Chapter 5: The Emergence of the Extraordinary

"Morning Dew After Rain." When Leon heard that from Eton, he felt a strange sense of familiarity.

So, it was a type of tea... As the dusty box of memories was pried open, Leon immediately recalled a series of memories regarding "Morning Dew After Rain." He had drunk it before. It was a green leaf tea that Jon quite liked. The brewed tea was a pale green, and the needle-like leaves darted up and down in the boiling water. Looking at that verdant color, it was as if he were looking at a lush, green forest.

As for the taste, Leon couldn't quite remember. It must have been bitter, watery stuff, right? Because old man Jon just loved drinking that type of tea.

"Is there anything strange about Morning Dew After Rain?" Leon asked Jon.

Jon’s expression didn't change at all, though a flash of confusion crossed his eyes. "There’s nothing strange about it... It’s just ordinary tea leaves. You’ve drunk it, and your parents have drunk it, but..."

"But, if you really must ask if there is anything peculiar about it, there is only one possibility."

"What possibility?" Leon pressed him immediately.

Jon didn't answer right away. He had the mute servant step out first, then said slowly

"The tea seedlings for Morning Dew After Rain did not originate from this world; they came with me from another world."

Before Jon could finish, Leon rolled his eyes. "Alright, since Count Eton isn't here for you, but just for the Morning Dew After Rain, I’ll send an invitation to Count Eton later, asking him to come to the manor for tea tomorrow night."

He didn't want to hear any more of Jon’s fallacious "otherworld theories."

After saying this, Leon turned and left.

Jon, meanwhile, looked at the tea box in Angel’s hand and fell into silence.

...

Steam curled and wisps of smoke rose slowly.

Angel lay on the crafting table, watching the tea leaves in the transparent cup bobbing up and down under the wash of boiling water.

—This is Morning Dew After Rain. It doesn't look like anything out of the ordinary.

Privately, Angel liked drinking strong tea with milk, gulping it down until full. With the rich milk and tea dregs sticking to the corners of his mouth, he would stick out his tongue to lick away the final lingering taste, feeling immensely satisfied.

Jon always liked to tease him, saying only children loved drinking milk. So, to appear mature in front of Jon, he usually drank tea with a bitter, grassy scent whenever he was in public.

He had drunk Morning Dew After Rain countless times; it was bitter, with a sweet aftertaste. There was nothing special about it, so why would Count Eton specifically ask his brother about it? Could it really be, as his mentor said, that they had doubts about the origin of these tea seedlings?

Angel pondered for a while, but unable to find an answer, he simply stopped thinking about it and continued looking through some materials organized in his mentor’s bookcase.

The vast majority of these materials were knowledge about the Golden Sparrow Empire and its surrounding countries, covering language, culture, history, scripts, medicine, astrology, and so on.

Angel finished reading an epic poem praising the warriors of the sea, and Jon had written a note at the bottom: *Language is exquisite, structure is regular, but there are too many laudatory terms, making it impossible to infer potential historical facts. Can be used as supplementary historical material for the Hailan Kingdom.*

In his earlier years, Jon liked to study physical data and biological forms, but later he discovered that the physical constants represented by some data did not follow the operational rules of Earth. This made him truly realize the peculiarity of this world, so in recent years, he preferred to organize and study literary and historical materials.

The Golden Sparrow Empire and its surrounding countries seemed to lack the position of official historian. It could be said that the historical materials Jon had organized over the past decade were one of a kind.

Angel was also very interested in the historical materials his mentor had recently organized, so he read them very carefully.

After flipping through the historical records, Angel saw the beginning of the next piece of parchment, where Jon had annotated a paragraph in Chinese

「There are few literate people in this world, and basic universal knowledge does not seem to have emerged. For instance, regarding the name for the macro-environment of survival, ancient China had the concept of 'the sky is round and the earth is square.' Although the cognition was wrong, it already provided a concept of the planet one lived on. People in this world, however, limit their understanding of the world to the concept of nations, with no concept of a unified macro-whole. I hope to find the name of this planet (world) in other documents... If I truly cannot find it, I shall name it myself.」

After this paragraph, Jon began to record information about the universal values of the common people in this world.

As a native, Angel was naturally very clear about this information, so he just glanced through it briefly and opened another scroll.

*A Guide to the Applicability of Traditional Chinese Medicine and Western Medicine in This World.* This was a scroll written entirely in Chinese; it was estimated that only Angel and Jon in this world understood its meaning.

Unknowingly, twilight arrived, and the servant lit the firewood in the fireplace. The warm firelight, the rustling of insects in the courtyard, and the cawing of crows from somewhere unknown—it was another gentle night.

On the other side, on the plains not far outside Gru Town, rows of makeshift tents surrounded a roaring campfire. What was particularly striking was that in the very center of the tent cluster, there was a huge and magnificent black tent with gold trim, while the other tents surrounded it like stars around the moon, protecting the black tent tightly.

This was Eton Moun’s temporary encampment, but that black-topped tent was not Eton Moun’s own.

The cold, biting wind of the Month of Frozen Earth blew in gusts. Without the shelter of trees, even the armored knights began to shiver. Seeing this, Count Eton ordered a pair of garrison knights to patrol outside the camp, while all the other knights rested by the campfires.

After making the arrangements, Count Eton slowly paced into the magnificent black-topped tent. As soon as he entered, the dignified expression he wore while giving orders immediately vanished, replaced by a look of respect and obsequiousness.

There wasn't much decoration in the tent, but every item carried a hint of mysterious significance. In a corner of the tent, an old man with a white beard in black robes was writing furiously, a crystal ball floating eerily beside him.

There seemed to be mist shifting within the crystal ball. The white-bearded old man would look at the crystal ball from time to time, then bury his head in writing again. Eton glanced at the crystal ball, but only felt dizzy and quickly shifted his gaze elsewhere.

"Did you find the Morning Dew After Rain?" A hoarse, low voice came from the white-bearded old man.

With a hint of fear, Eton recounted his conversation with Leon Pat at the Pat Manor today, point by point.

"Oh?" The white-bearded old man put down his quill and blew dry the blood-red ink on the paper. "Although the other party didn't know about Morning Dew After Rain, his expression changed slightly when he saw the wooden box... Could the maker of this wooden box be problematic, or perhaps, a spellcaster as well?"

Eton secretly peeked at the pattern on the paper; blood-red lines were drawn into rolling waves, with strange lines and symbols in the middle. Just by looking at it for a moment, Eton felt his eyes ache.

"The spell magic circle on this scroll is called 'Rolling Waves.' It will be useful to you in the war with Hailan." After a pause, the white-bearded old man added: "It is a pity you have no talent, otherwise, when I return to the family this time, I could have taken you away from the Old Earth Continent."

Eton’s expression dimmed. "Father... if you can take Alan and his sister away, I will be satisfied. As for me, staying in the family is fine."

The white-bearded old man sighed at first, but then, thinking of his two grandchildren, his expression softened significantly. "Wizard talent has always been extremely rare. In some places, it is one in ten thousand. That our family can produce two talented individuals in a row is already a blessing from the heavens. Moreover, Alan and Irene are my grandchildren; naturally, I will take care of them wholeheartedly."

"It is a pity my talent is not high. I estimate that in a few years, I will need to rely on my own grandchildren." After the white-bearded old man finished speaking, he turned his gaze back to the wooden box on the table.

"The carving is interesting, but the patterns on it have no magical fluctuations. They must just be ordinary people, right?" The white-bearded old man shook his head. Where could one find a spellcaster on the Old Earth Continent? Even elemental fluctuations were imprisoned on this continent. Wizards who did not rely on elements, such as those in the mystery or bloodline paths, could not find the corresponding materials on this continent either... After all, this was the Forgotten Continent.

"Since that fellow Leon refuses to tell the truth, don't blame me." Eton cupped his hands in a bow, a cold, eerie light flashing in his eyes. "This concerns Father’s advancement; it is a matter of utmost importance! Tonight, I will have Marr lead two teams of iron cavalry to raze Pat Manor to the ground!"

The white-bearded old man did not speak, but he took it as tacit approval. Although he belonged to the White Wizards and would not actively slaughter ordinary people, since it concerned his own advancement, killing a few people was of no consequence. Besides... White Wizards were seen as "good" wizards by ordinary people. That was a joke. The opposition between White Wizards and Black Wizards lay in their differing philosophies on the use of magic; in other values, they were actually quite similar—they were just too lazy to commit unnecessary slaughter.

Eton discussed a few more issues regarding Alan and Irene’s departure with his father, then prepared to leave.

Just then, Knight Commander Marr suddenly knelt outside the tent to request an audience.

"Report to the Count, just now, Viscount Leon, the master of Pat Manor, sent a messenger over with an invitation."