Chapter 45: The Challenge

Gosia stood in front of the window of his bedroom in a daze, muttering: "******, it's winter again, and the military academy will be closed in half a month, right? But... However, this is also a good thing, right? If you go directly to the academy for nine months of study, you may not be able to adapt to it. ”

As he was talking, Gosia and Groot next door almost simultaneously saw an extremely tall figure swaying and appearing, the big man wandered around the playground in front of the main building for a while, holding the two beautiful statues and shaking for a while, until the granite base below began to shake, he seemed to be helpless to let go of his hand, and walked towards the gate with his hands staggering. Gosia and Groot leapt up at the same time, drew their long swords, and sneaked behind Ray towards the door.

It wasn't just these two guard captains who saw Lei's strange movements just now, there were more than fifty guard knights in the entire courtyard who witnessed Lei's actions. However, seeing that the two captains had followed in person, only the four best Golden Fifth Order knights followed, and the others continued to stay at their posts, waiting for the arrival of the knights who changed shifts during the day.

Early in the morning, only a group of soldiers of the newly formed Five Beast Legion walked around the city, and they ran in unison on the city's avenues empty-handed, shirtless, and panting, adding a chilling blood to the city in the name of 'Wild Battle'. There were some early risers, merchants from all over the world, traveling scholars, or some other person who could not tell what his profession was, and they walked silently and slowly on the sidewalks of the avenue, their eyes flashing, and staring at the soldiers who had been trained in the early days with all kinds of divine light.

Lei smiled as he watched the groups of soldiers running briskly by, watching their upper bodies dripping with wisps of sweat on this cold winter morning. A layer of heat enveloped these ordinary soldiers, and the soft lines of their faces, which originally belonged to ordinary people, had been mixed with some hard, cold elements. Ray thought of the silver wolf warriors who fought bloodily in the Qingfeng Plain, the Five Beast Legions who bravely assaulted in the Xili Province, and the Van soldiers who fought side by side with him in the Teke Canyon... It won't be long before these small soldiers, who still look very fleshy, can become such invincible heroes, right?

Hehe smirked and stood on the side of the road in a pair of underwear and watched for a while, Lei strode towards a building with a grand balance sign on the vault of the doorway, stood under the granite staircase of the thirteenth step and looked at it for a long time, Lei walked to a huge bluestone under the stairs. The stone was nearly two meters high and about one meter in diameter, and it was full of various deep and shallow marks from the grinding, as well as some deliberately carved holes. Lei slapped the stone with satisfaction and muttered: "Such a good thing, it's a waste to put it here, it's better to follow me." It looks like there's still a bit of weight. ”

In the inexplicable eyes of several well-dressed middle-aged people at the door of this building, Lei hugged the stone, and then roared frantically: "Get up for Lao Tzu." ”

With a 'snort', several granite slabs near the stone cracked with a 'click', and Lei simply pulled the stone up, and it could be seen that the stone was still more than a meter long underground. Ray, on the other hand, held the stone and lifted it up and down a few times, grinning: "Okay, it's weighty, it's heavier than those statues, it's enough for me to exercise my muscles... ”

The Vant's recruits who passed nearby applauded loudly, frequently looked back at this mighty man, and ran over noisily all the way. The middle-aged men at the top of the stairs rushed down with shocked faces and shouted, "What are you doing? You, you, what are you doing madman?"

Ray glared at each other and shouted, "What do you say I do? What are you putting a big rock at the gate for? It would be more useful for me to carry it back to exercise." Otherwise, you don't sell this stone? I found half of the street, and the stone at your door is the largest... By the way, why do you all have a stone pillar at the door?"

Gothia and Groot, who followed far behind, almost fainted, oh my God, this is a pillar set up by various large buildings on the side of the road, specially for people to tie the reins of horses, and this building in front of Ray is the headquarters of the Chamber of Commerce of the entire Van Empire, all the caravans that come to the Van Empire must come here to report their goods, and all the chambers of commerce that are ready to trade with foreign countries must also be registered here, this is the commercial center of the entire Van Empire, and the economic powerhouse.

Before Gosia and them could run over to adjust this problem, a team of soldiers of the Garrison Department wearing black uniforms and having strange tall black iron helmets on their heads had already rushed over with long swords, and shouted loudly: "What a bold man, he actually dares to make trouble at the headquarters of the Chamber of Commerce." Who are you, where are you from, what is your current address in the imperial capital, what is your name, and what are you doing?"

If it weren't for the fact that the trousers on Ray's body and the underwear on his upper body were all of the best materials, and his leather boots were also the kind of high-top boots of the army, these soldiers of the garrison would have taken Ray away a long time ago. However, dogs will use their clothes to distinguish a person's identity, let alone these shrewd soldiers of the security department who specialize in similar secret services?

One by one, they hesitated, looking at the big man who was holding the stone and horse stake and refused to let go. Lei is eyes bulging looked at the angry middle-aged people, there to a soldier of the garrison department complained: "My lord, you must punish this villain, he actually ran over early in the morning and made trouble at the door of our Chamber of Commerce headquarters, he must be not sober-minded." You see, he's still holding on to a rock, he must have something wrong with his head. ”

The squadron leader who led the garrison slowly stepped forward and asked in a cautious tone: "This gentleman, please answer our questions." And, why did you run to the door of the headquarters of the Chamber of Commerce to make trouble? The value of this stone is not very large, and it is not worth much if you take it, so why don't you put it down first?" He looked at Lei holding this thing weighing at least three or four thousand catties, but his face was relaxed, and his heart trembled a little, how could such a fierce man catch him back? Once such a stone was dropped, ten of them could not afford it.

Ray finally spoke: "How much does this stone cost? Didn't you say it wasn't worth it? Then I'll just take it away, I'll compensate for it, it's not expensive anyway. "Lei is taking it for granted that these pavements are not very valuable, because last time he broke so many pavements, it was only three gold coins in compensation.

The black shadow flashed a few times, and several young men in high-end dresses, who looked like aristocratic gentlemen, quickly walked over and whispered a few words in the ear of the squadron leader of the garrison. The squadron leader's face immediately became humble, and he gradually almost knelt down to Ray. Lei was watching the performance of the squadron leader in confusion, and Gosia had already quickly walked over with people and greeted the young men familiarly.

After a while of explanation, the people of the Chamber of Commerce happily let Lei carry the boulder, and the young men, the secret agents of the garrison department, respectfully asked Lei for peace, made an appointment with Gosia and them, and walked away with the soldiers of the garrison with a smile.

Ray carried the stone pillar on his shoulder, and as he walked towards home, he frowned and asked, "Gosia, what time did those people agree with you?"

Gosia smiled: "My lord, they are our friends, and they said that when we are free, we will invite them to drink." ”

Lei laughed, gently lifted the stone pillar up two feet high, then caught it and put it on his shoulder, and said with a smile: "I see, I thought you were like them, and you were also a secret agent of the Garrison Department." "Ray is the one who said it was unintentional, but Gosia and Groot's faces were a little unnatural, and they could only be accompanied by smiling faces.

When Jerry and his subordinates rushed into Ray's compound, he saw Lomat standing on the edge of the fountain in a daze, watching Ray juggle the huge bluestone there. I saw a clear and hazy ball of light emitting a 'whirring' wind whistle, which flew up from Lei's arm continuously, and then smashed heavily on his back muscles, making a 'poof' sound as the muscles unloaded the huge impact.

Jerry and the knight of the guard were dumbfounded, unable to speak. After a long time, Jerry shook his head and sighed, "No matter what, I won't compete with this guy." Hehe, when I rescued him in the Qingfeng Plain, this kid was also a hunter with a stronger body, and now... Tsk, it's a legendary dragon that can't be killed. ”

Jerry smiled and threw the reins in his hand to the captain of his guard, looked at Lomat's weak face, and asked, "Lomat, what's going on in your family? Your father is now a viscount, so he should have received a lot of benefits, right?"

Lomat smiled faintly: "It's okay, he was originally an ordinary clerk, and now he has become the head of their office, so he has finally been promoted by one level, but my father is not too interested in being an official, and he doesn't want to climb too high... I'm still worried about you... Lord Lei, Lord Jerry is here, you should prepare, at least change your clothes, okay? We're going to the Supreme Military Academy in the Imperial Capital, I'll contact you about admission. ”

Ray threw the boulder into the sky and walked over to Jerry and the others laughing. Amid the distorted faces of a few flower-watchers, boulders flew toward a flowerbed and smashed the hardy, woody ornamental trees within.

After more than ten minutes, Ray, dressed in a neat uniform and putting on his broad sword, rushed out of the compound side by side with Jerry. Behind the two of them, there were more than sixty high-ranking guard knights, and about twenty of them were wearing gorgeous gold light armor, which looked very high-sounding, but it was a bit of a big nobleman's outing.

Lei Zaima turned his head around desperately, looking curiously at the pedestrians on the road, and the small traders who began to carry goods to their shops, and exclaimed: "It's so cold, do they still have to do business? And it's still in the open air, don't there be a centralized market in the imperial capital? Otherwise, they would have opened that kind of small shop on the roadside." ”

Jerry sighed: "The big markets are in the West District, here are just some small merchants who are convenient for nearby residents and hotels and restaurants, the weather is colder, but not to the point of being unbearable, not to mention, in order to make money, these vendors will not care too much about these things... Well, Ray, you see, the place of the tower over there is the highest military academy in the Empire, hehe, I and the old man Gaddafi were all fooled around from there. But I'm better than him, I'm serious about getting an excellent transcript, and he grabbed the transcript after beating the dean of the college. ”

Ray stared blankly at the towering round minaret and asked, "How many students are there in the academy? I can't go in now, I can't have any lessons with them, right?"

Jerry shrugged his shoulders: "The highest military academy is divided into nine grades, from the lowest-level imp to the highest-level knight, there are more than 20,000 students in total, and it is also the largest academy in the entire empire." Lei, don't think too much about it, anyway, there is still half a month to go, and the academy will have a year-end holiday, and those students who have worked hard for a year will also go home for the New Year's holiday. You're going to test your level today and see where you're going to be placed. Then there will be a special teacher to tutor your cultural knowledge, everything is fine, rest assured. ”

Ray followed Jerry forward with great trepidation, until he reached the gate of the academy, which was sandwiched between two towering sentry towers. This is a large building complex, the city walls are crawling with green vines, it looks very old and old, but those brightly armored and energetic academy soldiers standing at the door add a fresh and energetic atmosphere to this ancient building complex.

Two middle-aged men wearing blood-red cloaks and uniforms of the Imperial Military Department were already standing at the door waiting, and when they saw Lei and them passing, the middle-aged man on the left hurriedly said: "I am Karls, the affairs officer of the Military Department, and this is my companion Bit, two honorable adults, we were ordered to assist General Lei in completing all the formalities for his enrollment." ”

Jerry nodded haughtily, waved his hand casually, and said, "Then, Karls, I'm sorry for you, let's lead the way." There shouldn't be too many formalities, right?" these two men were just ordinary clerks, and neither of them had their own titles, so Jerry didn't show any respect for them in front of them.

Karls hurriedly replied, "Yes, my lord, please, please come with us." Master Lei's admission procedure is actually very simple, as long as he determines his level of martial arts and tactics, you can arrange the best tutor for him. ”

Lei Weng said angrily: "What tactics? I don't know tactics at all, so I may have to start with the lowest grade, I'm sorry." ”

Karth and Bit looked a little embarrassed, they pretended not to hear what Ray said, and led them into the academy with smiles on their faces. The soldiers who stood guard at the gate looked at Ray and Jerry with reverence and envy, and their eyes flashed with a frenzied light that only a hot-blooded young man could emanate. They naturally know who Ray and Jerry are, and the secret battle report of the Van Empire has been circulated throughout the army and in the circle of nobles, among which the exploits of Ray and Jerry are boasted and exaggerated more than a hundred times, for example, Ray alone hacked to death more than thirty mad bear knights in Bicester... Therefore, these soldiers have long worshipped them as gods.

Instructing a few Guards to guard the horses at the gates of the Academy, Ray and Jerry followed Karls and them with a large number of Guards Knights. Jerry chuckled and said, "Ray, you have to pay attention in the future, here, it is rare to meet female knights, but if you meet a woman, then she must be the most difficult one, so... There is an unwritten rule at the Supreme Military Academy of the Imperial Capital that you should never fight a woman of your rank, because you are most likely not her opponent. ”

Ray's eyes widened, and he muttered, "Women, not necessarily my opponents, I can smash them with one punch." ”

Jerry frowned, shook his head, and said, "Ray, I'm sure you can even hurt Bobkat with one punch now, but you have to be able to hit someone else." What you learn is the simplest kind of desperate moves, which are not very useful in duels, and when you compete, you can still use that kind of gorgeous swordsmanship. ”

They skirted a verandah with hundreds of huge stone pillars and followed a crumbling granite road towards a tall rough stone building. Lei looked at the broken stone slabs on the ground in confusion and asked, "Jerry, didn't you say that the Empire invests a lot of money in the military academy every year?

Jerry was about to answer, but with a scream, a guy in fiery red heavy armor was smashed out of a small square square on the side of the road, and fell to the road in embarrassment.

Jerry sighed, pointed to the guy who couldn't move for a long time, and said, "See, this road is the famous 'duel road' of the academy, and there are more than thirty specially opened martial arts arenas on both sides of the road, so it is natural that the facilities here are difficult to ensure integrity." Instead of spending money on building roads, it is more cost-effective to spend money on a few more sets of armor to save their lives. ”

I saw the young man who had been standing in the field for a while, rushing out of the field, stepping on the chest of the unlucky man, and whispering: "Okay, don't pester Jenny again, otherwise I will beat you once when I see you." ”

The red-armored guy snorted and roared in a low voice: "Don't be angry, I won't be able to look good when the boss I went to the Silver Wolf Legion for an internship comes back." ”

Lei was bluffing and shouted: "Jerry, that guy's boss, you are your subordinate, or a trainee officer, how many hands should you have?"

As soon as he finished speaking, the two dueling fellows had already quickly got up and knelt on the ground respectfully. They saw the meaning of the uniforms on Ray and Jerry, and at the same time, they saw the large number of high-ranking knights, and for cadet knights like them, who had not yet graduated, it was very beneficial to maintain absolute respect in front of the official knights of the army.

Ray shook his head and sighed: "These guys, hehe... Well, it's a great way to improve their strength, Jerry. Let them fight hundreds of duels every day, and each one will definitely kill a few more enemies after entering the battlefield. ”

Jerry walked forward with a noble and dignified demeanor without squinting, not looking at the students who were gradually gathered around and standing on the side of the road chirping. He whispered, "Isn't it? There are also special tutors who create some small conflicts between students and let them fight. For example, if a hapless guy loses a duel, then it is likely that the toilet of the academy will be taken care of by him for a while. ”

Ray smiled strangely: "So, everyone must be competing for the lead?"

Jerry nodded lightly and muttered in a low voice, "There are even more despicable tricks to regulate these cute guys, such as deliberately recruiting a few beautiful knights into the academy, and then making them jealous and indiscriminate dueling." Anyway, as long as you don't die in the academy, even if you are seriously injured, you will be treated by the best doctors, so generations of students have grown up in bloody storms. Every year, the empire gives two hundred places to the imperial capital students, which means that there can be two hundred dead places. ”

Lei was a little stunned, this kind of training method is really cruel, but this is also the most effective way, right? If he didn't fight hard with those fierce beasts in the mountains, how could he have such a good physical foundation? However, this hellish academy life should have nothing to do with him, after all, his current strength, but those students have no way to resist it.

Just as Ray was turning his head full of ghosts, a slippery voice came: "Ah, dear cousin, have you finally come to our poor academy to see it?" Jerry, my cousin, you have come this time, I don't know what an important national matter to deal with?"

Jerry stopped abruptly, turned his head to look at the big square on the right side of the road, and he exclaimed, "Jerry, what do you want to do?

Jerry, who had a slick face, shook his body and squeezed out of the crowd with seven or eight companions who were also children of great nobles, his two small eyes rolled to the sky, and said slowly: "Cousin, how dare I provoke you? You are the leader of the honorable Silver Wolf Legion, how dare I provoke you? Even the Lord Lei beside you, although he is a fool who doesn't know a word, but after all, he is also the commander of the Wild Dragon Legion, how dare I insult the generals of the empire?"

Ray's fist clenched with a 'click, click, click', and he shouted, "Jerry, who do you say is stupid?"

A graceful voice rang out: "Oh God, Lord Ray, don't blame Viscount Jerry, I told him to say so. For me, a person like you, who climbed to the high position of the imperial military by luck, is a fool, nothing more than a fool with very good luck... Your strength is not even as good as one of my bodyguards, so what is there to be so angry?"

A middle-aged man with wavy blond curls, a face full of wine-colored excessive tiredness, and a body that was almost a little weak appeared under the escort of a group of knights, he smiled and shook the red rose in his hand, deliberately did not look at Ray, but greeted Jerry: "Aha, Count Jerry, you are a good friend of Milomy, right? By the way, my subordinate knights, I want to challenge your friend, is it okay?" Of course, of course, it's not a life-and-death duel, but a kind of martial arts competition, which should be legal, right?"

Jerry looked at the middle-aged man with a pale face, and said in a deep voice: "Lord Marquis of Karry, you don't have a good rest in your hotel, what are you doing here, what right do you have to enter the Imperial Capital Military Academy?"

Jerry exclaimed in surprise: "Oh my God, cousin, Kari is my friend, I have been sick recently, and he came to visit me at the academy, which is completely in accordance with the rules... I heard that General Lei's martial arts skills are high, so Kari is the most powerful coca under Lord Ou, and he wants to have a fight with General Lei. Are you against it?"

Facing the countless academy students around him, Ray took a heavy step and muttered, "Damn, Jerry, you said you were going to be angry for Milomi, right? ”

Jerry sighed in a low voice, muttering in his heart: "Damn, if we want to be angry for Milomi, we can also do it secretly, why do we have to conflict with the son of Duke Kari in front of the public now?。。。 Good boy, Jerry, you wait and see, you're deliberately trying to save my face, right?"

A lean middle-aged man, wearing green armor and a height that was only a fist shorter than Lei, walked out slowly and stood coldly in front of Lei