Training

"The effects of the Agave are nearly at their limit. I have to find new materials to replace it as soon as possible."

Arthur swallowed the golden petals that had been steeped in hot water. He felt a warm current slowly flow through his body before quickly fading away. He frowned helplessly.

After more than half a month of recuperation, he no longer needed a cane to walk. He opened the door and headed out.

After walking for a while, Arthur arrived at the familiar training ground, where several people were currently training.

"Arthur, you're here again?" A voice rang out from the training ground opposite him. Several apprentices spotted Arthur from afar and greeted him.

"Yeah!" Arthur wore a gentle, shy smile. He looked just like an ordinary young boy, greeting the Knight Apprentices with a hint of bashfulness.

During his recovery, Arthur had not been entirely idle. Apart from sending people to purchase those materials in the wilderness, he often came to this training ground to observe. After spending this time together, he had become somewhat familiar with the other apprentices.

To be honest, Arthur's own circumstances were excellent. His father was the landed Baron of the area and a relative of Count Polia, giving him considerable prestige nearby. As the Baron's only heir and a renowned knight prodigy in this region, Arthur had a high chance of becoming a knight in the future. With such outstanding qualifications, there was naturally no shortage of people hoping to ingratiate themselves with him.

The Knight Apprentices before him were not quite so excessive, but they still held a certain degree of respect and awe toward Arthur, and generally treated him with goodwill.

Arthur's own attitude was also quite good. With the appearance of a thirteen- or fourteen-year-old boy and all the prestige surrounding him, all he needed was to take a little initiative and show a friendly attitude.

After greeting the apprentices before him, Arthur gradually shifted his gaze toward a young man in the corner.

That was Dier. He wore a set of black training clothes and held a greatsword in his hands, swinging it with all his might. Sharp, urgent gusts of sword wind rose around him, making him look powerful and imposing.

After observing him for some time, Arthur had found that this man was almost certainly the one with the highest physical qualities among the apprentices besides himself. Even if Arthur fully recovered, he would only be evenly matched with him.

Arthur quietly watched the others train for a while, remaining silent before shifting his attention elsewhere.

In his mind, streams of data flickered from time to time.

"Task One: Knight Breathing Technique optimization in progress. Remaining time: eighty-seven hours..."

As the Chip's assigned task progressed, the remaining time ticked down second by second, steady and slow.

During this period, Arthur came to this training ground every day to observe the others. The Chip had reverse-engineered part of nearly every person's Knight Breathing Technique, using them as foundational data for deduction and analysis.

"More than three days left?" Seeing the progress, Arthur's eyes grew eager as he thought, Perfect. In three days, my injuries should be almost healed. Then I can try practicing it.

At that thought, a trace of urgency rose in his heart. As he watched everyone training on the field, his gaze became increasingly fervent.

The current situation was becoming more and more dangerous.

According to the information Arthur had deliberately gathered recently, the war on the front lines was growing increasingly intense. Every day, large numbers of wounded were transported back from the front, and there were even faint rumors that true Knight Level experts had fallen in battle.

This series of reports instinctively made Arthur uneasy, making him even more anxious to regain his strength.

He looked at the people training before him and forcibly suppressed the urgency in his heart, calming himself once more.

"Not yet. My body hasn't fully recovered. If I force myself to train, I might leave behind hidden injuries."

With that thought flashing through his mind, he glanced at the others, greeted the people he knew nearby, and left.

Three days later.

Early in the morning, Arthur changed into a loose black robe and stood in the spacious training ground, quietly watching the progress bar in his mind steadily shrink.

"Ding! Knight Breathing Technique deduction complete!" The Chip's mechanical voice rang out in his mind. At that moment, it sounded exceptionally pleasant to Arthur.

A faint buzzing suddenly sounded in his mind as a massive amount of information flooded in, deeply imprinting itself upon Arthur's memories.

He clutched his head, then shook it forcefully. He stood there in a daze for a minute or two before recovering.

The deduced Knight Breathing Technique differed greatly from the original. Not only did it contain much more material, but it also corrected many unreasonable aspects of the original, making its training effects considerably stronger.

Practicing this new knight training method could reduce the chance of hidden injuries from training to the lowest possible level. Many movements that would have caused muscle strains and affected training had also been revised and refined by the Chip.

"Chip, name this new breathing technique the Arthur Breathing Technique."

Feeling the contents of this breathing technique, Arthur unceremoniously named it after himself.

"Designation complete!" In an instant, the Chip's mechanical, rigid voice sounded in his mind.

Arthur looked around, took a longsword from the weapon rack behind him, and began swinging it according to the movements in his memory.

His mind contained the specific movements of this Knight Breathing Technique, along with visual reference material simulated and constructed based on his body. These had been transmitted together during the Chip's earlier transfer.

With the images in his mind, even without someone personally guiding him at the beginning, Arthur could train on his own.

"Arm movement incorrect. Three centimeters to the right of the projected movement."

Arthur slashed with his right hand, and the Chip's voice immediately sounded in his mind, pointing out his incorrect movement.

This was one of the advantages of having the Chip. Other people needed experienced elders to teach them step by step, carefully learning every movement to avoid developing bad habits. Arthur had the Chip; whenever an error appeared, he could immediately discover and correct it. His efficiency far surpassed that of others.

For something like the Knight Breathing Technique, which required internal bodily processes and external movements to coordinate, even the most experienced teacher could not possibly catch every error in time. There would always be some omissions, gradually leading to incorrect movements.

Once that happened, accumulated over time, those errors could develop into hidden injuries and create dangers for the body.

Arthur had no such problem at all.

After several sets of movements, with the Chip's constant prompts and repeated corrections, Arthur finally managed to complete a full set accurately.

His entire body was drenched in sweat. His handsome face was soaked through, sweat slowly dripping from it.

"Arthur Breathing Technique practice complete. Completing it one hundred times will increase Strength by 0.1, Agility by 0.2, and Constitution by 0.2." The Chip's prompt sounded in his mind.

"That much of an increase?" Arthur was somewhat surprised.

Arthur had previously used the Chip to simulate the ultimate effects of the original Knight Breathing Technique. The final result showed that it would take over a thousand repetitions to raise Agility by 0.1 and improve the other attributes by only a negligible amount. It could not compare to the current results at all.

He could not help but think, At this rate, I should be able to reach Knight Level very soon, right?

"The first practice of a Knight Breathing Technique produces the most noticeable effect. Thereafter, as the body gradually adapts and the muscles in all areas strengthen, the effects will continuously weaken..."

In an instant, the Chip's mechanical voice sounded in his mind, refuting his assumption.

"All right." Arthur shook his head helplessly, then began calculating again.

"Even if I complete one round of the breathing technique's movements correctly as fast as possible, it will take half an hour. One hundred repetitions means at least fifty hours of training."

He calculated the number in an instant. Then his spirits rose, and he picked up the sword beside him to begin training once more.

He did not know how long he trained. As Arthur practiced again and again, guided by the Chip's constant prompts, his incorrect movements steadily decreased, and his training speed became faster and faster.

Once the sun had risen, a sturdy young man dressed in black robes approached from afar. He came to the training ground to train, but when he saw Arthur's figure, surprise appeared on his face. "Arthur, have your injuries healed already? Is it really all right to start training again so soon?"

Hearing the voice, Arthur stopped training and turned around, discovering that it was Dier.

A gentle smile instantly appeared on Arthur's face as he looked at Dier. "My injuries feel almost healed, so I came over early to give it a try. I didn't expect to run into you as soon as I started."

"Of course." Dier smiled in reply, his grin more hearty and forthright than Arthur's. "I'm always the first one here every day. I didn't expect to meet someone earlier than me today."

After chatting for a while, Dier walked by himself to a corner not far from Arthur and resumed his arduous training.

Watching the other man's hardworking appearance, Arthur silently sighed. Sure enough, anyone extraordinary in this world must possess something extraordinary.

With that thought, his grip on the sword tightened. Ignoring the sweat soaking his body, he began another round of training.

As he continued training, time gradually passed. Several Knight Apprentices arrived at the spacious training ground, and all looked somewhat surprised when they saw Arthur.

Arthur smiled and greeted them as well, then continued training, letting sweat stream continuously down his body.