The First Magic World War

Charles wasn't particularly afraid of Julian, having crossed hands with him before without coming to any harm. However, this time, while practicing gunmanship with Julian, he belatedly realized that Byron's youngest Transcendent had a truly fearsome mastery over the spear.

Julian's gunmanship was even superior to Cyrus's.

The same ordinary move, when executed by Cyrus, Charles could handle, but when Julian used it, he could not resist. Apart from his lack of skill in gunmanship, one could also see that Julian's moves were much smoother.

Julian was simply too young, only a freshman. If he reached Cyrus's age, his strength would certainly surpass Cyrus's.

Under Julian's guidance, Charles's gunmanship… still improved extremely slowly.

The Cat's Mask could only extract skills, not special abilities. Not giving up hope, Charles tried once, but only managed to extract "Wine Tasting" from Julian, which was of no value to him.

After a few days of practicing with Julian and barely getting familiar with the seventy-seven moves of Wings of Heaven, Aurora sent someone to deliver three things to him: a challenge letter, a knight's spear, and a rapier.

Charles had gone to Julian's grandfather's store during the day and didn't receive these three items until he came back in the evening. Aurora had also come during the day, but after asking Taoles and learning that Charles would not return until late, she left someone to wait for him and went back herself.

This was Charles's third formal duel in his life!

The opponents in the first two duels had both been high-level Transcendents. Whether it was Harriet Alva or Zolman, they were both formidable and had strong reputations.

When Charles received the third challenge letter of his life and saw that his opponent was Ban Lanmalock, he couldn't help feeling a little sentimental, finally receiving a challenge from someone of the same rank. Both he and Ban Lanmalock were mid-level Transcendents, and though Ban Lanmalock was of a slightly higher rank, there was no longer an insurmountable gap in strength.

The date of the duel was set for three days later!

The witnesses for the duel were Count Ranmalock, Count Sumei, and his Majesty Emperor Alfred Guillaume!

A common challenge letter is produced in triplicate – one for each party involved and another to be sent to "the local Patrolling Army office" for safekeeping. However, this challenge letter was issued in five copies, with two of them sent to the Englima and Fars Royal Families respectively.

The prestige of this duel instantly skyrocketed countless levels.

The knight's spear that Aurora had sent bore the emblem of Ebulrahan Clan, was dark red in color with intricate patterns, had a blade sharp beyond compare, a flexible shaft, a robust shield, and a balancing cone at the rear.

Overall, its design was quite similar to the ancient European knight's spears from Earth, but in this world, with the emergence of Transcendents, the nations of the Old Continent have also developed complex knightly spear techniques, so the knight's spears had become much sturdier, and were not comparable to the disposable ones on Earth.

In the duels and battles of the Old Continent, one would not hear the sound of "a spear breaking and echoing through the skies."

This was a transcendent-level knight's spear!

Charles actually had another Transcendent-level knight's spear; he won it in a duel with the leader of the South Ceraph Reclamation Army, Zolman, below Mostar Fort, taking his opponent's spear.

However, not being skilled with the spear, Charles sent it to Machu Picchu and never carried it with him.

This knight's spear was named Collapsing Mountain and had five attributes: Armor-Piercing, Shock, Magic Breaker, Blood Loss, and Life Absorption for self-repair.

Even in Byron, it was a respectable knight's spear.

Perhaps due to the shortage of time, Aurora had not found a Vampiric Rapier, but the rapier that was sent instead was of remarkable quality, not inferior to that of a unicorn.

The duel letter Charlotte received also designated the duel site, and it was not specified by Ban Lanmalock, but by Alfred Guillaume, the Emperor of the Inglima Empire.

The place chosen for the duel was above the Severn River, passing through Notruden.

Transcendents, if sprinting at full speed, could temporarily run on water, but if they stopped moving, unless they possessed a special ability, they would sink.

By choosing the Severn River as the arena, His Imperial Majesty exhibited a wicked sense of humor, forcing both contenders to keep running incessantly, making the duel more thrilling and allowing a larger audience to spectate from both banks of the sufficiently long river.

Charlotte possessed both the Quickness Technique and the Spirit Spider Technique, so he truly wasn't afraid to duel above the river's surface, but he also knew that Count Ranmalock, one of the duel's witnesses, had raised no objections, indicating that Ban Lanmalock must have a corresponding special ability that gave him a certain advantage in such a riverine setting.

Charlotte had just signed the duel letter and had Aurora's messenger take it back.

Suddenly, a group dressed in Fars's envoy uniforms rushed into the embassy, and upon seeing Charlotte holding the duel letter, one person asked, "Where is the Augusladin High Priest? Is Mecklen here?"

Seeing this envoy team arrive so urgently at night, Charlotte was slightly curious and said, "The High Priest is not here; he's currently in discussions with officials from Inglima on diplomatic missions."

"I am Charlotte Mecklen. What can I do for you gentlemen?"

A lavishly dressed man stepped forward, seeing Charlotte he said somewhat arrogantly, "So you're the Mecklen who signed the treaty?"

Charlotte nodded slightly, replying, "Yes, that's me!"

The man said, "You don't need to know my name. I am here solely to convey the will of our king. The Augusladin High Priest has achieved outstanding merit on his mission to Inglima, and you have signed a treaty, contributing greatly to the Empire, therefore a special commendation has been granted."

"Here are the reward documents for both of you. I have rushed here and am utterly exhausted."

"These two documents are for you to keep, and the one for the Augusladin High Priest should be delivered by you. I must return home to rest now."

The man handed over two documents and left hurriedly, his attitude was as arrogant as could be, yet he did not trouble Charlotte further.

He had come all the way to the Inglima Empire, enduring the hardships of travel to complete his mission, not wanting to create any complications or waste words with Charlotte.

Charlotte received the two documents, watching the high-born man depart from the embassy, and then suddenly he felt somewhat more reconciled to Emperor Alfred Guillaume appointing him to an office and a political position, even bestowing upon him a set of residences.

The nobility of the Old Continent often had intricate connections, even familial relationships, and close blood ties, possessing offices in various countries. Diplomatically, they were adept at maneuvering situations to their advantage - this was the style of these nobles.

The concept of loyalty to a single country had not yet arisen in the Old Continent. For nobles, loyalty first belonged to themselves, then to their family, followed by their domain; the nation was merely the ruler above them, not an entity to whom they owed unconditional allegiance.

The loyalty of the majority of the Old Continent's nobility to their country was far less than that of the commoners.

Charlotte put away the two documents and went back to his room to sleep.

He needed to rest well in the coming days, preparing for the duel.