54 The Lucky Horseshoes and Soul Imprint

The negotiation with old Minial wasn't successful. Of course, the part that didn't go well wasn't our request for an alliance. Since we had a common enemy, in the face of a strong enemy, forging an alliance was an entirely rational thing to do.

It wasn't because the old Lion treated others badly. In actuality, his reputation among the Beastman Tribes was actually not bad. However, a powerful person would draw in enemies. The position as the Sovereign of the Beastman was very tempting. Many people were aiming for the position of an Underground Autarch. The moment they showed any weakness, countless of underground city lords would try to usurp the position.

Minial in front of me was obviously against the old Lion. The tribes under him had been fighting with Shou's tribes on the surface secretly for several centuries. If the old Lion were to show a weakness, the first one to impeach the old Lion would be him. After all, viewing the circumstances of the Underground World, there had to be a Beastman among the Autarchs. However, Shou did not need to be that Beastman.

One of the reason why old Minial came over was to negotiate an alliance. Since we both had mutual interests, the alliance talks went successful. Multiple agreements that were targeted against a certain Lion had been agreed on swiftly. However, when we started to 'gossip' about Anya's future, we got stuck in an impasse.

Very apparently, towards a stubborn old man who wished to allow her grandniece to inherit the family business, using 'the grandchildren have their own happiness that they want to pursuit', 'the youngsters have their own world' was meaningless. In their mind, there was nothing more important than tradition and the business passed down by their ancestors. For the interest of the family, they were even willing to sacrifice themselves, needless to say anything about sacrificing the freedom of choice for a youngster. Besides, in their eyes, this choice made for you was actually for your own good.

"Since it's impossible to reason with him, then let's just go with deception."

I first complained about how the education of the elderly was too outdated, which led to youngsters not listening to them. Then, as an example I compared Anya to Annie.

"Look, they're both future successors of a city and there're huge expectations for them. Our Sulfur Mountain City's Annie is already a Gold-pinnacle, ready to break through to Legend at any time and she isn't even 20. Even if compared to the entire world, she could be said to be a genius. What about your family's Anya? I don't think she's even reached Silver-rank.

This was only a comparison of power. What's more important to a city lord is experience and qualifications. Look at our Annie, she had started doing her job as the City Lord Successor and even served as the main ambassador of our envoy party. Our Annie was able to stand independently in the Alliance Conference. What about your family's Anya?

Do you know how we groomed her? Lions will take the initiative to throw their cubs off the cliff. Annie had gone out to adventure when she was 12 so as to experience the world, that's why she was able to have such achievements today. You put your children in a large grassland without a single thing to worry about, how can you expect them to have the opportunity to explore and broaden their knowledge? They can't fight with strong opponents to refine their skills. Using your own words, are they the eagles soaring in the midst of a hurricane or merely a fledgling shaking under the tree?"

I almost convinced myself with these words, but not all of these words were true. The reason why Annie was so strong individually was because of her unique inheritance. As for the esxperiences and knowledge she accumulated during her journey…

Hehe, I had heard her talk about her journey. 'It felt terrible to starve at night, but I wasn't supposed to follow strangers even when I was hungry' and 'Getting wet from the rain felt uncomfortable, but I felt warm when I started running about' appeared the most in her story. Next would be 'Even though I was hungry, I couldn't just casually pick up things from the ground to eat. If it was a poisonous animal, it should be edible after getting rid its poisonous sac and its head. However, the more colorful a plant was, the more poisonous it was. You couldn't eat it at all' and 'If you got lost in a mountain for too long, then you should randomly find a direction and walk straight, breaking the mountains if one stood in your way and dig a way out. However, it felt horrible to be buried alive so be careful.'

Back then, my reaction was "What the heck? As expected of the goddaughter and disciple of Adam. Exactly the same as him back then and learnt the exact same thing. To still be living like that, her life force must be really strong."

Cough, looks like I went off topic. At this moment, after a bit more coaxing, all kinds of half-true lies started spouting out form my mouth. There were even a bunch of historical examples of countries getting destroyed because of the bad judgement of its leader, causing the confused Centaur to stare blankly.

"Look, Prince Clint from Iron City also came independently as an envoy to Vance at such a young age. I have seen that person. He might be young, but you really shouldn't underestimate him in any aspect. It will be the youngsters' generation next, do you intend for your family's Anya to lose at the starting line?"

Minial who was already in a daze after my words stared at me dumbfounded.

"That, so if I put Anya with you, a suitable leader will be groomed?"

Of course that wasn't it. I didn't say so much just to put this unlucky lass by my side, giving me more trouble. It was sufficient as long as you were willing to let her roam about. As for what happened next, I didn't want to bother about it and I couldn't be bothered anyway.

I was the type who considered the process as unimportant, only the ending mattered. As long as the ending was good, there was no need to bother too much about what happened in the process. Since I had already coaxed him to this point, I might as well do it to the end.

"Of course not…" Suddenly, someone interrupted my speech on shirking responsibility.

"Of course you can! Lord Wumianzhe is extremely skilled in teaching others. Even Big Sister Margaret praised him, he will definitely teach Anya properly."

Suddenly, Annie walked through the door and promised him in an instant. Furthermore, the eyes that she looked at me with were sparkling.

"I didn't expect Uncle... Lord Wumianzhe to view me in such a manner. I always thought that you were unsatisfied with Annie. Annie is even more motivated now!"

Minial carefully assessed the City Lord Successor who had been praised to heavens and was surprised to find that I wasn't lying. It was quite outrageous for a human who had yet to be 20 to reach the boundaries of a Legend, and the Fire of Phoenix which her body was charged with showed off her limitless potential. It was very possible that she would be more than just a normal Legend after breaking through.

To an experienced veteran like him, he knew that strength was the root of everything in this Underground World where the weak served as food for the strong. Annie's abnormal strength was the best proof, it was also the final straw that convinced old Minial.

"Fine, I shall pass Anya over to you all. She'll be the best guarantee for our Alliance. We, Centaurs, always keep our promise. If you can deliver your promises, we'll be your allies forever."

Anya grabbed the right hand of the old Centaur that was in the air. In the ancient Centaur traditions, this was the symbol of an agreement being made.

"Yes, not just Lord Wumianzhe, I'll also share my experiences with Anya and we'll work together. Both of our people shall become true friends."

Then, she turned her head and left.

"Uncle Bones, I did well right? Did I act like a real City Lord?" Even if she didn't say it out loud, but from the gleeful look that Annie gazed at me with, I could sort of tell what she was trying to express.

"…Share experiences? More like sharing how to land other people into trouble and how to act like a rascal." Fortunately, my mask prevented me from revealing my expressions, otherwise my whole face would be full of bitterness now.

No matter how I put it, Anya was an ambassador in name. Now that we had made a friendly alliance with the other tribe, could I still reject her? Afterwards, I still had to fulfill the requirements of the agreement and turn this unlucky lass into a passable city lord… that seemed like an impossible mission. Looks like I could only try to wash her brain with my Necromancy.

However, the Centaurs of the grasslands were well-known to be trustworthy. If we could earn an alliance partner that we could truly rely on because of this, this was also a great thing for Sulfur Mountain City. The only one who met misfortune because of this was probably just me who was stuck with this hassle.

"Shot my own foot again huh? It's hard to be a good person these days. Right, why didn't that unlucky lass fulfill her role as a lightning rod? Or maybe, I could use this to complain about her."

Looking at the delighted Anya,

"Looks like Anya's luck is really bad, if an accident were to happen…"

Before I even finished speaking, Minial shook his head.

"This is a heirloom of the royalty of our tribe, the Golden Bloodline. While we were blessed with hidden powers within our bloodline, it also brought along a curse of misfortune. However, we have a treasure that brings luck. If Anya stays here, I shall pass it to her so that her situation will improve."

A treasure that brought luck? It was quite unbelievable just thinking about it. Alright, I'll admit that my heart wavered. If I had this, maybe my luck would get better, especially my luck with women…

"Fine, hand your grandniece to me."

"Ohhhhhhhhhhh, that's great. Lord Wumianzhe, everyone says that you're gay and scary, but I didn't expect that you really were such a good person!!"

Hearing that she didn't have to return to the grasslands, Anya was already pouncing around at one side happily like a little deer. Rage surged in me who just gotten another 'good man card1'.

"WHO SAID THAT?! I'm going to send him to the sulfur mines to dig sulfur2!"

By the side, Minial nodded his head, his face smiling cheerfully as though saying 'This is great, if he's gay then Anya will be safe. Although she's a Centaur, there are too many perverts in this era.'

"What safe? There's Beifeng here." Alright, this kind of criticism should remain in my belly. Family scandals shouldn't be boasted about.

Anyway, it would just get more complicated the more I tried to explain. Should I still correct my sexual orientation? Shaking my head in frustration, looks like there would still be many days to come that I would have to refute the rumours. I could only pray that the old Centaur didn't like to gossip.

Old Minial expressed that he would be back after a few days to teach Anya their family's Archer Skills and prepared to take his leave. Seeing that, I immediately questioned him.

"What about the treasure?"

"Oh, the Lucky Horseshoes. Wait, I'll take them off now."

I was a little agitated. The legends that horseshoes could bring about fortune was already well-known. To think that it would be secret treasure of the Golden Bloodline royalty of the Centaurs. To be able to get ahold of such a rare treasure, it couldn't be that my luck was turning about?

Very quickly, the old Centaur took off two horseshoes and passed it to Anya.

[Lucky Horseshoes/ Epic-class Equipment/ Effect: Increases the user's Luck dramatically.]

Ohhhhhh, looks like it's a top-tier good.

[You want to obtain Luck? Remember to find a blacksmith to nail it on.]

Looking at this, I went silly.

[This is an equipment. You get it? Equipment must be equipped before it can be useful. Do you have hoofs? Congratulations for doing volunteer work. Actually, you can stop struggling already. There was no hope for your luck, just give up. ]

No wonder old Minial gave these Horseshoes which were almost equal to a God Equipment to Anya so decisively. Although there was no requirement to equip, others were destined to only watch it… If you wanted to equip this toy, you had to first find a nail to nail it onto your hoofs!

Fine, looking at the delighted Centaur darting about while having to suffer the tease of the system, I was really getting more and more unlucky nowadays.

-----------------

The misfortunes kept coming in nowadays. Perhaps, the only good news that I heard these days was that Elisa had awoken.

When blazing pillars of inferno shooting into the heavens and a quiet flowing river of ice appeared, I, who was experienced in this field, was shocked.

Using two conflicting power of Elements as the core for the Soul Imprint, it was an act that defied common sense. However, what was even more inconceivable was that she actually succeeded, and it was on a level far beyond the level of manipulating the Elements, reaching into the level of Rules (of the world) and the level of Concepts. Of course, this was all a good thing but the 'concept' itself made one overthink.

"Marauder, is it? Why does it feel like its Soul Imprint clearly sided towards the Chaos faction? Looks like she was still influenced by the blood of Demons in the end."

The power which the Soul Imprint represented was usually related to the experience of the person in the past and his type of power. The imprints from the experts of the Order Faction tended to side towards strengthening, control, solidifying and similar other rules. The shape it appeared in tended to be a buff, such as Xueti's Steel Heart, which made his body as tough as steel, and Adam's Indestructible Phoenix, which allowed him to never fall down permanently. Even my Mark of Justice and Margaret's Corridor of Time had the effect of strengthening a certain type of magic.

It was different for the Chaos Faction. They tended to distort or destroy the existing rules and their offensive power tended to be extremely powerful.

The rule of Plague was basically a destruction of the rule of Health, the rules which implemented control over the Elements was a destruction of the natural cycle of Elements and the rules of Undead was the destruction of the rule of Life and Death. Elisa's Marauder was even more so, breaking the concept of 'existence and possession'. It was normal for it to appear on Demons and Undead. However, for it to appear on Elisa who served as a Law Enforcer, it was hard to tell whether it was a good thing.

Still, I felt that this rule was very powerful, it's a little similar to Ah Dang. As long as it's a power that complemented her and the physical body was able to take it, it was able to steal it. As long as the user increased to a certain level, it's definitely a very powerful source of power. However, if the user were to steal randomly as he wished, causing the attribute of his power to become scattered, it might not be a good thing too.

Thus, I requested Elisa to not use this power casually. She agreed immediately but somehow, I felt that something was amiss.

Rank Advancement made the recovery of the body hasten significantly. The 2nd day after she awoke, she requested to remain with the team. Looking at the terrifying pile of work and official letters sent by Sulfur Mountain City, I did a few basic examinations on her and after confirming that her health was good to an outrageous point, I approved of her return.

Just like in the previous days, she served as my assistant and head of intelligence coldly and efficiently, but…

"Totally no change at all, that's what's wrong!! That calm look makes one feel like she was scheming something." Maybe it was that I had been tricked so many times that I had become paranoid, but there was basis for my guess.

A Soul Imprint was the crystallization of a person's past experiences and strength. It affected not only one's strength, it would also imperceptibly affect one's personality. When Adam attained his infallible Indestructible Phoenix, he became more stubborn and strong. My Mark of Justice allowed me deal with things rationally in matters relating to the law, Margaret's Corridor of Time allowed her to roam in history, becoming an onlooker of history and reality and not a participant while Xueti's Steel Heart was an obvious negative demonstration…

Furthermore, this was for the milder Order Faction. The changes should be much greater for the Chaos Faction after forging their Soul Imprint. I expected changes to occur in Elisa and changes should happen, but the change had still yet to appear. It felt like a heavy rock hanging in midair, there was bound to be a moment when it falls. However, it persistently remained up there, making one feel uneasy.

But very quickly, I didn't have the attention to bother about it anymore. The auction was just ahead and a savage war, starting from the moment when Eternal Night Scepter was brought into this city a month ago, was destined to finally erupt.