Academic gathering with a lich-Chapter 772 - 713: Career Module Confirmed
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Lina’s clothes underneath the armor were indeed the formal diplomatic dress of a certain race, except that race was the Demon Race. Rebellion, willfulness, extravagance, and wildness were the stylistic hallmarks of the Demon Race’s fashion. Lyle understood Lina’s words, their attire had a magic power that ignited the flames within.
Around her neck was a collar, from which chains extended both forward and back to connect to a skin-tight leather vest. The only thing between the vest and her fur hotpants was a layer of soft scale armor that shimmered as she moved, akin to a dancer’s sparkling skirt hem. Her legs were wrapped in defensive equipment newly developed by the Black Abyssal Demons, high-density Magical Iron Meltsand etched with Magic Runes, which could augment the wearer’s strength and resistance to blows through their orderly arrangement. Lyle’s familiarity came from his visit to a clothing shop in the City of Wandering, where he had vivid memories of this distinctive piece of gear. Yes, they looked exactly like black fishnet stockings.
On one side was Kayla, covering her mouth to stifle a giggle, and on the other was Lina, her face flushed red. They were both silent, and the atmosphere fell into an awkward hush. Lyle felt like a fish about to be grilled over the flames, thankfully someone flipped the grill just in time.
"My queen! At last you’ve deigned to reveal your true self, and it’s magnificent, if only your childish figure did justice to the grandeur of Dreya..."
Lina Dreya started to assault her knight who had overstepped his bounds, much like the Demon Race would do.
A formal diplomatic meeting turned into a gathering amongst friends amid such well-received commotion.
Lyle detailed the content of the dream game to the two queens, especially the parts he had planned concerning the vocational training modules. He planned to select suitable individuals from both kingdoms to use the Dream-making Flower to create Dream Replicas and become vocational instructors in the game. The individual capabilities of the Specter Hunter and the Defender Knight would be analyzed and digitized by the dream game, offering players the chance to choose these occupations for training.
Lina raised a concern, "The Defender Knight is not just the result of the king’s power blessing. Our knights go through systematic training from a young age and supplement their physiques with the herbs of the sword dance mandala. It’s hard for me to imagine that this ’dream learning’ you speak of would enable an elf to become a Defender Knight. It’s precisely because it’s extremely difficult to develop knights that they form the foundation of Dreya’s nation. I believe that the situation for Lievther’s Rangers is similar. Lyle, your assumption is hard for us to accept."
It’s difficult for humans to accept things beyond their understanding, hard to say whether this is based on an arrogant personal outlook or a subconscious self-protection of their already established beliefs. This can also be called stubbornness; unless the truth is laid out before them, they won’t believe in the correctness of your words.
"Regrettably, I’ve already verified the abilities of the Dream-making Flower during a study at Andhra Academy. My judgement isn’t based on self-admiration, but on recognizing the capabilities of a certain powerful existence," Lyle said firmly, lips pressed together, before dropping an even more preposterous reality. "In fact, as long as those players recognize their own ’righteousness’, they can become anyone in the dream world."
Kayla and Lina fell silent, their heads bowed in contemplation, while the accompanying Benjamin remained motionless as a statue, until he was the first to speak.
"Lyle, is your hypothesis about taking the Defender Knights one step further also true?" As a member of the Knights, he was more concerned about capabilities in his role as a provisional representative.
Lyle nodded, "As I’ve said, the content of the dream game involves players eradicating monsters formed in nightmares, meaning there’ll be a group of warriors fighting using the abilities of Defender Knights. They will engage with, master, and become adept at abilities and skills throughout this process. Dreamland offers a high degree of freedom, and once they’ve learned all there is to learn, they’ll stand on the foundational knowledge you provide and carve out their own path. And I will feed this new knowledge back to your nations and armies. Yep, it’s as if I found someone to power level for you."
"I don’t see anything wrong with that, Your Highness!" Benjamin shook the properly seated and stiff Lina, offering an out to the competent yet troubled queen, "If what he says is true, we can strengthen our own army. If it’s false, replicating a Defender’s step-one is impossible to begin with, so we have nothing to lose!"
Queen Dreya punched him.
"I have never doubted Lyle’s words!"
"Then what are you worried about?"
"Um... Handing over national secrets just feels very... weird."
Benjamin nodded in understanding.
"Ah, so that’s what you’re worried about, Your Highness. Indeed, everything being planned right now is essentially Lyle’s verbal IOU, a verbal guarantee from the Dream Elf leader, the future of the Defenders, all built on the friendly relations between Dreya and Lyle personally. So you’re like a demure young lady entrusting her entire dowry to someone yet fearing they might breach the contract, right?"
"I am not!" Her fist struck the armor, emitting a muffled boom.
Kayla laughed as she consoled the furious Lina, while Lyle pulled away the knight Benjamin who was laughing merrily.
"The leader of the Dream Elves, Irason, is none other than a Green Dragon Priest. Some of them used to live in the City of Wandering, in Light Five District—the withering Druids, Kayla, it appears you have had dealings with them before. And this time, it will be a much bigger win-win cooperation... Ah, don’t be fooled by Irason’s appearance, she truly is the leader of the Dream Elf community, no water added."
"Got it, I agree! Send that jerk Benjamin, and, Lyle, you’d better make sure he doesn’t come back."
Lyle displayed a troubled look.
"I’ll bring him back in one piece."
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Kayla held Lina in her embrace and didn’t let go.
"What about on my side, who do you want as an endorser, Lyle?"
"The Night Owl Squad, they’re the ones I’m familiar with. Plus, they’re elite, right?"
"I agree, but while the Night Owl Squad is nominally under me, they’re actually Grandpa Echel’s team. If you need them, you’ll still need their consent. I believe that won’t be difficult for you, Lyle."
Lyle stood up and bid farewell to the two queens.
"The Dream Forest should be sending messengers for an exchange in a few days, is the Night Owl Squad still in that thorn treehouse?"
"They are, be careful of their traps, they’re still as cautious as before the war."
"No problem, I’ve got Benjamin to clear the mines."
"Hey, what about coming back unscathed?"
Without a ranger as experienced as Echel, reaching the Night Owl Squad’s area wasn’t easy. Benjamin led the way, but fortunately, they weren’t ambushed. The Night Owl Squad spotted Lyle first and directly welcomed their guest.
The chatty Dove, entangled in vines, swung down from the tree, making a face at Lyle.
"Welcome back to Freak Squad, Big Bro Lyle."
The roster of the Night Owl Squad hadn’t changed—Nightingale, Skylark, Parrot, Dove, Zhen, Swift, the showy arrow-songster Riel risen from the dead, Silver Falcon, and old King Echel wasn’t there, nor was Zither Bird. Zither Bird had been captured by the Inquisitor Black Knight during the war between the two countries and was still nursing old wounds, wrapping himself in bandages and confining himself with a group of doves in a large birdcage.
Nightingale was sharpening a dagger, occasionally glancing at the iron can knight by Lyle’s side.
"I understand what you mean, but the Night Owl Squad should remain as blades hidden in the shadows..."
Dove interrupted.
"So we agreed! The image spokesperson will be Crow because he’s a dead man with nothing to expose, and it’s very fitting for [Specter Hunter], isn’t it."
Nightingale didn’t argue, and the other members were more curious about the power enhancement Lyle had proposed.
"Can we combine our powers together to create an ultra-super cool ranger!"
"In theory, yes."
"Woo-hoo!" Dove let out a strange cry, jumping around the house like a child.
"My trap-making, the captain’s assassination, Skylark’s rapid firing, Swift’s parkour, Zhen’s poison-making, Parrot’s camouflage, the old king’s long-range strikes, Zither Bird’s beast-taming, and Crow’s playing dead. I declare, the hunter profession is the strongest!"
Riel expressed dissatisfaction.
"What do you mean playing dead! I have skills too, alright!"
Lyle patted the Specter Hunter’s shoulder, consoling him, "Don’t worry, playing dead is a godly technique."
