Consulting the Library

The morning sun shone over the surrounding land.

On the familiar training ground, Arthur stood alone, holding a practice longsword.

Recently, all sorts of incidents had occurred in various places. As a result, the Rookie Knights who had trained here had all been sent out. Those who remained either had other duties or were gravely injured. So, on the vast training ground, there wasn't another soul besides Arthur.

There had once been servants attending to him nearby, but Arthur had no need of them and had sent them away long ago.

Standing on the training ground, Arthur had just finished training. Sweat covered him, soaking through his clothes.

He stood there quietly, wiping away the sweat with a piece of linen. Feeling the changes in his body, he couldn't help frowning.

"Just as I thought. After activating the Life Seed, the Knight Breathing Technique is practically useless."

After using the Chip to assess the results of his training, Arthur sighed helplessly.

The Knight Breathing Technique mainly stimulated the Life Seed. By repeatedly stimulating the body and the Life Seed, it brought forth Life Energy and activated the Life Seed.

But once the Life Seed had been successfully activated, the effect of this stimulation weakened considerably. It was practically useless.

Of course, prolonged training could still produce some results over time, but progress at that rate was measured in years. It had become far too slow for Arthur to accept.

According to the Chip's assessment of his body, even with the Arthur Breathing Technique—which he had improved several times—he would need at least a year to increase any of his attributes through training.

Thinking of this, he shook his head, feeling helpless, while a trace of doubt rose in his mind.

"If the Knight Breathing Technique becomes useless after advancing to knighthood, then how did those supposedly powerful knights reach such heights?"

Arthur looked at his attributes.

"Name: Arthur Falkus. Strength: 3.8. Agility: 3.7. Constitution: 3.8."

Compared to before, his attributes were now undoubtedly much more impressive after activating the Life Seed.

After the Life Seed was activated, the Life Energy it released within the body gradually improved the knight's physique, rapidly increasing their physical capabilities in a short time.

From Arthur's observations, this process was actually an adjustment to the body's structure. As the Life Seed awakened, life itself underwent a change. The body's structure became more complete and was finely optimized.

Once this fine-tuning of the body's structure was complete, the explosive growth in physical ability would stop. Moreover, because the body had become stronger, the benefits of further training would diminish.

Arthur had almost passed this period of rapid growth. From now on, his rate of improvement would be as slow as that of other knights.

"There must be another way."

The thought crossed his mind. Arthur stood still for a moment, then returned the practice sword to the weapon rack and left the training ground, heading in a certain direction.

Arthur remembered that there was a room in the castle specifically set aside for books.

He planned to try his luck there and see if he could find anything useful.

After walking for a long while, he passed servants who bowed respectfully to him, their faces full of awe.

This was one of the results of his changed status.

Since his return, word of Arthur's advancement to knighthood had spread. In a short time, almost everyone in the castle had heard about it.

Knights held high status in this era. They were not only symbols of prestige, but also powerful figures capable of protecting the peace of an entire region. Becoming a knight was practically the ultimate dream of every commoner in this world.

Furthermore, advancing to knighthood meant that Arthur's status had changed.

As a knight, he would be respected in any country and naturally enjoy the same status as the nobility. In this world, he could even kill someone without facing legal consequences. It was no wonder people held him in awe.

Ignoring the gazes around him, Arthur walked on with a calm expression until he reached his destination.

It was a very large room, guarded by two sentries at the entrance. When they saw Arthur approach, they immediately straightened up.

"I'd like to go in. Here's my proof of identity."

Arthur took a badge bearing his family crest from his waist. It was proof of his noble status.

"My lord, there's no need for that." The sentry looked at Arthur with a respectful expression. "Someone of your standing can go in whenever you like, as long as you don't take anything out."

Arthur paused at his words, but said nothing. He simply nodded. "Thank you."

The door opened soon afterward. Arthur looked inside, quietly taking in the room's layout.

There were many books in the collection. A great number looked ancient, yet they had been very well preserved. Not a speck of dust lay on them, and it seemed someone came by regularly to maintain them.

That was only natural. In this world, books were precious, and only nobles had collections. If this hadn't been Count Polia's castle, there would never have been so many books here.

Looking around the room, which resembled a small library, Arthur walked over and examined the books.

They clearly came from different periods. Most seemed to be rare handwritten copies. They had been recorded on various materials: some on animal hide, some on parchment, and others on rough paper.

Arthur picked up a book at random, opened it, and began to read.

It was a poem praising a great war, apparently fought in this region long ago.

Ninety-nine percent of the book consisted of what seemed to Arthur like pointless rambling and praise. Very little of it actually described what had happened, leaving him speechless.

"Chip, record the information in this book. Remove the redundant material, then transmit the rest directly to me."

After quickly reading the entire book, Arthur gave the order to the Chip, his expression calm.

Before long, a great deal of information appeared in Arthur's mind, etched into his memory as if he had recited it countless times.

This was one of the Chip's functions: it could help Arthur quickly memorize large amounts of information and organize it for him.

With the Chip's assistance, Arthur's reading speed increased dramatically.

He flipped through the books one after another, having the Chip record their contents and transmit them directly into his mind.

This was undoubtedly much more efficient than ordinary reading and memorization. Arthur quickly got through one book after another.

After an unknown amount of time, he picked up a biography. When he saw its contents, his eyes lit up.

It was the autobiography of a powerful knight from the past. It recorded the knight's life, along with various noteworthy secrets, all written down by the knight himself.

Arthur was eager to read what it contained.

"...A knight is the title given to a powerful person who has awakened their Life Seed... To become a knight, one must have the talent to awaken the Life Seed... This talent is rare among commoners..."

"A knight's talent can be passed down to their descendants... That is why people with this talent are more likely to be born into noble families..."

With the Chip's help, Arthur quickly finished reading the book, its contents firmly fixed in his memory.

This biography had indeed given him some answers.

"So, after awakening the Life Seed, the only way for a knight to continue improving is through constant battle?"

Arthur muttered to himself in confusion as he processed the information in his mind.

The knight who had written the autobiography seemed to have been powerful and well-traveled. In his biography, he had described all sorts of knightly traits, including the path that followed the awakening of the Life Seed and the power that lay beyond knighthood.

According to the knight, once someone awakened their Life Seed and advanced to knighthood, the Knight Breathing Technique became practically useless. To progress further, they had to fight constantly.

In high-intensity battles to the death, a knight's potential would be drawn out. The Life Energy in their body would gradually grow stronger, bringing further improvements to their physique.

According to the book, the knight who had written the autobiography had fought countless battles. By the time he was around forty, he had already come close to the limits of knighthood and was on the verge of becoming a Great Knight.

Unfortunately, the autobiography ended there, and its account of Great Knights was not detailed.

Thump!

Arthur quietly closed the book and returned it to its place. Then he pulled out the next one, hoping to find more useful information.

Unfortunately, it seemed he had run out of luck. The books he found next were either poems or miscellaneous notes, containing little of use—just pages upon pages of rambling.

After an unknown amount of time, it was nearly noon, and only half the books remained unread.

He had managed to read that much with the Chip's assistance. If word of it got out, it would astonish everyone.

Arthur rubbed his slightly aching head and walked farther in, picking up another book to continue reading.

Arthur spent the entire day there, continuing until he had gone through every book in the room. Only then did he leave and return to rest.

Despite the Chip's assistance, the sudden influx of so much information had left Arthur feeling unwell. His head ached.

He went back and rested for a while, and the discomfort gradually eased.