The wind in the Fallen Maple Territory always carried the scorched fragrance of maple leaves, but in this year's wind, there was also mingled a hint of lingering rust.
Loran Kane leaned against the oak railing of the lookout tower, his fingertips unconsciously rubbing the brass badge at his waist. Engraved on the badge was the crest of the Kane Lineage-a diagonally inserted knight's sword intertwined with a volume of magic books, with three crimson maple leaves hanging from the blade. He gazed into the distance at the rolling Blackthorn Mountains, his brow locked into the shape of the characterchuan.
On the training ground beneath the lookout tower, the shouts of the family guard detachment rose and fell in succession, but Loran's gaze landed further away on the border line. Three days ago, the third patrol squad went missing on the outskirts of the Blackthorn Mountains, accompanied by a Third-Tier Warrior and a Second-Tier Water Element mage, leaving behind only the severed half of a blood-stained armor and a scale carrying a strange black Qi.
"Eldest son, still worrying about border matters?" An aged voice came from behind. Loran turned his head to see the steward, Old Byrne, walking over holding a cup of warm ale. Old Byrne's back was already somewhat hunched, the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes deep as gullies; he had stayed in the Kane Lineage for forty years, witnessing the alternation of three generations of family heads.
Loran took the ale, the warmth of the liquid sliding down his throat, yet it failed to disperse the chill at the bottom of his heart: "Uncle Byrne, my father went to the royal city to seek reinforcements half a month ago. Is there still no news?"
Old Byrne sighed and shook his head: "The reply from the royal city arrived this early morning. It said the empire is busy with the elf conflict in the southern region, and only allocated fifty sets of standard armor and three bottles of low-tier healing potions. The reinforcements... will take at least three months."
Loran's fist clenched abruptly, the ale cup trembling slightly in his palm. The Kane Lineage had guarded the Fallen Maple Territory for generations, and this place was the empire's first line of defense in the north against the magic beasts of the Blackthorn Mountains, but now it had become a corner forgotten by the royal city. He had just turned sixteen this year, and as the eldest son of the Kane Lineage, he had practiced the foundational techniques of both warrior and magician simultaneously since he was five years old, yet with his mediocre talent, he was now only a Second-Tier Warrior and a Second-Tier Fire Element mage, unable to compare even to a small squad leader of the family guard detachment.
"The glory of the lineage cannot be tarnished in my generation," Loran muttered to himself, his gaze growing increasingly resolute. He put down the wine cup, turned around, and walked toward the family forbidden area beneath the lookout tower.
The forbidden area of the Kane Lineage was in a secluded valley in the back mountains of the Fallen Maple Territory. There was a secret realm passed down for a millennium within the lineage, rumored to conceal the inheritance left behind by the first family head. Only the forbidden area possessed an ancient magic barrier, and only Kane clansmen with pure bloodlines could enter, and they must do so before their sixteen-yearcoming-of-age ceremony, otherwise they would be heavily injured by the barrier's backlash force. And tomorrow was his sixteen-year coming-of-age ceremony.
Seeing this, Old Byrne's expression changed abruptly, and he hurriedly stepped forward to stop him: "Eldest son! The barrier force of the forbidden area is violent, and your current cultivation cannot withstand it at all! Before the family head left, he specifically instructed that you must never step foot into the forbidden area by half a step!"
"Uncle Byrne," Loran stopped his steps, turned back to look at Old Byrne, a trace of decisiveness carrying at the bottom of his eyes, "The lineage is in dire jeopardy now, and I cannot sit and wait for death. If I can obtain the inheritance of the first family head, perhaps I will be able to hold the Fallen Maple Territory."
Without waiting for Old Byrne to advise further, Loran had already driven the fire element magic and warrior Dou Qi within his body. A faint red light lit up in his palm, and pale gold Dou Qi also lingered around his whole body. When the two powers intertwined and touched the pale blue barrier at the entrance of the forbidden area, they emitted a "buzzing" soft sound.
Numerous ancient runes surfaced on the barrier. The runes flickered with a faint light and began to crazily tear at Loran's power. Loran let out a muffled groan, a trace of blood overflowing from the corner of his mouth, but he clenched his teeth and poured all his power into his palm. He could sense that the barrier was slowly loosening under the traction of his bloodline.
Not knowing how long had passed, Loran's consciousness began to blur, and the Dou Qi and magic within his body were nearly exhausted. Just as he was about to no longer be able to sustain himself, the barrier suddenly emitted a clear chime, splitting open a crack just wide enough for one person to pass through. Loran stumbled and fell inside, and the barrier closed up again behind him.
The scenery inside the secluded valley was completely different from the outside world. There were no maple leaves of the Fallen Maple Territory here, only towering ancient trees and strange flowers and exotic herbs covering the ground, while rich magic elements permeated the air. Loran supported himself against an ancient tree and panted, just wanting to explore the surrounding environment when he heard a burst of low whimpering sounds coming from not far away.
He followed the sound and walked over, passing through a patch of glowing moss, and the scene before his eyes made his pupils sharply contract.
beside a clear pool of water, a completely crimson-bodied variant beast was curled up on the ground. Its form was like a fine steed, yet it grew the horns of a deer, the scales of a dragon, and a long tail covered in flame patterns. On the beast's right front leg was a wound deep enough to see the bone, and black malevolent Qi was continuously spreading from the wound area, its breathing weak, and its crimson mane also having lost its luster.
This is... a Qilin?
Loran had read the ancient books of the lineage, which recorded this kind of ancient divine beast originating from the eastern secret realm, except the ancient books said that Qilin had already gone extinct on this continent a millennium ago.
At the very instant Loran was dazed, that crimson Qilin suddenly raised its head, golden vertical pupils staring fixedly at him, carrying vigilance and a trace of despair within its eyes. It struggled to stand up, yet because it pulled on the wound, it emitted a painful roar.
Loran came back to his senses, suppressed the shock at the bottom of his heart, and approached cautiously: "Don't be afraid, I have no malice, I can help you treat your wound."
He dug out from his bosom the only remaining bottle of low-tier healing potion, which was left to him by his mother before she passed away. He pulled out the cork and slowly poured the potion onto the Qilin's wound. When the pale green medicinal liquid touched the wound, it underwent a violent reaction with the black malevolent Qi, emitting a "chittering" sound. The Qilin trembled all over from the pain, yet did not attack Loran.
Following the permeation of the medicinal liquid, the spreading speed of the black malevolent Qi gradually slowed down. Loran let out a breath of relief, and just as he wanted to withdraw his hand, he felt a heat on his wrist as the Qilin's forehead suddenly pressed up against it, and a crimson stream of light poured from the center of its brow into Loran's body.
Loran only felt a surging hot power explode within his meridians, and the Dou Qi and magic that were originally exhausted instantly filled up, even beginning to crazily impact the bottleneck of the third tier. At the same time, an unfamiliar memory poured into his mind-this Qilin was named Lei Lin, and was a surviving lineage of the ancient Qilin Clan. Because it mistakenly entered a spatial rift, it came to this continent, yet suffered an ambush by a black-robed person, escaping with heavy injuries into the forbidden area of the Kane Lineage.
What shocked Loran even more was that a contract mark also appeared in his mind, the patterns on the mark vaguely echoing the crest of the Kane Lineage.
"You... want to forge a contract with me?" Loran looked at Lei Lin, his voice somewhat trembling.
A trace of human-like exhaustion flashed within Lei Lin's golden vertical pupils. It nodded lightly, and then fell headlong onto the ground, sinking into a deep sleep. And the power within Loran's body was still surging; he could sense that his warrior cultivation had already broken through to the third tier, and his fire element magic had also touched the threshold of the third tier.
At this very moment, a burst of hurried footsteps suddenly came from outside the forbidden area, along with Old Byrne's anxious shout: "Eldest son! Black-robed people have appeared outside the forbidden area! They have broken through the outer defense line!"
Loran's expression changed, and he hurriedly protected Lei Lin behind him. He raised his head to look in the direction of the forbidden area's entrance, only to see several black figures attempting to forcefully break open the barrier. The runes on the barrier flickered violently, emitting an unbearable buzzing sound.
He tightly grasped the knight's sword at his waist, the fire element magic and third-tier Dou Qi within his body operating simultaneously, and raging flames ignited in his palms.
The crisis of the Fallen Maple Territory had arrived far earlier than he had imagined. And his bond with Lei Lin had only just begun.
Loran took a deep breath, his gaze sweeping across the sleeping Lei Lin, then looking toward the increasingly close black shadows outside the barrier, a fighting spirit that had never been seen before igniting at the bottom of his eyes. He knew that from the moment he stepped into the forbidden area and forged a contract with Lei Lin, his life would never again be able to return to the past. He not only had to guard the glory of the Kane Lineage, but also had to guard this accidentally arrived divine beast partner, as well as this Fallen Maple Territory about to plunge into crisis.
The buzzing sound of the barrier grew louder and louder, and several black-robed people had already felt their way to the crack in the barrier, the chilling aura seeping into the secluded valley through the crack. Loran gently moved Lei Lin to a concealed place beside the pool of water, and then, carrying the knight's sword, walked step by step toward the direction of the barrier.
Flames leaped upon his blade, the Dou Qi of the ThirdTier Warrior causing the sword body to emit a pale golden radiance, and the two powers intertwined to form a strange halo. His steps were steady, and every step he put down left a shallow scorch mark on the ground.
"No matter who you are, if you want to step into the forbidden area, get past my hurdle first!" Loran's voice echoed in the secluded valley, carrying a young person's unique stubbornness and decisiveness.