Courses

Lassos Noble Vocational Academy only allowed youths of noble birth to enroll. Most noble heirs remained within their families to study under their fathers, and few came to the academy. Thus, there were fewer than two hundred students in the entire Noble Academy. As for the young ladies of noble families, they could not and did not need to attend the academy.

There were fewer than thirty noble academies like Lassos Noble Vocational Academy in the entire Empire. Aside from noble academies, there were also ordinary vocational academies. The sons of ordinary officials and commoner officers could only attend ordinary vocational academies.

The Empire placed great importance on noble status. Nobles without inheritance rights, such as Sean, could maintain their status for at most three generations. By Sean's great-grandson's generation, they would completely lose their noble birth unless one of their descendants regained noble status in the meantime.

The Noble Academy's course arrangements were quite humane. After enrolling, students could make plans for their futures according to their own wishes and select several suitable courses as compulsory subjects. For example, those wishing to become Imperial Officials had to take literature, etiquette, mathematics, and law, while those wishing to become military officers had to take swordsmanship, archery, horsemanship, and etiquette.

Upon graduation, the academy would assign students grades based on their performance during their studies, then issue them letters of recommendation according to those grades. Naturally, outstanding students would receive higher starting positions, especially within the military and administrative systems.

Strategy, troop formations, and similar subjects had to be learned after entering the military, provided someone was willing to teach them. They were not taught at the academy. Likewise, there were many conventions and special circumstances within the administrative system that could only be understood through practical experience.

Aside from their chosen compulsory courses, students only needed to attain a basic grasp of other subjects. They did not have to attend every class, and those subjects would not be included in their graduation recommendations. Therefore, Sean's earlier absence from Mathematics and Law Class would not have much impact on his future recommendation. Generally speaking, however, most students still attended other courses.

Lassos Noble Vocational Academy's schedule was not especially demanding. There were two and a half hours of classes every morning, while students could freely arrange their afternoons. Swordsmanship Class was held on Monday, Literature and History Class on Tuesday, Archery Class on Wednesday, Mathematics and Law Class on Thursday, Horsemanship Class on Friday, and Etiquette Class on Saturday. Sunday was a full day of rest, and students were allowed to leave the academy as long as they returned that same day. After all, many students' families were located in Linshui City.

Around one hundred and twenty students had come for Horsemanship Class, ranging from twelve-year-olds who had just enrolled to seventeen-year-olds nearing graduation. Some rode their horses around the track, while others stood at the trackside holding their horses and chatting.

Before long, the academy's instructors arrived at the training grounds one after another. The academy was divided into literary and martial departments. Literary instructors were generally elderly retired officials or academy graduates, while martial instructors mostly came from retired officers, with only a small number being graduates.

Instructors at the Empire's noble academies held considerable social status. Not only did they receive extremely generous compensation, but they also gained the respect and friendship of many future officials and military officers.

The students led their horses over to their respective instructors. Lassos Noble Vocational Academy had ten horsemanship instructors in total. Each grade had one instructor specifically assigned to it, while the remaining four instructors were allocated as needed. Soon, three instructors led the twelve- and thirteen-year-old students to their own designated grounds. Most of those students required very careful handling from their instructors.

The instructor responsible for Sean's grade was Instructor Stewart. He too came from a noble family. He was in his thirties, tall and powerfully built, with a bold and straightforward temperament. He had once served as a major in the Empire's main cavalry force, but was wounded in a battle against the Prairie Raiders and retired. Only afterward did he come to the academy as a horsemanship instructor, a position he had held for five years.

Instructor Stewart led the nearly thirty students in Sean's grade toward their assigned training ground. As they walked, he said, "Gentlemen, I am very pleased to see you all again in Horsemanship Class. Another week has passed, and I sincerely hope that every one of you has worked hard at practicing your riding since our last lesson."

After a pause, he continued, "Most of you gentlemen may go to the battlefield in the future and win glory for yourselves. I doubt you would want the Prairie Barbarians to kick your asses because your riding is poor..."

As he spoke, Instructor Stewart smiled at Sean and the others, then continued, "Even if you are lucky enough not to face any danger, or never go to the battlefield at all, you can still use your strong bodies and superb riding skills to win the favor of noble ladies and beautiful young misses." After saying that, he struck a bodybuilding pose. At the same time, Sean and the others saw another, exceedingly subtle expression on Instructor Stewart's smiling face.

Several students immediately understood what Instructor Stewart meant and let out suppressed, strange chuckles. The laughter quickly spread as though it were contagious. Once they had laughed enough, Instructor Stewart smiled and said, "That is enough, gentlemen. Now is not the time for you to be thinking about noble ladies and young misses. You are all still very young. There will be plenty of time to think about that later." Instructor Stewart placed special emphasis on the word "later." The students gradually quieted down.

"Gentlemen, I am honored to tell you that after two years of study, you have left the ranks of beginners behind. What you need now is extensive training to become proficient at controlling Warhorses." Once the laughter ceased, Instructor Stewart immediately spoke again. He then waved for the students to mount and said, "Familiarizing yourselves with a horse's temperament, abilities, and physical condition will help you greatly. Then, while controlling a Warhorse, you must perform actions such as attacking and blocking. Finally, you must use a bow to attack from horseback."

"Two to a row. Line up properly. Keep your distance and get moving, gentlemen." Once the students had mounted, Instructor Stewart urged them on. He also swung himself onto his horse, turned the Warhorse around, and said, "Control your horse's speed. Do not be afraid. Pay attention to the key points of riding. I will be watching you."

The students began controlling their Warhorses and trotted around the track. After two years of study, most of them could easily handle a horse at a trot. Then they guided their horses into a run, maintaining a certain speed.

Instructor Stewart also rode back and forth along the side of the track, occasionally shouting out instructions.

They began by maintaining a steady trot, then trained their horses to sprint. After the students had made several laps, Instructor Stewart gathered them around himself and said, "Gentlemen, I am pleased to see that you have basically mastered riding. But that is not enough. To achieve true proficiency, you must be able to execute attacks smoothly while your horses are galloping."

Instructor Stewart swept his gaze across the students listening attentively, then continued, "The key to mounted attacks is freely controlling the Warhorse's speed. Everyone knows cavalry possesses powerful impact force, and that force is determined by the horse's speed. Therefore, before attacking, you must increase the horse's speed as much as possible. During the attack, maintain your balance and do not fall from the saddle. After the attack, immediately slow the horse so the Warhorse has time to rest." Instructor Stewart had said a great deal at once, and the students were instantly interested. Everyone wanted to gallop across the battlefield.

After speaking, Instructor Stewart called the students over to the wooden posts used as targets, while he himself rode more than ten meters away.

It was obvious that Instructor Stewart intended to personally demonstrate a mounted attack. Sure enough, he urged his horse forward. The Warhorse approached the wooden post at a fast run, then the instructor suddenly made it accelerate. His right hand drew and swung his sword while his left controlled the reins. A flash of sword light passed by, and the Warhorse had already rushed beyond the wooden target. The top section of the thick wooden post had been severed cleanly, its cut smooth and polished. The Warhorse ran another ten meters before stopping.

After watching, Sean applauded Instructor Stewart. The other students quickly followed suit. Instructor Stewart turned around and guided his Warhorse into a trot before the students, first offering a cavalry salute from horseback in thanks for their praise.

The applause continued for a while before gradually fading. Instructor Stewart immediately had the students begin their mounted attack training.

Soon, it was Sean's turn to attack the wooden post from horseback. Sean leaned forward, holding his sword in his right hand while controlling Black Horse with his left. Black Horse gradually accelerated. As they neared the post, Sean suddenly straightened up. His waist and arm exerted force together, and the Knight sword became a streak of white as it slashed across the post. Wood chips flew as a deep, diagonal scar was left in the wood. Sean felt his arm go slightly numb from the recoil, and he immediately steadied himself while controlling Black Horse to slow down.

"Mr. Sean, well done," Instructor Stewart praised from afar.

Sean smiled and nodded in response before continuing to ride his Warhorse through the training. Nearly an hour later, Instructor Stewart called over four or five students who had performed especially well. Sean was naturally among them.

"Gentlemen, your performances have been excellent. I am very pleased to teach you horsemanship," Instructor Stewart said with a smile. Then his expression grew serious. "To improve your riding, you must practice continuously and temper yourselves with time. You have already learned the sword attack techniques used in mounted combat. The attack movements with a cavalry Long Spear are mostly the same. I believe you will soon master them completely."

After a pause, Instructor Stewart continued, "But once you have seen the riding skills of the Prairie Barbarians, I think you will understand the gap between yourselves and true masters of horsemanship. A master who has truly mastered riding can control a Warhorse with nothing but his legs, freeing both hands to wield sword and shield together, hold a spear with both hands, or perform mounted archery." Instructor Stewart sternly looked over the students around him.

"Especially mounted archery. Once you have mastered it skillfully, then congratulations—you will have surpassed the standard of a qualified cavalryman." Instructor Stewart spoke in a serious tone, his expression solemn.

Instructor Stewart then briefly explained the technical essentials before dismissing Sean and the other four or five students skilled in horsemanship to practice freely. Sean continued training his riding until Horsemanship Class ended.

After attending his first class since transmigrating, Sean had lunch with Jim and Ben. After the three rested briefly, they headed together to the archery training ground for practice.

The April sky was clear, and the weather was not yet very hot, but the blazing midday sun still hastened the loss of stamina.

After training in archery for more than two hours, Sean and the other two went to the adjacent swordsmanship grounds to complete their daily knight training.

Strength: 1.239 Constitution: 1.253 Agility: 1.350

After training, Sean's attributes improved smoothly. This greatly comforted Sean after a day of arduous training.