Chapter 565: Body of a Demigod
Year 331, February 20th.
Bay Territory, Misty Swamp.
Light rain.
The gentle patter of rain fell lightly through the hazy white mist.
It brought new life to the withered yellow reeds, slowly reviving them with vibrant green.
Various small lifeforms darted joyfully through the roots and stems.
With the dragon-blood creatures cleared out, life at the bottom of the food chain was poised for a massive resurgence.
However, such prosperity wouldn't last long.
Without apex predators to keep balance, second-tier predators would multiply rapidly, putting ever-growing pressure on the small lifeforms.
Boom!
A surging wave of sound rippled outward in sequence.
The carefree little creatures scattered in panic.
The surrounding tremors caused even still puddles to ripple.
Annie looked over curiously, catching sight of the churning mist. Her eyes sparkled thoughtfully as she asked:
"Is this live combat training?"
Annie was well aware of how Bay Territory trained its troops and understood both its benefits and challenges.
Naval combat training, due to the lengthy production cycle and high costs of ships, was usually incredibly expensive.
Yet she hadn't expected Bay Territory to still train this way.
Which meant they were fully committed to preparing for war.
Leon pressed down on the throttle, and the rapidly spinning propellers blasted air backward, propelling the entire hovercraft forward at speed.
This swamp-traversing vehicle amazed Annie greatly.
Even more intriguing was that this seemingly simple transport didn't use mana as a power source, but a small steam engine instead.
Annie felt puzzled—despite building a new elemental energy pool, Bay Territory hadn't increased its use of magical energy. Instead, they were exploring even more alternative energy sources.
Leon didn't explain. Bay Territory never put all its eggs in one basket. He simply nodded and said:
"That's right. Real combat is essential. It's the fastest way to get soldiers fully trained and adapted to naval warfare."
"Considering the swamp is flatter and different from the turbulent sea, we've also made some adjustments to the combat environment."
As he finished speaking, they passed through a gate formed by piled earth, entering a choppy stretch of water.
Waves rolled across the surface, causing boats to rock in every direction.
On the swaying ships, hundreds of soldiers engaged in combat against opposing vessels.
Annie keenly observed that while their footing was unsteady, the soldiers managed to maintain balance on the shaky decks.
Cannons spewed flames and roared continuously.
Boom!
Roaring cannons launched spinning shells, which slammed heavily into the enemy hulls.
A large red mark appeared, and all the shells and soldiers in that area ceased action.
Besides the visual effects of cannon damage—
Heavy crossbows struck below the waterline, slowing the ships' movement.
"So that's how they simulate battle damage?"
"Are those shells specially designed?"
"This method really allows them to thoroughly practice every part of naval combat..."
"After one or two battles, they'll become seasoned naval veterans."
"..."
Impressed by the training's effects, Annie observed the soldiers closely, assessing their skill levels.
It was clear these troops had excellent water skills—they were well trained.
The training of Bay Territory soldiers always brought Annie many surprises.
They always mastered specialized combat skills with incredible speed and quickly formed a powerful army.
This rapid development made Annie both envious and a bit helpless.
The Cole Elven Kingdom's suppression of the Ail Elves had prevented the latter from entering a proper development and rest phase.
Had it not been for the Lord's "Underground Invasion" ploy, which drastically reduced pressure on the Ail Elves' defenses—
Annie and her specially trained units likely would've been recalled.
"Maybe I should ask the Lord for more ways to cause trouble for the Cole Elves..."
The distant roar of weapons jolted Annie back to reality. She temporarily shelved the idea and turned her focus to the various weapons aboard the ships.
The biggest difference between naval and land forces was that personnel quality only accounted for 30%, while weapons and equipment made up 60%.
The stronger the weapons and gear, the more advantageous the side.
The weapons on Bay Territory's ships—both in quantity and quality—were eye-opening for Annie.
In addition to more than twenty cannons—
Heavy crossbows mounted on both sides of the hull—
And catapults commonly used in Bay Territory battles—
These were all weapons Annie was familiar with, but compared to those on Ail Elven ships, Bay Territory's had superior range and lethality.
It left Annie with a sense of disbelief.
Had Bay Territory's navy really developed this quickly?
All of Bay Territory's military advancements followed the same rhythm and standard.
Focused on three core weapon types—crossbows, cannons, and catapults—they constantly upgraded and iterated upon them.
Annie immediately recognized the many benefits of this approach.
Bay Territory had a strong foundation in these three weapons and abundant experience crafting them.
Researching and improving them was much easier than developing entirely new weapons, consumed fewer resources, and guaranteed results.
In fact, once these weapons reached a certain stage—
They could be slightly modified to suit almost any battlefield scenario.
This consistent military-industrial strategy left Annie in awe.
Every part of Bay Territory conveyed long-term vision and development.
Just the way they thought things through was far more advanced than the Ail Elves' council, which debated the order of progress.
Guided by Leon, Annie visited several other ships conducting live training.
She quickly discovered that beyond cannon exchanges, there were pursuit drills, encounter battles, boarding combat, and more.
In short, their training covered every naval battle scenario they might encounter.
Troops trained this way—even without actual combat experience—already possessed solid fighting ability.
Reaching the swamp's central zone, a man-made landmass served as the navy soldiers' base.
Annie saw over 5,000 soldiers practicing swimming, crossbow shooting, cannon operation, and ship maintenance.
This level of specialized, targeted training deeply inspired Annie.
She sighed inwardly—when would the Ail Elves break free from their chains and develop like Bay Territory?
At the base, Annie met an old acquaintance: Arnold. The battle-hardened chief instructor was studying a coastal defense map in midair.
Annie focused her gaze and saw that Bay Territory had already built over twenty blue-marked strongholds and fortresses along the coastline.
"As expected, Bay Territory has long planned to develop its naval forces..."
Arnold took the report Annie handed over. His thick brows lifted, and a fierce aura radiated from him.
He tapped the magical projection, quickly inputting the data.
Near the northeastern Silvermoon River Plains, about 50 kilometers from Bay Territory's northernmost outpost—
A Wokou stronghold had clearly appeared on the map.
Next to it was a detailed record log.
Total population: 17,670. Soldiers: 3,250. Slaves: 11,359.
The city wall is 3 meters high and 500 meters long, with low defensive capability.
52 cannons, 6 arrow towers.
14 ships—8 warships and 6 transport ships.
Aside from this stronghold, there is a small island 200 kilometers east of the Silvermoon River estuary.
The island has a total population of 54,000, with 17,800 soldiers and 20,000 slaves.
It contains two port cities. The city walls are 3 meters high and 800 meters long, with low defensive strength.
32 ships in total—22 warships and 10 transport ships.
Reviewing the data, Arnold stroked his chin, eyes flashing with fierce light. He let out a cold chuckle and said:
"Without realizing it, these mongrels have crept right up to our doorstep."
"Last time they boasted and shouted. This time, it's our turn to act!"
Hearing Arnold say this, Annie immediately reacted—were they really going to strike now?
Bay Territory currently only had 12 warships.
There were only about 3,000 qualified naval soldiers—and all of them were green recruits with no battle experience.
Either of the Wokou bases alone outmatched Bay Territory.
If they struck now, Bay Territory would gain no advantage at all!
While thinking this, Annie saw Arnold, Leon, and the others already discussing strategy. She couldn't help but ask:
"Do you need us to help? That might give us better odds."
After working together for so long, Bay Territory naturally knew what kind of combat strength Annie commanded.
Four seven-masted large warships and 2,000 elite Ail Elf navy troops.
A powerful little rich lady!
Hearing this, Arnold simply smiled and shook his head. Seeing Annie's slight excitement, he smiled and nodded:
"To deal with them and risk exposing our collaboration—it's really not worth it."
"Once we've developed a bit more—until even if our trade is exposed, it won't affect future dealings—then will be the perfect time to reveal our alliance."
As Annie stared blankly, Arnold said confidently:
"At that time, we'll announce our partnership with a victorious blow against the Cole Elves."
Annie was clearly caught off guard by Arnold's sudden words. After a moment, her eyes widened in shock as she cried:
"Bay Territory and Cole..."
She instinctively stopped mid-sentence, eyes sparkling with joy and anticipation. Though she wanted to ask Matthew more, she held back.
Arnold gestured for her to join in the discussion about plans to attack the Wokou's land-based strongholds.
Bay City.
Underground laboratory.
After calmly ending the test subject's suffering, Matthew let out a long sigh.
The mental and consciousness modification had failed.
The "Hive Mind" Extraordinary Feat required highly unusual prerequisites.
Intelligence, Perception, and Charisma attributes had to meet specific thresholds.
Suitable subjects weren't lacking. Some "voluntary" contributions from Cole Elves could meet the criteria.
However, activating "Hive Mind" wasn't like learning other skills or feats.
It couldn't be trained through physical exercise, practiced techniques, or bodily transformation.
It was more abstract—like consciousness and thought themselves.
After spending nearly a million Fate Power and still failing with the third subject, Matthew decisively ended the experiments.
If even Fate Power couldn't help, then the chance of success was slim to none.
Relying solely on "Hive Mind" was ultimately too fragile.
Matthew needed more data, more mental-related skills.
But before that, he needed to undergo a new round of strength and power enhancements.
After a long accumulation, Matthew's continuously reinforced soul finally digested the "gift" from the Goddess of Luck—Taiji.
Two points of Divinity!
Though it looked insignificant, it completely transformed Matthew's attribute panel.
He had gone from a "normal" genius profile to achieving the level of growth he was truly meant for.
Matthew Ser.
Race: Human
Status: Year 301, Second-Rank Viscount
Age: 20
Class: Level 11 Arcanist (0/100,000 Fate Power), Level 8 Warrior (0/30,000 Fate Power)
Talent: Candle Dragon Bloodline LV2 → LV3, All Attributes +2 → +4, Max HP +10 → +20, Master Time, Reverse Time, Wield Thunder, Command Lightning
Feats:
Divine Feat - Body of a Demigod LV2
Intelligence +5, Charisma +2, Max HP +100. (Adaptability: Enhances primary attributes of class)
Talent Awakening: Talent Level +1
Lucky Star: Luck +1
Advanced Spell Immunity: Immune to high-level and lower spells
Divinity: 2 points (Minor Divinity)
Accumulate Divine Power: Recovers 1 point per natural month, max 2 points
Divine Power: 2/2 points (Minor Divine Power)
Divine Power Consumption: Spend 1 point of divine power to replace casting any Legendary spell/skill or lower
Divine Power Enhancement: Spend 1 point of divine power to increase the effect of any Legendary or lower spell/skill by +300%
Fate Power (to increase corresponding level, requires 100x experience of same level):
Divine Feat - Fate Power LV2
Passive: Perceive the essence of all things and display as data, current limit — Legendary Tier!
Active: Consume Fate Power to view fate branches and trace fate's trajectory
Fate Power: Gained by saving or slaying a person, fate is ever-changing!
Note: Ordinary person yields 1 Fate Power.
Entry-level Professional yields 10 × class level Fate Power.
Mid-level Professional yields 100 × class level Fate Power.
High-level Professional yields 1,000 × class level Fate Power.
Extraordinary... 10,000 × class level.
Legendary... 100,000 × class level.
Divine... 1,000,000 × class level.
Extraordinary Feat - Candle Dragon Body LV1 → LV2, Intelligence +3 → +6, Fire Element Mastery, -10 → -20 Fire Spell Damage Taken, +10 → +20 Fire Spell Damage Dealt
Extraordinary Feat - Time Rewind LV2: Rewind any target/unit's state to any moment within the last 4 days, usable once per day
Extraordinary Feat - Thunder Mastery LV1: Lightning Damage 10 per second, attacks enemies within 100-meter range, 200 Lightning Energy per day
Surgical Feats:
Advanced Surgical Feat LV5 Enhancements:
Constitution +10 (ineffective past 20 points)
Agility +10 (ineffective past 20 points)
Constitution +10 (ineffective past 20 points)
Max HP +50 (overwritten by later feats)
Bone Density +500% (cap)
First 5 Surgical Extraordinary Feats LV1 Bonuses:
Strength +2, Agility +6, Constitution +9
Damage Reduction +10%
Attack Accuracy +10%
Reflex +2
Overall Speed +20%
Each LV +1 doubles effect
(Extraordinary Feat attribute effect capped at 30 points)
Max HP +60
Immune to one fatal heart injury
Overall Body Toughness +100%
Yaya Modification Integration:
Extraordinary - Second Heart LV3
Extraordinary - Iron Bones LV3
Extraordinary - Hardened Muscles LV3
Extraordinary - Gale Speed LV3
Legendary - Lesser Undying Body LV1
Strength +6, Agility +10 (Extraordinary cap 30), Constitution +10 (Extraordinary cap 30)
Damage Reduction +30%
Attack Accuracy +30%
Reflex +6
Overall Speed +60%
Overall Body Toughness +300%
Max HP +110
Immune to one fatal heart injury
Immune to one fatal injury every 24 hours
Casting Feats:
Advanced Feat - Fast Casting LV5: +300% casting speed, +10% casting success rate!
Advanced Feat - Mana Siphon LV5: 100% chance to gain 5 × enemy's class level mana on killing a Professional enemy
Advanced Feat - Long-range Casting LV5
Any spell casting range +500m, spell flight speed +100%, accuracy +10
Advanced Feat - Spell Empowerment LV5
When activated, spell effect +1 spell tier, mana cost +50%
Spell Skills:
Tier 1-2 Low Spells, LV5
Tier 3-4 Mid Spells, LV5
Tier 5-6 High Spells, LV5
Special Spells: Illusory Clone LVMAX, Body Modification Spell!
Combat Skills:
Beginner Combat Skills LV5
Intermediate Combat Skills LV5
Advanced Combat Skills LV5
Arcane Inheritance:
Supreme Inheritance, Flesh - Feat Analysis LV4
Supreme Inheritance, Weave - Vital Infusion LV2
Supreme Inheritance, Flesh - Bloodline Fusion LV2
Attributes:
Strength: 15 → 30 (Supreme cap), Accuracy +10
Agility: 16 → 34 (Legendary stat), Accuracy +12
Constitution: 18 → 34, Accuracy +12
Intelligence: 30 → 37, Accuracy +19 (Recovers 19 mana per minute while meditating)
Perception: 21 → 25, Accuracy +8
Charisma: 18 → 24, Accuracy +7
Luck: 3
Spell Attack: 13
Spell Defense: 10
Physical Attack: 10
Defense: 10
HP: 68+110+11+100 = 289/289 (Constitution × 2 + class level)
Mana: 370+110/480 (Intelligence × 10 + class level × 10)
Skills:
Magic Item Creation 190 (Pseudo-Legendary), Alchemy 195 (Pseudo-Legendary), Knowledge 230 (Legendary), Meditation 198 (Pseudo-Legendary), Scouting 148 (High), Deception 145 (High), Leadership 150 (High), Evasion 145 (High), Persuasion 145 (High)
Life Contract: Time Dragon - Yaya
Evaluation: A naturally gifted big Boss!