Soul of Burning Steel

As part of the far southern sea, the Abyss of Anos is not vast. If it were not for the violent storm and rough ocean currents, an ordinary three-masted ship would be able to cross it in less than half a month, but due to the bad weather , even if a magic ship like Time wants to reach its center, it needs to go through all kinds of difficulties and dangers.

In the dark storm, the rain covered everything like a gray curtain, but a huge ark shining with warm white light broke through the huge waves and moved forward along a straight beam of light, with densely packed magical runes spinning on its top , a jewel like a small sun circulates majestic positive energy, and shoots out a dazzling beam of light pointing directly at the center of the sea.

This ark has one hundred and sixty-two weather-beaten crew members, the average strength of which is above the silver level. They have fought against the storms of the far sea countless times and returned victoriously. Yuan's actions are no exception.

The captain of the time ship is named Derry, a strong old man with red hair. From his appearance, it can be seen that he has a certain barbarian blood, but in fact he is a meticulous man like a soldier. Because of this rigorous attitude and a strong body derived from barbarians, this old man over 60 still has the ability to sail a boat and travel overseas.

Derry has the high-level strength of silver. When he was young, he was close to the realm of gold, but because he couldn't break through that barrier, he stopped at the peak of silver. Now that time has passed, although his body is still strong, his grasp of fighting spirit is also great. It is getting more and more sophisticated, but the vitality of Delhi is gradually weakening, and it is no longer possible to touch the golden realm.

At this time, it was raining heavily, and huge waves were beating against the side of the ark. The red-haired old man was holding a pipe in his hand, his mouth was tightly shut, and he was standing on the side of the boat. The enchanted agate pipe did not go out in the water, but floated out Wisps of white smoke, and beside him, a tall man in a black coat was also standing by the ship's side. This man looked at the churning tide, as if he was thinking about something.

The tall man—that is, Joshua, he and Derry watched the tide together, and then chatted in the rainstorm.

The reason why the two chatted so acquaintedly was because of an accident—because of the shrinking size, when Hei was in human form, he would occasionally spew out dragon breath to destroy the inside of the ark because he couldn't control the huge fire elemental energy in his body. facilities, and two days ago, Hei Yi accidentally sprayed out the dragon's breath again. This time, the power of the dragon's breath was a bit too strong. It easily penetrated the two-story corridor, almost killing the red-haired man who was smoking and resting. The old man was burned to ashes.

Derry didn't care about the accident, but Joshua accidentally discovered during the conversation with him that the old man's hometown was the Novice Village in his previous life, which was located in Alpha Port in Ansu Province on the coast of the Far South Kingdom.

Although the red-haired old man wondered why Joshua, an imperial aristocrat, would be so familiar with a port city in the far south, he didn't care about such trivial matters. The two of them first expressed their feelings about the simple folk customs and hospitable people in Ansu province. The residents also commented on some local specialties and scenery. Captain Derry, who has been out at sea for nearly forty years and hasn’t returned home for a long time, although he didn’t immediately make the soldier his confidant, he also had a lot of feelings for this seemingly indifferent Earl of the Empire. Good impression.

While the two were talking, there were long, dull cries in the sea, and the turbulent tide surged from the deep sea, and the waves rolled up in all directions. Accompanied by the increasingly clear dragon chant, one blue and one black Two giant dragons broke through the sea one after another and appeared on the left and right sides of the ark, moving forward side by side with Time.

Because of the protection of the two sea dragons, the speed of the ark was immediately faster. Seeing this, Derry shook the pipe in his hand and said goodbye with a smile: "Then, let's talk next time, Earl Radcliffe, you are different from the rumors. A worthy nobleman."

"Rumor?" Joshua, who frowned slightly, didn't know that his reputation had been killed long ago, felt a little strange, but he didn't have time to pay attention to such trivial matters, but nodded and said goodbye: "Then Captain Derry, let's talk next time."

When he said this, he patted the other person on the shoulder.

On one side, a huge black dragon slowly approached the side of the ship, and when the distance between the two was only a short dozen meters, a huge round seal about five meters high appeared out of nowhere. Come out and jump on the back of the black dragon.

This giant seal, almost rounded into a ball, lay quietly on the dragon's carapace. You could see black totem patterns all over its fat body. When the black dragon got closer to the ark, it simply slapped its tail. , jumped straight up, and then turned into a human form in mid-air, and landed firmly on the deck of Shi Shi.

This is a slender elf boy with a handsome appearance. His long black hair is tied into a high ponytail and hangs loosely behind him. It seems to be due to strenuous exercise. The boy's wheat-colored skin is slightly flushed, and his face looks a little tired .

It had to be said that, apart from the totem magic pattern that was vaguely revealed on his body, there was absolutely no connection between him and the round seal.

"Why, Joshua, why don't you go swim with your dragon in the sea?"

After he regained his breath, Hill walked slowly to the side of the warrior. He waved his hand towards the giant blue dragon on the other side, and the Sea Stegosaurus, which had a single horn on its head and was surrounded by dazzling electric lights, also Nodding slightly, he dived into the sea again.

"No." Joshua squinted his eyes, looked at the elf boy who had just transformed from a seal into a man, and said flatly, "I can't turn into a sea creature...but then again, the seal you turned into is so beautiful. Yuan, how did you swim in the sea?"

"...This is the secret skill of the druids."

After being silent for a while, Hill ended the topic abruptly. He turned his head, looked in the direction where the red-haired captain left, and asked with some doubts, "Did you inject vitality into him just now?"

Although the grammar is confusing, the tone is affirmative. As the elves who are most sensitive to vitality, and Druids who are also the most sensitive to vitality, Hill can be sure that Joshua's slap on the shoulder just now is for Derry. A lot of vitality was injected, although the red-haired captain didn't seem to notice this, but with the gradual improvement of this vitality, it won't be long before his gray hair will turn black again, and because of his body The strength that has fallen due to decline will also rise again, and maybe it can touch the golden barrier again and break through.

"Just a try."

But Joshua didn't take this trivial matter to heart. He looked down at the black dragon that dived into the sea again, and said calmly, "No matter what you say, life force won't hurt."

Ever since the day he first boarded the ark, he had obtained a lot of information about order and chaos from the Azure Orb, Joshua gradually understood many ways to manipulate this sage's inheritance, and mobilizing the vitality contained in it was only one of them. ——Before this, the warrior could only passively accept the treatment of his body from the Azure Orb, but now, he can independently control that vitality and give priority to the treatment of more critical parts.

In the Azure Orb, the life force obtained by burning many chaos is as majestic as the sea. Giving this pure life force to others is also a method that Joshua has recently explored to use it. It happened that Captain Derry had a good chat with him , The soldier also tried to help this friend who had just met.

"Don't talk about this aspect, why didn't you stay with Ms. Anna, but climbed onto my dragon instead?"

The black dragon has completely sunk into the sea and started another dive, while Joshua just stared at the dark tide in the rainstorm, and asked Hill casually, "Aren't you worried that Anna will be jealous?"

"The sea water next to the black is warmer. You know, the sea water in the Abyss of Anos is as cold as ice water." The elf boy also replied casually: "I didn't dive with Anna before. The current around her is too strong. Now, I have to stay away so I don't turn into a burnt seal."

Obviously, the soldier is not a talkative person, because no one took the initiative to provoke the topic, and the atmosphere on the side of the ship became cold like this. In the noise of the heavy rain, Hill couldn't help but sighed, and said with some emotion: "You It really is not a dragon knight."

A person who can become a dragon knight first needs to have high martial arts skills and be able to subdue his mount, but secondly, he must have extremely high charisma and excellent communication skills, so that the dragons can cooperate willingly.

"I'm not a dragon knight, it's just that my mount happens to be a dragon." Joshua, whose charm is as low as minus two hundred, nodded, and replied patiently: "Actually, it's not convenient to ride a dragon. It's been a long time since I rode a black horse to fight. gone."

"Even as a warrior, you are not normal." Hill frowned slightly as he looked at Joshua's body carefully: "Generally speaking, normal warriors will practice many special skills and specialties. Otherwise, their strength cannot keep up with other professions of the same level, but you..."

After carefully looking at it again, the elf boy came to a conclusion: "I only practiced one breathing method, and there is nothing else."

If it wasn't for the fact that the warrior's record had spread outside the empire, and he had killed a sea dragon before that, Hill might have doubted Joshua's strength because of this. You know, a man without special skills and specialties, fighters who only rely on skills and secret techniques to fight are undoubtedly incomplete, and their combat effectiveness is far weaker than other professionals of the same profession.

"There are many reasons." Looking at the sea, Joshua understood Hill's doubts. He wrapped his arms around his chest and replied slowly: "The most important point is that it's not time yet."

The warrior knew why the elf boy would say that. In fact, Lolanda asked the same question a few days ago. He thought it was because Joshua's father passed away too early, so that he lost the family inheritance in this regard. The knight even offered to hand over some of the church's public secrets to the fighters.

Of course, Joshua declined this kind offer.

The so-called special skills and expertise are just like the breathing method, which cannot be summed up in the extreme [Permanent Gain State], and because of the limit of the body, the gain state that human beings can bear is limited, so every fighter who pursues strength I will identify the specialties I need in the future very early, and then work hard to fill them.

Joshua naturally has his own goals. As a former legendary warrior, his vision is so high that he doesn't even bother to learn those ordinary specialties and skills. Human Body] [Perfect Response] This is an extraordinary feat that is at least the base of the ultimate level.

Because he has the ultimate power, the permanent buff state that his body can carry is far more than that of ordinary people, but Joshua is not going to change his plan because of this, to learn ordinary specialties, plus his advanced extremely It didn't take long to come to the Abyss of Anos, so the warrior still has no specialties except the steel armor breathing method.

——However, it is also time to prepare. Joshua nodded silently. Now he has the ultimate strength, and because of the huge fighting spirit brought by the killing chaos, the fighter's combat power is higher than his level, which already meets the requirements of many extraordinary specialties. condition.

"In the past few days, it has been really peaceful. There have been no attacks by eroding sea beasts. The storm is only at this level, and it can't threaten Time."

On the side, Hill said to himself: "If we can approach the central maelstrom in such a stable manner, then our mission this time will be much easier."

peaceful?

"Peace?"

Hearing this word, Joshua couldn't help laughing. He shook his head, and then smiled at the elf boy: "Mr. Hill, do you really think so?"

In Hill's view, the soldier's smile was not a smile at all, but a cold feeling. He rubbed his shoulders uncomfortablely, and asked in doubt: "Isn't it peaceful? Ever since I met that sea After the Abyss Demon Dragon, Time has not encountered a single eroding sea beast for several days in a row. Although the storm is fierce, it is only at the normal level in the Abyss of Anos."

But Joshua shook his head: "Although it's unbelievable to say that, my friend."

At this time, a burst of thunder suddenly sounded in the sky covered by dark clouds, and then, dense and complex thunder like a spider web criss-crossed the sky. The continuous roar shook the atmosphere and the ocean, and the rain that was originally as thick as a gray curtain suddenly became denser. , as if the Black Sea poured over.

Washed by the sudden heavy rain, the elf boy was almost not choked by the rainwater pouring into his mouth and nose, but a thin black-red aura appeared around the warrior's body, blocking out all rainwater and sea waves.

As if he had expected this scene, Joshua raised his head, looked at the thunderous sky, and said calmly, "As long as I'm around, there will be absolutely no peace."

The huge waves, which were originally raging, became even more terrifying under the sudden violent storm. I saw waves of huge waves exceeding ten meters sweeping towards the ark with an unstoppable force, and the entire sea seemed to be boiling. .

"Damn it, I haven't seen this wave in at least twenty years."

Back in the cabin, Captain Derry looked at the storm outside in shock through the crystal barrier. He subconsciously cursed, and then took a puff of cigarette: "The last time I encountered it was the submarine volcano on the Yuanwang Cape. Explosion, what the hell is it this time?"

The first mate at the side, although his face turned pale, but he also tried his best to say: "This is the Abyss of Anos, the hell among the seas, Captain, you are not afraid, are you?"

"Fart!" Angrily glaring at the first mate who was also in his forties or fifties, the red-haired old man said in a deep voice, "If it was the old broken ship, I might be really scared, but now we are driving the Temple Ark ——I’m not afraid even if it’s a swim in the Styx, let alone this kind of drizzle?!”

That is to say, but everyone present did not dare to neglect. Within a few seconds, most of the crew returned to their posts. They were responsible for controlling most of the magic circles inside the ark to fight against Raging waves outside.

On the deck of the Time, Joshua and Hill still hadn't returned to the cabin. The elf boy looked around, as if he was looking for something, while the soldier stared at the churning sea calmly.

Not long after, two huge figures broke through the huge waves. Two giant dragons, one blue and one black, jumped up at the same time, changed back to human form, and then landed on the deck. Fina and Hei had a sense of inexplicability on their faces. They sensed the sea There was a strange change in the ocean current in the depths, and then it went up immediately. As a result, the shallow sea was full of huge waves, and the storm suddenly became stronger for some reason.

And just when they left the sea and came to the boat, patches of black water like ink rose from the depths of the sea—although the sea area of ​​the Abyss of Anos was called the Black Sea, it was only because Stormy, cloudy, the sea itself is still colorless, but now, because a large amount of black dust of unknown origin gushes out of the deep sea, the entire sea area has completely turned black.

Unlike Hei, who was still somewhat ignorant, the blue-haired dragon girl frowned. She knew that this black wave was the strange ocean current that she and Hei had noticed. Because of this, she smelled a conspiracy.

"coming."

Suddenly, Joshua whispered to himself.

Accompanied by his whispers, the huge ark that was riding the wind and waves gradually stopped, and there were bursts of exclamations in the cabin, and the surface of the black sea water that touched the ark was flowing with blurred lights.

"The magic power is passing!" Hill and Fina noticed this keenly, and their faces turned ugly. Although the time number belonged to the Church of the Seven Gods, it was still powered by the magic engines of the mages. Now, mixed The black sea water filled with unknown substances sucked up all the magic power of the entire sea area, and all the elements in all things were silent, only the holy light runes around the ark flickered, resisting the beating of layers of huge waves.

Above the sky, black smoke and mist gradually spread in the cloudy clouds. It swallowed the restless lightning and thunder, and made the rainstorm also dark. Except for the flames brought by the nuclear star on the top of the Ark Time, the entire sea area is no more. Not even the slightest flicker of light.

The sea seemed to be a dark prison.