In the dim box, two maids were busy, their dresses rustling, and they set all kinds of tableware on the dining table.

Andrina looked at Thorne opposite, smiled slightly, and elegantly used her thumb and index finger to create a flame, lighting the candle on the candlestick.

The golden and red candles flickered, reflecting a little light in the crystal clear wine glass.

"Two guests, your dishes are all ready, please take your time, and I wish you a happy meal." A maid who was quite handsome lifted the corner of her skirt and bowed to the guests at the table, then walked out of the candle The box, which was flickering on fire, closed the door.

"Not used to it?" Seeing the ranger sitting on pins and needles across from her, Andrina put away a smile on the corner of her mouth and cast a caring look.

Lunch is rich and delicious.

There's fresh trout and new wines from the cellar, fat sausage and veggie rolls of roast venison, red-hot lobster and more, as well as creamed toast and nut pudding, and fresh fruit.

"Very unaccustomed." Thorne gestured with his fork, tapped the plate in front of him lightly, and said truthfully.

After he finished speaking, he pushed aside all the utensils in front of him that were neat and orderly but felt in the way, to make room for him, and then unceremoniously reached out to get all the food that could be reached, and the number of times was very frequent.

Work for a while.

Lamb chops, grilled venison, crayfish, sausage slices and other sumptuous foods piled up in front of him like a hill.

Faced with such a sumptuous amount of food, he didn't waste any time, he ate it immediately, and in just a moment, he ate all the food piled up in front of him.

Of course, it's not how much he eats or how fast he eats, it's mainly because these foods are dominated by useless decorations compared to portion sizes.

Andrina looked at Thorne, who didn't restrain herself at all, smiled helplessly, pushed the food in front of her into his attack range, and then used a fork to find moderately fat and thin meat on the plate, and ate it in small bites.

The golden and red candles kept jumping and trembling in the dim box, and the wax tears flowed on the candlesticks like small waterfalls.

Thorne burped carefully, looked at the half glass of red wine in the crystal goblet, hesitated for a moment, and finally picked it up. Under Andrina's gaze, he quickly drank the wine in the glass. Not a drop left.

Andrina chuckled, wiped her fingers with a napkin, glanced at the cleaned food, cast her eyes on Thorne, and asked with a smile, "How does it taste? Is it better than what you ate in Fallstown? Much more delicious."

Thorne nodded silently.

Although the taste of the food was very good, the atmosphere made him a bit constrained, and if he was given a choice, he would still prefer to go to the tavern in the town of Falls.

After all, he is not that picky about food. In his cognition, as long as he can fill his stomach, it is enough.

Then Thorne's eyes drooped slightly, and after thinking for a moment, he raised his eyelids and looked at Anderina, who was full of smiles, and asked inexplicably, "What do you mean by 'idea' in the Temple of Knowledge? , I don't understand."

Under the flickering candlelight, she looked even more... beautiful at this time. Thorne, who couldn't find the right words to praise, could only use his most familiar words to ponder in his heart.

"Idea?" Andrina propped her elbows on the table, her slender fingers fiddled with the hair hanging down her cheeks, thinking for a moment, as if organizing language, and explained to him:

"In the whole world, all the thoughts, concepts, concepts and laws that are summarized or summarized by people can be called: concepts. For example, our concept of life, the concept of plane cognition, the concept of arcane knowledge, and so on."

Seeing Thorne frown slightly, still puzzled, Andrina added: "Ogma, the **** of knowledge, represents the highest and most primitive form of knowledge, the so-called 'idea'. Ideas must exist before anything can exist."

"This is why believers in the God of Knowledge firmly believe that knowledge is the greatest tool for mortals, better than anything created by human hands, right." Thorne rubbed his forehead and said with a smile: "I didn't expect Ou Gemma was also an existentialist philosopher, kind of like Platonism."

"Yes, so the believers of Ogma will try their best to spread and preserve knowledge. At the same time, eliminating illiteracy is also an important task of Ogma Church."

Andrina nodded, twiddled her hair gently, and continued: "But the Ogma Church's extreme attitude of maintaining and protecting knowledge makes them often conflict and conflict with other churches and forces."

"What conflict?" Thorne asked curiously.

"The Church of Ogma believes that no knowledge should be destroyed, and knowledge itself is not a problem. Therefore, the believers of Ogma believe that all knowledge should be disseminated, and there is absolutely no benefit in hiding knowledge." Ender Lina patiently told Thorne who was interested:

"Because no matter how illusory and crazy an idea looks, it cannot be hidden or covered up, and it should be judged by the public. This makes the temple of knowledge usually hide a large amount of 'taboo knowledge' identified by other churches and organizations."

"It seems that the existence of this God of Knowledge is a bit anti-god." Thorne commented, then got up and said, "We can go."

"Of course." Andrina stood up and nodded.

…………

The dilapidated Xiacheng District is full of bleak stone houses, most of which look crumbling, as if they will collapse at any time.

The familiar sea breeze blew from the closed port, a little more salty and less stench.

Thorne led Andrina to a dilapidated residential area, looking at the nearly rotten door in front of him, his hand that was about to open the door suddenly hesitated.

At the same time, a certain sentence that impressed him once again echoed in his mind: "All the gifts from fate are secretly marked with a price."

"What's wrong?" Seeing the hesitant Thorne, Andrina said with concern: "I heard the voice from the courtyard just now, which means that your hunch is correct, there is indeed the person you are looking for. "

"I heard it too." The silent Thorne sighed slightly and said, "Because I heard the movement inside, I suddenly felt a little overwhelmed."

At this moment, he had determined that the old man who taught him the nine swords was inside, and at the same time he recalled the secret he learned from the goblin wizard Malvasia.

These secrets made him understand that he seemed to be being manipulated by some big hand to do what they wanted.

So why did they choose themselves? Thorne thought that maybe when he got in, everything would come to light.

"Let's go." Thorne smiled pretending to be relaxed, greeted Anders Lena, and reached out to push the almost rotten door.

"Crench!"

With a soft sound, the scene in the courtyard was clearly displayed in front of the two of them.

"Little girl, I'm right, someone will definitely bring me wine today." Then, an old, smiling voice sounded instantly.

"You dead old man must have secretly contacted the wizard tower again. You cheated, this time doesn't count." What followed was a childish voice that both Thorne and Andrina felt inexplicably familiar.

Thorne looked at the old man leaning on the rattan chair and bowed silently to him.

As for the other little loli standing beside the old man, he was not too surprised.

The little loli in front of her is the copper dragon who made trouble in Iron Horse Town, and Thorne naturally knew that she was fooled by the goblin wizard to Winter City.

When he guessed that the old man who had left and returned appeared here again, he already knew that the only one who could keep the red copper dragon from making trouble was the old man who had taught him the nine swords.

Andrina first glanced at Little Loli in surprise, then took a step behind and stood silently behind Thorne.

"Hey! Half-elf, why are you not surprised when you see me here?" Little Loli saw the two people entering the courtyard, and immediately jumped up to them and cried out:

"That dead old man said that someone will bring him wine today, is he talking about you? Tell me honestly, did he use the wizard tower to send you a voice transmission to let you come here, let me tell you, this dead old man It's bad, don't let him fool you. This old guy not only likes to cheat, eat and drink, but also keep thinking about my treasure, and forcibly occupied the wizard tower that belonged to me, and ah …”

After talking, the little Loli saw that Thorne had turned her head to the side, as if she was too lazy to pay attention to her, and suddenly felt bored, so she turned her attention to Andrina, who had been hiding behind Thorne, a pair of round Yoyo's big eyes stared at her bulging chest:

"Huh? The beautiful human lady is also there. It turns out that the two of you are really a couple. No wonder I smell so bad on you. Since the two of you are a couple, then I will tell you this. I'll tell you about the half-elf molesting me..."

Little Lolita forcibly grabbed Anderina's hand. Before she could finish speaking, Thorne made a lightning strike, grabbed her by the collar, and then ignored her screaming and screaming, without any hesitation. He mercilessly threw her out of the courtyard and fell on the hard ground.

"boom!"

The three patrolling soldiers who just passed by saw the little loli who was thrown out. They were stunned for a while. When they saw the appearance clearly, they suddenly showed a terrified expression as if they had seen some terrible monster, and pulled their legs out. just run.

In a flash, he disappeared into the lanes of the residential area.

"Is...is it really okay?" Andrina looked at Thorne with a worried expression.

Although Thorne's actions made her feel inexplicably happy, she couldn't help but start to worry again when she thought of the rambunctious character of this loli dragon.

"It's alright." Thorne smiled confidently at her, indicating that he didn't need to worry.

Then, he glanced at the little Loli who rushed over angrily. He ignored it, but turned his eyes to the skinny old man in front of him, and said, "What's the matter with you here?"

Originally, he was not sure whether the other party attracted him to come here, but just heard a series of complaints from Little Loli, which finally confirmed his thoughts.

"Be quiet first." The old man didn't answer Thorne's question, but straightened up leaning on the reclining chair, looked at the little loli who came rushing over, stretched out his hand, this little loli was like a He was unable to move as if he had been immobilized, and did not speak.

"Little guy, relax and don't be afraid, come over." Then the old man gave Thorne a kind smile and beckoned.

Thorne hesitated and stepped forward.

"Yes, the life essence of the Balor Flame Demon King is perfectly integrated." Seeing the figure of Thorne walking over, the old man stretched out his right hand to the air, closed his cloudy eyes and pondered for a while, and then he opened his eyes and was satisfied. looking at him:

"It seems that your strength has reached the bottleneck of the extraordinary rank. If you want to achieve the perfect advancement... you still need to accumulate. In this case, then take advantage of the accumulation time to practice other styles of moves."

After the old man finished speaking, a book appeared out of thin air in his withered right hand and threw it to Thorne.

One of the Nine Swords Schools, the Shilong School.

Seeing the name of the book, Thorne looked surprised, then put it away and asked, "What is the medium of this genre."

If you want to cultivate the Nine Swords School inherited from the Karatu Continent, you must first use the energy of Qi as the foundation, but if you want to activate this school, you must rely on a special medium.

For example, his desert wind style sword move requires a spar filled with fire element energy to help him activate the supernatural ability from flames, while the shadow hand style sword move requires shadow energy to activate.

The Shilong faction swordsmanship relies on the power of the earth and rocks.

Then, it means that some kind of earth element spar is needed.

Although he had already guessed the medium for cultivating the Stone Dragon Sect, he was still a little uneasy and wanted to confirm it again.

"You don't have to worry about this." The expression on the old man's face was obviously prepared for him a long time ago. I saw him wave his hand and turn his eyes to the red bronze dragon little loli, who was standing still with his angry mouth open:

"The red copper dragon is born with the power to control the rock and the earth, so if you want to practice the sword skills of the stone dragon school, the blood of the red copper dragon is the most perfect match."

"You mean Dragon's Blood Baptism?" Thorne recalled not-so-good memories in his mind.

"That's right." The old man nodded slightly, and then was surprised: "I didn't expect you to have it once, so it would be better. After all, the sword moves of the Shilong School rely on strong physique and strength."

After the old man finished speaking, he waved at Little Loli's motionless body.

"Damn old man! I don't agree! I object! You just gave my blood to this half-elf without my permission, and you also helped him practice the swordsmanship of the Stone Dragon School, so that What kind of tauren charge did he learn, as beautiful as you think! I wouldn't agree to kill me!" The little Loli who had resumed action walked up to the old man angrily, pinched her waist with her hands, and said viciously.

A blood?

Hearing Little Loli's clamor, Thorne's mouth twitched, and he turned his head away speechlessly, just in time to see Anderina's half-smile at him.

"If you agree, I'll help you **** the wizard tower back." The old man looked at the frantically screaming little loli, rubbed his forehead with a headache, and said unhurriedly.

"Is this true?" Little Loli's tone was full of suspicion and distrust.

"really!"

"Well...then let me think about it." Little Lolita, who had been constantly using the lie detection spell, didn't notice any reaction, so she pouted and looked at the seagulls flying past in the sky, thinking about it seriously.

"Okay, I agree." Little Lolita only thought about it for three seconds, and immediately nodded excitedly to the chicken like pecking rice.

"Wait a minute!" Suddenly, Thorne interrupted the conversation between the two: "There is no free lunch in the world, so I want to know what the purpose of this is and what obligations I need to perform."

Getting so many benefits for no reason always made him feel uncomfortable, so he wanted to ask why.

"Because you are the only one who passed all the tests and became the inheritor of the Nine Swords that I believe, the Nine Swords Temple on the highest road of Karatu continent cannot break the inheritance." The old man stared at Thorne with cloudy eyes and said slowly: " It's that simple, what more do you want?"

"Then, before me, how many people did not pass the test, and how many did not withstand the chaotic willpower erosion of the devil's power." Thorne was silent for a long time, his tone was very calm.

The dilapidated courtyard suddenly became quiet, and the voices of patrolling soldiers came from outside the courtyard. They were arguing and pushing each other, and they kept repeating the same swear words. It seemed that one of them accidentally tripped the other while they were running away.

"Is there any wine?" The old man sighed, looking at Thorne.

"I have it here." Noticing Thorne's gaze, Andrina took out a sealed fine wine bottle and handed it to him.

Thorne took it and threw it directly to the old man sitting on the rattan chair.

"Elf Moon Dew Wine, this unique wine can only be brewed by those who master alchemy. This unusual winemaking process even involves fresh rain and bright moonlight..."

The old man stared at the wine bottle and sighed a few times, as if he was nostalgic about the past, and then looked at Anderina and thanked him politely before unscrewing the cork and drinking the wine.

The dilapidated small courtyard became quiet again, except for the old man's drinking sound like drinking water.

Even the most noisy little loli became silent, only to see her staring at the old man's face curiously with her big round eyes, looking like she was thinking hard, it was really cute.

"During the 200 years of my search for the descendant of the Nine Swords, I can't even remember how many people failed the test, and how many failed to withstand the erosion of the will of the abyss." The old man leaned back on the reclining chair. , the tone is very calm.

"Then why did you choose me, and then let the light from the wizard tower suggest that I go to Winter City." Thorne asked the doubts hidden in the deepest heart.

"Because of your despair... Without a qualified night, there is no so-called true dawn." The old man was silent again for a while before slowly opening his mouth: "In life, the warmest place is home, and the most desperate place is tomb. The little bit of heart in the home that falls under the ground is a suffocating grave."

After listening to the old man's answer, Thorne was reminded of two extremely painful memories in a trance.

One part was a family he couldn't go back to, and the other part was the tomb where the waterfall town was located. His body trembled and took two steps back.

"I see, thank you for guiding me and giving me hope." Thorne bowed deeply to the old man in front of him with a slightly heavy tone.

"You don't have to, this is what you have won yourself, and you should also know that failure means death." The old man waved his hand and didn't care: "My only request is to hope that you can find the nine people in Karatu Continent in your lifetime. Sword God Temple, don't let the inheritance break in your hands, that's all."

"I will definitely complete this task." Thorne nodded solemnly.

"These two pieces of ancient equipment can be regarded as gifts from me. I hope you can live well." The old man smiled when he saw Thorne's serious appearance, and a pair of pure black gloves and a pair of black gloves appeared out of thin air in his hands. A belt, thrown directly into his hands, reminded:

"Remember, from now on, you are the real inheritor of the Nine Swords. As for us... nothing. I won't inquire about your origin and past, and you don't have to know my true identity. We just It's just a stranger from time and space, and no one owes anyone any kindness.

In short, follow your heart. "

"I... get it." Thorne put away the two pieces of equipment that the old man had given him, and bowed deeply to him with respect.

…………