Revive Rome: Wait! Why not make the empress fall in love with me first?
Chapter 204 - 2 Mutant

Chapter 204: Chapter 2 Mutant

"Peggy," Aske said.

Finally, my turn, huh? Peggy immediately looked at him with excitement.

"Now that you have mastered the ’Undead Illusion Sword,’ I’ll teach you the ’Punic Tactics.’"

"Punic Tactics are the pinnacle of guerilla warfare tactics, emphasizing the maximization of guerrilla advantages on the battlefield by proactively selecting the location and timing of engagement with the enemy, thus creating opportunities for a fatal strike."

"In short, it’s a tactic that values battlefield intuition, with strict demands on awareness and positioning. However, I believe it’s the tactic that suits you best."

"Mia," Aske turned again, looking at the thief girl.

"I will teach you the ’Dual Sword Assassination Skill.’ Although it’s also dual-wielding, its essence is completely different from Barbarian Tactics."

"You must multitask, treating your left and right hands as separate entities and be able to freely execute two different combat methods. To your enemies, it will seem as though they are being attacked by two people at the same time."

Having outlined the subsequent career paths for the four close-combat specialists in the squad, Aske looked at the remaining girls and said after a moment’s thought:

"Let’s leave it at that for now. I’ll arrange the rest later."

The four girls exchanged looks, reading the disappointment in each other’s faces.

It couldn’t be helped. Although Aske, as a Weapon Master, undeniably had a close-combat fighting style and was more adept at teaching such tactics,

he also knew some Firearms, but when it came to Arcane, Mind, and Healing, he was somewhat out of his depth; even a Weapon Master couldn’t dabble in so many realms at once...

"Squad Leader!" Thira suddenly raised her hand, "I want to learn swordsmanship!"

Swordsmanship? Aske was a bit surprised. For Thira’s "Mass Mage" bloodline, the four sequences were "Wisdom," "Storm," "Meteor," "Radiance"—a purely casting profession with no abilities related to swordsmanship.

But this could perfectly achieve the element of surprise, couldn’t it?

Everyone thinks she’s a mage, rushing at her with a barrage of spells, and then Thira draws a longsword...

"Sure," Aske nodded, "Then I’ll teach you the career path of a Magic Swordsman, sword in the right hand, casting with the left."

That was possible? Nora and Medea were also startled; they had thought that this training session would again be a washout for them, but now saw how Thira had taken the initiative.

"Then I want to learn Firearms shooting!" Nora shouted with her hand raised.

"I want to learn too," Medea chimed in without wanting to be outdone, "I want to learn both swordsmanship and Spear Technique."

"You’ll all be arranged," Aske couldn’t help but smile wryly, "everything will be arranged for you."

Having said that, it was like he just remembered something as he looked towards the outside where Hood was lying under a tree reading comics, and asked:

"Hood, do you want to learn something?"

"Noooooo!" Hood drew out the word, his gaze never leaving the comic.

This was within Aske’s expectations; considering Hood’s lazy temperament, getting him to learn swordsmanship was as difficult as inviting a hardcore homebody to go out to play sports and socialize.

"Alright," Aske said, "then let’s go in order and start with the ’Trinity’ tactics..."

Just then, a Steel Cross mercenary hurried over from the opposite side and whispered a few words to Aske.

"An anomaly has appeared up ahead?"

"Yes."

After the Magic Tide, anomalies had slowly become more commonplace.

Aske contemplated this and then motioned for the girls to follow him, planning to use this anomaly as a live combat training opportunity.

--------------------

When the group arrived, they saw the members of the Steel Cross standing solemnly, facing knights in armor, with a clear divide between the two sides.

Andrea and Herman were talking to an old noble, who lifted his head and casually swept his gaze over the people on this side.

Aske almost immediately recognized this NPC as a great noble from within the Holy Solomon Empire, Duke Otto of Carinthia.

If the history of the East Solomon Empire in "Iron and Fire" stayed somewhat true to, or borrowed from reality, then the history of the Holy Solomon Empire was a complete chaos of blending, with distinguished families from various Divine Luo eras all woven together in the game.

Furthermore, these Frankish people had a tradition of naming their children after revered ancestors, which resulted in noble NPC names being even harder to remember and distinguish, most commonly the various "Ottos," "Henrys," "Conrads," and "Hermans."

For example, the current Emperor of the Holy Solomon Empire is also named Otto, as was his father. To distinguish between them, people casually referred to his father as Otto I, and the Emperor as Otto II, implying "the first/second Otto" in the family.

If the Emperor were to have a son who would inherit this glorious name spanning three generations, he would be called Otto III.

The issue was that the name Otto was not exclusively used by the royal family; since there was no concept of name avoidance, other great nobles could also use it. For example, the Duke of Carinthia in front of them was also named Otto.

Since there were no previous Ottos in the Duke’s own family, he was privately called Otto I...

So, how does one distinguish this Duke Otto I from the already deceased father of the current Emperor Otto I?

Therefore, people invented the "Nickname Method" and "Fief-Naming Method." For instance, this Duke of Carinthia was customarily referred to as "Otto of Worms," but players, not eager to remember these names, simply called him "Duke of Carinthia" for convenience.

The Duke of Carinthia was a spirited old man, probably around sixty years old, also armored and sworded, with a sharp gaze.

Under his seemingly scrutinizing eyes, the girls involuntarily looked away, especially Eleanor, who wished she could dig a hole in the ground and crawl into it.

Only Aske remained calm and smiling, nodding slightly to the Duke of Carinthia when he looked over.

"Well, that’s it. Go and discuss the agreement with my Cabinet ministers later." The Duke of Carinthia’s gaze finally rested on Eleanor, then he withdrew his eyes and said to Andrea and Herman, "I’ll go rest in the camp over there."

Once the Duke had taken his leave with his men, Andrea turned back and greeted Aske.

"What mutation?" Aske asked.

"It’s hard to say; it’s too bizarre," Andrea whispered, "Ahead is Lunfield, a town with a population of over ten thousand, and all its residents disappeared overnight."

"I guess, besides the disappearance of the residents, there also appeared monsters, right?" Aske said.

"Yes," Andrea confirmed, "All sorts of monsters. And what’s most terrifying is that these monsters seem to be moving and talking on the town streets like ordinary townspeople, scouts even saw monsters shopping for groceries and haggling over prices with vendors who were also monsters."

"That requires closer observation," Aske stated calmly. "Any direct contact yet?"

"Not yet," Andrea replied. "His Excellency the Duke of Carinthia is willing to hire us to solve this mutation at the normal rate for such missions. So, we plan to discuss with the Duke’s Cabinet retainers first to negotiate a suitable price."

This was clearly seeking the opinion of The Azure Longsword. Aske smiled and said:

"I think the Duke’s offer will be satisfactory."

Andrea burst out laughing, very pleased with the addition of The Azure Longsword and her companions, and pulled Aske to meet with the Duke’s people.

After ordering the girls to stay put, Aske left with Andrea, Herman, and others.

The girls stayed on the spot out of boredom and chatted with each other.

"Hey, Hood," Mia said, "could you lend me some comics to read?"

"Sure," Hood agreed, and took out his luggage from the carriage, quickly rummaged through it, and pulled out a comic book.

"Here, take this," Hood said.

"What kind of comic is this?" Mia asked, surprised at the name on the comic, "The Azure Longsword single volume?"