Knight's Secret Technique

The Lord's Mansion felt overwhelmed due to the orc attacks. Viscount Dickens, a Great Knight, would rather wield his sword against orc patrols entering Harvest City than hear news of another castle or village being attacked within the mansion.

Yesterday, Viscount Dickens received a werewolf corpse and a map from Hari Castle. After having it translated, he discovered it was a map detailing the assembly points of orc squads. The orcs were set to gather within days and be transported out of the human world by flying beasts from the Orc Empire. This meant the current wave of attacks was nearing its end. If Viscount Dickens didn't act soon, the losses from this orc assault would cause him to lose significant face in the Duchy and affect his standing within it.

Earlier today, Viscount Dickens had already dispatched a thousand-strong army to the location marked on the map for an ambush. He had deployed three High Knights, thirty Knights, and a thousand elite soldiers. This force was more than enough to engage in a small-scale battle.

According to Knight Marshall's letter, the intelligence for this operation came from his adopted son, the blacksmith Master Abel, who had ambushed a lone Wolf Rider and obtained the map. Viscount Dickens was very interested in this newly emerged Master Blacksmith in Harvest City. As far as he knew, this Master had earned his title through forging magic weapons. Viscount Dickens had been considering whether to seek a magic weapon from this rising Master.

"My Lord, someone from Matthew Castle has come to report a death," Steward Ken announced.

Hearing this, Viscount Dickens knew another castle had fallen. He told the steward, "Let them in."

A moment later, a disheveled attendant entered, weeping. "My Lord, Lord Matthew and his entire family have perished in the orc attack."

The disappearance of a family was no small matter. Viscount Dickens knew of the Matthew Family. They were a small family in Harvest City, but they had a history spanning several hundred years. Their territory was not large, only 100 li, making it the smallest Baronial fief.

"Tell me what happened clearly," Viscount Dickens urged. Seeing that the attendant, perhaps due to grief or inexperience, was recounting the events haltingly, he pressed for details.

This was unavoidable. Normally, if Lord Matthew needed to report something to Viscount Dickens, he would send Steward Ken or come himself to the Lord's Mansion.

Due to the current attack, Steward Ken could not leave Matthew Castle and had to send a relatively eloquent attendant.

The attendant understood the meaning behind Viscount Dickens's words. He also remembered Steward Ken's instructions: get to the Lord's Mansion and state the facts quickly, as the Lord wouldn't have time to listen to a drawn-out explanation.

"This evening, a squad of Wolf Riders attacked the castle. The gates of Matthew Castle were open at the time, and the Wolf Riders stormed in. As they were killing people inside, Master Abel, who happened to be passing by, intervened and, along with his retinue, killed the Wolf Riders. Master Abel also stabilized the castle's order. Steward Ken dispatched me to report to you." The attendant finally managed to explain everything in one breath.

Viscount Dickens's eyes flickered. Master Abel again. Such acts of saving nobles in distress were praised by all nobles and earned their respect. Although he couldn't save Lord Matthew's life, he had preserved the castle intact. According to orc customs, they would have slaughtered everyone inside and burned the castle to the ground.

Master Abel's actions must be rewarded. Furthermore, there was the map provided by Master Abel. The outcome of the ambush would also be a factor. If the results were significant, he would propose a commendation to the King of the Duchy for both matters. The Duchy would find it difficult to refuse such a request. No one dared to reject rewards for military achievements, as doing so would discourage future service. All nobles, including the King, understood this. Therefore, despite the King's efforts to suppress the nobility over the years, commendations and ennoblements for military achievements had never been hindered and were always granted according to regulations.

"I will send someone to Matthew Castle. You may return now," Viscount Dickens said calmly.

After the attendant left, Viscount Dickens thought of Master Abel again. He solidified his resolve: he must befriend Master Abel. Such a young Master would undoubtedly achieve great things in the future. If he ever needed help, Viscount Dickens would do everything in his power to assist him. The favors he could offer now might prove invaluable later.

Actually, if Abel had obtained the title of Blacksmith Master in any other Duchy, the Duchy would have at least offered a Baronetcy to secure a Master trained within their borders. However, the Duchy of Camai was somewhat unique. The King here harbored a natural suspicion of nobles. As for titles like Abel's, which were neither here nor there, the King feigned ignorance and paid them no mind.

At Hari Castle, after returning, Abel played with Black Wind for a while. Black Wind, a young Direwolf, had gained considerable weight recently due to a good diet and was now energetically running around Abel's room. Abel hesitated to let it out into the plaza, as the area was filled with villagers these days, some of whom harbored intense animosity towards Direwolves.

Abel had dinner with Knight Marshall. He hadn't had a meal with Knight Marshall for days. Only after driving off the orcs today did Knight Marshall finally relax enough to have a meal together.

After they finished eating, Knight Marshall called Abel to the study. A maid brought two cups of coffee. She added spices to Knight Marshall's cup first, then prepared to add them to Abel's when he stopped her.

"Abel, there are some things I need to tell you. The decision is yours," Knight Marshall said, inhaling the aroma of the coffee and closing his eyes in enjoyment, as if savoring the scent of the coffee and spices.

Abel looked at Knight Marshall's enjoyment of the spiced coffee with a hint of discomfort. It was a trend among nobles these days to add spices to everything. Fortunately, the dishes at Hari Castle's dining table rarely contained spices, otherwise Abel would have prepared his own meals.

"Uncle Marshall, please tell me."

"Abel, you have now become a Blacksmith Master, surpassing my expectations in forging. You know I am a direct descendant of the Hari Family of Bagang City. I left the family after earning a knight's fief through military merits, but the family's secret knight techniques were not closed off to me. As my heir, you can also go to Bagang City to learn the family's secret knight techniques. Of course, there are some techniques here that you can learn directly," Knight Marshall said formally to Abel.

Abel had already learned some secret techniques from the Bennett Family, but he couldn't use them without reaching the level of a formal Knight. If Abel hadn't already been a level 5 Rookie Knight, Knight Marshall wouldn't have told him about these.

The only secret technique from the Bennett Family that Abel could currently use was the Knight Breathing Technique, a secret art that absorbed the Qi generated during training to accelerate the formation of Qi Veins. He had learned three other secret techniques:

One was the Knight Acceleration Technique, a secret art that used internal Battle Qi to increase one's speed.

The second was the Knight Burst Technique, which provided a threefold increase in strength instantaneously but caused weakness for the next hour.

The third was Solid Defense, a secret art used with a shield. It allowed the user to channel Battle Qi to connect the ground and the shield, providing strong defense for one side.

"Uncle Marshall, what secret techniques do you have now?" Abel was not afraid of having too many secret techniques, as his spiritual power allowed him to learn any knowledge quickly.

"I have two secret techniques here: one is the Knight Charge Technique, and the other is the Knight Mount Acceleration Technique," Knight Marshall explained. "Both of my secret techniques require a mount to be used. On this point, I have a disagreement with Knight Bennett. He believes the key to a Knight lies in balance and comprehensiveness, which is why he can master various weapons—greatswords, shields, bows, lances, axes, and almost all weapons a Knight should be able to use. I, however, only excel in horsemanship and have mastered the greatsword, bow, and lance. I believe the reason Knights are called Knights is because they ride mounts. As for the weapons I've mastered, I have the greatsword for close combat, the lance for mid-range, and the bow for ranged attacks, which is sufficient. This is also why I earned enough military merits in war to be granted a fief."

In reality, Knight Marshall hadn't mentioned that Knight Bennett's military merits were also not low, but the requirements for promotion to Baronet were too high. At the time, neither of them, as junior Knights, had accumulated enough merits.