Command

Standing where he was, feeling the flood of information continuously pouring into his mind, Arthur rubbed his forehead.

"Activate simulation mode."

After a while, when the pressure in his head had eased slightly, he issued the command to the Chip in his mind.

In an instant, a massive stream of information appeared before him.

In an empty space, a model of Arthur's body took shape, holding a longsword.

He swung the sword forward. The powerful battle energy within him surged out, erupting in an instant and enveloping the area several meters ahead, transforming it into a silver world.

This was only a simulation inside his mind.

With the Chip's immense computational power, it could fully simulate the effects of the secret skill and then transmit them to his mind.

Another massive stream of information flooded into his mind, containing countless simulated movements, all transmitted to Arthur with perfect accuracy.

Sensing the secret skill simulated by the Chip, Arthur nodded slightly. "Not bad. Its power and stability have both at least doubled. It should be usable even at the Great Knight level."

"I'll use the original Knight Secret Skill as its foundation, then add that explosive effect. I'll call it Silver Radiance."

Thinking of the silver battle energy bursting outward like an explosion, he gave it a name.

He stood there thinking for a moment, then opened the door and walked outside.

He made his way to an empty lot. As far as he could see, there was no one else around.

Arthur had stumbled across this place by chance. Few people ever came here, making it far more suitable for his practice than the training grounds shared by the Knight Apprentices.

He drew his sword and began the movements, following the instructions transmitted by the Chip.

As Arthur moved, the Life Energy within him began to flow, gradually gathering around his body and condensing into a unified whole.

When it reached its limit, Arthur swung the sword in his hand viciously at a boulder in front of him.

A faint radiance appeared before him. Driven by the Life Seed, the Life Energy in his body began to solidify, transforming into even more powerful battle energy that surged outward.

Silver Radiance erupted in a fierce forward slash, instantly covering the two or three meters in front of Arthur.

Crack! Crack!

The boulder in front of Arthur seemed to bear immense pressure in an instant. Driven by the battle energy, one sword mark after another appeared across its surface.

At the center, where Arthur's sword had thrust, a huge crater appeared. More than a dozen sword marks surrounded it, each one deep.

"Estimated deviation: 41.5%." The Chip's mechanical voice sounded in his mind.

Arthur wasn't surprised.

Although he had simulated the technique in his mind countless times with the Chip and knew every movement by heart, that didn't mean his body could keep up with the same rhythm.

Being able to perform it at all on his first attempt was already good.

"Replay the footage. Identify incorrect movements!"

Standing where he was, he issued the command to the Chip in his mind.

In an instant, streams of information appeared in his mind, and the footage began to replay.

Each of his incorrect movements was highlighted in the replay and slowed down many times over, allowing Arthur to examine them at his leisure.

After several replays, the streams of information in Arthur's mind gradually faded.

He raised his sword again and stepped forward. Having reviewed his earlier mistakes, he repeated the process of using the secret skill and continued practicing.

Another month passed in the blink of an eye.

During this time, the effects of Arcadia's return with the Black Knight Order began to show.

The many bandits and scattered Orcs that had once roamed the Northern Lands disappeared in droves, as if they had retreated out of fear of the Northern Lands' strongest knight.

The region's once dire security situation improved noticeably, allowing nobles both great and small throughout the Northern Lands to breathe a sigh of relief.

Arcadia's reputation soared as a result. His title as the Northern Lands' strongest knight took root in people's minds, winning the attention and support of the surrounding nobles and knights. Some even believed that Arcadia's abilities as the strongest knight surpassed those of Count Polia.

A new saying spread throughout the Northern Lands: as long as Arcadia remained there, the region would never fall into turmoil. Many minor nobles who had previously suffered at the hands of bandits and Orcs embraced the idea.

"Arthur, there's an order for you." A familiar voice suddenly rang out in the distance.

Standing on the training grounds, Arthur heard the familiar voice and turned around.

Edward was approaching from afar.

He wore a tight black outfit and was drenched in sweat. He ran toward Arthur.

Edward hadn't been sent away during this time. He had stayed in the castle and would come by now and then to visit Arthur, his friend.

"What's going on?" Arthur turned to face Edward as he hurried over, lowered the longsword in his hand, and asked.

"I'm not entirely sure yet." Edward reached him and shook his head. "The order just came down. I only just heard about it myself."

"Apparently, people everywhere are cracking down on the bandits and Orcs in their areas, so Father is planning to send you out as well."

Edward shrugged. "You know how chaotic things were recently. The nobles around here have been frightened by those bandits."

"That's true."

Arthur smiled at him and nodded.

It was a fairly routine assignment.

As a knight, he had led groups to wipe out seven or eight gangs of bandits and marauders over the past few months. It was nothing unusual.

After thinking for a moment, he looked at Edward and asked, "What's the mission this time? Why did you have to come tell me in person?"

"Apparently, a particularly powerful bandit gang has been discovered. They're strong enough that they'll need people sent to wipe them out."

Edward looked at Arthur. "It's not just you, either. I heard several other knights from the castle have been assigned to the mission as well. They'll be going with you."

"But I don't know the details. I never paid much attention to this kind of thing before; I only asked around casually."

Edward shook his head as he spoke.

"Several knights are needed to take them on?"

Hearing Edward's words, Arthur frowned without thinking.

Knights were powerful. Even an ordinary knight, fully armed and armored, could single-handedly crush a small bandit gang.

The fact that several knights were being sent out showed just how dangerous the target was. They were certainly stronger than the rabble Arthur had faced before.

Thinking this over, Arthur shook his head. After standing there for a while, he looked at his own attributes.

"Name: Arthur Falkus. Strength: 8.3. Agility: 8.2. Constitution: 8.5."

Over the past month, Arthur's strength had improved considerably.

His physical abilities now surpassed those of Arcadia, the Northern Lands' strongest knight.

Physical attributes didn't represent a person's full strength, of course, but under normal circumstances, the one with greater physical power undoubtedly had the advantage.

That was what gave Arthur confidence.

With strength like his, he could ignore most dangers. Even if an army came after him, as long as he avoided a direct confrontation, he could still escape. He had no trouble protecting himself.