Half a year has flown by.

By the time Lu Xiao recovered from the fulfilling life of training during the day and studying at night, Monteriggioni had already crossed two seasons into winter.

Tuscany is located in the west-central part of the Apennine Peninsula, and under the influence of the warm Mediterranean current, there is not much temperature difference throughout the year, compared to the cold southern cities where Lu Xiao originally worked and lived, the winter here is particularly gentle.

Half a year of high-intensity training has made Lu Xiao, whose physical fitness is already good, improve a lot, and the muscle lines on his body that were not very obvious have become well-defined.

His muscles are not as beautiful but pompous as they have been formed after fitness training, and under the training close to actual combat, every inch of Lu Xiao's muscles is full of strength, but it doesn't look so burly from the appearance.

As the leader of the Italian Brotherhood of Assassins, Mario spends most of the year on the go.

Either leading the mercenaries to fight against the Florentine Republic, or turning around to fight against Siena, he also had to work for the busy work of the Assassin Brotherhood when the war was not working, and he had little time to train Lu Xiao personally.

"Bell!"

At the training ground of Auditore Manor, Lu Xiao was holding two short knives in his hand and fighting three powerful mercenaries at the same time.

Although Mario has formulated a strict training plan for him, the development of his fighting style is left to Lu Xiao to decide, and Mario only gives point-to-the-point advice on some key parts with his rich and old-fashioned combat experience.

Lu Xiao did not choose the long sword used by the noble lord as a weapon like Mario, but chose two short knives.

In terms of combat style, it takes a relatively dexterous offensive and defensive balance line, which is very different from the thinking of contemporary Europeans who go straight on the battlefield.

As a member of the Assassin Brotherhood, Mario was not one of those rigid lords and generals, and he did not question Lu Xiao's choice in any way, but encouraged him to try the style that best suited him.

"Lu, the Assassins are not conformist Templars, and our Order encourages a diverse attempt of free will."

"All is true, and Assassins should not be bound by unreasonable rules."

"Everything is false, and when the world blindly follows the wrong preconceived notions, the Assassin should be bold enough to question them."

Mario's expression was very serious when he said these two clear words, and he was not at all as rough and hearty as he used to get along with the mercenaries.

"These two sentences were left by Hassan al-Sabah, the great Mentor of the Assassins of the 11th century, and I hope you will take them to heart and ponder the true meaning of them in your daily life and missions."

"Just because everything is okay doesn't mean that we can kill innocents indiscriminately without any scruples."

"Everything is empty, remember not to be blinded by your own pride and prejudice, and always look at things calmly from an objective point of view."

After half a year of training and observation, Mario basically confirmed Lu Xiao's character through long-term daily contact.

Although Mario still doesn't know whether the story described by Lu Xiao is true or false because of the extreme inconvenience of communication, a person's subconscious words and deeds can't deceive people, and Lu Xiao is by no means the kind of person who flies and dogs.

The Assassin Brotherhood was not in a good position, and the Templar Order's power grew stronger with the rise of Rodrigo Borgia, Grand Master of the European Branch, and the number of casualties in the Brotherhood had risen dramatically across Europe in recent years.

Mario intended to formally introduce the down-to-earth and progressive young man into the Brotherhood, allowing him to breathe fresh blood into the demoralized Assassin Order.

According to the rules of the Assassin Brotherhood, if Lu Xiao wants to join the Brotherhood, he must first complete all Assassin training and obtain the approval of the relevant person in charge.

Lu Xiao, who was walking around the training ground, grabbed the flaw that was inevitably revealed when a mercenary waved his two-handed weapon, and two short knives deftly pointed at the vital point of his chest, sending him out of the battle circle.

"Drink!"

Behind him, a mercenary with a long weapon in his hand took advantage of Lu Xiao's standing footsteps to attack, stabbing the spear in his hand indismissibly, and the sharp sound of breaking wind quickly approached Lu Xiao's back chest.

Lu Xiao, who had already sensed the movement in the rear, relied on his strong waist and leg strength, and his upper body leaned back to make an iron plate bridge action, narrowly avoiding the spear thrust.

At the same time, another mercenary holding a two-handed giant sword shouted and slashed his weapon at Lu Xiao's waist, who was half-lying on the ground.

The two knives crossed to lock the spear mercenary's weapon, and the mercenary was given a boost of force as he used his strength, and his feet staggered slightly.

Lu Xiao took this opportunity to kick his legs up and off the ground, and the spear mercenary whose body center of gravity was destroyed was kicked in the face, and he sat on the ground with his eyes full of gold and withdrew from the battlefield.

With the help of the reaction force generated by the kick, Lu Xiao stood up from the ground again, just in time to dodge the two-handed giant sword that grazed his bangs and slashed into the ground, and opened the distance under his feet, taking the short bow from his back and aiming at the mercenary who had no time to stop.

"That's it!"

The sound of cheering outside the field came, and the three mercenaries raised their hands in convincing to salute the French military, and after the strenuous exercise, Lu Xiao put down his bow and arrows, and sat on the ground trying to breathe and adjust his breathing.

"Papapa~"

Crisp applause came from outside the training ground, and Mario exclaimed with relief on his face: "Bravo, your combat skills are out of the ordinary, and if you want to further improve, you can only accept more baptism of actual combat." ”

"It's time."

Under the respectful bow of the mercenaries, Mario stepped forward and patted Lu Xiao's shoulder with emotion: "Your training in Monteriggioni is over, get ready to go to Florence, I will write to Giovanni to guide you in the next step." ”

Mario solemnly admonished: "The blood talent you inherited from your ancestors should not be wasted in such a small country place, Giovanni's situation in Florence is not very good, he will definitely need your help." ”

The talent Mario is talking about is actually a beautiful misunderstanding.

He mistook the amazing vision that Lu Xiao had gained through his clairvoyance skills for the Eagle Vision inherited from generation to generation by a few Assassin families, which made him even more sure of Lu Xiao's authenticity as a descendant of the Assassin family.

Lu Xiao naturally won't take the initiative to clarify this issue stupidly, Mario's misunderstanding can help him integrate into the Brotherhood faster and obtain more core information about the Pieces of Eden, why not.

As Mario's trust gradually deepened, Lu Xiao was able to access some relevant information within the Brotherhood.

Much of the information was related to the struggle between the Assassins and the Templars, but it also included some information about the Pieces of Eden, notably the Shroud of Eden, an artifact that Mario had given to the Brotherhood himself.

The Artifact of Eden had been stored for a long time in the depths of the Auditore Manor, and Mario learned of it from an enemy spy when the Knights Templar attacked Monteriggioni in 1454, and personally led the Shroud from the ground.

The underground passages are full of traps and traps, and Mario's mercenaries have suffered heavy losses, and it was during this operation that he was blinded by a guerrilla pendulum.

According to Mario himself, the Piece of Eden stored in the small wooden box had an eerie magical power, and he and the mercenaries who entered the underground passage together heard the call from the Shroud when the small wooden box was opened.

The mercenaries except Mario lost their minds under the temptation of the artifact, and as a last resort, Mario had no choice but to kill the crazy mercenaries who took the initiative to attack him, resisted the temptation of the shroud, and handed it to his brother Giovanni, so that he could take the Piece of Eden away from Monteriggioni and hand it over to the Brotherhood for sealing.

Lu Xiao thought that the first Piece of Eden he came into contact with would be related to the golden apple that ran through the old pervert's career, but he didn't expect to accidentally learn important information about another artifact from Mario.

After the Shroud was taken by Giovanni and kept in the home of a member of the Assassins in Florence, Mario's suggestion that he travel to Florence for further training was in line with Lu Xiao's next step.

Is the Shroud really able to bring the dead back to life, as the legend says? ’

After the farewell banquet that night, Lu Xiao, who had been drunk, leaned on the head of the bed a little dizzy, looking at the bright crescent moon outside the window.

Anyway, I've finally got the information on the first Piece of Eden, but we can't let it go. ’

'After getting the first fragment, you can complete the world mission, and the system only gives a year to stay after the task is completed, so you must plan the time well, and strive to get as many Eden pieces as possible within a year, and improve the final evaluation of the world mission. ’