Knight

"Women only slow down the speed at which I draw my sword. As long as you remember that, your Path of the Knight will be much smoother. In other words, we Knights cannot get close to women, or we will never grow stronger."

John secretly held back a laugh, but kept a serious expression on his face, as though this were truly the creed he lived by.

"Mm, I'll remember it."

The transmigrator, who had spent twenty years single in his previous life without ever even having a girlfriend, nodded repeatedly with an equally serious expression.

But... Uncle John, are you seriously trying to fool me like I'm a kid? What the hell do you mean women only slow down the speed at which you draw your sword? Before saying that, could you explain what happened between you and Sister Danny?

With that thought in mind, Parr looked up at John and asked a string of seemingly innocent questions.

"Uncle John, you said we should stay away from women, so why have you been staying at Sister Danny's house these past two days? You left before dawn today—did you do something bad and have to run away? Did you even say goodbye to Sister Danny?"

"Cough, cough, cough..."

John, who had been holding back his laughter for so long, was instantly choked up by that barrage of questions and began coughing violently. After finally calming down, he looked at Parr's innocent little face and somehow felt that Parr had done it on purpose.

Impossible. This little brat is only ten. During my visits around the village these past few days, everyone said he was a simple-minded kid. How could he possibly be that calculating? It must have been unintentional. He really is just a simple-minded kid!

Shaking his head, John was fooled by Parr's apparent age. How could he have known that inside Parr's ten-year-old body was the soul of a theoretically twenty-year-old veteran—one who held grudges, too.

"..."

Parr continued staring at John, looking as though he would not let the matter go unless John gave him an answer. But who was John? Would someone capable of doing all that be thin-skinned?

John suddenly whipped his head around, clenched his fists, and put on a fierce expression.

"Little brat, can we change the subject?"

"...Fine!"

Parr swallowed and dropped the subject. Then, after thinking for a moment, he really did ask another question. "Uncle John, I've always wondered something. How old are you? You look like you're in your thirties, but also like you're in your twenties. It's strange!"

John said, "...Forty."

"What!"

Parr stared at John in disbelief. He was genuinely shocked. John was very handsome. Though Parr could not tell his exact age, there was no way he could be forty! "Hahaha, surprised?"

Seeing Parr's shocked expression, John felt an inexplicable sense of satisfaction. A smug smile appeared on his face as he explained why, despite being forty, he still looked like he was in his twenties.

"Little brat, now I'll teach you the second thing. When traveling the world, never judge people by their appearance. You said I looked like I was in my twenties or thirties, but my true age is forty. That's because once someone becomes a Bronze-level Knight, although their lifespan does not increase by much, the amount of time their body remains at its peak greatly increases. During that period, we age much more slowly, and our appearance remains that of someone in their twenties or thirties. Only when we reach around fifty or sixty, and our physical condition falls from its peak, do things begin to change. Even so, an aging Knight is still far stronger than an ordinary person."

"I see!"

Parr suddenly understood. He had not expected becoming a Bronze-level Knight to have such a benefit. Although it did not add much to one's lifespan... what if one surpassed the Bronze level? Would one's lifespan increase dramatically? The pursuit of longevity was etched into the bones of every living being, and Parr was no exception. In his original world, he had read cultivation novels and envied those immortals who lived for hundreds or thousands of years. Now that he had come to another world and discovered a way to extend his life, how could he not ask about it clearly? "Uncle John."

This time, Parr's address was sincere. Before, he had merely been pretending to act young. Now that he knew John was already forty, even if his past-life self were here, calling John uncle would not be inappropriate—let alone with his current ten-year-old body. "Could you tell me about the realms above Bronze level?"

"Of course."

As long as Parr did not continue asking about how John had abandoned Danni and fled overnight like a scumbag, John was quite willing to answer his questions. As he cleared the path ahead, he began explaining the Knight ranks.

Knights were the main fighting force of every nation in this world, as well as the mainstream profession among professionals.

The Knight ranks were: Apprentice-level, Bronze-level, Silver-level, Gold-level, Mortal Shedding, Limit Breaking, and Saint Domain.

Each rank was further divided into four stages: Elementary, Intermediate, Advanced, and Peak.

John did not tell Parr about matters too far beyond him. Perhaps he did not know much himself. So after telling Parr how many Knight ranks there were, John explained in detail the characteristics of the first three ranks.

Apprentice-level: This was a rank focused on training the body. Any ordinary person could enter the Apprentice-level through planned, long-term training, but that would only make them an Elementary Apprentice. To advance further, one needed talent. Of course, lacking talent was not a problem either. One could simply pile on resources. As long as one had enough resources, reaching Peak Apprentice was not impossible.

Thus, many people with weaker talent who still wished to improve would venture out into the world, becoming adventurers or soldiers. Through adventure and battle, they could improve themselves while earning resources.

Overall, as long as one did not give up and had a bit of luck, reaching Peak Apprentice was still possible.

Bronze-level: This was a qualitative transformation, because Bronze-level meant becoming a Knight. Children of nobles would automatically receive the title of Knight. Adventurers who had no territory and wandered everywhere could only be called Wandering Knights. Formal Knights looked down on Wandering Knights for their lowly status and lack of professionalism, while Wandering Knights privately muttered that formal Knights were just weaklings who had never seen blood.

However, if they had a chance to obtain territory and a surname, most Wandering Knights would seize it and become the weakling Knights they spoke of.

The method for breaking through to Bronze-level was simple: one Magic Crystal from a Bronze-level or higher Magic Beast, along with a Magic Potion made from that Magic Beast's Heart Blood.

Simple, right? Well, it was simple in one sense and difficult in another. If a Peak Knight Apprentice did not have a Bronze-level Knight to guide them, they could only save enough money to hire a Bronze-level Knight through the Adventurers' Association to hunt a Magic Beast, or directly purchase the Magic Crystal and potion. That would cost a fortune. Otherwise, they could gamble with their own life and see whether they could kill a Bronze-level Magic Beast.

In truth, breaking through from Apprentice-level to Bronze-level meant acquiring the bloodline power of a Magic Beast and forming elemental Battle Qi within one's body. The specific attribute of that Battle Qi depended on the materials taken from the Magic Beast used during the breakthrough.

Battle Qi was extremely powerful. Intermediate Bronze Knights could release Battle Qi to attack enemies from afar, while Peak Bronze Knights condensed their Battle Qi in preparation for breaking through to Silver-level.

Next came breaking through to Silver-level.

Breaking through to Silver-level required two steps: first, condense one's elemental Battle Qi to the extreme.

Second, find a way to purify the Magic Beast bloodline within one's body. Then, combine it with the elemental Battle Qi condensed to the extreme to form a Magic Beast Phantom, which could be released to assist in battle.

At the Peak Silver level, the Magic Beast Phantom would turn from illusory to tangible and could serve as a mount. It was said that this was the origin of the name Knight.

John did not say anything about the ranks beyond that. It seemed he did not know them either.

"Wait, I think I forgot the most important question!"

Parr suddenly snapped out of his thoughts. He had forgotten his original question, the one about lifespan. So he spoke again. "Uncle John, you said Bronze-level Knights do not gain much lifespan. What about the ranks above Bronze-level?"

"Well..."

John stopped walking and thought about it. Parr had actually stumped him. Where had he seen this before?

"Got it!"

At last, John remembered. Stroking his chin, he said, "Little brat, if I remember correctly, even Gold-level Knights only live somewhat longer than ordinary people. But if you break through to Mortal Shedding, you can live for at least two hundred years. If you break through to Limit Breaking, you can live for at least five hundred years. If you break through to Saint Domain, meaning become a Holy Knight, you can live for at least a thousand years."

"Huh?"

Parr froze. Reaching Saint Domain meant living for a thousand years. In other words, the Swift Shadow Wind Wolf Holy Knight who founded the Wind Wolf Kingdom might still be alive!

Parr voiced his guess, only to receive John's wry smile and sigh.

"Little brat, you're overthinking it. Only seven Holy Knights have ever appeared in this world, and all of them emerged during the Great Calamity a thousand years ago. Later generations called them the Seven Savior Holy Knights. They saved the entire world, but paid a terrible price for it. Two Holy Knights died in battle, while the other five suffered extremely serious, irreversible injuries. Not long after founding their nations, they too passed away one after another. My claim that Holy Knights can live for a thousand years is merely speculation. No one has ever verified whether it is true, because no Holy Knight has appeared again in later generations..."

This volume was just a transitional arc. It covered the protagonist learning some basic knowledge about this other world, introduced the theme of the next volume, and set up a long-term goal.