Chapter 1131 A bunch of questions
When the trade caravan prepared to leave the city, Qian Weining stepped forward to negotiate with Vaduz’s guards. No one knew how he managed to convince them, but while other people were clearly no longer allowed to leave or enter the city freely, the caravan was able to continue its journey north.
If they headed further north, they would reach the territory of the House of Winston, also known as the “little brother” of the House of Berkeley. Ren Xiaosu deduced that Qian Weining could continue advancing without any obstacles.
This was great news for Ren Xiaosu, because the true objective of the trade caravan’s journey might just end up becoming his shield.
Qian Weining probably didn’t expect that while they were making use of Melgor’s status as a pass to journey north, someone else was using this plan of theirs to conceal themselves.
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Although this was mutually beneficial, Qian Weining and the trade caravan would probably be greatly disadvantaged by the end of the plan.
Along the way, the young people in the caravan regained the liveliness they had when they first set off. After a night’s rest in the city, everyone was full of energy once again.
After leaving Vaduz, Ren Xiaosu could clearly sense a hint of doubt in Melgor’s eyes when Melgor looked at him. It was as though he had become suspicious of him.
And that suspicion gradually grew to even more doubts.
Melgor was wondering if everything that happened on the red carpet at Vaduz Cathedral had something to do with his steward.
But if it were related, he wondered how his steward managed to do that!
Along the way, Melgor became absolutely puzzled by a bunch of questions.
Meanwhile, the biggest change that Ren Xiaosu experienced was probably Chen Cheng and An’an’s attitude towards him.
As he rode his horse and slowly made his way around the caravan, Chen Cheng and An’an kept pestering him by saying that they wanted to be subjected to stress training. They wanted to know how they could undergo systematic training to handle pressure.
This matter was of great significance. Not only was it going to affect the two of them, but it would also help raise the level of their entire organization’s combat strength. It might even affect the way they fought future battles.
Before the incident at Vaduz Cathedral, there were actually very few battles between sorcerers. Or rather, there were very few battles involving sorcerers.
Under normal circumstances, whoever the sorcerers disliked, their stewards and servants were generally able to take care of things for them. In addition, the sorcerer clans had such powerful lineups, and the knights under their command were also very fearsome, so no sorcerers would usually get called into action personally.
However, Chen Cheng and An’an were different. They were sorcerers themselves, but their enemies were also other sorcerers. All the battles they had to fight in their lifetimes would probably be related to sorcerers as well.
However, before today’s incident, every sorcerer had only considered how to raise the power of their spells and how they could train to increase the number of times they could cast them. For example, by meditating and practicing daily to increase their proficiency in casting spells, they could increase the destructive power of their spells. To put it bluntly, two sorcerers would just face off against each other while moving about, and whoever had a higher level of sorcery would emerge the winner.
However, under such circumstances, the sorcerer clans with their large number of meditative visualization diagrams they had secretly amassed, as well as better grades of Eyes of True Sight, left the bounty hunters constantly disadvantaged.
The iconic significance of the incident at Vaduz Cathedral was that it was a brand new way of battling. If one could still cast spells at will in circumstances of extreme pressure while the enemy could not, that would be no different from a sorcerer beating up an ordinary person!
No matter what kind of Eye of True Sight you possessed, it would not work if you could not even finish reciting the incantations. Therefore, what was the point of having a really good Eye of True Sight?
Moreover, bounty hunters often faced extreme situations in battle. Some of their predecessors were killed by the sorcerers’ knights before they could even finish reciting their incantations. Indeed, there was a pressing need for them to improve their ability to handle stress.
Therefore, when Chen Cheng and An’an told their aunt about it, she immediately realized the importance of this matter. Then she ordered them to find out how stress training could be conducted systematically.
Ren Xiaosu said languidly while riding on his horse, “There’s no shortcuts in stress training. If y’all only want to get your hands on something like a secret manual, you should just give up on that idea now.”
Chen Cheng and An’an were a little disappointed. “Then how did you start training? Why were you able to continue talking even though I stepped so hard on your foot?”
Ren Xiaosu wanted to say it was actually because he was too weak. It did not even hurt when his feet got stepped on, so how could he be affected? If you tried to shoot at me with a sniper rifle, I couldn’t fucking finish my sentences either!
However, the art of hoodwinking required one to not speak too honestly.
Ren Xiaosu thought for a moment and said, “How about this? Let’s start with the most basic training first. From now on, other than when eating, you two will start reciting under your breath the incantations of spells that you specialize in. I’ll randomly interrupt the two of you, and what you must do is not to get affected by me.”
“Is there any use in just continuously reciting them?” Chen Cheng wondered.
“Of course there is. Actually, this is really just a stupid solution.” Ren Xiaosu explained casually, “When you recite a phrase millions of times, it’ll become your instinctive reaction to complete it. It’s like when you don’t have to think about whether you want to step with your left or right foot when you’re walking. Even if you have other things on your mind, you won’t fall down while walking. That’s what an instinct is. So the foundation of stress training is all about instinctive reaction. When you two can achieve that, we’ll move on to the next step.”
When Chen Cheng and An’an heard that, they thought it made sense.
Immediately, their stress training began.
At this moment, Melgor was teaching the two servants the language of the Magi. The two of them were having such a hard time memorizing the vocabulary they felt like dying. When they were taking a breather, they saw Ren Xiaosu chatting happily with Chen Cheng and An’an.
Li Chengguo said to Melgor, “Lord Melgor, why does Ren Xiaosu not need to learn the language of the Magi? You can’t just allow him to do whatever he pleases.”
Melgor glanced at Li Chengguo but did not say anything. He thought to himself, ‘Do I need you to remind me? If I could control him, would he address me as Mel? Are you kidding me!’
Next to him, Liu Ting said to Melgor, “Lord Melgor, it’s not a good idea to let him continue being so undisciplined. If he doesn’t learn the language of the Magi, how’s he going to become a sorcerer?”
Melgor sighed and said, “Forget it, just let him be. Actually, this is also good. In case he really doesn’t get an Eye of True Sight, he won’t have wasted his efforts in advance. He’s different from you two. Your families are rich, so you have more opportunities than him. However, he only has one chance, so there’s a big likelihood he won’t succeed in becoming a sorcerer.”
When he said that, Li Chengguo and Liu Ting fell silent. They both knew how difficult it was to get an Eye of True Sight from opening stones.
Melgor continued, “Since the probability is so low, it’s better not to raise his hopes of becoming a sorcerer for now. Even if he remains my steward for the rest of his life, he won’t starve. When we return to York County, I’ll have someone to introduce him to a down-to-earth girl. He won’t have wasted his life then, so there’s nothing wrong with being a little more normal.”
When Li Chengguo and Liu Ting looked out of the carriage window at Ren Xiaosu, their eyes filled with sympathy. It was as though they were looking at a patient with a terminal illness.