Chapter 26: Wings of Dawn

"After talking about slaves, let me tell you about commoners, Artisans, and heroes."

Duke seemed eager to say all the things he hadn't said over the past decade in just one night. He took the Deer penis liquor from Rayan's hand, took a big gulp, and then let out a satisfying sigh, continuing, "Basically, those without estates or noble lineage are considered commoners. Artisans and heroes also belong to the commoner class. Commoners have no special privileges, but if one becomes an Artisan or a hero, they can gain a certain social status."

"I only know that heroes are advanced from Fighters, mages, and Assassins, and once someone becomes a hero, they can join a guild. But what exactly is an Artisan? Do skills like herb gathering and mining count as Artisan skills?" Rayan couldn't help but ask.

Duke shook his head, "An Artisan refers to someone who possesses a specific production skill, such as leatherworking, tailoring, blacksmithing, or alchemy. The skills you mentioned, like herb gathering and mining, are merely collectors' tasks, not Artisan work. In fact, Artisans are as important as heroes and are classified into ten levels, from apprentice to legendary. However, legendary Artisans are even rarer than Legendary Heroes; otherwise, legendary weapons and gear would be everywhere. Artisans do not need to go to the battlefield, but in some large guilds, their role can be even more important than that of heroes, serving as a significant economic source for the guild. Exaggeratingly, whoever possesses top-level Artisans, combined with the necessary military power, can monopolize an industry. Numerous guild wars have occurred on the Auroria Continent, three-quarters of which were over women, and one-quarter over Artisans."

Rayan asked puzzledly, "What about the other quarter? For justice?"

"Of course not."

Duke scoffed and replied, "The remaining quarter was to seize those who are both women and Artisans."

Rayan gave a knowing smile.

Duke continued earnestly, "The reason I emphasize the importance of Artisans is not to encourage you to become one and make money, but rather to help you understand that force is not the only way to victory; more often, you need to rely on your own intelligence."

Rayan nodded, "I remember that."

Duke went on, "Next are lords, nobles, and kings. Lords vary in size; small lords usually just rule over a few villages, while great lords govern large areas. Many unstable noble families choose to marry into the families of great lords to secure their position in the capital. Of course, they have to pay taxes to their king. As a privileged class, lords have the right to certify mercenary groups, nobles have the right to certify guilds, and kings usually own the largest guilds in their country. For instance, Torrent Kingdom's Silver Hand, Stonerock Kingdom's Lionheart, Flamecloud Kingdom's Flame Dragon, and Maple Snow Kingdom's War Bear—these four major guilds, you must also remember well."

Rayan frowned slightly, "Shouldn't there be one more?" He knew a little about the major guilds of the four kingdoms, but Duke had not mentioned the most powerful one.

"Don't rush—"

Duke took another sip of his drink, moistened his throat, then continued, "The reason I don't mention the most powerful guild in Auroria Continent is to tell you that kings are not the real rulers of this continent, a fact you must remember."

Rayan, confused, asked, "Kings collect taxes like the ocean every year, aren't they the real rulers, then who is?"

Duke looked up at the ceiling, "The Holy Light, and its earthly agents, the Holy Light Sisterhood."

Rayan's heart froze, "The church that only allows women to learn magic?"

"That's right."

Duke chuckled dryly, "They claim to speak for the God Race, replacing the Holy Light in overseeing the sins of the world, to prevent the demon race from taking advantage. They don't have the right to collect taxes, nor do they need to pay any, their territory is right at the border junction of the four major kingdoms, in the very center of the continent. Unless permitted, no man can approach within half a step. Their power is extensive, even the succession and coronation of kings of the four major kingdoms must receive the nod from the Holy Light Sisterhood's throne. And the most powerful guild mentioned earlier is just a subsidiary guild of the Holy Light Sisterhood, a guild whose name is known to all—"

"Wings of Dawn... the guild everyone dreams of joining..."

Rayan murmured, "Only the truly strong heroes are qualified to enter. Wings of Dawn represents righteousness, loyalty, courage, pride in this world, and nearly all legendary figures in history have come from Wings of Dawn. What makes people most excited is that once you join the Wings of Dawn guild, your name can carry the guild's suffix, like Rayan ·Wings of Dawn, like a halo..."

Duke had not told him all this, but the fame of Wings of Dawn shone everywhere like light.

"Rayan ·Wings of Dawn?"

Duke scoffed, as if it were a distasteful name. He countered, "Do you know why the Holy Light Sisterhood, comprised entirely of women, gathers all the best men of the continent into their subsidiary guild?"

Rayan blinked and tentatively answered, "To weaken the royal power of the countries?"

"That's just a small part of it."

Duke's mouth curled into a smug smile, "The most important task of Wings of Dawn is to guard against Assassins—like myself."

Rayan was so startled he nearly jumped, "You've fought with people from Wings of Dawn?!"

Recalling his earlier mention of Wings of Dawn and Duke's disdainful expression seemed to confirm Rayan's guess. Daring to challenge Wings of Dawn and escaping unscathed meant that Duke's true strength must be at least that of a Grandmaster Hero, or even a Hall of Fame Hero, just one or two levels shy of legendary!

If that was really the case, then his goal of reclaiming the Twilight Blade was entirely feasible! Maybe even one day...

"Why so excited?"

Duke laughed heartily, taking a long drink from the bottle, "Did I ever say I fought with Wings of Dawn? To become stronger, you first need to learn to control your emotions, always stay calm."

Rayan quickly composed himself, clearing all the wild thoughts from his mind. "Boss, I remember."

"I've warned you before, don't go to Flamecloud City before you become a legend, and now I'll add another rule: before you become a legend, do not directly confront Wings of Dawn either. Don't just look at their apparent strength, although that strength is already formidable. But don't forget, behind them, it's the Holy Light Sisterhood that truly rules this land."

Seeing how serious Duke was, Rayan couldn't help but smile jokingly, "But you seem to be doing fine, still able to run a small tavern, drinking Deer penis liquor..."

Duke gave him a look, his voice solemn, "I'm so poor now I can't even afford a striptease dancer, what good is Deer penis liquor then?"

Rayan nodded as if it made perfect sense, "That's indeed true."

Duke simply handed the Deer penis liquor back to Rayan, then said calmly, "About some matters related to Wings of Dawn, including the guild's predecessor, the current legendary guildmaster, and the guild war they seemingly won but actually lost twenty years ago—etcetera, etcetera, I will tell you all these slowly. Today, the main purpose was to help you form a basic understanding of the major forces in your mind. This is very necessary for your future dominance... cough, I mean, for doing well as a runner."

Rayan lifted the bottle and took a big swig. The alcohol still hit hard, but he was beginning to learn to adapt. "Boss, I will be a qualified runner."

Duke nodded in satisfaction. "For the last part of tonight's lesson, let me tell you about Lady Spring Rain— I've never met her personally, but rumor has it she's the most beautiful woman in the world. Having seen Lady Spring Rain with your own eyes, do you think the rumor is true?"

"Absolutely."

Rayan blurted out without hesitation, "Lady Spring Rain is indeed very beautiful." To this day, he still remembered the caring look in Lady Spring Rain's eyes.

Duke smirked, seemingly skeptical about the claim to the title of the world's most beautiful woman.

"I've already told you, Spring Rain is not her real name, but a respectful title given to her by the people when her father ruled the city of Pisces. This has to be traced back to five years ago, when Torrent Kingdom experienced severe drought, although their country is almost always dry, that time was particularly severe, with no rain for over twenty months, crops died in the fields, livestock died of thirst, and people could only buy water at high prices from traveling merchants, and those without money had to leave their homes and suffer humiliation abroad. Yet the King of Torrent still urged the lords to collect taxes, to pray for rain to the Holy Light."

"That's foolish."

Rayan couldn't help shaking his head, "Isn't it the Holy Light that causes their country to have no water sources?"

"Regardless, old Lord Pisces decided to loyally execute the king's command, but Lady Spring Rain, upon hearing this, urgently pleaded with her father to retract the order—five years ago, she was probably only around fourteen or fifteen years old, but she already understood what was right and wrong." Duke sincerely admired.

"Did her father agree?" Rayan asked.

"Of course not. Her father angrily told her that unless his beloved daughter rode naked on a horse around the city, he would agree to her request not to raise taxes. This was initially just a joke, but Lady Spring Rain actually stripped off all her clothes the next day and rode through the streets. When the residents of the territory learned that their young mistress had made such a great sacrifice for them, they all felt deeply grateful, stayed inside their homes, closed their doors and windows, knelt and prayed, even the guards on duty all faced the walls and stood, not daring to offend or blaspheme. Suddenly, the entire city of Pisces was as if emptied, silent as death."

"And then?" Rayan asked eagerly.

"Then, it rained."

Duke said, "That's why she is revered as Lady Spring Rain."