, the Eversong Lake. The emperor that founded the kingdom was once blessed by the fairy in this lake. There, he was bestowed with an armor that could negate damage and a ring that could order and control elemental energy. The tombs of the successive emperors were built on the island in the middle of the lake, and it seemed that the rumors had also been corroborated with some proofs.

Beneath Imperial City, there were scattered satellite cities. Due to the geographical location of Imperial City, it was much more difficult to communicate with the outside world, so it would require many resources to tilt the supply. Well, White Pigeon City was built and expanded from a small village to relay supplies to Imperial City.

“It’s really peaceful here.”

It was now early spring in April, but with the help of magic and various types of domesticated daemons, the farmers were not facing many difficulties in their daily work. Looking at the farmers that looked like tiny dots within his vision because they were all too far away in the green farmland, Joshua put down the binoculars in his hand.

He took a deep breath and the warm monsoon that blew from the South brought a fresh smell of the plants and trees. The warrior allowed the air to pour into the depths of his lungs. Then he spoke with some vigor, “I’m currently in the surroundings of Imperial City. I completely cannot feel the dangers that are lurking at the border areas thought.”

That was true indeed—cast aside the Dark Tide in the Dark Forest, the Dragon’s Calamity in the distant South had yet to subside. Even though the appearance of the Berserk Dragon vaccine had suppressed the Dragon’s Calamity to prevent the incident from ravaging as before back in the previous life, but these monsters and beasts were not capable of leveling cities and threatening the force of humans to begin with. Those were actually the evil beings that were lurking in the depths of the oceans. It was pretty obvious though. The old lair of the Pentashade Dragons was not located at the Floating Dragon Island high up in the sky as rumored. Judging from the facts that groups of elite flying wyverns flying over from the Southern Sea Region, they should have numerous bases in the distant sea.

However, this had nothing to do with the Northern Empire that had just eradicated the greatest threat to the world, the orcs.

Although the civilization of the orcs was backward and primitive, full of uncultivated wilderness, their physical strength was undeniably powerful. However, even though the war with those monsters had caused the Empire to suffer a great deal of losses, the results achieved today were enough to make up for everything—in the past six months, countless expedition parties had set out from their homelands to the unexploited Great Plains of the Northwest. Warriors and knights with meritorious deeds in the war had thus obtained their own manors and rewards. Although the Empire had suffered some losses during that continuous war with the orcs, the Empire had become much stronger than ever for obtaining a large territory. All they had to do was to wait for a few years before they could return to their former glory or even become even more glorious than before.

This could be seen from the dedication of the locals of White Pigeon City. The patrolling guards on the walls were wearing neat uniforms and armor. They were stomping the ground with force, showing that they were strong. Their eyes were bright. Their chests were standing tall. Their hearts were full of enthusiasm. Meanwhile, the farmers and merchants who were moving in and out across the city wall were smiling. Everyone seemed to be filled with confidence and hope for a prosperous future.

“All right.”

Returning the binoculars to Ling’s hands, Joshua had acquired a general understanding of the environment and surroundings in Imperial City. Although some parts of the place could not be observed because of angle issues, it was already enough. So the warrior turned his head and looked at the two teenagers. “Let’s move out.”

It was actually possible for them to travel straight from White Pigeon City to Imperial City through the teleportation circle. In fact, other than Moldavia that was deemed to be a rural region which just been chained into the teleportation network, basically, every large city across the Mycroft continent was connected to Imperial City, which enabled anyone to travel from those cities directly to Imperial City. But now that there was no need to be hasty at all, Joshua did not bother himself with spending another few hours. He rather travel on foot and take the opportunity to enjoy the view of the sunset while he was on his way to Imperial City.

The three of them were walking on the stone road that was meant for carriages. Their surroundings were filled with terraces and scattered woodland. Not far away from them, there was even a river shining under the setting sun, along with a few domesticated devil-cows drinking water from the riverside. Occasionally, several farmers who had done their work for the day would pass by Joshua. These simple men were speaking the dialect of the Central Region. They were speaking that dialect as if they were speaking an alien language from another world though. It would be difficult for a person to hold their laughter in after hearing it.

The sun had set while the three of them were arriving at the mountain foot of Imperial City.

Since most of the people with a little bit of money and power would choose to use the teleportation circle to travel to Imperial City, there were only some farmers who were transporting supplies, and a few merchants who were poor were seen walking along the road and the stairs that led straight into Imperial City. Currently, it was already midnight. The flow of people in the city had reduced to almost none already. Joshua was standing on the empty street as he spoke gently, “This is truly magnificent.”

That was a smooth stone road. There were stairs built of gray rock along the two sides of the road. The road came extending out from the depth of the mountain like a gray line that gradually looked thicker and thicker all the way to beneath the feet of the warrior.

There were countless pendant lamps made of pyroxene lining up along the two sides of the staircases. They were not really bright, though they were able to illuminate the path along the staircases for people to see. In the middle of the dark, they seemed like a bright band of light along the path. That band of light and other road lights leading to the mountains converged together into while lines, wrapped all around three peaks of the mountains.

They appeared like a magic circle.

As a Legendary warrior in the previous life, Joshua’s ability to observe was naturally much stronger than ordinary people. He could clearly sense that density of magic energy in the atmosphere by the foot of the mountain was thicker than the density of magic energy in the surrounding wilderness. Meanwhile, the magic elements on the peak of the mountain were so dense and thick that they appeared like hazy clouds. Of course, that occurrence was not naturally at all. It must be the doing of someone.

“It is truly a masterpiece that is hard to imagine.”

After carefully observing the streetlights next to the stairs, the warriors noticed that the white sparkling pyroxene lamps had inconspicuous magic patterns engraved on them. One by one, the runes were strung together along the light, spreading along with the road across the entire peak of the mountain. After that, they all formed into a gigantic magic circle. The warrior nodded gently and said, “Through the entire magic circle of the mountain peak, naturally bringing the elements and magical powers in the heaven and earth together in one spot to power up the entire city and the three fortresses… The people who planned and designed the city must be a Sage.”

“That’s right.”

Because the psionic body was being very sensitive to the presence of magic energy, Ying could also vaguely sense it. He raised her little hand up. Her white skin was radiating with faint fluorescent light because she was charged up with an abundant amount of magic energy in the atmosphere. The silver-haired girl was a little happy as she said, “It’s quite pretty.”

“Master was not talking about that…” Ling who was right beside the two of them complained. He did not seem to like this phenomenon very much. He hid every single part of his exposed skin underneath his clothes. However, it was not winter after all. Hence, the young man who was wearing an outfit suited for summer could not cover some of his exposed skin. Hence, people could still see that the young man was glowing with white radiance.

The three people set foot on the staircases that would lead them to Imperial City. The comforting wind of the summer night was gently breezing on. Without even realizing, the three of them had climbed halfway up to the mountainside. Looking down from where they currently were, they could see the night view that was within tens of kilometers. The nightingales were tweeting while the insects were flapping their wings to accompany them.

However, a soft voice that came from the mountain had broken the balance of the harmonious atmosphere.

It was the voice of a middle-aged man. The husky voice indicated that the man was feeling a little exhausted. That man was holding on an item that seemed to be engraved with a communication circle as he seemed to be talking to someone on the other side of the communication circle. “… Yes, Lord Moroes. Everything has been arranged… That’s right, Count. How would I dare to forget what you’ve asked me to do… Rest assured knowing that the information about that ‘cold-steel’ count in the North is easy to gather. He does not seem to care about others observing him… Alright… I will make sure the matter is handled properly…”

Overhearing fragments of his words as that middle-aged man was walking along the way, Joshua stopped in his tracks. Then he turned his head over and looked at the back of the middle-aged man. The warrior narrowed his gaze and furrowed his brows. His red eyes were filled with curiosity.

Just now, did that middle-aged man just mention him?

“Did he just mention my title?”

Shrugging his shoulders, Joshua turned around and asked his weapons. Meanwhile, Ling who was right beside him nodded as confirmation. “That’s right. He did mention your title, Master.”

Ying then added, “Just now, he seemed to be asking about your situation recently.”

“Then that must not be an illusion.”

After hearing the two of them confirming it, Joshua let out a chuckle, “Could it really be that coincidental that I can actually find someone who knows me well in Imperial City?”

While he was saying that, he turned his body around and walked towards the middle-aged man who was walking down the stairs at the moment.

Ying and Ling followed the pace of the warriors as they did not forget to complain a little as well. “I think the people who do not know about Master are the minority now.”

“Not to mention that those who know Master’s name might not be an acquaintance.” Ling was also expressing his own opinion. He looked a bit reluctant at the moment though. “He just mentioned about Master’s title… it’s not necessary for Master to walk up to the man to specifically ask about it…”

Without getting bothered by the words of his own weapons, Joshua instantly made a move. Ordinary people would have just think about it if they ever heard other people saying their names or titles. However, the warrior was the kind of man that would put his mind into practice straight away. So he walked up to that middle-aged man who seemed to be walking down the stairs slowly and relaxingly. Then he greeted the man.

“My friend before me, maybe you might not believe this… but I’m the Count of the North that you guys have been mentioning about. I’m Joshua… Huh? My friend, why do you have that look on your face?”