Wizard starting from shoeing donkeys

Rhein Province, Tidal Bay.

In a grand hall, a brawny figure stood with his back to the door, facing the sea. It was the Tide Sword Saint, Leon.

He was gazing at the gathering dark clouds over the sea, deep in thought.

As one of the few Guardians of the Empire who seldom resided in the Imperial City Tamriel, he was stationed in the southern Rhein Province, tasked with deterring the Sea God Sect, and also protecting a secret realm known as the 'Tide Vortex.' His responsibilities were significant.

At that moment, Sword Saint Leon suddenly spoke: "Lambert, is that you? Come in."

A tall, muscular swordsman entered the doorway, slinging a dual-handed greatsword about two meters long across his back. He stopped about ten meters in front of Leon and bowed.

"Teacher, I wish to make a trip to the Imperial City."

"Oh? Did the Drum Family summon you?"

"It's not just that I owe the Drum Family a favor. I heard Carl was also defeated by the opponent. I think that by fighting them, I might make a breakthrough."

"So, I hope Teacher will allow me to go." As he spoke, Lambert knelt on one knee.

"Sigh, have you thought it through?"

"I have!"

"How many shadows have your Sword Shadow Clone Slashes reached?"

"Eight Shadows!"

"Good! I agree to let you go." Sword Saint Leon nodded.

"Thank you, Teacher." Lambert expressed his gratitude, stood up, and bowed again.

...

Imperial City Tamriel.

In the study of Rein Mansion.

Cleya found Rein, her expression a little grave, and said, "Rein, I've basically got some understanding about the Dragon Scale Brotherhood."

"Oh? So quickly? You didn't expose yourself, did you?" Rein got up and walked out from behind the desk, motioning for Cleya to sit on the long sofa bench to talk.

Two days ago, when Rein and Cleya met.

He had asked Cleya to look into the Dragon Scale Brotherhood and the intelligence on the conservative nobles.

Although Rein, as a Fine Gold Swordsman, could access the intelligence from within the Empire's swordsmen system anytime, most of it pertained to external affairs.

And asking about the secretive organization headed by the Second Prince, the Dragon Scale Brotherhood, through the swordsmen's intelligence system was a bit sensitive.

Of course, there must be some information about the Dragon Scale Brotherhood within the swordsmen, but Rein didn't want to expose that he was investigating this matter.

So, when Rein saw Cleya, he had a thought.

And that was to have Cleya use her connections within the Imperial Royal Academy to gather relevant information.

Don't underestimate the Imperial Royal Academy; it includes offspring of reformist nobles, conservative nobles, royal offspring, great nobles, and even a few exceptionally talented offspring of lower nobles and commoners.

And this doesn't include circles divided by other types.

Moreover, these circles aren't sharply divided; many of them actually overlap quite a bit.

As the daughter of a hereditary Earl, Cleya could reach both upper and lower circles, making her a highly informed source.

"No, I subtly probed and casually brought it up during banquets and salons with some former friends."

"However, while this method is safe, the information gathered tends to be quite general." Cleya sat next to Rein, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

"Hmm, that's sufficient." Rein replied.

"I learned that there are several people within the Royal Academy who are said to have joined this Dragon Scale Brotherhood. Later, I asked familiar friends for more details, and it seems that after joining the Dragon Scale Brotherhood, their strength has increased rapidly."

"The speed of this growth is not much different compared to yours." At this point, Cleya looked at Rein with her beautiful eyes.

"Is it just that their strength increased rapidly?" Rein asked.

"One aspect is rapid strength growth, but there's something strange someone told me. One of the students with a Dragon Bloodline seems to have undergone a mutation recently."

"Oh? What kind of mutation?" Rein raised an eyebrow, showing interest.

"Well... That young man with a Blue Dragon Bloodline, as my friend said, initially had light blue dragon scales when he transformed into his dragon-man form, but in a recent unexpected battle, he was surprised to find that his dragon scales had turned blue-black."

"What's more unusual is that his melee ability seems greatly enhanced, while his control over the frost power of the Blue Dragon Bloodline hasn't shown much improvement."

"This situation is very strange. At least, in the common understanding, this is unlikely to happen."

"Normally, as Blue Dragon Bloodline offspring grow stronger, their dragon scale color during transformation deepens from light blue to blue, and then dark blue."

"At the same time, their control over frost power becomes stronger." Cleya continued.

"Oh? Could it be a random mutation?" Rein pondered.

After all, he himself was in a similar situation; the system showed his condition as a 'Mutated Dragon Bloodline.'

"It shouldn't be random, because I've learned that two other people have similar mutations. So I suspect there's something wrong with this Dragon Scale Brotherhood." Cleya shook her head.

"I see...." Rein nodded.

Three people mutated; the odds are too high, there's definitely something wrong.

Suddenly, a thought flashed through Rein's mind.

Could it be due to potions?