Sherry

"You're saying... behind the bronze door, you saw illusory nebulae of the goddess and His Majesty, as well as this kind of rune?" Lansseax looked at the pattern Lucia had just drawn for her in surprise, a trace of astonishment showing between her brows.

"Yes," Lucia said with a nod. "I can read the runes that record the Ancient Dragon Combat Art, the five royal combat arts, and the five schools of prayers directly. Only this kind of rune gives me no clue no matter how I look at it... Sister Lans, do you have any impression of it?"

After coming out of the secluded meditation room, he had described the entire process of receiving the Dragon Bloodline Inheritance to Lansseax in detail, only touching it up slightly and skipping over anything related to the Memory Battlefield.

Lansseax racked her brains for a long while, but in the end, she still shook her head in distress and said, "No impression at all—not to mention that, when I entered that bronze door back then, I never saw the illusory nebulae you mentioned or any of those other visions. I only felt a huge amount of unprecedented knowledge appear in my memory, and after that, I spent nearly a hundred years before I fully mastered the combat arts and prayers recorded inside."

At this point, she could not help looking at Lucia as if she were looking at a monster. "Speaking of which, even the seal I faced back then couldn't be broken with the spiritual strength of these young demigods today. Logically, your seal should only have been stronger than mine. I really don't know how you managed it."

"Well..." Lucia scratched his head and gave a sheepish laugh. "Maybe some kind of mutation happened to my inheritance during the thousand-plus years I spent in the dragon egg... Anyway, I didn't feel like that seal of mine was very strong. I just pushed it lightly, and it opened."

"Tch, showing off after getting the better end of the deal, are we?" Lansseax caught the irrepressible trace of smugness at the corner of his mouth at a glance and could not resist reaching out with her devilish claws, mussing the silver hair he had just carefully combed that morning into a bird's nest.

After a round of one-sided ravaging and bullying, she let out a relieved breath, pinched Lucia's cheek, and said, "Who cares how it opened successfully? As long as the result is good, that's enough... Your big sister can finally go back and get a good night's sleep."

"Go back?" Lucia paused slightly. "You're not going to stay here a few more days? I still wanted to properly learn the cultivation methods for the Dragon King's Body and the Claw of Ruin from you."

"Hey, hey, hey, get one thing straight, all right? I'm a dignified priestess of the Ancient Dragon Temple. Lowering myself to come here and protect a little demigod like you for a few days is already giving you plenty of face, okay? There are still a lot of things waiting for me to arrange back at the temple!"

Seeing Lucia roll his eyes as he listened, she burst into laughter, stood up, and dusted off her spotless white robe. "All right, I really do have matters to attend to. In a bit, I'll first teach you the basics for getting started with the two royal combat arts. Practice them slowly on your own during this period. If there's anything you don't understand about other combat arts, prayers, or Storm Swordsmanship, ask Elder Merrell, Ekzykes, and the others. If you still have questions, come to the temple and find me anytime."

"Got. It—" Lucia answered, drawing out the words.

For the next half day, Lansseax watched him practice the basic cultivation methods for the Dragon King's Body and the Claw of Ruin more than a dozen times. Since Lucia had already practiced them many times in the Memory Battlefield three days ago, all he needed now was to make a few fine adjustments to the details under her guidance.

In the afternoon, Lansseax summoned the two elders in the hall, Ekzykes and Guerel, the two captains of the personal guard, as well as Annasia, who was temporarily commanding the Storm Knights. After carefully explaining the defensive work and various other matters to everyone, she led a group of Ancient Dragon Knights and hurried back to the temple.

"Did something happen at the Ancient Dragon Temple?" In front of Valeria Hall, Lucia watched the receding white-robed figure and asked Guerel beside him.

The girl pressed her knuckles against her chin and pondered hard for a while. "I haven't heard of anything happening these past two days... except yesterday. Last night, a knight came from the temple to deliver a letter, but Priestess Lans didn't show any reaction after reading it. She still waited quietly in the hall for Your Highness to come out of seclusion."

"Is that letter still here?" he asked with a slight frown.

"No," Guerel said, shaking her head. "Priestess Lans casually burned it after reading it. I didn't ask what it said either."

After listening, Lucia fell silent for a moment. Several times, he looked toward the imperial road outside the hall, but in the end, he only nodded and said, "I understand."

Judging from Sister Lans's state when she left, she probably had not run into some problem even she could not solve. As for burning the letter, it was most likely because she did not want him to find out and worry needlessly.

Under these circumstances, instead of following her and making trouble, he might as well stay home and cultivate honestly, raising his strength as quickly as possible.

The Dragon Bloodline Inheritance was certainly powerful, but before he fully digested it, he was still far too weak.

That afternoon, he had people move all kinds of weapons, defensive gear, and steel puppets used for training from the armory into the courtyard in front of his residence. He also dug out a large number of books on combat arts and prayers from the library and piled them to the side for him to consult and verify at any time. After that, he began cultivating like a spinning top running without pause, only stopping to rest briefly whenever he was so exhausted that he could barely move.

By evening, the hall welcomed two frequent visitors again: Miquella and Malenia, who lived next door in Haligtree Hall. However, today, they visited much later than usual.

The maids, long since used to this, led the two Empyreans toward the courtyard where their master was. The little fox had been staying by Lucia's side the whole time, lying boredly atop the pile of books and dozing. The moment she heard the sound of Malenia's wheelchair, her little head instantly perked up. When the other party's figure appeared at the courtyard entrance, she immediately turned into a streak of white light and darted out, hopping into the little girl's arms in just a few steps.

"Sherry—" Malenia happily hugged the little fox, letting her lick her cheeks with her tongue in delight. "I'm sorry. I wasn't feeling too well today, so I came a little late."

Miquella, meanwhile, looked at Lucia as he came over. He did not say much, only revealing a heartfelt smile as he said, "Congratulations."

"Thank you." Lucia returned his smile.

Getting along with Miquella was just this easy. The other party's outstanding wisdom meant Lucia did not have to feel as mentally exhausted as he did when he was with Guerel, having to spend great effort explaining things no matter whether they were complicated or not. At the same time, he could personally feel the warmth and goodwill Miquella extended toward him.

"Malenia," Lucia said, taking two more steps forward and looking helplessly at the little girl who was getting along so intimately with his shadow beast, "can you explain to me what the name 'Sherry' means, and why she agreed to it?"

"Ah, well..." Malenia immediately looked a little guilty. "I'm sorry. You've been in seclusion cultivating these past few days, and I came to play with Sherry—ah, no, with your shadow beast. I got carried away and gave her a name on my own. If you don't like it..."

"I like it."

"Huh?"

"What's there to apologize for?" Lucia said in amusement, rubbing her hair. "I like the name very much. Look, her fur is as white as snow. Sherry suits her perfectly."

This time, even the erudite and knowledgeable Miquella could not understand, since none of them had studied Chinese and naturally could not hear the slightest connection between "snow" and "Sherry." But since Lucia, as her master, was satisfied with it himself, the name was naturally settled just like that.

The three of them chatted and laughed while teasing Sherry for about fifteen minutes. Just as Malenia and the little fox were playing in high spirits, Miquella came to Lucia's side and said in a low voice that he had something to discuss with him alone.

After Lucia understood, he summoned two maids to watch over Malenia from the side, while he led Miquella into the hall.