When Lu Xiao recovered from the fulfilling life of training during the day and studying at night, Monteriggioni had already entered winter across two seasons.
Tuscany is located in the central and western part of the Apennine Peninsula. Affected by the warm ocean currents of the Mediterranean, there is not much temperature difference throughout the year. Compared with the cold southern city where Lu Xiao originally worked and lived, the winter here is particularly gentle.
After half a year of high-intensity training, Lu Xiao, who was already in good physical condition, has made great progress, and the muscle lines on her body that were not so obvious have become clear-cut.
His muscles are not as beautiful and exaggerated as those formed after fitness training. After training close to actual combat, every inch of Lu Xiao's muscles are full of strength, but they do not look very burly in appearance.
As the leader of the Italian Assassin Brotherhood, Mario spends most of the year on the road.
He was either leading the mercenaries to fight against the Republic of Florence, or turning his back to fight against Siena. When the war stopped, he had to work on the busy work of the Assassin Brotherhood, and had very little time to personally train Lu Xiao.
"clang!"
At the Auditore Manor training ground, Lu Xiao was fighting three powerful mercenaries with two daggers in hand.
Although Mario formulated a strict training plan for him, the development of fighting style was left to Lu Xiao himself. Mario only gave sharp advice on certain key parts based on his rich and experienced combat experience.
suggestion.
Lu Xiao did not choose the long sword used by noble lords as a weapon like Mario, but chose two short knives.
In terms of fighting style, it follows a relatively smart line of balanced offense and defense, which is very different from the straight-forward thinking of contemporary Europeans on the battlefield.
As a member of the Assassin Brotherhood, Mario is not one of those rigid-thinking lords and generals. He did not question Lu Xiao's choice, but encouraged him to try the style that best suited him.
"Lu, Assassins are not Templars who follow the rules. Our organization encourages diverse attempts based on free will."
"Everything is allowed. Assassins should not be bound by unreasonable rules."
"Everything is false. When people blindly follow wrong ideas, assassins should boldly raise questions."
Mario's expression was very serious when he said these two clear words, completely lacking the roughness and cheerfulness he had when getting along with the mercenaries in the past.
"These two sentences were left by Hassan Al-Sabah, the great Assassin mentor in the 11th century, the old man of the mountains. I hope you can keep them in mind and ponder over and over again the true meaning of these two sentences in your daily life and mission experience.
.”
"Just because everything is allowed, it doesn't mean we can kill innocent people without any scruples."
"Everything is false. Remember not to be blinded by your own arrogance and prejudice. Always look at things calmly from an objective perspective."
After half a year of training and observation, Mario basically confirmed Lu Xiao’s character through long-term daily contact.
Although due to the extremely inconvenient communication, Mario still doesn't know whether the story described by Lu Xiao is true or false, but a person's subconscious words and deeds cannot deceive others, and Lu Xiao is definitely not the kind of person who is just a fool.
The Assassin Brotherhood came into the situation in a bad situation. The power of the Templars has grown stronger with the rise of the Supreme Master of the European branch, Rodrigo Borgia. In recent years, the number of Brotherhood casualties has increased sharply across Europe.
.
Mario intended to formally introduce this down-to-earth young man who worked hard to make progress into the Brotherhood, allowing him to inject fresh blood into the low-morale Assassin organization.
According to the rules of the Assassin Brotherhood, if Lu Xiao wants to join the Brotherhood, he must first complete all Assassin training and obtain the approval of the relevant person in charge.
Lu Xiao, who was wandering around the training ground, caught a flaw that was inevitably exposed when a mercenary waved his weapons with both hands. Two daggers deftly touched the vital part of his chest and sent him out of the battle ring.
"drink!"
A mercenary holding a long weapon behind him took advantage of Lu Xiao's stance to attack. He stabbed out the spear in his hand without missing a beat, and the sharp sound of breaking wind quickly approached Lu Xiao's back chest.
Lu Xiao, who had already sensed the movement behind him, relied on his strong waist and leg strength to tilt his upper body backwards and make an iron bridge movement, and narrowly avoided the spear thrust.
At the same time, another mercenary holding a two-handed giant sword shouted and slashed the weapon towards the waist of Lu Xiao, who was half lying on the ground.
The two knives crossed to lock the spear mercenary's weapon. The mercenary staggered slightly as his strength was increased while using old strength.
Lu Xiao took this opportunity to kick his legs up from the ground. The spear mercenary, whose center of gravity was destroyed, was kicked in the face. He fell to the ground with stars in his eyes and exited the battlefield.
With the help of the reaction force generated by the kick, Lu Xiao stood up from the ground, just in time to avoid the two-handed giant sword that grazed his bangs and cut into the ground. He opened the distance with his feet, took out the short bow from his back and aimed at the man who couldn't draw it back in time.
Hand mercenary.
"That's it!"
There were shouts from outside the court, and the three mercenaries raised their hands in submission to perform the French military salute. After the strenuous exercise, Lu Xiao put down his bow and arrow, sat down on the ground and tried to breathe evenly.
"Pa bang bang~"
Crisp applause came from outside the training ground, and Mario praised with relief: "Bravo, your combat skills are at the beginning. If you want to further improve, you can only accept more baptism in actual combat."
"It's time."
As the mercenaries bowed their heads respectfully, Mario stepped forward and patted Lu Xiao on the shoulder with emotion: "Your training in Monteriggioni is over. Get ready to go to Florence. I will write a letter to Gova.
I will guide you on the next step."
Mario straightened his face and warned solemnly: "The blood talent you inherited from your ancestors should not be wasted in a small rural place like this. Giovanni's situation in Florence is not very good, and he will definitely need your help."
The talent Mario mentioned is actually a beautiful misunderstanding.
He mistook Lu Xiao's astonishing vision obtained through clairvoyance skills as the eagle vision inherited by a few Assassin families from generation to generation, which made him more certain of Lu Xiao's authenticity as a descendant of the Assassin family.
Naturally, Lu Xiao would not foolishly take the initiative to clarify this issue. Mario's misunderstanding could help him integrate into the Brotherhood faster and obtain more core information about the Pieces of Eden. Why not.
As Mario's trust gradually deepens, Lu Xiao has gained access to some relevant information within the Brotherhood.
Most of the information is related to the battle between the Assassins and the Templars, but it also includes some information about the Pieces of Eden, especially an artifact that was once given to the Brotherhood by Mario himself - the Shroud of Eden.
This Artifact of Eden had been stored deep underground in the Auditore Manor for a long time. The Knights Templar sent people to attack Monteriggioni in 1454. Mario learned this information from an enemy spy, and
He personally led people to take out the Shroud from the ground.
The underground passages were full of traps and traps, and Mario's mercenaries suffered heavy losses. It was during this operation that his left eye was unfortunately hit by a pendulum and he became blind.
According to Mario himself, the Piece of Eden stored in the small wooden box had strange magical powers. He and the mercenaries who entered the underground passage together heard the call from the Shroud when the small wooden box was opened.
The mercenaries except Mario lost their minds under the temptation of the artifact. As a last resort, Mario could only kill the crazy mercenaries who actively attacked him, resisted the temptation of the shroud, and handed it over to
His brother Giovanni asked him to take the Piece of Eden away from Monteriggioni and hand it over to the Brotherhood for sealing and disposal.
Lu Xiao originally thought that the first Piece of Eden she came into contact with would be related to the golden apple that had been used throughout the old pervert's career. Unexpectedly, she accidentally learned important information about another artifact from Mario.
After the Shroud was taken away by Giovanni, it had been stored in the home of an Assassin member in Florence. Mario's suggestion that he go to Florence for further training was in line with Lu Xiao's next plan.
'Can the Shroud really bring people back to life as described in the legend?'
After the farewell banquet that night, Lu Xiao, who had drunk a lot, leaned on the bedside in a daze, looking at the bright crescent moon outside the window in trance.
'Anyway, I finally got the information on the first Piece of Eden, but I can't relax just yet.'
'After you get the first fragment, you can complete the world mission. After the mission is completed, the system only gives you one year to stay. You must plan your time carefully and try to get as many Pieces of Eden as possible within one year.