Soul of Burning Steel

What exactly is death?

The body is inactive, the heart stops beating, the brain is not functioning, and the soul is completely annihilated... These are all signs of death, and as long as there is one, it can announce the countdown to death in 90% of the cases.

But are these absolutes?

Not necessarily. The body of the lich is inactive, the treant has no heart at all, and the head of the headless horseman is just an ornament. When he is happy, there may be a pumpkin on it, and some existences can live comfortably without even needing a soul. Comfortable, even incomparably powerful.

However, in this cruel and dark multiverse, death is unavoidable for any existence. Even superhumans need to cross a series of high thresholds before they can temporarily get rid of its pursuit.

"Priest, I must say one thing."

In the headquarters of Winterhold College, in the underground sterile laboratory, a man with a deep voice calmly said to the half-kneeling disciple in front of him: "All the members of the 'Looker' elf tribe have suffered from chaos, and their souls have been attacked by the evil god of plague. The attack, the situation is very bad now, they are currently receiving treatment in the elf hometown in the far south, and the time of awakening is unpredictable."

"However, fortunately, the mother tree used its last strength to protect their souls and bodies before it was destroyed. Although they were severely injured, their lives are safe, at least they can be guaranteed."

Having said that, the man found that his disciple's body trembled.

"But... Sur, she is not connected to the mother tree."

"In that case, he should be dead."

Hearing this, the gray-haired young man gritted his teeth immediately, while the man narrowed his eyes, looked at his disciple, and then whispered: "Priest, why are you so sad."

He chuckled and said, "You are an extraordinary person, do you really think that death is the end?"

"Death is just the beginning."

Starfall 840, March 7th, at 7:00 a.m., on the second floor of the Lord's Mansion in the inner city of Moldavia.

Humans like to use the word unique to describe precious and rare things, and they like to use everywhere to describe the commonness and proliferation of a thing.

In the world of Mycroft, ordinary humans without extraordinary powers are common and rampant. Among the ten people, there are almost eight or nine ordinary people without the slightest supernatural power, and the remaining one may not be a serious professional, maybe he just knows one or two magic tricks or fighting qi tricks.

In contrast, extraordinary people are undoubtedly rare. In the high-magic world of Mycroft, perhaps everyone knows the existence of magic, but they can really cross the barrier of the middle-level black iron and become the upper-level black iron. People in this serious professional class are absolutely rare, just like everyone knows how to lose weight, but only a small number of people can successfully lose weight.

However, although there is indeed a clear distinction between 'ordinary humans' and 'superhumans'.

But in this world, there are no 'ordinary people'.

The chief executive of the Lord's Mansion of Moldavia, the super administrator of the Monet of Winterhold Academy, the honorary vice president of the official chamber of commerce of the Northland Lord's Mansion, maybe once a weapon but now has become a steward, Rin Akrol Sitting at the desk in his own room, browsing the forums in the spiritual terminal with a serious face, and then launched the second large-scale net cleaning activity this year.

"These people live on the Internet, why do they have so much energy every day!"

The black-haired boy ruthlessly deleted all the spam posts, advertisement posts and water posts in the forum, and successively banned many students who spoke irregularly for different lengths, which caused many students in the forum to panic and tremble.

"Do good every day."

After finishing these things, Rin, refreshed, clapped his hands and exited the magic net.

As the seventh-generation magic machine produced by the Empire's artificial goblin project, Rin and his sister both have fairy-like spiritual bodies, which allows them to log in to the magic without using a gem-like spiritual terminal like ordinary humans. Net—In fact, their existence itself is a giant spiritual terminal, and they can easily connect to the magic net in any environment with just a thought.

It is precisely because of this that he, together with Miss No. 3 and Yingying, became one of the super administrators who manage the magic net, providing a quiet and clean Internet environment for more and more mental end users—the official statement is true. Listen, in fact, the black-haired boy is just a little obsessive-compulsive disorder, he can't see any irregular posting format.

Standing up from the desk, Rin sorted out the notes and books he read last night. He put aside the books that he hadn't finished reading, such as 'Empire Theory', 'City of Faith', 'Contemporary Magical Runes Advanced Ether', Put away the notes one by one, and then put the books that have been read in the bookcase, such as "How to please your leader · the way to promotion", "Thirty-three points of raising a dragon" and "Social Movement", and arrange them neatly .

As you can see, there are two pictures on the side of the bookcase. One picture is Rin's schedule for this month, which is densely packed with important points and red circles. The black-haired man and the black-haired boy were riding a black dragon for a ride in the blizzard.

After tidying up, Rin meticulously turned off the desk lamp, tidied up his collar, and prepared to go out for a new day's work.

Some time ago, the master woke up from a deep sleep. After returning to the territory, it was really noisy for a while. Because of the safety and success of the master, many old friends from all over the world came to celebrate. Bringing his adopted son Lolanda here in person, Brandon, who had been sharpening his sword skills in the abyss some time ago, also brought his family to visit, not to mention the group of legendary strongmen—for more than a month, the Northland The people are shrouded in the coercion of the resuscitated legendary powerhouse, and the local monsters that are too late to escape are basically directly domesticated. Not only do they not dare to bite people, they even lie down and wag their tails, showing a pitiful look.

Those days were really busy. Recalling that month, Rin couldn't help pursing her lips and shaking her head. If the master hadn't given them the training materials of the goblins from the goblin town, so that she and her sister could learn by analogy, and their strength would be even stronger. Further, maybe you will really be dizzy and dizzy from busy work.

But it's much better now - the communication between the master and the legendary powerhouses has ended, the upsurge of advancement has gradually begun to cool down, and everything is returning to the original track.

And just as the black-haired boy walked out of his room, he passed a statue.

The appearance of the statue is exactly the same as that of the boy himself. It can even be said that ordinary people cannot tell the difference between the static two at all. Rin stopped, looked the statue up and down, and couldn't help but smile.

This statue was made for everyone in the lord's mansion when the previous owner was practicing creation. It was shaped on an atomic scale and perfectly restored everyone's appearance and expressions. The degree of detail is incredible. When I saw it for the first time, Rin I have the illusion that I am looking at myself.

The Rin of the statue is wearing a housekeeper's uniform, and there is nothing special about it. He is just sitting on a chair in a normal way, holding a book in his hand, watching quietly, his expression seems to be thinking, as if he has realized something.

It is very detailed, but there are no very special features worth remembering. It is not as beautiful and eye-catching as the elder sister and Miss No. 3, nor is it as majestic as the black dragon form. At first glance, this statue is just Just an ordinary boy reading a book.

This is a matter of course.

Rin knew that he was not a special person.

I will only work meticulously, obey orders and instructions, and complete the tasks entrusted by the master, without any other superfluous thoughts or complaints.

What should be done is meticulous, keep the instructions in mind, and take good care of them because they were abandoned at the beginning of forging, so some sisters who are off-line, raise a certain black dragon when the master is away, take her and Xiaoguang for a walk, if necessary , and sometimes assist Miss No. 3 to deal with some technical problems, and by the way, use the superb fairy card technology to confirm the leadership of the family... It is not conspicuous, hidden behind the scenes, it seems to be just an ordinary person.

But I am not ordinary, not an ordinary butler role that can be seen everywhere.

The dark-haired boy knew it and believed it.

He is the perfect magic weapon, the best weapon, squire and steward.

This is his unique identity.

Thinking of this, he opened the door, walked through the corridor, walked out of the Lord's Mansion, and headed towards the Chamber of Commerce headquarters not far away.

Along the way, you can vaguely see the traces of the celebration carnival not long ago. The radio and LCD screens on the street are playing melodious morning music. You can vaguely hear the opening of the business district not far away. In the surrounding houses, you can see Many residents are opening the door, clearing the snow and icicles under the eaves. You can see that the owners of the houses are of various races, from dwarves to elves, from halflings to gnomes. You can even see that they are going to the business district to buy ingredients. The human aunt greeted the neighbor's murloc, and made a voice that God knows who could understand.

The gate of a residential building was opened, and a man with platinum hair was holding a snow shovel, ready to clear the snow outside. He raised his head inadvertently, and saw the black-haired boy who had already walked through the street.

"Hey, isn't that Housekeeper Rin?"

The man was slightly taken aback, then shook his head and said with emotion: "Going out to work early in the morning is really serious and responsible."

"Brother, what are you doing?"

Inside the house, a lazy female voice came: "Hurry up and finish shoveling the snow, come over to have breakfast, today we have to report to the HR Department of the Royal Mages Association."

"Yes, Amira, I see." Responding to his sister's words with a smile, Ivan Maklov rolled up his sleeves and began to bend down to shovel snow.

In fact, with his chief graduate of Winterhold College, the power of the golden rank, he can control the magic power with just one thought, and clean up all the snow in his house and even the entire block-but physical labor is not bad once in a while What's more, there are regulations in the urban area that cannot use any power equal to or exceeding the silver primary level, and those who violate the prohibition will be thrown into the magic power factory to serve as a human magic power engine for a period of time.

Like to use supernatural power blindly? Then use it happily and contribute to the public.

Although it sounds like it is just to take care of the rules and regulations for the safety of ordinary residents, in fact, Ivan, who has gradually entered the management of the empire, knows that things are not that simple.

Because the number of extraordinary people is gradually increasing.

More than ten years ago, before the tide of magic came, the free energy density of the whole world was not high, and the inheritance of supernatural beings was generally transmitted in the form of small colleges and master-apprentice inheritance, so the number of supernatural beings was very rare, even counting With the most widely spread military practice methods and one or two simple witchcrafts by folk spellcasters, the number of extraordinary people is also very rare.

But now, the tide of magic is coming, and recently a large Transcendent Academy has been opened all over the world. The number of Transcendents is increasing at an obvious speed.

From Ivan's point of view, things are even more obvious - since he and his younger sister Amira graduated from Winter Castle College, moved out from grandfather Edward, and bought a house in the city center by themselves, every day he You can hear the news that the surrounding residents have children or relatives entering Winter Castle, and some parents even signed up for the "advanced practical training class" specially set up by the Lord's Mansion for adults, and learned one or two hands of magic or vindictive means. .

In just half a year, the original one percent, one tenth of the number of extraordinary people has rapidly expanded, even to the point where there are three or four extraordinary people out of ten people.

Although most of the newly promoted professionals are just the most superficial and low-level transcendents, even so, they can use magic equipment, activate rune arrays, and use magic tools to exert their power. Power that is not weak... It is precisely because of this that as the number of extraordinary people increases, there are more and more special laws and regulations for extraordinary people.

After shoveling the snow, Ivan returned to the house, put the snow shovel behind the door, and walked to the kitchen to prepare for breakfast. When he was sitting next to a girl with the same platinum hair as him, Ivan asked casually, "How is our dragon?"

"I'm still sleeping, I guess it will take a few days to wake up."

Amira spread jam on Ivan's bread, and replied casually: "Speaking of which, brother, do you think we can really go into the abyss?"

"why not?"

Ivan poured a glass of milk for Amira. Hearing this, he shook his head in doubt: "Do you still remember what the teacher said to us disciples a few days ago?"

"Mycroft's world has reached a critical moment. In the past, we were imprisoned in a dark and ancient cage, but now, we have to break free from the shackles of decay and rust, and leave this cage—obviously, Teacher and the others... In this adventure, there is obviously a big discovery, and the resources are shifting towards the 'new world' that the teacher said."

Speaking of this, Ivan took a mouthful of bread covered in jam, and said vaguely: "I know, you must be thinking, since resources are beginning to favor the New World, why should we go to the abyss? It's very simple, I My little sister, because the outside world must be safe... Mycroft's world is close to the abyss, so before we move towards the new world, we must first eliminate the threats next to it."

As he said that, he swallowed the food in his mouth, looked at his sister, and said with a smile: "The group of people in the Exploration Department like to take risks. At that time, the hometown was more stable. What's more, even if there is no such reason, don't we still look for opportunities to go to the abyss?"

This is a matter of course. The brother and sister who vowed to fight the five-color dragon all their lives looked at each other and smiled, then lowered their heads and ate breakfast quietly.

Where the five-color dragons are, they will be there.

Of course they were going to the abyss.

"Of course we are going to the abyss!"

Lisa, a dragon girl, loudly announced the plan she had just confirmed in her home: "It's time to send Mr. Syndicate back to his hometown!"

Recently, the dragon girl's words have become more and more straightforward, without any euphemism, and she doesn't know who she learned from.

"Zizi." (support)

In the hall, a silver alarm clock on the table rang twice, making a sound of support. The avatar of No. 1 turned the stopwatch dutifully, and continued: "Zi Zi Zi Zi?" (When are we leaving?)

On the other side, a dragon man sitting on the sofa and reading a newspaper, who looks similar to Lisa, but is a little taller and more masculine, blinked and complained subconsciously: "What do you mean by sending me back to my hometown? "

"Hey, Mr. Syndicate, don't you want to go back?"

The dragon girl who announced the news originally thought that the Balrog would be very happy, but she didn't expect the other party to have such an attitude, and immediately lowered her head in disappointment, unable to see her expression clearly.

"No, Lisa, look, I'm not a Balrog now!" Seeing Lisa's sad look, Syndicate immediately became nervous. He quickly put down the newspaper, got up and walked to Lisa's side, holding her His hand wanted to explain: "After my life form has changed, I am no longer a demon, let alone the abyss... Hey, you didn't cry?!"

"Of course not." Grasping Syndicate's hand, Lisa raised her head, her face was bright with sunshine, she didn't look disappointed at all. She shrugged, then stood on tiptoe, and whispered in Balrog's ear: " I just want to see where you used to live...why, don't you want to?"

"Also...can't...say..."

Syndicate really wanted to say "no". After all, the abyss is not a good place, and my life in the abyss is just ordinary fighting, killing, eating, drinking and drinking, and there is nothing interesting about it. My life in the world of Mycroft It's so comfortable and comfortable, and people speak nicely. He likes being here so much, and he doesn't want to go back at all.

But in the end, he compromised: "Well, if you really want to go, Lisa... let's go. My little experience may be useful."

"Mr. Syndicate is the best!"

At the same time, Lisa and others are next door.

In a hut in the same residential area of ​​Nancheng District, the atmosphere was completely opposite to that of the happy neighbor.

The cold winter wind blows back, and the frost gradually spreads on the inside of the glass. Beside the fire, on the sofa in the hall, a gray-haired little girl bit her lower lip and stared blankly at the two basins in different shapes. Two pots of small flowers.

A potted flower is like a dandelion. It has a hairy flower body, but it is golden yellow, and the fluff is hard to get rid of. This plant named 'Dawn Dandelion' is a special fire potion, and its root system has a very good nourishing effect. The body has the effect of strengthening the physique, but the most important thing is that it feels good to the touch, very comfortable to the touch, very warm, very suitable for playing in winter.

But the other potted flower is much more miraculous. It has seven translucent geometric petals like ice crystals. Each petal is surrounded by different magical radiance. The radiance rotates, and the six elements and ether free in the atmosphere gradually Condensed around it, the concentration of magic power in the house became stronger.

Britney looked at the two pots of flowers sent by Priest, feeling a little worried.

"Brother hasn't laughed for a long time..."

Since Priest returned from the far side of the galaxy, Britney seldom saw her brother genuinely smile.

Two pots of flowers, the morning dandelion was originally intended to be a gift from my brother. He hid in the attic on the roof, thinking that he hadn't found it, but he didn't come back for so long, so she had to water it by herself... Britney thought I would be angry with this broken brother, but in the end, when I saw Priest's exhausted appearance, Britney found that she couldn't say anything to blame, and could only hug the waist of her only relative, thank you Seven gods let him go home safely.

The other potted flower is called 'Seven Colors'. According to my brother, it is actually a gift from the legendary strong natural teacher of the elves. It is a rare high-level potion. Its floral fragrance can effectively enhance the druid's perception of natural power the speed.

But even after receiving such a precious gift, and even being publicly commended by the lord, my brother still didn't smile, and seemed worried.

"You look sad."

Britney asked directly at that time: "Brother, why?"

"Because your brother and I are too weak."

Priest also gave a very straightforward answer. He sighed and said, "All anger and sadness come from my own powerlessness. Britney, you must practice hard, so that you will not become like your brother in the future, with such a posture. Ugly."

My brother has obviously done a good job. The gray-haired girl thought so. But it's definitely not enough, at least my brother thinks it's not enough.

Greed is not a bad thing at all, only desire can motivate, just like yourself, if the school doesn't give out little red flowers, don't reward candies, who would work so hard to read books?

But sometimes, if you encounter a problem that you don't know, you can ask the teacher.

Even elementary school kids know how to do it!

"If there is any problem, brother, you can't solve it, why don't you ask the lord?"

This is what Britney Jr. said to Priest not long ago: "My lord is your teacher after all... Your lord is so powerful, if you can't solve the problem, your lord will definitely be able to solve it, at least, I can tell you Let's find a solution."

Then, my brother really went to find the lord.

Until now, have not come back.

"Oh, my brother is so sad every day, I can't even eat well."

Thinking of this, Britney licked the Chenxi dandelion, and felt a little better: "If it's not resolved this time...then I'll lend him the dandelion to lick."

But just when Britney was thinking with some reluctance that it would be better to lend the dandelion to Priest for a few days, she suddenly heard familiar footsteps outside the door, and the voice of her brother talking to someone— -and! Although the tone sounded calm, Britney could tell that her brother no longer radiated negative energy like before!

"...This is my home... Your father and the others still have physical bodies, and they are currently undergoing treatment in the Far South. Next time I have a chance, I will take you to see them..."

"Priest! The buildings here are so tall - amazing! Beautiful! Did you ever live in a place like this?"

A strange girl's voice can also be heard.

"Britney, I'm back!"

Click, the sound of the door opening came.

The gray-haired young man led a curious and enthusiastic elf with green hair and golden eyes into the room.

However, it can be vaguely seen that this elf's body is somewhat deformed, and the hand holding Priest is even more translucent. There is a huge, void wound on her back, and her body is also very illusory. The raging outside world even seemed a little erratic, like a phantom, and it didn't come alive until he entered the house.

There is no doubt that this is an undead, an undead with self-will.

And the undead saw the gray-haired little girl trotting all the way over and looked at her curiously. She suddenly showed a big smile, then squatted down, and said hello very seriously: "Hello, you Is it Priest's sister, Britney? My name is Sur!"

"Don't be afraid, although I'm dead, I won't harm anyone."

It's a very cruel world.

War, destruction, natural disasters, chaos... Death follows every body, like a gangrene.

It's also a very tender world.

Because as long as it is strong enough.

Even death can be overcome.