To get a soul collector with a higher capacity, I need to summon Raya Lucaria Academy or Carian Manor.
To summon Raya Lucaria Academy or Carian Manor, I need a soul collector with a higher capacity.
Are you playing a loop with me?
Arthur sighed helplessly and said to Teacher Sellen, "I understand. I will also resolve the source stone issue as soon as possible."
Sellen's glintstone mask turned, and she said, "Also? It seems you have a lot on your plate right now, my dear disciple."
Arthur sighed again: "Not too much, but not too little either. In short, I now need a large amount of Runes, which will solve all the problems I have at hand. During the Battle of Lonely Mountain, due to the soul collector's capacity issue, many souls of dead orcs couldn't be absorbed. I suffered a terrible loss."
Sellen said thoughtfully, "If you urgently need souls to replenish Grace Runes… would you consider those primitives in Eriador? Anyway, they are isolated from the world, so no one would know if they were wiped out."
Arthur quickly waved his hand: "No, absolutely not. Teacher Sellen, it's best to abandon that idea. Besides, although those primitives in Eriador are unwilling to cooperate with us, they haven't provoked us either."
Teacher Sellen then said, "So, you mean as long as they provoke the Erdtree, you can act against them?"
Arthur waved his hand, his head aching: "Nor can we go and create a situation where they actively provoke us, Teacher Sellen. Anyway, I will find a faster method. I'll come back to you after I get the source stone."
Teacher Sellen was used to Arthur's refusal. She knew her disciple had a higher moral standard, so she just nodded faintly to bid him farewell, signaling him not to disturb her further experiments.
After Arthur led Melina out of Sellen's room, the girl behind him finally spoke: "Sellen's reputation as a 'Witch' is well-deserved. Perhaps only someone like you can deal with her with a normal mindset, right?"
Arthur shrugged: "Teacher Sellen isn't as terrifying as the rumors say. It's just that sometimes her unusual worldview does make others find her a bit scary. Alright, now I need to figure out how to quickly replenish Runes and summon more Royal Army soldiers… Otherwise, let alone dispatching troops to garrison Dale, there won't even be enough patrol personnel for Nepheli Loux's requested territory."
Melina asked, "You mentioned before that when you replenished Runes for the Erdtree, you killed those orcs to get their souls, right?"
Arthur replied as he walked, "Yes, and the orcs in this world seem to reproduce especially fast; no matter how many you kill, you can't wipe them out."
Melina now looked up at the twin Erdtrees standing in Royal Capital Leyndell in the distance, and looking at the other half, the Shadow Tree, she asked, "You also mentioned to me that Freya, a female warrior from the Red Lion Legion in the Shadowland, was summoned by you using Phantom Grace? Do you also need to consume Phantom Grace to summon me and Royal Capital Leyndell?"
Arthur slapped his head: "Oh, no, that's not necessary. You reminded me, besides summoning Freya, I haven't used the grace stored in the Shadow Tree to summon anything else."
He stepped back a few paces, walking beside Melina: "You and I have been to the Land of Shadow, so you can accept things from there. But many people in The Lands Between, even the nobles, don't know some secrets of the Shadowland, so I never thought about summoning things from the Shadowland. Freya herself belongs to the Red Lion Legion, so she wouldn't arouse suspicion from others…"
Melina withdrew her gaze from the Shadow Tree and said sarcastically, "Do you think those nobles have their brains filled with Grace like yours? The other half of the Erdtree, that brightly lit Shadow Tree, stands right before the eyes of the people of The Lands Between. Do you still think things from the Shadowland would shake them?"
Arthur was stunned, silent for a moment, then looked left and right to make sure no one else was around before muttering in response: "The Shadow Tree itself isn't the issue, it's mainly the events that happened in the Shadowland… Think about what your brother Mesmer did for Queen Marika, and what Queen Marika did at the God's Gate. Can these really be revealed to the people of The Lands Between now? At least wait until this twin Erdtree becomes complete before publicizing it. That way, even if some turmoil occurs, I can handle it in time."
Melina also fell silent, and after a long while, she grudgingly praised: "Alright, this time I admit your stubborn head thought more than I did."
Arthur was already used to Melina's awkward praise. He smiled and then said, "No, I should thank you. Your words also reminded me that although the events that happened in the Land of Shadow cannot be revealed now, it doesn't mean that people from the Land of Shadow cannot be summoned."
Melina asked curiously, "What do you plan to do?"
Arthur had a "plan-in-hand" expression: "Didn't Radahn reach an agreement with Bard for me to send an army from the Golden Tree Territory to be stationed there? We can just have soldiers from the Land of Shadow go there. As long as the teleportation gate in Lake-town is strictly controlled, and the soldiers from the Shadowland are far away at Lonely Mountain, the people of The Lands Between won't be able to communicate with them immediately."
Melina nodded faintly: "So you plan to summon Mesmer? But you said that to summon a demigod from a certain place, you first have to summon its landmark building. You can send Mesmer and his army to Lonely Mountain, but you can't move Shadowland City to Lonely Mountain, can you?"
Arthur said, "Yes, and there are too many secrets about the Land of Shadow in Shadowland City. There are many unspeakable things both inside and beneath the castle, so if summoned, people must be stationed inside. Therefore, I'm sorry, Melina, this time I cannot let you reunite with your brother."
Melina shook her head slightly: "That's fine. Then who from the Shadowland do you plan to summon? Besides Mesmer's Royal Army, there don't seem to be any other armies loyal to the Erdtree, right? You're not planning to summon that mad dragon on Spike Mountain and his dragon kin, are you? Or Romina, the 'Maiden of the Bud' related to Scarlet Rot?"
Then Melina paused, frowning deeply, and said in a serious tone, "Are you perhaps planning to summon that weak 'mad flame Lord' Midella?"
Arthur quickly waved his hand in denial: "How is that possible? You forgot that when I summoned Morne Castle's Lord Edgar and his daughter Irena, they were both very wary of the mad flame. How could I directly summon Midra? Even if he is weak, he is still the King of mad flame. If he burns my Erdtree, I'll have nowhere to cry."
Melina's expression softened slightly: "That's good, but stop playing coy and tell me who you intend to summon?"
Arthur replied with a smile: "Although Mesmer cannot be summoned due to the secret of the Land of Shadow, the 'Two Moons Knight' Lellana, who admires him, and her Ensis Castle, are completely fine."
Then Arthur paused and said: "She was once a princess of Caria, and she knew Radahn, so it's not a big problem to have her guard the Lonely Mountain."
Melina thought for a moment, then turned to look at Arthur: "The only question is whether the Two Moons Knight will be as friendly to the Erdtree as my brother Mesmer."
Arthur affirmed: "She will. Even if not for the Erdtree, she will at least help me for Caria's sake."
Melina tilted her cute head, asking in confusion: "Why is that?"
Arthur suddenly fell into an eerie silence, and then Melina's eyes also became sharp and dangerous.
She asked calmly: "Is it because of your relationship with Lani? Although I don't have memories after burning the tree, in several cycles, I clearly remember you putting her ring on the demigod who was the mastermind behind the Night of the Black Knives. This means that in the cycle where you told me you walked the path of the stars, you were married to Lani?"
Arthur could only nod, not knowing what to say.
Melina also said nothing, but suddenly quickened her pace, making Arthur rush to follow behind her.
As Melina walked, she asked: "Is that doll she gave you still on you?"
"Uh, it's on me..." Arthur followed behind the faster-paced Melina, opening his mouth but not knowing where to start.
Should he say: Listen to me, things are not what you think?
Please, Melina was present when he put the ring on Lani, how else could he explain?
Or should he say: I only have a cooperative relationship with Lani, and the one I truly like is you.
Then wouldn't it be even worse when Lani is summoned?
Arthur' mind frantically calculated how to talk to Melina, but every calculation result told him that the best option right now was to say nothing, explain nothing.
Because he was in the wrong, anything he said at this point would only backfire.
Thus, the Storm Legion soldiers, attendants, and maids along the way saw Arthur following a beautiful young girl with an embarrassed and flustered expression, wanting to speak but stopping, then wanting to speak again.
Melina only stopped after walking out of Stormveil Castle, taking a deep breath, and suddenly turning to look at Arthur.
Arthur stopped abruptly, right in front of Melina, not knowing what to say, so he just gave a silly smile.
"I was the first to give the ring, isn't Torrent's whistle ring-shaped..." Melina muttered softly, her voice so low that Arthur didn't hear clearly.
So he asked cautiously: "Did you say something?"
"Ah..."
Melina saw Arthur' expression, sighed, and said: "Nothing, just some personal grumbling. Or do your ears want to hear what kind of insect I'll use to describe your behavior?"
Arthur shrunk his head: "If it makes you feel better, I can listen here all day."
Melina turned her head away: "Mayflies only live for a short day. Are you trying to say your brain can only remember things for one day?"
Arthur quickly shook his head: "Of course I didn't mean that..."
Just as he was about to say something to comfort Melina, a soft object was suddenly thrust into his hand by Melina.
Arthur looked down and found it was an exquisite cloth doll that was eighty percent similar to Melina.
Melina turned around again, threatening with a dangerous tone: "Keep it safe. If I find out you dare to lose it..."
Before she could finish her sentence, Arthur solemnly put it away and swore: "I swear to the Erdtree, I will absolutely not lose it!"
Melina closed her mouth, then lightly "hmm"-ed, and said: "Now summon Torrent and go to Royal Capital Leyndell to attend to your matters."
"Alright!"
Arthur and Melina quickly returned to Royal Capital Leyndell, arriving beside the Erdtree in front of the grand cathedral. Without any delay, they used the Shadow Tree's stored Phantom Grace to summon Ensis Castle.
Unlike the golden light emitted by the Erdtree in the past, the Shadow Tree showed no unusual phenomena during the summoning, only the black-gold tree trunk's pulsating halo becoming more frequent.
Arthur chose to place Ensis Castle near Halbarad because he planned to place Raya Lucaria Academy and Carian Manor, when he summoned them later, in this area.
Furthermore, Ensis Castle, to some extent, also belonged to the Caria faction, so Arthur planned the location in advance for subsequent summons.
Another reason why Arthur did not summon Ensis Castle to Royal Capital Leyndell or other pro-Erdtree castles or fortresses was that he remembered the relationship between Caria and the Erdtree was not as friendly as that of Stormveil Castle.
Stormveil Castle could be considered the defeated party, at least overtly, it had submitted to the Erdtree.
But Caria was different; even at its peak, the Erdtree had not successfully conquered the Caria Royal Family, but instead chose to resolve the conflict between the two sides peacefully through marriage.
However, everyone in The Lands Between knew what Radaon did later; he abandoned the then-leader of the Caria Royal Family, the "Full Moon Queen," and their offspring, returning to Royal Capital Leyndell to marry Marika.
Although Arthur knew Marika was Radaon, the people of Caria didn't know that. They only knew that Radaon of the Erdtree was a scumbag of the ages, abandoning his wife and children to become the Elden Lord, and they must have been furious with the Erdtree.
If he were to directly summon Caria's buildings and soldiers near the Erdtree's forces, Arthur would probably have to urgently deal with the conflict between the two sides first.
Therefore, placing Ensis Castle a bit further away also gave both sides a buffer time to meet, so they wouldn't immediately start clashing with resentment.