Chapter 316: Chapter 224: The Gift of the Water Spirits
All Dragon Knights above seventh-grade were mobilized, ready to rush to the battlefield at any time, even in the middle of the night. Meanwhile, every sixth-grade Dragon Knight was on standby. If the front lines were to become truly unbearable, they too, would be dispatched to the battlefield.
However, the war seemed a distant reality for those below the fifth grade. The Empire law mandated that Dragon Knights below fifth grade absolutely must not participate in war. The implication being that if these youngsters were needed, it would mean the seasoned troops had already been overwhelmed. And if the regular forces couldn’t hold on, what difference could a group of fifth-grade novices make?
Hence, despite Long Yi’s eagerness to see battle, both the Dean and the new Emperor resolutely disagreed.
In the meantime, Long Yi far from idle. He was tirelessly gathering information from the border through his own channels and those of his family about both foes and allies. Evaluating these, Long Yi was able to continuously analyze the current situation.
In a word, it was risky.
The Black Dragon Empire was obviously prepared, taking the White Dragon Empire’s border forces by surprise. But fortunately, the border Dragon Knights were always on high alert. They had regrouped after losing one of their own and managed to retain strength amidst the chaos. Yet, the Black Dragon Empire audaciously pushed forward, projecting an intent to swallow up the entirety of the White Dragon Empire, what gave them this confidence? Did they think that the White Dragon Empire would be an easy target now with a new emperor?
Clearly, as an old adversary, the strategists of the Black Dragon Empire should know that the White Dragon Empire was resilient. Even if it had a new ruler, or was for a time without one, the impact on the Empire as a whole was limited.
In the fifth-grade classroom at midnight, Long Yi’s small group hadn’t dispersed. The only one missing was the mermaid Mina. With the outbreak of war, the Sea Emperor Boris promptly ordered Mina to return to the ocean. Mina was reluctant, but with the Sea Emperor’s orders, she had no choice but to comply.
"Brother Long, I have an unsettling thought," Wesley said.
"Go on," Long Yi replied. Though adept at analyzing battlefield scenarios he was not as good with conspiracies and stratagems, this was Wesley’s forte.
"I suspect that the Black Dragon Empire intends to target White Dragon Tower. No, more precisely, they’re aiming for Miss Elsa," Wesley said.
"Eliminating the opponent’s top fighting force?" Long Yi furrowed his brows. "It’s not a bad idea..."
"Brother Long, Elsa, she..." Ai Lin hesitated. Although they were seemingly competitors, Ai Lin had great respect for Elsa.
"Don’t worry," Long Yi smiled. "If that’s their plan, I’d say the Black Dragon Empire has a good strategy. But, if they’re going after Elsa, I fear they might be out of their depth."
"Why?" Ai Lin asked gently.
"Because..."
"Because as long as Brother Long believes in me, I’m the strongest."
A chilling voice echoed.
Everyone looked in the direction of the voice and saw a beautiful white figure slowly approaching.
"Elsa."
Long Yi smiled.
"Brother Long."
Tearful, Elsa threw herself into Long Yi’s arms.
"Are you okay?" they asked simultaneously.
"I’m fine!" they both replied and burst out laughing together.
"This synergy is blinding," the chef muttered resentfully.
"Ah, better start with losing weight," Mosquito mumbled.
Upon witnessing the legendary strength of the White Dragon Empire, Elsa, known for her silence and austerity, acted like a spoiled child in Long Yi’s arms. Wesley felt as if the world had been turned upside down. Although this wasn’t the first time he had seen Elsa this way, it always felt a bit surreal. Especially after seeing her awesome display of power in the Black Dragon Empire. The fearsome image of dragon heads rolling to the ground contrasted dramatically with the little girl draped over Long Yi’s lap. Wesley felt the world had gone mad.
"Brother Long, I have to leave," Elsa suddenly said.
"Border duty?" Long Yi asked.
"The enemy has two Guardian Dragon Riders on the border, the frontline is very dangerous. Moreover, Dasaide of White Dragon Tower turned out to be a traitor. He intended to kill me for the Black Dragon Empire, but I just finished him off," Elsa revealed.
As I suspected! The Black Dragon Empire was after Elsa!
"Go, take care of yourself. Whether the enemy lives or dies, it doesn’t matter. What’s important is that you survive," Long Yi told her.
"Yes, I know, you always say that," Elsa smiled sweetly, the corners of her eyes still wet with tears.
Elsa didn’t linger for long, in fact, she was just passing by en route to the border. The border war was very urgent; for every day Elsa didn’t appear, the troops on the front line would continue to retreat. The Tranquil Forest bordering with the White Dragon Empire, also known as the Green Dragon Empire, had already started to move, with troops amassing on the border. Without any unexpected occurrences, the impending invasion by a large army is highly probable. At this point, if the battle isn’t resolved quickly and decisively, the White Dragon Empire could end up fighting on two fronts.
At first glance, Long Yi didn’t seem worried at all, however, Ai Lin, who was familiar with him, knew otherwise. She observed that as Elsa left, Long Yi’s hands, which were behind his back, were constantly making meaningless movements.
Clearly, Long Yi was extremely worried; he just didn’t want to voice it.
finally had the chance to go to the lakeside outside Academy City; this was what he had arranged with the Water Spirits. There were several small lakes outside Academy City, and Long Yi wasn’t sure which one it was, so he randomly chose one.
As soon as Long Yi appeared, the Water Spirit did the same.
"It seems I’m lucky, I found you in just any lake," Long Yi said with a smile.
"The day we agreed on a lake outside Academy City, there were thirteen places with water in the city, each with an avatar of mine, so no matter which one you chose, you’d find me," said the Water Spirit.
"I have something for you," the Water Spirit waved his hand from within the small lake. Immediately, a stream of water lifted a massive dark golden battle helmet to the surface. "After that man died, his spatial ring melted from the Dragon Breath, the space was destroyed, and this giant battle helmet fell out. This thing definitely belongs to you, so I quietly hid it."
Long Yi reached out to receive this giant helmet larger than his own body, and it felt extremely heavy. Even with brute force like Long Yi’s, it was still quite strenuous. He looked it over, and the engravings on it were definitely made by a Giant, no doubt. However, the feeling he usually got after acquiring the Giant’s armament still wasn’t apparent. In the past when Long Yi received the Giant’s gear, he could always feel the joy of the Giant’s gear finding its Giant. Yet, this Giant battle helmet was eerily still.
Could it be, I received it the wrong way?
Long Yi struggled to change the giant helmet’s position in his hand, yet there was still no response.
Never mind, I’ll study it slowly in the future.
Long Yi placed the helmet into his spatial ring, and almost simultaneously, he could feel a vague sense of familiarity rising from his heart. Then, joy radiated from the helmet!
Yes, that’s the feeling!
It wasn’t that I received it in the wrong way, instead, the consciousness of the helmet itself fell into a dormant state!
Ever since Dasaide acquired the helmet, he had been trying to decipher the power within it in various ways. To prevent the secrets of the Giant’s from being exposed, the helmet put itself into a dormant state. Now, when the Giant’s helmet entered Long Yi’s private space and resonated with the two Giant Swords which also originated from the Giant’s armament, the helmet was awakened.
Simultaneously, a new innate talent was awakened within Long Yi.
"Concentration of the Giants"
The knowledge in his mind instantly informed Long Yi: the Giant’s helmet enabled the warrior to focus more on the battlefield, continuously enhance the warrior’s power and gain more benefits from fighting.
This description was quite simple, and even used the term benefits. This was what Long Yi liked the most. He was naturally adept at accumulating experience through fighting, and the Concentration of the Giants talent allowed him to gain more benefits from fighting. This suggests that, even if Long Yi does not fight, the Giant’s helmet will enhance his power, and once he fights, he will gain much more power enhancement!
Ever since he reached the 19th layer of Fighting Aura, the 20th layer had simply not appeared. If he calculated by time, this was far too long. Especially considering that Long Yi had never stopped fighting and training. However, now that Long Yi had received the Giant’s helmet, he suddenly felt the clues of the impending 20th layer of Fighting Aura, which had previously shown no signs of appearance!
This meant a Dragon Mark was right in front of his eyes!
"This is fantastic!" Long Yi, feeling excited, swung his fists firmly. Indeed, there was nothing more exhilarating than this.
"Alright, now that this thing has returned to its original master, I can leave with ease." The Water Spirit stretched and said.
"Leave? Are you going back to Silver Dragon Lake?" Long Yi asked.
"Of course not, all of us Water Spirits are returning to the Water Elemental Plane!" The Water Spirit replied.
"Wait, so you weren’t born in this world?"
"Of course not, the Giants conducted the life experiment in the Water Elemental Plane. We were naturally born there!" the Water Spirit explained.
"So, will we meet again?"
"Of course we will, we’re just going back, not disappearing. We will meet again someday. Goodbye for now, young Giant, we’ll meet again if we’re fated to!"
The Water Spirit, who always favored being straightforward, just took her leave after expressing her intentions.
Long Yi felt a bit melancholic. He and the Water Spirit had only met twice - the first time she returned his precious air-to-air missile and the second time she effectively saved his life. This kind of feeling was probably hard to experience even if he spent a lifetime with some people.
The Water Spirit left, and the war was still ongoing. (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for recommendation and monthly tickets at Qidian.com. Your support is my biggest motivation. Mobile users please read at m.qidian.com.)
