"Annie, are you ready?"

Diana walked into Anne's room, walked behind Anne who was lying on the table, and stroked Anne's head affectionately.

"Well, I'm all ready. The elders have also chosen followers for me, and there's no problem with Tibbers."

Anne enjoyed Diana's touch like a little kitten.

"The trial will begin tomorrow. I really don't know why the bishop would let a child as young as you participate in the trial."

"Maybe because I'm a genius? Hehe."

Anne turned her head and smiled at Diana. Diana was touching Anne's head, but now she pinched Anne's cheek.

"Look at you, having power is not a bad thing, but having too much power will bring disaster."

Diana was thinking about her own things and gradually became distracted.

"Sister Diana?"

Anne has always been curious about Diana's strength. There is no doubt that Diana is an extraordinary person, but Anne cannot feel Diana's specific realm, and Diana seems to have not concealed her own strength.

"It's okay. When you participate in the trial tomorrow, don't put on the mask easily. You can't control them yet. Just have a good rest."

Diana almost knew what Kieran was planning, the mask trial, the trial from a trainee priest to a formal priest. After passing this trial, one would officially join the Blood Moon Sect.

In this trial, the trainee priests will see the "reality" of the Holy Moon Sect.

"mask?"

Anne watched Diana turn around and leave the room, lying on her bed boredly.

She remembered what Diana said. Speaking of it, the main figures of the Blood Moon Sect she had met seemed to all have masks. Yasuo and Jhin wore masks. Sister Diana also had a mask on her body. Grandpa Kieran usually also wore one.

Wearing a mask.

What do those masks mean? Why can’t I wear them myself?

Control? Is it conscious, or can it greatly improve the user's strength?

On the other side, Darius is undergoing his final training.

"Peter, you have a good talent. During the trial, if you encounter danger, as long as there are no problems with the priests, your main purpose is to protect yourself. As for those old guys, if you can save them by the way, then you can save them by the way.

Come down, if you can't save them, just leave them alone."

The elders were teaching Darius, and those old guys were also here to listen to the lessons.

"Yes, yes, the elder is right. You are still young. As long as you survive, don't worry about us."

The old man with a cane said with a smile, as if he had taken life and death lightly.

"……I see."

Darius is a general, and it is not that he has never "issued" similar orders.

In a battle against the Winter's Claw in Freljord, the old and frail warrior stayed behind to break up the rear, while the young soldiers followed him back. It seems that every old man entrusts the hope of survival to the young.

A choice everyone will make.

In fact, that was the choice of the veterans themselves. They were already determined to die, so Darius had to issue this order.

Otherwise, according to Noxian military discipline, if those veterans leave the team without permission, if they die, not only will their families not receive pensions, but they themselves will be labeled "criminals".

"As long as you understand."

The elder was stunned. He thought he needed to persuade Darius for a while before Darius would agree to him, but he didn't expect that Darius would agree now?

You're not fooling him, are you? Today's little devils always say "ok", "ok", "um" and the like when being taught by their elders. Do you think they understand it? In fact, they don't listen at all.

Go in.

However, he looked at Darius's firm eyes and believed that Darius understood what he meant.

Those old people participated in this trial just to get a pension. It was equivalent to buying their short lives with a large amount of money in a transaction. The moment the transaction was successful,

They deserved to die, and died in the trial, but they had actually been given some time off.

In the final analysis, it is because Besilico is poor. Although it is a port city, the location is so remote and the traffic is so unbearable. Even the Ionian merchants who are most likely to come to Besilico to trade will choose to sail an extra mile.

Two days later, we headed to Piltowov.

The containers on the port are basically empty and are homes for abandoned children.

The sect is rich, otherwise it would not be able to build such a magnificent palace. However, the doctrine of Holy Moon does not allow "alms". Unlimited generosity will bring about beasts called greed and corruption.

Therefore, the sect can only find new ways to give money to the people here.

For example, Guards, does Holy Moon need so many Guards? A small city with a very low crime rate, a total population of only 200,000 to 300,000, has nearly 10,000 Guards.

If the escort is regarded as an army, an army of this proportion is a gold-absorbing beast that many small city-states cannot afford.

The Holy Moon Sect is completely using money to support idlers. There are nearly 10,000 guards working three days a week, and their daily job is just wandering on the streets. But even so, the people of Besilico are still very poor.

This is a port city. The local agriculture, handicrafts and industry are not developed, and many commodities, including food, need to be purchased from other places.

The port of Besilikona that attracted merchants to trade here was actually used to go to Piltowov to buy goods.

If it had been the time when Noxus invaded Ionia, Besilico's situation would have been better, because some armies would have set out from here.

Something like the Holy Moon Sect is trying

Recruiting some old people to die during the refining process is actually giving money to the people of Besilico.

Supporting the elderly is a heavy burden for many families. The elderly themselves know it well. Once, their fathers sacrificed themselves in exchange for money for them to support the next generation. Now, it is their turn to sacrifice themselves.

.

"Are trials dangerous?"

Darius asked tentatively, but Anne did not get any useful information. Perhaps the people of the Blood Moon Sect did not want Anne to know the form of the trial in advance.

But this elder is selecting followers for the apprentice priests who are undergoing trials, and may be able to know some hidden secrets.

"It's not clear. Except for the priests who passed the trial, no one knows what the trial is and where it is held. It is said that the last priest follower who successfully survived the trial was made into ashes decades ago.

"

What the elder knows is also very limited. Although he is an elder, he is actually just an old guard with a decent personality and moral character. Most elders have this background.

They are not considered the leaders of the sect, but are just the "hands" used by the leaders of the sect to command and manage the nearly ten thousand guards.

"Decades ago, didn't you leave any manuscripts?"

Darius still did not give up. Although the trial will be held tomorrow morning, and it is less than ten hours before tomorrow morning, if there is a way to try it, something can still be done during this time.

.

"Manuscripts? Where can such things be left? We guards are all poor. It's good to survive. Where can we have the money to hire a teacher?"

The salary of a guard is indeed good, but the price of literacy is higher. The most important thing is that in the era when the nobles controlled knowledge, even if the poor gave money to the teachers, they did not necessarily know that the teachers would do their best to teach their children.

.

Maybe they would be sent back after a few days with the words "Rotten wood cannot be carved", and then the parents of those children would beat their children and apologize to the teacher at the same time.

Do poor people also want to study? Unless they meet mages or people from certain sects, they basically cannot read a few words, let alone leave a manuscript.

"Ah...yes."

Darius remembered that he was once illiterate. He and Draven were both orphans. After being valued by the general, they were sent to the army and learned writing in the army.

Those days were really miserable, both physically and mentally.

"No more questions?"

The elder looked at Darius with satisfaction. Even though he knew that the possibility of surviving this trip was low, he was not nervous at all. If this kind of person could survive, he would really be the first choice to be the priest's follower.

"Well, I have no doubts."

There was nothing he could ask anyway. Darius didn't want to say anything that went against common sense. Those few words just now directly exposed his "secret" of "literacy".

How could a guard be literate? Fortunately, this elder didn't seem to want to pursue the matter further. Perhaps it was absolutely difficult for him to survive. If he survived, he would have become the priest's confidant, and the issue of identity would not be a problem.

"Then let's break up. I've said everything that needs to be said, and I've also said what shouldn't be said. Whether you can survive or not depends on your fate."

The elder shook his head and left with a sigh. He didn't see many young guards like Darius who were going to participate in the priest's first trial to prove their strength, but there were also quite a few. Over the years, there must have been more than twenty.

?

The most important thing is that some of those teenagers had good relationships and just participated together. He looked at the young people he could see coming and going every day, and suddenly it seemed that there were many fewer young people.

It is clear that he can survive, but he wants to become the guardian of the priest, but he does not really have to prove himself in that kind of trial. It is okay if he is not the only son in the family. If he is the only son in the family and dies in the trial, how will his family survive?

"……time to go."

Darius joined the guard not long ago and has not yet received his salary. He used to live in the guard's duty room, but now his job has changed. Living in the duty room is a bit inappropriate.

"Young man, please be safe."

When Darius left, the old people walking slowly were still caring about him.

"I got it, old men, enjoy the last journey of your life."

Darius didn't know what happened in that trial, but the fact that the priests who participated in the trial could survive meant that the opponent was at the level of a transcendent, around the eighth level, right? He was neither too strong nor a trainee priest.
To be continued...