The Cost of Training Knights

At this moment,

the girl's voice rang out again. "Then, Wayne,

will you accept?"

Wayne shook his head. "Of course not,

and it has nothing to do with talent.

It is because

my feelings cannot tolerate even the slightest intrusion of calculation or profit."

Aurora was dejected at first,

but in the end, a broad smile appeared on her face.

"Listening to you say that,

I feel like we might actually have a chance to be together."

Wayne shook his head and said no more. Naturally, he was interested in women—

after all, with the soul of an adult man housed inside his body, it would be harder to explain if he were not interested.

It was just that,

for the time being,

Wayne had no such thoughts. With the existence of extraordinary power, Wayne was now utterly obsessed with it,

unable to pull himself free!

Love between men and women was simply not worth mentioning compared to extraordinary power.

With that time,

it would be more tempting for Wayne to imprint one more rune.

"Tell me about the resources needed for knight training.

How much does it cost?

It will also give me an understanding for recruiting followers in the future."

Hearing Wayne's words,

Aurora nodded. "Alright. Before level seven,

a knight's cultivation is all about resources. One could say that as long as there are enough resources and the talent can keep up,

thirty years

is enough to cultivate to the realm of a level-six Diamond Knight."

She paused as she spoke.

"As for the cost of knight resources, during the trainee knight stage,

one Apprentice-level Knight's Flower is needed every day,

or one Blood-Qi Potion refined with Knight's Flower as the main ingredient,

as well as ten jin

of Apprentice-level Dragonfang Rice,

to sustain the knight's daily training and maintain their bodily energy.

For a knight in the trainee stage,

the daily cost is roughly fifteen to twenty-five violet gold coins or low-grade magic crystals.

Among them, each Apprentice-level Knight's Flower costs five violet gold coins,

or five low-grade magic crystals.

Each Apprentice-level Blood-Qi Potion costs ten violet gold coins, or ten low-grade magic crystals,

while Apprentice-level Dragonfang Rice

costs one violet gold coin or one low-grade magic crystal per jin. A trainee knight needs ten jin a day,

which comes to ten violet gold coins."

Hearing this,

Wayne nodded slightly and said after a brief calculation:

"In other words,

at the trainee knight stage, the top-tier setup is one Apprentice-level Blood-Qi Potion plus ten jin of Dragonfang Rice,

for a total of

twenty violet gold coins per day."

As for the extra five violet gold coins, Wayne did not pay them much mind. Aurora had probably been speaking in terms of the costs of training knights in batches.

After all, everyone had days when their appetite was better than usual.

This one ate a little more,

that one ate a little more, and naturally the money added up.

Of course, some might have been born with divine strength and needed to eat more, so a fluctuation of five violet gold coins

was perfectly normal.

But these expenses were nothing to Wayne.

Still, this conversation

gave Wayne a basic understanding.

"What about after that?"

Hearing this,

Aurora nodded, then shook her head. "I only know the costs for a level-one Black Iron Knight.

As for the ones after that,

I do not know."

She paused as she spoke.

"But if you want to know, I can go back and ask my father.

Once I write it down, I'll bring it to you."

Hearing this,

Wayne nodded slightly, signaling Aurora to continue.

Aurora nodded.

"The costs for a level-one Black Iron Knight are similar to those of a trainee knight, except one additional item is required.

Everything else differs only

in level and quantity.

For a level-one Black Iron Knight,

daily cultivation requires one level-one Knight's Flower, or one level-one Blood-Qi Potion,

twenty jin of level-one Dragonfang Rice,

and ten jin of level-one Black Iron."

She paused, glanced at Wayne's expression, and only continued after seeing that he remained calm.

"A level-one Knight's Flower costs thirty low-grade magic crystals.

One level-one Blood-Qi Potion costs one hundred violet gold coins or one hundred low-grade magic crystals,

or

one mid-grade magic crystal.

Level-one Dragonfang Rice costs ten violet gold coins or ten low-grade magic crystals per jin.

Twenty jin costs two hundred violet gold coins, or two hundred low-grade magic crystals.

As for the last item,

level-one Black Iron costs twenty violet gold coins or twenty low-grade magic crystals per jin.

Ten jin costs two hundred violet gold coins, or two hundred low-grade magic crystals."

Hearing this,

without even thinking, Wayne calculated according to the best possible setup before taking over the conversation. "In other words, a level-one Black Iron Knight

consumes

five hundred violet gold coins a day,

or five hundred low-grade magic crystals, or five mid-grade magic crystals, correct?"

Aurora shook her head.

"Of course you cannot calculate it so simply.

There also needs to be some leeway—between five hundred and five hundred twenty-five low-grade magic crystals or violet gold coins."

Hearing this,

Wayne nodded. The later costs would surely be even higher. Just looking at Dragonfang Rice alone,

the difference between Apprentice level and level one was a full tenfold. It was not that he begrudged the money.

Rather, through these expenses,

he saw

how wealthy lord wizards were. Back then, the knight order Rose Marquis had fielded merely as guards

numbered a full three thousand men,

and every single one was a level-three Silver Knight. One had to know that there was still the realm of level-two Bronze Knights in between.

Judging from the prices,

every increase in level required a massive increase in training expenses. Seeing the leopard through a tube,

a mere marquis's territory

had already reached such a level. One could imagine how profound the foundations of dukes and kings above them

must be.

But Wayne liked it. The advantage of a large stage was that he could unleash his talent to the fullest.

Suddenly,

a voice rang out.

"Hello, you two.

Here is the food you ordered."

Wayne emerged from his thoughts and nodded at the maid.

"Set it down."

After the maid set the food down and left, Wayne looked at Aurora.

"Let's eat first."

As he spoke, he pulled his plate over.

"What do you think?

Do you feel that the expenses are very high?"

Facing Aurora's question, Wayne shook his head.

"For me, it is nothing."

As he spoke, he raised an eyebrow.

"But Aurora, these initial resources—

General Deli

should not be unable to afford them, right?"

He paused.

"And it seems you came to find me on your own this time.

Were you not afraid that this action would anger me,

causing General Deli's plans to fall apart and making him furious?"

Aurora's expression remained calm.

"Then are you angry?"

That single sentence choked Wayne so thoroughly that he could not speak for quite some time.

A woman's heart truly was a needle at the bottom of the sea.

She had just said she wanted to be my woman!

Shaking his head to clear away those thoughts, he focused on eating.

As the saying went,

people were made of iron, food was steel; skip one meal and hunger would strike.

Half an hour later,

Wayne and Aurora walked out of the restaurant together.

Finally,

Aurora could not hold back any longer and asked, "Wayne, do you really not want to know

about the little fairy?"

Wayne tilted his head to glance at Aurora, then replied as calmly as if he were eating or drinking.

"When will that little fairy be born?"

Seeing this,

Aurora stomped her foot.

"Wayne, do you know what a little fairy represents?"

Hearing this,

He laughed inwardly.

As for anything else, he really didn't know, but when it came to little elves,

he really did know.

"I know. What's wrong?"

"If you know, at least give me some kind of reaction."

Wayne chuckled, thinking of the hundred little elves being nurtured in his villa.

What reaction was he supposed to have?

It wasn't as if he had none. It was only a matter of time.

Of course.

Outwardly, Wayne still picked up the conversation.

"What reaction do you need from me?"