Chapter 193 - Enlightenment of the Twilight Guardian

Shanoba waved her hand with a hint of impatience, "Enough, enough, no need to explain. Anyway, your work has failed miserably, you couldn’t infiltrate at all, the knowledge you have of them is extremely limited. Do you have a better plan? If not, our cooperation ends here."Shanoba was not as slow to react as the Dog Demons, nor was she stupid; she knew how to push forward by pulling back, and she did it slickly.

If she were stupid, she wouldn’t have been able still to hop around alive after being pursued for many years by a coalition of War Mages.

"Wait," the middle-aged woman hurriedly said, "There definitely is a strategy. We can discuss it in detail."

Shanoba’s Dragonborn identity was very special, especially useful against Gnolls.

And her transformation into a Wyvern was even more powerful.

Even if it wasn’t for the Blackwell Tribe, bringing her into one’s own clergy group would be a huge boost. Ever since the pseudogod Shylock took power, the influence of Bane’s Black Hand in the Santarin Association had been rapidly shrinking. One had to avoid Santiel Fortress, the center of this power struggle, and her team urgently needed a strong infusion of new blood.

"Discuss in detail?" Shanoba snorted coldly, "What’s there to discuss in detail? Up to now, I don’t even know your name. I see you have no real intention of cooperating; you just want to use me as a temporary tool."

The current situation had undergone a fundamental reversal from that of previously in Old Axe Village.

It was no longer the middle-aged woman threatening Shanoba, it was the Black Dragoness turning the tables and threatening the other party.

Because the bait used to lure Shanoba had become ineffective.

"Stephanie." With no other choice, the middle-aged woman had to reveal her identity.

Seeing the other party back down, Shanoba’s expression softened slightly, "Ms. Stephanie, then please do tell me about your brilliant plans."

The tone of mockery was, in any case, impossible to hide.

Stephanie appeared not to notice: "If your identity hasn’t been exposed, the people of the Blackwell Tribe probably don’t know about my existence. We can still try to make contact openly to see if that Half-Elf can be used by us."

After hearing this, Shanoba felt her cheeks twitching uncontrollably; it was only by summoning all her strength that she managed not to burst out laughing.

Even if she hadn’t been captured, that man knew about the Santarin Association’s secret plans against him all too well.

Not to mention that now, she had been turned against them. No, more accurately, she had been controlled.

Stephanie still thought she was acting covertly, harboring dreams of persuading her.

"You’re going to be the mediator?" Shanoba immediately countered.

"I can’t go. I can’t reveal my identity," Stephanie shook her head, "This matter still requires Miss Shanoba’s intervention. Your Dragonborn identity can exert pressure on him."

No pressure, it’s more like he’s the one who has been putting so much pressure on me I can barely breathe, Shanoba refused without hesitation, "Whoever wants to go can go, but I’m definitely not."

Even now, just thinking about that man made her legs quiver uncontrollably, let alone going to face him as a mediator.

Seeing Shanoba’s resolute stance, Stephanie didn’t insist, "There is another method. That is to use your Dragonborn identity to gather an army of monsters in the Rocklands, especially the Gnolls. If we can draw the Gnolls to us, they’ll have fewer Gnolls they can gather. As long as we can create a situation where we can contend with them, they’ll have no choice but to negotiate with us."

With every step, it seems that you’ve been thoroughly calculated by them.

Shanoba could already foresee Stephanie’s failure, but what she displayed on her face was disdain, "Do you think it’s that simple? To maintain an army, don’t you need food and equipment? Where are those going to come from?"

"Of course, those will be provided by the Santarin Association," Stephanie said without hesitation, "All you need to do is gather enough troops."

"As long as you bring enough food, I’ll immediately pull together an army for you," Shanoba reversed her previous statement, giving it a dual meaning.

"How about we both make a concession? I’ll start transporting equipment and food, and you start recruiting the troops," suggested Stephanie.

"Deal," Shanoba said, seeing the opportunity was ripe, no longer insisting on her point.

After all, Stephanie had not strayed from the tried and true tactics of the Santarin Association, falling step by step into Gaven’s calculations.

Recruiting a monster army was not a simple task; preparing food, equipment, and recruiting monsters among other things, just the preparation work would take several ten-days.

And that was in the case of high working efficiency. Initially, Shanoba dragged her feet incessantly, with a very slow recruitment rate. It wasn’t until Gaven secretly chastised her that her attitude was corrected and the efficiency increased.

It was estimated that establishing a usable monster army would take at least a couple of months.

And that was precisely what Gaven wanted. At the very least, during this period, the threat of the Santarin Association was minimized and he could focus his attention on other matters.

His current schedule was packed; his focus now was outward, not inward.

The three Gnoll towns, whether in division of labor or tasks, were all arranged clearly with their own processes and leadership, operating rather smoothly.

Gaven’s priority now was to recruit more of the Fae Race from the Spring Bud Forest for his own use, to clear and build up his own territory.

Before delving further into the Spring Bud Forest, Gaven decided to attempt something he had long wanted but never found the time for—enlightening the Twilight Guard at Dragon Oak Dragon Nest.

If successful, it would become a major advanced combat force guarding the Dragon Oak Dragon Nest.

Thanks to the Phantom of the Dragon Oak Mother Tree, Gaven did have some influence over the Twilight Guard.

At least when the Gnolls were undertaking massive renovations at the Dragon Oak Dragon Nest and the Twilight Guard appeared to block them, it was Gaven who used this method to forcefully disperse it, turning it back into a pile of earth and stone.

The Gnolls working on the construction, knowing the power of this creature, all avoided it from afar.

Within twenty meters of the earth and stone pile that the Twilight Guard had turned into, not a single Gnoll could be seen.

Gaven approached the pile of earth and stone; the Twilight Guard showed no intention of appearing.

Gaven sat down cross-legged directly on the pile of earth and stone, focusing his mind on the Enlightenment spell rewarded by the Milestone of Destiny.

The Enlightenment spell is a unique fifth-tier spell of the Druids, attainable only with at least nine Druid levels.

Without the Milestone of Destiny, even if Gaven had changed his profession to Mage, the likelihood of him learning this spell was almost nil.

It wasn’t a matter of Professional Level, but of the Druid’s attunement with nature, something other professions couldn’t achieve; this is where the flavor of the Divine Arts came into play.

However, Druids do not follow the gods, they venerate nature.

With a devout and reverent heart, Gaven allowed his thoughts and consciousness to blend with the surrounding earth and vegetation, especially the pile of earth and stone beneath him.

Gaven had originally thought that this would be a very troublesome matter.

After all, his understanding of the Druids’ attunement to nature was very limited. It was normal for his first attempt to be unsuccessful. He had prepared to go to Nectar Village to humbly seek guidance from the Pikespirit Druids.

Unexpectedly, the entire process went incredibly smoothly.

No sooner had his consciousness adapted and emitted according to the method of the Enlightenment spell than a tremendous force pulled at it.

Countless voices murmured around him, as though whispering their own tales.

The flowers and plants told stories of life and growth.

The soil and rocks spoke of the long annals of time.

No wonder the Druids held such deep reverence for nature and for life.

The notion that every blade of grass and every rock has life wasn’t exaggeration but a reality they could truly hear.

It was just that their voices were usually too faint, too slight; most people would never notice them in their entire lives.

Gaven felt as if he were swimming in an ocean of life.

A lonely yet powerful consciousness slowly approached him.

The other revealed a genuine cordiality to him. Gaven likewise felt a cordial aura from it, of the same origin as the Dragon Oak Mother Tree.

This was his target for today; the consciousness of the Twilight Guardian.

Choosing the Twilight Guardian as the first subject of his Enlightenment was definitely the wisest decision.

Because it originated from the last material echo of the Ancient Red Copper Dragon Frederick in the Material Plane.

And the essence of Frederick’s last Dragon Soul had already disintegrated, flowing into his own body.

On sensing his call and touch, the Twilight Guardian would not only avoid him, but on the contrary, it would approach him actively.

This would save Gaven a great deal of effort.

The knowledge of the Enlightenment spell passed down through the Milestone of Destiny.

They divided the Enlightenment into three steps.

First, sync with nature to find the initial consciousness of the Enlightenment subject and gain its preliminary approval.

This was the most difficult part because these initial consciousnesses were usually very primitive, shyer than even beasts, like timid deer that would hide the moment they sensed an external powerful consciousness.

The only method was to grind it out bit by bit, to make it feel close, to make it recognize you, until it no longer resisted and was willing to touch your soul.

This often took a great deal of time, with several hours being quite normal.

This step, Gaven could skip entirely with the Twilight Guardian.

Second, select the knowledge and memories for the transfer.

The formation of intelligence consists of five major steps: sensation, perception, concepts, cognition, and intelligence.

Sensation, perception, these initial consciousnesses already possessed.

What they lacked were concepts and cognition, which could not be cultivated bit by bit but instead, through a magical process, a part of one’s knowledge and memories were cloned and directly stuffed into the initial consciousness for Enlightenment.

Gaven took the learning memories from Zhang You’s life, screened them, and directly cloned and bundled them, stuffing them wholesale into the Twilight Guardian.

In terms of systematic education, nothing in Felen could compare to the experience of Zhang You’s life, which was specialized, systematic, and undistracted, spanning units of ten years.

In Felen, such a lengthy period of study was simply unimaginable.

Even the Halruaa Mage Academy, known to have the most systematic and comprehensive education in all of Toril, fell short in this aspect.

Those students usually doubled as errand apprentices or assistants, spending far more time on various miscellaneous tasks than studying.

Third, which was also the last step, was to structure the consciousness around the Enlightenment memory, strengthening the initial consciousness.

This step was essentially completed by the Enlightenment subject itself.

The process of digesting the inherited memory was the process of consciousness structuring, during which it naturally absorbed a massive amount of Elemental Energy, reinforcing its initial consciousness.

It sounded quite simple in theory.

In practice, this process was quite time-consuming, and many tasks were grueling.

By the time Gaven had completed the Enlightenment, a whole eight hours had passed.

He had just opened his eyes when the mound of earth and stone beneath him began to tremble violently. Gaven quickly jumped to one side.

The mound of earth and stone started to slowly take shape, transforming into a dragon form made of earth, stone, and plants.

Its eyes were still made of a pair of obsidian stones, but they were no longer cold, now flickering with the unique light of wisdom.

"My lord, please wait a moment, I must attend to something," a slow, heavy voice echoed in Gaven’s consciousness.

The Twilight Guardian turned and walked toward the roots of the Dragon Oak Mother Tree, vanishing in the next second.

This was the Twilight Guardian’s spell-like ability, the Wood Escape Technique, allowing it to transport through trees capable of accommodating its size.

The Twilight Guardian left so cleanly and swiftly that Gaven hadn’t even had the chance to check the effects of his Enlightenment this time.

What could this newly enlightened being possibly be up to?

It wouldn’t head off to battle the Foul Giants of the Corruption Dragon Oak Mother Tree, would it?

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