Revive Rome: Wait! Why not make the empress fall in love with me first?
Chapter 84 - 65: Promotion to Level 3

Chapter 84: Chapter 65: Promotion to Level 3

The planned grand battle against three hundred Frank Knights was abruptly called off because all the girls were at full saturation with spirituality, leaving Aske no choice but to interrupt the plan.

The girls were originally quite happy, after all, absorbing so much extraordinary power could raise their physical fitness to a new level.

However, on Fire Island, after hearing Aske’s "Extraordinary Power Rapid Consumption Plan," everyone was scared pale.

In summary, the plan was for everyone to fight without armor, engaging in hand-to-hand combat, while Aske with a wooden sword wrapped in cloth, would beat everyone up.

"Why would it be me beating you up?" Aske said incredulously, "Let me repeat, it’s you who will be surrounding and trying to take me down."

"What’s the difference between that and you beating us up!" The girls cried, clamoring together, "Unless you swear not to strike back!"

"Not striking back is impossible," Aske said. "When you’re on the battlefield, can you really expect the enemy not to fight back?"

"Now that your levels are at least Level 1, wooden swords won’t kill anyone. Actual combat is the fastest way to digest extraordinary power. Besides, isn’t Nora here? She can heal you."

"But it hurts when hit with a wooden sword!" Nora wailed.

"Pain is exactly right," Aske said. "Do you know? Physical pain accelerates the transformation of extraordinary power."

"Why don’t you let us beat you up then?" Sigrdrifa said.

"Alright, come on," Aske swung his longsword, "seeking to be beaten up."

Sigrdrifa’s eye twitched, and she stood in place without moving.

"Sigrdrifa, haven’t you always enjoyed fighting?" Aske asked strangely, "Why the sudden change?"

"I like to chop people, not to be chopped!" Sigrdrifa shouted, "Every time I fight you, it ends up with me chopped to the ground, curled up like a shrimp!"

"Maybe this time you could turn defeat into victory," Aske said. "Haven’t you absorbed a lot of extraordinary power?"

Sigrdrifa hesitated, but quickly remembered the miserable state after taking her first serving of Magic Potion Strong X and being stabbed by Aske in the left shoulder and slashed across the right waist, and immediately started shaking her head frantically.

"Then let’s forget it," Aske said disappointedly, dropping his longsword. "You all find someone else to practice with."

So the girls cheered and began to look for their own sparring partners.

Eleanor sparred with Sigrdrifa, one focusing on attack and the other on defense, enjoying their duel.

Mia was competing with Peggy, two agility-based close-combat fighters circling and striking, their figures moving so fast they almost made one dizzy.

Nora and Medea wielding wooden swords, attacking and defending with loud shouts, made Aske randomly think of a phrase:

Chicken pecking at each other.

After teleporting out of Fire Island, Aske returned to the rooftop to see Miel still maintaining her kneeling posture, silently shooting towards the distance.

"How is it going?" Aske asked as he approached her.

"Sealed it," Miel replied.

"Sealed?" Aske was a bit surprised. He understood what Miel meant: she just with a sniper rifle alone, had managed to block off the Galata Bridge.

"At first, I shot dead a dozen knights," Miel explained, "then they started trying to advance with shields, but the shields couldn’t withstand my sniper rifle. So they tried a mass charge."

"The Galata Bridge is 500 meters long. From one end to the other, it’s enough time for me to shoot over 60 times. In the end, they couldn’t bear such losses, so they didn’t dare to send anyone across the bridge anymore."

"Didn’t they try to break through with cars?" Aske asked.

"I would shoot at the fuel tanks," Miel replied.

"You can hit the fuel tanks of fast-moving cars?" Aske was somewhat surprised.

"Shoot several times," Miel replied, "On average, 5-6 shots, and I hit once."

"Hmm, well done," Aske praised her.

In this world without players, Miel had managed to hold back the Frank Knights across Golden Horn Bay for so long, and had achieved the strategic goals he had envisioned.

"It’s time for us to go."

"Not continuing to block the bridge?" Miel was a little surprised, "I can keep going."

"You’re out of bullets, right?" Aske said.

Miel froze for a moment, then removed her magazine and found only three bullets left.

"Always remember your ammunition capacity," Aske said meaningfully. "Besides, you can’t keep shooting like this forever."

"The Frank Knights who had previously crossed the bridge to the main urban area probably already know from the rear that there’s a sniper blocking the bridge, and now they must be searching the mountainside. Continuing to shoot would only expose your position sooner."

"It’s not possible," Miel said, "I haven’t let a single messenger across the bridge."

"Do you know of the existence of mobile phones as a communication tool?" Aske said.

Miel paused again, then fell silent sullenly.

"You go back and rest on Fire Island," Aske said.

After sending Miel back to Fire Island, Aske went downstairs and left. Along the way, he indeed noticed more Frank Knights, who seemed to be intentionally searching high-rise buildings, blocking roads.

But for Aske, with his rich experience in stealth, such blockades were laughable.

He quickly snuck down the mountain from another direction and headed towards District 11.

Near St. Polyeuctus Church, he came upon the blockade of the city’s guards.

After a rough and detailed inspection, Aske was finally verified and allowed to pass.

By the time he returned to his ancestral home, it was already 9 p.m.

...

Empress Theodora has been placed under house arrest by Empress Zoe!

The next morning, at 10 a.m., after an attack by the Frank Knights in the main district was repelled and all the Knights withdrew back across from Golden Horn Bay, a sensational piece of news suddenly spread like wildfire among the garrison soldiers.

There were several versions of the rumor with regard to the details.

The first version was that the invasion by the Frank Knights was led by Theodora. In defiance of her sister, Empress Zoe’s opposition, she had been single-minded in seeking help from the West, which ultimately led to letting the wolf into the house.

The nobles and bureaucrats who had suffered losses in this war raised furious questions during the national policy meeting at the Golden Governance Palace, only to find that the agreement signed with the Venetians bore only Theodora’s seal and not Empress Zoe’s.

This was enough to indicate that the political stances of the two were indeed different. The Venetians’ betrayal meant the closing of the route for seeking help from the West and also marked the fall of Theodora’s political career.

The second version was that, in seeking assistance from the Western Church Court, Theodora had privately promised to make amendments to the scriptures as dictated by the Church Court, a move that greatly displeased the current Great Shepherd, His Excellency Alexei. Therefore, the Orthodox Church remained indifferent to the parliamentary resolution to depose the Emperor.

The third version was the official announcement: Empress Theodora had voluntarily abdicated because of the remorse and apology she felt towards the Empire and its people for her own policy failures, choosing to spend the rest of her life in the Monastery.

At the time of her abdication, all her supreme imperial powers were fully transferred to her sister, Empress Zoe.

Thus, Empress Zoe became the sole Empress of the Empire.

Although in the East Solomon Empire, both palace coups and military coups were as common as family meals, such blatant framing still caused unrest among the Imperial City’s populace.

The agreement bore only Theodora’s seal—what did that prove? Would the officials dare to negotiate an agreement with the Venetians without your consent, Empress Zoe?

As for the matter of amending scriptures, it caused discontent among many Orthodox believers. However, without a statement from the Orthodox Church, even the most exaggerated rumors remained just speculation, and thus the media began to engage in verbal skirmishes from afar.

However, Aske did not intend to get involved in this for now, as he had already digested his second dose of the Sharp Weapon I Potion and needed to take the third, the Evasion I Potion.

Evasion I, as the name suggests, grants the user the ability to evade. This ranges from significant movements such as side-stepping, jumping, rolling, and sliding to minor adjustments like tilting the head, shifting to the side, or leaning back, all within the effects of this potion.

He took the potion out of the cabinet. Evasion I was totally clear and transparent, as pure as the clearest water, resting quietly in the bottle.

If it weren’t for the label on the outside, an ordinary person could easily mistake it for regular water.

Of course, a glance with his Spirituality would reveal it to be a Magic Potion.

Aske opened the bottle and downed the entire Magic Potion in one gulp, only to feel as if all his strength had been drained instantly.

He collapsed weakly to the floor, finding it difficult to breathe. Evasion I began to conflict with his existing Sharp Weapon I and Perfect Physique I, causing all his muscles to rapidly atrophy. In no time, he resembled nothing more than a desiccated corpse.

In the following ten or so minutes, it was as if countless axes and saws were cutting through his bones, yet he was so weak at the time that he couldn’t even let out a groan of pain.

Only when the physical conflicts gradually subsided did Aske slowly sit up, his muscles also began to swell and fill out.

"Phew..." His body finally returned to its original state, and Aske let out a long breath of relief. Recalling the feel of the recent conflict, he couldn’t help but furrow his brow.

Different bloodlines contain different combinations of Magic Potion Sequences.

A generic bloodline contains at least three Magic Potion Sequences, such as Nora’s "Life Songster," which has only "Life," "Spirit Body," and "Mind" sequences.

Those with three or four magic potion sequences in their Bloodline Path are known as "Focused Bloodlines." Due to the fewer different sequences, the risk of losing control is also lower.

At the same time, the level of the magic potion consumed by the user will also be higher.

For instance, when Nora is at level 10, she will have both Life IV and Spirit Body IV abilities simultaneously, which means she would become a seasoned expert in manipulating life bodies and spirit bodies, with no transcendent of the same rank being able to rival her in this regard.

If the Magic Potion Sequence includes five or more, then that’s what is known as a "Dangerous Bloodline." The danger here not only refers to a higher risk of the user losing control, but also to the enemies of such transcendent beings.

Because the more sequences you have, the more corresponding abilities you possess, the easier it is for you to pull off various strange tactics that catch others off guard.

Especially at the lower levels of the Mysterious Realm where "below demigods, all are mortal," many times battles are not about who has stronger abilities, but about who has more bizarre ones.

After all, a regular person with a sniper rifle can kill any transcendent being below demigod, so why would they need a higher rank of destructive power?

How strong can your destructive ability be, stronger than a nuclear bomb?

On the contrary, if you have abilities like Illusion and Invisibility, then assassinating a transcendent becomes very easy—as long as they are not a demigod.

The "Weapon Master" bloodline is one of the most dangerous bloodlines of all, containing a total of eight sequences: Sharp Weapons, Blunt Weapon, Throwing, Block, Evasion, Tactics, Intuition, and Perfect Physique.

Just digesting the third sequence, Aske’s Spirituality was already showing signs of being unable to hold up, let alone how to handle the subsequent Magic Potion Sequences.

The "Iron and Fire" game does have a game store, if a character loses control during the consumption of a magic potion, RMB warriors can spend money to eliminate the loss of control.

But in this world, there are no RMB warriors, and once you lose control, death is certain.

He could only take it one step at a time.

Aske stood up and began to assimilate the knowledge of Evasion that was transmitted from his traits.

From the Evasion I Potion, he acquired a precise control over distance and timing.

If there was an enemy in front, wielding a weapon and swinging or stabbing at him, he could immediately and naturally calculate ahead of time, how far away the enemy’s weapon is from me, when I should dodge, and how to move the least distance to avoid the attack.

Compared to dodging based on experience in the past, Aske, even when his mind was blank, could now rely on his body’s instinct to dodge an attack.

The only downside was that in the process of advancing to level 3, the Evasion I Potion had replenished him with a vast amount of extraordinary power.

His Spirituality was saturated again.