Chapter 6: Reviewing the Old to Learn the New

The return carriage had already started. The tall trees on both sides of the road stood straight. Although it was already autumn, the leaves on the trees still looked so lush and green, as if they wanted to bloom with a final glory like a supernova before withering.

The carriage moved much more quietly on the mud-and-gravel road than on the stone roads in the city; this was the main road leading to Poitou City. Although this road could not be described as bustling with traffic, one could still encounter transport caravans and solitary riders from time to time.

This road was completed during Grandfather’s reign, built at the same time as the project within the territory for the road from Poitou City to the capital, Cardala. It was said that the construction used up ten years’ worth of fiscal surplus; of course, the fiscal revenue back then could not compare to now, but the costs were also relatively lower. Even now, the annual maintenance cost for these two roads required an extra expenditure of over 1,000 Gold Coins after deducting the toll tax.

Beyond the trees on both sides were drainage ditches, leading directly to a small river entering the sea beside the harbor. Further out were fields using a grass-field crop rotation system; because of the rotation, one could no longer see the endless fields of uniform crops like before crossing over. Small groups of sheep, cattle, and horses chewed leisurely on alfalfa on the fallow pastures. This formed a scenery that was both contradictory and harmonious with the grain outside the fences that was about to ripen.

Sitting in the carriage, George had no free time to admire the rural scenery. He was busy understanding the changes in his own strength; even if he had free time, he was no longer the petty citizen from a big city like before crossing over, and these scenes he had seen often were hard to interest him.

George silently recited: “System, open character attribute panel.” Immediately, his attribute information appeared in George’s mind.

Name: George Ouster Bolerum Gender: Male Rank: Middle Red Iron Age: 14 years old

Bloodline Source: Unknown

Belief: Undetermined

Inheritance: Book of Hearing the Way (Incomplete)

Path of Transcendence: Tower Reaching the Sky

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Basic Status: Noble Scion lv5, Squire lv3

Professional Inheritance: Shaolang Disciple lv5

Basic Class: Squire lv3, Shaolang Disciple lv5

Note: Explanation of Status Levels: lv1 Novice, lv2 Apprentice, lv3 Regular, lv4 Elite, lv5 Expert. Additional Note: A Knight Apprentice lv5 can advance to Squire lv1. A Squire lv5 can advance to Knight lv1 as long as they can clearly master their own beliefs and cause their Soul to sublimate, but the status must be converted through an oath ceremony.

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Strength (Muscle power storage and explosion): 14 (Strength is already enough to suppress most professional soldiers)

Agility (Nerve reflex and coordination): 16 (Precise body coordination, could totally win the Golden Clown Award)

Constitution (Body’s self-purification and bearing): 16 (Immune to common diseases and poisons, common wounds can stop bleeding quickly)

Intelligence (Discernment of things): 14 (Surpasses ordinary people in rational thinking, the type who can easily get high scores and make some people grit their teeth)

Perception (Understanding of external objects): 18 (The realm where the cicada knows before the golden wind moves)

Charisma (Mastery of self): 14 (Most people will feel favorable towards him)

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Character Level: Level 8

Rank: Elite Middle Rank

Talent Skill: Complete Memory (Actually it’s just System recording)

Status Granted Feats:

2. Noble Scion: Noble Glory, Legal Immunity, Glorious Conscription, Inspire Morale, Territory Management 3. Squire: Etiquette Knowledge, Knight’s Code, Shining Incarnation, Squad Management, Mastering the Military Flag Class Granted Feats: 1. Knight Apprentice: Proficiency in Light Armor, Proficiency in Simple Weapons, Proficiency in Shields, Combat Reflexes, Defensive Strike 2. Squire: Proficiency in Medium Armor, Proficiency in Martial Weapons, Weapon Specialization, Improved Initiative, Mounted Combat 3. Shaolang Ascetic (Variant): Immune to Cold and Heat (same as Endure Elements), Holding the One (same as Thought Shield), Clear Mind Like Still Water, Intuitive Dodge, Unarmed Strike Special Abilities: None Soul Armament: None

Feats: Speed Breaks All (same as Superior Initiative), Dodge, Improved Dodge, Point-Blank Shot, Precise Shot, Rapid Shot, Power Attack, Armor Mastery (Medium), Cleave Combat Techniques: Dark Turbulence Severing Flow (Stance), Wolf Pack Strategy (Leadership), Dance of Steel, Steel Snake Strike, Explosive Dash Spells: Golden Light Spell (Variant)

Knight Techniques: Strike Storm, Dazzling Charge

Word Spirit: Break Force Field

Overall, George’s strength was considered quite good among his peers; here, peers referred to those of the same age in Knight families with inheritances. But even with the assistance of the System and the accumulation from before crossing over, there was still a considerable gap between George and those praised “geniuses.”

Thinking about it, it made sense; those geniuses either had extremely excellent family inheritances and bloodlines. Or they had undergone dual tempering of mind and body since they could remember; this was a life just like the ascetics of the Church before crossing over, except for food, a thought that made one shudder. Or they lived in places of endless war and grew up baptized by sword and fire. Or even a combination of two or all three of the above.

The House Bolerum that George belonged to was an emerging Knight family with an inheritance of less than ten generations; the strongest ancestor was the third-generation ancestor, who was a Tactical Master at the Middle Grandmaster Rank. A Tactical Master was a branch of the battle-hardened veterans among Commander-type Knights. In addition to excellent on-the-spot command ability, one also needed a Word Spirit with wide-range auxiliary effects. And the third-generation Viscount Bolerum was famous for his rare Aura-type ability. An Aura was a high-level manifestation of the Knight ability “Spirit Light,” and “Spirit Light” was actually the spiritual light formed by a Knight’s realization and purification of the Soul and humanity; only a Soul possessing those noble spiritual substances called virtues could obtain this man-made miracle that could cross the gap between spirit and matter to affect the outside world during the process of constantly exploring one’s own heart. The human heart was the most difficult to fathom, which meant it was difficult to summarize and inherit.

Therefore, compared to those large families that had produced Legend figures, House Bolerum was in the middle to lower reaches even among the same Rank. The short history of family heads and the lack of sufficient high-level talents meant that the family inheritance lacked unique cultivation methods for Knight Techniques, Word Spirits, Combat Techniques, and Feats.

What George practiced was basically all common stuff; except for knowledge from another world, only the Word Spirit “Break Force Field” was the family’s unique ability. This was the greatest contribution that third-generation ancestor gave to the family; after generations of evolution, it fit the bloodline perfectly. Even a Force Field released by a Mage somewhat stronger than oneself could basically be dispersed with a shout. Because it was easy for the family bloodline to comprehend, this Word Spirit, which was rarely used, became the introductory Word Spirit for House Bolerum.

Of course, common stuff had its benefits; it was researched thoroughly enough and the advancement was complete enough. It was said that although the Knight Techniques of some families were much better than the common stuff, there was no systematic cultivation method to go further, so users could only explore on their own.

And this set of martial arts from the Ocean lineage that he had newly comprehended might perhaps be merged into the family inheritance in the future. The important thing was that the system was relatively complete; this was the benefit of having the System in hand. If it were someone without the System, they would probably only be able to comprehend the most basic footwork. Although he didn’t know if this System was a creation of the Lord God or a joke of a Demon, since it could be used by him, he would use it for now.

Before crossing over, as an ambitious practitioner, although he might not have cultivated any special abilities, he had read quite a few classic methods. After crossing over, the System summarized them into the “Book of Hearing the Way.” Inside were very detailed cultivation analyses and annotations on key points, but after all, he had crossed over, so even the same Daoist methods had undergone great changes. Most abilities were classified as Feats by the System, and some effects were clearly different from the original explanations.

Just like the only spell George could use now, the Golden Light Spell, whose original function was to purify the body and mind and prevent external demon invasions. However, it was one of the Eight Great Divine Mantras of Taoism, and there were definitely no Taoist gods in this world. Given this, it would be strange if it didn’t mutate, and it would be normal even if it completely failed.

Golden Light Spell (Variant): The recipient gains a +1 bonus to attack and damage, and can more effectively fight against Evil enemies. It felt a bit like a Paladin; he hoped that no god would come to say he was destined to be with them in the future.

After careful thought, George found that for the moment, the newly comprehended Ocean martial arts might not improve his strength much. The Dark Turbulence Severing Flow, which he could already use normally, was actually quite helpful to him. After all, he didn’t have any combat footwork recognized by the System before. The advanced “Riding the Wind and Waves,” based on the description, should also have a good effect during raids.

As for the move “Splitting Wind and Chopping Waves,” it didn’t have any particularly outstanding features, nor was it irreplaceable. It might be useful at some times, but overall, it wasn’t very significant; he could only hope for the advanced moves that would appear after learning it.

The enhancement skill Underwater Breathing was a very targeted ability and wasn’t very useful in daily life. Moreover, intuition told George that most of the following enhancement skills would also be of this type.

And the two Feats, “Son of the Sea” and “Child of the Storm,” were purely for use at sea; unfortunately, it wasn’t yet the Age of Discovery in this world. He hoped there wouldn’t be a need to use them.

In other words, the Ocean martial arts gave George a possibly good future, but for the present, only that footwork was a tangible improvement. With the attitude of “if I get it, I am lucky; if I lose it, it is my fate,” George felt he should celebrate. Then, during Knight Ahuatan’s guidance practice in the afternoon, he would use the newly learned footwork to give him a surprise.