Luke's estate.
The morning sunlight was very bright.
Luke, who had just finished a set of Vitality Arts, lay on the rocking chair in the courtyard with a leisurely expression, feeling rather comfortable.
Remembering that today seemed to be February 25, he silently said in his heart.
"Check in."
[Check-in successful.]
[This check-in has been changed to a special check-in.]
[Congratulations, Host. You have obtained the peerless treasure medicine: mountain fungus.]
[Congratulations, Host. You have obtained the high-tier skill: Conqueror.]
[Congratulations, Host. You have obtained Realm Upgrade Card ×1.]
[Congratulations, Host. You have obtained Advanced Skill Upgrade Card ×2.]
[Congratulations, Host. You have obtained Training Card, 14 days.]
[Congratulations, Host. You have obtained Random Max-Level Common Skill Card.]
[Rewards have been stored in the system backpack. Host, please check them yourself.]
Several voices rang out one after another, making Luke open the system backpack.
Skipping over the peerless treasure medicine, he looked at the second reward, a new high-tier skill, and one with a very familiar name.
[High-tier skill detected, Conqueror, LV3. Learn?]
"Learn."
Luke silently said it in his heart.
In an instant, a surge of information about the Conqueror skill flowed into Luke's mind.
A moment later, he understood the effect of this skill, and the corner of his mouth curled into a smile. "So that's how it works."
The effect of Conqueror was just as its name implied, and it was more or less the same as in the game.
During combat, each of Luke's attacks would trigger one layer of Conqueror's passive, and each passive layer would provide a percentage boost to constitution, speed, strength, and so on. It could stack up to ten layers.
Depending on the level, the boosted effect would also differ.
It increased by 0.5 percent per level.
Level one was 0.5 percent, level two was 1 percent, and the initial skill was level three, meaning 1.5 percent.
At ten layers, that was a 15 percent extra boost.
If it could be raised to level nine, that would be a 50 percent extra boost, nearly a half increase. It was simply quite good.
Then Luke looked toward the next reward and silently said, "System, use the Realm Upgrade Card."
[Realm Upgrade Card used successfully. Congratulations, Host, you have broken through to the early Sacred White stage.]
As the system's voice fell, an extremely refreshing sensation instantly spread out from Luke's heart, like a waterfall washing over every corner of his body.
The faintly tingling comfort made Luke close his eyes without realizing it. He felt every cell in his body trembling.
After a while, that sensation disappeared. Luke opened his eyes and clenched his fists, feeling his new improvement.
However, he still did not know exactly how much he had improved. As it happened, this check-in had also given him a Training Card, so he could go to the training field to test things out.
So Luke continued looking at the next reward. It was actually two Advanced Skill Upgrade Cards.
He had just obtained Conqueror, and to be honest, he currently wanted to save these two upgrade cards for Conqueror.
However, after thinking it over briefly, Luke still decided to use them directly.
After all, even if he used them now, he would still obtain more through future check-ins.
At present, these two Advanced Skill Upgrade Cards could also bring him a considerable improvement.
Opening the skill panel, Luke looked over it. There were currently six skills that could be upgraded with high-tier skill upgrades.
They were Godspeed Tracking Arrow, Heroic Aura Guard, Double Jump, Combo Slash, Godly Stealth, and Bastion.
Among them, aside from Godly Stealth being LV8, the rest of the skills were all LV7.
After looking back and forth several times, Luke made his decision. "System, use the upgrade card and upgrade Heroic Aura Guard."
[Used successfully.]
[Congratulations, Host. Heroic Aura Guard has been upgraded to LV9.]
This upgrade did not bring Luke any strange feeling. It was as if it had passed in the blink of an eye.
The skills listed above were all high-tier skills, and not a single one was weak.
But overall, Heroic Aura Guard could still provide Luke with a little more help.
After being released, Heroic Aura Guard could not only apply a protective barrier to his body that countered evil attributes, but it could also attach itself to weapons and provide a pseudo-enchantment effect. It could even be released outward to cause damage.
No matter how one looked at it, it was a very good skill.
Next, only the final reward remained.
Luke thought in his heart, "Use the random skill card."
[Used successfully.]
[Congratulations, Host. You have obtained max-level common skill, Body-Hardening Arts.]
In an instant, a large amount of information poured into Luke's mind and was received by him one by one.
Only after a while did he recover, feeling that his body had grown a little stronger again, and he let out a long breath.
This Body-Hardening Arts was also a decent common skill.
Its effect was that, after using it, it could strengthen Luke's physical defense.
Put another way, it was like the Iron Shirt skill.
In the future, he would no longer have to fear being bitten by that little blonde.
If that girl still dared to bite him, he would directly use Body-Hardening Arts and shatter those little fangs of hers.
Thinking of this, the corner of Luke's mouth even curled into a cold smile.
Although it was not that exaggerated, it was inevitable that he had become harder than before.
Immediately afterward, Luke began thinking about a question.
He wondered whether his whole body would harden.
It seemed he would have to test that at night.
With that, all the rewards had been checked.
After thinking for a moment, Luke directly chose to enter the training field, then adjusted it to an ordinary mode.
Seeing a shadow of the same body size slowly appear across from him, he charged forward with his sword.
Half an hour later, Luke exited the training field, stood up, and stretched lazily. Seeing that Lux and the others had already arrived for a while, he prepared to make breakfast.
After a round of testing, in terms of only breaking through from the Dauntless realm to the Sacred White realm, Luke's overall strength had increased by at least 30 percent.
If the skills were added in as well, it was at least 50 percent.
This check-in had not given him many rewards, but the improvement was enormous. Luke was especially satisfied.
After breakfast, Luke lay back down in the front yard.
However, not long after he lay down, a soldier came riding over, startling the little black dog lying near the doghouse by the courtyard gate.
The soldier ignored it, dismounted, and reported, "Your Highness, a meeting is about to be held in the council hall. Please attend."
Hearing this, Luke sat up and nodded. "All right, I understand."
After receiving his response, the soldier got back onto his horse and left.
Luke turned around and went back inside. After simply tidying himself up, he prepared to go out.
For ordinary matters, Jarvan III would not specifically send someone to call him to the palace.
Clearly, today would be another important meeting.
On the road, Luke already had a vague guess.
In the morning, the carriage stopped at the palace gate.
"Second Brother!"
As soon as he got off the carriage, a delighted voice came from the other side.
Luke looked toward the sound and smiled. "Big Brother."
He walked toward Jarvan IV, who was likewise smiling, and the two brothers entered the palace side by side.
On the way, Jarvan IV spoke with Luke about Shyvana.
Ever since returning to the capital, Luke had only met Shyvana a few times. She was now serving as the captain of a force called the Dragonguard, under Jarvan IV's jurisdiction.
"She doesn't seem used to life in the capital. A few times, she has brought up wanting to return to the border."
Jarvan IV sighed slightly. In truth, he understood in his heart why Shyvana did not like staying in the capital.
Luke also guessed a few reasons.
After returning to the capital, because Shyvana had performed brilliantly at the border, Jarvan III made an exception and promoted her to become the leader of the Dragonguard.
In short, he had specially built a force for her.
There had been very few precedents like this.
But under the current circumstances, almost anyone with eyes could see Jarvan III's deeper meaning.
Shyvana's performance at the border could not be hidden, so people knew that her true identity was actually the daughter of a dragon.
Flowing through her body was dragon blood, and what she used was dragon magic.
In the past, Demacia would never have accepted such an existence taking a military position no matter what.
But now, Jarvan III had not cared about Shyvana's magical power and had instead chosen to make great use of her.
In doing so, he seemed to be silently showing the officials what he wanted to say.
Because of this, Shyvana naturally received many strange looks.
She discovered that although the capital was good, her days there were not as happy as the time she had spent at the border.
She was extremely grateful to Jarvan III for valuing her so highly, so she wanted to take her Dragonguard and go to the border to continue guarding the frontier.
"I didn't agree to her request."
As Jarvan IV walked, he said, "I feel that since I was the one who brought her back to the capital from beyond the border, I shouldn't let her be treated this way."
Shyvana's situation inevitably made him think of a girl he had once loved.
If Shyvana were pushed out to the border, what would be next? Would she be pushed out of Demacia too?
Now that the same situation had happened again, he felt that he should not just watch with his own eyes again.
He had to do something. There had to be something he could do.
When he said these words, Jarvan IV's eyes shone with resolve.
Luke knew that right now, Jarvan IV did not need him to say anything from the side. This man knew very clearly what road he would walk next.
"In any case, I support your decision."
After thinking for a moment, he said this.
Hearing this, Jarvan IV revealed a smile. "Thank you, brother."
These days, he often thought that having a real brother he could talk to truly felt good.
Although Garen was his close friend, there were some things he could not tell him.
But with Luke, it was different. He could say many things.
Every time they finished talking, his mood would always become much lighter.
As they spoke, the two of them had already reached the door of the council hall. After pushing it open, they found that many people were already inside.
Jarvan III had not yet arrived, and the main seat was empty.
At the octagonal table, the eight ministers, Tianna, Roy, Barrett, Wenward, Giovanni, Tourt, Josie, and Eldred, were already seated neatly.
The octagonal table was very quiet. The eight ministers had no exchanges of glances or words. All of them waited with silent, solemn expressions.
After Luke and Jarvan IV arrived, those who were supposed to be present were basically all here.
Looking toward Tianna, he saw her give him a smile, then put it away again and shift her gaze.
When he looked at Wenward, the latter nodded to him in greeting.
After observing for a moment, Luke found that the elderly Roy now had a pair of reading glasses on his eyes. It seemed his eyesight was getting worse and worse.
The other ministers had not changed much. They were still the same as in his impression.
At this moment, an attendant left.
Before long, a burst of footsteps came from outside.
The sound of high-heeled boots stepping through the corridor, click, click, click, caused the low conversations inside the council hall to gradually quiet down until one could hear a pin drop.
Then the doors of the council hall opened, and Jarvan III slowly walked in.
Today, he had changed his clothes. He had changed out of the clothes he often wore with a more approachable air and instead put on a more solemn outfit.
The crown atop his head displayed his royal authority.
He slowly took his seat at the head of the table and spoke steadily. "Let today's meeting begin."
As his words fell, the meeting began.
Roy pushed up his glasses, picked up a draft in his hand, and began reporting. "Your Majesty, Demacia's income and expenditures over the past two months…"
His aged voice echoed alone in the council hall, and everyone else quietly listened to his report.
After that, it entered the kind of boring meeting Luke had seen who knew how many times.
Of course, these things were boring to him. In reality, every single topic concerned many citizens of the kingdom.
However, these matters were not something Luke needed to manage, so he did not pay them much attention.
When it was Wenward's turn, he briefly spoke about the steam engine. The Research Institute's development had achieved a major breakthrough, and after that, it received Jarvan III's approval.
All the ministers saw the rare smile on his face.
In fact, any minister who had learned about the steam engine knew that this was indeed an enormous technological breakthrough.
No one was unconvinced.
The Research Institute had indeed performed outstandingly this time.
The meeting topics were discussed one after another. As time passed, the meeting finally approached its end.
Jarvan III asked, "Is there anything else to report?"
No one responded.
After a minute passed and no one brought anything up, this was usually the time when the meeting could be dismissed.
"Good. Since there is nothing else, I will speak of one matter."
Jarvan III's voice remained steady.
But as soon as the words fell, the entire room became serious. Everyone knew that today's real major matter had arrived.
"Eldred."
Jarvan III spoke.
Hearing this, Eldred stood up. "Your subject is here."
Jarvan III's clear gaze looked toward him, and he asked, "Have the Mageseekers had any breakthroughs in magical research recently?"
Eldred bowed and said, "In reply to Your Majesty, no. Regarding research into magic, given the current foundation, it is basically very difficult to make any further breakthroughs."
If there was one place in Demacia that could touch magic, it was the Mageseekers' headquarters.
The Mageseekers studied magic in order to find better ways to fight that power.
At times, they would even make use of mages and put them to work for themselves.
A former leader of the Mageseekers had once developed an anti-magic tool called "greystone."
Greystone was grayish-white in color, spiral-shaped, flat like a seashell, and only the size of a palm.
But one should not underestimate a piece of greystone the size of a palm. After development, this tool could effectively resist magic.
When a mage used magic to attack someone wearing greystone, the greystone would trigger a barrier and block the magic.
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