Sparring Partner

The independent yard was quite spacious, and the house was large enough for two people to live without affecting each other at all. The yard led down to the beach, which was more than enough for Evan and Gary to frolic in, whether for exercise or combat training.

What pleased Evan the most was that on top of the house, there was an independent small attic. Opening a small door led to a balcony covered in climbing ivy. Lush and green, it offered a quiet retreat amidst the bustle, possessing a unique elegance.

He planned to renovate this space into his own dispensing room. While an Apprentice Knight, Evan was also an excellent pharmacist, capable of personally preparing many auxiliary potions tailored to his needs.

Moreover, the elderly landlord couple lived next door with their grandson. They could help look after the place when the two of them were out at sea, preventing the house from falling into disrepair.

"Not bad, Gary, what do you think?"

"Hehehe, I'm fine with it." Gary, having already decided to freeload, naturally had no objections.

"Then let's prepare the contract." Evan clapped his hands, finally settling on his residence for the foreseeable future.

Subsequently, with the help of an official, the two parties signed a lease contract. At a monthly rent of one Silver Bull, they officially made Gabreid their home.

Evan would cover the rent of one Silver Bull, while Gary would be responsible for manual labor, cleaning the yard, tidying up, and purchasing daily necessities. They each had their roles, so Gary wasn't entirely taking advantage of Evan.

As far as Evan knew, the monthly salary of an ordinary sailor in the Third Fleet was around three Silver Bulls, equivalent to one Gold Lion. Evan, as a reserve officer, earned five Silver Bulls per month. One Silver Bull was equal to one hundred Copper Fuls. In terms of purchasing power, one Copper Ful could buy about two Barley Breads, which served as a staple food.

For sailors, it was indeed necessary to rely on their monthly salary to get by, and they couldn't afford to spend lavishly. However, officers had a generous system for distributing spoils of war.

The Captain took a quarter, and the officers on board divided another quarter. Of course, the actual distribution wasn't that simple or crude, but officers did receive considerable extra income.

Then again, without sufficient benefits, how could they attract talented individuals to join the Navy and risk their lives on the treacherous seas?

The Faletis Kingdom would not have been able to rise to become a leading maritime power within the Tulip Alliance in just one generation.

After declining the landlord couple's invitation for dinner, the two found a restaurant and ordered a large variety of vegetables, satisfying their greasy stomachs.

When Gary was in his hometown, he often went through periods of eating nothing but potatoes for a whole month and didn't think much of not having vegetables. But Evan was different; retaining habits from his previous life, he always tried to ensure his nutritional balance.

Fresh vegetables were scarce at sea. For short-range cruises like the Silver Wing, it was manageable, but for future long-distance voyages without resupply, it would be a major problem.

Although humans in this world, due to the influence of mystical factors, generally had much stronger physiques than in the previous world, diseases like Scurvy still existed. With relatively backward medical conditions, contracting an illness at sea could be fatal.

It could be said that personnel losses at sea, especially during long-distance voyages, caused by non-combat factors like disease could be even more severe than combat losses.

Therefore, before returning to their residence, Evan took a detour to the market and found several types of beans that most resembled the Soybeans and Mung Beans from his previous life, buying a large bag of each.

He planned to try growing a dish that was very common in his past life. If successful, it might not only benefit sailors but also spare his own stomach some suffering.

Furthermore, the Kingdom had laws rewarding the invention of advanced Navigation Skills. If he could achieve his envisioned goal, he might even gain both fame and fortune.

They had no friends in this city. The fifteen-year-old youths from a small town hadn't had the chance to experience the nightlife yet. For the next two days of their holiday, they stayed home diligently working out.

The beach next to their house served as their training ground.

Evan's breathing technique, which he had consistently practiced in Leopold, along with weighted exercises, diving, and swordsmanship, could mostly be fulfilled in this location. Now, with the two of them pushing each other, the effect was even better.

After a major battle with a Sea Monster and consuming several meals of its flesh, Evan noticed another change in his physical condition.

Name: Evan Garratt Gender: Male Military Rank: Ensign (Belonging to the Silver Wing of the Faletis Kingdom's Third Fleet) Class: Peak Apprentice Knight Attributes: Constitution: 0.91 + 0.02 Strength: 0.88 + 0.01 Agility: 0.93 Intelligence: 0.9 Skills: (Omitted)

His Constitution had increased by 0.02, and his Strength had also increased by 0.01.

He had originally believed he had reached his limit, but unexpectedly, since leaving Leopold and including the new recruit training period, which lasted just over three months, his rate of progress was no slower than when he was in the early to mid-stages of an Apprentice Knight.

Could combat be the shortcut to progress for Extraordinary people on the Knight's Path?

Evan felt a stirring of interest and decided to try asking Uncle Gell as soon as he returned to the ship. Evan felt that Uncle Gell wouldn't refuse such a request.

In reality, besides Evan's own exceptional talent, his Data Vision had ensured that every training session yielded the best results. From the age of eight to the present at fifteen, his persistent practice had laid a sufficiently solid foundation for his body.

After leaving Leopold, the few well-timed real battles he had experienced were like a forging hammer, gradually shaping Evan's raw iron into fine steel, which was why Evan felt such rapid progress recently.

Additionally, under Evan's continuous targeted one-on-one guidance, Gary's Constitution had finally broken through the innate value of 0.7, taking the first step in improving his physical fitness through the Knight training method.

In terms of innate talent for Knights, Gary might, to some extent, be stronger than Evan.

After all, someone who could reach the late stages of an Apprentice Knight solely through natural growth was terrifying. It was just a pity that he had never received any guidance since childhood. If he had had Evan's learning conditions, he might already be a Formal Knight by now.

The uneventful holiday passed, and the two returned to the Silver Wing, resuming their patrol mission.

During this time, Evan proactively approached the Captain and requested to undergo combat training.

As expected, Gell readily agreed. During non-combat hours, Captain Gell wasn't overly busy, and with no entertainment options on board, training Evan suited him well.

The training ground was not chosen on the deck. After all, even Evan was already a super-human who had reached the limits of mortals, let alone Gell, a genuine Extraordinary Knight. Allowing them to train on the deck would result in excessively destructive power.

Finding a training ground was also not difficult.

Several lifeboats were lowered and tied together with ropes, forming a "training ground" large enough for the two of them to maneuver. Even if they made a mistake, they wouldn't hurt each other.

"Evan, use all your tricks and attack me with all your might," Gell said calmly, still in his neat and sharp officer's uniform, casually holding a longsword in his hand as he stood at the bow of a lifeboat.

Although he felt a little looked down upon, Evan knew Uncle Gell had the right to say such things. He didn't dare to be careless, silently drawing his sword and assuming an aggressive Sail Raising Stance.

At this level, the difference in lethality between a training sword and a real sword was actually not significant. To give Evan enough pressure, Gell directly requested they use real swords for training.

The gap between them was too large; he was confident he could control the situation.

"Clang—!"

Sparks flew as the actively attacking Evan was directly sent flying. He spun in mid-air, used a lifeboat to push off, and in the splashing water, leaped up again.

He raised his sword overhead with both hands and executed a powerful "Jump Slash."

"Clang—!"

It was still caught by Gell with one hand, who then used his sword's guard to knock him away.

In reality, Evan's current fighting style was vastly different from his previous agile swordsmanship. This was because he wanted to improve his physical fitness, not his moves. This head-on combat style was more conducive to experiencing the application of Knight-level force and feeling the subtle changes in physical confrontation.

Gell neither approved nor disapproved of Evan's attack method. He simply suppressed his strength to Evan's limit of tolerance, giving him a real and powerful feedback.

Everything else would be for Evan to experience himself.

In fact, during the process of his physical attributes being quantified by Data Vision, the list that finally appeared before Evan was just the stabilized result.

During training, it would constantly provide feedback on the training effects. Even if the data beyond the third decimal place couldn't be displayed, Evan could still feel the trend of change.

0.93+

0.93+...

"Effective!" Evan rejoiced inwardly. In past real battles, it was mostly a fight for survival, and he had no energy to pay attention to subtle changes. Now, in this absolutely safe environment, Evan finally discovered the secret to the changes in his physical fitness.

His physical fitness was like constantly packing snow into a wooden barrel. It seemed full, but if you pressed down harder, you could still fit quite a bit more. This "pressing down" action was impossible to do on his own; it required external force, and Uncle Gell was precisely the best leverage point.

Evan used Data Vision to verify his guess and became even more uninhibited. He aimed to pack this barrel of snow to its limit in the shortest possible time. He believed that moment would be when he transformed qualitatively into ice and completed his Extraordinary Transformation!

"Clink, clank..."

This was not the time to cherish his sword. Evan's moves became much more direct, discarding all superfluous actions and the elegance of White Sail Swordsmanship, leaving only increasingly intense head-on clashes!

His swordsmanship style even gradually shifted from "White Sail Swordsmanship" to "Faletis Sabre Art," desperately squeezing his stamina and potential.

"Haa—"

Bang—

He was sent flying.

"Again!"

"Again!"

"..."

And so, Evan's fulfilling sailing life began.

He still studied sail control and various practical navigation skills on the ship as usual. When Gell had free time, Evan would pester him for practical combat training.

Keenly sensing that Evan had reached some kind of critical point, the true apex of his apprenticeship was almost within reach, Gell put aside some unimportant work and specifically took time to spend with Evan in that "training ground" that existed within a small space.

He wholeheartedly helped Evan complete the final preparations before his transformation. Evan's physical fitness and swordsmanship level rapidly improved with the help of Gell, his "Gold Medal Sparring Partner."

Evan felt he was very close to that limit