Chapter 285: Everything Goes Wrong

If we really have to compare the Knights and Swordsmen of this world. The former are like the Xiaoyao Sect and the Shaolin Temple during the Tian Long Ba Bu period in Jin Yong’s novels, while the latter are like the Hua Shan Sword Sect during the Xiao Ao Jiang Hu period.

Although their overall strength and knowledge inheritance are far behind the Knights, their combat techniques still have some useful points. “Mount Tai does not refuse fine soil, so it becomes high; the rivers and seas do not reject small streams, so they become deep.” George cannot reach the level of accepting all rivers and seas to create something new, but selecting the strengths of others to incorporate into his own existing system is perfectly fine.

“George! I have already started looking for an instructor for your skill training. However, even if we are lucky, it will still take at least half a month to find someone suitable.” Knight Val told George, who was sweating on the training ground, about the results of his work.

After stopping his swinging Longsword, George leaned on the blade and turned to ask, “Does it really take that long? From what I’ve learned recently, those Swordsmen seem to have their own guild organizations on the Continent. Finding a suitable candidate through such channels shouldn’t be that hard.”

In such professional guilds or associations, there is always a general list of internal members. Take the Architects Guild as an example. In that guild, there are accurate evaluations of which Master is good at building city walls, which one is good at building bridges, and which one is good at building ramparts. An employer like George can easily find the person he wants to hire through this.

After all, in this world, guilds originated as feudal organizations from the struggle of Freemen constantly flowing into cities. They competed and united while engaging in handicrafts to oppose the exploitation and oppression of feudal lords.

Guilds are led by a leadership body elected by the members, who become the upper class of the guild. The Guild Assembly is the highest authority, electing the Guild Master and managers, handling important internal affairs, and passing guild rules. Members who violate the rules are punished. The guilds implement a strict hierarchy. Generally, craftsmen guilds are divided into three levels: Master, Journeyman, and Apprentice, with the ability to rise step by step.

A Master is a small producer who has his own workshop and tools, with two or three Apprentices and Journeyman each. An Apprentice becomes a Journeyman after three to five years; a Journeyman becomes a Master after two to three years, opens his own business, and becomes a guild member. This formed the feudal guild hierarchy of Master-Journeyman-Apprentice.

But in reality, it is very difficult for Apprentices and Journeyman to rise to become Masters and Guild Masters. The Guild Master himself also participates in labor, with only a small amount of exploitation of others. Of course, there is also sharp conflict between the Journeyman, Apprentices, and the Guild Master.

Any organized group has a certain degree of struggle and specific interest demands. The purpose of these regional monopoly organizations was mostly to gain leverage to negotiate with rulers like George. Of course, the benefit is that these guilds control the specifications and quality of products. Craftsmen found through these guilds or goods purchased might not always be top-quality, but they will have obvious defects.

However, George knows that the dark secrets within these guilds are no fewer than those in the melodramatic TV dramas before he transmigrated. Not only do Masters suppress the Journeyman and Apprentices, but the struggle for interests between Grand Masters never stops. Of course, after a period of struggle, compromise, and interest exchange, a relatively stable pattern emerged.

So, it is not that the Master good at bridges is only good at bridges; only the internal members of the guild know what else he is good at. Because the cake of the construction industry is so small, if one eats a bit more, others must eat less. After the cake is divided, Masters with less strength and power can only pick up the scraps others left behind.

After all, the demand for building bridges is far less than for other buildings. Once someone has a reputation for specializing in bridges, they get priority for similar projects. Everyone else can only find food from what the other person leaves behind. If the construction of Morbihan Port hadn’t also been categorized under bridges, the old man wouldn’t have been able to live so comfortably these past few years. It was through that old man that George was able to see through the dark secrets of the guilds.

Similarly, according to George’s understanding, the situation within the Swordsman Guild might have some differences, but it is definitely very similar, almost the same.

At most, the division of interests is more violent and direct. In fact, George had once sketched in his mind the scene where the high-ranking members of the Swordsman Guild meet every year to fight on a platform to divide their territories. So, in a profitable situation, the Swordsman Guild shouldn’t have dragged the time out for so long!

‘Could it be that the Swordsman Guild is still negotiating because they can’t agree on this fee?’ George couldn’t help but grumble in his heart. After being washed by those dirty things in the Architects Guild, when facing similar things again, George’s view would inevitably be colored.

Seeing George’s expression that seemed to carry a hint of disdain, Val did not know what he was thinking, but he could clearly tell it was definitely not something good. At this moment, he had to step in to explain: “George, do you think it is that easy to find an instructor for your combat skills? You need to know that your current fighting style has already formed its own character. Even if you hire a Swordsman of the Black Lead Rank, they would come for nothing. They cannot help you improve at all. If it were that easy, would I have the face to beg others?”

Hearing this, George felt his previous thoughts might have been too dirty, but isn’t the essence of this time mostly like that? Not to mention George only staring at the dark side of human nature. For those Paladins he had seen earlier who wholeheartedly devoted themselves to good causes, George truly admired them from the bottom of his heart, even though he could never reach their level himself.

In fact, after what happened a few nights ago, George believed that in this world, good people are definitely rewarded. If it weren’t for his good reputation in the Territory these years, loved by the vast majority of Commoners and Knights. Then the progress after building the Thunder Pool in the inner world would not be as great as it is now.

Faith power is indeed a good thing! George obtained only a tiny bit of the Willpower, yet he gained such great benefits. No wonder the power of Deities is beyond the imagination of mortals. Not to mention controlling rules, which George couldn’t even touch. Just from the sincere faith power from the entire Continent, George could understand the greatness of Deities.

Knowing this secret, George naturally chose to work harder to be a good Lord. This way, he could continuously gain benefits from the gratitude of the Territory residents. At this time, most Commoners had relatively low demands for life. Although they might forget over time, the living conditions of the residents in the surrounding Territory would remind them that their current “good life” comes from the Lord’s benevolent gift.

Because George saw through his thoughts, he said a bit embarrassedly: “It seems that finding a suitable instructor for me is really not an easy task!”

Val said with a sigh: “Of course! At least a pure skill-type Swordsman of the Sword Master or Grand Sword Master level can help you improve significantly. Of course, the reason it takes so much time is also partly because the Swordsman Guilds within the Duchy of Nohan are not very strong. There are simply no suitable members in the country to teach you right now!”

“Doesn’t the Duchy of Nohan have even one Swordsman of the Grand Sword Master or Sword Master level?” George was now full of confusion. Because he didn’t even believe what he just heard.

“It’s not that there are none at all, but the number is really small. Among them, we must exclude those who are not suitable to teach you, so the remaining number is even smaller. And most importantly, the remaining personnel are basically serving in His Grace the Duke’s army. In normal times, with your status, it wouldn’t be impossible to make some adjustments. But as you know, the current situation is that all armies are on standby waiting for orders.” Although Val didn’t say the next part, George understood that this path was absolutely not feasible.

In a country like the Duchy of Nohan, as long as it is in a state of war readiness, everything else must yield to the military. Also, finding a tutor is not like buying clothes where you can just buy and wear them in the store. Besides, when most people buy clothes, they still try them on here and there. Even so, some people still buy them home and find they don’t fit. For something that might affect George’s entire future, not even the slightest carelessness is allowed.

George sighed: “Is it because the Knights of our Duchy of Nohan are too dominant, that other professionals don’t like to stay here?”

“It’s not that they are too dominant. It’s just that most melee-type professionals find it hard to compete with us in terms of strength. Classes like Rangers and Monks, which are not on the front lines, are mostly doing very well, right?” Val immediately refuted George’s words. But he was somewhat lacking in confidence when speaking about this.

Although the Knights of the Duchy of Nohan never specifically suppressed other physical-type professionals, the gap in strength at the same Rank was like a deep ravine, making it hard for other professionals even to think about competing.

Fortunately, due to the difficulty of inheritance, the number of Knights in most countries is always at the very top of the pyramid. This leaves enough space in the middle class to accommodate other professionals.

This means that in the Duchy of Nohan, there are only a few other melee professionals with decent strength. The principle that good birds choose trees to perch on applies everywhere. Those warriors with real skills, except for some who were absorbed into the army, mostly went to other countries.

The high-ups of the Duchy of Nohan did not stop them. After all, if they couldn’t provide satisfactory conditions, using administrative means to forcibly keep people would turn them into enemies eight times out of ten. From this point of view, the high-ups of the Duchy were quite rational.

“Then please take care of this matter yourself! I really don’t know if this plan will go smoothly.” Having made psychological preparations in this regard, George had let it go. “At the fastest, it will take half a month; if it’s slower, it could be several months!”

“This is unavoidable! Even if we find those Swordsman who agree to come teach you, they often have prior commitments. Just dealing with those matters will take quite a lot of time. And even if they finish the agreements they previously signed, they need to bring their successors with them. The time it takes for this is probably really long. It seems my proposal back then was a bit thoughtless.” Val was clearly embarrassed now. When he proposed it back then, he probably forgot to consider everything thoroughly. But people stumble, and horses slip; who can predict things like this?

George asked with some confusion: “Successors?”

Of course, this was just for confirmation; George already had a general idea in his mind.

“The so-called successor is…” Val began to explain to George.

Just as every Knight has a mentor for training, the inheritance and training of Swordsmen is also an ancient master-apprentice system. A Swordsmanship Mentor usually leads two or three Apprentices to teach sword skills.

Although the teaching work of many Swordsmen has now become a naked money transaction, Swordsmen still follow tradition and choose their successors, even from their own sects. This is to create new glory one day.

Therefore, the selection of successors is very strict. Although many people’s first choice is often their own children, as no one can stop the bond of flesh and blood. But often when the talent of blood relatives is not enough to bear the burden of this inheritance, they will naturally choose suitable outsiders. Of course, such a master-disciple relationship is not as simple as paying for teaching before.

‘This is just as I thought, like the disciples of those martial artists before I transmigrated. No wonder even if sword teaching moves to another place to make a living, they must take them along.’ George finally understood the reason behind this.

However, George did not want to discuss this topic further, because the more they discussed it, the more embarrassed Val’s face became. But this time it was clearly his mistake, so he was not very comfortable opening his mouth to change the subject himself.

“So, are there any news about that Assassin from before?” Since the other party was embarrassed to speak, George, as the “victim,” had to take the initiative to give the other person a way out.

This time, Val’s face looked even worse than before. He said helplessly: “According to the results of magical detection, the opponent is probably in the camp of the Dark Elves. However, perhaps because the opponent’s protective spells are too tight, the intelligence we have now, except for his race being a Vampire, has not received exact information due to interference.”

It looks like the big talk he made before has come back to bite him this time. However, George’s attention was not on this side. He kept muttering quietly to himself: “Vampire! Vampire! If it really is this immortal race, then visiting the Continent of Karatu in the East would be normal.”

In fact, George did not know that as a Shadow Sun Monk, even when they use their dark side to enhance their martial arts abilities, they try to control it. Sometimes, especially when facing formidable opponents, they can let the darkness in their hearts run wild.

In this situation, a Shadow Sun Monk will undergo a terrible change. When they enter this angry combat state, their enemies will be destroyed. But every time a Shadow Sun Monk uses this ability, you slowly approach the edge of a curse.

When reaching the peak of the Shadow Sun Monk inheritance, they can transform into a fully dark creature for one minute once a day. At this time, the Shadow Sun Monk’s body and all items you carry turn into ink-like deep black. They gain immunity to critical hits, mental effects, death effects, energy drain, and poison.

Your ability to hide also improves. Negative Energy attacks, such as damage spells, no longer hurt you but heal you. When attacking creatures in dark or shadow areas, you blend with the environment, making it easier to hit.

Beyond these benefits, every time they successfully perform an unarmed attack, you can choose to inflict a negative level on your opponent. For each negative level they inflict, they heal themselves. These negative levels disappear after one hour. This ability is somewhat like the soul drain of succubi in the Abyss, which will greatly reduce the enemy’s strength. Those with insufficient strength will die directly.

At the end of your transformation, you take 1 point of Constitution damage for each negative level you inflicted. If the damage reduces the Shadow Sun Monk’s Constitution to 0 or lower, his body turns into ink-like mist. Unless a True Resurrection is used, this person will become a Vampire within 1-4 days. From then on, their alignment becomes Evil, but their Lawful-Chaotic axis does not change.

Thus, this person becomes a warrior devoted to Evil. The Shadow Sun Monk still possesses all the abilities of this advancement and does not fear sunlight like ordinary Vampires. These Vampires appear where their original bodies were destroyed.

Legends say that the souls of Shadow Sun Monks in this situation are imprisoned deep in Hell. If these souls can be successfully released from the prison, the Vampire can be destroyed and the Shadow Sun Monk resurrected.

However, George had not even heard of the Shadow Sun Monk, let alone understand what kind of enemy he had faced before.