Silent Crown

"For the white tower!" Shi Dong woke up from the dream, and upon opening his eyes, saw a war horse raising its front legs to step on him. The knight on the horse, wearing a white-silver visor and waving a saber, howled angrily at him and looked at him from atop the horse. The visor made of white silver was cold and cruel, like the face of a god.

At that moment, his pupils contracted, and his old and skinny aged body suddenly swelled up. The mechanic heart pumped artificial blood to his body at explosive speed and adrenalin burned inside him. He sprung up from his wheelchair and drew his sword from the back of the chair. Then, he wielded his sword to fight the knight.

This was the beauty born from death.

The air was torn up by the sword, which went forward and cleaved the horse. Suddenly, little rocks fell on his face, waking him up from his dream. Then he saw his sword, which had pierced the wall. Yet the horse, which should have been dead, was still galloping on the field, carrying the knight, who was still shouting war cries. They went through the wall and lead the army into the stronghold they were now in.

The sound of war cry was deafening.

He awoke from his dream and stumbled into his chair, pain consuming his body. He heaved a sigh and asked, "Did he fall asleep again?"

"Yes." The curtain was drawn open. The old men were sitting around the table, not knowing what to do. The place they were in was within the stronghold, yet it had turned into endless grassland.

The land cracked open and fire spurted out from the hell. Giant armored cavaliers roared. The soldiers wore primitive armor from the first generation, on the back of which the aether stoves were burning oil mixed with aether, puffing out irritating black smoke.

On the chest of the armor, the emblem of the red bird was engraved, and on the shoulder part with patches of bear skin, rivets stuck out like thorns.

This was the first-generation powered armor which had been abandoned long ago. With this armor, the solder couldn't make any precise movements and could only go forward and backward. The critical aether stove was implanted on the back, exposed to the enemy from behind. To wear this armor, one needed six servants who had studied engineering to help him on the hoist platform.

The cavaliers could not bend themselves with the exoskeleton on. The servants brought wrenches and screws with them to fix the armor on the exoskeleton and seal the joints with a welding gun. The armor was like a moving coffin and could bury the rider if the field was muddy.

Notwithstanding all its disadvantages, when the cavaliers wearing them formed a square to fight, the formation could inflict massive damage upon any enemy.

Then, 60 armored cavaliers stood in the front of the field, with heavy chains connecting them and heavy shields in their hands forming a massive iron wall. On the opposite side of the field, numerous war horses galloped toward them, carrying heavily armored riders who held their sabers high to charge forward.

"Masks of the Iron Flow Army and the first-generation powered armors… Is this the Nebuchadnezzar War?" Shi Dong wiped his face with a hot towel and felt much more awake.

The Nebuchadnezzar war was the civil war of Asgard more than 100 years ago. The two sons of the king fought for the throne with the help of the Red Bird clan and the White Tower clan, respectively. This war was recorded in history and became an important historical event known as the "The Last Eulogy of the Heavy Cavaliers of the Old Times." This was the first time that powered armor had been the field.

They fought against the Iron Flow Army, who were heavy cavaliers called King of the Battlefield. The monster-horses and experienced cavaliers cooperated so perfectly that they were the nightmare of every army.

The Red Bird Clan asked the Chainsaw Fraternity for help, who, settling down in Asgard for not long, needed to prove themselves eagerly. The cooperation of the two sides culminated in a war that left the whole world in shock. The powerful armor was officially introduced to the battlefield.

That was the clash of iron against iron, and the old times against the new times.

The Iron Flow Army was wiped out and the White Tower Clan lost everything, driven from the center stage of the country and exiled to the wilderness a hundred years later.

The numerous disadvantages of the powered armor were exposed during the war, such as its cumbersomeness, instability, and reliance on the environment and back-up service. Yet, the victory proved its potential. After that, heavy cavaliers were replaced by powered armor, then disappeared from history.

"Told you not to dig ancient history." The old men heaved a sigh. "What good can it do to teach him about those ancient battles?"

"I've been teaching him defense these two days!" Shi Dong shrugged. "This was supposed to be a negative example. He must have been reading casually. Dreams are unstable, don't worry."

The old men looked at one another, feeling helpless. For most people, things in dreams were unlogical and unstable, full of weird changes. However, Ye Qingxuan's dream was absolutely an exception.

When sleeping, people would be relaxed. They would put down all guards and common sense, exposing their most vulnerable parts. The musicians of the School of Mind preferred to change their targets' mind after they fell asleep because people were unguarded in sleep, making the job easy.

But this dream of Ye Qingxuan's was in no way normal.

No vulnerability and flaw at all, and armored to the teeth. The weather, wind, the cracked land, the crushed grass and succus, the sunlight, the machinery of the numerous powered armor and each and every gear, spring and pulley of them….

Everything was so real, except that they could not be touched. It was like the Replay of Images conducted by dozens of magic musicians, reading records in the aether and replay everything.

"There are always exceptions." Shaking his head, Shi Dong looked at Ye Qingxuan.

This was not expected by any of them.

Ye Qingxuan's resistance to the drug was incredibly strong, thanks to the Stone of Sage and the sub-originator, which had improved his body's resistance against foreign substances. He had a lot of Dream of Emerald, of course. Yet, after a week of crazy training, he just closed his eyes and fell asleep without any warning sign.

Then the problem began.

If he were an ordinary guy, it would be no problem. But he was a dream weaver, representing the realm of dreams. The best musicians were themselves the realization of the dreams in the world.

When a dream weaver became extremely sleepy and exhausted, he could no longer control his dream, and the Symphony of Predestination would run by itself and turn into reality; it pulled the dreams into the real world.

Yet, in the dreams of Ye Qingxuan, there was no longer the silent world and the Ultimate. Instead, he dreamed of the stuff those old men taught him.

What one thinks of in the day would become his dream at night. But the old men found themselves helpless when their room turned into an endless sea where fleets fought against each other, aether stoves puffing smoke onto their faces.

In the chaos, the bell for war rang. After a hasty inspection by a bunch of musicians, they found the source of the problem. With no way to handle it, the old men had to let it be. They could not keep him from falling asleep. It would be okay as long as they could make up for the lost teaching time when he woke up. So, Ye Qingxuan was fast asleep, letting his dreams run wild in the real world. No one knew when he would wake up.

Maybe it was the way it should be for him?

Those old men were men of the world themselves. Sitting in the center of the battlefield in Ye Qingxuan's dream, they were not afraid at all. They were watching the dream with full interest, guessing how well Ye Qingxuan could replay this legendary war in his dream.

"It was so frighteningly perfect." One old man in a wheelchair heaved a sigh.

"Every detail is perfect." The old men pointed at the heavily armored knight and commented, "The conditions of the knights' saddles are even made different. His dream is so real! He is really the Hand of God to have made such a massive illusion.

"He also has learned the battle tactics well. He's really good to have learned so much in just a few weeks."

"That's not what I mean." The old man in the wheelchair shook his head and said, "It is trivial how real and detailed the dream is. I've noticed something else…"

Shi Dong thought for a moment and said, "You mean him?"

"Yes," said the old man. "Everyone put themselves in their own dream, right? All dreams are based on this and then can they be expanded upon. Without the dreamer, the dream means nothing, and it does not exist at all. I tried to find his subconsciousness in his dream but my effort has been in vain." Then the old man paused. Pointing at the army on both sides, he said, "I cannot find him. Where is he?"

All old men looked around but no one found Ye Qingxuan in the dream. Everyone looked at each other and fell into silence. The battlefield was chaotic, but they were sure Ye Qingxuan was not there in the dream. The young man had become an outsider, like the old men. Even the observers outside his dream couldn't detect his subconsciousness.

"He is always on guard. It's as if he is always ready to fight his enemies. There are even no flaws in his dream! This is really incredible."

The old man in the wheelchair said, "I've never seen anyone as alert as he is. But why is he under such huge pressure?"

"Don't worry." Shi Dong shook his head and said, "Actually, our Grand Inquisitor seems to hide everything about him from us. He is always there, it's just that you cannot see him."

Then he raised his hand and pointed above. In the silence, all old men raised their stiff heads. Above the huge battlefield floated the smoke caused by the fierce fight between the Iron Flow Army and the powered armored cavaliers. Blood spills everywhere and evaporated into the air, like the soul of a dead man flying up. Over the empty and quiet sky, behind the smoke and the blue of the sky, there was a pair of eyes looking down from far away.

…

Under the pair of eyes, the battle went on like a machine, where numerous gears engaged with each other in perfect condition according to some pre-set laws, which had determined the end of the battle since the very beginning.

Finally, everything ended.

Ye Qingxuan opened his eyes. After a long nap, he was still tired. He lowered his head. Seeing the blank schedule, he frowned and asked, "All classes were finished?"

Looking at each other, the old men had not yet recovered from the shock inflicted upon them by the dream. In the silence, Shi Dong coughed to hide the embarrassment and said, "You finished all courses in three weeks, which were expected to last two months. We have to say we underestimated your talent. It would take at least two years for an ordinary man." 𝗳r𝗲𝙚w𝐞𝚋𝘯𝚘ѵ𝗲l.𝑐oｍ

In the corner, there was only one old man who was not satisfied. He murmured, "Your fighting skills are still lame."

"It's nothing. Everyone has his weakness." Shi Dong waved his hand to stop him talking. He said with a smile, "We can begin our classes of the next phase now."

"That's enough, Shi Dong. Get these boring things away." Ye Qingxuan shook his head and got up from his chair for the first time in three weeks. "It has cost me three weeks of my time now. I've learned enough to handle things. I don't want to see these things anymore."

"What if you come across some problem in the future?" Shi Dong asked. Turning his head to Shi Dong, Ye Qingxuan said, "That is supposed to be your business, not mine. I cannot take care of everything."

Shi Dong sighed.

"As you can see, sir, we are all old."

Stepping toward the gate, Ye Qingxuan didn't turn his head at all. He waved his hand casually and said, "Don't worry. I'll squeeze out all the juice of yours before you die."

Shi Dong was a little struck by surprise. He showed an expression full of self-mockery and said, "Our great honor, sir."

Bang! The gate was closed.