Chapter 744: The Pea Shooter

This chapter is an extra update sponsored by the "Chariot's Past" reward.

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“Ahem.”

Liszt coughed dryly.

Dinio was referring to Jie La.

After seeing the Pea Great Spirit move into the bug room, Jie La immediately began asserting its dominance. In Thorn Fortress, Jie La considered itself the alpha—after all, it believed the thorny little spirit would eventually be tamed. Yet now another Grand Sprite had shown up out of nowhere, making it extremely anxious.

To make matters worse, there was already a sharp-toothed Grand Sprite living outside the castle walls. These spirits were constantly challenging Jie La’s position, and that was definitely not a good sign.

Thorn Fortress couldn’t tolerate such a badass spirit!

“Jie La just has a short fuse. Just ignore her,” Liszt said. “No matter what, since you’re here now, you need to integrate into my family.” He shook hands with the Pea Great Spirit. “How about this? Let’s start by changing your name, and slowly get used to your new life.”

“Change my name?”

“Yes, Dinio is in the past. You should have a new name now.”

Though the Pea Great Spirit was intelligent, she was still just a Grand Sprite. Soon, Liszt gently guided her out of her gloom: “Then what should I call you?”

“You’re the Pea Great Spirit. I think ‘Ashe’ suits you well. There once was a powerful knight called *Frost Archer Ashe*, who had a Pea Great Spirit that evolved into a dragon spirit. People gave her the nickname—Pea Shooter.”

Liszt casually made up a story.

Thanks to his practice from several unfinished manuscripts, his storytelling ability had become quite impressive: “I hope one day you can evolve into a dragon spirit too. So ‘Ashe’ will be a beautiful wish for you.”

The Pea Great Spirit tilted her head in thought for a moment before happily agreeing: “Okay, then from now on I’ll be Ashe!”

And so,

Liszt’s second Grand Sprite was officially named Ashe. Though she was a pre-owned Grand Sprite, he was still excited for quite some time.

It had to be said that compared to Pyke—the buzzkill who always opened his mouth at the wrong time—the Pea Great Spirit was truly beautiful, living up to the lovely title “spirit.” Her personality was also quite normal—perhaps slightly aloof, but most spirits tended to be somewhat reserved anyway.

After confirming Ashe’s favorite flavor of jade powder (a spirit delicacy), Liszt immediately had someone bring a large supply for her to snack on.

Then he closed the door and left the bug room.

Just in time to hear Jie La screeching again by the window. Liszt looked up at the chandelier in the hallway, feeling a strange sense of reflection: “Why are all the spirits I obtain so full of personality, while others seem to get such peaceful ones? Is it because I respect their personal growth more?”

In his opinion, this was very likely the case.

The high nobles of this world treated spirits as mere agricultural implements.

Only he regarded them as independent beings, never restricting their individuality. Pyke’s sharp tongue and vanity, Jie La’s dominance and temper, Nami’s sociability and diligence, Mickey’s fixation on tallying corn, and the frequent squabbles among Fizz, Tahm, and Eddie—he never interfered, only setting one boundary: no harming spirits, and no harming each other.

“Judging by how Jie La has already triggered Grand Sprite evolution, perhaps my reasonable leniency might actually help their development,” Liszt mused, feeling a faint sense of pride. Maybe, as he suspected, a spirit’s individuality did play a role in advancing its evolution.

Back then, Jie La had broken free from the constraints of fate due to the Thorn Bug’s unwillingness, evolving into a spirit.

Now, with her status threatened, Jie La’s drive to prove herself had begun triggering evolution into a Grand Sprite.

“Perhaps I could focus on nurturing their personalities to unlock their evolutionary potential… But no. Meddling with a spirit’s nature feels like doing them harm. As a dragon knight now, there’s no need to mess with the spirits—just provide them with comfort and let them live in peace.”

Liszt could never treat spirit bugs as mere tools.

"Whoa!"

His thoughts were interrupted by Jie La's cry, and he decided not to dwell on these matters further—he'd let things take their course. The immediate priority was to complete Jie La's evolution and welcome his third Grand Sprite.

"I hope this heavy snow doesn't spread too far, or else locating thorn bushes will be difficult." Thorns were evergreen plants, often mixed among shrubs, making them easy to track in winter—unless snow buried everything.

...

Evening.

Iron Knight Alvin Eaglesword arrived at Thorn's Fortress, delivering the modified Wrath of Thunder knight set: "Your Highness, as per your request and with the assistance of the Magic Guild, I successfully engraved flame patterns onto the Wrath of Thunder and incorporated fire-element materials to enhance fire-based mana."

This armor originally belonged to Ka Erluo.

However, Ka Erluo was much shorter than Liszt, so it required extensive modifications. The revamped Wrath of Thunder was no longer pure silver-white but adorned with fiery red patterns over a silver base. From a distance, the red lines stood out vividly, creating a striking three-dimensional flame effect.

"Excellent work on the modifications." Liszt put on the Wrath of Thunder, finding it a perfect fit.

After dismissing Alvin, he headed straight to the dressing room to check himself in the mirror.

Reflected in the mirror was a handsome and majestic knight, radiating both elegance and might. Adjusting his helmet, Liszt called out, "Bring me my three-colored cloak." Normally, his equipment was stored in his spatial rings, but occasionally, he had the servants clean them.

Soon, the footman Thomas handed him the cloak, helping drape it over his shoulders.

At this moment,

Liszt stood clad in the Wrath of Thunder, the Frostbite Dragon Slayer Sword at his waist, the red-black-gold three-colored cloak flowing behind him, and three storage rings gleaming on his fingers.

He looked dashing and majestic.

"Something feels off about the sword's color. The armor and cloak complement each other perfectly—the red cloak and fiery armor patterns enhance each other... but the blue great sword clashes. If I replaced the Frostbite Dragon Slayer Sword with a pure silver Wrath of Thunder, it would still lack the red accents and feel mismatched."

"Alvin just isn't skilled enough to engrave flame patterns onto the Wrath of Thunder."

The material quality of the dragon lance Wrath of Thunder far surpassed that of the armor Wrath of Thunder, and Alvin, being just an ordinary Iron Knight, lacked the ability to reforge it.

After changing out of the armor,

Liszt switched back to his usual attire and headed to his study to continue pondering the *Fire Dragon Knight – Dragon Aura Manual*. Lately, daily tasks had kept him occupied, leaving the manual with only one technique—"Dragon Slash." Countless ideas flickered in his mind, but he hadn't had the time to focus.

As expected, he wouldn't get much time now either—he was again distracted by minor matters.

Acheronides returned from the sea. Like Liszt, she had been busy strengthening herself, working to create a spell befitting her rank as an Archmage.

"So, have you created a spell stronger than advanced magic?" Liszt asked as they walked together.

Magic was officially categorized by the Magic Guild into three levels: Basic Magic (basic magic circles), Ordinary Magic (static magic circles), and Advanced Magic (dynamic magic circles).

Acheronides nodded. "Brother, by studying the Magic Web and the Dragon Aura Manual, along with the knowledge you've taught me, I've finally grasped the foundation of higher-tier magic. I've designed the first spell surpassing advanced magic, though it's still in its early stages and not yet perfected."

By the sea,

while the last light of dusk lingered, Acheronides began casting her new spell.

Taking a deep breath, she concentrated for a full ten seconds before suddenly raising her right hand. In the next moment, the Magic Web appeared, drawing tremendous magical energy.

Above the calm sea, a massive wall of water slowly rose.

The water formed jagged, sawtooth-like edges, the currents spinning at such high speeds that they emitted a sonic boom-like sound.

"Go!"

Acheronides gestured toward the rocky shore.

The watery sawblade swept down, slicing through the boulders effortlessly—as easily as cutting through butter.