The year he met Ken, Roy was ten years old.

At that time, he was just a kid with a big head with a dull face. Because Grandpa William needed some farming tools and a few traps, he followed him into Ken's blacksmith shop. In the sound of clanging bangs, I saw the dark-skinned man and the freckled boy.

Although Ken was already fifty years old at the time, he had a body as strong as a rock because of his perennial iron. He was naked, with a thick, torn blacksmith skin apron around his waist, and his brown hair was messily draped behind his head, and he was smiling.

Tom, like a little beast, bared his teeth at the strange big-headed boy who had stepped into his territory.

Ken has a loud voice, and his words are like thunder.

As long as a customer comes to the door, his voice can be heard on the street. He will enthusiastically sit you down, listen to your requests, and then tell you in his loud voice how he will make the tools or weapons you need so that you don't lose every penny you spend.

He has a calm temperament, which forms a strong contrast with his powerful body. In all the years of Bollabelle's time, Roy had never seen anyone blush. If the neighbor has any difficulty, if he wants to do something but is shy in his pocket, he will take the initiative to help, and the cost will be waived.

His craftsmanship is among the best in several nearby counties. Popularity is also the best. The sound of the iron striking every morning and continuing into the evening has become a part of the life of the people of Borabel.

Because of his hard work, Ken has a good life. The business of the blacksmith shop is booming, and his son Tom is also kind and sensible, and the family lacks nothing except a woman.

Tom's mother died in childbirth when she gave birth to him.

At that time, Ken was almost forty years old. It was he who was both a father and a mother, and he pulled Tom up with one hand and one foot. The father and son depend on each other. Although Ken is often glared at by Tom, and Tom occasionally gets beaten, they both see each other as the most important person in their lives.

Ken wants Tom to be a blacksmith, but Tom wants to be a knight. Ken always scolded Tom for daydreaming and complained that there was no successor to the blacksmith shop, and at the same time, after his son failed to be elected as a knight boy at the Baron's Castle, he hired a wandering knight as a teacher for him to help him continue his dream.

While Tom was practicing martial arts with freelancers in the backyard, Ken was working in the blacksmith's shop. Sweating profusely, not saying a word. Just take a look out into the backyard while you're resting.

He is an ordinary man, and even the way he loves his son is the same as that of other civilians. They are reticent and find it difficult to show affection for their sons, as if that would undermine their dignity as fathers. They are clumsy and not good at expressing their feelings, but their love for children is rooted in the bone marrow.

At the moment when Tom fell to the ground, Ken's life had already merged into his son's body in another form. It was his blood, the continuation of his life, the mark he left on this world.

Looking at Ken in front of him, Roy trembled with distress.

Fatherless and motherless, he and Ken are like father and son. He enjoys striking with Ken and Tom in the roaring blacksmith's shop, working together to make a good weapon. He enjoyed the heavy slap that ruffled his hair, and enjoyed waving his wooden sword with Tom in the backyard, whirring and tossing. Enjoy the pampering that hides in the dark face and stern gaze when Ken stares at the two "little bunnies".

And this life, this qiē, was completely ruined by someone

Ruined and can't go back

Ken's hair was gray, his dark face was full of deep wrinkles, and his eyes were cloudy. He looks ten years older than he did a little over a year ago.

Roy could not imagine how the lonely old man had spent more than five hundred days and nights recalling every picture of his life with Tom in the dark night, how he silently called his name, and how he sat alone and wept silently in the dead silence that answered him.

Every time this image came to his mind, Roy's heart was like being slashed ten times, and his hatred for Alex, Augustus, the Holy See and the Knights Templar increased a hundredfold, a thousandfold

............

............

I don't know how long it took for an old man and a young man to calm down under the tearful persuasion of Hans and Sister Xiaolan. As soon as he came to his senses, Ken hurried up and down, took out a bottle of good wine that he was reluctant to drink, and was busy cutting bacon and sausages and baking bread. Roy wanted to help, but he stopped him from moving. , Sister Xiaolan and Hans on the side quietly looked at the old man's busy and somewhat flustered figure, looked at his bloody face and his eyes that became godly, and looked at Roy following him like a fart, and the appearance of the two arguing for work, they were happy and sour.

This day has not come easily.

Only they can understand the relationship between Ken and Roy, and only they can understand how happy and relieved Ken is at this moment.

He's old. After Tom died, all his hope in life was to hope that Roy, who he regarded as his own son, would come back alive. For more than a year, some people may have argued with Sister Xiaolan and Hans about Roy's life and death, but no one has ever had the heart to pierce the hope of this old man.

He was convinced that Roy was still alive, and that one day, the big-headed boy would walk into his blacksmith one morning, smile at him, and call him Daddy.

In his mind, Tom and Roy have become one on that cliff.

That was the only motivation for him to survive, in the depths of this silent alley, lonely swinging the hammer again and again, and holding on to the present in the splashing sparks

And this day has finally arrived.

When Roy stood alive in front of him, the old man seemed to come to life. Yes, come alive. Like a fire, in the midst of being extinguished, it suddenly lit up. Let people really feel the power of a life, a kind of excitement from the bones

"Come" finally got a table of food, and when he sat down, Daddy Ken put a bowl of wine in front of Roy. Rubbed his head with his big thick hands, "Little rabbit, when you grow up, you can drink"

Roy's eyes were red and his head was lowered.

He couldn't help but think about the time when he and Tom had been stealing wine together in Ken's cellar, and the two little bunnies had slept all day with red faces. In my mind's eye, the two boys galloping out of the blacksmith shop barefoot, fleeing to the roar of Ken as he came home, as if it were just yesterday.

Seeing Roy's appearance, Hans and Sister Xiaolan both looked at each other and sighed.

They knew that Roy couldn't get over that hurdle in his heart. Tom died for him, and as such, there was a deep sense of guilt in his heart.

"Don't cry and mourn" In silence, Daddy Ken patted Roy on the shoulder and said, "I know, you miss Tom and feel indebted to him." Owe me too. But I have to sue you to-day, and you owe no one to-day, not to mention Tom, and I, Hans, Ran, and most of the Bolabel people in this city, would not have survived to this day."

He turned his head to look at Hans and Lan, "Am I right?"

Hans and Sister Xiaolan both nodded.

Every Bolabel remembers Roy turning and killing, remembering him leading everyone on flight, remembering him fighting desperately with Buck and the others at the Pass. To say that he saved everyone is not an exaggeration at all.

"Tom is my son, a silly boy. The action in front of you is even more stupid. Ken looked at Roy, his voice slow, "But...... Roy, look at me. ”

Roy looked up.

An old man and a young man stared at each other, Ken's tears rolling in his eyes, and he smiled with tears: "You have to know how proud I am of him." ”

The courtyard was silent.

"I admit, I think about him every day. Ken took a deep breath and tried to calm his feelings, "He's my son, I can't help but think about him." I wanted that stinky boy to come back to life, to pout with me, and to roll on the ground when he was beaten. But what I wanted most was to say a few words to him. ”

"I want to say sorry to him. For so many years, I didn't know that Lao Tzu's son was so good and so outstanding. Despite his hard deep breaths, Keken's tears rolled out: "I still want to sue him to his face, that day, he is more like a knight than anyone else."

Ken's voice echoed in the deep courtyard.

Whether it was Roy, Hans or Sister Xiaolan, they all looked at this proud father stupidly, and before they knew it, they were already in tears.

"In that case, why are we crying? Ken wiped his eyes with the back of his hand, raised the wine bowl, and said to Roy, "Drink a bowl with me." ”

Roy picked up the bowl, touched it hard with Ken, and gulped it down with tears in his eyes. The burning sensation in his throat made him feel as if his whole body was on fire. , "Come Again"

"Hans, Xiaolan, why are you still stunned?"

"Come"

Bowl after bowl. That night, Roy didn't know how much he had drunk.

He only remembered that the magic moon in the sky was exceptionally bright, the stars above his head were as dense as constant sand, and in the small courtyard, the four people kept drinking, talking, crying, and laughing.

Sister Xiaolan hugged him and proudly told Daddy Ken how stinky and majestic he was when he came today. Hans speaks of the wolf who framed his sergeant captain. Daddy Ken pulled him along and talked about his newfound crafting skills with a red face, and he himself talked about what had happened to him for more than a year after jumping off a cliff.

He told them how they had been swept ashore by the river, how they had found Oliver and Malt, how they had defused the Templars' pursuit, how they had strayed into a desperate situation, and how they had saved Philip......

What he said stunned everyone.

When she heard that he was already a five-star Lang Xing mage, Sister Xiaolan opened her mouth wide.

When they saw the light of the battle ring shining through his body, Hans and Daddy Ken jumped up like two old children, in disbelief.

And when they heard him talk about the battle of Medin City and the killing of Matthew, everyone was stupid. They never dreamed that the legendary mage was Roy. Unexpectedly, Matthew, one of the culprits of the year, had been sent to hell by Roy.

Halfway through, they cried and laughed, and hugged him one by one.

Later, he was too drunk to see clearly.

All he remembered was that he was going to buy them a big manor, and in the future, he was going to have a territory, a city that no one could conquer again.

He was going to open a tavern for Hans in the sergeant's station, so that he could drink every day while he was on duty. Buy a castle for Sister Lan, let her and her sisters wear the most beautiful clothes every day, live the life of the noblewoman they envy the most, open the most luxurious weapon shop for Daddy Ken, give Tom's name, and make the weapon engraved with the boy's name the treasure that every knight dreams of

Before he was completely unconscious, he heard who had advanced the Baroness, Rice and Anne, and mentioned the first training camp or something, but in the next second, he was already unconscious.

............

............

Mount Virgen, located in the northern part of the Pompeii Empire, is more than 200 kilometers from Vatican Tinburg and the Holy See Hill.

For 300 years, this sacred mountain has been famous for its beauty. She is like a virgin with a graceful posture and exudes magical charm. Even if the surrounding mountains are arched, people will always be unconsciously attracted to her and fascinated by her beauty.

The Temple of the Holy Maiden is located on the main peak of the Holy Virgin Mountain.

It is a large white complex with a central circular hall and a cliff face. All the buildings are made of white boulders. The large number of carved statues on the walls, eaves, and corridors gives the building a delicate beauty, and the towering minarets and the stone walls that blend with the steep cliffs give it a magnificent momentum.

And the most mysterious thing is that on the peak of this snow-covered peak, not only can not see a single snowflake in the Holy Maiden Temple, but also the four seasons are full of flowers, warm as spring.

Eretia sat on a boulder jutting out of a mountain. A huge waterfall of snow flew down beside her. Falling like white sand into the abyss beneath the boulder. It wasn't until the wind that crossed the abyss blew that they scattered one after another, turning into a white patch.

The boulder is like a giant eagle's beak sticking out from the edge of a cliff.

Standing on the boulder and looking out, the surrounding mountains are stacked on top of each other, and the clouds are vast in the distance. The abyss beneath his feet is like a wrinkle in the vast earth.

Eretia slowly retracted her perception, and the surging spiritual power of heaven and earth, like a tame beast, slowly retreated.

She turned her head and smiled at a middle-aged woman behind her.

The middle-aged woman was wearing a white mage robe, about fifty years old, tall and tall, although the expression on her face looked a little cold, and the corners of her eyes were wrinkled, she could vaguely see the beauty of her youth.

She is Eretia's master and the third elder of the Holy Maiden Temple, Xia Xi.

Seeing the gaze cast by his lover, Xia Xi's indifferent face like an iceberg showed a smile. nodded approvingly.

"Yes, in just over a year, you can be promoted from an ordinary magic awakener to a two-star magician, no wonder the Temple's Star Seeking Hall has always ranked you third among all the candidates you wish to recruit. Such a talent is simply terrifying. "Talent ......" Eretia sighed silently.

For her, the extraordinary talent is just a rope that binds her, just like the status of a princess. If she had a choice, she would rather be an ordinary little girl. However, she was a little curious about Xiaxi's words.

"The third place in the Star Seeking Hall, the first two are ......," Elethia asked curiously.

The Star Seeking Hall is the institution in charge of finding candidates for genius disciples in the Holy Maiden Temple. Most of the members are not on the Mount of the Holy Maiden, but go deep into the people, looking for geniuses worth absorbing.

On this continent, the status of the Holy Maiden is on an equal footing with the Holy See Hill in Vatican Dinburg, and no matter the strength or prestige, there is no concession. Three hundred years ago, when there was the Holy See, there was the Temple of the Holy Virgin. Its heritage is so profound that it is far from what ordinary people can imagine.

Take Eretia herself, if it weren't for the Holy Maiden's Temple, with Xia Xi's teaching, and the support of the temple's abundant resources, it would be unimaginable to be promoted to a two-star magician within a year. Even the Solan royal family can't do it.

And such a person who is in the palace that people dream of entering, there are two higher people, which has to make her curious. I have somewhat taken advantage of the royal status, and if those two are ordinary, I am afraid that their talents are really amazing.

What's more, Eretia knew that after she entered the Holy Maiden Temple, she had always been regarded as the first person among the third generation of disciples of the Holy Maiden Temple.

Although she didn't care about such a false name, whether it was her status as a princess or the importance that the temple attached to her, it was unnatural to form a situation where three generations of disciples were headed by her. Even those disciples who joined earlier and were stronger than her were the same.

This also means that the other two geniuses who were favored by the Holy Maiden Temple did not join

"I'm curious, don't you? I wonder who has a bigger shelf than you, the princess of the Solan Empire, and actually doesn't join the Holy Maiden Temple?" Xia Xi looked at Eretia, who had always been indifferent, and when she was as curious as a little girl, she couldn't help but smile slightly.

"Hmm. A thin powder flew across Elethea's face.

"Actually, the reason is very simple...... "Xia Xi looked into the distance and said lightly: "They are men." ”

Eretia snorted softly.

The answer was indeed simple and surprising, but it did not solve her confusion, but made her more and more confused.

You must know that in the past three hundred years, the inner hall of the Holy Maiden Hall has never absorbed male members, and the other party is so talented that he obviously won't join the outer hall, so why does the Star Seeking Hall still list them as candidates?

Xia Xi's next words solved her confusion: "The world is vast, and the hidden dragon is crouching tiger." I don't know how many geniuses there are in this. However, at least among the people we know, the talent of the three of you is rare, but it is rare in a hundred years."

As she spoke, she turned her head to look at Eretia and said, "It's a pity that among the three people, you are not only the only girl." And we tried to take you away on several occasions, but your father Edward did not agree. Back then, the hall master even considered breaking the rules of the temple of saints for them. In the end, though, it was done. ”

Eretia was surprised. The system of the Holy Maiden Temple is so strict that even as a royal princess, she often feels depressed and sad. Unexpectedly, for the sake of those two people, the hall master wanted to break the most fundamental iron law of the Holy Maiden Temple. Even if it was just an idea that didn't come to fruition in the end, it was too much to believe.

"Who are they?" the question swirled in Elethea's mind, and a fierce curiosity drove her to blurt out unconsciously.

"One of them, you should be able to think of. Xiaxi looked at Ellethia with a strange look and said, "Who else is more talented than you besides that person?"

"Augustus......" Elethia understood, her face a little pale at the mention of the name.

She should have thought that in this world, when it comes to genius, the first thing people think of is Augustus.

Among the young knights, if the average person is a tiger and a lion, he is a dragon that soars for nine days. If an ordinary man is a fire, then he is a child of the sun. He is the brightest star in the world and an idol for all young people.

"Who's second?" Elethia didn't want to mention him again, and didn't let the conversation continue on him.

Xia Xi looked at the girl who was as white as snow and as clear and transparent as crystal, and her eyes flashed: "The second in line is Augustus." ”

Eretia's good-looking eyes widened.

Augustus in second?

Who was the first one?

"The ...... who used to be number one in line" came Xia Xi's soft voice in his ear, "It's your former fiancé Roy." ”......

The section of entering the academy is stuck. It's painful...... ，