A Realistic Mount & Blade Game

The term 'faction' was a frequently used word that Shen Mu had heard from those spirit realm followers and creatures.

Terms like 'lawful faction,' 'chaotic faction,' and 'neutral faction.'

Including things like 'good,' 'evil,' and 'absolute neutral,' etc.

There were a total of nine categories.

Similar to overlapping combinations.

But also absolutely opposed to each other.

Shen Mu wasn't clear on the specific details, as he didn't know much about it, and the Mount \u0026 Blade system didn't have such a setting.

But thinking carefully, one could understand that this must be an absolute pillar-level rule force that maintained the operation of that mysterious fantasy crystal wall system.

"But what exactly it is, is really a bit profound." Shen Mu shook his head at this moment, not continuing to think too much, because even he, thinking carefully now, couldn't quite grasp the specific details.

The arrangement and combination of these nine types of factions seemed relatively easy, but there were many differences in the details.

Similar to the simplest lawful good and lawful evil.

And lawful neutral.

They all seemed to be divisions within the lawful faction and could be classified into one category.

But just like Elder Polo had said, those human kingdoms and empires, as well as the human knight principalities, mostly seemed to be lawful factions, but according to the gods they each worshiped, they were also divided into good, evil, and neutral, and then they would wage war against each other.

Some were even comparable to the hell devils of the lawful evil faction and the abyss demons of the chaotic evil faction in terms of cruel blood battles.

They could beat each other's brains out.

So, how each faction was divided, how they interacted, and even in some powerful human empires, lawful good and lawful evil could coexist harmoniously.

This added some special characteristics to these factions.

At least in Shen Mu's view, it was quite troublesome.

Moreover, simply distinguishing friends from enemies based on factions was also quite unreliable.

"The secrets of the spirit realm still need to be further explored." Shen Mu also felt some special fatigue now.

After all, that mysterious and unpredictable spirit realm did indeed have many secrets.

Of course, Shen Mu would have plenty of time to carefully explore these secrets in the future, but for him, the most important thing now.

Was still how to improve his own strength!

After finishing lunch, Shen Mu didn't continue to stay in the noble mansion, but instead prepared to set off again, intending to go and see those wheat fields outside the town area.

Because he still needed to use the power of faith to speed up the growth of the wheat in the fields.

After all, this was related to his own food security.

"The others should go back and rest first, and then Manid, come with me alone." Shen Mu also made arrangements.

After all, the next task was just to verify how the power of faith could speed up the growth of the wheat in the fields.

Fatis, Bunduk, Bestuur, and Lezalit were all military-type generals, so there was no need for them to continue following.

As for Jeremus, the doctor, he was still at the Torch Tower of the Holy White Council, learning how to use magic from those Aedengard devotees, so there was no need for him to continue meddling in these livelihood matters.

It was enough to have Manid, the merchant, follow.

"Are you saying that you can use a special power to speed up the growth of this wheat?" Manid's face was quite surprised.

Especially when he heard Shen Mu introduce his abilities to him while following Shen Mu out of the city gate, the surprise on his face felt somewhat absurd.

Yes.

Absurd.

After all, he was a general from the Mount \u0026 Blade world, a fictional historical setting.

Although he had already seen some extraordinary powers since coming to this world, and had also seen creatures from myths and legends, as well as terrifying undead monsters.

He already understood that in this world, it was somewhat related to those myths and legends heard in Calradia.

It was even related to the gods in legends.

But even after knowing this information, Manid still felt somewhat incredulous and absurd when he heard Shen Mu say that he could speed up the growth of wheat, and not just wheat but also the growth of other crops.

"Yes, that's right, Manid, this is indeed one of my abilities." Shen Mu walked in front, and although he didn't turn his head, he could already guess the extremely shocked expression on Manid's face.

A smile appeared on the corner of his mouth.

Shen Mu also said: "I don't think you should be so surprised about this, after all, you've already seen how those buildings can be quickly built in a short amount of time."

What Shen Mu said was about the previous time when he used the power of faith to speed up the construction time of buildings.

In fact, it was the same in essence.

Since he could speed up the flow of time through the power of faith, shortening the construction time of various buildings, allowing the buildings to be built faster.

Then now he could once again speed up the flow of time, allowing those crops that were originally just seeds to quickly germinate, and then break out of the soil, and finally grow up, ultimately allowing Shen Mu to obtain a bountiful harvest.

The principle was the same.

After Shen Mu's explanation, Manid's mentality gradually returned to calm.

Of course.

At this time, Manid's gaze towards Shen Mu was even more radiant, and there was even more absolute respect and worship in his eyes.

After all, as a merchant, he had more contact with livelihood matters, so he had an absolute shock from the bottom of his heart about the ability to quickly speed up the growth of plants and make crops mature quickly.

Moreover, for Manid, there was also a concept deep in his heart.

That was that only gods could do this!

"Lord Shen Mu is not only a legendary figure, not only a savior, but also an incarnation of a certain god?"

This was an idea that appeared in Manid's mind at this moment.

And this idea was becoming more and more vigorous in his heart, even filling his heart, filling his mind, and filling his thinking.

"Lord Shen Mu…"

"Is a god!"

That's what Manid thought.

And almost instantly, a dialog box suddenly appeared on Shen Mu's retina in front of him.

[Ding! Your Mount \u0026 Blade general 'Manid' has opened his heart to you! And your image has been completely established in his mind! You can use 'Arcane Blessing (Special Mind Skill)' to bestow him with a corresponding skill!]

[After detection, the 'Nature Summoning Skill' you currently possess can barely be used to bestow it upon him. Among them, the Nature Summoning Skill is 'Bee Swarm Harassment.' ]

[Hint: Using Arcane Blessing will consume 10,000 Faith Points.]

[Hint: After you choose to bestow the skill, each time the subordinate releases the skill, it will consume 100 Faith Points. And it must be released successfully in your territory or by your side.]

"Huh!?" Shen Mu was slightly stunned at this moment.

He turned his head to look at Manid, who was following beside him.

Although he also saw the extremely respectful gaze on Manid's face, he didn't expect such a pleasant surprise.

"Confirm bestowal!" Shen Mu didn't hesitate at all at this time, and immediately confirmed to use the Arcane Blessing skill to bestow his Bee Swarm Harassment, this nature summoning skill, to Manid.

[Ding! You have consumed 10,000 Faith Points, used the Arcane Blessing skill, and successfully bestowed the Nature Summoning skill Bee Swarm Harassment to your Mount \u0026 Blade general Manid.]

[Hint: Your Mount \u0026 Blade general Manid has now learned how to use this special nature summoning skill Bee Swarm Harassment. At the same time, he understands how to summon killer bee swarms from the spirit realm to harass enemies.]

[Hint: Your Mount \u0026 Blade general Manid's current Bee Swarm Harassment skill is at lv1. At the same time, because it has not been strengthened by divine power or upgraded, the bee swarm harassment released by this general is a conventional bee swarm harassment skill.]

Then, on Shen Mu's retina, a new dialog box popped up again.

It was a prompt and explanation of the skill for him.

And almost instantly after Shen Mu confirmed, a stream of white data suddenly surged out from between his eyebrows, instantly came to Manid's eyebrows behind him, and directly submerged into it.

'Buzz!'

At the same time, there were also strands of emerald green subtle light spots, which happened to enter Manid's eyebrows deep in his mind.

The original face of Manid, which was already quite serious, seemed to sense something, and subconsciously stood in place for more than ten seconds before recovering.

But at this time, Manid looked at Shen Mu.

His hands trembled.

No, it should be said that his whole body was trembling.

"This power… this power is…" Manid was really quite excited at this time, his mind was already completely filled with a color of ecstasy.

Especially looking at Shen Mu, the respect and excitement in his eyes, as well as that fanatical emotion.

It was simply like a generator, making his eyes sparkle!

Because Manid was really quite excited.

Especially when he communicated with that mysterious thing in his mind and could reach out at any time to release a swarm of killer bees from the spirit realm.

This use of extraordinary power made him simply beside himself!

This was extraordinary power.

Now that he had casually obtained the right to use this power, and through the exploration of this extraordinary power, Manid could be sure that the source of this extraordinary power was his respected and worshiped Lord Shen Mu!

It was Shen Mu who bestowed it upon him, the extraordinary power to summon these spirit realm killer bees!

"Relax, Manid, this is just the beginning." Shen Mu said with a smile at this time: "This is indeed your first extraordinary power, but it is not your last."

"Yes, Lord Shen Mu, I am very grateful for your grace." Manid quickly cleaned up his emotions at this time, and respectfully bowed to Shen Mu.

Although it was still the same gesture of reaching out and placing his hand on his chest, and then bowing.

But this represented Manid's sincere respect.

Or rather, in addition to the extremely loyal characteristics originally given to him by the Mount \u0026 Blade system, this Manid, who had become a living person, a complete individual, once again had a heartfelt respect for Shen Mu.

This was truly extraordinary.

"Let's go," Shen Mu said, stepping forward. He looked at the lush wheat fields with young sprouts appearing before him, a smile on his face indicating his heightened joy. "Next, these wheat fields of ours will bring us even more happiness."

"Of course," Manid nodded.

At this moment, Manid didn't know how to respond to Shen Mu. His mind was blank, filled only with reverence. He was now completely obedient to Shen Mu.

Just like what was said earlier.

Before, Manid was forced to be loyal to Shen Mu by the Mount \u0026 Blade system's rigid requirements.

It was a kind of righteousness, a subconsciousness, a natural trust like a cub has for its mother, born from the Mount \u0026 Blade world, system, and rules.

But now...

It was because, after growing up, he received the admiration of the Mount \u0026 Blade system, rules, world, and its individuals.

Plus, Shen Mu had indeed brought him scenes comparable to miracles time and time again.

And then, it was placed right before his eyes, and he was also given the ability to possess extraordinary power.

How could Manid not begin to worship Shen Mu from the bottom of his heart?

So that's why he was now so obedient.

Of course, Shen Mu didn't care about Manid's inner fluctuations. He was now more concerned with how his power of faith could make wheat grow so quickly.

After all, for Shen Mu, these Mount \u0026 Blade exiles from the Mount \u0026 Blade world were inherently loyal to him.

As long as he cultivated their feelings a little, they would become extremely fanatical.

For example, Alayen, for example, Manid in front of him.

It was because he had encouraged them verbally and valued them highly, that they had built up trust and understanding, eventually developing a good feedback loop of opening their hearts to him, allowing him to use the Secret Canon Blessing skill, which further deepened their trust.

Moreover, within this good feedback loop, he could also bestow various skills he possessed to these Mount \u0026 Blade arrivals, allowing them to gain the ability to use these skills as well, which was indeed quite good.

"Let's choose this mu of wheat field outside the east gate and see how it accelerates growth."

Shen Mu stopped.

Before him, one mu of wheat field was lush and green, gently swaying with the breeze, as if each wheat seedling was greeting him.

At the same time, the air was filled with a fresh scent of soil and wheat seedlings, making his mind quite happy.

"Then let's begin," Shen Mu's eyes flashed.

His mind communicated with the system.

At the same time, he directly activated the time acceleration ability he had gained after absorbing the Hell rules—

Natural Grain Blessing!

'Buzz!'

As Shen Mu confirmed, a mysterious power instantly appeared in his brow.

Then, it began to spread with an aura of a certain rule level.

There was even a feeling as if a special permission had been activated, directly controlling the Mount \u0026 Blade rules within the area where Deherim was located as it spread.

"This feeling... it seems... I can manipulate the time rules in the area where Deherim is located."

Shen Mu suddenly had this thought emerge from his mind.

However, this thought was only for a moment.

Then, a dialog box appeared before his eyes, displaying the content after activating this ability.

[Ding! You have used the special rule power 'Natural Grain Blessing'.]

[You can consume 100 points of faith to accelerate the time flow of crops within 1 mu of land by 1 day.]

"Then accelerate the time flow of this 1 mu of wheat field!" Shen Mu didn't hesitate at all, because he already knew how to use this ability before.

Then, his mind communicated with the system again.

The dialog box immediately refreshed.

New content appeared in the dialog box again.

[You have consumed 100 points of faith, accelerating the time flow of this 'wheat field' by 1 day. Time has sped up, and there have been some slight changes in this wheat field.]

'Buzz!'

Almost at the instant the dialog box appeared, a stream of data poured directly out of Shen Mu's brow.

Then, it turned into a white light, just covering the 1 mu of wheat field in front of Shen Mu.

Almost in the blink of an eye, the white light disappeared in a flash.

At the same time, Shen Mu seemed to feel a special breeze blowing by. After these wheat seedlings swayed with the breeze, they actually grew a little bit.

"Here... something seems to have happened." Behind Shen Mu, Manid subconsciously muttered to himself.

He had also keenly noticed something just now.

Especially when he looked at the way the breeze had just blown by, he subconsciously took two steps forward, just squatting at the edge of the wheat field.

Frowning, he looked at the wheat seedlings in front of him, which seemed to have no changes.

He pursed his lips and said softly, "These wheat seedlings seem to have grown a little bit. Although it doesn't look obvious, I usually walk between the farmland, so I have some deeper understanding of the growth of these crops."

"Yes, these wheat seedlings have indeed grown a bit," Shen Mu said with a slight smile, nodding. "It's indeed not very obvious."

After all, it had only been a day of growth.

He had only accelerated the time flow by one day.

Indeed, it wouldn't look too obvious. After all, no matter how long the wheat seedlings grow, it would take about three months to fully mature. One day is really a drop in the bucket for wheat seedlings.

However, this drop in the bucket only lacks enough time. Over time, it will definitely slowly allow the wheat seedlings to fully mature.

And now, the ability Shen Mu possessed was to quickly condense this accumulation of time within a short 10 seconds.

"Natural Grain Blessing, activate again!"

Shen Mu didn't hesitate at all.

He once again communicated with the system, activating this special ability.

And this time, it wasn't accelerating one day of growth.

But accelerating the time flow by 10 days.

'Buzz!'

The white data stream poured out of Shen Mu's brow, and it was mixed with obvious special light spots that brought up a subtle green light.

It fell directly into this one mu of wheat field that had already been planned.

Then, the changes that appeared this time were much more obvious.

'Buzz!'

When the white light dissipated.

At this time, the tender wheat seedlings that had just sprouted from the soil had obviously increased by one or two centimeters, and more sharp leaves had appeared.

Although it still looked lush and quite fresh.

But it was also clear that it had grown a little.

This was growth.

The growth of wheat seedlings for 10 days.

"Sure enough, the changes this time are really too great." Manid also had a surprised look in his eyes, looking at the more lush wheat seedlings that appeared in this one mu of wheat field.

He couldn't help but swallow: "This seems to be the state of wheat seedlings that would appear after a week or two."

He noticed the growth state of these young seedlings.

"That's right, this has increased the time flow by about 10 days," Shen Mu said, looking at the 1,000 points of faith that had disappeared, without much pain on his face.

He now possessed a considerable amount of faith points, after all, he still had more than 15,000 points now.

Moreover, the dragon flag fragment placed in the hilt inside the bedroom of his noble residence also stored more faith points.

So he didn't care about the consumption of these faith points at all.

Therefore, with a smile on his face, he communicated with the system again: "If I directly increase the time flow by about 30 days this time, what will happen?"

Then, in front of Shen Mu, the data stream surged out again.

'Buzz!'

However, this time, there were more green light spots in the white data stream.

At the same time, the feeling of coolness began to spread in the beating heart in Shen Mu's chest, as if the power belonging to the natural pan-consciousness that permeated his heart was also helping him.

Or rather, helping these crops in the natural world to grow healthier in a faster time flow.

'Buzz!'

Then, Shen Mu and Manid watched as the green wheat seedlings, which were originally the size of a finger joint, shook and began to grow at a rate of one second per second under the promotion of the white data stream and green light spots.

And in 30 seconds, they directly grew to more than 30 centimeters high, and also produced many thick branches and leaves.

And they grew extremely strong.

As if each young child was raising their heads, receiving the heat released by the sun in the sky.

They were working hard to promote photosynthesis, and were still growing vigorously.

"God," Manid's face was even more shocked at this time, because he was still squatting at the edge of the wheat field, watching the seedlings that were originally only the size of a little finger directly grow into wheat plants the length of an adult's forearm.

And for some of the wheat plants that developed better, he could even see the spikes that had already begun to emerge at the top.

"This is definitely the kind of wheat that has been around for more than a month, and is about to spike and pollinate, and after another month or so after pollination, it will be able to bear grains of wheat," Manid's voice trembled a little.

Because he knew very well that in this short minute or less.

A power comparable to a miracle was being used by Shen Mu.