Chapter 179: She blinked

She blinked, her head still feeling a bit dizzy.

When she closed her eyes again…

Mia suddenly felt the long-absent call of grace, coming from a certain direction in the distance.

‘Is it time to go back?’

‘Gurgle—’

So hungry. The true physical hunger of having not eaten for a whole day emerged upon waking.

Mia lifted the blanket off her body.

Her clothes had been changed; it must have been Melina’s doing.

After pausing for a moment at the edge of the bed, she stood up and fastened her silver circlet over the blindfold.

She saw her staff and sword placed on a table in the room, held up by a rack as if they were some precious exhibits.

Melina helped Mia up.

Mia wasn’t actually that weak.

But once she realized she could enjoy being close to Melina for free, Mia had no intention of pushing her away.

The two walked out of the guest room. When they reached the outdoors, Mia was shocked by the sight before her.

The city that was once there was gone, and even the ruins destroyed by Vortigern had vanished.

A forest of glintstones covering the plains had taken its place.

glintstones sparkling in the sunlight crowded the earth like trees, spreading across the plains in every direction.

Cyan, blue, blue-white, blue-purple… the interlaced glintstone clusters almost completely obscured the ruins, presenting a kaleidoscope of blues.

Standing Glintstone Crystals covered the ground; the largest among them were already over three people tall.

A glintstone forest had already formed, roughly estimated to be at least several thousand meters wide.

“That’s…” Mia stared at the glintstone forest in dumbfounded amazement.

She scanned her surroundings.

She found that even in the palace gardens, small Glintstone Crystals had appeared, crowding out the plants and foundations.

As she observed the palace, she noticed that not far from where she stood, in one of the court gardens…

Wilden, holding a wooden spear, was training alongside Artoria, who also held a wooden spear.

Wilden had just completed another round of exchanges.

“The spear and the sword are different,” he taught. “When facing an evenly matched opponent, always maintain your distance. When necessary, you must rely on retreating to gain space.”

“Watch my footwork.”

As Wilden spoke, he gave a demonstration. When using the correct posture for the spear, by alternating his steps forward and backward, he could rapidly advance and retreat while keeping the spearhead pointed at his opponent, easily moving faster than an enemy’s approach.

“Did you see that clearly?”

Artoria Pendragon nodded.

“Alright then, let’s try one more time.”

Then Wilden turned around, and as he prepared to get into position, he saw Mia standing on the balcony.

Mia waved at him.

Artoria also saw Mia.

“Miss Mia!” She seemed very excited.

She shouted in Mia’s direction and waved at her.

Wilden glanced back at her: “Then let’s stop here for the morning.”

“Mm!” Artoria agreed, then ran toward Mia.

“You slept for two whole days,” Artoria said with concern in front of Mia.

“Ah,” Mia stretched her arms: “I feel quite refreshed after sleeping for so long.”

“What’s going on with that?” Mia pointed to the glintstone jungle outside the palace that had replaced the ruined city.

Artoria explained: “It was still spreading uncontrollably yesterday, but it stopped today.”

“Does it have something to do with my magic?”

Mia asked.

Artoria nodded.

That shimmering glintstone forest was a breathtakingly magnificent sight.

‘Star-Creating Rain’

Mia had used this magic during the battle with Vortigern.

‘It is said that this was the starting point of Glintstone Magic—’

The origin glimpsed by the stargazers turned from void into reality,

Bringing down star amber upon this land.’

“Turning void into reality…” Mia murmured.

When she was studying Glintstone Magic under Sellen previously, she had released Star-Creating Rain within the Magic Mirror Realm.

However, limited by her strength at the time, that Star-Creating Rain couldn’t even cover a space the size of a basketball court, and it was unable to generate glintstone clusters on the ground.

But now, she had successfully achieved the feat of turning the void of Glintstone Magic into reality.

However.

Compared to the true Star-Creating Rain that directly brought Glintstone Magic to an entire continent,

The Star-Creating Rain Mia released, which only spanned a few thousand meters, was clearly not enough.

But it was already worth celebrating; after all, she had stepped up a level.

“What about the citizens?” Suddenly thinking of something, Mia asked urgently.

“They’re all fine,” Artoria nodded vigorously, well aware of Mia’s concern: “The citizens are all in the northern district, which wasn’t affected by the battle with Vortigern. These gems only grow on the south side of the river.”

Mia breathed a sigh of relief.

“Do you want to go see the citizens? You’re their benefactor,” Artoria said eagerly.

“You played a bigger role,” Mia replied.

If Artoria hadn’t used the Holy Spear to break the black mist on Vortigern, Mia wouldn’t have known if she could even wound him.

Only then did Wilden walk over unhurriedly.

Mia looked at Wilden with interest, very curious about his experience yesterday.

“Are you alright?”

“I’m fine.”

“Mr. Wilden is very reliable,” Artoria said: “I asked him to train with me…”

“Oh? Where’s Kay?”

“He’s working with the knights to help the refugees. Let me take you to see those people.”

Mia nodded, and Artoria led her along the palace paths.

On the way, Wilden suddenly spoke to Mia.

“Sorry for not getting your permission.”

“What?” Mia looked back at him, confused.

“About taking that child for training.”

“Oh.” Mia was startled, then found it a bit amusing: “What’s that supposed to mean?”

She waved her hand: “You should know me, right? Why would I care about something like that?”

Wilden shrugged.

After a few seconds of pause, he replied: “Just saying.”

“Mm-hmm.” Mia nodded: “You wouldn’t do anything to hurt me, right?”

Wilden nodded.

Mia then asked Wilden what happened that day after she told him to go regroup with the soldiers.

Wilden said the Anglo-Saxons caught up as expected.

And then, with Wilden present, the Anglo-Saxons were likewise defeated as expected.

His flat tone made it sound as if he had just gone for a walk that day.

The main hall was as bustling as a market right now.

As Artoria, Mia, and the others came out from the other side, Mia noticed the Guards saluting Artoria.

The throne was currently empty, but the King was in the room.

There was a heavy large table at the bottom right of the throne where the old King sat. Ministers were gathered around the table talking, and further ahead, a fence made of several soldiers and a few tables isolated the space where the throne was. A clerk sat there, and citizens who had come to declare their property losses were lined up from the center of the hall all the way outside the palace.

When they noticed Artoria appearing behind them, the officials bowed to her in the manner of subjects, and even King Braden stood up.

“Mhm, mhm.” Artoria was clearly not yet used to such etiquette, and she clumsily returned the greeting with the appropriate attitude.

“Um, I’m now, well, how should I put it?” Artoria looked at Mia beside her in distress: “Even though the sword in the stone is destroyed… but, well, this is just the situation anyway.”

“There is only one Majesty here now.” King Braden interrupted with a smile, the mustache at the corner of his mouth curling up high. It was clear the old King was very happy: “Though this place certainly can’t compare to Londinium, that seat is indeed worthy of her.”

“Something like that.” She turned her head bashfully, stepped up the stairs, and sat on the throne.

Mia looked at her with a half-smile.

“It seems you’ve been through a lot these past two days?”

“Yes, I have.”

Artoria squirmed uneasily in that chair. Beneath her, the throne didn’t seem like a throne, but more like a display stand for a pet. The girl in the white dress sat on that throne, full of apprehension.