Three hidden traits shared by the strong

Frieren's embarrassment was plain to see.

Her face was flushed, white smoke curled from her head, and even her long ears were bright red.

"Mr. Shazo, is this really alright?"

Shazo, wielding a large stick, replied nonchalantly, "What's the big deal? I just sneaked into the Great Cathedral and took what was mine."

Frieren looked at the people lying on the ground as she walked along and questioned, "But, but you came straight in through the Main Gate, and you even knocked down all the guards and Monk!"

"What kind of infiltration is this?"

Shazo retorted, "Has anyone seen what I look like?"

Frieren shook her head. "No, they were defeated by you before they even saw us."

Shazo proudly twirled the stick and laughed, "See? Nobody saw me sneak in. Isn't that a perfect infiltration?"

"If this weren't human territory, I should have killed them all, just like when I entered the Labyrinth last time."

Frieren remembered what had happened last time, and how swiftly and decisively Shazo had killed the monster, and immediately fell silent.

Alright.

She was afraid of provoking Shazo, causing him to go on a killing spree and turn the Great Cathedral into a bloodbath.

Although Frieren dislikes humans, she acknowledges that the Monk in this Church are good people, and Mr. Shazo shouldn't kill good people.

Fortunately, the Little Elf's fears did not come true. Although there were many humans in the Church, they were no match for Shazo, who had already knocked Korea into a deep sleep before they even saw him.

Only after the two elves found their destination did Shazo suddenly frown, his excited playful expression vanishing as he asked, "When did such powerful Monk appear among humans?"

As soon as Shazo finished speaking, the door opened from the inside.

The one who opened the door was an old Monk, bald on top of his head, with snow-white beard and eyebrows, and skin wrinkled like tree bark.

One look was enough to tell that the old Monk was about to die.

But he had a pair of bright eyes that seemed to see through people's hearts and perceive all the evils of the world.

The old Monk bowed, and his words startled Frieren: "Are you Mr. Shazo of the Elf Race?"

Shazo was called by name, but he showed no surprise and calmly replied, "I am Shazo, and I've come to collect my bet."

The old Monk sighed deeply, "Yes, please follow me."

Following him into the room, they found it to be a small Prayer Room, containing a statue of Goddess and Cross Long Sword that shone with a milky white light.

The old Monk pointed to the Cross Long Sword and said, "That's the Holy Light Cross Sword that the Grand Patriarch lost to you, Mr. Shazo. You can take it."

Shazo didn't stand on ceremony; he grabbed the sword hilt and took it off.

I felt the comfort of the hilt, twirled the sword to check its balance, and finally gently stroked the blade with my left hand to confirm the divine power contained within it.

Shazo put away the Cross Long Sword with satisfaction and placed it in the suitcase where the ice sword had originally been.

At this point, Shazo turned to the old Monk and asked, "Did your leader, the Grand Patriarch, admit defeat before he died?"

The old Monk nodded and said, "Yes."

"A long time has passed, and we no longer know exactly what the Grand Patriarch said, but His Majesty's handwritten edict has been passed down to this day."

He pulled out an old parchment and carefully handed it to Shazo, pointing to the words written in archaic and simple language, the handwriting almost illegible, and said, "This is it."

"His Grand Patriarch said that he only saw the many flaws of the Church on his deathbed, and that the gap in wisdom between him and Mr. Shazo was more than 30 years. He willingly admitted defeat and ordered the Church to forge a new weapon as the price for losing the gamble."

His Majesty also wrote that he deeply regretted not heeding Mr. Shazo's advice, realizing the truth on his deathbed, but lacking the time and energy to undo the damage.

"I believe that once Mr. Shazo receives the bet, he will be able to lend a helping hand when the Church is corrupt and on the verge of collapse, helping Church overcome its most dangerous hurdle."

"For the sake of the Goddess of Magic— "

Shazo laughed, "This guy, even on his deathbed, he still managed to scheme against me—"

"Okay, his reasoning is pretty solid. For the sake of my Goddess, I can't refuse to help him."

"However, when and in what form I help is entirely up to me."

The old Monk grinned broadly. "That's only natural. Even if you killed all the upper echelons of the Church, it wouldn't be a problem at all."

"That's wonderful. Now that you've secured the stakes and accepted the Grand Patriarch's request, I can finally rest easy."

"The atmosphere within the Church is becoming increasingly restless. My lineage of Ascetic is truly without a successor. I have always worried that after I die, no one in the Church will be able to convey the Patriarch's requests to Mr. Shazo."

Seeing the old Monk's gentle and pure eyes, Shazo for some reason thought of the future members of the Demon King extermination team, the excellent Monk could manipulate advanced healing magic, and Heiter, who was addicted to alcohol.

He said to the old Monk, "The lineage of Ascetic may die out, but I believe the Church will surely survive the calamity of the Great Corruption and regain its vitality."

"After all, you truly possess Healing Magic, and there truly is a great Gods watching over the Monk from beyond the heavens."

The old Monk beamed from ear to ear. "Thank you, thank you so much!"

He then personally saw the two elves off at the Main Gate, and finally slapped his forehead, asking, "Mr. Shazo, when will those people inside the Lookout wake up?"

Shazo replied, "They will all wake up at the same time before dawn. Do you need me to elaborate on what you need to do?"

The old Monk quickly waved his hand and said, "No need, no need!"

Knowing when they'll wake up will allow me to prepare and wake up with everyone, which will save me a lot of trouble.

"I'm too old to argue with them anymore. I just want to quietly and comfortably return to the embrace of my Goddess."

After saying this, the old Monk bid farewell to Shazo and turned to walk back to the Lookout.

Frieren asked curiously, "Mr. Shazo, who is this old Monk? He gives me a very reassuring feeling."

Shazo asked with a smile, "Think about the location of that Prayer Room in the Lookout, then think about who is qualified to have a separate statue of the Goddess in the Lookout of the Goddess, then think about the fact that the First Grand Patriarch's orders are in his hands, think about what these three points mean?"

Frieren put her clever little brain to work and began to think about the question Shazo had raised. The more she thought about it, the more blank her expression became, and finally she opened her mouth wide.

The Little Elf's eyes were unfocused as he murmured, "Southern Patriarch, Northern Pope, he's the patriarch of the Southern Faction of the Church!"

The Elf Race has a very long history, and the Elves generally look down on the humans who were once their vassals. However, they must take the Church, which can unite a large number of humans and form a powerful force, seriously.

After all, this is a powerful organization that has been blessed by the Goddess and possesses the power of Healing Magic.

Despite several splits and internal strife, the two stable factions of the North and South have now formed, but the Pope and Patriarch still hold a high position and are recognized by the elves.

Moreover, Frieren is different from ordinary elves. After the tragedy of her village being wiped out, she was raised by her human teacher Flamme. She does not have a natural prejudice against humans and has more respect for the two human leaders.

It took Frieren a long time to recover before she said to Shazo, "Mr. Shazo, Great-Grandmaster Serie, Patriarch of the Southern Faction, I think I've discovered something in common among you all."

Shazo asked with a smile, "What do we have in common?"

Frieren carefully said, "It's a feeling of complete indifference, the freedom to do whatever I want, and the unwavering conviction that other people's opinions have nothing to do with me."

Is this a common trait among the strong?

Shazo nodded and said, "Frieren, your keen insight surprises me. You're right, this is a common trait among the strong."

"Confidence is built upon immense strength, steadfastness is honed through the process of acquiring that strength, and freedom is the inevitable result of an unstoppable will."

Most people are distracted by the Eight Gates ideas of the strong and fail to recognize these three commonalities.

"Frieren, now that you've noticed these three points, I think you understand the importance of strength. You must not let your guard down in the long road ahead."

Frieren replied earnestly, "I understand, Mr. Shazo, thank you for your guidance."

Shazo nodded in satisfaction. He really hoped to see Frieren become an even more powerful Mage; such a future would surely be very interesting.

The next day, Shazo led Frieren eastward, traveling along the coast in search of the possible birthplace of the Demon Race.

After traveling for several months, in the crisp autumn Harvest Season, Shazo and Frieren arrived in the central part of the continent.

In the past few months, wars have broken out among many human kingdoms. The purpose of these wars is annexation and unification, so the fighting on the battlefield has been extremely brutal, but the Carnage and looting outside the battlefield have not been severe.

However, the collapse of order still caused enormous chaos, and those who could not survive had no choice but to flee into the wilderness, becoming vagrants or bandits.

The war also brought strong negative emotions, spreading an atmosphere of killing everywhere.

Several factors combined led to a significant increase in the frequency of Demon Race births. In just a few months, Shazo witnessed the birth of two more Demon Race.

He therefore concluded that if humans are infected by the aura of the Demon Race race and pupate into Pupa Demons, they are the most likely to pupate into Demon Race.

Even if she is just a helpless little girl, or a starving and dying wanderer, it does not affect her power level after becoming Demon Race.

Like Demon Race, demons possess an unknown, long lifespan and can continuously increase their power through cultivation.

Given enough time, they will surely become terrifying Great Demon.

However, few Demon Race could resist their own desires, and before they could even become Great Demon, they were surrounded and killed by the strong among the elves, Dwarves, and humans in a frenzy of slaughter.

The frequent births of Demon Race led to more killing and chaos, and even resulted in towns being completely Carnage after being conquered by Demon Race.

But Frieren was surprised to find that amidst this chaos, while the human population was declining, their overall strength was rapidly increasing.

During their months-long journey, Shazo constantly commented on the changes in the world, guiding Frieren to develop a historical perspective and enabling her to observe the changes in the world from an observer's point of view.

This is a perspective very much in line with that of Long-lived Species, and it is also the core of Shazo's chosen philosophy of life. He does not interact with individual humans, but he engages in dialogue with human civilization.

After being given a historical perspective by Shazo, Frieren could only use it as a tool and could not adapt to this grand worldview, so she had no choice but to give up.

Shazo didn't care at all. He took the initiative to comfort Frieren, saying, "Every elf has a different outlook on life. Frieren's outlook on life is different from mine."

"As long as you can step outside your narrow perspective, you will naturally find your own philosophy of life as time goes by."

Encouraged, Frieren felt relieved and asked curiously, "What is your master's philosophy of life?"

Shazo thought for a moment and replied, "Frieren's core philosophy of life seems to be the cause of magic. She binds her perspective to the development of magic, transcending the limitations of the Elf Race, and doing her utmost to promote the development of magic."

Frieren asked again, "So, between Great-Grandmaster Serie and Mr. Shazo, whose philosophy of life is more impressive?"

Shazo shook his head and said, "My and Frieren's views on life cannot be judged as powerful or weak, because there is no distinction between strong and weak views on life, only differences in the degree of compatibility."

"As long as they don't regress to the same worldview as humans, a short-lived species, due to laziness, cowardice, and incompetence, as most Elf Race do."

"That is a spiritual depravity that will cause them to never live past 1500 years, or even less than a thousand years, before dying of old age."

Frieren incredulously, "How can mental depravity affect lifespan?"

Shazo replied, "Of course it will have an impact. It's not just Elf Race who will experience this; humans and Dwarves will also be affected."

"The cases of Feral Child and 'Bear Child' that frequently occur among humans are real examples."

"Those children who are raised by Beast during the crucial period of their soul's development forever lose the opportunity to become an intelligent species. Even if they return to human society and live a life free from worries about food and clothing, they will reach the limit of their lifespan in their teens, just like Beast."

Frieren secretly vowed in her heart: Frieren will definitely find her own philosophy of life and will never fall into depravity.

Seeing the mountains ahead, Shazo suddenly said, "The Riker Canyon is just ahead; we'll have to take a detour."

When Frieren first heard that Shazo was going to take a detour, she asked in great surprise, "Mr. Shazo, are there dangerous monsters in Riker Canyon?"

Shazo Zuo nodded. "The monster dwelling in Riker Canyon is a dragon, Red Mirror Dragon."

"Although it is a demon, it is a monster more dangerous than any other Demon Race."

"Even the Demon King isn't as difficult to deal with as the Red Mirror Dragon."