Little Richard slept for a full seven days, and when the sunlight from the seventh day finally streamed into the bedroom, he opened his eyes. The first thing he did upon waking was rush out of his room, frantically searching for his mother. When he saw her in the study, Richard immediately ran up to her, shouting, "Mom, guess what I got in the Moon Goddess’s temple?"

  Ilani turned around, gently stroking Richard’s head, and asked, “Let me guess, my Richard always wanted to become a mage, so you must have gotten ‘Elemental Affinity,’ right?”

  Richard suddenly froze, because the woman in front of him was someone he had never seen before. But he had his own way of recognizing things—he took a deep breath, and the scent that filled his nose was incredibly familiar and comforting. Hesitantly, he asked, “You’re... Mom?”

  “My Richard, this is what your mom really looks like. How do I look?” Ilani smiled as she asked.

  Little Richard nodded vigorously and said, "Mom is the most beautiful!" In his eyes, his mother had always been the most beautiful woman. Moreover, now that Ilani had restored her true appearance, her beauty was the same as the famed grace of the Silvermoon Elves, renowned for both their beauty and magical powers.

  Boys have little patience, and as Richard grew older, his patience was no exception. So, without waiting for his mother to guess any further, he quickly said, “Mom, I got Wisdom and Reality!”

  “Reality?” Ilani was surprised. She knew about Wisdom, but she had never heard of a power like Reality in the Enlightenment.

  Richard furrowed his brow, using his newly gained Wisdom to try and explain, “Reality is... well, it’s the ability to understand the world more clearly. It seems like it can be improved, but right now, it’s not that useful. It just lets me see farther and hear clearer.”

  Ilani nodded, supporting Richard’s shoulder and reminding him to cherish the abilities he gained from the Enlightenment, as well as to remember the teachings she had given him. Her instructions were detailed and somewhat repetitive, taking over an hour to finish. She kept restating the same things, which made Richard secretly pull faces in protest. Richard had always been exceptionally intelligent and had a sharp memory, and with his new boost in wisdom, he didn’t need to hear things more than once.

  Ilani finally noticed how much she was repeating herself and smiled as she asked, “My Richard, would you like to meet your father?”

  Richard frowned deeply, thinking hard, but couldn’t come up with an answer right away. Before he could think more, Ilani said, “You’ll meet him soon. Someone he sent should be arriving shortly. They’ll take you to see him. On the way, you need to behave and listen carefully, understand?”

  “Ah?” This was a completely unexpected piece of news, and Richard didn’t know how to react. He nodded blankly before suddenly remembering something, asking, “What about Mom? Will you come too?”

  “No, Mom isn’t coming.”

  “Then I’m not going!” Richard declared firmly.

  Ilani smiled and said, “My Richard is going, because there’s a wish of mine that you need to help me fulfill!”

  Richard stood tall, his chest puffed out. “Don’t worry, Mom! I’ve grown up, and I will definitely do it! Oh, what’s the wish?”

  Ilani gazed deeply at Richard and slowly said, “If one day, my Richard becomes a truly important person, then bury me in your father’s family tomb, at the highest level!”

  Little Richard nodded seriously. At this moment, he didn’t yet understand the true meaning behind this wish, nor the difficulty of fulfilling it. But even if he had known, he wouldn’t have hesitated. Boys raised in the mountains never lack courage.

  The mornings in Rutherland Village were usually calm and peaceful, but the serenity of this morning was soon broken. The ground beneath the entire village began to shake, and it quickly escalated into violent tremors. Even the slowest of the elderly could sense something was wrong, so they walked out of their houses and looked towards the end of the road leading out of the village.

  The mountain wind still carried a slight chill, and as it blew through, even the bravest, strongest hunters couldn’t help but shudder. It wasn’t just the cold—they felt an indescribable chill in their hearts, as though some uncontrollable disaster was about to strike. The ground continued to tremble, and all the villagers stood outside, silently gathering in the open space at the village entrance. From here, they could already see rising smoke in the distance. In the forest, old trees could be heard crashing down, and the birds had long since flown away, not even hesitating to leave their nests, flying straight into the deep mountains.

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  A devilish knight in heavy armor came charging out of the forest!

  The jet-black armor of the knight had more than ten steel spikes protruding from it, and the chest was adorned with a fearsome, grotesque devil’s head. The warhorse beneath him was imposing, even taller than the wild stallion kings the mountain people had ever seen, and it was covered with thick armor. The sharp steel spikes on its armor were clearly not for mere defense. On the horse’s left side hung a massive two-handed greatsword, a typical horse-slaying sword, but longer by a full meter and much heavier. This weapon weighed at least a hundred kilograms, and its striking power was almost unstoppable.

  The rocky mountain path groaned under the weight of the warhorse’s iron hooves. As the warhorse galloped forward, rocks flew, and dirt splattered, leaving deep craters in the ground, exposing the earth beneath. Behind the knight was a detachment of twenty heavily armored cavalry, followed by nearly a hundred light cavalry. Even the light cavalry were clad in finely crafted full armor, and more than half of them carried magical longbows with glowing patterns, well-equipped for battle. This army was strong enough to capture Baron Tark’s castle, but now they were charging full speed toward the tiny village of Rutherland!

  Including the village chief, everyone turned pale. The hunters were brave, but even the bravest of them knew they stood no chance against this fully armed force. The village chief saw a sign of something unusual when he looked at the exceptionally tall warhorse the lead knight rode. His experience in the military told him that only a Constructed Knight would have such a large warhorse!

  The heavy cavalry charged into Rutherland Village, pulling their horses to a halt with a powerful jerk. The huge warhorse reared up, its front hooves crashing to the ground, creating two shallow pits. When the horse finally stopped, its hot breath blasted into the village chief’s chest. The knight lifted his helmet visor, revealing a resolute, imposing face. He scanned the villagers on the square coldly and asked, “Who knows where Ilani lives?”

  The villagers looked at each other in confusion. There was no woman named Ilani in Rutherland Village. The blacksmith and the village chief exchanged a glance, but said nothing. The knight’s expression darkened, and just as he was about to speak, the door to the apothecary shop suddenly opened. Ilani walked out, casually asking, “Did Godon send you?”

  The knight stared at Ilani for a moment, his face suddenly changing. He leapt off his warhorse and landed in front of Ilani like a flying iron mountain. He knelt on one knee, removed his helmet, and lowered his head. In a deep voice, he said, “I am Godon’s knight, Mordred. I was ordered by the lord to bring the lady back!”

  Mordred had short, steel-like dark red hair. Though he knelt before Ilani, an undeniable pressure radiated from him, making the entire apothecary shop quiver under his aura. His massive body seemed to hold a volcano within it, ready to erupt at any moment.

  Ilani’s gown fluttered in the wind, but she didn’t retreat. She stood calmly in the gusts, nodded, and said, “With you here, I can rest easy.”

  Mordred smiled, his teeth showing. “Thank you for the praise, my lady.”

  Ilani took Richard’s small hand and placed it in Mordred’s palm. She said, “He is the one Godon most desires. His name is Richard…” She paused for a moment before continuing, “…Richard Akmond.”

  Mordred looked at little Richard closely before closing his hand around Richard’s, giving a gentle squeeze and smiling. “Mordred is at your service!”

  The knight looked up at Ilani again and said, “Lady, your things should be packed. Let’s set off. Lord Godon is eager to see you!”

  “I need to get something important first. Wait for me here.” Ilani said, walking back into the apothecary and closing the door behind her.

  At this moment, little Richard stared at Mordred, and the bloodthirsty knight looked back at him. They stared at each other, with little Richard’s small eyes locked onto Mordred’s larger ones. After a while, Mordred grinned, not knowing why.

  But suddenly, his smile froze on his face!

  Flames erupted from every window of the apothecary shop without warning, bursting through the roof and shooting up into the sky, reaching more than ten meters high! The fire was so intense and sudden that even Mordred didn’t see it coming!

  The knight roared in anger and leapt forward, charging into the apothecary shop. The stone walls, built of blue rock, crumbled like cheese before him, and the roaring flames couldn’t even harm him. When he entered the shop, he saw Ilani sitting elegantly, flames pouring out from every part of her body, burning everything around her!

  Mordred stood frozen, staring in disbelief as Ilani smiled at him before she completely transformed into flames, burning, ascending, and leaving no trace in this world.

  Little Richard screamed wildly, struggling against the heavy knight holding him, trying to rush into the flames. But all his efforts were in vain. The fire was so fierce that the entire apothecary collapsed in an instant!

  Mordred slowly walked out of the ruins, looking at little Richard, who was crying uncontrollably. After a long silence, he said, “You have a good mother. Come, I’ll take you to see your father.”

  The sudden disaster shocked the villagers of Rutherland as well. They stared in disbelief at the ashes and smoke rising from the ruins of the apothecary, unable to comprehend that just moments ago, it had been their beloved shop of ten years.

  The heavy cavalry formed a line, slowly taking Richard away from Rutherland Village. Mordred and the light cavalry remained behind. He had no intention of burying Ilani’s ashes because she had entirely transformed into fire. Only a pure and frenzied genius could burn herself completely. Mordred, having only met this woman once, was filled with respect for her.

  Gazing at the ruins, Mordred’s lips curled into a slight smile, his voice low and barely audible, “This is the kind of woman who truly matches a lord.”

  Just then, a knight rode up beside Mordred and asked, “Lord, what should we do with the villagers?”

  Mordred glanced at the men and women, young and old, gathered in the square. He stroked his mustache, which was as hard as iron, and said calmly, “There are many grown men here. The lord would not want to see men living here. So, kill them all!”