Chapter 7: Companions

A pair of towers stood side by side in the south of the city, and a row of single-story buildings connected to the towers formed a “Hui” character shape around them. Inside the “Hui” shape lay a very flat open ground.

“Clang—clang—clang—” sounds of metal colliding rose and fell on that open ground. If you looked closely, you would see three pairs of figures fighting each other in pairs.

Steel breastplates, skirt armor, and horse boots covered their limbs. Dense chainmail covered their arms and legs. Half-helmets and weapon s that were not sharpened and wrapped in cloth were held in their hands. The boys sweating on the field gave off an energetic and uplifting vibe.

Near the southwest corner of the open ground, George was sparring with a man much taller than himself. He planted his left foot on the ground, used his body as an axis, and twisted his waist to power his right foot. Then he swung his hands holding the longsword to the left, and the longsword in his hands flew quickly to slash at the tall man. The move was seamless, taking only a blink of an eye from preparation to execution. The friction between the longsword and the air made the cloth wrapped around the blade make a “whoosh—woosh—” sound.

“Clang—” another crisp collision sound rang out. The man held his sword in his right hand and used his left hand to press against the inner side of the blade, blocking George’s longsword with the outer side. He casually deflected this attack. Immediately, taking advantage of the moment when the two swords met, he pushed upward with his left hand to knock George’s longsword away. At the same time, he took a step forward to close the distance and swung his right hand downward to slash at George in one smooth motion.

George had never expected to win in one strike, so when his attack was blocked, he used the rebound force to step back. However, the simple upward push from his opponent was so powerful that it almost threw George off balance. Fortunately, George had excellent control over his body and immediately stabilized his stance, but he missed the best timing to retreat.

Facing the attack from the tall man, George, whose rhythm had just been disrupted, involuntarily used “Dark Turbulence Severing Flow” to barely dodge it.

“I thought I could last a bit longer? I didn’t expect to reveal a trump card so soon,” George thought to himself.

Before George could think any further, his opponent’s attack, like a violent storm, arrived right before his eyes. George was quickly completely suppressed. Although he could barely hold on using the new footwork he had just learned, he had no time to launch an effective counterattack.

At this moment, George felt as if he were a small boat sailing in a storm, enduring the blows of giant waves and fierce winds but having no way to fight back. At the same time, the flaws of the footwork that had not been tested in actual combat began to show. Footwork that lacked coordination with other moves was hard to organically combine with one’s own offensive and defensive changes.

It must be said that human potential is endless. Under these circumstances, a sentence George had seen somewhere suddenly flashed through his mind: “Pay attention to changing emptiness and reality; let your energy fill your body without any lag. In stillness, movement is touched, yet it remains still; respond to the enemy’s changes to show miracles.”

As the two continued to fight, George’s initially awkward and stiff movements gradually became smoother. Later, his swordplay flowed like clouds and water. He advanced with his sword swinging, feeling confident. He dodged and parried with ease, changing his offense and defense without leaving any trace. Although he was still on the defensive, he no longer looked like he was about to collapse as before.

Slowly, the other trainees around stopped their actions and turned their heads to look in this direction. At this time, George was happy about his own progress but also had a hard time explaining it. Using the terms from before he crossed over, George’s blood and qi were churning. He closed all his pores tightly, connecting his muscles and bones with force, twisting them into one strength to resist his opponent. Although he still seemed to be exchanging blows with his opponent, in reality, he was already at the end of his strength.

Forced to do so, George used one of his counterattacks to create a tiny opening in his opponent’s attack and quickly retreated. After creating distance, he held the hilt of his sword with his sword tip pointing down and waved his other hand to signal surrender.

“Oh—well done, future Lord,” came a playful voice accompanied by a young peer lightly punching his breastplate. This habit seemed like friends patting each other on the shoulder before he crossed over.

George responded with a friendly smile: “Really? I thought I could last longer.” At the same time, he tapped the other person’s left chest with his left hand.

“Ahuatan was right; you did very well. Not just well, I would say it was far better than I imagined,” the tall man said.

The boys training around gradually gathered. These boys were the direct heirs of the fief knights within the territory. The tall man was Alf Ahuatan, the knight instructor for the day. Calling him a big guy was only relative to George, after all, George was just a fourteen-year-old boy whose body had not fully grown yet.

The one who had tapped George’s breastplate earlier was Alcide Baptiste, a sunny boy. His father, Sir Baptiste, was on the path of becoming a Knight Commander and was currently the deputy commander of the cavalry in the territory. However, he himself seemed to have little interest in that direction.

At this moment, a devilishly muscular man nearby interjected: “Just now, Sir Ahuatan seemed to use some of the power of a Knight in the end. Although it wasn’t very obvious, George, the fact that you could handle it really shows great progress.”

This eight-foot-tall brother with a face full of flesh was Hiren Val. At eighteen years old, he was the oldest among us. Of course, his strength was also the strongest, and he was already a Squire Knight. As long as one could clearly understand their own beliefs and let their soul ascend, they could be promoted to a Knight. Unfortunately, many Squires got stuck at this step for their whole lives without making any progress, and it was unknown how long he would take.

Speaking of it, this guy’s bloodline might be the best within Bolerum Territory. His family was a collateral branch of the Val family. This family was famous for often producing Priests and Paladins of the Sun God, and it was said that the first generation was a son of Pelor. Although the lineage had lasted so long, very little remained, but a dead camel is still bigger than a horse. His father was the strongest person in the territory, walking the unique family path of the Dawn Blade. The specific abilities were unknown, but judging from the effects shown, he possessed some abilities of a Paladin or even a Priest.

This family had always produced handsome men and beautiful women, but this generation produced a guy like him. If it weren’t for the fact that bloodline inheritance could not be faked, his father might have even suspected if his own head was turning green. However, what was more worrying next was whether their future children would all be like him. Only after his younger brother and sister grew up a lot did everyone breathe a sigh of relief; it was just a mutation in him alone.

Sir Ahuatan, who was usually strict, did not get angry at Hiren’s interjection. It was clear that he was in a very good mood: “Hiren spoke well. I did use some of the abilities of a Knight later. However, the key point is not that George could withstand such an attack. Of course, I am not saying his progress is unimportant. It is just that there is something more important.”

A handsome-looking boy with a face full of questions asked: “Is there something more important than progress in strength during our practice?”

This weak-looking boy was Craig Bart. It was said that he had the bloodline of the Tajibu people from the Great Grasslands of The East. But except for his black eyes and hair, he showed no sign of being a barbarian from the grasslands. If someone said he had bloodline from the Southern Dragon Empire of Shao Lang, people might believe it. However, their family’s skills in both foot archery and mounted archery were surprisingly good, making them stand out even within the Duchy.

His father, Kobudo Bart, was the archery instructor of the territory. George’s archery skills were taught by him. Although he did not receive any secret transmission, he made great progress in understanding and using bows and arrows.

Their family had a castrated wolf named “Little White” that Sir Bart picked up on his travels when he was young. This castrated Magical Beast should have the bloodline of a Winter Wolf. After years of training, its strength was fully at the level of a Squire Knight. When cooperating with Sir Bart, it could even unleash the combat power of a Formal Knight. What people always talked about was its completely mismatched name.

Sir Ahuatan stroked his chin: “How should I put it?”

“Oh right!” After a moment, Sir Ahuatem clapped his hands and said, “Although that won’t immediately improve a person’s strength, it is actually part of strength. George has now developed his own fighting style. In other words, he has found his own path forward. This is very helpful for future strength growth. Although George’s style is still in its early stages, it is already very rare.”

“Wao—many Formal Knights haven’t even formed their own styles yet? Our Young Master George seems to deserve the title of genius,” Ultrad said, moving his limbs wildly, making everyone in the scene laugh and cry at the same time.

The funny voice, exaggerated body language, and the completely unfunny cold joke formed the impression of the red-haired boy in front of them. Ultrad Fukna was the only one among the members present who was considered a problem child. His personality might not have been a big problem in the world before he crossed over. But here, one could only hope that Sir Fukna would not deprive him of his inheritance rights in the future.

Ultrad’s father, Sir Afansas Fukna, was not particularly gifted. He finally became a Knight through extraordinary perseverance and relentless persistence. But just doing that had already exhausted his potential. For more than ten years after becoming a Knight, he made no progress at all. He had already pinned his hopes on his son. As for whether Ultrad’s current personality was formed due to rebellious psychology caused by an overly strict childhood, it was unknown.

As for Sir Ahuatan and the remaining Sir Chris, they did not have children of the appropriate age for training.

Sir Ahuatem smiled and said: “Although Ultrad often says unreliable things, he was right this time. George, you can indeed be called a genius now. But do not be complacent. Many young geniuses did not succeed in the end.”

George thought to himself: “Where do I deserve to be called a genius? It is just the help of the System and the accumulation of two lives. If someone else had my conditions, they might not be worse than me. In fact, there are many who could do even better! I still need to work harder.”

“Sir Ahuatem, shall we continue the sparring from before?” George suggested.

Sir Ahuatem asked: “Don’t you need to rest for a while? The training just now was very exhausting for you.”

“Thank you, but my stamina recovers very quickly.”

“Then let’s continue.”

Soon, the sound of “clang—clang—clang—” rang out again.