"Is it so exaggerated..." Ashu Rufate wanted to end the topic with a laugh, but the problem was that he couldn't laugh.

"I... am a vampire, right?" he asked in a low voice, not knowing whether to ask himself or Carrie.

"I can guarantee this. Whether it is physical or psychological, you are a completely vampire."

"Don't vampires be hated and disliked by humans?" Ashu Rufate remembered the various records of the church. Although he knew at this moment that these records were not necessarily completely correct, and were even nonsense, for ordinary people, these are views that cannot be argued and modified. According to Carrie, ordinary humans have been "brainwashed" by the church, and it is extremely difficult to change them. Even Carrie has never tried to change these views, but can only try to use this view.

Of course, Leya, who has the ability to predict the future, may be an exception.

"Because the master is very gentle to girls, it is natural for them to have this kind of relationship." Carrie replied in his mind. "But it's also a blessing for You Fei. Leya's eyes were injured and shed too much blood, so she couldn't do such a thing."

"You have to understand that this time you are not just fighting for your own survival," Carrie added.

"Why tell me this?"

"Although fighting for survival is the instinct of all life, for intelligent creatures, sometimes they may feel bored and give up. Master, your mentality was not good before, and that was not a mentality of fighting for victory. If you walk onto the battlefield with that level of mentality, then you simply gave up your life."

"Is that true..." Ash Rufate suddenly summoned the Sword of Withering. He held the sword and concentrated his sight on the sword's edge.

"I understand. Carrie!" He jumped out of bed, his movements were very light, and did not affect Fei who was still sleeping.

"You don't have to worry about waking her up. Although she needs much less normal sleep than ordinary people, she has lost a lot of blood and becomes weak. She will not wake up for the time being." Carrie explained. As she spoke, Ashu Rufate quickly put on her clothes. The clothes were right beside his bed, reaching her hand.

"Let's go." He said in his mind.

"Master, I suggest we go to the platform at the top of the castle first." Carrie suddenly made a weird suggestion.

Ashu Rufat didn't understand what Carrie wanted to do, but he did not refuse the request.

If you stand at the foot of the castle and look up, you will feel that the top of the castle is high into the sky. But in fact, there are not many roads to go up through the stairs inside the castle. In fact, an ordinary person can even arrive at the small platform at the top of the castle before he feels that he needs to breathe.

The shape of the small platform is irregular, and it can be regarded as a triangle as a whole, with railings on the sides, so that visitors can rely on the railings to appreciate the style under the castle. This land was called the "excavation site" in the past, and was originally a valley surrounded by steep peaks. The church people built this place into a huge hard labor camp with huge manpower and decades, and dug a huge deep pit in the middle of the valley. However, after the previous turmoil, that is, the earthquake controlled by Carrie, it turned into a plain, leaving only a few hillsides of limited heights.

Perhaps it was Carrie's design, the three sides of the triangle platform faced different scenery.

Looking down from one side of the triangle, you can see a plain. Time is already spring, and the green grass has occupied the wilderness with its unique vitality. From a high point, you can see an endless turquoise green.

Turn your head and you can see the sea from another direction. At this moment, there is no wind and the sea looks blue. This is not the ordinary blue of indigo, but the closer you look, the more you can see it, the dark blue full of mystery seems to attract people's thoughts. Nearby, there are constantly undulating waves, and the beach that is washed by the waves, making them look extremely white.

In the third direction, you can see the newly formed town. Although it is still a small town at this moment, from the newly built neatly arranged huts, newly reclaimed fields, and pedestrians on the street, you can feel the vitality emitted in it.

"Isn't it very beautiful?" Carrie asked in her mind.

"Yes." Although Ashu Rufate was just coming over to take a look, he didn't know when he was attracted by the scenery of the land under his feet and stood there to admire it for a long time.

"Actually, the reason is very simple. As long as you can be condescending and have a broad vision, even if it is a very ordinary scenery or something that cannot be said to be a scenery, it will become very beautiful and magnificent."

“It’s true.”

"And this scenery belongs to you... Master, can you now experience the feeling of a powerful person? In your hands, there is the power to shape everything or destroy everything. It is the ability to dominate everything without any external objects and completely under your control. This is the power of the ruler, called 'power'. With this power, you can put yourself outside everything and place everyone else and things in your palm and let it play with. This feeling is similar to the moment, standing high and observing everything in a downward way. You can freely appreciate everything, change everything, twist everything, and be unaffected by yourself."

"ah……"

"This way of looking down has its innate shortcomings. That is because having an overly broad vision, you will directly feel the "distance" from outside the body, that is, you will experience the barriers of the world. After all, it is something too far away and cannot produce a sense of realism about this kind of scenery. But power makes up for this shortcoming. Even if you hold everything in your hands, you will not feel the barriers. You can clearly transcend the outside, but you are also integrated into it."

Ashu Rufate just listened quietly to Carrie's narration.

"The master can also feel the past. He knows in his heart that he is a vampire, he knows that vampires are disgusting and feared by all humans, and he knows that he should try his best to hide himself, but he can't help but feel the urge to 'do something'. Maybe you don't know what this impulse is."

"This impulse is the ambition of those who have power. Those who have power will not be content with ordinary people. Even if they are masters, there will be no exception."

Ashu Rufate still didn't answer, he just looked at the scenery beneath his feet silently.

"Master, do you still want to die now?" Carrie suddenly asked.

"I don't want to do it at all." Ash Rufate replied. "I'm determined to survive!" His hand touched casually and touched something hard.

That was the diary left to him by Thomas.

He instinctively took out his diary. Since he left Green Skin, he has been carrying the diary in his carry-on bag and has been taken out to read it from time to time, so the pages of the diary have obviously worn out.

In fact, Thomas's diary is not the kind of diary in the usual sense, but a record of his own mood and feelings. But he has benefited a lot from this book.

"Master, look at that." Carrie reminded. Ashu Rufate also noticed the small gap in the diary.

That's because it was shaking and rubbing in a bag for a long time, a gap was grinded on the edge of the fief of the diary. A piece of paper with a completely different texture from the diary showed a corner in the gap.

There was a thin mezzanine on the back cover of the diary. Ashu Rufate opened the mezzanine and took out a piece of paper. The handwriting on it was very familiar, but it actually matched the handwriting of the diary itself. It was written by Thomas, and (no doubt) it was also installed by Thomas in the mezzanine.

"Ashu Rufate, when I saw this letter, I must have been dead. Since I accepted you as my disciple, I have been shocked to realize your growth. From an ordinary person who is not good at military affairs to a general, from a beginner to a student I am most proud of. I saw your performance on the battlefield, and you gradually understand the true meaning of war, arrange troops and sweep across thousands of troops. Seeing that you only need a small guide to understand the spirit behind you immediately. I know that one day, you will eventually master everything I have left to you, even far exceeding me, and becoming a proud hero of a generation."

"But I guess (my guess has always been accurate). When you see this letter, you are standing on the verge of possible transformation, which may become what I hope or what I worry about. I know that you must be like me back then, want to pursue the art of perfect command, want to seek the ultimate way of generals, and go to various battlefields. Maybe you are now a mercenary leader, or maybe you are still fighting for Saint Gene. Of course, you may also join other countries."

Seeing this, Ashu Rufate smiled bitterly. Even Thomas could not guess his fate.

"I know that in your heart, there is a strong self-control. It is the source of all the power of a general, but there are also cruel beastly nature and instinctive impulses. You don't have to be afraid, everyone is the same - I am the same. You will stand at a crossroads and face your own life choices. Whether you pursue the true commandership, master the absolute restraint of reason and soul, or be confused by your own desires, and finally embark on a path that looks right but is actually very wrong."

"If a general has a realm, then the highest realm is to abandon the desire to win. This is a realm that I have not reached. A general needs a completely different view of honor and strong self-control from an ordinary knight. But the desire to win may be the last biggest and strongest enemy. It should be noted that longing for victory does not mean that one can win. The persistent pursuit of victory is a good thing, but you must not be addicted to the persistence itself."

"This inner battle is difficult, because impulse, anger and cruelty seem to defeat calmness, rationality and self-control frequently. But you must always remember one thing, defeating the enemy is not the end of everything. Understand the nature of war and understand what role you want to play in it. If you can remember this firmly, you may find the power to support you deep down and prevent you from being confused by the greatest bait - victory.

"Of course, you may think that the above are just some old men's boring nonsense. Maybe you have to face a battle that is life-and-death, but the enemy is strong and I am weak. You have a plan to defeat the enemy (I believe it deeply), but you are not sure of victory. You don't know if the enemy will give you a chance, and you don't know if they will swallow the bait you set."

"I will give you a reminder, just like what I said above. The biggest and final danger of a general is the pursuit of victory itself. When there is no chance of victory, people will do everything to win, but when victory is very sure, they will pursue perfect victory again - fewer casualties, more results of battle, and so on, never end. And there is a gap that can be used in this desire. When desire - even the desire to win - blinds his eyes, people will be stupid."

"Of course, there is another last thing, that is luck. This is also a very critical but unaware of things. It is illusory, but it must be missing. You must believe in your luck. As a general, you have strong luck. Your meeting with me is the best proof of this luck. It is the same for you and me..."

At the end of this page, Thomas wrote a sentence in scribbled handwriting: "Neither life nor freedom is inherently gifted, but can only be obtained through swords and blood."
Chapter completed!