Chapter 31

When Kraun arrived at the church, full of vigor, he was informed that the priest was out.

"Mr. Moya, the priest said he needed to go to the quarry to handle some matters and doesn't know when he will return. He told you to continue your self-directed training according to yesterday's regimen."

Avina's voice was soft and crisp, leaving Kraun feeling somewhat distracted.

"Thank you, Avina. I understand."

Politely thanking the nun, he couldn't help but despise himself internally: 'Just hearing a beautiful woman's voice and I've turned into this. How pathetic!'

The nun smiled, revealing the dimples on her cheeks: "I have to go to the church to guide the worshippers. Goodbye."

Watching the nun's graceful, rounded figure fade into the distance, Kraun shook his head violently and took a deep breath.

He patted a certain part of his body and chuckled ruefully: "What a hot-blooded young man I am."

After a brief warm-up, he put on his sand vest and began to run.

During this run, as soon as he felt his stamina was half-depleted, he simultaneously began his visualization for the Golden Light Incantation.

He didn't pay attention to how many laps he had run; when he felt the hunger in his body was about to consume his reason, he turned and dashed toward the dining hall.

At this moment, his spiritual sense told him it was already past twelve o'clock.

This time, he felt he had performed better than yesterday; his stamina distribution was more reasonable, and he had maintained a nearly uniform speed throughout.

If not for the hunger, he felt he could have run another seven or eight laps without issue.

At dusk, the clouds were ablaze with brilliant colors.

Kraun swung his sword with steady power, his footwork balanced and controlled.

His gaze was like an eagle's, sharp as lightning. In the training ground, there was only the sound of the sharp blade cutting through the air and his own breathing.

"Clap, clap, clap."

Applause came from behind him.

"Although I have repeatedly overestimated you, your speed of progress still leaves me feeling astonished."

Nick strode into the training ground, his voice unable to hide his joy.

Kraun stood firm, ending his practice.

He turned to face the master of the church, only to find a trace of worry on the priest's face:

"Father, it seems you have encountered some trouble."

"There has been a supernatural incident at the quarry, but I suspect there is a human element behind it."

"Human? Father, do you mean that a Spirit Controller is involved, using bound Evil Spirits?"

"Not bad, you actually know about Spirit Controllers. I thought you knew very little about the mystical side."

Kraun smiled: "I have some acquaintances among the Witchers who come to town."

Nick nodded slightly and sighed: "It is not a Spirit Controller. There are some special mystical professions that can command monsters; I suspect a Beast Tamer is involved. I will write to the church tonight to ask for help. This incident is quite tricky; it might be an Evil God Ritual."

Just as Kraun was about to ask for details regarding Beast Tamers and Evil God Rituals, the priest had already brushed past him and walked away: "Keep at it, young man. Things are moving faster than we anticipated."

Shaking his head, he gave up on asking what exactly they had anticipated. With his weak strength, knowing too much would only bring unnecessary trouble.

The next day, when Kraun arrived for training, the priest had already left early, just like the day before.

He followed his own rhythm, proceeding with his training step by step.

When he left that evening, the priest had still not returned.

As the hour of the rabbit was about to pass, the sun finally rose.

Kraun seized the tail end of the time, forming the Great Sun Seal with his hands to perform a few cycles of visualization.

When he felt a dry heat in his body, he stopped the visualization.

[Golden Light Incantation: 2012/50000; First Tier]

[Basic Swordsmanship: 896/1000; First Tier]

Golden light flickered in his eyes, and his lips curled into a smile.

The growth rate of his Basic Swordsmanship proficiency was faster than he had expected; today, he would be able to reach the second tier of swordsmanship.

After several consecutive days of physical and swordsmanship training, the contours of the muscles on his arms were more defined.

Self-indulgently smiling at himself in the mirror, Kraun walked out the door in high spirits.

"Father, I thought I wouldn't see you today." When he arrived at the church, he was surprised to find Nick already standing in the center of the training ground waiting for his arrival, looking to be in a fairly good mood.

"The matter has been investigated. It was done by a wandering group of cultists. Their lair is already empty, and I believe this group has relocated."

It was a good thing to have trouble stay away, so Kraun offered a bit of flattery: "It must be that you intimidated those cultists, Father!"

Nick bared his teeth; he hadn't even come face-to-face with the cultists, so how could he have intimidated them?

"Let's not talk about that. You only need to train with all your might now and strive to reach the standard for advancing to the transcendent level as soon as possible. I want to test if you've been slacking off these past two days. Put on the sand vest and start running."

"Very well, Father, you are certainly in for a surprise," Kraun said in a calm tone.

He first loosened up his joints, then put on the sand vest and hopped around; once he had fully adjusted to the added weight, he officially began to run.

One lap. Two laps.

One hundred laps—in just four or five days of training, his stamina had reached the minimum standard for a Crusader Order warrior.

Nick's heart was filled with both astonishment and pride.

He was astonished that the young man's progress was far faster than that of an ordinary person, and proud that this future Crusader was someone he had trained with his own hands.

Within the Church of the Lord of Flame, he was effectively the young man's guide.

As Kraun continued to run, Nick silently cheered him on in his heart: Come on! Let me see just how far your limits can go right now!

The sun was high today, and Kraun tried to practice visualization while running.

As expected, visualization did not restore his stamina or energy; in fact, his body temperature rose abnormally and rapidly, scaring him into stopping the practice immediately.

Without a means to replenish his stamina, he soon found himself unable to continue.

When he ran past the priest again, he could no longer hold on; his legs went soft, and he collapsed to the ground.

Nick knelt beside him and said gently, "Wearing a sand vest and leg weights totaling 15 kilograms, you ran 108 laps in one hour. Your stamina has already reached the minimum standard to advance to the transcendent level. From now on, the requirement for your morning physical training is that you must be faster. Rest for a quarter of an hour, then we will proceed with strength training."

After hearing the priest's words, Kraun struggled to his feet and moved into the shade, leaning against the wall to practice the visualization of the Golden Light Incantation.

"Rest time is over," Nick's voice rang out, interrupting his visualization, and he immediately stood at attention on the training ground.

The priest picked up the dumbbells leaning against the weapon rack: "Train like this."

He first gripped the dumbbells, raising his arms naturally until they were level with his shoulders.

The priest demonstrated a method of muscle training similar to that of his past life, then tossed the weights to Kraun.

The remainder of the morning was spent entirely on strength training.

In the afternoon, the two engaged in sword sparring, with Kraun attacking and the priest defending.

The attacker exhausted every trick in his repertoire, yet he never once broke through his opponent's defensive perimeter.

Kraun stepped forward, held his weapon level, and thrust toward Nick.

The priest stepped back, nonchalantly parrying the incoming attack with his sword, then flicked his wrist, intending to knock his opponent's blade away—a move he had performed several times already, but this time he struck empty air.

As the priest parried his sword, Kraun had a flash of inspiration and slid his weapon down the spine of the opponent's blade, aiming to slash the enemy's hand.

By the time the priest realized something was wrong and tried to change his stance, the tip of Kraun's sword had already reached his hand.

Subconsciously, he released his grip on the hilt, and his weapon clattered to the ground.

My weapon was actually knocked out of my hand? Nick's expression was somewhat dazed.

Their sparring had only been going on for less than two hours, yet the young man's progress was almost visible to the naked eye.

Kraun felt a surge of joy in his heart as he sensed the satisfaction of a skill leveling up.

[Basic Swordsmanship: 4/2000; Tier 2] (You are no longer just a standard, by-the-book swordsman; diligent training has allowed you to execute combinations of various basic moves.)