A lively village

Merchants were of the utmost importance to everyone. No lords would ever dare to offend the great ones, while small ones took care of the everyday necessity, transporting products like salts all over the country.

Without merchants, a territory would be economically neglected and the production would fall. And considering that riches were usually the main objective of all wars, losing merchants was a no-go. And to do that, you needed to give them what they wanted.

If there did exist taxes that small merchants paid, the great ones were generally spared. You had to pamper them, and that could be done in many ways, and privileges were only one of them. You needed to promise them security - something that did not prevent them from being heavily armed - to remove taxes so that they could benefit easily, and helped them when they needed to. If you did that, then you'd create networks with them, something worth knowing some merchants' influence could even surpass those of nobles.

Security, gold, and energy were the three factors of the attractiveness of a territory.

Each power had to be limited, so the merchants had to go to the emperor from time to time, every 2-3 years, to renew their rights because if a nobleman dared to tax them, he would be reprimanded by the emperor. It was a service game, and one of the main services a merchant could bring was information. Except for a few powers, all or most information would be delegated to merchants.

''Sorry to have kept you waiting.''

''That's nothing.'' The merchant replied to Louis. Considering their size, they were between small merchants and medium-sized merchants.

...

Nirl - training camps.

''No, no, not like that. Look, it's like this. See?'' Manon demonstrated a sword stroke, gently guiding a young child, her long chestnut hair swaying in the air. ''Wait, let me help you.'' She put her hands over his, helping him make the move. ''Can you feel it?''

''hmm-hmm'' Henri nodded, looking embarrassed.

...

Once the session was over, the group of children hung out together.

''Blushing 'cause you had contact with her? Isn't that so cute of you?'' Hugo teased.

"No, I wasn't... It's not like that.''

''It's clear that you'd do a lot better...'' Blanche replied.

''Well, at least I can control myself, not like a certain someone.''

''You?! How?''

''Well, I do have a pretty big brain, to tell the truth.''

''Because you had one?''

''Hey! What do you mean by that?!''

As Louis saw this scene from a distance, a small smile appeared on his decontracted face.

''What are you doing?'' Manon joined him.

''Nothing... I was just admiring life.''

''Had everything gone well?''

"It could have been better, but overall, yeah.'' Looking away from the children, he saw Manon watching them.

''And you? Do you like training them?''

''hmm-hmm. They may not be the most talented, but they are persistent, especially in cultivation.'' She paused, wondering about something. ''I'll always remember my first time, that wasn't a pretty sight.

Concentrating was hard for everyone, especially for the first time where it could end in a matter of minutes. A child needed to discover the world around him or he would get bored quickly easily.

Looking at the scene, Manon saw Charlotte, a kid who was usually alone.

''Oh, wait here a moment, I'll be right back.''

As he saw Manon helping Charlotte, he thought back to Rodolphe's first time.

***

He was 3 years old at that time. Having adopted him just after he was born, he had never taught him his origin as he never ever saw the need of doing so. Knowing his roots would have hurt him, especially knowing that he was born of a demon and a member of one of the worst tribes that had ever existed. Fortunately for the world, this one was almost extinct, something the empire greatly helped.

If he had to tell him, then it would be later. Of course, traces of his origins could be seen, but one always paid less attention to details when one was convinced of something else. The biggest one was probably the disaster five years ago. How could an infant survive when Louis's mother died?

But this wasn't the subject.

All people could cultivate from a young age. And at the moment, Rodolphe had his eyes closed doing it.

But after a short while, he stopped, looking disinterested.

''Dwad...''

''You don't like this, right?''

He hurriedly nodded his small head.

''Well... I must admit cultivation isn't funny, that is, if you just take it as an exercise.'' He lowered himself to his level and put his hand on his shoulder. ''Close your eyes again, and try to imagine the energy all around you. Can you succeed?''

He tried for a few seconds before answering ''No...''

''Don't worry, if you can't see them, then you can still imagine them. Look, they are all around you, things of blue light.''

''Where?'' he asked, opening his eyes.

''Try imagining it your eyes close.'' He smiles ''Do you see them now?''

He nodded gently.

''Alright, now try to think of them as if they were living. As if each one of them had a particular personality, something that you want to discover. Look all around you, see them as separate entities.''

''I swe them !''His joyful look was really cute looking.

''That's good. Now, try to fuse with them.''

''Fuse?''

''Yeah, imagine they want to see you from closing. Try to guide and absorb them.''

The technique worked quite well considering Louis needed to stopped him from cultivating so that he wouldn't pressure his energy center too much.

***

''Is Louis here?'' he heard an unfamiliar voice from afar. Their symbol attached to their armor clearly indicated that this group of soldiers came from Cleppe. On this one was a dove being robbed of its olive branch by an aggressive eagle, all within a wall whose contours were stained with blood.

Louis walked directly towards them. ''It's me. To what do I owe the pleasure of your visit?''

''I'm sorry to disturb you, but you'll have to follow us, Cleppe's order.'' a soldier said.

''All right. May I at least know what this is about? If the merchants who had to pass through Cleppe hadn't warned him, then the order must have been extremely recent, and one of significant importance.

''Of course. It's about the ongoing war. All the villages have been summoned to an emergency meeting.''

''I understand, we may go.''

Knowledge: Records show that in the beginning, Paladins did not exist. Incapable of fighting Demons, they only survived thanks to an Angels' caprice. Some Knights could confront Demons as they were over-trained Knights be it in energy, physical strength, and techniques. Some even managed to awaken several times!

Twin Knowledge: To defeat a Demon, one must be able to fly. But only Paladins can do it due to the characteristics of the sacred energy. Non-Paladins with holy energy cannot fly either, as their control over sacred energy is limited. They merely apply pre-set spell patterns. The other way to fly is to use special equipment, but this one is extremely hard to use.