The next day.
The sky had yet to brighten, but there was already a hint of morning light, as if it were the sign of dawn's arrival. The world was caught right between night and day.
It had rained all night and had only recently stopped. Water still dripped from the trees.
At the entrance to Luke's tent, a figure was sneaking closer at that very moment.
It was none other than Miss Crownguard, who had deliberately gotten up early. The more she thought about what had happened yesterday, the angrier she became. She decided she absolutely had to give him a surprise in return.
Otherwise, she could not even sleep well.
As soon as she arrived at the entrance, she saw a sign standing there with several large, eye-catching words written on it.
"Blondies may not enter."
Seeing that, Lux raised a brow. The words displeased were practically written across her face. Then she let out a cold snort.
She raised her hand, and a thin beam of light appeared, shooting toward the wooden sign. It erased the words "may not" on the spot, then changed them into "are allowed to."
After finishing, Lux looked at the words on the wooden sign and nodded in satisfaction. Then she directly lifted the curtain and crept inside on tiptoe.
Very soon, she saw Luke. This guy was currently lying on his side with his back to her, sleeping on the mat with his head resting on a thin blanket. His breathing was even, and one look was enough to tell he was sleeping soundly.
Once she got a little closer, she directly took out the tool she had brought, a pair of iron cymbals.
She had happened to see them in logistics yesterday and had remembered them on the spot.
Looking at Luke sleeping soundly, Lux showed no trace of mercy. Without the slightest hesitation, she spread her hands apart, then brought them together with force. Since this guy's tent took up a lot of space, she was not worried about disturbing anyone else.
In an instant, with a clang, the iron cymbals produced a piercing crash. In the silent tent, it was extremely abrupt, followed by a continuous ringing buzz.
Even her own ears trembled from the shock.
And yet, Luke continued sleeping there, motionless and completely unaffected.
"?"
Lux slowly produced a question mark, looking suspiciously at the pair of cymbals in her hands. She felt that this made no sense.
This still did not wake him up?
She had even been looking forward to seeing this guy's expression when he was startled awake.
In the end, he was still sleeping like a dead pig.
After looking for a moment, she suddenly noticed that there seemed to be something in Luke's ears.
She leaned in a little closer and immediately saw the earplugs stuffed in his ears.
This guy had clearly prepared for this ahead of time.
Even this step had been calculated by that bastard. Flames of displeasure surged in Lux's heart. She gritted her silver teeth, her eyes glaring at him with hatred.
In that case, don't blame me for being rude!
At this moment, evil gave Miss Crownguard courage.
She bent down and began untying her shoelaces. Then she pulled her feet out of her shoes. Her pale white thin socks reached past her ankles, wrapping around a pair of delicate, adorable feet.
She looked left and right and soon found a suitable spot beside the bed. Then she climbed up.
Standing there, the height immediately felt different. Looking down at the sleeping Luke below, Lux took a deep breath. A decisive look flashed through her eyes.
The next moment.
Leap of Faith.
"Pfft!"
Because it had rained, the air that morning felt damp, but it no longer affected the army's march.
Everyone had finished preparing the previous afternoon, so that morning they only packed up briefly before the Demacian army set out again.
As for Luke, who had been awakened from deep sleep that morning by a painful heavy blow, he was currently reflecting on life.
He suddenly understood a truth.
The cycle of revenge never ends.
He silently decided that in the future, he would add another alarm system to his room.
Specifically to prevent the invasion of a certain blonde.
He was genuinely afraid now. If that girl had jumped just a little farther down, he would not have known how to face Sona and Fiora in the future.
Counting the days, he suddenly remembered something and silently said in his heart, "Sign in."
[Sign-in successful.]
[Detected that this sign-in is a monthly sign-in. Detected that the host has signed in for over one year and three months. This sign-in may be changed to a special annual sign-in. Do you agree?]
Hearing that, Luke froze. Even he had forgotten about the annual sign-in. Seeing this, he did not hesitate and said inwardly, "I agree."
[This sign-in has been changed to a special annual sign-in.]
[Congratulations, host. You have received Beginner Skill Upgrade Card x2.]
[Congratulations, host. You have received Intermediate Skill Upgrade Card x2.]
[Congratulations, host. You have received Advanced Skill Upgrade Card x2.]
[Congratulations, host. You have received Realm Advancement Card x1.]
[Congratulations, host. You have received Ten Years' Worth of Magic.]
[Congratulations, host. You have received special rare treasure, Strange-Taste Pepper.]
[Congratulations, host. You have received special equipment attribute, Executioner's Calling.]
[Congratulations, host. You have received perfected sword intent, Frost Sword Intent.]
[Congratulations, host. You have received advanced skill, Hadoken.]
[Congratulations, host. You have received item, Pet Collar.]
[System rewards have been stored in the inventory space. Host may check them personally.]
A long string of system notifications rang out in Luke's mind. The generous rewards made him lose focus for a moment.
He sighed inwardly. As expected of an annual sign-in. When the system made a move, it really was lavish.
So he immediately began checking the system rewards. There were two skill upgrade cards for each level.
Luke first stored them in the system inventory and was in no rush to use them.
Then he said silently, "System, use the Realm Advancement Card."
[Realm Advancement Card used successfully. Host's level has successfully broken through to the high tier of the Holy White stage.]
As the system's feedback sounded, Luke only felt a rich surge of energy burst from his heart, continuously filling his entire body. A pleasant feeling of rising power echoed through him.
He felt his overall strength rise again. Just through signing in, he had already reached a physical limit that many people could never attain.
This feeling could only be described in one word.
Awesome.
Once the strengthening sensation faded, Luke let out a long breath. He could not help raising his hand and clenching his fist, feeling that his fist was full of power.
Then he looked at the system inventory and spoke inwardly again. "System, claim the ten years' worth of magic."
[Ten Years' Worth of Magic claimed successfully.]
As the system's feedback fell, Luke only felt a cool stream of water pouring down from the top of his head. The magic inside his body also began rapidly increasing in a short period of time.
Just like the essence power of demons, the amount of magic a mage's body could contain was determined by the upper limit of their spiritual power.
The stronger a mage's spiritual power, the more magic they had inside their body, and naturally, the stronger the effects they could unleash.
Luke's spiritual power had never been weak to begin with. He could naturally contain over ten years' worth of magic. In fact, he felt that he could still contain quite a bit more.
The magic inside his body had gone from the tiny amount before to finally having some real quantity now.
Although there was still a world of difference between him and Lux, Annie, and the others, among mages, he could now be considered at a normal level.
Feeling the magic inside his body, Luke felt he could strengthen the damage of his Fireball spell by quite a lot.
It seemed that he now had a bit of the feeling of cultivating both martial arts and magic. He did not know whether this counted as filling in one of his weaknesses.
Most importantly, Luke also had a skill called Mana Burn, which could strengthen him by continuously consuming the magic inside his body.
The more magic he had inside him, the longer he could use Mana Burn. This was still extremely good.
For the next reward, Luke opened the panel and checked the description. He also revealed an interested look.
Strange-Taste Pepper was a cooking seasoning. After use, it could let the eater taste the flavor they liked more.
Moreover, every person who ate it would taste a different flavor.
It could be called an extremely top-grade seasoning.
Not bad, not bad.
Luke then looked at the next reward and discovered that the reward was a special attribute called Executioner's Calling.
After checking the system's description, his eyes could not help brightening.
The effect of Executioner's Calling was more or less the same as he understood it. After dealing damage, it would apply a certain degree of Grievous Wounds for three seconds.
Grievous Wounds referred to reducing healing effects and life recovery.
This thing could simply be called a divine tool against targets with thick skin, tough flesh, and powerful regeneration.
And what Luke had obtained was an attribute that could be added to a weapon.
After being added, it could not be undone. It would be permanently preserved and would only automatically disappear if the weapon was destroyed.
To Luke, this was an extremely appealing attribute.
His weapon, Snowglance, had the effect of weakening. Every slash that landed could weaken the opponent's strength slightly, while also feeding that strength back to Luke.
Now, if he added the Executioner's Calling attribute, it would simply become an anti-enemy treasure.
Without hesitation, Luke directly chose to bind this attribute to his own weapon.
[Executioner's Calling attribute used successfully. It has successfully fused into the host's weapon.]
Snowglance, hidden inside its scabbard, suddenly trembled. The blade emitted a faint glow that flashed and vanished.
The effect of Executioner's Calling had already been permanently added.
The corner of Luke's mouth curled up into a smile, and he was in an excellent mood.
The rewards from this annual sign-in really were good. Just Executioner's Calling alone was already worth it.
Then he looked at the next reward. It was a perfected sword intent.
After thinking for a moment, Luke still chose to claim it.
[Perfected Frost Sword Intent claimed successfully.]
The next second, Luke's vision blurred, and he entered a state of enlightenment, as if he had arrived in another world.
Around him, freezing snow raged violently. The falling blizzard was like countless sharp blades, tearing at Luke's entire body.
Strangely, Luke could not feel any pain. What he felt more clearly was that sharp, cutting edge.
As he entered a state of comprehension, the horse beneath him could not help shivering all over and let out a breath.
An icy aura began spreading out from Luke as the center, drifting toward the surroundings while carrying an oppressive, fully exposed sharpness.
Very soon, many people around him felt that coldness spreading over them. As time passed, it grew colder and colder, while that extremely oppressive sword intent also became increasingly sharp.
They were shocked inwardly and all looked in Luke's direction.
"???"
Tianna, who was not far away, had sensed this scene from the very beginning. Three question marks immediately appeared in succession in her mind, and then she looked at Lev.
Lev also had a helpless and baffled expression.
With their experience, they could naturally tell that Luke was currently in a state of sudden enlightenment in sword intent.
Moreover, this sword intent was continuously breaking through over time. Beginner, minor completion, major completion, perfection.
There was not even the slightest pause. The entire breakthrough process was extremely natural and smooth. In the blink of an eye, that sword intent had already reached perfection.
At that moment, Tianna finally understood why this kid's strength always shot forward by a large margin whenever she was not paying attention.
Seriously, he was riding a horse, walking along, and then suddenly comprehending sword intent.
Who was she supposed to complain to about that?
Even if he had gotten stuck for just a moment, she would have felt a little more comfortable inside. But no, he did not get stuck at all. He went straight from beginner to perfection.
Monster.
Only now did Tianna understand what kind of freak the brat she had taken an interest in back then really was.
At this moment, those close to Luke all felt an icy chill, as if winter had arrived, even though it was clearly still summer.
Annie, Sona, Lux, Poppy, and Quinn all stared at him without blinking. There was admiration, curiosity, reverence, and love in their eyes.
Annie did not know what was happening to Luke, but she felt that he was probably doing something very amazing.
Lux, meanwhile, rubbed her chin, revealing a thoughtful expression.
Could it have been kicked out of him by that blow she gave him this morning?
Miss Crownguard had long since grown used to the commotion this guy caused from time to time.
Very soon, Luke returned from the state of comprehending sword intent. He only felt refreshed, as if he had experienced many novel things.
The air was still filled with coldness. Luke let out a long breath, feeling quite satisfied with this Frost Sword Intent.
This was absolutely a sword intent no weaker than Wind-Wielding Swordsmanship. Unfortunately, it lacked a matching sword technique, so it could not unleash its full power.
It was the same as Wuju Sword Intent. Without the matching Wuju Style, it could only serve a support role.
But even so, this Frost Sword Intent was still an extremely strong sword intent.
Now Luke possessed five kinds of sword intent. Combined with his max-level Wind-Wielding Swordsmanship, his accomplishments in swordsmanship were already quite considerable.
At this moment, the people around him also withdrew their gazes from him.
They could not help sighing. Comparing yourself to others really was a quick way to feel terrible.
But after the news of Luke comprehending sword intent quickly spread, the overall morale of the army rose quite a bit.
After all, the stronger the leader was, the more confidence those following him into battle naturally had.
Luke continued checking the next reward. It was an advanced skill.
[Detected learnable skill, advanced skill, Hadoken LV3. Learn it?]
"Learn it."
Luke immediately said so.
[Hadoken learned successfully.]
At once, many methods for circulating magic appeared in Luke's mind, explaining in great detail how to unleash Hadoken.
After briefly understanding it, Luke suddenly realized, wasn't this just shooting energy blasts?
Just like characters from The King of Fighters, fighting and then shouting, "Hadoken," before sending out an energy wave.
This skill was rather to Luke's liking, and the way to use it had changed into consuming magic.
It required Luke to exert force through his body while circulating magic, condensing it into one point before suddenly releasing it, thereby achieving the effect of an instant magical wave.
This move was called Hadoken.
It required sufficient physical strength, as well as a certain understanding of magic.
For the current Luke, it could not have been more suitable. If he had obtained this skill back when he still could not use magic, he probably would not have been able to use it at all.
He immediately used skill cards to raise Hadoken's level to LV7. There were no new insights, but the damage was greatly increased, and the firing frequency changed as well.
It could go from one wave to multiple waves.
Only one final reward remained. Luke's gaze landed on the inventory, and he checked the system's description.
It was an item named Pet Collar.
After reading the effect, he thought for a moment.
As the name suggested, this item could let Luke bind himself and a target as master and pet.
After a successful binding, the pet's obedience rate toward the master's words would greatly increase. Basically, they would not disobey.
Just like the contract scroll he had signed with Nocturne before, the pet needed to accept it from the heart, otherwise it could not succeed.
If they accepted it from the heart, it would take effect once worn around the neck.
The part that made Luke thoughtful was that this item might be usable in certain special occasions.
Tsk, tsk.
A subtle smile appeared at the corner of his mouth before he realized it. Luke felt that this Pet Collar was also an extremely good item.
It would probably be very popular with a certain group of people.
If he had a chance, he would try it.
Luke silently remembered this item, deciding that one day, he would definitely test whether the system's reward was reliable.
With that, he had claimed all the system rewards.
After this wave, it could be said that Luke had gained quite a bit of improvement.
At the same time, he still had two Advanced Skill Upgrade Cards he had not used. This was not something commonly found in ordinary sign-ins.
Now Luke had a whole pile of skills waiting to be raised to max level.
On the system panel, his gaze swept back and forth over them. There was LV8 Stealth Arts, LV7 Godspeed Tracking Arrow, LV7 Righteous Aura, Bastion, Conqueror. They were basically all stuck at key levels.
A thoughtful look appeared in his eyes, and in the end, Luke decided, "System, use an Advanced Skill Card to upgrade Conqueror."
[Advanced Skill Card used successfully.]
[Conqueror has been raised to LV9.]
For now, the skill that improved Luke the most was still Conqueror.
The effect of accumulating attribute boosts with every attack was still extremely powerful.
Now, if Luke fully stacked Conqueror, he could directly gain a fifty percent boost for a short period of time. As long as the duration was not interrupted, the boost would continue to exist.
It could be called a rather massive improvement.
Most importantly, this Conqueror thing was especially useful both day and night.
Time flew by, and several days passed.
Among the reinforcement troops Noxus had sent to the front line, one warband was responsible for escorting several specially made iron cages.
As the unit advanced with the main army, a dedicated group of people guarded the "creatures" inside those iron cages.
As the army moved forward, those iron cages continuously emitted waves of unpleasant roaring sounds. They sounded like wails, carrying thick hunger and thirst, like wild beasts.
The heavy iron cages also continuously endured impacts from tremendous force. Pale arms thrust out of the cages one after another, as if craving something.
Looking closely, they were clearly a group of humanoid creatures.
"Hungry!"
"Blood, give me blood!"
"So hungry, so hungry!"
Faced with this scene, the surrounding soldiers seemed long since used to it, all turning a blind eye. But in their hearts, they still carried a trace of nervousness.
Because they knew exactly what kind of terrifying creatures were locked in those cages.
They were the living weapons Noxus had secretly developed. In order to resist Demacia's offensive, they would be sent to the front line this time.
These weapons had to be watched at all times, because if they were careless and let even one of them escape, it would cause irreversible consequences.
Among those cages, there was one iron cage that looked sturdier and wider than the rest. Inside it was a small, thin living weapon. A specially made set of sharp bloodstone shackles firmly restrained her arms in midair. The top of the bloodstone shackles stood above her head, restricting her movements.
This living weapon, controlled by multiple restraints, was named Briar.
From Briar's iron cage and treatment, one could tell that she was indeed somewhat different.
What the soldiers knew was that she was difficult to control and possessed powerful strength.
As for the way she was even more different, only she herself knew.
At this moment, Briar was deep in thought like a scholar, her gaze profound as she considered things.
Her eyes fell ahead, and she already knew in her heart that those people were going to send them out to run wild again.
She had been locked up for quite a long time, but that had made Briar understand the meaning of thinking even more amid endless hunger.
Don't believe it? Just look at her "idiot" brothers and sisters, or rather, her own kind.
Each of them looked not very smart at all. All day long, all they knew how to do was stupidly yell, stupidly yell, and stupidly yell.
What was the use of yelling?
Those people would not throw a few slices of meat over just because their yelling maybe sounded a little nicer.
Pointless. All of it was pointless.
Briar revealed an expression of having seen through everything and shook her head slightly.
However, she also had to thank these fellow creatures. If not for their day-after-day idiotic screams, she would not have begun to think.
Did she also need to be like them, knowing nothing but stupid yelling all day?
No. That was absolutely not the life Briar wanted.
She also absolutely did not want to become like that.
She felt that she was a normal person. Of course, although she occasionally lost her reason, most of the time she was still a normal person. That much should be fine, right?
She had already confirmed what she was usually like compared with those guards. When she acted proper, there was basically no difference.
However, in their eyes, she apparently remained the same as those of her kind.
And Briar was working hard to maintain that image in their minds.
At that moment, a guard's gaze happened to sweep over.
Briar instantly put on a dumb, ravenous expression. She tilted her head back, a thread of sparkling drool flowing from the corner of her mouth, and opened her mouth wide. "Aaaah! Blood! I'm so hungry! Aaaah!"
As she shouted, she made clawing gestures and slammed into the iron cage.
The guard had no doubts and soon looked away, bored, letting out a yawn.
But he did not notice that after he looked away, Briar sucked back her drool and returned to her wise thinking face.
Hungry!
She really was a little hungry!
She did indeed want to let out crazed, starving wails like her own kind and make those guards throw over delicious meat and fresh blood right now.
But Briar knew that the difference between herself and her kind was that she would only do that when necessary.
She began to think.
She wondered who the enemies she would eat next were. Would they taste good? What would their blood taste like?
Swallowing, Briar was extremely curious and could not help beginning to fantasize.
But very soon, she noticed another problem.
Wait, it seemed like she had not seen the outside world in a very long time.
Those people, ever since... ever since when again?
Anyway, ever since that one time, they had locked her in the dark room and would not let her go out to play.
Then she stayed alone, stayed and stayed and stayed, and figured it out.
Since they would not let her go outside to play, why didn't she find a way to sneak out herself?
Only, before she had time to carry out that plan, she was suddenly taken from the dark room and put into the cage. Then she was placed on the escort cart, going and going and going.
If she could leave this cage like that one time...
With the current, different version of herself, wouldn't she be able to never go back?
Briar's eyes lit up. She suddenly understood.
As long as she was free, she could go wherever she wanted and eat, eat, eat however she wanted.
Those people were telling her to go wild, so she would go wild for them. But after she was done going wild, getting her to go back would not be so easy.
A bold plan began surfacing in Briar's heart. She began trying hard to recall memories she had almost forgotten.
She only remembered that the last time she had been sent out, it was the fullest she had ever eaten.
But it seemed that because she ate too much, those people had kept her locked up ever since.
If she wanted to run, those people would definitely stop her with all their strength.
That was how she had been captured last time. This time, she absolutely could not let that happen again.
Right now, they needed her to go bite people. Although she was quite willing, Briar suddenly felt that if all of them died, then there would be no one left to capture her and bring her back.
Thinking of that, Briar's eyes could not help lighting up.
She really was a genius.
She immediately decided that this was what she would do.
Briar felt that freedom was right in front of her. Even the scent in the air became fresher.
Although most of what drifted into her nose was the fragrant smell of blood from those people's bodies.
She was very hungry.
But she could also endure very well.
Right now, she absolutely could not let these people know that she could think.
If they discovered it, then she probably would not be released.
Thinking of that, Briar opened her mouth, tilted her head back, and turned into an idiot-like state, constantly repeating, "Aaaah! I want blood! Aaaah!"
At that moment, the guard's gaze happened to look over. He noticed nothing unusual and looked away.
As she shouted, Briar grew more and more into it, throwing her whole heart into the performance.
At a glance, she looked no different from the others of her kind.
"These weapons scream day after day. My ears are sick of it."
"Hey, just put up with it if you can. We need them right now."
"True. We'll probably run into Demacia soon."
"Hope they're useful."
"Don't worry. These weapons are definitely useful."
"To make sure they perform better, they haven't been fed for at least a month."
The soldiers near the escort carts chatted casually as they marched.
This time, they had deployed a total of one hundred fifty thousand troops. At the very beginning, their numbers had been higher than Demacia's, but by now, they probably no longer held the advantage in manpower.
The only thing they could count on was these living weapons.
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