Discovery

Sharp silver light flickered slowly, and vast Life Energy roared within it, gradually sublimating into wisps of battle aura.

Feeling the power before him—far more terrifying than Life Energy—the knight's face suddenly changed. "Impossible! You're a Great Knight!!!"

His eyes were filled with disbelief and fear. He could hardly believe what he was seeing.

An ordinary knight, no matter how talented, needed to wait until adulthood, when their body had fully developed, before training could bring their physical attributes up to the standard for becoming a knight.

Those who advanced to Knight Rank before adulthood were all absolute geniuses, like Arcadia, the North's greatest knight.

As for someone like Arthur, who had become a Great Knight at thirteen or fourteen, that was unheard of. Even taking his Half-elf blood into account, it was still utterly astonishing.

He was stunned, but Arthur's sword wouldn't stop for the sake of his feelings.

Specks of silver light shimmered across the black blade as streaks of sword energy appeared, carrying immense battle aura.

In an instant, the world several meters before Arthur turned silver. Battle aura rampaged through it, and terrifying power struck everyone in front of him.

Silver Radiance!!

Arthur unleashed his Knight Secret Skill, revealing its power for the first time.

Bang!!!

The clear, heavy sounds of bodies hitting the ground rang in Arthur's ears.

By then, no one was still standing before him. The sweep of his earlier strike had sent them all flying, and every one of them lay on the ground.

This was the first time he had used the move in actual combat since devising it. Judging by what he saw, its power was excellent.

Against this move, an ordinary knight—even a formidable knight at the peak of Knight Rank—would be doomed to die or suffer grievous injury if they failed to dodge in time and were so much as grazed.

Its power had increased considerably, but its cost had risen accordingly.

Arthur stood still and assessed his condition.

If he went all out, the Life Energy in his body would sustain at most five or six uses. After that, his strength would run low, weakening the move and keeping it from reaching its peak.

Still, that was enough.

Knight Secret Skills had been developed specifically as knights' killing moves. They had never been intended for ordinary use.

With that thought, he turned and walked ahead.

Bodies lay scattered before him, all motionless. They looked thoroughly dead.

Some of the warriors grazed by his Knight Secret Skill had fared even worse. Sharp battle aura had cut through their bodies, nearly splitting them in two.

Looking over the corpses, Arthur went straight to the farthest one, where the green-armored knight had fallen.

The knight in pale green leather armor lay motionless on the ground. Several deep cracks in his armor extended into his body.

Arthur frowned at the corpse.

The knight had been at the center of his attack, but Arthur hadn't used much force against him. Given the man's physical strength as a knight, he shouldn't have died so quickly.

"Poison?"

He crouched down and examined the man's body. After the Chip in his mind conducted a detailed scan and analysis, he reached that conclusion.

Arthur shook his head at the sight.

He had spared the man, hoping to get some information out of him. He hadn't expected him to be so resolute, taking his own life outright.

Now there were no survivors left. There was no way to question them for information.

All he could do was crouch down and search the bodies, whose Life Energy had faded, to see if he could find anything that might offer a clue.

Arthur didn't mind the filth. He searched the bloodstained corpses and gathered whatever he found into one pile.

"People from another kingdom?" Arthur murmured as he examined the things before him a while later.

Before him lay a large pile of gold and silver coins. Many of them looked different from the coins of the Kingdom of Arius.

This world was vast, and every country issued its own currency. Most used the gold or silver standard, but the specifics still varied from one country to another.

The currency of the Kingdom of Arius bore a seven-petaled flower and vines, the crest of the Arius royal family, symbolizing its rule over the kingdom.

These coins were different. Some bore the image of a great bear, while others showed an eagle in flight. Their weights also varied.

"Some of these look like the coins from the northern kingdoms." After examining them closely, Arthur reached that conclusion.

The designs on coins were usually a king's family crest or the likeness of a founding king, so they were easy to identify.

During his time at Count Polia's castle, he had read many books. Some were devoted to the study of noble heraldry, recording the crests of notable nobles and kings from all the surrounding lands.

With that thought, he looked to one side and took two heraldic badges from the pile of miscellaneous items.

They were noble badges. Arthur had one of his own, a symbol of his noble status.

He had found these two badges on the knights, confirming that they were noble knights.

Arthur wasn't surprised by this at all.

Knight training and cultivation were beyond the means of ordinary people.

Quite apart from the innate limitations of knightly talent, Knight Breathing Techniques were closely guarded secrets that ordinary people could never obtain, to say nothing of all the other requirements.

Even among nobles, only families with ancient lineages and illustrious ancestors could possess a Knight Breathing Technique.

"Purple Gold Flowers and the Mannerla Snake. These nobles are from the Kingdom of Bode."

After carefully inspecting the two badges, the Chip in Arthur's mind quickly analyzed and compared them, giving him the answer. Some of the confusion in his mind immediately cleared.

At that moment, his various questions formed a clear thread. Although many details remained unclear, he could now make a reasonable guess about the situation.

With that thought, he stood and glanced around.

Aside from some gold and silver coins, the items he had collected included a few valuable trinkets.

The armor and weapons worn by the warriors were somewhat damaged, but they could still fetch a handsome price if sold.

The armor and longswords worn by the two knights were particularly fine Quality Work. Each one alone could be worth several years of income from an ordinary knight's estate.

After a moment's thought, Arthur picked up the two longswords and stowed them on his horse. Then he mounted and galloped away.

He chose not to return to his original camp. If his guess was right, the camp had already become a graveyard, and most of the people there would likely be purged.

Arthur rode straight toward Count Polia's castle, never once slowing along the way.