Bluffing

At night, several blazing bonfires lit up the wilderness road.

After dinner and a brief rest of several dozen minutes, Luo Ning gathered the guards and began teaching them commands such as marching in step, goose-stepping, and standing at attention.

His university military training had been four years ago. He did not know the technical terms for these movements, but he still remembered the basic essentials of each one.

He taught while recalling, spending more than half an hour before all the guards, including Macken, had basically mastered the movements.

"Starting now, train in rows of five. Those who are not marching, keep your eyes open and watch. Use others' mistakes as a reference to correct your own movements!"

Luo Ning looked at his Guard Officer. "Macken, I'll leave it to you. Call out the commands. I'll inspect the results during tomorrow morning's morning drill!"

"Yes, my lord!"

With an uneasy heart, Macken walked to the side of the formation. "First row, listen to my command. Attention!"

After leaving the training to Macken, Luo Ning returned to a bonfire and sat down. He discovered that Chahar, the male servant, was adding firewood while grinning foolishly.

"What? Do you want to join the training too?" Luo Ning asked with a smile.

Chahar immediately withdrew his gaze and replied awkwardly, "Master, I just think their training looks interesting."

"Haha!"

Luo Ning said with a smile, "Go if you want to. There's nothing else to do right now anyway."

Chahar hesitated for a while, then gritted his teeth, stood up, and said excitedly, "Then thank you, Master!"

With that, he ran toward the formation. After receiving Macken's approval, he joined the last row.

Luo Ning could not help shaking his head at the sight. Tomorrow, he would raise the intensity, add punishments, and then teach them Military Boxing. He wondered whether Chahar would still want to train then.

He rested for a while and drank some water before drawing his longsword to practice several common attack movements: chopping and thrusting.

His previous self's attainments in this area had been practically zero. Like those guards, he needed to study seriously too.

The people immersed in learning and training completely lost track of time. It was not until Luo Ning's arms grew sore and weak and he was panting heavily that he stopped sword practice.

When he turned to look at the guards still training, he saw that although they continued under Macken's intimidation, their exhaustion was obvious.

"That's enough for today."

After giving the order, Luo Ning went aside, scooped up two buckets of water to wash himself, then returned to his tent first and lay down to rest.

He was the only one in the entire group with a tent. Everyone else could only spend the night beside the bonfires. Fortunately, it was not winter.

After being dismissed, almost none of the guards bathed. They simply walked over to the bonfire, sat down heavily, and began resting.

After arranging the night watch, Macken stood guard outside Luo Ning's tent.

The entire camp quickly quieted down. Only the crackling of burning firewood and uneven snores remained.

Luo Ning wanted badly to sleep, but he forced himself to stay awake. He was waiting for midnight.

Time ticked by. Just as Luo Ning was about to give out, familiar words appeared:

Sign-in successful. Attribute Points +1

Luo Ning looked at the Seven-Day Login panel and claimed the reward for the fourth day with a thought.

At once, a Premium Gift Pack opened magnificently in his vision, bursting with light before two lines of text appeared:

Attribute Points +60

Energy Essence +100

Luo Ning had already prepared himself for the Premium Gift Pack to yield nothing good, but upon seeing the number of Attribute Points and Energy Essence, he could not help breaking into a broad grin.

He looked at the Attribute Panel:

Level: 1-Beginner Knight (32/100)+; 1-Beginner Mage (0/150)+

Attribute Points: 61

Energy Essence: 100

With these Attribute Points, Luo Ning's warrior-level progress was only seven points away from completion. Unfortunately, due to his constitution's limitations, he could only break through in both professions together. He could not raise his knight level to Intermediate Rank first.

"Although I can't break through, Macken can!"

Macken's knight-level progress had already reached 80/100. He only needed to consume 20 points of Energy Essence to break through and become an Intermediate Knight.

Beginner and Intermediate Rank differed by only one level, but for a knight, it was a qualitative transformation.

An Intermediate Knight's Battle Qi Seed broke forth. A knight could use Battle Qi to attack, greatly expanding a Professional Knight's methods of attack.

Just then, rustling sounds came from the northern forest, accompanied by continuous muffled grunts.

Luo Ning's expression tightened. He was completely alert at this moment and immediately noticed the anomaly.

The second to notice was Macken outside the tent. His eyes were sharp as lightning as he stared toward the source of the sounds, only to see several tall shadows becoming increasingly distinct in the darkness.

"Ah, Demon Beasts! Demon Beasts are coming!" the guard on night watch shouted after noticing them as well.

Panicked cries spread through the camp. The sleeping guards jolted awake, grabbed their weapons, and stood on guard.

Under the bonfires' glow, the three enormous creatures revealed themselves.

They were not Demon Beasts at all, but three Giant Wild Boars.

"These things aren't even afraid of fire?"

Luo Ning walked out of the tent. Looking at the Wild Boars, each as large as a calf, he could not help clicking his tongue in amazement.

The three Giant Wild Boars seemed unafraid of humans. They stared straight at the carriage, drawn by the scent of grains and vegetables on it.

"My lord, leave these beasts to me!"

Luo Ning gave a hum of acknowledgment and used all 20 points of Energy Essence.

Buzz—

At this moment, it was as if something broke within Macken. Earth-yellow energy emerged from his heart and then flowed through his entire body.

"This is?"

Macken felt the Battle Qi within him in astonishment. He discovered, unable to believe it, that he had actually broken through.

Though he knew it was his master's doing, he was still astonished that Luo Ning possessed such an ability.

"Go. End this battle as quickly as possible and let the guards witness your might!"

"As you wish, my lord!"

Macken's gaze was firm. He drew his longsword and launched himself forward in a leap, moving so quickly that all the guards stared in amazement.

The Wild Boars let out howls. Not only did they not retreat, they charged straight at Macken.

"Let's go too! Help Captain Macken!"

The guards did not shrink back either. One after another, they raised their longswords and charged forward.

But at that moment, a flash of light lit up. Macken swung his sword, and a blade of Battle Qi crossed several meters before striking a wild boar precisely in the head.

The Battle Qi Slash tore through the wild boar's flesh. The tremendous impact struck its head, directly dazing it and knocking it to the ground.

"Battle Qi Release!"

A knowledgeable guard shouted, "Captain Macken is an Intermediate Knight!"

The guards who trained regularly all knew the hallmark of an Intermediate Knight. The moment they saw the Battle Qi Slash, they knew Macken's level.

At his shout, every guard stopped moving.

An Intermediate Knight dealing with three ordinary Wild Boars did not require their help at all.

At that moment, someone asked in confusion, "When the Captain introduced himself during the day, didn't he say he was only a Beginner Knight? Why is he Intermediate Rank now?"

Someone who thought himself knowledgeable explained, "You don't understand. Knights often hide their strength and deliberately claim to be lower level, so they can confuse their opponents in battle."

"Oh, so that's how it is!" The man seemed to understand, though not fully.

Luo Ning stepped forward at that moment. "No. Macken truly was only a Beginner Knight during the day."

His words instantly drew the guards' attention.

Luo Ning smiled mysteriously. "It was only because he diligently practiced the movements I taught him that he broke through after training ended tonight."

The main reason he said this was to boost everyone's enthusiasm for training.

In this world, who could resist the temptation of becoming a transcendent?

These guards, especially those no older than eighteen years old, were merely ordinary infantrymen in a Knight Squad. Their prospects were limited.

If they wanted to rise further, they could only hope to awaken a Battle Qi Seed and become Professional Knights.

Originally, this wish had been very difficult to fulfill.

But now Luo Ning had given them an explanation, and they had personally seen Macken, who had been a Beginner Knight during the day, become an Intermediate Knight by night.

What did that signify?

Luo Ning did not state it outright, but the guards made the connection themselves: as long as they diligently practiced the movements their lord taught them, they could improve!

In a daze, Luo Ning felt that the guards' gazes seemed to have changed. It was their yearning for Supernatural Power.

Thanks to A Lifetime on the Road to Weight Loss and Lightning's Light for their votes.