Familiarization or Reconnaissance

Ergons had been dazzled by the Cheat System before his eyes. He muttered, "Holy shit, doesn't this mean I'm invincible from the start?!"

"What are you thinking?"

At the crucial moment, the system poured cold water on him. "The system's functions are damaged and its energy is insufficient. Even the limited functions currently available cannot be used freely. Before the energy is fully restored, the functions you see will undergo protective overload-prevention classification. The classifications are as follows."

Level One:

While in the Item Management screen (opened with the I key), press CTRL+X to gain 1,000 denars each time.

While in the Attributes screen (opened with the C key), press CTRL+X to gain 1,000 experience points each time.

While in the Attributes screen (opened with the C key), press CTRL+W to increase proficiency with all weapons.

In any state, press CTRL+H to fully restore health.

During battle, press CTRL+F4 to automatically knock out enemies.

During battle, press CTRL+F6 to knock out your allies.

Level Two:

During battle, press CTRL+F5 to hand control of the player over to the computer for automatic attacks.

During battle, press CTRL+V to instantly locate your troops.

On the world map, hold CTRL+X to go anywhere instantly (teleportation).

On the world map, press CTRL+Space to make time pass quickly.

During battle, press CTRL+F9 to engage in slow-motion combat.

While in the party screen, select a troop and press CTRL+X to give it experience, rapidly upgrading it into elite troops.

Level Three:

During battle, press CTRL+F11 to pause the game.

During battle, press CTRL+Shift+F4 to inflict blunt damage on all enemies, instantly knocking them all unconscious.

During battle, press CTRL+Shift+F6 to inflict blunt damage on all allies, instantly knocking them all unconscious.

To conserve energy, these classifications are restricted as follows: Level One functions may be used six times per calendar day, resetting at midnight each day; Level Two functions may be used six times per calendar month, resetting at midnight on the first day of each month; Level Three functions consume too much energy and are currently unavailable.

Ergons understood. In other words, he could use each of the six Level One commands once per day, or use any one of them six times. Likewise, he could use each of the six Level Two commands once per month, or use any one of them six times.

Now that was interesting. As long as he wanted to, he now had the strength to flip the table on the current Baron Watlin of Tevalinburg.

CTRL+X on the world map, instantly arrive beside the Baron, press CTRL+F4 to knock him out, then CTRL+X back to his own territory...

With this ability, he could take out anyone he wanted!

Ergons Tevalin, this sturdy body now inhabited by the soul of a boy from Earth, finally straightened his back for real!

The twelve commands he could use held practically limitless possibilities...

Even if he went to war with no one, he could still gain at least 6,000 denars a day, or 6,000 experience points, or improve all his Weapon Proficiency... Every month, he could upgrade the combat power of his most loyal troops six times...

He could not keep thinking about it. Ergons Tevalin felt his head, numbed by the system's revelation, beginning to spin from his own fantasies again. He hurriedly stopped indulging in wild daydreams.

He opened the Attributes screen with the C key. What appeared before him was the digitized result of his personal attributes.

Name: Ergons Tevalin

Level: 22

Health: 47

Attributes:

Strength: 17, Agility: 15, Intelligence: 4, Charisma: 6.

Skills: ...

Seeing this, he realized that this body's attributes had not been built according to the game's character creation system. This squire knight's Intelligence was even below the minimum starting value of 5 for a new character.

He only had Power Strike 2, Power Draw 1, Iron Bones 1, and Riding 3. He had none at all in the more important skills such as Leadership, Prisoner Management, Item Management, Trade, Trainer, Looting, Path-finding, First Aid, and Surgery. Worse, he had no unassigned skill points or attribute points.

Combined with his Weapon Proficiency of 130 one-handed, 110 two-handed, and 120 polearm, he would have been nothing more than cannon-fodder light cavalry in the game!

Then again, seventeen-year-old Ergons Tevalin had neither bicycles nor rainy seasons and skies. All he had was the experience of rising from a noble's attendant to a squire knight.

That experience could not grant him the attributes that choosing a background in Warband would: Noble Attendant: Charisma +1, Strength +1, Power Strike +1, Persuasion +1, One-Handed Proficiency +15, Polearm +5; Knight's Squire (Male): Strength +1, Agility +1, Riding +1, Weapon Mastery +1, Power Strike +1, Leadership +1, One-Handed +30, Two-Handed +30, Polearm +30, Archery +10, Crossbow +10, Throwing +10.

All he had was the cannon-fodder level of a light cavalryman.

Looking at the Knight's Longsword in his hand, he could clearly feel that his 130 one-handed proficiency was insufficient for him to wield it perfectly. He happened to want to test the Cheat System, so he did not hesitate.

CTRL+W. All Weapon Proficiency increased by 100 at once.

In an instant, countless combat experiences appeared out of nowhere in his mind. The muscles all over his body trembled and spasmed as though jolted by electricity, while his muscles, bones, and skin all seemed to have been strengthened.

The entire process was swift. From the inside out, he became a veteran soldier with over twenty years of experience. How to kill, how to wield one-handed, two-handed, and polearm weapons, how to shoot arrows, how to throw concealed weapons—everything improved across the board.

"This feels incredible. The current me could probably take on ten of the old Ergons without breaking a sweat. With enough space and weapons, I could even take on a hundred elite soldiers alone."

Without much hesitation, he pressed CTRL+W again, but his Weapon Proficiency did not increase.

He closed his eyes and waited for the enhancement, only to wait for nothing. Weapon Mastery was at 0, so his Weapon Proficiency had already reached its limit.

For a moment, he nearly gave himself experience points to level up and use the free points gained from leveling to increase Weapon Mastery. But in that same instant, he calmed down.

He could only use Level One functions six times a day. He had already used Weapon Proficiency once, leaving him with at most 5,000 experience points. That definitely would not be enough to level up.

Even with tomorrow's 6,000 experience points added in, he would only barely reach Level 23. At most, that would only give him enough to increase all Weapon Proficiency once more, which would not make much difference to the bigger picture.

As agreed, tomorrow he would set out with Sir Davis Tevalin to hunt down the bandits that had appeared within their territory and search for possible bandit hideouts in the barony.

If he traded those five chances for experience points now, it would truly be a terrible bargain.

On the other hand, his combat skills now rivaled those of an old knight with twenty years of experience. At a critical moment, they would definitely give Sir Davis Tevalin, who considered him a novice, quite a surprise.

Including the six monthly uses of Level Two functions, Ergons Tevalin instead looked forward to tomorrow's journey with complete confidence.

Looking at the time, he knew there was no way he would be getting any rest tonight.