Chapter 779 Anka's Trial

This statue is more than ten meters tall, and it is the image of a tall man. His face cannot be seen clearly because he is wearing a red turban and mask, and there is a red cloak raised high behind him.

This is another unique feature of this statue. Neither his red turban nor his cloak are painted red, but the color of the material of the statue itself, while other parts are normal blue-gray.

I just don’t know whether this stone is naturally formed or the result of someone using stone shaping.

“Anka Manor!” When he saw this statue for the first time, he recognized the identity of this place. This statue is the founder and only owner of this manor, Anka * Balisk.

If there is a ranking for the ghost manors in Battle Valley, all Battle Valley people will cast the first vote for this manor without hesitation.

It’s not because of how cruel the ghosts in this manor are, but because it has important representative significance for Battle Valley.

If the individual closest to the Supreme King of the Valley in the history of the Valley is said to be the one in front of him, the Lord of Battle Valley, the King of Cloaks, Anka.

Not only is his story well known to every Battle Valley man, but most Valley people are also very clear about it. This is their childhood bedtime story. Countless Valley parents teach their children that even if they cannot create the same glorious feat as Anka, they must become people like him - humble, hardworking, and patient. They can fail, but they are never allowed to lie on the ground with complaints and never get up again. They must regroup and rebuild their confidence, and uphold justice instead of boasting.

I'm afraid you have to defeat me first.

This is the favorite sentence of all Valley warriors because it was once the mantra of Anka, the King of Cloaks.

Anka * Barisk himself is a pure-blooded Battle Valley man, but he is an abandoned baby. He was raised in an elf community. He learned from the elves the knowledge of caring for the forest, military skills, wisdom, and patience and compassion for others, and did not vent his anger and hatred on the human group because of his abandonment.

When he was young, like most young people in the valley, he was influenced by the wealth of the Kingdom of Sembia and went there to seek development. He and his brothers formed a mercenary group called the Armored Cloaks.

Under the leadership of Anka, the Cloaks achieved extremely brilliant achievements as mercenaries, serving one Sembia employer after another.

In the process, they inevitably involved the dark secrets of those employers - using all means to squeeze every bit of profit and value from the people of the valley, and after completely squeezing them dry, they even sold them as slaves to Sel or further away.

When those Sembia merchants found that the Cloaks were unwilling to go along with the flow, they ruthlessly abandoned them, offered them a high reward, and asked their peers to eliminate them. They were forced to leave Sembia and return to the Battle Valley.

Here, Anka and his companions found that many local merchants colluded with Sambia merchants to exploit the people of Battle Valley by manipulating the market, lending at high interest rates and hiring armed thugs. Even if the kind people here worked as hard as cattle and horses, and the output from the land was like oil, they were still in debt and hungry.

They decided not to escape, but led the kind people of Battle Valley to rise up and drive these evil profiteers out of the land. Amid cheers, Anka became the lord of Battle Valley.

After becoming the lord, Anka was still diligent. He was committed to improving the safety and prosperity of his people, just like a diligent farmer taking care of his livestock. The cloaked warriors settled here and patrolled the safety of the entire Battle Valley.

In less than ten years, Anka made Battle Valley peaceful, prosperous and powerful, but merchants from other sub-valleys brought him news that life in other sub-valleys was still in dire straits. They not only had to be harassed and attacked by monsters, but also had to endure the double exploitation of tyrannical rulers and Sambia's evil merchants.

In 1038, Anka decided to declare himself the King of the Valley. He first persuaded the residents of Shadow Valley and Tasir Valley to cooperate with Battle Valley and join his rule. Then he broke out like a rage, sweeping across other valleys, quickly defeating his enemies, and appointing those Cloak Warriors he trusted as lords or sword masters of each valley.

It only took one year for the flag of the Cloak King to spread across all valleys except Bow Valley and High Valley. It only took two years for the people of the valley to support and love their king because his rule was fair and honest.

However, his actions touched the interests of countless people. He not only had to fight against many monsters and bandits, but also had to deal with the pressure from Sambia. When he was fighting an evil wizard, he was cursed.

From then on, he was plagued by a rotten disease that could not be completely eliminated, and various parts of his body began to slowly fester. In order to maintain his image in front of the people of the valley, he had to cover his body with a red turban, mask and red cloak. He appeared in this image for most of his reign, so he was called the King of Cloaks.

In 1044, at the Quadrennial Shield Festival, a powerful evil mage summoned a terrifying dracolich and launched an attack on Anka. Countless innocent valley folk who gathered at Anka Manor, let Anka There was no way to escape the battle, even though he knew the disparity in strength, he had to fight to the death, and finally dragged the evil mage and his dracolich to death in the fire in the lord's mansion.

I don’t know if there was some kind of deviation in this process. The evil mage and his Dragon Lich never appeared in front of the world again, and the cloaked king Anka could not be resurrected.

The only thing the grieving valley people can do is to repair Anka's lord's mansion, witness the glory that once belonged to him, and wait for the emergence of his successor - a group of loyal caped warriors who voluntarily transformed into the Lord after Anka's death. As long as they do not try to destroy or steal items from Anka Manor, these earth-bound spirits will not disturb the people here.

But once someone desecrates Anka Manor, they will become the most terrifying existence.

All the people of the valley believe that when someone inherits Ankh's legacy, these cloaked warriors will be resurrected and follow the new king to fight to unify the valley again.

Information about this manor flashed rapidly in Gavin's mind, and a bold guess rolled in his mind. He suppressed it abruptly, pretending to be calm, looking at Regina and asking: "You What did you bring me here for?"

"Don't pretend to be confused while pretending to understand." Regina exposed Gavin unceremoniously, "With your careful thinking, how could you not guess it?"

Gavin chuckled, not feeling embarrassed about being exposed at all, and guessed, "You guys don't want to take advantage of my unique power in immortality and want me to help recover Anka Manor, right?"

"Pretend, keep pretending, I haven't seen you for a few days, why are you so hypocritical?" Regina said with unconcealed disdain on her face, "If I want to borrow your power in this area, why wait until now? "

Gavin carefully guessed: "Are the legends about this place true? You don't want me to inherit the so-called Anka legacy, do you?"

"Correct answer, but no reward."

"This is something that no one in the entire valley has been able to do for three hundred years. How are you sure I can do it?"

"Sir, you are so presumptuous. Have you accomplished so few things in the valley that no one has accomplished in hundreds of years? Just an army of conquerors is a miracle that is rare even in the entire Faerûn."

"These are two completely different things and cannot be generalized. This thing happened a bit too suddenly. I don't have a clue right now."

"I'm here. Just follow me and do as I say."

While talking, Regina had already led Gavin deep into the Anka Manor. She was very familiar with this place, as if she had entered her own back garden.

She stopped playing riddles with Gavin and explained as she walked: "I believe you have heard about the legends about my father's origin. Now I can answer you clearly. Many legends are not pure legends.

For more than three centuries since the death of the Cloak King Anka, the successive lords of the Battle Valley were all descended from the former cloaked warrior families. They began to receive secret training and training since childhood to protect the Battle Valley and the mission they shouldered. Preparing for a sacred mission.

And we are accepting the first test of Anka's legacy. If we can't even get our approval, even if we turn Anka Manor over, we won't be able to find the key to the door. "

The implication of Regina's words is obvious. Anka's legacy is not only real, but the Lord of Battle Valley also holds crucial clues and is an important part of it.

"So, bringing Anka Manor to the Ghost Castle Auction is a trap you set up specifically for the businessmen of Sembia?" Gavin asked, "The legend about Anka's legacy has been around for a long time. Is it you who are behind this?"

"That's right." Regina Crescent Moon narrowed her eyes slightly and showed a proud smile, "The temporary passes of Anka Manor have been auctioned hundreds of times, and 80% of them are those young masters of Sambia. They themselves They think they are superior to others, and everything is prepared for them. However, what Anka hates most is their style, which has no possibility of success. "

"You are a typical example of treating others the same way you treat them."

"What's the meaning?"

"That means you use profiteers' methods to deal with profiteers."

"That's right."

"Since you have this clue, why don't you try it yourself?"

"How do you know we haven't tried?"

"So, you all failed."

"If you don't fail, it won't be your turn, Sir."

"That's the same reason."

Regina stopped in front of the gate of Anka's mansion, looked at Gavin seriously and said, "Before we officially start, I need you to answer me an honest question. Do you want to become the king of the valley?"

"Everything I did in the valley was for this purpose." Gavin answered straightforwardly.

Sometimes this matter needs to be hidden, but sometimes, it must be said outright.

If you don't even express this, how can you inherit Anka's legacy?

Lord Ilmet and Regina's plan has become clear. They are now very optimistic about themselves and believe that they are qualified to inherit Anka's legacy.

As long as he can get Anka's approval, they can swear allegiance to him and give him the position of Lord of Battle Valley, because they are the guardians of Anka's will and manage Battle Valley on his behalf.

Although even if he does not inherit Anka's will, as he continues to grow and develop in Battle Valley, he will force Lord Ilmet to give up his status as Lord of Battle Valley, but it is far from being as simple and direct as it is now. It is difficult to predict where Lord Ilmet and his people will go afterwards.

There are pros and cons to inheriting Anka's will.

There is no need to say more about the advantages. In addition to the above possibilities, it can also gain the support of more people in the valley. After all, the legends of several centuries are still deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, especially for those young people who grew up listening to these stories and still have fantasies.

The disadvantage is that it is contrary to Gavin's original plan of building high walls, storing food, and slowly claiming the throne, and is even more feared.

Then again, this drawback doesn't seem to have a particularly big impact. As long as he grows and develops in the valley, he will be targeted whether he shows ambition in this regard or not. This is determined by the conflict of interest.

"Very good, then face everything with this determination." Regina's voice began to become ethereal, and I don't know when her figure disappeared from Gavin's sight.

Looking around, the sky was full of mist. Not only did Regina disappear, but Anka Manor also disappeared.

Illusion?

Or has he entered the spirit world?

Gavin was not surprised or confused. He first checked his own status to see if his ability was restricted.

The most troublesome thing about these special environments is not that they themselves, but that they often merge with various forbidden spells, which will put the parties in an extremely unfavorable state.

For example, in the spirit world, you need to deal with a large number of spirits, but the ability to cast spells is banned, and you can only use swords to fight. It will be a headache for everyone, especially those spellcasters.

For example, in an illusion, it directly acts on your soul, which will automatically block all your equipment, and only your own special abilities and spellcasting abilities can take effect.

Gavin is not afraid of the first type now, but the second type. Eighty percent of his ability lies in the equipment.

After the search, Gavin was more confident and his own condition was intact.

It makes sense. According to Regina, what he is about to face is clearly a test from Ankh.

This kind of test wants to see a person's true character and true strength the most. Even if it does not give the corresponding bonus assistance, it will not deliberately provide obstacles.

There are also corresponding guarantees for safety. If the test fails, at most, he will not be able to obtain the Ankh inheritance, but his life will not be in danger.

Gavin, who has a bottom line in his heart, walked forward slowly.

In this kind of illusion environment without any identifiable objects, it is the same no matter which direction you walk in. As long as the corresponding conditions are met, the corresponding reaction will be automatically triggered.

Sure enough, Gavin only walked forward a few dozen steps, and a door appeared in front of him.

He was very familiar with this door. It was the exquisite solid wood door of Ankh Mansion that he had seen before. Over the past four centuries, there was no trace of time on it.

Gavin checked his state again, took a deep breath, and slowly pushed open the solid wood door in front of him. This was a multiple-choice question with only one option. He could only go according to the preset.

The solid wood door was lighter than expected and opened with one push.

"The Lord has arrived."

"The Shield Festival has officially begun."

"Let us raise a toast to our common lord and common king. May the gods protect him and let him live a hundred years. May the gods grant us the valley and let us prosper and be united forever like today."

"Ankh!"

"Ankh!!"

"Ankh!!!"

The moment Gavin pushed the door and walked out, he was greeted by a tsunami of cheers.

He, who was already ready for battle, froze in place involuntarily. Fortunately, he had good control and did not throw out his various combat abilities because of the sudden shock.

The only thing he could do was to do nothing, to remain unchanged in the face of change, and to observe everything around him without leaving any trace.

The fog had completely disappeared. The door that Gavin had opened earlier did not lead him to the lord's mansion, but he came out from inside and was in the courtyard of Anka Manor.

This courtyard was no longer luxurious, but it was not popular at all.

On the contrary, Gavin was now in a grand banquet, with food and drinks placed on the bustling dining table, directly placed in the open air in the courtyard, in rows, up to more than a dozen tables, and the swaying perfume and the aroma of dishes mixed together.

The huge courtyard was filled with people, including those wealthy people in gorgeous clothes and ordinary people in simple clothes, including humans, halflings, half-elves, elves, dwarves, and even a large amount of fey breath mixed in.

Whether these people were poor or rich, no matter what race they came from, their faces were filled with the most sincere and satisfied smiles. The way they looked at him made Gavin feel as if he was in the army of conquerors - with awe and respect.

This is role-playing.

Gavin, who has seen a lot, immediately understood what was going on.

Even without looking in the mirror, he knew that the appearance he was wearing now did not belong to him, but to Anka, the King of Cloaks.

This is a super-large illusion that re-simulates the scene four centuries ago.

If Gavin guessed correctly, this banquet was the Shield Festival where Anka, the King of Cloaks, was assassinated.

No matter how ingenious the trial is, it will not be as simple as a simple question and answer, because it is possible to lie and cheat. Only the most instinctive choice made under tension can reveal one's heart, and there is nothing easier to create a tense atmosphere than a tense and exciting battle.

Before the trial began, Gavin seemed to have guessed the context of the whole thing.

Seeing that the whole banquet was stagnant for a moment, everyone's eyes fell on him. Gavin understood and picked up a glass of wine from the tray of the waiter next to him, and said loudly: "For the valley."

"For the valley." Everyone immediately responded with thunderous cheers.