Immortal Creed

After marching for dozens of miles, the outline of Baker City finally came into view.

After ruling out the possibility of ambushes around, Balder ordered the army to set up camp here, establishing basic defensive fortifications to guard against a sudden attack from Baker City.

By this time, the sun had completely set, with only the silver moon providing faint light to the land.

Although the dim light had little impact on Extraordinary Ones with keen senses, the battlefield was mostly filled with ordinary people, and limited visibility could easily lead to friendly fire.

Therefore, the Rebel Army naturally wouldn't choose to attack the city at night.

At the same time, to prevent the other side from sending small groups of elite Extraordinary Ones to launch a sneak attack, high-ranking members of the Rebel Army like Liens still needed to take turns patrolling.

The patrol schedule had been decided at the meeting this morning, and since Liens was a newcomer, he wasn't assigned to a patrol shift.

After simply finishing the meal brought by the soldiers, he prepared to meditate and adjust his state to prepare for tomorrow's major battle.

Because the Rebel Army was already close to Baker City, and the other side could launch a sudden attack at any time, he couldn't enter the Instance and lose his vigilance towards the outside world.

"Aren't you coming to me a bit too frequently?"

Liens opened his eyes, which he had just closed, and looked somewhat speechlessly at Lucrezia, who had lifted the tent flap and walked in.

"What? You don't welcome me? You promised to guide me in magic; are you trying to go back on your word so soon?"

Lucrezia chuckled lightly.

"I naturally won't go back on my promise; it's just… never mind, I don't think you'd be emotional, so there must be a reason for you to do this."

"Begin. I will give what I believe to be appropriate feedback based on my feelings. As for whether it applies to you, that depends on your own needs."

Liens shook his head slightly, signaling Lucrezia to begin demonstrating her magic.

Although he had a deep understanding of magic due to "Heaven and Man as One," this depth was merely because he looked into it more deeply, not that he necessarily knew more about magic than Lucrezia.

In terms of professionalism, Lucrezia, as a Great Mage, certainly knew more than he did, having only read a few textbooks.

For example, although he had discerned the mechanism and principle of Lucrezia's Great Mage magic, it was impossible for him to construct such a Great Mage magic.

Therefore, Lucrezia initially didn't ask Liens to explain magic knowledge to her, but rather asked him to describe his feelings after being affected by magic.

"It seems you have some misunderstanding about me… In that case, I'll begin. Be careful."

Lucrezia frowned slightly, then a faint smile touched her lips as she gave Liens a subtle smile.

The smile was light, but like a key opening another world, in an instant, Liens felt his surroundings become dreamlike and illusory, with a hazy feeling like just waking up.

Only Lucrezia's figure was exceptionally striking, as if she were the only true existence in this world, and that faint smile seemed to brighten.

Liens calmly watched Lucrezia. After a while, Lucrezia stopped her magic, and Liens then offered his opinion.

"You've transformed the magic that affects yourself into one that affects others, shifting from you entering a dreamlike state to assimilating others into a part of the dream."

"Is this your attempt at a new direction for your magic? If it continues to develop this way, you'll either assimilate reality or pull people into a cognitive world you've constructed."

"For the former, you need a sufficiently deep understanding of the world so that you can relatively easily assimilate and influence reality."

As he spoke, Liens extended his right hand and displayed a tiny hurricane tornado in his palm. Lucrezia could see that there were no elements on the hurricane tornado.

"For the latter, you might want to refer to the Shadow Realm. I suspect the Shadow Realm might be the cognitive world of some existence."

"I haven't thought of other directions for now; you'll have to explore those yourself."

"The Shadow Realm, huh."

Lucrezia murmured to herself, a thoughtful expression on her face. Liens paused for a moment, waiting for her to regain her focus, then continued to explain.

"Also, your magic exerts influence through others' special perception of you, and this cognitive connection is very unstable."

"For people with average perception, their special cognitive connection with you will easily fluctuate, thereby affecting the precision of the magic."

"And for people with sufficiently deep perceptive abilities, they might quickly detect this influence and thus cut off their cognitive connection with you."

"Therefore, I suggest you unleash a burst attack the moment you exert influence, catching your opponent off guard."

"Also…"

Liens explained his views to Lucrezia point by point. He not only shared his thoughts on the magic he had just experienced but also offered corresponding suggestions based on Lucrezia's performance in the Instance.

If Lucrezia could gain strength from this, it would be a good thing for the Rebel Army.

Moreover, with Lucrezia becoming stronger, he would also gain more experience by sparring with her in the Instance, just as he had previously taught Nimophila.

Lucrezia listened carefully to Liens's guidance, occasionally raising questions like a student asking a teacher. However, the more she listened, the stranger her gaze towards Liens became.

She found that Liens understood her a bit too well; some things simply couldn't be discerned from the one or two times she had demonstrated her magic.

However, despite her confusion, she didn't press the point and question him about why he knew her so well.

She certainly wouldn't do something that could easily spoil their good impression face-to-face. Even if she were to ask, she would definitely make sure the other party wasn't displeased before probing.

After a long while, Liens stopped explaining. Once the thoughtful expression on Lucrezia's face disappeared, he waved his hand, signaling that she could leave.

"That's all I have to say. Go back and think about which parts are useful to you."

"Your pursuer has been lingering outside the tent for a long time. If you don't go out and explain, he might just barge in."

Liens felt a bit speechless about the man outside the tent, who was pacing back and forth, frequently looking at the tent, and had a very conflicted expression on his face.

The other party's behavior gave him the feeling that he was doing something green but unethical.

"Uria, huh… Then I do need to explain. He's a bit impulsive, and any conflict between you two that affects the harmony of the Rebel Army would ultimately be bad."

Lucrezia chuckled softly, then turned and prepared to leave the tent to organize what she had gained.

"Wait."

As Lucrezia was about to step out of the tent, Liens called out to her.

"What? Are you suddenly reluctant to see me go?"

Lucrezia's eyes were filled with a smile as she turned and gave Liens a charming look.

"I just suddenly remembered a question… I've asked you once before, but now I'd like to hear your answer again."

"As a Royal Princess, why did you join the Rebel Army? If you wanted power, your status as a Royal Princess would make it easier to obtain, wouldn't it?"

Liens watched Lucrezia intently, trying to judge from her expression whether her answer was sincere.

"Because there are more people here."

Lucrezia smiled faintly, meaningfully, leaving behind words that seemed to hold some deeper meaning, then walked out of the tent.

Liens, on the other hand, frowned slightly, pondering what special meaning her words held.