Exposed?

Aethelria had a tradition of holding competitions and festivals before the start of the winter hunt, a competition that originated from ancient knightly challenges.

The real rise of various competitions, however, began after the Chosen arrived in Aethelria. These novel forms of competition from Earth piqued the interest of the nobles, and then spread from the top down.

To this day, various competitions have formed dozens of league systems, large and small.

Among them, the most authoritative are undoubtedly the three major events of the Super Competition League, including the top-tier Second World Competition—which is also the only competition most fans in reality pay attention to and understand.

However, this current competition should be a small local event in Elpaxin, initiated by the Elpaxin Artisan Guild, to the point that Fang Heng had never even heard of it before.

He wasn't very interested in the challenge match itself, but was very interested in the reward. He couldn't help but ask, "What exactly is the Golden Flame Ring?"

"It's a ring with magic," Luo Yu replied.

"It's the craftsmanship of the Numenor Elves, Brother Ed," Jita chimed in, taking over from Luo Yu, and explained in a low voice, "The Numenor Elves are very skilled at fine magic control. They forge faint magic into rings, giving them very special powers. This technique has been inherited by today's blacksmiths. They aren't as powerful as Magic Devices, but their biggest feature is that ordinary people can use them without needing a core crystal."

"Then what kind of power does the Golden Flame Ring possess?" Fang Heng asked, incredibly curious, as it was the first time he'd heard of such a thing.

Jita shook her head.

Just then, Tian Lan's voice came from the side, "No one knows what abilities the Golden Flame Ring has. All we know is that this ring is one of the local lord's proudest creations. Legend has it that it was carved from the golden eyes of a dead dragon and possesses immense power."

Fang Heng turned his head and saw that Tian Lan and Etila had returned at some point, parting the crowd to walk towards them.

Tian Lan placed a brooch on the table with a "clank." Everyone subconsciously looked over and saw a black brooch engraved with half a fire-breathing dragon's head. The raised part was plated with silver, sparkling in the firelight.

"What is this?" Luo Yu couldn't help but ask.

The reason it was said to be half a dragon's head was that it was missing a small part of its jaw and one dragon horn. Seeing this emblem sent a shiver down Fang Heng's spine. He subconsciously looked up and saw that the massive dragon horn was still hanging intact from the grand hall's ceiling. In the flickering firelight, there was not the slightest abnormality.

Etila then replied, "This was found by the Black Goat's people at the scene."

"They gave this to you?" Fang Heng asked.

"Is this all, Sister Etila?" Jita also asked.

The elven girl nodded, her expression a little haggard.

Tian Lan looked at her with great concern, then turned back and asked, "Do you recognize this thing?"

Several people shook their heads.

Only Jita held the brooch up, looked at it against the light, and then said apologetically, "There are too many organizations that use dragons as their emblem. My level is too low, and my analysis ability isn't sufficient to filter out the clues, Sister Etila."

"It's alright," the elven girl forced a smile and shook her head, indicating she didn't mind.

Jita put down the brooch but then said seriously, "But, but it's not impossible. Fortunately, we're near Elpaxin. Elpaxin has a large library in the Silver Tower, which might be able to help us."

"Then let's go to Elpaxin," Tian Lan decided immediately. "Brother Ed is also going there, isn't he?" She turned to look at him.

Fang Heng of course understood her meaning and quickly nodded—besides, he was already planning to go to Elpaxin.

Etila couldn't help but feel touched, and looked at the youngsters a little embarrassed, "But what about your trainee assessments?"

"We just need to submit a report, and that won't be until mid-Moon of Shaking Cages (October). Besides, the final stage mission still depends on the Obelisk appearing, so there's plenty of time," the French girl said nonchalantly. Jita and Luo Yu also nodded in agreement.

Etila took a gentle breath and nodded, then said no more and pulled out a chair to sit down.

Tian Lan also sat down and asked curiously, "What were you discussing earlier?" The sturdy wooden table was round, and it wasn't crowded even with six people sitting around it.

The hall was brightly lit, with people coming and going.

In the distance, a dwarf with a lute sat barefoot on a table, singing and dancing. The lute's music tinkled, and the adventurers occasionally burst into hearty laughter, drowning out all other sounds.

Fang Heng's attention was irresistibly drawn to the scene, and he looked over curiously.

Jita, however, answered obediently from the side, "We, we were discussing the challenge match, Miss Fuli."

"Ah, that!" Tian Lan looked enlightened and suddenly turned back enthusiastically, "Speaking of which, Brother Ed, you're a Combat Artificer too, aren't you going to try?"

As she said this, Luo Yu also looked at him with approval. Fang Heng blinked in surprise, then turned back and asked, "Didn't you say it's already the final stage? How can I still participate?"

Another cheer came from the distance, drowning out the French girl's reply.

She frowned and said loudly, "These private competitions aren't that strict. In fact, besides the finals, there are also some exhibition matches."

"Exhibition matches?" Fang Heng also asked loudly, but this penniless fellow's focus was clearly not on the competition itself, "Are there rewards too?"

Seeing this, Tian Lan couldn't help but chuckle, "Of course there are. There are three rounds in the exhibition matches, and the final winner will receive fifty thousand Riser. And the final winner also has a chance to be chosen by a seeded finalist to become a challenger. If they're lucky, they can even enter the grand finals."

"Of course," she also shook her head, as if she knew the inside story. "Such opportunities are just wishful thinking. The seeded finalists who can enter the finals are all future stars nurtured by the Major Guilds. The so-called challenge matches are nothing more than a disguised exhibition match—"

But Fang Heng had only heard the first half: "How much is the prize money?"

Tian Lan held up five fingers and waved them at him, "Fifty thousand, Riser."

"Then where should I sign up?" Fang Heng immediately asked.

The French girl couldn't stand his money-grubbing behavior and rolled her eyes, "It hasn't started yet. Let's wait for dinner first, I'm starving."

Even Fang Heng couldn't help but agree with this wise suggestion.

So Etila pressed a bell on the table. The bell's sound traveled along thin wires through pipes buried underground to another hall. There, a dwarf with a beard reaching the floor looked at the dense cluster of bells hanging on the wall, lowered his head to consult a long scroll in his hand, and shouted:

"Table seventeen, third row."

Behind him was a huge kitchen, bustling with activity. A group of small, brown-skinned goblins immediately emerged from the back, carrying silver platters with lids, and filed out with their sixes and sevens.

The goblins were ugly creatures, but they had good hearts. Some people thought their brown skin indicated infernal ancestry, but that wasn't the case. Their skin color was merely camouflage from living in the brown soil deserts of the Ausch Empire.

This is a race that toils without complaint. They were once slaves to the Ausch Empire, but after the Battle of Bayne, a large number of "little monsters" fled into Kaolin-Ishurian territory, where they began to live a leisurely life.

At least, that's what they thought.

The "little monsters" generally aren't very intelligent, so they often make mistakes when doing things. For example, one little fellow, wearing a soup basin on its head, bumped into a companion in its haste, making a mess of the scene and nearly soiling Jita's robe.

The dwarf supervising their work saw this and began to scold loudly, making the little monster tremble in fear. But the other adventurers in the hall were already accustomed to this and couldn't help but burst into laughter. Tian Lan also giggled upon seeing this.

It was as if the spilled soup wasn't her order—

Only Aethelria walked over and patted the little monster's shoulder, signaling it not to worry. She then gently told the dwarf that it was fine without soup, and they didn't care about such a small matter.

The dwarf bowed to her.

An adventurer saw this and stood up. Aethelria raised her cup and signaled, "To you, kind elven lady!"

Aethelria also raised her cup in response, "To Ameya, lady of the forest and protector of nature, may she forever remain young—" It was rumored that Ameya was a vain lady, and this was one of her favorite blessings.

Then, Aethelria lifted the mead in her hand and drained it in one gulp. She then showed the empty cup to everyone.

Those in the hall who saw this couldn't help but burst into loud applause, their cheers like a surging tide.

Such a bold lady was rarely seen.

Tian Lan couldn't help but clap along, her palms turning red.

Fang Heng sometimes felt that Aethelria and Miss Scarpe were very similar. Both had very generous personalities, but Aethelria was clearly gentler. Miss Scarpe would actually hit people when she got angry.

People said that the forest elves, who followed the teachings of the goddess Ameya, were enthusiastic and friendly, and the elven maiden was a living example of this.

Today, the "Traveler's Rest" offered two famous Taren dishes as its main course. Among them, the smoked silver trout was a method discovered by the sky-sailors of the Sea of Clouds—because the sailors found that fish could be preserved for a long time by salting and smoking it during long voyages, thus giving birth to smoked silver trout.

To this day, smoked silver trout is an important appetizer in Kaolin-Ishurian. And Taren silver trout is very different from the silver trout on Earth; its flesh is a rare silver color, like thin moonlight.

After smoking and marinating, the fish slices lay on the white porcelain plate like layers of silver foil, adorned with horseradish leaves and celery. The dwarf chefs at "Traveler's Rest" had the ingenious idea of decorating the silver flesh with black olives, creating a beautiful contrast between black and white.

The roasted venison was in a different, more rustic style.

When cut open, the tender red meat slices were stacked like a tower, with golden gravy glistening on top, brushed with honey, exuding a rich aroma. The thick meat bore the char marks of the grill, and the oil dripped slowly like amber from the crispy yellow skin. The silver plate below was specially heated, and the juice sizzled as it fell onto it.

A heavy aroma of spices filled the air.

Aethelria voluntarily stood up to carve the meat for everyone, but Tian Lan was a picky eater, like a pampered little princess, picking at her food and barely eating anything.

As a result, she received a gentle tap on the head from Aethelria, who frowned and said, "Don't be picky."

"But it's far worse than Miss Aethelria's cooking," Tian Lan then pleaded with the elven maiden to cook something special for her.

Unable to refuse, the latter nodded in agreement.

"Sister Aethelria spoils Miss Fuli too much," Jita said with a frown, looking somewhat displeased.

Fang Heng, on the other hand, was very curious about Aethelria's cooking skills as he wiped the grease from his mouth.

Just then, a heated argument erupted from behind him—startling him. He turned around to find that people in that direction were discussing the conflict between the Jefflitte Redcoats and the Silverwood Spear.

Fang Heng was a little curious because they were discussing an event that had happened in the Elven Ruins just the day before.

Since he hadn't yet followed the follow-up developments of that matter on the community forum, the discussion was quite novel to him. It turned out that the Jefflitte Redcoats and the Silverwood Spear had returned to the ruins not long after and had a minor conflict.

The reason was the competition for a Giant Construct named "Cerberus."

Although Giant Constructs were products of the previous era and had various flaws, they were at least powerful—and the Ice Feldspar within them was truly valuable.

However, what Fang Heng truly cared about was a name occasionally mentioned in their discussion.

Miya.

She had snatched the Sea Forest Crown right under the noses of the two Major Guilds, naturally becoming the center of attention. Unfortunately, at that moment, the dwarf poet in the distance reached a climax in his song, and the cheers drowned out the discussion once again.

Amidst the clamor, Fang Heng vaguely heard the words "witch," "covenant," and "wanted."

When the cheers subsided, the discussion shifted back to Dawnstar—but mainly to him. People were discussing the genius youth who had appeared on the community forum.

Someone swore that Fang Heng was actually a stowaway, and thus had already attracted the attention of the military.

Hearing this, Fang Heng broke out in a cold sweat, almost dropping his fork. Aethelria caught the fork beside him and asked with concern, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Fang Heng replied guiltily, "...I, I choked a little."

"Slow down," Aethelria said gently, handing him the fork, "No one's going to take it from you."

But Fang Heng was on the verge of tears.

He continued to quietly pay attention to the discussion over there. Fortunately, not many people believed the person's claim. This was because someone was refuting the "absurd theory," and their argument was quite convincing—stowaways don't have systems.

If someone without a system could achieve dual control, then with a system, wouldn't they be invincible?

That person stubbornly insisted that this was precisely why the military was paying so much attention.

But this drew a round of laughter.

On one hand, Fang Heng wished that person would shut up, but on the other hand, he couldn't help but feel a bit of youthful desire to show off, wishing he could stand up and tell them that person was him. His thoughts were incredibly complex at that moment.

But just then, Luo Yu suddenly spoke up. He seemed to have also overheard the discussion, "Speaking of which, I also watched that video. Regardless of whether he's a stowaway or not, he's truly amazing."

"Oh?" Tian Lan retorted, "It's just dual control. At most, it shows some talent as a Combat Artificer. Maybe he's not even as good as Brother Ed."

"Right, Brother Ed?" She looked over in their direction.

Fang Heng nodded, unsure how to feel about it.

But Luo Yu shook his head, "It's not that simple. I investigated the Dawnstar's information afterward."

Fang Heng's heart skipped a beat, and he quickly asked, "What's wrong?"

The young man glanced at him strangely before replying, "When they accepted the commission from the Descendants of Flor, they left behind a personnel registration form. However, there was no Combat Artificer listed. Instead, there was a supporting Alchemist."

Fang Heng's heart sank.

"It's over," he thought. He had forgotten about that. He was just an insignificant nobody back then; how could he have predicted all the things that would happen later? So, he had used his real ID on the registration form.

Fang Heng felt like his hair was about to stand on end.

But Luo Yu continued, "That Alchemist's age and background are very similar, but there's one strange thing: he was only a second-level apprentice Alchemist."

"You're not bluffing, are you, Luo Yu?" Tian Lan said incredulously, "A second-level apprentice Alchemist? Isn't that even lower than our level? How could he possibly have dual control over a Clockwork Sprite?"

"I'm just saying there's a possibility."

Tian Lan frowned, "Alright then, what's this peculiar fellow's name? I'll find someone to help you investigate."

"Don't answer!" Fang Heng yelled in his mind, "This is the Trisolarans! Don't answer!"

At that moment, he felt like a condemned man, with the gallows right in front of him, and only three steps left to live.

But to his surprise, Luo Yu shook his head, "I'm not sure about that. The Descendants of Flor didn't release the personnel's names."

"Hmph," the French girl snorted softly, "That's understandable. They suspect the Sea Forest Crown might still be in the hands of the Dawnstar survivors, so naturally, they wouldn't hand over the list."

Fang Heng breathed a sigh of relief, suddenly feeling like he had narrowly escaped death.

But life's dramatic ups and downs can sometimes be so sudden.

A considerable commotion erupted from the direction of the main hall entrance. Everyone involuntarily stopped their conversations and instinctively looked that way. They saw a group of people dressed in long black coats marching in unison from there.

Fang Heng's mind was still a bit hazy, and he didn't react immediately. He thought to himself, "These uniforms look familiar!"

But someone next to him almost made him jump out of his chair, "Aren't those people from the Stargate Special Operations Team? What are they doing here?"

Fang Heng almost wanted to bolt and run at that moment.

Posting a 5000-character chapter today.

Also, I'd like to recommend the book Secret Covenant. The author is a cute boy. I should also mention that the books I recommend are usually quite niche; some people might like them, while others might not, so please don't be too harsh.