On the morning of the 26th, Landen brought Gleia and Tierney to Dragon Terrace Mountain. At last night's banquet, the Panda-kin Xiu Ming had told Landen that Queen Tyriana Dragonblood would likely be returning to the Magic Web soon, and urged him to invite Ernst and Halcala to Thorn Sky Pit as quickly as possible.
"My lord? Didn't you rest well yesterday?" Tierney noticed that, though Landen was riding Blaze, he did not seem as spirited as usual and casually asked, "I'm fine. I may have drunk too much at yesterday's banquet," Landen said, hurriedly explaining as he saw Gleia beside him blush.
In truth, Wendy had raised a question at the station yesterday: was bestowing a banquet the only way to achieve the effect of sharing magic? Might other forms of gifts and rituals produce similar effects?
Afterward, Landen and Wendy, along with Little Redbird and Gleia, took turns experimenting. In the end, they proved that while similar effects could indeed be achieved, the efficiency of magical sharing was far too low. At most, it could deepen feelings between them. And after waking this morning, Landen discovered that the experiments in yesterday's dream had consumed rather too much—almost on par with hosting the Forest Cats and Scorch Wolves.
This time, as Landen traveled to Dragon Terrace Mountain, he found the road far livelier than before. Not only did they encounter Patrol Squads, but the number of knights and soldiers around the sentry posts had multiplied.
It was not only that there were more people. Their attitude toward Landen had also grown far more enthusiastic. Nearly every time a patrol of knights encountered him, its captain would take the initiative to greet him. Some called Landen Duke, others His Majesty, and still others Your Excellency. Even Tierney had become "a