Scholar

Orn climbed down from the carriage and sat beside the campfire with Reilo.

Night had fallen completely.

"Reilo, is Lake Onyx Town the town by Demon Eagle Forest along this road?"

As Orn lowered his head and used a goose quill to calculate mysteries in his notebook, he chatted with Reilo. It seemed he too was leaving his hometown for the first time and was curious about the outside world, while several knights busied themselves around them.

It was clear that these knights were extremely strong.

Feeling somewhat restrained, this was Reilo's first time speaking with a noble at such close range.

"Yes. There are many hunters in Lake Onyx Town. Every year, they venture deep into Demon Eagle Forest to hunt, and many have died within it."

Reilo's words were full of reverence and fear for Demon Eagle Forest.

But Orn said, "I've long heard that Demon Eagle Forest, which spans the Grand Duchy and Xilan Duchy, contains an inexhaustible supply of high-level biological specimens. It's one of the Grand Natural Academy's most important specimen collection sites. I've always wanted to come see it, and today I finally did! This forest is truly huge. Even if we only cross its outer edge, it'll take us two days to reach Saint Grand Fort!"

Seeing Orn's fearless demeanor, Reilo hurriedly warned him, "Demon Eagle Forest is very dangerous. There are many powerful Magical Beasts and dangerous plants inside. Legends say that some evil Witchers are hiding there too."

Yet Orn appeared unconcerned.

Seemingly stumped by a problem in his notebook, Orn frowned and lowered his head in thought, not continuing the conversation.

After a moment of silence, Reilo turned toward Orn and cautiously asked, "What are you doing?"

Orn looked up at Reilo and proudly displayed his notebook, his face full of pride.

"I'm studying Mathematical Foundation. I'm a scholar researching Natural Law. If I want to earn a Natural Scholar degree from the Grand Natural Sciences Academy in three years, I need to use Mathematical Foundation to derive Natural Law and develop sufficiently powerful Natural Law scholarship. This is a field of knowledge I could devote my entire life to studying!"

Clearly, Orn took immense pride in being a scholar.

Unable to help himself, Reilo became even more curious about the profession of scholars.

Looking at the crooked calculation symbols and formulas in the notebook, Reilo asked curiously, "Does every scholar have to study these Mathematical Foundations?"

As if he had long expected Reilo to ask, Orn smiled even more happily.

"No. There are also scholars who study natural specimens, the mysteries of the human body, alchemical knowledge, and other disciplines. But one thing remains the same: in the realm of scholars, knowledge is power!"

Having said that, Orn raised his right hand.

In a blur, heat rippled from Orn's palm. A fireball the size of an infant's fist slowly rose into the air, floating in midair and even making a whooshing sound as it burned!

Feeling the scorching heat radiating from the fireball, watching it appear out of nothing before his eyes so vividly, so undeniably real and not an illusion, Reilo was dumbfounded with shock. Instinctively, he cried, "Magic!"

With a casual gesture, Orn extinguished the fireball and corrected him. "Only foolish people call it magic, believing it to be some unfathomable supernatural force. In the field of scholarly knowledge, this is merely the humblest manifestation of Natural Law, one of the lowest zero-level foundational disciplines: the Fireball Technique I derived through Mathematical Foundation."

Reilo's heart pounded. He had truly witnessed the legendary magic.

Seeing was believing. This world did not merely have gods; it also had real magic!

"Young master, the tent is ready."

In a short time, the four knights had cleared an open space and set up the tent. Seeing Reilo and Orn chatting so happily, the middle-aged knight leading them took out some exquisite cream bread and handed it to Reilo. Reilo immediately developed a favorable impression of this knight commander, who appeared to be nearly forty.

It seemed knights were not all so lofty and unapproachable.

As he tasted the cream bread, the fragrant, crisp cream melted in his mouth and slid down his throat along his tongue. It was a delicacy Reilo had never experienced before, and every taste bud in his body thrilled with excitement.

The female archer sat beside Orn and smiled at Reilo. "That was a real Fireball Technique just now. The young master mastered it entirely through self-study. Once he graduates from the Grand Natural Academy and receives the Academy's professional instruction, he'll master truly powerful magic. With a wave of his hand, he'll be able to destroy an entire fortress. Now you know how amazing the young master is, right?"

The female archer exaggerated as she spoke, but like Reilo, she clearly knew nothing about magic or so-called scholarship.

"Mhm, mhm!"

Reilo replied indistinctly as he chewed the cream bread.

Orn did not correct the female archer's use of the word magic again. To a scholar, it was simply meaningless behavior. He handed Reilo some more bread.

Only after Reilo had eaten his fill and displayed immense satisfaction did he realize his loss of composure. Ashamed, he said, "Thank you."

"Ha ha ha ha!"

The knights laughed heartily, easing much of Reilo's earlier restraint.

Every commoner instinctively held knights in awe. Now that Reilo finally had the chance to interact with real knights up close, he could not help asking the question in his heart.

"I always heard my father say that knights can cultivate Battle Qi. What exactly is Battle Qi?"

The knights who had been laughing at Reilo gradually stopped smiling. Including Orn, they all turned their gazes toward the lead knight.

The middle-aged knight chewed dried meat and calmly explained to the ignorant little boy before him, "Knights are also called Fighters. Just as scholars are divided into different ranks, knight cultivation has different ranks as well. Only upon reaching the rank of Charge Knight can one cultivate true Battle Qi. For lower-ranking knights, a strong body and sturdy armor are the powers more worthy of trust!"

Beside him, Orn added at the appropriate moment, "Apprentice, Official, Charge, Earth, and Sky—the five ranks of knights correspond to the five ranks of scholars: Academy Enlightenment, Natural, Esoteric, Transcendental, and Royal Academician. A Charge Knight is roughly equivalent to a scholar with an Esoteric degree."

"No."

The knight commander shook his head. "Generally speaking, a Fighter of the same rank finds it difficult to defeat a magic user of the same rank."

"Ah!"

Reilo realized how ignorant he had been.

"If I could become a Charge Knight in this lifetime, that would be wonderful. Heh heh."

The young knight in his early twenties gazed absentmindedly at the sizzling roasted meat over the campfire, a faint curve appearing on his lips as he lost himself in fantasy.

"Ha ha ha, a Charge Knight rejected three times by Lina!"

Another knight in his early twenties seemed to have brought up the man's embarrassing past, and the two immediately began roughhousing.

The female knight and the knight commander seemed long accustomed to this and merely smiled faintly. Orn, meanwhile, took out his notebook whenever he had a spare moment and continued studying his Mathematical Foundation. His diligence filled Reilo with admiration.

Despite having such privileged living conditions, he still worked so diligently. Not all nobles were as stingy and greedy as the Baron of Lake Onyx Town.

Still, it was no wonder the legendary magic users were so few. After all, nobles who did not know how to enjoy themselves were always a minority.

And so, Reilo spent an unforgettable night in Demon Eagle Forest with these noble knights.