Apologies for the late update today, something came up at home

The old man grumbled for a while, but finding it rather pointless, he shut his mouth. He picked up his wine and plopped down beside the campfire that had just been lit.

"Tarik, what's the situation now? Why haven't my boys come over? They really have no conscience."

"Forget it, old man. It's not that they lack a conscience; they simply can't get away. Granny Karom is still blocking your front door. It looks like she's determined to keep watch over you—if you dare to go back, she'll make you pay. Your family is there trying to talk her down, but I don't think it's working. You'd better stay out here for a while longer."

"Damn it!!! This is bullying! To think I'm being barred from my own home. If they push me too far, I'll just..." He trailed off, unable to come up with a real threat.

Consequently, the old man successfully earned everyone's contempt.

Seeing the looks around him, the old man immediately grew embarrassed and angry, then turned to spitefully threaten the innocent bystanders.

"Damn it, I can't do anything to her, fine! But I can beat you lot. If you keep looking at me like that, I'll thrash you."

"..." The others silently lowered their heads, cursing inwardly that they had never seen such a thick-skinned, shameless person.

Although Arando also despised his old friend, he stepped in to liven up the atmosphere; otherwise, the night would be far too boring. He began chatting with the others. Arando was a worldly-wise underworld boss, so with his witty remarks, the atmosphere was quickly stirred up.

Seeing the group having such a lively time, the old man couldn't be bothered to act cool anymore and joined in. He began recounting his youthful adventures with Arando like a myth to this group of sheltered bumpkins, leaving the warriors listening with boiling blood.

And so, the two old men spent three days idling away, drinking and bragging with their subordinates who snuck over like spies to meet them.

Finally, hearing from Tarik that Granny Karom had finally shown a smile after being persuaded by the others and Solam, Kramsh and Arando felt the time was right and braced themselves to head home.

Just as Kramsh had expected, the moment they returned, Granny Karom pounced on them. She gave them both a sound thrashing before even asking for an explanation.

The two bruised and battered old men then recounted the whole story to the old lady. After listening, while she still thought it was nonsense, it didn't violate tradition, and it was about repaying a debt of gratitude for her own grandfather. In Avalon, such things could never be called wrong. The old lady finally warned them that they were not to lure Solam into abandoning the path of the Shaman, or it wouldn't just be a beating that settled the matter.

Thus, after much hardship, Solam was finally able to become an Arcane Knight.

Arando had been running around these past few days collecting the magical materials needed for the ritual. Fortunately, these items could still be found in Avalon, and combined with the materials he already had, he barely managed to pull the ritual together.

There wasn't much to say about the ritual itself; it was simply to grant Solam the talent of an Arcane Knight and connect him to the Weave. For Solam, who possessed the innate ability to communicate with elements, this was no difficulty at all.

Then, the old man began his knight training and the necessary studies for a mage apprentice.

In truth, orthodox mage apprentices wouldn't be allowed to connect to the Weave so early. They would first be taught knowledge, and only after they had a general concept of magic would they be connected to the Weave, otherwise, accidents were prone to happen.

However, an Arcane Knight was different; they had to connect to the Weave first, or the Arcane Knight's special meditation techniques would be unusable. One had to know that an Arcane Knight needed to absorb energy from the Weave to reshape their body.

Now, Solam had become a reserve Arcane Knight.

Name: Solam Race: Beast Elf Attributes: Strength: 18 (+2), Intelligence: 20, Constitution: 17 (+2), Agility: 12, Perception: 19, Charisma: 13 Class: Elemental Shaman (Level 5), Warrior (Level 8), Arcane Knight (Level 1) Spells: (I won't list all the spells from now on, as it feels like padding the word count; you all get the idea.) Level 0 Spell Slots: 2 (Mages have 4) Talents: Elemental Totem, Armored Casting, Arcane Transformation.

In the days that followed, Solam began his formal training. Every morning, he would wake up very early, around 6 o'clock, to study various languages, followed by an hour of knight training at 8 o'clock before he could eat breakfast. After breakfast until about 11:30 in the morning, he would study knowledge.

Lunch started at 11:30 and couldn't take more than half an hour. Then there would be a 2-hour rest period—though it wasn't really a rest. These two hours were used for meditation. Mages need to meditate for 8 hours a day to recover spell slots. Some ignorant people say mages need to sleep for 8 hours, but that is incorrect. Mages don't really need to sleep, as meditation can replace sleep to restore mental energy.

Then, around 2 o'clock, knight training would begin. Knight training is also very complex. First, one must master armored combat, then learn the use of shields, various weapons, horsemanship, and defensive techniques (blocking and deflecting). Then comes the study of knightly attack techniques (mounted and foot combat), as well as military training (including tactics, strategy, and skills) and techniques for improving physical fitness. Except for horsemanship, which Solam didn't really need to learn (he had the direwolf Frostfang and his riding skills were quite good), he had to relearn everything. Even the physical conditioning techniques had to be relearned, as the techniques from his previous warrior training were a different path from those of a knight.

This was still the easy part. One should know that orthodox knights also need to learn etiquette, heraldry (to distinguish various nobles), management (orthodox knights have fiefs), and poetry (Solam couldn't understand why he had to learn this). In some places, like the Southern Kingdoms, one even has to learn music, painting, and other artistic skills. To this, Solam could only say they were sick.

After Arando's explanation, Solam learned that in the current Faerun Continent, after the Dark Boiling, the south had become the base for humanity. After thousands of years of development, the south was very wealthy and culturally prosperous. Most orthodox knights were nobles, and knighthood was not just a profession but the lowest noble title. This situation meant that if a knight hadn't learned those things, they would be considered crude and uneducated.

Arcane Knights, however, upheld the mage's perspective, prioritizing practicality. They had no interest in those flashy, superficial things. Besides, Arcane Knights didn't have enough time as it was; where would they find the time to learn such useless, showy nonsense?

Knight training lasted until 6 o'clock, followed by an hour to eat and attend to personal hygiene. This was strongly requested by Solam. Although he wasn't a germaphobe, after an afternoon of knight training, he would be filthy, and he couldn't stand not bathing.

At 7 o'clock, he would begin Shaman meditation. Shaman meditation and mage meditation were completely different; Shaman meditation did not restore mental energy.

Until midnight, Solam would begin his remaining 6 hours of mage meditation, and then the cycle would repeat.

In this way, Solam's time was completely filled; he had to race against the clock even to go to the bathroom. Although Solam didn't feel there was anything wrong with it, others didn't see it that way.

First, the other beastmen felt this wasn't training at all, but a death wish. How could anyone treat a child like this? But regardless, Solam was someone else's child, so even if they were dissatisfied, they couldn't say much. Moreover, the old chieftain's prestige kept them from speaking out.

Then, Solam's two aunts and little brother weren't happy either. Especially Little Iluter—he had almost forgotten what his brother looked like, but when Solam returned, he brought him an axe as a birthday gift, immediately winning over the little brat. They were very close, but after only a few days of warmth, Solam was called away to study and had no time to play with him. Every time he went to find Solam, he would be chased away by his grandfather and Arando. The brat assumed the old men were punishing Solam, so he loyally ran to Granny Karom to complain.

As for Solam's two aunts, they felt sorry for their nephew. This nephew had grown up by their side, and they loved him even more than their own sons. How could they watch the child suffer like this? But they didn't have the guts to openly oppose their father-in-law, and telling their husbands was useless, so they also ran to Granny Karom to complain.

With these two groups reporting to Granny Karom, the old lady, who had been sulking because of Solam's persistence and hadn't visited in days, couldn't sit still any longer. She immediately brought the two daughters-in-law and the little brat and stormed over.

Then came another scene of chaos. The old lady first thrashed the two instigators, then began her routine of loud scolding. This time, it wasn't just the two old men; Solam's two uncles didn't escape either. She scolded them all together, calling them cold-blooded and heartless for watching their own father abuse their nephew without trying to stop him, acting as if it were none of their business. She asked if their consciences had been eaten by dogs, noting that this was their brother's only bloodline, and so on...

In the end, even Solam's two aunts and Krum didn't escape, being told they were useless for not being able to protect their nephew and brother, having to rely on others for help.

In short, everyone in the house except Solam and the brat Little Iluter was scolded to a pulp. If it hadn't been for Solam's persuasion and Little Iluter acting cute to calm the old lady down, there was no telling how it would have ended.

Finally, Arando, likely afraid of Granny Karom, promised in a low voice that he would ensure Solam balanced work and rest, allowing him one day off every week. Although Granny Karom still wasn't entirely satisfied, Solam's repeated assurances that one day off a week was enough, and his promise that this day would absolutely be spent at Granny Karom's house, finally managed to appease the old lady.