Battle Skill or Magic

Chapter 18: Battle Skill or Magic

Macken cleanly killed one of the three wild boars that had invaded the camp. The remaining two, sensing trouble, turned and fled into the mountain forest, making it unwise to pursue further.

Such a clean and decisive fight drew loud cheers from the surrounding guards who had gathered to watch.

Luo Ning studied the big guy, which was nearly one and a half meters long and weighed several hundred jin. Without stinting on praise, he also promised that starting tomorrow, each meal for the guards would include an extra piece of meat and a bowl of meat soup.

This would both strengthen the guards' physiques, giving them more energy for training, and further boost their morale.

After the guards took charge of disposing of the wild boar carcass, Macken came to Luo Ning's side.

"Milord, after my breakthrough, I remembered some more things," he said respectfully.

Luo Ning was taken aback. "Oh? Tell me, what kind of things?"

"A few battle skills."

As Macken explained, he crouched down and punched the ground with his fist. Luo Ning sensed a surge of energy spreading through the earth.

"Pfft!"

Ahead of them, a sharp spear of condensed soil shot up from underground, moving with incredible speed.

Luo Ning was certain that such an earth spear posed a great threat to ordinary people. If they didn't dodge in time, they would definitely be pierced through.

"Is this a battle skill?"

Luo Ning was puzzled. "Isn't this earth magic?"

"Magic?"

Macken shook his head. "Apologies, Milord, I don't know much about magic. But what I just used is the earth-attribute battle skill, Spike Earth Spear."

He said this with a hint of regret. "I've heard that at higher levels, the Spike Earth Spear skill can turn a large area of ground into a forest of spears. Unfortunately, my current battle qi is insufficient, so I can only conjure one spear."

Luo Ning nodded slowly. "So battle skills can be used like this."

He had thought that knights using battle skills just meant swinging their knight's swords around or shooting light waves. He hadn't expected them to be able to alter the external environment as well.

It seemed that the battle qi and magic of this world were quite different from what he had imagined.

"It looks like as your strength increases, you'll awaken some more memory fragments."

This was somewhat similar to how certain card characters in games unlocked specific skills upon leveling up. "How many battle skills can you use now?"

"Besides this one, I can also use the defensive skill 'Earth Wall'," Macken explained. "It can raise a wall of earth in front of us to block attacks like arrows."

No wonder they said a knight's strength increased dramatically after reaching the intermediate level. It was indeed true.

The two battle skills Macken had mastered—one offensive, one defensive—both had decent effects.

"I don't have any other earth-attribute battle skills right now. When I get the chance, I'll find a couple for you."

Luo Ning encouraged Macken for a bit, then ducked into the tent.

After this commotion, he started thinking about the issue of battle skills and magic.

He had both wind and fire attributes. The Wushan family was fire-attribute. Before leaving, he should ask Rulans or Wiggins for a couple of battle skills.

"And magic—where can I get a magic book to study?"

Mages were very rare. Even a marquis's family didn't have many mages in their service. At least, Luo Ning's previous self had never encountered one.

"I wonder if the family has any wind- or fire-attribute magic books."

He would still need to return to Wushan Castle, but there was no rush for that. He'd consider it after breaking through to the intermediate level. For now, he'd first go to Mountain Forest Town and see how things were.

Besides, the seventh-day reward from the Seven-Day Login was a light-attribute mage. Through him, Luo Ning should be able to learn some information about magic.

As for battle skills, the First Purchase Bonus gave a fire-attribute knight. He could learn from him then.

The night passed without incident.

Starting the next day, the guards' enthusiasm for training skyrocketed.

First, Luo Ning provided them with ample food. Besides the usual bread, each meal included a piece of meat and a bowl of soup, giving them the strength to train.

Second, and most importantly, under Luo Ning's deliberate influence, everyone believed that these exercises could increase their chances of awakening a Battle Qi Seed. The guards under eighteen trained with exceptional seriousness.

Of course, being serious was one thing, but people always had moments of laziness or wanting to slack off.

So Luo Ning arranged a series of punishments like push-ups and squat jumps. Anyone caught slacking off would be penalized.

As for Luo Ning himself, he neither stood at military stance nor practiced drills. Instead, he practiced swordsmanship and, whenever he had time, sparred with Macken.

Although he was mostly on the losing end, his combat skills were improving rapidly.

Two more days passed like this. Luo Ning's group advanced, trained, and rested along the way.

It was monotonous, but the gains were substantial.

At the very least, after these three days of training, the guards could now understand commands.

By punishing an entire row for one person's mistake, he had instilled in them a slight sense of collective awareness.

He was confident that with a bit more training, the results would be even better.

As for Luo Ning himself, perhaps he truly was a sword genius—now he could hold his own for over a dozen exchanges under Captain Macken (naturally, with the latter controlling his strength).

Beyond that, Luo Ning had also claimed the rewards for the fifth and sixth days of the Seven-Day Login.

The fifth day's reward was a magical weapon called the "Flowing Flame Sword." Aside from its high blade strength and sharpness, it was inscribed with magical patterns.

According to the description, when this sword was channeled with wind or fire attribute battle qi, it could produce scorching flowing flames, boasting formidable power.

Unfortunately, Luo Ning's current strength was limited; he could neither use this ability nor sustain swinging the sword due to its weight, so he had to temporarily store the Flowing Flame Sword in his Spatial Ring.

The sixth day's reward was a Magical Beast Contract Scroll. It was said that as long as the magical beast did not resist, the scroll could be used to establish a Master-Servant Contract, allowing even the fiercest beast to serve its user.

This was an extremely precious item, likely hard to come by outside, but Luo Ning had no use for it yet and could only keep it in his Spatial Ring for now.

"In a few more hours, I'll be able to claim the seventh day's reward."

Luo Ning felt a hint of anticipation—among his subordinates, there would soon be a Light Attribute mage.

Mages were already rare, and Light Attribute ones even more so.

It was said that in other duchies, Light Attribute mages had saved countless disaster victims and nobles with their magic, even founding the Church of Light—whether that was true or not remained unknown.

"Pity, after claiming this reward, the Seven-Day Login will be over."

This also meant that Luo Ning could only gain one more loyal subordinate through the First Purchase Bonus afterward. If he wanted to expand his team further, he would have to recruit and train people in the real world.

To raise his rank and achieve greater ambitions, relying solely on the three transcendents brought by his golden finger was far from enough.

With that thought, Luo Ning pinned his hopes on the few young guards in his team—over these days of training, he had seen their progress with his own eyes.

"Macken, find a suitable spot ahead to set up camp."

"Yes, my lord!"

Macken spurred his horse to the front of the column, advancing while scanning both sides of the road.

A suitable place to rest for the night needed nothing more than two conditions: either relatively open terrain or proximity to a water source. Since the wagons carried supplies of water, meeting just one condition would suffice.

But along this stretch of road, Macken had observed that there didn't seem to be any ideal spot.

As the convoy moved forward, he suddenly pulled on the reins, signaling the guards behind to stop the wagons.

"What's wrong, Captain Macken?" one of the guards asked, puzzled.

"It sounds like there's fighting up ahead." Macken listened intently, then turned his horse around and rode back.

"Stay put for now—I'll report to Baron."