Tranquility 1

A moment later, Anglie wiped his longsword on the dead men's clothes and slowly sheathed it. Looking around, he saw the ground littered with blood, flesh, and corpses, and his face could not help turning slightly pale. Dis had died by his hand before, but it had been nowhere near as violent and immediate as this scene.

A breeze swept past, stirring the leaves into a rustling murmur. The patches of light and shadow on the ground swayed as well, like rippling reflections on water.

The silver longsword in Anglie's hand reflected a faint, silvery Halo. He walked over to the Knight Level warrior, crouched down, and carefully searched the corpse. Aside from a money pouch, there was surprisingly nothing else.

"Perhaps he was carrying out a secret mission, so he wasn't allowed to bring too many things?" Anglie guessed.

As he stood up, the stench of blood around him grew thicker and thicker.

Anglie was just about to leave quickly.

Suddenly, a dull sensation came from the right side of his body. His entire right side went slightly numb, and a shadow lunged at him.

Roar!!

The roar stunned Anglie and slowed his reaction by a fraction. There was no longer time to dodge. He could only pour all his strength into a vicious slash to the right.

A blast of foul, hot air washed over his face, nearly making him vomit up that morning's breakfast.

With a bang, Anglie collided head-on with the black shadow. He was instantly sent flying a long distance, but luckily, he kept his footing. He only staggered back more than ten steps, his blood and energy churning, yet he was not injured.

A flush of color passed over his face before Anglie finally had the chance to see what had attacked him.

A gigantic black bear nearly three meters tall stood upright, continuing to pounce toward him. Its body was as wide as three grown adults put together. It looked like a moving hill.

Anglie sucked in a breath of cold air.

"Raging Mountain Bear..." He recognized the black bear at once. An ordinary Mountain Black Bear was at most two-thirds this bear's size. How could one possibly grow this huge? A Mountain Black Bear hide had hung over the Baron's hall seat in the castle year-round, so Anglie was somewhat familiar with the creature.

The thought flashed through his mind. Anglie had no time to think further. He suddenly leaped backward and accurately thrust his sword at the bear's left eye. Yet despite its enormous size, the bear was extraordinarily agile. The side of its paw smacked the blade, making Anglie's longsword shudder violently and nearly sending it flying from his hand.

"Raging Mountain Bear: estimated physical attributes: strength above 6, agility above 2, constitution above 10." Only then did Anglie hear the Chip's warning. The bear's roar had been so loud earlier that he had not heard the Chip's alert at all.

This also exposed one weakness of the Chip. If his opponent acted decisively and moved quickly, then even with the Chip's help, Anglie would find it difficult to evade such attacks. It also showed that the Chip's anti-concealment ability was limited.

In truth, the Chip's anti-concealment ability was based on the acuity of Anglie's own five senses. The sharper his senses were, the stronger the Chip's abilities naturally became. After all, the Chip received information from the outside world through his bodily senses.

The Raging Mountain Bear possessed astonishing strength and an exceedingly tough constitution.

Relying on agility that was only slightly faster, Anglie circled the black bear and fought it for a while. With his current strength and the sharpness of his longsword, even when he used all his power, he could only leave a white mark on the Raging Mountain Bear's body. Its hide was like an absurdly thick oak stake. He could not even pierce its outer horny layer. Instead, Anglie nearly got his sword stuck.

Left with no choice, Anglie retreated and quickly sped away.

The Raging Mountain Bear seemed to know that he was not someone to be trifled with, so it did not give chase. Instead, it walked straight toward the corpses and began to feast with great relish.

Anglie watched from deep within the forest and could only shake his head helplessly.

"This thing's hide is too thick. Without a divine weapon or a sharper tool, or greater strength and endurance, there's no way to injure it." He stood at a distance for a while, but the Raging Mountain Bear was indeed highly wary of him. In the end, unable to find an opportunity, Anglie could only leave in frustration.

Still, he had gained greatly from this trip. At the very least, he had begun to form his own unique fighting style. He also had a clear idea of exactly what level his strength had reached now that he possessed Basic Swordsmanship.

"But I still have Blue Bamboo Shoots to strengthen my power. Next time... perhaps next time, I can come back." As Anglie left the forest, his heart was instead filled with anticipation.

This time, he had killed Saladin's soldiers as well as a Knight Level warrior. Anglie estimated that his strength should already rival that of an ordinary Peak Knight Level fighter. In other words, he was already on the same level as the Baron. This slightly eased the unease that had always weighed on him. Possessing sufficient power to protect himself was, in this world, the symbol of strength, wealth, and authority.

The Knight Level warrior he had killed should, compared to Anglie's original memories, have been on the same level as Ward and Audis. He had been a middle-tier powerhouse among Knight Level warriors.

In truth, the gap between the peak and the middle tier was immense. That first assassin, Dis, had been at the peak level, which was why he had been confident enough to come assassinate the Baron. Unfortunately, most of his skill lay in assassination and stealth, and Anglie's Chip had him completely pinned down. Then, helplessly, he had been scraped by the poisoned sword and died full of resentment. If they had faced each other head-on, with all other factors removed, Anglie would certainly have died.

One had to know that if an ordinary Apprentice Knight successfully activated a Seed and gained the power to unleash explosive potential, then after becoming a Knight Level warrior, the overwhelming majority could only reach low-tier or middle-tier combat strength. Only a very small number could possess peak-level strength. Unlike the top-tier precise swordsmanship Anglie held, this world's powerhouses competed more through physical attributes and the strength and speed they could erupt with. In other words, this world's powerhouses were more often competing in the capital of their bodies. As for skill? When one's attributes grew ever stronger, a single sword strike could crush the opponent. Once speed and strength surpassed the other side, every technique had to drink bitterness. That was the mainstream of this world.

After returning to the castle, Anglie spent more than ten days reviewing and summarizing the previous battle, sorting through his mistakes. At the same time, with his body nearly recovered, he formally began using Blue Bamboo Shoots to strengthen his power again.

The Baron also returned to the castle two days after the battle with the black bear. He heard the rumors that Anglie had nearly been left behind in the forest by a Raging Mountain Bear.

Fifteen days later...

Anglie sat in the library, casually flipping through a leather-bound history book. He was using the Chip to store the contents of the entire library. There were not many books in the library, only a few hundred, but in this world, they were already an incomparably enormous fortune. They had been continuously collected and copied down by generations of Leo Family heads.

Yellowish-brown pages turned one after another. Neat rows of densely packed letters covered them all, every book a handwritten copy.

Anglie pinched a page between his fingers, feeling how supple and warm the paper was. It looked thin, nearly translucent, but it felt somewhat substantial when held.

"The materials used to make these books must have been treated somehow. Some have been kept for over a hundred years and are still perfectly intact. I wonder what kind of hide these leather covers are made from?" Anglie thought casually.

The bright noon sunlight streamed in through the window, falling onto the floor and reflecting dazzling light onto the ceiling, forming a golden pillar of light. The floating dust in the air was revealed in minute detail beneath it.

"Anglie."

The library door suddenly opened. The Baron appeared in the doorway.

His flaxen hair reflected the sunlight with a faint dark-golden sheen, as though it gave off a faint golden Halo. The Baron's face was handsome and solemn. A slender sword decorated with golden patterns hung at his waist. His entire body vaguely exuded an air of authority and extraordinary nobility.

"Father." Anglie hurriedly stood. He spoke that form of address sincerely. Though the Baron did not speak much with him, every time he looked at Anglie, there was mostly affection and concern in his gaze. The affection needed no explanation, while the concern was for Anglie's future.

"I heard you encountered a Raging Mountain Bear in the forest?" the Baron asked in a deep voice.

"You know about it too? I had only wanted to..." Anglie said softly.

"Tell me the location!" the Baron interrupted him.

"Father..."

"I said, the location!" A trace of gloom appeared on the Baron's face. His eyes, like those of a cold and damp giant crocodile, revealed an icy, merciless gaze.

"About two hundred meters north of the castle. I'm not sure exactly where..." Anglie's body instinctively shrank back, and he unconsciously revealed the location. This body still retained its fear of his father's authority.

The Baron gave Anglie a deep look, then turned and left.

With a bang, the door was slammed shut.