Shield of the Rose

The minor incident during dinner did not dampen the spirits of Squad 105. In fact, it had completely resolved the headache that was Carvin, leaving everyone in a fantastic mood. The female Knights were too embarrassed to disturb Madame Shar further, but since they no longer cared about where they ate, they let Lina pick a restaurant. Naturally, the restaurant Lina chose was top-tier. For Richie, it was a feast unlike any he had ever experienced.

Every dish served was a culinary masterpiece, leaving a lingering, rich flavor that stayed with him long after the meal. Richie finally understood why everyone desired wealth, and why they sought status once they had it.

Wealth and status were indeed magnificent things.

With everyone in high spirits, the conversation around the table flowed freely. Even Lina stopped bickering with Trisli. Most of the talk revolved around the group of elders they had encountered. Only Lina, Robin, and Trisli recognized most of them, while Dana recognized only five.

Lina proved to be the most knowledgeable when it came to the gossip and anecdotes of these prominent figures. She was well-connected and loved gossip, so she did most of the talking throughout the dinner.

Richie remained silent from start to finish, content to listen.

The dinner concluded around half past eight.

Yet the night was still young for the female Knights, and Peines after dark held a distinct allure.

Richie, however, did not share their enthusiasm. To him, nothing was more exhausting than shopping.

Emerging from the restaurant, the group discussed their plans briefly before parting ways. Since Captain Calli had granted them a full day off without the usual ten o’clock curfew, everyone had their own plans.

Lina went off on her own to who-knows-where. Robin and Trisli returned to their hotel to make love. Rosa, Merlin, and Randy agreed to continue shopping, while the three sisters stuck together.

As the Captain, Calli had to return to camp. The camp required sentries at night, and unlike the irresponsible Lina—who, when acting as Captain, would simply lock the gates and ignore everything else—Calli took her duties seriously.

Dana was tired and had no interest in more shopping. Nora was naturally taciturn and had pushed herself enough by going out during the day. As for Richie, he had been itching to go back.

Thus, the four of them shared a carriage back to the camp.

When they got off the carriage, Richie felt a tug on his sleeve from behind. He did not need to turn around to know it was his mentor, Dana.

The two of them lagged behind, letting their steps slow.

Calli and Nora understood the situation and tactfully quickened their pace, leaving them alone.

Though the equipment room door was locked, Richie had the key. He unlocked it and they stepped inside, not even bothering to turn on the lights.

The trapdoor to the basement lay on the west side of the room. It was small, requiring them to bend low to enter.

The stairs were narrow, leading to a sliding door designed to save space. The basement contained a small room lined with white tiles on the walls and ceiling, and white mosaic tiles on the floor. A showerhead hung from one wall, and a white flush toilet sat in the corner.

Richie quickly stripped off his clothes. The basement had a wardrobe, its bottom drawer stocked with fresh undergarments.

He did not rush to shower, instead turning his gaze to Dana.

Dana moved deliberately, unbuttoning her uniform jacket, then her shirt and undergarments.

Her breasts were exceptionally large, making her a true super-buxom beauty. Richie wanted to reach out and touch them, but he hesitated. Unlike the other women, Dana’s intimacy with him had always been strictly for the purpose of improving her strength.

With her top removed, she let her trousers slide to the floor, exposing her firm, shapely legs. Richie’s manhood immediately sprang to life, standing erect.

Unable to contain himself, he rested his hand on Dana’s hips. At first, it was a gentle caress, but his fingers soon grew bold, sliding along her slit.

A soft whimper escaped Dana’s throat. Her head tilted back slightly and her eyes closed, clearly enjoying the sensation.

Richie hooked his fingers under the band of her silk panties and slowly pulled them down.

He lightly ran his fingers through her pubic hair, which was thick and unruly. “Don’t you like it?” Dana asked softly, her voice barely a whisper.

“Can I remove it?” Richie asked, testing her boundaries to see how much she would permit.

“How did you do it with Merlin?” Dana asked instead of answering. The women of Squad 105 often bathed together, so she knew Merlin used to have thick pubic hair like her, but now Merlin’s pubic area was completely bare and smooth.

Richie pulled open a hidden drawer in the wardrobe, retrieving a jar of depilatory cream and a rubber strip.

“This will hurt a bit,” he said as he peeled the wax backing from the strip.

“Who said you could do that?” Dana glared at him, though her usual authority was entirely absent.

Richie met her gaze as he gently parted her legs.

Dana offered no resistance to her lust-filled student. She let her thighs part wider and wider.

Richie dipped his fingers into the jar, scooping out a dollop of the cream and spreading it quickly over her pubic area.

Soon, her unruly pubic hair was coated in the thick cream, becoming wet and matted. The cream dried rapidly, turning stiff within moments.

Richie pressed the rubber strip firmly onto the hardened patch, waited a second, and then ripped it off in one swift motion.

Dana’s face contorted as a sharp sting washed over her.

Her pubic area felt hot and flushed. She reached down to touch it, feeling only smooth, hairless skin. Her face turned crimson.

“Will it grow back?” she asked quietly.

“Do you want it to?” Richie teased, gently stroking her smooth mons pubis.

Dana ignored the tease. She knew her student was prone to pushing his luck.

Richie’s hand wandered from the front to the back, gently pressing against her anal opening.

Her sphincter immediately constricted. During their last encounter, Richie had discovered her anus was highly sensitive, and he had no intention of ignoring it. His fingers circled her anal opening before slowly pushing inward.

Dana slapped his hand away, her face burning. “It’s dirty there.”

“It doesn’t have to be,” Richie replied, having anticipated this. He retrieved a large enema bag and a jar of lubricant from the drawer.

The leather enema bag could hold two to three liters of water, fitted with a smooth, polished jade nozzle about an inch long.

Dana had never seen such a device, but she could easily guess its purpose. Her face was as red as it could get, but she remained silent. The two of them entered the shower room. Richie turned the tap, and water sprayed from the showerhead.

Richie quickly lathered himself with soap, cleaning his body and taking care to peel back his foreskin to wash away any accumulation. Dana kept her eyes averted, pretending not to notice.

Once clean, Richie did not dry himself to wait in the bedroom as he usually did. Instead, he brought the enema bag to the tap and filled it with warm water.

He gently lifted one of Dana’s legs and rubbed the jade nozzle around her anus. Her sphincter twitched in response, though she still pretended to ignore him.

Knowing he had her tacit approval, Richie smiled and pushed the jade tip into her anus. The sensation was intense. As the jade nozzle slid inside, Dana’s thighs clamped shut, her inner muscles trembling. Her brow furrowed, her heart racing.

She could not describe the sensation. It was uncomfortable, bloated, and slightly painful, accompanied by an urge to defecate, yet it also carried a strange, filling pleasure.

Almost instantly, she found herself intrigued by the feeling. Suddenly, she felt a cool sensation inside her rectum as her abdomen began to swell.

Richie gently massaged her belly. As the water emptied into her, her abdomen visibly rounded. He quickly withdrew the nozzle, held her leg, and massaged her firm buttocks with one hand while pressing her swollen lower abdomen with the other.

With every movement, he could hear the water sloshing inside her.

The discomfort grew too intense for Dana. Unable to bear it any longer, she kicked Richie aside. “Go to the next room. Don’t come back until I call you.”

Richie complied with a grin.

A minute later, following the rush of the flushing toilet, Dana called out, “You can come in.”

Richie eagerly opened the door and returned to the shower room, refilling the bag.

Dana glared at him but did not stop him, realizing this process had to be repeated several times.

After several rounds, Richie had thoroughly cleansed Dana inside and out.

They dried themselves and entered the bedroom. The temperature inside was pleasant, offering relief from the summer heat.

“Thanks to you, I was able to break through to the Ace rank so smoothly,” Dana said softly.

“I also helped you get rid of that annoying guy,” Richie grumbled, wanting his credit.

Dana reached out and flicked Richie’s erect member, which was already as hard as a club. It swayed up and down from the impact.

“You are no better than Carvin. I escaped the wolf only to fall to the tiger,” she sighed.

Dana knelt before him. Grasping his thick shaft, she began to stroke it experimentally, her eyes locked onto the massive organ.

Richie’s excitement surged, his penis swelling further, growing even thicker.

He knew what Dana was about to do.

Sure enough, Dana began to touch his member, scraping her nails gently against his urethra and coronal ridge, then running them along the sensitive skin underneath.

These were the most sensitive areas on a man’s body. Richie shuddered, overwhelmed by the pleasure.

Even better, Dana leaned down and ran her tongue over his glans.

She was going to give him a blowjob. Richie remembered Lina saying that when a woman is willing to perform fellatio, it means she has truly accepted the man.

For a woman, oral sex offered no physical pleasure; it was purely an act of service.

Dana was clearly inexperienced, but she understood the mechanics. Her tongue grew more active, swirling around the glans, licking the urethra, tracing the ridge, and teasing the sensitive underside.

As she grew comfortable, she took the large head into her mouth, rotating her head slowly.

Richie recognized the movement; it was another technique taught by the insatiable Lina.

He felt his glans twisting inside her mouth, accompanied by a suction that pulled him deeper. Because it was her first time, her teeth occasionally scraped against his skin. This was not the gentle nibbling of foreplay, and the scrapes were actually quite painful.

But Richie did not make a sound. He was thrilled that Dana was doing this for him and had no intention of complaining.

Besides, practice makes perfect, and he hoped she would do this for him often in the future.

Dana had long golden hair, and as she moved her head, it fell in shimmering waves. This was a sight none of the other female Knights could offer.

Richie admired the view while enjoying her service.

Dana transitioned from merely sucking the head to sliding her mouth up and down the shaft, swallowing and releasing him in a rhythmic motion.

Had it been Lina, she would have accompanied the action with loud, wet sucking sounds to excite him. But Dana remained quiet, focusing entirely on her task.

After a moment, she paused to brush her hair back.

The movement had left her long hair tangled. Dana cupped his shaft, measured its length with her eyes, and then began to lick it from the base all the way to the tip.

This was much easier than before. As she licked the shaft, she was reminded of eating lollipops as a child and let out a soft chuckle.

“What’s so funny?” Richie asked, puzzled.

Dana had no intention of revealing her thoughts. Comparing a man’s penis to a lollipop was too embarrassing. In her embarrassment, she flicked his shaft again, harder this time.

“Ow!” Richie cried out in pain. The flick was quite hard, and he had been caught off guard.

Dana quickly withdrew her hand, offering an apologetic smile, realizing she had gone too far. To make amends, she took his glans back into her mouth. This time, she kept her head steady, keeping her mouth and throat in a straight line as she slowly slid his shaft deeper. She pushed until the entire front portion of his penis was swallowed into her throat.

This deep-throat technique was also Lina’s instruction, though Lina had warned that it was highly difficult and would likely cause a gag reflex at first. It was designed to drive a man wild, but offered only discomfort to the woman.

Dana indeed felt a wave of nausea as the thick head pressed into the depths of her throat. However, as a Knight, her physical discipline was exceptional. She relaxed her throat as Lina had advised, and after half a minute, the nausea subsided.

Richie was thrilled. He began to thrust gently, his movements slow and deliberate.

His thick shaft slid in and out of her mouth, creating an incredibly erotic picture.

Dana relaxed further, kneeling still and letting Richie control the movement, only adjusting her posture to accommodate him when he pushed deepest.

Inch by inch, Richie’s shaft slid deeper until it was entirely buried in her mouth, his testicles slapping against her chin with every thrust.

The intense stimulation drove him to the brink, and his penis swelled even further.

The sudden increase in size proved too much for the adapting Dana, and she released him, his shaft slick with her saliva.

Casting a glare at Richie, she stroked his shaft a few times before taking the head back into her mouth. This time, she did not go as deep, instead sucking tightly around the glans, using her tongue to tease his urethra while sliding her lips up and down, occasionally letting her teeth scrape the ridge.

This was not due to inexperience; she was doing it deliberately to maximize the stimulation.

Dana did not know how to find his sensitive spots on her own, but the other women did. Lina and Merlin knew them intimately, and even Calli and Rosa, who rarely slept with him, were well-aware.

The stimulation was overwhelming.

Combined with the prior deep-throat stimulation, Richie was close to his limit. The sensation of defiling his once-strict mentor heightened his arousal.

As his shaft began to twitch, Dana executed another of Lina’s tips: she pressed her thumb firmly against the base of his penis, blocking the semen channel. No matter how much his member throbbed, the fluid could not escape.

Richie grew frustrated, realizing this was one of Lina’s pranks.

It was highly uncomfortable.

He knew Dana was not doing this out of malice but had simply fallen for Lina’s trick. The prior instructions had been genuine, but this last one was a prank.

Yet he did not know how to explain it to her.

Just then, Dana released her thumb. The accumulated pleasure erupted like a burst dam, accompanied by a massive torrent of semen.

A large volume of fluid filled Dana’s mouth before she could react, its taste causing her to recoil.

She covered her mouth, jumped up, and rushed into the bathroom.

After a long moment, the toilet flushed, and she emerged.

“She didn’t tell me you would shoot it into my mouth,” Dana muttered, gently tapping his now-flaccid member.

Richie pulled her hips close, his tongue teasing her navel, which he knew to be one of her sensitive spots.

At the same time, his fingers found her lubricated anus, slowly sliding inside.

Dana knelt on the floor, her body relaxed, her hips raised to accommodate him. She let out soft, sensual moans, thoroughly enjoying the sensation.

Richie was equally thrilled, as he was exploring new territory. He pushed his fingers deeper, watching her reaction closely.

Thanks to the enema and lubricant, her anus was slick, but since it had never experienced penetration, it naturally resisted.

Richie felt her muscles trying to push his finger out.

Instead of retreating, he added a second finger.

A flicker of pain crossed Dana’s face.

He began to slide his fingers in and out, accelerating the movement as her muscles began to yield.

Richie pressed his body against hers, his erect member positioned at her entrance.

Moving quickly, he withdrew his fingers and pushed his glans into her anus.

The anal passage was far tighter than her vagina, requiring significant force to penetrate.

Dana grit her teeth. The pain of losing her virginity had not been this intense. She wondered how Merlin could claim this was pleasurable, even more so than normal intercourse.

Richie did not immediately thrust, pausing to let her adjust.

He kept himself occupied, caressing her anal opening with one hand while reaching around to stimulate her clitoris with the other.

Under the dual stimulation, it did not take long for Dana to begin moaning.

Perhaps because the prior pain made the current pleasure sweeter, she became lost in the sensation.

Richie began to thrust, starting slowly before building speed.

Suddenly, Dana’s anal muscles clamped down, her grip rivaling Lina’s.

He looked up at her, noting the faint smirk on her lips.

“Stop playing,” Richie said, swatting her butt.

Dana kept her smirk, ignoring his complaint.

Richie channeled a thin stream of Aura into his glans. The tight grip vanished instantly.

No longer holding back, he thrust vigorously, focusing his Aura into his member and fingers.

“Ah… ah… ah… you are tricking me!” Dana cried out. She had not known he could do this, assuming sex was naturally this intense until a recent chat with Merlin revealed her student’s tricks. She had wanted to play a small prank on him.

She had not expected this result.

Dana felt as though she were dying, the pleasure ten times more intense than usual. Worse still were his hands, wandering over her body and finding every sensitive spot with practiced accuracy.

She wanted to fling him off, but she lacked the strength to even lift her hips.

Richie found the experience equally intense. Dana’s internal temperature was high, her passage wrapping around him like a furnace, and her natural contractions were incredibly tight. Even without experience, her natural responses were formidable.

After fifteen minutes, Richie felt her contractions accelerate. He quickened his pace, his fingers focusing on her clitoris.

Under the relentless stimulation from both front and back, Dana finally succumbed. She let out a wild, animalistic cry, her head thrashing as her golden hair flew wildly. Her body arched, the muscles of her back tensing.

Richie had never seen such a violent orgasmic reaction.

He did not know that Dana was capable of separating her consciousness from her body. During their training, she had always kept her mind partially detached, leaving her body to react naturally.

This time, however, she had chosen to experience the pleasure fully.

The intensity of her reaction startled him.

It took a full minute for Dana to quiet down, her body collapsing onto the floor as she gasped for breath.

The lingering pleasure remained inside her. She now believed Merlin’s claims; the rear entrance indeed offered a far more intense experience.

She felt herself growing addicted to the sensation.

Shaking her head to dismiss the thought, she warned herself that this was the last time, a gesture of gratitude. Future encounters would not be this wild.

After a brief rest, her Knightly recovery took effect. Gaining some strength, she gave Richie a firm push.

Richie tumbled backward. He assumed their session was over.

To his surprise, Dana rolled onto her back and pulled her knees to her chest.

Seeing him sit two meters away, she glared at him. “Do I need to formally invite you?”

Richie eagerly crawled back.

As he prepared to insert his member, Dana closed her legs, blocking him.

“We need to clear something up first,” she said, her expression serious, instantly reverting to her strict mentor persona.

The seriousness lasted only a moment before she realized her current posture did not command much authority.

“This remains a secret between us,” she said, glaring at him fiercely.

Richie nodded quickly. Dana stroked his shaft gently, hesitation in her eyes. After a long pause, she spoke softly. “I do not plan to marry. But I want a child of my own to serve as the family heir. That way, I can appease my father.”

Richie stared at her, dumbfounded. He had never expected such a request.

Having spoken her mind, Dana cast aside her hesitation. She pointed at his nose. “When we make love, you are not to hold back your pleasure, and you are not to slow down when you are about to ejaculate.”

Richie felt a surge of joy. He had worried that today was a one-time reward and that he would not have another chance with her.

He had not expected this.

She had not even forbidden his tricks. Nothing could be better.

But Richie hesitated. “Randy… she checked me. She said my…”

“I know. I asked Randy. You are not infertile, but your chances are very low. With normal methods, the probability is almost zero.”

Dana was prepared.

“What are the abnormal methods?” Richie asked, intrigued.

Dana blushed, lowering her voice. “Didn’t you push your member all the way into Rosa’s cervix, ejaculating directly inside?”

Her voice grew barely audible.

Richie’s excitement flared. This was his favorite way to couple.

Dana did not stop him this time, letting his hard member slide into her vagina.

Standing up, he felt weak. Even after spar sessions with the entire squad, he had never felt this drained. He recalled the wild night, having lost count of how many times Dana had forced him to ejaculate. Her womb must be filled with his seed.

He showered, dressed in his uniform, and went upstairs.

The sun was already high. Richie realized he had overslept. He spotted Randy in her white lab coat at a workbench, working on a helmet he had never seen before. Outside, the shouts of the three sisters during training echoed across the yard.

“You’re finally awake?” Randy said without looking up, though a smirk played on her lips. She knew what had happened; Dana had asked her about Richie’s fertility and how to secure a pregnancy. Only a fool would fail to connect the dots. Suppressing a laugh, she said, “Calli left a task for you. You are to visit Espol. Yesterday was thanks to Madame Shar.”

“Did the Captain send me to apologize or to thank them?” Richie asked.

Randy hesitated, not having considered that.

Dana’s trouble had dragged Madame Shar into the fray, which warranted an apology. Yet Madame Shar had resolved the issue, which deserved thanks.

After a moment, Randy concluded that Richie was sent to strengthen their connection. Had it been an apology, Calli would have gone herself with Dana to show sincerity.

“To thank them, of course. Why else would she send you, the one closest to them?” Randy said. “If you are unsure, you can ask Calli yourself.”

Richie shook his head. He would not do that. He preferred expressing thanks over apologizing, and since Calli had been on sentry duty last night and was likely sleeping, there was no need to disturb her.

Leaving the camp, Richie walked to the public carriage station outside the town. A dozen officers were already waiting.

He waited patiently. He was in no hurry; the Captain’s task was effectively a day off, requiring him only to return by ten in the evening.

Half an hour later, the carriage arrived.

A crowd of officers squeezed inside, leaving a few soldiers behind.

The public carriages now served only military personnel and were free of charge. The downside was the extreme crowding.

Fortunately, Richie was a Knight, possessing far greater physical tolerance than ordinary officers. Seeing his rank, the other officers avoided crowding him to prevent injury.

The carriage traveled through the districts, and Richie got off at the Seventh District. Espol was staying at the Ricard Hotel, as Trisli had told him. However, Trisli could not guarantee Espol would be there, as the old man had many friends and often went to the national arsenal to use their equipment.

Richie decided to try his luck. If Espol was not there, he would wait.

This was why Calli had not set a strict return time.

Compared to the Calfran Hotel where Trisli had stayed, the Ricard Hotel looked much older. It was a rustic 13th-century stone building, likely one of the oldest structures in the city.

Surrounded by tall cedars, only its dark red roof was visible. A twenty-meter cobblestone path led to the open wooden entrance. As he approached, Richie heard voices raised in argument.

He stood near the door and listened.

It was a group of elders arguing, with Madame Shar’s sharp voice easily identifiable.

Richie relaxed. Even if Espol was not there, meeting Madame Shar was his primary objective.

Two guards stood in the lobby. Richie recognized them as Knights, though their uniforms were unique. He recalled Lina mentioning the internal security guards of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

As he observed them, the guards watched him, one of them taking a step toward him.

Ignoring them, Richie walked to the reception desk, where two receptionists stood, addressing the older of the two.

“I am looking for Mr. Yiluo. Please tell him Richie from Squad 105 is here to thank him.”

The Ricard Hotel lacked the speaking tubes of the Calfran Hotel, requiring staff to deliver messages in person.

The receptionist departed, and moments later, heavy footsteps echoed from the stairs as Espol’s stout assistant descended.

The two guards in the lobby relaxed upon seeing Yiluo and returned to their posts.

“I knew you would come,” Yiluo called out from the stairs.

“Thanks to Madame Shar yesterday, otherwise things would have gotten out of hand. I hope she wasn’t shaken?” Richie said, having learned some social graces.

“Shaken? She is perfectly fine. In fact, having the chance to yell at someone has put her in a great mood,” Yiluo said, pointing to the ceiling. “Listen. Her voice is as strong as ever.”

Richie smiled. He did not dare comment on that. While he did not freeze in front of prominent figures, he knew his boundaries.

“What are they arguing about? Why has no one stopped them?” Richie asked.

Yiluo waved a hand dismissively. “They have been arguing over the same topics for decades. No one can stop them.”

Richie’s interest was piqued. “What topic?”

“The Primordial Armor. In the world of armor smiths, it is an eternal debate. Even in a thousand years, there will likely be no consensus,” Yiluo sighed.

“The Primordial Armor?” Richie searched his memory, recalling a mention of it. “I think I read about it in a book.”

He remembered it was one of the books he had retrieved for Emily, covering the origins of armor.

The book stated that before the Okin Dynasty, magitech armor did not exist. During the reign of Emperor Okin XV, an excavation revealed a long-lost ancient civilization that had vanished tens of thousands of years ago.

They discovered a set of armor.

Since then, more ruins had been uncovered, yielding several sets of armor.

These were known as the Primordial Armor.

Sources differed on the total number found, with twenty-six being the most widely accepted figure, though some claimed thirty, thirty-seven, or forty-five.

However, none of the recovered sets were intact; all bore varying degrees of damage. Modern magitech armor was built as replicas of these ancient designs.

Components like synthetic sinews and energy crystals were developed later, and the true era of magitech armor began during the Holy Emperor’s reign, continuing to the present day.

Richie shared what he knew without fear of embarrassment.

Yiluo nodded as he listened, leading Richie to the door of the room where the argument was taking place, though he did not enter.

He knew better than to interrupt now. Entering during the heat of the argument would only invite Madame Shar’s wrath. Yiluo sat in the small anteroom outside, gesturing for Richie to join him. “We will wait here. They take a short break every forty-five minutes. We will go in then.”

Richie agreed, having witnessed the old lady’s temper.

Besides, listening to the debate was educational. The participants were all authorities on armor design, offering insights few would ever hear.

Unfortunately, his understanding was limited, and he grasped barely one in ten words. Yiluo kindly explained the concepts to him.

With Yiluo’s help, Richie began to understand the core of the debate.

He was shocked to learn that both Espol and Madame Shar questioned the traditional armor theories that had persisted since the Holy Emperor’s era.

Espol’s view was measured. He argued that while the scholars of the Holy Emperor’s era were brilliant, they lacked the accumulated knowledge of later generations, making their theories somewhat flawed. Subsequent designs built on those theories had only drifted further off course.

Madame Shar was far more direct, claiming the traditional path was entirely wrong, and that the ancient scholars had led everyone into a ditch. She claimed that even she had wasted years before finding the correct path.

While they agreed on the flaws of the traditional theory, their proposed solutions differed. Espol believed the Primordial Armor was a semi-living organic entity, directing his research toward organic metal alloys.

Madame Shar believed the core of the Primordial Armor was a psychic energy construct that controlled movement, defense, and even flight.

“Who do you think is correct?” Richie asked.

He expected Yiluo to defend his master, but the assistant chuckled. “In my view, both Espol and Madame Shar might be right, and so were the ancient scholars. The Primordial Armor holds too many mysteries. Even in a thousand years, we may not fully comprehend them. And in the future, people will likely argue just as we do, claiming Madame Shar led them astray.”

Yiluo laughed.

Richie joined in, though he found it strange that a man of Espol’s standing would not see what his assistant saw.

Another puzzle was Espol’s involvement in armor design. He was famous for forging weapons, with no notable achievements in armor.

Richie asked him directly, knowing these figures appreciated bluntness over false politeness.

Yiluo sighed. “Do you know how difficult this research is? My master has spent his life studying organic metal; he has no time for other fields. Compared to armor, weapons are far simpler, which is why he focused on weapon forging.”

He sighed again. “My master left the armor research to me, and I will continue his work.”

Glad to have someone to talk to, Yiluo spoke at length.

Regardless of whether Richie understood, he explained their theories.

Richie listened as if hearing a foreign language.

He grasped the simpler concepts, such as Espol’s step-by-step progress, starting with fungi to study how to imbue metal with organic traits. He had progressed to the plant stage; the blade forged for Richie was modeled after the leaves of a mimosa plant. His ultimate goal was to incorporate animal traits into metal.

Unless a miracle occurred, this work would have to be completed by Yiluo, as Espol’s advanced age left him little time.

As Yiluo spoke, the voices inside grew quieter, and footsteps could be heard.

Yiluo stopped talking, pulled Richie up, and walked inside. He knew the break would last no more than fifteen minutes before the argument resumed.

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