The First Order

Chapter 1132 Stirring up the past of the Magi

Ren Xiaosu did not know that while he was laughing happily over here, the two sheeple on the other side had given him a death sentence in their minds.

In the eyes of Li Chengguo and Liu Ting, the dream of becoming a sorcerer was their lifelong pursuit. If they could not become a sorcerer in this life and enter that magnificent world, was there even any point in living anymore?!

Ren Xiaosu did not know how great of an impact those four slaps had on the Berkeley family, or even on the entire magus order.

Just as Chen Cheng and An'an had realized how important stress training was for incantation recitation, the Berkeley family, which was ready to start a war at any moment, also realized its importance.

Sorcerers were used to leading comfortable lives, so they developed many bad habits. However, they were not stupid!

Now that a "spell" that could interrupt a sorcerer's casting from afar had appeared, all sorcerers would have to immediately be wary.

At this moment, the archmage in Vaduz Cathedral gradually came to. Ren Xiaosu knew what he was doing when he slapped him, so other than losing two teeth, the archmage was not too badly affected.

Moreover, it was his wisdom teeth that had fallen out, so it didn't affect his speech.

As a matter of fact, the archmage had been troubled by his wisdom teeth for many years, so it could be considered a blessing in disguise, even though he did not think so.

The archmage was sitting at the end of a long table in the council chamber of the cathedral. The oil paintings of the past heads of the House of Berkeley were displayed in the council room, and the dignified and imposing portraits seemed to be staring at everyone in the room.

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The archmage said, "This matter is an affront to our House of Berkeley. Although public opinion is leaning towards us right now, and there's also animosity for the Tudor and the Norman families among the common folk, everyone here must understand that those slaps were definitely not some kind of divine act. The people from the Norman and the Tudor families must have sensed something and are trying to destroy the foundation of faith we've built up in the six counties in the south!"

The junior sorcerers on both sides of the long table lowered their heads in silence. They knew this was not the time for them to speak.

It was definitely not Ren Xiaosu's intention to cause so many conclusions to be drawn with just four slaps. However, Ren Xiaosu could not be blamed for this. It was all too coincidental.

As the Berkeley family was about to start a war, they were definitely in a state of high alert at this time. As such, any small incident would kick off all kinds of situational analysis.

Moreover, Ren Xiaosu's actions at the worship service were no longer as simple as causing a disturbance. He had stirred up big trouble!

The archmage continued, "Jock, have someone quickly relay this matter to Berkeley County. The patriarch must immediately be informed of what happened here."

"Yes, Lord Lukas." The sorcerer named Jock nodded in acknowledgment.

The archmage's full name was Lukas Berkeley.

Lukas Berkeley looked at another sorcerer. "Ask the commander of the Knights of the Inferno to come and see me. Before the patriarch makes his decision, we're going to turn the entirety of Vaduz County upside down. We have to find the sorcerer who cast the spell and learn everything about it."

The junior sorcerer replied, "Yes, Lord Lukas."

The archmage asked, "Has the city been locked down?"

"Yes," the junior sorcerer replied, "but, Lord Lukas, a trade caravan left Vaduz this morning. They were carrying a badge with a gold lion of our clan on them."

Lukas thought for a moment and said, "Don't publicize this matter. I know about the situation with that trade caravan. They're on a more important mission."

"I understand, Lord Lukas." The junior sorcerer heaved a sigh of relief. He was a little scared the culprit was in the caravan.

The archmage said to two other sorcerers, "I want both of you to properly handle the public's opinion regarding everything that happened today, including the opinion of those in the Knights of the Inferno. You all have to understand that faith is the sword we wield. If the Knights of the Inferno lose their faith, we can't win this war!"

"Yes, my lord," the junior sorcerers replied.

Now it was time to discuss the most important item of the meeting. "On this matter, we can't only focus on the bad side. We have to consider the pros as well, which is that the enemy's trump card has already been revealed. It was clearly better to catch us off guard on the battlefield with that spell, yet it was used before the war broke out. We need to be more vigilant if the enemy has the means to interrupt our spellcasting from a distance. Jock, you also have to report this to the patriarch. We have to carry out specific training with all our sorcerers to counter such a tactic before the war to ensure that our incantations do not get interrupted."

It was not only the Berkeley family who became wary of this news. Almost at the same time, all the spies from the other sorcerer clans in Vaduz City relayed the news in the form of messenger pigeons. To ensure the news would get out, some spies even set five messenger pigeons into the sky at once carrying the same message: "A new 'face-slapping' spell has appeared. This spell can remotely interrupt the recitation of incantations, making it impossible to guard against. Stay wary!"

Among them, the communication methods of the Houses of Norman and Tudor were even more effective. They possessed a spell that could be used to transmit information.

After the Norman family cast their spells, they conversed through a mirror that resembled video chatting technology from before The Cataclysm.

There were sorcerers in this clan who were specifically responsible for coordinating with the spies. They would cast Mirror every night to collect intel, and the spies would just have to wait in front of their mirrors for the spell to activate.

Meanwhile, the Tudor family was just as good. They also had sorcerers who specialized in intelligence gathering. However, the outside world only knew that spies of the Tudor family made use of alchemical coins to transmit information; they did not know the principles behind the sorcery.

It could be foreseen that it was not only the sorcerers of the Berkeley family who would undergo special training. Almost all the clans that received this intel would also begin such training

After all, it would be way too annoying if someone were to interrupt their spell casting. No one wanted to be put through what that archmage had gone through.

As for how to train… no one had thought of it

yet.

Someone joked in private, "Why don't we slap each other for now until we can recite our incantations without getting interrupted?"

However, such suggestions could not be brought up openly like that. Otherwise, whoever said it would definitely be regarded as a dumbass by others.

But there was something that had to be said. After the sorcerers started training in a focused and high-intensity manner, Ren Xiaosu could almost be said to have single-handedly raised the combat awareness and proficiency of the entire magus order with those four slaps of his.

The Berkeley family's Knights of the Inferno started assembling. A large amount of military supplies were gathered from the six counties in the south and transported to Vaduz County. Food, reservists, and all logistic supplies were now in the preparation phase.

Soon after, the head of the Berkeley family also arrived at Vaduz County. They would start here and use the four counties controlled by the Winston family as their forward operating base to truly embark on their northern expedition.

A full-scale civil war had begun in the Kingdom of Sorcerers. However, no one could have expected the war would start because of someone who had nothing better to do. That someone had stirred up the Magi's past at the entrance of the cathedral… four times.