Destroyer of Ice and Fire

The blood tattoos on the man's face quickly disappeared, but a new blood tattoo appeared on his nape, becoming the same mark as the one on Hiruka's nape.

"Remember your mission, and hopefully we will be able to bask in glory rather than live in shame during our limited lifespans."

Belo completed the ancient ritual with the same lines.

"Since you are the second retainer, she is your captain." Then he pointed at Hiruka who was at the edge of the metal cage and commanded, "Pack up your armor, this is the wealth of your arcane team."

"Just kill me, I will absolutely not become anyone's retainer." The man whose accent was obviously from the Kingdom of Doa spoke with lifeless eyes.

"Even more feeble than during battle. You're far worse than I imagined, I'm already suspecting my decision." Belo snorted, "But just like the retainer's mission to protect the lord, the lord also has a mission to protect his retainer. Feeble guy, are you really a deserter from the Bat Corps like what those trash on the stand claimed...... But rest assured, even if the Bat Corps is coming for you, I will protect you."

Hearing Belo's speech, Hiruka once again thought that he was a lunatic. How could they stand a chance against a Corps with dozens of elite arcane teams?

However, that boasting also gave her a strange feeling......If the Bat Corps really came for the deserter, he would really put his life on the line to protect that guy, to protect his so-called retainer.

"Protect? The Bat Corps coming for me?"

The man murmured. Tears suddenly streamed down from his hollow eyes, "If they can really show up and treat me as a deserter, how great would that be......"

"What exactly happened?"

Roy Wayne and a few Burning Corps members also showed up next to Belo. "Only outstanding battlemasters are qualified to own a set of bat-base armor in the Bat Corps." Roy Wayne watched that man's pained expression and hysterically pulled his hair, "What exactly happened to the Bat Corps? Why did a guy like you degenerate into fighting in this kind of black market?"

"The Bat Corps is no more......" That man closed his eyes with tears still flowing, "An unqualified guy like me should fight to the death in this kind of degenerating place......"

"The Bat Corps is no more? What do you mean?" The expressions of Roy Wayne and his Burning Corps members stiffened.

......

......

"Little Fer, the equipment room was just used, go tidy it up."

In the Deer Horn city near the Eichemalar at the central of Kingdom of Eiche, an old arcane master instructed his apprentice.

It was a moderate-sized private cultivation hall.

These kinds of private cultivation hall usually charged fees less than the cheapest academy. They taught children from extremely poor families, whose talents were medicore and could not reach the standard for free admission to the academies. At the same time, their parents were still hopeful for their awakening.

The arcane masters who opened such private cultivation halls were either experienced in teaching or had specialty in certain fields. As a result, they attracted a portion of the parents to admit their children.

This old arcane master was slightly chubby and had a benign countenance. Surprisingly, the apprentice he instructed was none other than Ferguillo.

On the other side of the hall, the shirtless muscular man scrubbing the floor on his knees was another elite student of the Iron forest Academy, Wilde.

Even if they were short on money, elite students like Ferguillo and Wilde should be hot snatches as private tutors. By no means would they choose to be errand boys in such a private cultivation hall.

However, Ferguillo and Wilde were behaving like obedient apprentices. After hearing the old arcane master's instruction, Ferguillo immediately ran to the equipment room and carefully cleaned up, returning all the equipment to their places.

After the lesson for the day was over, all the youths attending the class politely bid farewell. Seeing the orderly training halls and equipment room, the old chubby arcane master showed a satisfied expression. He showed up before Ferguillo and Wilde who were preparing dinner just like real apprentices.

"The recommendation from your Iron Forest Academy's Professor Zu is correct, you two are indeed the most excellent students from the Iron Forest Academy."

The chubby arcane master did not ask Ferguillo and Wilde to stop. He remarked in a normal chatter, "I have graduated from Iron Forest Academy for more than thirty years. I was considered an elite student back then, but I haven't achieved much up to now."

"Teacher Zen, your cultivation hall has also nurtured many decent arcane masters, it's already a great achievement." Wilde sincerely spoke.

"But since Professor Zu thinks so highly of me and let you two to learn from me. My greatest achievement is probably teaching you two." The chubby arcane master grinned and spoke while looking at Ferguillo and Wilde, "My fighting style requires utmost calm and patience, hence I made you two continue to do chores all this while. However, you are more outstanding and mature than I thought."

"This is my Mind's Eye Confrontation scroll."

The chubby arcane master took out two brand new, identical scroll and presented them to Ferguillo and Wilde. He explained with a smile, "This arcane skill is a bizarre absolute frontal defensive materialization skill. As long as the attack comes from the front, the materialized mind's eye blade will definitely block the opponent's arcane skill using lesser arcane particles...... Hence I mentioned about requiring sufficient calmness and patience. Using this arcane skill to fight a stronger opponent means to exhaust the opponent with extreme patience. You must maintain a frontal confrontation against the opponent's attack, never letting any attack come from the side or back."

"So that's what's bizarre about this arcane skill!"

Ferguillo and Wilde could not help but look at each other.

When facing a strong opponent, especially one that was a level higher, they had to maintain a frontal confrontation against the opponent's arcane skill. And if they had to use exhaustion as a method to decide the outcome, it definitely required extreme patience. They must not get impatient and make any mistakes.

"Wilde, since you rely more on close-range materialization skills, this arcane skill can become a life saver when facing some arcane masters who can deal burst damage even at close range."

"As for little Fer......" The old arcane master's gaze fell on Ferguillo, "Professor Zu was right. Your personality suits this arcane skill."

"This strange arcane skill with restrictions should work well when facing an enemy. It allows me to defend against a higher level arcane master." Ferguillo bowed to the old arcane master.

"It's a pity that I can't help you much. This common materialization skill is the only one I have that suits you." The old arcane master hesitated for a moment, but continued while looking at Ferguillo with sympathy, "Your unique mutated bloodline ability granted you some strong abilities others could not obtain. At the same time, it's also the biggest obstacle to your future growth. Because, despite the rarity of those powerful abilities from the Dragons, it has accumulated since the Era of the War with Dragons. But your bloodline is completely mutated from the foundation of House Baratheon's Storm Dragon bloodline. It could be said that over the thousands of years, mutated bloodlines like yours only amounted to one or two in the entire Doraster. Your bloodline cannot learn or master most powerful forbidden skills. Even the most knowledgeable Draconic Scholars could only create a few powerful arcane skills in their entire lifespan.You are not such a researcher, so you also cannot create powerful arcane skills."

"Hence......" After pausing for a moment, the old arcane master gazed at Ferguillo, and sincerely suggested with a stronger tone, "What you need to do from now on is to search for arcane skills you can train...... Some arcane skills come with flaws but are still useful. While normal arcane masters may not be bothered, you must not be picky."

"I understand."

Ferguillo's eyes sparkled with unusual light.

His future cultivation path was already clear in his eyes.

To him, even if he couldn't find a suitable arcane skill like the Mind's Eye, following the old arcane master and listening to his teachings over the past days was already worth the time.

......

Late night, under the starry sky, Ferguillo and Wilde laid on the balcony of a training hall after completely exhausting themselves in the training.

Watching the sky filled with twinkling stars, Wilde blew at his hair and said, "I wonder what kind of progress that Ayrin has made now."

"Their progress is probably something we have to work hard and chase after......" Ferguillo grinned and replied.

"Hey, Ferguillo. Are you still there? Come here if you are."

At that moment, a displeased voice called from outside of that training hall.

Ferguillo and Wilde were momentarily stunned.

That voice seemed to belong to Berryn, the arcane master from Clan Tarly, whom they had met at Fallen Shadow Valley.

He was an arcane master on par with Donna, and they weren't familiar with him. He was truly an uninvited guest.

What did he come for?