T/N: “Born in the purple” is a phrase that originated in the Byzantine Empire and refers to a child born to a reigning monarch or emperor while they are still on the throne.In ancient times, the color purple was a symbol of imperial power and royalty. Only the emperor and his family were allowed to wear garments dyed with the expensive and highly prized Tyrian purple, a dye extracted from the secretions of the murex snail. This made purple a color associated with wealth, power, and nobility.When a child was “born in the purple,” it meant that they were born while their father was still the reigning emperor, and therefore, they were born with a legitimate claim to the throne.
Chapter 45: The Arcane Mage
If there was one NPC in the “Iron and Fire” game world that was truly famous, it was undoubtedly Theodora.
The Imperial Purple Princess Theodora, known as the “Most Beautiful Woman in the Game.”
This “game” didn’t just refer to “Iron and Fire,” but almost all games that had ever been released. Almost all female NPCs known for their beauty couldn’t compare to her in appearance.
The character modeling of this NPC alone cost $130 million for the head model.
Including the distance between her eyes, the length of each eyelash, the height and width of the bridge of her nose, nasolabial folds, the shape of her forehead, and the position of each tooth, all were designed by 13 of the world’s top game design teams, ensuring that it simultaneously met the aesthetic and cultural standards of both Eastern and Western nations.
A month before the official release of “Iron and Fire,” the game company used a completed video of Theodora dancing for a marketing campaign that became a huge hit.
After all, no matter when or where, beautiful female NPCs were a major factor in attracting attention to online games.
And the result was just as the game company expected. Theodora’s “peerless beauty” was praised by the media as “a perfection that normal humans cannot grow,” and, together with the upcoming game “Iron and Fire,” appeared on major game forums, video websites, hardcore gamer circles, cosplay costume groups, comic convention booths, life-size models of pillows and figures, plastic surgery hospitals’ hottest templates, adult store advertising posters, and convenience store signs in third, fourth, and fifth-tier cities and rural areas.
Although the last few were not the communication channels that the game company wanted… In any case, the marketing effect was perfect. Theodora, the most beautiful woman in “Iron and Fire,” as a beautiful NPC, was destined to be recorded in the annals of gaming history.
At this time, looking at Theodora’s beautiful eyes exposed from the veil, the first thought in Asker’s mind was, “Why are you wearing a veil! I would recognize you even if you were turned to ashes!”
“This beautiful young lady is right!” Before he could speak, Sidlipha had already shouted, “Since he’s going to be shot anyway, why don’t you let me execute him!”
As she spoke, she raised her right battle axe and chopped off the young man’s head in one fell swoop, so fast that even Eleanor couldn’t stop her.
Theodora froze, seemingly not reacting either.
“Sidlipha.” Asker said, covering his face. “The legal execution she was talking about is an execution carried out by a specific executor recognized by the government. You directly chopping off his head like this is called murder!”
“Huh?” Sidlipha tilted her head, not understanding the difference between murder and legal execution.
“Forget it.” Theodora came back to her senses. “This kind of scum, it’s better to kill him than waste the Empire’s judicial resources.”
She looked at Asker, a smile returning to her eyes: “You are Asker Lepidus Achilles, right? The current heir of the Achilles family? Now running a mercenary group?”
“Yes.” Asker nodded, just about to hear what the other party would say next, when a thought suddenly flashed through his mind:
Theodora’s bloodline seems to be a level 2 “Matter Mage”? An Arcane spellcaster who has mastered Storm I and Intelligence X! This seems to be a good fit for my team’s current needs.
Pulling an Empress NPC into his team as a mercenary, this rebellious thought… sounded surprisingly appealing?
Asker thought about it for a moment. His current team had ordinary people like Miel, Sidlipha, and Mia, as well as rich girls and noblewomen like Nuo and Eleanor, and even an Imperial princess like Medea.
If there was one more Empress… it wouldn’t make much difference, right?
“Excuse my rudeness, may I ask who you are?” Asker said with a chuckle.
Theodora was about to speak when Asker suddenly interrupted her, said “Oh” and said: “I understand! You must have heard of the reputation of our ‘Azure Longsword’ mercenary group and came here to join us, right?”
Theodora: ???
“Let me tell you, we are currently short of an Arcane Mage, and if you are the one we are looking for… I noticed you have a mithril tattoo.” Asker coughed and said, “That’s a surface magic circuit, right?”
“Ah, yes.” Theodora thought for a moment and decided not to reveal her identity to the other party, but to try to probe the other party’s situation first.
The reason was simple, she wanted to recruit and hire the other party as her guard, but the premise was that this Achilles’ strength was indeed as outstanding as shown in the video.
Otherwise, if she accidentally recruited a poser, losing money would be a small matter, being ridiculed by her elder sister Zoe would be a real shame.
“How strong is your ‘Azure Longsword’ mercenary group?” Theodora asked casually.
“It depends on what your criteria for evaluating strength are.” Asker said, “If it’s about size, we currently only have 8 people, and it won’t exceed 10 in the future. Because we plan to take the small elite route.”
“Then what about combat capability alone?” Theodora asked.
“Number one in the universe.” Asker replied.
“Cough!” Eleanor behind him coughed awkwardly. This “number one in the universe,” wasn’t that bragging too much?
Sidlipha, on the other hand, nodded repeatedly and said:
“Hmm, hmm, hmm, although we are the best in the universe now, don’t think that our strength will stop here. One day we will become…”
She paused and asked Eleanor quietly: “What’s bigger than the universe?”
“Nothing.” Eleanor said, both amused and annoyed. “The universe is the biggest.”
“Oh.” Sidlipha suddenly realized and blamed Asker. “Hey, Asker, we have to be humble. We’re already the best in the universe now, what are we going to do in the future? Is there still room for improvement?”
“Then number one on the continent.” Asker said casually.
“Number one on the continent is good.” Sidlipha nodded in agreement, making Eleanor behind her look dumbfounded. This “number one on the continent”… didn’t seem to be any different from “number one in the universe,” hello!
“Hehehe.” Theodora covered her mouth and chuckled. “Captain Asker, you are really an interesting guy. Of course, so is that warrior lady.”
Outside the door, the two military officers and guards heard the Empress’s laughter and wondered to themselves.
Could this Achilles be a smooth talker who took the route of flattering the monarch?
Seeing that the other party was still smiling politely, Asker sighed in his heart.
Sure enough, it was basically impossible to persuade the other party with just words. He had to put up a gambling chip.
“Words are not enough.” Asker also smiled. “Why don’t you see for yourself how strong our team is?”
“Okay.” Theodora also smiled back with interest, thinking to herself, what was the other party going to show her?
Under her puzzled gaze, she saw Asker put one hand on the book at his lower back, his spirituality stirring, enveloping the four people around him, and the surrounding scenery immediately changed.
The dirty tavern disappeared, replaced by the mountaintop in the afternoon. In the distance was the vast ocean, with grayish-white fog covering the visible horizon, as if it were the end of the world where water and sky met.
Theodora’s heart skipped a beat, and she quickly and calmly gathered her hands, her right hand pressing the alarm button on her sleeve.
No response? That’s not right, this was no longer Constantinople, so the signal couldn’t be sent out at all!
It looked like an island, could it be some kind of long-distance teleportation array? In other words, she was now alone, brought here by the other party, and most likely already outside the territory of Constantinople!
What was this Achilles trying to do?!
She slightly turned her head and calmly observed the surroundings with vigilance. She saw a construction site building a house, and the people carrying materials and working were all young girls.
“Asker! You’re back!” Nuo ran over excitedly, like a wife welcoming her husband home, then her puzzled eyes fell on Theodora.
“This is…” She was stunned for a moment and asked Asker in a low voice, “Arcane Mage?”
“Yes, but she hasn’t signed a contract with me yet, she’s just here to observe.” Asker explained.
“Oh.” Nuo nodded, then smiled gently and extended her hand to Theodora generously.
“Hello, I’m Nuo Valennis Licinius.”
“Licinius?” Unlike others, Theodora almost instantly recognized the surname, which was one of the thirteen oldest and most prestigious families in Solomon City. She also extended her hand and shook it with her, saying:
“Hello, my name is… hmm, my name is Thira.”
(Thira, short for Theodora.)
“As you can see, our team has already taken shape.” Asker called the girls over and introduced them to Theodora one by one. “Nuo is our team healer and the current logistics manager.”
“Eleanor, front-line defender, responsible for attracting enemy fire.”
“Sidlipha, Strength DPS, responsible for killing heavily armored enemies.”
“Peggy, Agility DPS, responsible for taking down unarmored or lightly armored enemies.”
“Medea, Psychic, responsible for influencing and controlling enemies from the consciousness level.”
“Psychic?” Theodora was slightly taken aback, this was a rare profession.
Medea glanced at her indifferently, and a suspicious look suddenly appeared on her face.
This girl wearing a veil… wasn’t she Empress Theodora, who had just ascended the throne? Holy crap! Asker, how did you bring the Empress here!!!
I think I smell a conspiracy. Medea secretly became excited and said with a friendly smile:
“Hello, you’re Thira, right? What a beautiful name.”
“You flatter me.” Theodora responded with a secretly guilty smile.
“Continue the introduction.” Asker, like the host of a banquet, enthusiastically introduced Theodora to everyone present. “Mia, our scout, responsible for early warning, reconnaissance, and trap detection.”
“And lockpicking.” Mia added.
“No.” Asker said disapprovingly. “We are a completely legitimate mercenary group, we would never do anything like picking someone else’s lock.”
He gave Mia a warning look and continued:
“This is Miel, a rookie gunman, responsible for long-range fire suppression.”
“Finally, this is yours truly, Asker, team leader and commander.” Asker put one hand on his chest and introduced himself last like a gentleman.
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