199: Chapter 199: City Guard Training Program Drafted! Four Women Receive Magician Inheritance!

Second floor, female officials' council chamber.

Rowan left the training ground and arrived here.

He pushed open the carved wooden door to the council chamber.

Inside the room, the nine female officials were already present.

On the long council table, a document was spread out in front of each person; the head seat was vacant, as they were all waiting for him.

Hearing the door open, they all raised their heads.

Seeing Rowan walk in, they all stood up in unison and bowed slightly in greeting.

Rowan waved his hand to signal them to sit, then walked to the head of the long table and sat down.

He picked up the assessment report on the table, which had been led by Helena and completed with the collaboration of the other women.

The cover was written in delicate handwriting:

"Draft Assessment and Development Plan for the Gino City Guard System."

He opened the cover and his gaze slowly swept across it.

The beginning of the report was an overview, concisely introducing the overall structure of the City Guard system.

The handwriting was beautiful and neat; it was clearly Helena's handiwork.

She was always like this.

Organized and meticulous.

He continued reading.

As one of the two major systems of Gino City, the City Guard system had formed a fairly stable framework after the continuous improvements of several generations of Earls.

One Commander, Commander Miles, a Peak Knight, responsible for managing the entire City Guard system.

Under him were four Deputy Commanders, each responsible for one of the four major modules of the City Guard system.

First Deputy Commander, Portia West.

Originally a Senior Knight, she had now broken through to Peak Knight with his support.

She had previously been transferred to be the commander of the Royal Guard.

The Royal Guard had an establishment of about four hundred people, all elite, responsible for the safety and security of the castle and the Earl himself; they were the best-equipped and most powerful part of the City Guard.

Second Deputy Commander, Aston Creed.

A Senior Knight. A veteran who had served in the City Guard for many years, calm and reliable, responsible for the City Defense Force.

The City Defense Force had an establishment of about two thousand people, responsible for guarding the various sections of the city walls, the opening, closing, and inspection of the city gates, and patrolling and guarding the outskirts of the city.

Third Deputy Commander, Grayson Knight.

A Senior Knight. This person was known for tactical command, had a flexible mind, and was responsible for the Field Army.

The Field Army had an establishment of about two thousand people, responsible for dealing with wild threats within the territory. This included magical beast invasions, bandit suppression, and wartime mobilization, etc.

Fourth Deputy Commander and Chief of Security, Jonathan Grant.

A Senior Knight. He came from a local freeman family in Gino City, grew up in the streets of this city, and knew all the major areas like the back of his hand.

The Security Team had an establishment of about one thousand people, responsible for internal security patrols, criminal investigation, and maintaining market order.

The entire City Guard system, plus officers at all levels and logistics and administrative personnel, totaled about six thousand people.

Among them—

Those with the strength of an Official Knight or above totaled forty-three.

High-level Apprentice Knights: three hundred and eighty-nine.

Mid-level Apprentice Knights: five hundred and sixty-eight.

Low-level Apprentice Knights: one thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine.

The rest were ordinary soldiers.

This was the largest standing armed force that a county could support.

Compared to the Temple Knight Order of the Church, which was an elite knight order through and through, their high-level combat power was clearly insufficient, but they had the advantage of numbers.

On a real battlefield, even for a Peak Knight, Battle Qi was limited.

Facing the siege of hundreds or thousands of enemy troops, there was still the risk of being swarmed to death.

Ants biting an elephant to death was never an empty phrase.

He flipped the page and began reading the assessment results and development plan below.

The conclusion part of the report was written quite pragmatically, with rigorous wording.

The assessment pointed out that the core problem of the current City Guard was a certain gap in mid-level combat power.

Although the number of Official Knights was not too small, most were older and their potential exhausted.

It was good enough for these people to hold their current realm; expecting them to advance further was almost impossible.

Among the younger generation, there were seedlings with breakthrough potential, but they had not received systematic training or the necessary resource allocation for a long time.

Many good seedlings were delayed just like that; by the time they were older and wanted to catch up, it was already too late.

The plan suggested that within the next three years, a batch of good seedlings under the age of twenty-five with solid foundations should be selected from the existing High-level Apprentice Knights, and the castle would provide additional cultivation resources, striving to train three to five new Official Knights each year.

The entire plan was expected to require the castle to invest about one hundred thousand gold coins, mainly for the purchase of cultivation resources.

After reading, Rowan looked up at the women present and asked some detailed questions.

Mainly regarding specific indicators for selection criteria, priority ranking for resource allocation, and connection plans with existing fiscal budgets.

Helena answered them one by one.

Her speaking speed was neither fast nor slow, her logic was clear, and she could give a clear answer to every question.

When encountering places she wasn't sure about, she would frown slightly, think for a moment, and then give a weighed answer.

Adeline and Charlotte supplemented from the perspective of military theory.

Adeline mentioned some common problems in actual combat training, while Charlotte proposed some adjustments to the selection criteria from the perspective of tactical coordination.

Melissa added a phased funding plan from a financial perspective, splitting the one hundred thousand gold coins into six batches over three years, with the amount of each batch dynamically adjusted according to that year's fiscal revenue.

Sylvie started from the local reality and proposed contingency plans for some resistance that might be encountered during implementation.

For example, some old-school officers might resist the new policy, or there might be factional issues among grassroots soldiers.

The final implementation plan was set as:

Main external executor: City Guard Commander, Commander Miles.

Supervisor: First Deputy Commander of the City Guard, Portia West.

Rowan listened to everyone's speeches and pondered for a moment. Then, he picked up a quill and signed his name at the end of the plan.

"Then let's do it this way." He closed the report and pushed it to the center of the table. "Proceed according to the plan and report the progress to me at the end of the quarter."

The women nodded in agreement and began to pack up the documents in front of them. The rustling sound of paper turning echoed in the room, accompanied by a few whispers and soft laughter.

At this moment, Rowan's gaze swept over the faces of several female officials, then he spoke:

"Melissa, Charlotte, Adeline, Sylvie, you four, come with me."

The four women who were named were slightly stunned.

They exchanged glances and saw a hint of confusion and curiosity in each other's eyes.

But they didn't ask more.

They put down the documents in their hands, stood up, followed behind Rowan, and walked out of the council chamber one after another.

In the castle corridor.

The afternoon sun slanted in from the high windows, and the tiny dust particles in the air floated slowly in the beams of light.

Rowan walked in front, heading towards the top floor of the castle.

Four pairs of light footsteps followed behind him; no one spoke, only the slight rustling of skirts rubbing against each other.

Arriving at the top floor.

Rowan walked to a chair by the window and sat down.

The four women followed him into the room and stood in a row in front of him.

Their figures were outlined by the backlight, and everyone's face carried varying degrees of curiosity.

Rowan didn't keep them in suspense.

He took out two inheritance magic stones.

One pale cyan, one crimson.

"These two inheritance magic stones are the Mage inheritances for the Wind and Fire elements, respectively."

Rowan's voice was calm.

He first picked up the pale cyan Wind-element magic stone and looked at Melissa:

"Melissa, come over and try."

Melissa was slightly stunned.

Immediately, she took a deep breath, walked forward, sat down on a low stool in front of Rowan, and her heartbeat involuntarily accelerated a bit.

She was from Weixino City, a famous Mage city in the east of the continent.

She certainly knew the value of Mage inheritance.

But she never thought that one day she would be able to touch the door to that world.

Melissa took a deep breath, stretched out her hands, and solemnly took the inheritance magic stone.

The magic stone felt cool to the touch.

Following Rowan's guidance, she closed her eyes and pressed the inheritance magic stone against her forehead.

"Hum—"

It was like a breeze brushing past her ears.

In her sea of consciousness, a vast firmament slowly unfolded.

It was a boundless blue sky, white clouds like catkins, and vast winds blowing.

A passage paved with cyan light slowly unfolded in the depths of her consciousness.

Immediately afterwards, a large amount of information poured into her mind like a tide—

Theoretical knowledge about the essence of Wind elements, detailed steps on constructing star rings with spiritual power, methods for positioning star palace anchor points...

And the complete structures of some spell models.

Wind Blade: Condenses Wind elements into invisible blades, capable of cutting flesh and steel.

Gale Step: Uses Wind elements to enhance oneself, significantly increasing movement speed and agility.

Wind Shield: Forms a layer of rotating airflow barrier around the body, capable of deflecting arrows and light attacks.

Levitation: Manipulates airflow to lift oneself or objects, achieving short-term floating or slow descent.

Airflow Control: Changes the direction and intensity of airflow in a local area, which can be used to circulate air, disperse poisonous mist, etc.

Wind Breath Perception: Senses subtle changes in the surrounding environment through the flow of air, which can be used for reconnaissance and early warning.

...

The whole process lasted about a quarter of an hour.

When Melissa opened her eyes again, a faint cyan luster seemed to appear in the depths of her eyes.

She looked down at her hands, clenched her fists slightly, and felt that new, breeze-like light power flowing slowly in her body.

She raised her head, her gaze carrying a dazed and shocked look, as if just waking from a dream.

"I feel..." she murmured, her voice carrying an unbelievable joy, "like the whole world has become lighter."

It was as if those winds that were once invisible and untouchable had now become an existence she could perceive, touch, and control.

Rowan smiled slightly, didn't say much, and motioned for her to step aside.

Then, he picked up the crimson Fire-element magic stone and looked at Adeline:

"Adeline, it's your turn."

Adeline's breathing paused slightly.

She walked forward decisively, sat on the low stool, took the inheritance magic stone, and pressed it against her forehead.

This time, what flooded into her sea of consciousness was a burning crimson.

Theoretical knowledge about the essence of Fire elements, detailed steps on constructing star rings with spiritual power, methods for positioning star palace anchor points...

And some basic Fire-element spell models.

Fireball: Condenses Fire elements to form a high-temperature fireball, which can be thrown from a distance to cause explosions and burning.

Flame Armor: Covers the body with a layer of flowing flame energy, which can burn close-range attackers and provide a certain defensive bonus.

Scorching Ray: Compresses Fire elements into a high-energy ray with extremely strong penetration and accuracy.

Breath of Warmth: A gentle technique for using Fire elements, which can be used for warmth, drying, accelerating wound healing, and other non-combat purposes.

Flame Control: Controls existing flames to change shape, direction, and intensity, which can be used for fine operations or to expand the fire.

Burst Spark: Creates a series of small explosions in the target area, with a wide range but lower single-hit power, suitable for containment or clearing out small fry.

...

When Adeline opened her eyes, a flash of crimson light also seemed to pass through the depths of her pupils.

She looked down at her palm, her heart moved.

A tiny flame jumped out from her fingertips.

The flame was only the size of a fingernail, the orange-red flame core swayed in the air a few times, and then went out.

But it was this moment of firelight that made Adeline's eyes slightly red.

She raised her head and looked at Rowan, her eyes shining with indescribable excitement and joy.

Rowan nodded in approval.

Then, he looked at Charlotte and Sylvie:

"Charlotte, you have a Wind-element talent."

"Sylvie, you are Fire-element."

"You two come over and try too."

Charlotte and Sylvie looked at each other.

Both saw a hint of joy in the other's eyes.

They walked forward, took the two inheritance magic stones, and began to receive the inheritance.

Charlotte's personality was steady and introverted, but when she held the Wind-element magic stone, the hidden talent in her body was completely stimulated.

Her process of receiving the inheritance was even smoother than Melissa's.

When she opened her eyes, her temperament had a touch of agility and elegance that wasn't there before.

Sylvie was a bit different from Adeline.

If Adeline's Fire-element talent was like a passionate campfire, then Sylvie's Fire-element talent was more like a dormant volcano that was calm on the outside but contained huge energy inside.

Her process of receiving the inheritance was calm and steady, without too many waves.

But when the inheritance ended, the moment she opened her eyes, a wisp of scorching and restrained flame seemed to be burning quietly in the depths of her beautiful eyes.

Rowan watched as all four women successfully received the inheritance, and a satisfied smile appeared on his face.

He leaned back on the chair, his gaze sweeping slowly over the beautiful faces of the four, and his tone was relaxed:

"Alright, from today on, you are official Mage apprentices."

"Meditation must be practiced every day, and basic theoretical knowledge must be mastered as soon as possible."

"If there is anything you don't understand, you can ask Helena; she knows more about this than I do."

"After you stabilize your foundation, I will make arrangements for subsequent spell model construction and actual combat training."

The four women nodded in agreement.

Everyone's face carried varying degrees of excitement and anticipation.

After they saluted Rowan, they walked out one after another.

The sound of footsteps faded away outside the door.

The room became quiet.

Rowan sat alone by the window, looking at the sun gradually slanting west outside.

The afterglow of the sunset dyed the horizon a gentle orange-red, and the entire Gino City was crawling at his feet.

He thought quietly.

Wind element, Fire element, Water element...

Plus Cecilia and the group of young women in the guard who were following the Knight path...

His garden was taking shape in a steady and diverse way.

He picked up the cup of tea on the table, which had already half-cooled, and took a sip.

The fragrance of the tea spread between his lips and teeth, with a hint of faint astringency, but the aftertaste was sweet...