Chapter 18: The stage is set at the Blue Whale Mansion

It was 8 a. m.

Blue Whale Mansion, the high-class guest rooms on the third floor.

Splash~~ splash~~

The sound of running water continuously came from the washroom; it was Selena taking a bath.

Luosen lounged on the thick leather chair in the reception hall, appearing to rest with closed eyes, but actually conversing with Selena via Spiritual Whisper.

"Luosen, the people of the Allen Kingdom are surely searching everywhere for us; we must be on guard against this."

Selena said as such.

"What the lady said is correct, so we need to set up a Mist Array in the room."

"The Mist Array is indeed effective, but not enough, because the Allen Kingdom developed a tracking device three years ago called the Insight Water Mirror, which is extremely powerful and said to be impossible to interfere with."

Luosen lifted the tea from the side table, took a sip, and smiled: "Lady, there is no such thing as an untraceable tracking spell in the world."

"The Allen people say that only to scare people."

"Alright, but to interfere with a spell, you at least need to know its principle, right? I don't know anyway; do you?"

Luosen nodded: "I know the general principle, but the details are still unclear."

"This is a military secret of the Allen Kingdom; where did you learn it?"

"Precisely because it's a secret, I only know a rough outline; otherwise I'd know everything, but this is enough."

He paused, then still briefly explained the source of the information.

"My tutor is a member of the Duke's Arcane Advisory Council; she often obtains confidential arcane countermeasure cases, including instances of covert clashes between the Allen Night Guard and the Black-Iron Guard."

"So I've looked at some of them."

"Lady Agneth's status is quite high; she is actually the intermediary between Count Robert and Duke Weilan, naturally able to obtain information ordinary people cannot."

Selena understood, but still had some doubts: "This information should be confidential; how could Anna let you see it?"

"I peeked."

"You're fine; that's not strange at all."

Selena already somewhat understood Luosen's personality; this is a lawless guy.

However, she now feels this is actually a good thing, because they will soon face many difficulties; if they were honest and dull, trouble would be great.

Luosen continued: "Lady, rest assured. I guarantee you, even if the Allen Kingdom sends all its Night Guards to Dawn City, they won't find us."

After saying that, he silently added to himself: "Anyway, they definitely won't find us by magic; we have to resort to clumsy methods to search hard."

"Luosen, you're confident to the point of arrogance, but strangely, I still find myself willing to believe you."

Splash~~

Another sound of water, a few minutes later the washroom door opened; Selena, wearing only a bathrobe, walked out barefoot, holding a cotton towel and ruffling her radiant, sunshine-like golden curls.

"I'm very tired now; I need to go sleep."

"Sleep soundly in the bedroom; I'll keep watch in the living room."

"What I worry about is you suddenly barging in. I'm not saying you can't come in. No, anyway I just want to rest properly."

"I understand, lady, no need to explain; just set up a high-level defensive barrier in the bedroom."

"This is what you said, and I really set it up?"

"Please, as you wish."

Speaking, Luosen also yawned, then lay down fully clothed on the room's thick camel-hair carpet: "Rest well; tonight there's the Chess King Championship."

Selena was quite pleased with Luosen's attitude; although she liked him in her heart, she felt everything was too rushed.

"He is my husband; I will certainly accept him, but it's certainly not that everything is happening too fast now; I'm not ready yet."

With that thought, Selena turned and entered the bedroom.

Luosen lay calmly on the carpet, silently chanting in his heart.

"Laifu, set the alert intensity of the Heart of the War God to maximum."

"Already set to maximum; if any abnormality is detected within 300 meters, it will automatically adopt the best countermeasure."

"Heart of the War God" is Luosen's ultimate ability, successfully trained last, specialized for combat.

Relying on this ability's all-time warning function, Luosen can rest easy no matter the environment.

Immediately after, Luosen silently chanted again in his heart.

"Activate the cultivation technique Linking Magic Ring: Rosen's Meditations, and switch to background operation mode for four hours."

This is also an ultimate ability, and it is his first ultimate ability.

The training process took a full four years.

Precisely because of this ability, Luosen possesses mana far surpassing his peers.

Because the Linking Magic Ring operation is highly complex and demands great skill.

Different mages have different talents and fortunes, so their cultivation efficiency naturally varies greatly.

Luosen's talent is average; relying on himself, his cultivation efficiency is quite ordinary.

But he has Laifu.

Since the Linking Magic Ring is a high-difficulty technical task, it naturally consumes a lot of energy.

Ordinary mages can cultivate at most half an hour a day; after cultivating, they must rest directly.

But Luosen first gradually trained Laifu's cultivation ability, bit by bit optimizing its efficiency, eventually producing the quite decent Rosen's Meditations.

Then he activated background operation mode, letting Laifu cultivate in his stead.

The result is that he can cultivate efficiently while sleeping.

Others only manage half an hour a day, but he can cultivate up to eight hours a day, nearly hitting the limit of soul endurance.

Getting back to the point.

As Laifu began to operate, power continuously flowed from the world-enveloping, omnipresent mysterious magic ring into Luosen's soul.

Luosen felt warm all over, like soaking in a hot spring, extremely comfortable.

Within a minute he sank into a deep dream, as if only a blink of an eye, and Laifu's voice sounded again in his mind.

"Four hours of training ended; in this session, soul strength increased 1.1%, soul pool increased 1.2%, magic ring connection channel widened 1.5%." A single-session power increase is not small, but in a magical world without personal might, such rapid improvement is hard to sustain.

Soon he will hit the ring barrier; if he cannot break through to a higher ring, he will remain stuck.

At the same time, the magic ring is thin; on average each ring can only increase magic power by 20%, and even if raised to the top ring, magic power is only about six or seven times that of one ring.

In single combat one can easily crush lower rings, but on the battlefield one is merely a super soldier.

Returning to the main topic again.

After training, Luosen felt an indescribable comfort all over, his mind extremely clear, all fatigue swept away.

He stretched, sighing with satisfaction: "This sleep quality is better than getting anesthesia at a hospital in my previous life, hehe."

He opened his eyes and looked toward the window.

The velvet curtains were tightly drawn, but sunlight leaking through the gaps told Luosen it was before one in the afternoon.

He rose and walked to the window, gazing at the great bell tower of the Storm Temple in the Harbor District; indeed it was only twelve-thirty.

He turned back to the bedroom door, raised his hand to feel the door panel, and sensed a faint tingling, somewhat like a wall leaking electricity.

"The high-grade defensive barrier Arcane Domain, Selena still isn't at ease with me."

This is also normal; a normal woman could not completely let down her guard toward a man she's only known for less than two days, let alone the Dawn Princess, whom countless have coveted since childhood.

Luosen stepped back, picked up the Knight's Guardian Magic Sword, pointed it at the door from afar, and traced a circular magic sigil in the air.

After the sigil was completed, the sword paused slightly, magic power lightly trembled, and a circular transparent area one meter in diameter immediately appeared on the door.

Through the area, one could see a dimly lit room; in the center stood a spacious, exquisite cage-like wooden bed.

A light-blue down quilt covered Selena's body, revealing her undulating outline.

Selena was still asleep, but her brows were slightly furrowed, her breathing a little irregular, and from time to time she muttered a few unclear words in her sleep.

Her sleep was not peaceful.

Luosen lightly tapped his sword and said: "Dragon Sleep."

A fragment of starlight shone from the sword tip, silently penetrating the defensive barrier and falling on Selena, whereupon she instantly fell into a dreamless slumber.

This is an ultra-powerful sleep spell; even a dragon hit by it would have to collapse on the spot, let alone Selena.

Before dusk, she could absolutely not wake up.

Luosen immediately dispelled the clairvoyant sigil, placed a few detection guards around the room, and his body gradually faded from the room.

"Crack~"

The window opened slightly, a breeze blew through, then the window closed gently again.

Several minutes later, Luosen reappeared in a secluded alley of the Harbor District, but now he had taken the guise of a respectable elderly gentleman.

Actually, with his magical power, one tube of magic can fly about eighty kilometers.

For short distances within ten kilometers, the Flight Spell can completely be used for transport.

But Dawn City is a no-fly zone, with many sensitive detection towers; evading them is very troublesome, and if discovered, it would bring a host of problems.

It would be better to just walk on the ground.

As he walked, he kept his hand forming a communication sigil.

When he reached the middle of the alley, a tall old man wearing a crude straw raincoat, a rainproof straw hat, and holding a wooden staff materialized out of thin air.

He silently looked at Luosen and extended his rough palm toward him.

Luosen reached out and grasped his hand.

Instantly, faint but substance-like needle-shaped light appeared in both palms.

After about three minutes, Luosen withdrew his hand, gazed into the old man's eyes, and whispered via Spiritual Whisper: "The stage is set at the Blue Whale Mansion."

What stage? Naturally, the stage that allows him to escort the princess to safety.

"Understood."

"Secretly protect Lady Agneth and ensure her safety; set the priority of this matter to the highest."

"Understood."

"Go."

The old man stepped back and vanished into thin air.

Luosen watched the direction the old man disappeared, smiling faintly: "Tonight, I will completely resolve the princess's troubles."

To win back the princess, merely running won't do; one must truly display the power to oppose King Dange.

Of course, recruiting talent for the territory must not be delayed, as it concerns future development.

He continued walking forward.

When he reached the alley's entrance, a young woman walked toward him, looking at him with a slightly doubtful gaze.

"Young master?"

The young woman appeared to be just over twenty, with brown ear-length short hair, a cute face, but a tall, sturdy build—half a head taller than Luosen, her arms and waist a circle thicker than his, practically a barbarian version of Barbie.

At that moment she wore studded leather armor, bore a small round shield and a one-handed sword, just like a mercenary.

Luosen nodded: "It's me, but now you must call me lord."

This woman, one of his attendants since childhood, is Luosen's absolute confidante, named Ailiya, whom the old baron took great pains to select for him.

Don't let her youth fool you; she is a genius warrior, and at twenty-two she is already a formidable high-level warrior.

With her talent, breaking through to the Four-Ring Battle Aura and becoming a Battle Master is only a matter of time.

"Good, young lord."

The woman's voice was clear and crisp, her demeanor gentle and obedient, a complete contrast to her burly appearance.

Luosen walked ahead, asking, "How's the inquiry?"

"We've found three targets in total; the master might be interested."

Just then a hired carriage passed by; Luosen waved to stop it and beckoned to Ailiya.

"I'm short on time; let's go together and talk on the carriage."

(End of chapter)