The Crimson Mountains meander southeast of the Aoro Plain, enclosing a roughly oval-shaped basin that is the domain of the Crimson family, Fernandez, the Crimson Collar.

When the Arcane Empire was still a small arcane kingdom, Fernandez, the true red family that had ruled here for generations, was the first to offer their loyalty to Oro Green. At that time, this decision caused great disagreement and turmoil within the Fernández family, and even caused a large-scale internal purge, which was decided after a river of blood was pouring and people were rolling.

Judging from later developments, this decision was definitely wise at the time. The Orogreen royal family received their first and most important allies, and also showed due generosity and generosity, and immediately after the establishment of the empire, the head of the Fernández family was named the Crimson Grand Duke, and the Crimson Principality was established within the Crimson Mountains and the mountains for thousands of miles, and the Fernández family also became the preferred foreign surname family for intermarriage with the imperial family. Since then, the Fernández family has been one of the most important surnames in the history of the empire, and it is truly a family of people.

After the fall of the Empire, the slaughter of the Arcane Royalty, and the disappearance of the name of Orogrin in the long river of history, Fernandez became the most noble and prominent surname in the land. Although the concept of empire has become very subtle as the world has changed at this time, and other families may not admit it on the surface, and the true red family will not pay lip service to it, as the family with the longest marriage with the Arcane royal family, this sense of superiority does exist in everyone's heart.

What makes the Fernández family stand out from the crowd is certainly not just a name. The Crimson Duchy has coexisted with the Empire for hundreds of years, and the foundation accumulated is extremely deep, even in the war, it has also been hit hard, and even the True Red Grand Duke has fallen together with the floating city where it is located, but the Crimson Duchy will not be directly affected by the impact of the alien alliance like Oroyusta. At that time, there were still two elven clan armies into the principality, and Duke Felton, who was ordered to take charge of the family at the moment, immediately ordered all the alien slaves in the principality to be released and offered with both hands, and at the same time personally went into battle to call on all the family mages and even the people to be ready for battle, and the elven army just casually destroyed some arcane facilities and retreated.

In this way, the foundation of the Crimson Principality has been largely preserved after all. In the name of mourning the empire and the royal family, the Duke of Felton announced the abandonment of the name of the principality, and gave up all the territories and interests obtained from the empire outside the Crimson Mountains, and shrunk back into the basin. Today, Fernandez is vaguely considered the first family of the post-imperial era, and the true red palace on the top of the Red Mountain overlooks the vast plains in the northeast.

Today, the True Red Palace is very lively. The Fernandez family is very large, but the only person who lives in the True Red Palace is the Grand Duke of Felton, and there are not many people who come and go here in normal times, but today it is a little different, from time to time there are arcane floating vehicles flying in, and there are many high-level mages who use flying arts, and for a while, there are people and cars coming and going over the palace, and even the lords in the valley in the distance can see it.

"What's going on today? So many people are in the Crimson Palace?"

“...... Isn't it a holiday, like the Duke's birthday or something?"

"Fool, don't we have to celebrate the Duke's birthday, you drank and vomited three times last time, didn't you?"

"Haha, the wine that the Duke invited us to drink, where can we drink it on weekdays. That's why I'm looking forward to this day. ”

"That's two months away...... I guess there was something else important going on today. I hope that the Duke is in good health, and I wish the Red Mountain will always be majestic and the true red will always be there. ”

"The red mountains are majestic, and the true red is always there. ”

In contrast to the relationship between the noble lords and the lords in other places, the people of the Crimson Collar were quite trusting and loyal to the Fernández family. This is due to the stable rule of the True Red family here for thousands of years, as well as a series of pro-people measures taken by the Duke of Felton after he ascended the throne, giving up the fiefdom outside the basin, concentrating all resources in the basin, and drastically reducing the taxes of the lords, which made the subsequent famine and disaster not as difficult as other places, and occasionally there is something to celebrate and do not forget to rejoice with the lords, for decades, the people of the red collar have taken it for granted that the Duke is a monarch worthy of their loyalty, which is a unique exception among the nobles of the empire。

And now, the duke, who was beloved by the people, was in the red palace, smiling like a flower, watching the endless stream of people walk through the hall.

If only by appearance, Duke Felton does not look at all the bearing that he should have as the helm of the True Red Family, he is short and fat, with round and somewhat exaggerated facial features with a bit of dullness and occasional flash of cunning, even if he wears a custom-made luxurious dress and a golden wig, he is just the appearance of a rich man in the countryside.

And today, the rich man smiled as if he had picked up a hundred catties of gold for nothing, and his round eyes narrowed into two slits, looking at a man and a woman who came hand in hand from outside the palace in the distance, as if watching two mountains of gold walking towards his pocket.

"Your Excellency, please be reserved, don't laugh so happily, the children are watching. Duke Linshan, who was sitting next to him, couldn't help but remind him that as another giant of the Fernandez family, his dress and appearance were more in line with the appearance of a high-ranking and powerful imperial nobleman. He is tall, with a deep face, a deep voice, and indescribable mood, which makes people know at a glance that he is a great man with a great city.

"What's the matter?" said Duke Felton, his narrowed eyes, and immediately narrowed them again. "It's something to be happy about, and it's rare to see that we have another good young man in our family, and he's a druid. ”

"It will take an identification to determine if he is a real Fernandez. "Duke Linshan's face is ancient, and he is not happy and worry-free.

"I think it must be, there is no need for any identification, and a druid would still lie about this?" said Duke Felton with a clapping of his hands, shouting as he pointed into the distance. "Look at that dazzling blonde hair, which is brighter and brighter than my hair that cost more than fifty thousand dollars, isn't this proof of noble blood? Where is there anyone other than the Fernández family who has inherited the noble and pure arcane blood? Ah, look how handsome he is, how can such a person lie about such a thing? Isn't he afraid of being sold to a brothel by me? hahahaha. ”

Duke Linshan stopped talking. Although so many years have passed, he still feels a little unbearable for the rustic atmosphere of this Duke of Felton, except for the surrounding environment and throwing away the clothes, he completely feels that the one sitting next to him is a gangster who is mixed in the streets and alleys, or the lowest kind. Of course, Duke Linshan has not actually come into contact with this kind of social residue, but he just thinks that the most vulgar and despicable posture and temperament should be like this.

This is not a random slander and belittlement, this Duke Felton was indeed a gang leader in the lower city of Copperriver Port before he sat in the position of duke. As one of the dozens of illegitimate sons of the previous Duke of Felton, this is also quite embarrassing, but in the battle of the wrath of the gods that the situation suddenly turned down at that time, the Fernandez family has six dukes, eight marquises, and more than a dozen earls died in battle in just one week, and the army of the Central Great Plains Empire has led to the team sent out from the principality to be slaughtered by the alien alliance like chickens and ducks waiting to be slaughtered, almost no one dares to jump out to inherit those thrones that they usually dream of.

Only this guy, Adam Felton, who was still a gang leader at the time, was still jumping up and down, trying his best to show his so-called power and connections in front of the family elders, in order to take himself a step further. At this time, Fernandez was leaderless, and no one wanted to inherit those titles that were destined to lose their heads, so they hurriedly carried him up.

It's just that the later development made everyone's eyes glaze, and the survival wisdom that this gang leader has cultivated in the streets and alleys for many years not only saved his head, but also took the entire Crimson Basin through the biggest crisis. Surrendering to the savage aliens, offering slaves, renunciating the title of the principality, and relinquishing the fiefdoms of the empire were impossible orders for any nobleman at the helm with the slightest sense of honor.

And when the crisis passed, and the others thought about whether they should replace this guy, they were stunned to find that this gang leader actually took advantage of the time he was in power to attract and promote a lot of his own strength, and then took advantage of the huge prestige brought by this fluke success, and actually completely confirmed this position. The gang leader is indeed coarse and unbearable, and indeed slick and humble to see the rudder, but he is not inferior to any nobleman in his desire for power and ruthlessness.

Therefore, for this true red grand duke, who is loved by the people, in fact, he is not so popular among the high-level within the family. Of course he knew that, but he didn't care at all, at least he did.

At this time, a man and a woman outside have already entered the main hall and accepted everyone's attention, they are the protagonists of today. In fact, even if this reason is abandoned, these two will become the focus of everyone's attention wherever they go, both are young, the man is extremely handsome, and the woman is incomparably bright, like characters who have come out of the dreams created by the most brilliant illusionists. The guards who were supposed not to squint couldn't help but cast their burning gaze on these two people, especially the woman, no matter how much etiquette training and strict discipline they were, they all looked weak and powerless in front of such an unimaginable beauty.

Relatively speaking, the eyes of the other Fernandez family are much more complicated, in their eyes, these are not only two handsome and beautiful young men, but also closely related to their status and interests. Some of these people are wary, some are disgusted, and some are greedy.

"Where did that slut get this man from Julia? It can't be his concubine, is he? He's so good-looking, hell, is it like her who has been transformed by the arcane?"

"Oh no, such a perfect man. Looking at that handsome face, looking at the muscular shape and perfect skeleton of that hip, looking at that pace, I can imagine how his abs twisted...... No, I want one anyway, do any of you know he went there to transform, Arcane Academy?"

"No kidding. How dare the Arcane Academy do such a thing, I heard that it is ......"

"Oh, hell, that's not going to be easy...... Didn't Julia make a big deal about this man as a great druid?

"Probably not...... But it's hard to say, after all, the technology that those guys have is the ...... of the Imperial Era."

Anyway, it looks like Julia has already taken this man into her pocket first, and she's showing everyone that she's bringing this man back this time. ”

“... This woman's ambition is not small, but she doesn't think that this man alone can take her to the next level, right? With her background, she has already gained enough, isn't she satisfied?"

"I don't know, it seems that the Duke should be careful...... No one is sure what this woman with a growing appetite will do. ”

"I'm looking forward to seeing her be driven by her excessive ambition to do something stupid, like fake a druid's bloodline to show her family presence and merit or something......"

Along the way, the whispers around came over, some were just some noises, and some were as clear and audible as if they were specially spoken to her, but Julia didn't care, these corpse vegetarian guys didn't have any ability, the only thing they were good at was to occupy a high position by relying on the blood of their ancestors, and while being jealous of other people's talents and diligence, she tried every means to obstruct it, she had been used to it for so many years, and these whispers couldn't make the smile on her face change even a little.

But she should still be wary of people who are not used to it, so she whispered to Phil next to her: "Don't care about the annoying words around you, as I told you before, most of the people in this family are rotten maggots." They don't even have the most basic claws and teeth of a beast, and they only spew jealous venom at what they feel threatened, so you don't have to care. ”

This kind of explanation and persuasion is very necessary. It is impossible for the words of these people to conceal the perception of a druid. And if this young man, who is obviously just stepping into the aristocratic circle, has a bad impression and mentality, it will have a very big impact on her plan. Fortunately, she had prepared for it, described the jealousy that might be encountered in advance, and learned the most acceptable way of speaking for the druids.

"Don't worry. The smile on the young man's face was still sunny, untainted by the vicious words around him. "I could make out the disgusting, twisted aura they were exuding. They are just mosquitoes and flies in the wind, they can't even move the smallest whirlpool, and their own existence is only dependent on the forces of the outside world, and the only meaning of their existence is only disgusting people. ”

"You know, that's for the best. The smile on Julia's face grew brighter. The smile made her glow even brighter, and those who stared at her were almost stunned.

At this time, the two had already walked to the middle of the palace, facing the two giants of the Fernandez family on the throne above, Julia curtsied: "Honorable Grand Duke, Duke, I have returned with the bloodline of the True Red Family. ”

"Duke, duke, how many times have I said it, just call me duke. Duke Felton's hands waved wildly, and his fat face was slightly displeased, but when he turned to look at the young man next to him, he became full of kindness and joy again. "That's what you said about Phil in your letter, isn't it, what a fine young man, almost as far as I did when I was younger, and I knew as soon as I saw him that it must be from our Fernandez family. Young man, do you remember where you came from?"

"Yes, my mother and I lived in a swampy village in the eastern part of the Stander region until I was eight years old, and I only remember my mother once saying that I came from a great arcane family. It was only when I was eight years old that a famine killed my mother by thieves, and I was taken in by a passing orc druid, who had been practicing in the forests south of Stander until then. ”

"Ah, what a poor child. Duke Felton wiped away the tears that didn't exist from the corners of his eyes. "Stander is near the northwest border of the Orc Grassland, it's hard to imagine that our people still live in a poor and dangerous place like Stander, your full name is ......?"

"Phil Fall, Draste, Morry, Fernandez. Young Phil replied.

"Ah, it's the bloodline of the Morry family. Their territory was destroyed by the alien race, and it is still desolate, and indeed there are many bloodlines scattered outside. That damn war. ”

Fernandez has been scattered on the continent for hundreds of years, although he is already one of the best family names, but there are countless bloodlines secretly wandering outside, speaking of war is only a small accidental reason, the internal struggle for inheritance and interests is the main thing, and being deprived of the name of the family and banished to the marginal barren land for the rest of his life is the only choice for the loser.

Of course, for outstanding and capable talents, it is also a natural thing to return to the family. Duke Felton asked, "So Phil, have you decided to return to the True Red Family now?"

"Yes. Phil replied. "My teacher's soul returned to the Elemental Realm three months ago, and I decided to step into the human world, because my mother's long-cherished wish was to be able to return to the Fernandez family. At this time, there happened to be three mages who strayed into the territory of the Thunder Tribe and became captives, because of my teacher, I have always maintained a good friendship with the Thunder Tribe, so I asked those three mages to take me out of the prairie together......"

"Good, good. This is really an inspirational story that can be sung by bards for hundreds of years, and the True Red family can stand on the mainland for thousands of years, relying on the centripetal force of a loyal and great family like this. Duke Felton stood up, clapped his hands, and took out the rare gesture and words that he should have as a true red Grand Duke. "Especially since you're still a druid, it's a rare thing. What does it mean that we believe in the way of elemental nature while not forgetting the glory of our family and bloodline?haha, forgive me for being a little disrespectful, the brilliance of the gods cannot hide the power of our family bloodline. ”

Such words were indeed disrespectful to a clergyman, but fortunately, the young man named Phil around him did not show the clergyman's old-fashioned and impersonal feelings that they feared, but replied with a smile: "Blood and kinship are gifts from the God of life, and they are as great as the four eternal elements." ”

That's the best answer I've ever heard. The Duke of Felton's face was on the verge of laughing. "Speaking of which, there are countless archmages who have come out of the True Red Family, but the druids have never been before, can you show us the power of the gift from the True God?"

Phil smiled slightly, didn't answer or move, but with his smile, dozens of bright balls of light silently appeared in the vast hall.

There was a sound wave in the main hall composed of inhaling and whispering, and the people who could stand here were at least the most basic arcanists who had received quite a lot of arcane education, and there was no shortage of high-level mages, they could all see that this was not simply something for lighting, the faint tingling sensation brought by the body surface, and the small arcs of light that jumped between those light balls from time to time all showed that it was a ball lightning full of huge energy, and the destructive power of each one was no less than a combat-type five-ring arcane.

Phil stretched out his hand and raised his index finger, and the lightning bolts above began to spin as if they had heard a command, and then all fell towards his fingers, merging into a large, dazzling ball of light that floated silently on his fingers like a harmless and beautiful soap bubble.

The whispers were louder, and some of the mages who used the arcane of reconnaissance began to have a little bad on their faces, such a huge amount of elemental energy, and such a delicate manipulation of this energy, was almost beyond their understanding.

At this time, Phil pursed his lips and blew lightly, and the huge ball lightning floating between his fingers began to disintegrate in a very short time, and then disappeared. This ball of dangerous elements that has made many people lose color is like a candle in his hand, which can be born and extinguished with a thought.

This time, even the eyes of Duke Linshan were shining, as one of the archmages of the Fernandez family, his vision and vision were of course far beyond others, and even he did not dare to underestimate the extraordinary power displayed by crossing the magic net.

Duke Felton couldn't see anything. Even with a series of evil supplements later, the arcane level of this gang-born duke could only be maintained near the passing line of an apprentice, but fortunately, an old man standing behind him whispered a few words in his ear, and he suddenly nodded as if he was overjoyed.

"It's wonderful, it's amazing, it's amazing!" said the Duke of Felton laughing and clapping as he glanced at his people, taking in their expressions of shock or bewilderment. "Now, on behalf of the Fernández family, I would like to welcome the return of the distant wanderer Phil Fallon, Drastemori, to our family. Now all you need to do now is pass the Bloodline Identification Arcane in front of everyone, and you'll be a real Fernandez again......"

"Please wait, Lord Felton. Duke Linshan, who had been sitting quietly beside him, spoke. "Isn't that a bit hasty?"

"What's the matter? What do you think is sloppy?" the Duke of Felton turned his head, still smiling, but there was no smile in his seemingly stunned eyes.

The Duke of Linshan was still expressionless, and said unhurriedly: "I mean, for such an excellent young man, is it too simple to use the bloodline to identify the arcane. You probably don't know, in fact, this six-ring arcane can go wrong, not only those necromantic arcane can use their hands and feet on the bloodline, but also some divine spells in the field of life......"

Duke Felton immediately said, "Your Excellency Linshan, please rest assured, what I have prepared for this young man is a bloodline analysis arcane technique that is as high as the seven rings, and it is not so easy to make mistakes. ”

"But it's still possible to make mistakes, isn't it?" said Duke Linshan, who was a little reluctant. "Even aside from those artificial interference methods, the elemental druids will produce some abnormalities in the bloodline as their affinity for the elements continues to increase, I mean, if there are some anomalies in the arcane identification because of these accidents, wouldn't it be a pity for such a talented young man who is eager to return to the family?"

"Sounds like you have something better to do. The Duke of Felton leaned back in his seat, squinting at the other.

"Yes, there is exactly one. Duke Linshan flicked his fingers, and a strangely shaped scroll appeared in the air in front of him as if it had popped out of the void. "I've been worrying lately about what to do with this Truth Inquiry Scroll, a mid-Empire scroll whose arcane skills are in danger of collapsing with the passage of time. Although this is a nine-ring arcane, the applicability of this arcane is too narrow, I don't even know what to use it for....... but fortunately, it is absolutely infallible to judge based on the order of cause and effect, and it is really suitable to use it now to screen this young man's bloodline. Do you say yes, Lord Felton?"

Duke Felton's eyes narrowed, and it was clear that he still had a smile on his face, but it made everyone in the palace look at him with a sense of danger.