Formal Knight

The vast, boundless Black Sea.

To the countless creatures that lived here, it was both a home for breeding and survival, and a battlefield where they fought for their lives.

One day, a tiny shark was born in these waters. It opened its eyes and began to understand this strange, dangerous world.

It scavenged scraps of carrion left behind by other predators, hunted small fish and shrimp, and fought enormous sea monsters.

It drifted through warm, pleasant blue skies and azure seas, yet had also looked down upon raging waves, howling winds, and torrential rain.

It wandered through the ruins of ancient cities deep beneath the sea, long forgotten by history, and watched a small coastal village become another great city in barely more than a decade.

From young and fragile to strong and fearless, through countless escapes and hunts, time and the law of survival of the fittest had forged it into a vicious, cunning apex predator!

At this moment, there was little left in the Black Sea that it needed to fear.

And Evan had accompanied this Blue Flag Demon Shark, living through countless years from a shark's perspective, senses, and even thoughts. Throughout that process, his human understanding, morality, and emotions had gradually been stripped away until only the savage instincts of a bloodthirsty monster remained.

Whoosh—

A massive black shadow flashed beneath the surface.

Cold currents flowed through the demon shark's gills, yet caused him no resistance at all. Instead, the surging whirlpools turned into tremendous driving force, propelling his streamlined body forward through the water at ever greater speed.

Crack!

He opened his blood-filled jaws like lightning and viciously bit a large fish, not much smaller than himself, cleanly in half.

At that moment, a sweet, delicious flavor exploded in his mouth, intoxicating him completely.

The Blue Flag Demon Shark felt this way, and so did Evan.

In an instant, it was as though some switch had suddenly been flipped. The beastly instincts inherited through countless millennia in his bloodline fully awakened within Evan!

In the dark room, Evan, seated cross-legged, abruptly opened his faintly reddened eyes.

Before humans built their brilliant civilization, they had merely been ordinary members among the beasts of forests and grasslands.

The process of Knight Savage Body Transformation was one of retracing alone the evolutionary path by which an entire race had tamed its own wild nature and returned to civilization and reason.

In Evan's understanding, a person consisted of the id, ego, and superego. The id governed all instinctive human desires, and it was also the source of savage power in extraordinary theory.

The ego, represented by reason and wit, and the superego, represented by ideals and ultimate goodness, would lock it back inside a cage and tame it into strength that could be wielded at will. That was a knight's Extraordinary Power.

"Huff, huff..."

The heavy breathing of a large beast sounded through the room. Extraordinary Power, scorching like magma, continually surged from deep within his body and violently invaded every last cell and tissue.

In an instant, it was as though a bloodthirsty beast slumbering within him had been awakened. Evan's skin turned a horrifying blood-red!

And even deeper changes were taking place inside his body.

Every one of his muscles, bones, internal organs, and even nerves began to struggle and convulse in slow rhythm, as though they had become independent entities with minds of their own, grinding their teeth and sucking blood, ready to leap up and hurt someone at the next instant.

"Awoo..."

"Hah!"

Yet restrained by Evan's own powerful will, his body was like an incomparably sturdy prison. Even with the fiercest and most violent beast locked within it, he remained seated in silence, utterly unmoved.

In truth, this was only normal. If an Apprentice Knight like Evan, who had trained diligently since childhood and constantly adjusted his body with the Golden Finger known as Data Vision, still had to narrowly survive and cough up pints of blood before succeeding, then there would have been few true natives of this world left alive.

Even in this state, Evan could block out the effects transmitted by his flesh and slowly entered shallow meditation.

His Spirit Power, already so much stronger than that of an ordinary Apprentice Knight that it could manifest visibly, swiftly entered his body under instinctive control and reclaimed every inch of physical tissue seized by beastly instinct.

This was far more advanced than others relying solely on willpower to hold on bitterly, competing with their savage bodies to see who could last longer.

After barely regaining partial control over his body, Evan left his meditative state. A subtle change came over his breathing as he began using the breathing method that accompanied White Sail Swordsmanship.

"Breathe in—breathe out, breathe in—breathe out..."

With even his nervous system having rebelled, the bioenergy system expressed externally through breath was every knight's final reliance.

The breathing methods of different schools naturally had their own unique traits. They had to complement a knight's strengths and the Extraordinary Traits they used; otherwise, twice the effort would yield half the result.

The most dangerous period had passed.

Outside, the sun set and the moon rose. As Evan sat cross-legged and circulated his breathing method, the agitation of his body completely subsided, and his calm, rational demeanor returned.

His build had not changed too noticeably, yet something about him seemed different.

As the horizon faintly turned fish belly white, Evan opened his eyes again. His gaze was clear and wise, and the effects of his savage transformation had fully faded.

Thus, the first step of his breakthrough was complete.

The greatest obstacle in a knight's advancement had passed, but Evan still did not count as a true Extraordinary Knight.

Nothing could be accomplished in a single step, and the Extraordinary Transformation that resembled rebirth was no exception.

Over the next several weeks, subtler changes within his body would continue until a significant renewal took place at the cellular level.

By then, his body would become stronger, more agile, more intelligent, and better suited to Extraordinary Power.

It would be as though he had developed anew from head to toe, erasing every former imperfection and becoming the most perfect form contained within his genetic information.

Clang—

Gary was naturally the first to notice Evan's change. Having risen early to fetch water and wash his face, he froze the moment he saw Evan. Only when the basin in his hands fell unconsciously to the ground did it snap him awake.

If he were still that country boy with nothing but brute force, he might not have been so shocked, or even noticed anything. But having already embarked on the Extraordinary Path, he instantly detected the change in Evan.

"Boss, you... you've already become a Formal Knight?"

Extraordinary was a broad term. Among the nations of the civilized world, there was only one publicly known Extraordinary path: the path of the knight. To a certain extent, knights had become synonymous with the extraordinary.

Evan smiled and nodded.

A knight's power was power displayed openly. It was deeply bound to a person's status, reputation, and interests. Keeping it hidden just to play weak and ambush others was truly having too much time on one's hands.

Evan had no intention of concealing news of his breakthrough.

"That's great, Boss! I knew someone as amazing as you would definitely break through smoothly. Haha, I'm going to the Silver Wing to tell everyone this good news."

After saying that, Gary ran out with pounding footsteps before even washing his face.

Having accomplished his short-term goal, Evan had no intention of pushing himself too hard. He leisurely went to the washroom and took a bath.

Wearing a bathrobe, he went to the kitchen and fried himself a large plate of eggs and sausages. Then he poured himself a glass of fresh milk that the milkman had just delivered and began enjoying breakfast.

"Mmm, my cooking is still this good!"

To complete his final transformation as quickly as possible, Evan's task during this period was to eat and drink well, replenishing his body with sufficient nutrition.

After all, cultivation had to follow the Basic Laws. The sort of thing that happened in Western films, where someone mutated overnight into a superhuman, did not exist. If such a person did exist, they would not become an Extraordinary person in the end, but an out-of-control monster!

Gary returned halfway through breakfast.

To Evan's surprise, the person who returned with him was not one of the Silver Wing's crew, but Uncle Gell, who had only just returned to Gabreid.

He hurried into the room. The moment the travel-worn Gell saw Evan leisurely enjoying breakfast, his expression instantly relaxed, and he gave him a huge hug.

"Evan, I'm proud of you!"