Attack

At that moment, the carriage curtain was lifted, and a figure sprang out. It was Knight Marshall, wielding a greatsword. The servant charging at the front had already reached the coachman and was about to strike him when Knight Marshall's greatsword flashed with white battle aura, cleaving the servant from head to toe, along with the warhorse beneath him, into two halves. Blood exploded outward, spraying several meters away. The several servants behind him were drenched in the bloody rain and froze in shock.

The servants were stunned, but Knight Marshall was not. The knight leaped down from the carriage, and while still in midair, he swung his greatsword horizontally at a servant's neck. The servant did not even have time to react before his head flew off, spinning through the air before landing in front of Joshua's horse.

Joshua was dumbstruck by the sight before him. His body went limp, and he fell from his horse.

In that brief moment, Knight Marshall had already cut down five of the other ten servants. The remaining five were no longer on their horses, and their longswords had been thrown to the ground. Their opponent was a proper knight who wielded battle aura, and all of them lay on the ground trembling. The might of knights was a memory engraved deep in the bones of ordinary people like them.

Abel was also frightened by the way Knight Marshall had attacked. Brutal, direct, and swift—that was the impression Knight Marshall left on him. It was completely different from the knight who was always smiling in ordinary times.

"You... You're a knight, sir. I'm the eldest son of Lord Joel. I demand treatment as a noble prisoner." Joshua spoke to Knight Marshall with some difficulty.

Treatment as a noble prisoner was a method of dealing with captured nobles unique to this era.

First, according to the rules of chivalry, if a knight had performed honorably in the face of an enemy, victory or defeat was no longer so important. Therefore, after fighting bravely, being captured was not disgraceful for a knight.

Second, most knights possessed economic and political status. After being captured, their release would require a ransom. For example, if an upper lord were captured, a lower-ranking knight had the duty to offer himself as a hostage and pay the ransom.

Finally, warfare was frequent and victories and defeats constantly changed hands. Who could guarantee that they would not be the one captured next time? Therefore, captives were treated well and released in exchange for a ransom.

Knight Marshall looked mockingly at the Rookie Knight who had collapsed on the ground without even fighting, considering whether he should deal with him according to the treatment afforded to noble prisoners.

"Joshua?" Abel leaped down from the carriage. When he saw Joshua on the ground, he truly had not expected that this noble scion would bring people to attack him over such a minor disagreement.

"You know him?" Knight Marshall vaguely understood the reason for the attack. Even if there had been a conflict in the city, he had rarely heard of anyone leading men to ambush and kill the other party afterward. Still, he handed the authority to deal with the matter over to Abel. It was also a good opportunity to develop Abel's abilities, so he continued, "Abel, you decide what to do."

Abel did not care whether Joshua lived or died, but killing Joshua would not benefit him either. It would be more practical to demand some advantages instead. Surely Knight Marshall would not complain about having too many gold coins.

"Then take him back to the castle. Joshua, you'll receive treatment as a noble prisoner."

Hearing Abel's decision, a satisfied smile appeared at the corner of Knight Marshall's mouth. Abel had not acted out of personal hatred. Instead, he had chosen a demand for ransom that would benefit the castle's development.

Abel's thoughts were actually quite simple. Joshua was far too weak and could never become his opponent. If Joshua had been a proper knight, then Abel would have chosen treatment as a noble prisoner. A dead enemy was a good enemy.

The rest was Abel's responsibility. He removed the belts from the five servants and tied their hands behind their backs.

Apart from the unlucky warhorse that Knight Marshall had cleaved in half with a single strike, the other eleven warhorses were lined up in a row with the coachman's help. The prisoners were thrown onto the saddles, while Abel mounted the fiery red warhorse and followed behind them.

Joshua was placed on the first warhorse. Abel pulled off his belt as well. Although he did not tie Joshua's hands, the moment Joshua dared to run, his trousers would fall down. Then again, as long as Joshua was not as stupid as a pig, he would never try to escape in front of a proper knight.

Only now did Joshua realize that the person he had attacked was the lord of Hari Castle, while Abel, whom he had called the little blacksmith, was the heir to Hari Castle. At that moment, Joshua's only thought was that, after returning, the first thing he would do was hack to death the servant responsible for watching Abel.

After returning to Hari Castle, Abel handed the prisoners over to Steward Linsey. From then on, Steward Linsey would negotiate with the other side's steward regarding the prisoners' transfer and the payment of the ransom. As nobles, they would not concern themselves with such matters. The ransom would be based on reasonable grounds: Joshua's identity and the consequences of his crimes. Everything would be negotiated by the stewards themselves.

Abel returned to his former routine. He practiced in the morning, went to the Blacksmith Shop to forge after breakfast, and returned to the castle at night to practice the knight's breathing technique before resting.

A month passed in this orderly manner. During that month, Abel forged five Hundred-Forged longswords, but he had used the methods of this world and had not employed any special carburizing or quenching techniques. His straightforward forging made Master Bentham extremely happy. No matter how good one's secret techniques were, fundamentals were the most important. Abel's emphasis on fundamentals earned Master Bentham's praise.

That morning, Master Bentham called out to Abel. "Abel, come with me."

Master Bentham's room was in the inner room of the workshop reserved for masters. Once they entered, the master took a huge, heavy book from an iron chest in the corner and placed it on the table. He said to Abel, "My teacher was the Dwarf forging master, Master Robin. That year, humans and the Dwarf race reached an agreement to jointly resist the orcs. Because of my talent for forging, I was sent to the Dwarf race to learn forging."

Perhaps recalling those events, Master Bentham's eyes grew distant. He described what had happened back then in an almost murmuring voice:

"Those were the most wonderful days. Every day, I learned new knowledge. The forging techniques of the Dwarf race had become a unique forging art through their innate talent for forging and tens of thousands of years of exploration. Legend had it that the most powerful Dwarf master smiths had once helped the gods forge divine artifacts.

"Besides forging ordinary weapons, Master Robin could also forge magic weapons. The first time I saw a magic weapon, I told myself that it was what I wanted to learn, and that it would be the goal of my life.

"Master Robin taught me many things without holding anything back. After I had mastered that knowledge, I asked Master Robin to teach me how to forge magic weapons. However, Master Robin told me that I did not have the talent to forge magic weapons."

At this point, Master Bentham's expression grew agitated. He continued, "After my studies ended, my teacher gave me one final hope. It was this Magic Weapon Forging Book."

"After I returned, I searched everywhere for the reason I could not forge magic weapons. In the end, I discovered that only spiritual power could activate the magic arrays in the process of forging magic weapons. Those who possessed spiritual power almost invariably became sorceresses. Who would come and learn forging? That was, until I met you."

When he heard the word sorceress, Abel's heart stirred. Hadn't he always been searching for news about sorceresses? Was this the first time he had clearly heard news about magic?

"I'm already old. I won't have the chance to forge a magic weapon in this lifetime. But you are my student, and I hope you can forge one." Master Bentham's eyes were filled with entreaty.

"Master, I'll do my best." Abel nodded seriously.

With an almost reverent attitude, Master Bentham held out the huge, heavy Magic Weapon Forging Book and handed it to Abel.

Abel accepted the book. It was extremely heavy in his hands. Just as the legends claimed, although Dwarves were very short, they had always believed themselves to be descended from giants, so they made everything as large as possible.

This book was a perfect embodiment of that tradition. When Abel opened it, its contents were also extremely straightforward. The first page showed a fire-attribute magic weapon. In the center was a sword shown from both sides, covered in strange runes. There was a groove in the hilt, with instructions to install a Fire Magic Stone. The final line described the weapon's function: a fire-rune magic potion formula that could grant the weapon fire-element damage.

The second page showed an ice magic weapon, once again depicting both sides of a sword with strange runes and a groove. The only difference was that it required a Water Magic Stone. The final line described the ice magic weapon's function: an ice-rune magic potion formula that could grant the weapon slowing and ice-element damage.

The third page was for a lightning magic weapon, and the fourth page was for a poison magic weapon.

The book had only four pages in total. Abel grumbled inwardly about the Dwarf who had made it. They had somehow turned four pages of content into such a bulky tome. However, seeing Master Bentham's reverent expression, he did not dare show it.