Talent and Training

"Little one, I have to say, your Talent really is perfect for becoming a Knight." As Parr set down the large pack and gnawed on jerky and bread, John, who had finished eating quickly, suddenly said this.

"Hm?"

After freezing for a moment, Parr asked unclearly through his mouthful of food, "Uncle John, I heard you mention Talents last time, and that Black-Robed Man mentioned them too. Are Talents rare?"

Parr, who had gained two Talents in such a short time and could even level them up, simply did not understand.

"Of course! You lucky little brat, of course Talents are rare." John rolled his eyes. Parr's question gave him the urge to play teacher, so he decided to explain what Talents were.

"Little one, remember this. Talents..."

Talents were abilities bestowed by the heavens. Regardless of whether they were strong or weak, any living creature in this world might awaken a Talent of its own—even insignificant little chickens.

Talents came in all strengths. Powerful Talents could even allow someone to fight opponents above their level.

That was why Talents were rare—extremely rare. A professional with a Talent was someone everyone rushed to recruit and befriend. Of course, that was assuming they could grow stronger.

But that did not mean someone born without a Talent would never have one for the rest of their life. During the course of growing up, they might awaken a Talent without even realizing it. That depended on luck.

There was one method that did not rely on luck: plundering the Talents of Magic Beasts.

As mentioned above, any creature could awaken a Talent of its own, and Magic Beasts were naturally no exception. When a Knight Apprentice broke through to become a Bronze-level Knight, they needed a potion made from the Magic Crystal and Heart Blood of a Bronze-level Magic Beast. During this process, if that Bronze-level Magic Beast possessed a Talent, then the Knight who used it to break through to Bronze-level had a chance of inheriting that Magic Beast's Talent.

Thus, Bronze-level Magic Beasts with Talents were incredibly valuable—so valuable that they were practically impossible to buy. Once one appeared and was discovered, no matter how dangerous the location, people blinded by profit would swarm over to hunt and kill it.

"So that's how it is." Parr nodded in understanding, clearing up another doubt in his heart.

"Little one."

After Parr had digested the information, John's casual expression disappeared. With a solemn look, he raised a hand and pressed it onto Parr's shoulder. When Parr looked up at him, John met his eyes and gave him a very important warning.

"Little one, now that you know what Talents are, there's something every Talent Holder must know: never tell anyone the details of your Talent. Not even the people closest to you. Even if someone has roughly guessed what your Talent is, you must never personally reveal exactly what it is."

"Why?"

Parr had to ask that, since he was currently a ten-year-old brat.

John was not surprised. He continued, "Because this concerns a Talent Holder's life and safety. When adventurers travel outside, they must keep something in reserve to deal with dangers that could arise at any moment. Other people have to prepare their own trump cards, but a Talent Holder's final trump card is their Talent. Naturally, they can't tell anyone about it."

"Is that so? I understand."

Parr nodded to show that he understood, then changed the subject and asked tentatively, "Uncle John, you're a Talent Holder too, right? Otherwise, how would you know so much?"

"Hehehe."

John smiled, then...

"Guess!"

Guess whether I'll guess? Parr nearly blurted it out, but swallowed the words in the end. He said nothing more and continued gnawing on his bread in silence.

The pair, one large and one small, sat on the grassy ground in the woods and rested for a while after finishing their food. Just as the warm sunlight was making Parr drowsy, John's voice reached his ears.

"Little one, have you rested enough?"

"Oh! Yes."

Parr shook his head and got up, about to shoulder the large pack.

"Wait. We're not leaving yet."

John stopped Parr. He patted himself off and climbed to his feet, then drew his Dark Knight One-Handed Sword and faced Parr.

"Little one, there's no rush to leave. Let me test your current strength first so I can make a training plan for the coming period."

"How?"

Parr became serious and grabbed his Black Short Sword.

"Come on! Attack me with all your strength."

John casually held the hilt of the Dark Knight One-Handed Sword and told Parr to attack him.

"Alright."

Parr nodded. He knew he could not possibly hurt John right now, so he did not hold back. He immediately used the max-level Wind Wolf Basic Swordsmanship, though he did not use the Triple Strike effect since that consumed too much Stamina.

"Upward Flick!"

Clang...

Just as Parr had expected, John easily blocked the attack. The black blade struck the dark blade, and as the sound of clashing metal rang out, a long spray of sparks burst forth.

"Whoa!"

Though it had been easy, John still let out an odd cry. He looked at Parr as if he were looking at some little monster, then forcefully knocked aside Parr's Black Short Sword. After returning to his previous stance, he shouted, "Again!"

"Whew..."

Parr took a deep breath, sheathed his Black Short Sword, gathered a little strength, and launched another sword-drawing attack.

"Upward Flick!"

Clang...

The sound of metal clashing rang out again. Amid the scattering sparks, John gave a forceful push, sending the exhausted Parr plopping down onto the ground.

"Remarkable! Little one, truly remarkable!" John reached out and pulled Parr up. There was three parts surprise and seven parts admiration in his gaze.

"Little one, your basic Sword Drawing Technique has risen another level compared to a few days ago! That was truly unexpected."

"Hehehe..."

Parr patted the dirt off himself and stood up. He did not answer, only smiled.

"..."

John stroked his chin and slowly paced back and forth, thinking about how to teach Parr.

"Hm?"

Suddenly, John caught sight of a gray shadow in the grass from the corner of his eye. He froze for a moment, then smiled.

"I've got it!"

"Little one."

John walked back in front of Parr. Parr, who was using the Wind Wolf Basic Breathing Technique to recover his Stamina, opened his large black eyes and looked up at John.

"Uncle John, what is it?"

"Look over there."

John raised a hand and pointed toward the grass. Parr followed his gesture. Even when Bright Eyes was not activated, it still made Parr's vision clearer, so he spotted that patch of discordant gray amid the green grass.

"Uncle John, do you mean that gray thing?"

"Mm."

John nodded, lowered his arm, and patted Parr's shoulder as he instructed him.

"Parr, you've just advanced to an Elementary Knight Apprentice, and there's still some distance before the next stage. During this time, you need to adapt to your own strength. But it's not enough to merely adapt to your strength. Strength does not represent everything. Besides strength, we Knights also need keen observation, swift reflexes, and proficient combat skills. What I'm about to have you do is meant to train your reflexes."

"Mm-hm, mm-hm, mm-hm."

Parr nodded repeatedly without objection. His Status Panel was far too simple. It did not even provide specific values for strength, speed, reflexes, and the like; it only gave him the vaguely defined Stamina and Mental Power. Strength was easy enough—he only needed to level up. But the other three things John had mentioned were exactly what Parr lacked right now.

"Good."

Looking at Parr's serious little face, John suppressed a smile and explained the training for reflexes. "Little one, that thing over there is a Stupid Rabbit, one of the most common small animals in the wild grasslands. Your reflex training is to catch it. Catch it barehanded, understand?"

"Mm."

Parr recalled what he knew about Stupid Rabbits and nodded confidently. Although he had never caught one himself, the Haystack Village Hunting Team brought back more than a dozen every time they entered the forest.

When Parr had been younger, he had once asked Old Man Jack whether Stupid Rabbits were easy to catch. Old Man Jack had casually said they were extremely easy to catch—the sort that could be grabbed with a flick of the hand.

Coming back to himself, Parr swallowed again. In his previous life, he had loved rabbits, especially braised ones and spicy ones. They were delicious!

Thus, Parr set off full of confidence. Tonight, he was going to eat roasted rabbit! "Hahaha."

John watched Parr's retreating figure and laughed, then sat down directly on the ground and leisurely watched what Parr would do next, as though he were watching a show.

"Stupid Rabbits aren't easy to catch, especially for someone who has never caught one before. And they'll even..."

Stupid Rabbits were one of the most common small animals in the wild. Their bodies were entirely gray, and they had a pair of long ears as long as their bodies. They liked eating fresh young grass, so they often appeared in grassy areas.

When a Stupid Rabbit ate grass, it held its long ears upright to listen to the slightest movement around it and guard against predators. Yet those ears also pointed predators in its direction.

However, when it discovered a predator, a Stupid Rabbit would not run away immediately. That was how it got its name.

Rustle, rustle...

Predator Parr stepped lightly across the grass, slowly approaching the Stupid Rabbit, which seemed completely unaware and continued munching on grass with its head lowered. When he judged the distance suitable, he kicked off hard with both legs and pounced, both hands reaching straight for the Stupid Rabbit's long ears.

However, Stupid Rabbits had not survived without going extinct because they were truly stupid. They had their own way of survival. Those long ears were bait—bait meant to lure predators into grabbing them.

Just as Parr was about to succeed, the Stupid Rabbit's long ears suddenly folded down against its back. Then it kicked off with its hind legs and jumped more than two meters into the air, dodging Parr's pounce.

But it was not over yet. As the Stupid Rabbit fell from the air, a red gleam seemed to flash through its crimson eyes. It lowered its head to look at Parr, the predator sprawled on the ground below, twisted its body, adjusted its descent slightly, and fell straight toward Parr's head.

Bang! Parr had returned empty-handed. Just as he was about to push himself up from the ground, the Stupid Rabbit stomped on his head and pressed him back down. This time, he got a mouthful of grass.

Squeak! Squeak!

The Stupid Rabbit let out two cries that sounded almost like laughter. After stepping on Parr's head, it jumped back into the grass, hopped a few times to put some distance between them, then continued eating grass.

"Ptooey! Ptooey! You... damned rabbit!"

Parr climbed up with a dark expression. Seeing the Stupid Rabbit calmly munching grass not far away, he felt deeply insulted. In his previous life, he had been a veritable destroyer of rabbit heads. He swore that he would catch this rabbit today and sentence it to the harshest punishment!...