Recently, the rumors circulating through the class had not affected Colin's life much, but they truly annoyed him.
And given enough time, they might reach Linda and Smith's ears. It was time to clear away these rumors.
"So smelly." Colin was suddenly awakened by the foul stench on his body, his face immediately scrunching up. He carefully opened his bedroom door, went downstairs to take a cold bath, and changed into clean pajamas. To avoid making Linda suspicious, he, who rarely did laundry, washed his dirty clothes as well and secretly hung them outside his bedroom window.
This reminded Colin of the first time he had secretly washed his underwear because of a certain dream.
The next day, Linda and Smith did not notice anything unusual. After the three siblings ate breakfast as usual, Smith left first, and Colin left second.
After arriving at school, Colin greeted Bill as usual, then obediently sat down to wait for class. The first lesson today was unexpectedly heraldry.
Heraldry was something reserved exclusively for nobles with titles or Hereditary Knight families that possessed hereditary territories.
Every coat of arms had a traceable origin. For example, the crown on House Kent's coat of arms represented that the family had once intermarried with the royal family.
Every family coat of arms was registered and archived with the Nobility Council, serving as a symbol of prominence. Nobles like the Russell family only had identification documents.
Fame and rank were won on horseback.
As students of Will Knight Academy, they were all seeds of the extraordinary. The children of nobles, wealthy merchants, and rich farmers here all wanted to advance further through extraordinary power, and they were all deeply interested in heraldry.
After one class, everyone in the class was discussing how to design a coat of arms for their own family.
"Colin, I remember that the founder of the Russell family, Duke Russell, had a bear on his coat of arms. And the noble families of House Russell, with Duke Russell as their main branch, all use bears as the main element of their family crests. If you gain a title or become a Hereditary Knight lord in the future, what would you design your coat of arms to look like?" Bill turned around and asked Colin curiously.
Colin knew that this guy was not pursuing heraldry itself; he was interested in its design. Bill hoped to work in fashion, jewelry, perfume, and similar fields, and he was also good at courses such as oil painting and heraldic design.
"It's too early to think about that now. It would make us seem overconfident." Colin shrugged, then pinched his chin and pondered for a moment before saying, "If that day really comes, I definitely won't make a bear the central theme of my coat of arms."
"Fine. Looks like you're a rather unusual Russell." Bill shrugged as well.
Bill and Colin soon stopped discussing it because the second history class had begun. There was nothing remarkable about the morning's cultural classes. Colin was not interested in them, so he only gained a rough understanding rather than studying them in depth.
The afternoon was mostly training classes, with riding and swordsmanship lessons today. However, nothing special happened. Brian and Chal did not come to provoke him.
It seemed that those two had decided he was someone who had suffered Bloodline Enhancement Failure and was no longer worth worrying about.
This disappointed Colin somewhat. He had actually been looking forward to it.
Still, this was fine too. He could continue improving his strength and accumulating power. When the chance came, he could deal with both of them in one go instead of taking them down one at a time.
After class, Colin and Bill said goodbye at the school gate. Nothing special happened after Colin returned home. That night, Colin finally brewed another Basic Strength Potion.
After collecting the energy, Colin sat cross-legged on the old floorboards and began to think.
Within the class, Brian ranked among the upper-middle tier. His swordsmanship and all his physical attributes surpassed Colin's. At present, adding one or two points to his attributes would not be enough for Colin to catch up to Brian. If he wanted to increase his strength quickly, the best move was to first improve Roer Military Swordsmanship.
After thinking it over, Colin opened the system interface, converted energy into 1 Skill Point, and added it to Roer Military Swordsmanship.
As a result, Roer Military Swordsmanship (Poor) in his system skill list became Roer Military Swordsmanship (Ordinary).
With the improvement in skill, Colin did not feel much physical change. However, it was as if a clear stream had entered his mind, granting him a deeper understanding of Roer Military Swordsmanship.
Colin then stood up, walked to the door, picked up the Training Greatsword lying on the floor, drew it from its scabbard, and flicked out a sword flourish.
"My wrists and footwork seem much more nimble. It isn't because my agility increased, but because of the changes brought by a deeper understanding of swordsmanship." Colin tried several more sword techniques in succession, feeling quite pleased.
"First, I'll raise Roer Military Swordsmanship to perfect, then increase my strength, agility, and vitality bit by bit as time passes. Brian is just a dish on the table."
Knock, knock, knock. The sudden knocking startled Colin awake. Looking at the Training Greatsword in his hand, Colin silently cried out in alarm.
Damn it, I got too carried away. It's the middle of the night.
"Colin, what are you doing?" Linda's voice came from outside the door, thick with confusion.
"Nothing. I couldn't sleep, so I picked up the greatsword and practiced a little." Colin hurriedly sheathed the sword and put it away before replying.
"Even if you can't sleep, lie down. Smith still has work tomorrow," Linda said.
"Okay," Colin answered obediently.
Soon, footsteps sounded outside the door. Linda had probably gone back to sleep. Colin breathed a sigh of relief, then obediently went to bed as well.
From Tuesday to Thursday, everything was very peaceful. Using his perfect potion-making technique, Colin brewed three more Basic Strength Potions and allocated the points from them.
When Friday came, Colin carried his schoolbag and wore the Training Greatsword as he headed to school. The character attributes on his system interface had become the following.
Colin Russell Class: Novice Knight. Vitality: 2(+1) Intelligence: 5 Strength: 4(+2) Agility: 4 Bloodline: Black Bear Bloodline (Ordinary) Note: Requires 1 Bloodline Point to upgrade. Bloodline Effects: Strength +2, Vitality +1 Skills: Roer Military Swordsmanship (Proficient) Note: Requires 1 Skill Point to upgrade; Riding (Proficient) requires 1 Skill Point to upgrade; Basic Alchemy; Basic Strength Potion Crafting (Perfect) Note: Requires 1 Skill Point to upgrade. Unallocated Attribute Points: 0 Note: 1 Energy can be converted into 1 Attribute Point. Unallocated Skill Points: 0 Note: 1 Energy can be converted into 1 Skill Point. Note: Skill Points can also be used to learn skills. Unallocated Bloodline Points: 0 Note: 2 Energy can be converted into 1 Bloodline Point. Energy: 0 Note: Energy can be converted into Attribute Points, Skill Points, and Bloodline Points. Unused Attribute Points, Skill Points, and Bloodline Points can also be converted into Energy. Note: Energy can be collected from all items possessing magical power. Status: Healthy.
With the 4 points of energy he had gained from Monday through Thursday, he had added 1 point of strength and 1 point of agility, while raising Roer Military Swordsmanship by two levels. His strength had increased enormously.
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