Book 1 - Rising Star Chapter 69: Knights

Knights

On Gaton's left was an extremely eye-catching tall woman. She had a head of fiery-red hair that looked like flames leaping over her shoulders, and when she turned she showed thick lips with an unconcealable sex appeal. She was wearing dark red robes, the dense elemental aura flowing from them indicating this was a rare mage robe that could provide a powerful boost to dire elemental magic. However, unlike normal robes the neck was cut exceedingly low, revealing fair flesh and half of two swollen globes. Few mages wore something so revealing, but the elemental aura she continuously emanated made it obvious that she was a grand mage.

There was a realistic black dragon tattooed between her breasts, its head and tail occupying the two spheres. It seemed built to attract the attention of all males, and Richard's gaze landed there naturally as well.

However, he suddenly froze when he looked at it. That tattoo was a rune as well, but he couldn't tell its use!

As if sensing Richard's gaze, the woman suddenly laughed and looked towards him, twitching her mouth in his direction and silently sending him a flying kiss.

"Lina! That's my son. If you dare lay your hands on him, don't blame me if I don't show you face." While Gaton's head had been lowered as he stared at the magic map, he seemed to have noticed everything she was doing and eyed the female mage from the side.

Lina chuckled, the melodious laughter somehow seeming extremely pleasing to the ear to Richard. There seemed to be a strange sort of charm to it, making Richard feel a closeness to her for some reason. He wouldn't even mind sharing more private information with her. Her laughter gradually filled his ears, and that boiling bloodline in Richard began to stir once more, the instincts of a male slowly raising its head.

Lina blinked and said, "Master, your son seems pretty amazing. It looks like he knows everything. What if he looks for me of his own accord?"

Gaton chuckled, "If you can seduce him to your bed without using your innate abilities, I won't care at all."

Lina smiled again and then sent Richard a flying kiss with larger gestures. Richard couldn't help but flush. It was the first time he was being teased by a woman in public like this.

Just as he was feeling flustered, a young and handsome man suddenly appeared by her side. He had a sunny disposition, and a pair of blue eyes. He wasn't tall and sturdy, instead rather frail and thin. He looked even slightly shorter than Richard himself, not even reaching six feet in height. He was dressed like a younger noble, but the quality of the clothing itself was pretty mediocre. The design wasn't plain, but it wasn't specifically gorgeous either.

There seemed to be no special equipment on the youth, nor could Richard sense any power from him. In all honesty, his presence was so tiny it was shocking. When watching Lina, Richard had even completely disregarded his existence, which was shocking in itself. Even with Lina's undeniable beauty and natural seductiveness in the way, being able to hide from Richard's view meant he must have used some special methods, or there was an absolute gap in their strength.

The man saw through Richard's shock and smiled slightly. "Hello, Little Richard. My name is Cyrden, and I'm someone who walks the underworld. I'm not an assassin, instead of a more widespread profession. You'll find people like me no matter which city you go to: I'm a thief."

"Thief?" Richard was now truly astonished, and he almost shouted the word out. Just the fact that Cyrden could completely mask his aura and escape his senses was terrifying enough. How could he be a mere thief? With such power, he could steal everything from anyone below sainthood and grand mages if he truly was just a thief. On top of that, the fact that he could stand here in this hall and analyse the map with Gaton was more than enough to indicate his strength.

On that day, Richard had seen four amazing people, four of the thirteen knights that had marched to Faust alongside Gaton Archeron. Asiris the Dark Priest, Lina the Dragon Mage, Ward the Berserker, and Cyrden the Odd Thief. He'd already met Mordred long ago as well. And in the middle of all these people, Gaton was the first person one would notice if they entered this command hall. While he didn't exude an aura of power, he still managed to be a natural centre of attention.

Gaton furrowed his brows and swept his gaze over the four knights, and then pointed at a symbol of a town on the magic map and said, "Lina will lead the army this time. Within fifteen days, I want to see you reach this castle. Within thirty days after that, I want to hear a report of your success."

Lina first cheered, and then cried out in alarm. "Wait, reaching in fifteen days? Goodness, then shouldn't I leave right now? Even if I do that, I might not even reach in time! Master, you're doing this on purpose, aren't you? Are you afraid I'd take your Little Richard to my bed?"

Before Gaton could answer, Ward exclaimed with a sturdy voice akin to steel, "So you don't want to go? Good, then I'll go! It's been far too long since I did anything. The defence of this castle is great. Only someone like me who specialises in attacking towns can do it. Having you go is just a waste of time."

Lina immediately cried out in anger, "What rubbish! Since when have I been unable to take towns? Can this castle ward off my Sarumbel? You want to look for a place to duke it out?"

Ward licked his lips and sneered, "Let's do that! What, do you think I'm scared of you or something?"

*Clang! Clang!* Gaton rapped on the stone counter lightly, and Lina and Ward immediately went quiet.

"Lina, are you going?" Gaton asked calmly.

"Yes, of course!" Lina was practically shouting now. The two orbs of her chest bobbed up and down with her movements, as if about to free themselves from the restraints of her clothing at any time.

"Then you'd better make it quick. There's only half a day left for you to make preparations," Gaton reminded her.

Shocked, Lina glared at Ward before she left. She gave Richard a long look, walking past him while emanating a fragrance before she left the command hall. She really didn't dare waste any time, opening a portal right in the corridor the moment she left the large bronze gates and stepping through. It was still rather expensive for a grand mage to cast a rank 8 spell like that, shaving off a quarter of one's battle strength.

Gaton pointed at another canyon and told Ward, "I'll give you fifteen rune knights. Within ten days, you are to occupy the commanding heights at the two sides of this canyon. When Lina is attacking the town, not one man nor mount can be allowed through."

"No problem!" The burly man quirked his mouth and answered, thumping his chest hard to show his determination. Cyrden and Asiris were then given their own missions, and they all left the commanding hall.

It then became still in the hall. Mordred retreated, pulling the doors closed on the way out.