Exile

After discovering that Lu Mingfei possessed extensive real combat experience but had an abysmal foundation, the old man crammed a vast, systematic body of swordsmanship into him through near-force-feeding instruction, then forced him to train at high intensity every day.

After that, the old man eagerly dragged Lu Mingfei into combat training.

The training was suffocatingly harsh. Countless times, Lu Mingfei had wanted to wait until the old knight fell asleep in the darkness, then use a Site of Grace to teleport away, or simply kill himself with his sword during training.

But in the end, he endured.

He did not even know what he had been thinking. He had clearly joined the knight order only under semi-coercion, clearly knew nothing about this old man, clearly...

There were countless reasons to run away, but only one reason to persevere—

Lu Mingfei did not want to live as a coward anymore.

The old knight's teaching methods were brutally ruthless, but Lu Mingfei did not hate him at all.

On the contrary, Lu Mingfei was deeply grateful to the old knight and had long regarded him in his heart as a beloved teacher.

Because he could feel that the old man was teaching him with all his heart.

The night was black as ink.

A campfire crackled amid the ruins of the Church of Dragon Communion, casting light over the weary faces of the old man and the youth.

Lu Mingfei slumped on the stone steps, gazing lifelessly at the unfamiliar starry sky of the Lands Between. The old knight silently wiped down his twin swords, his silver-white hair and beard tinged red by the firelight.

"Old man..." Lu Mingfei suddenly spoke, his voice somewhat uneasy. "Are the Storm Knights... really down to just you?"

The old knight's movements paused. Firelight reflected from the blade flickered in his eyes, revealing a complicated expression.

He was silent for a long while before slowly speaking.

"I don't know."

Lu Mingfei looked at him in confusion.

"I don't know," the old man repeated. "In the early years, before the Elden Ring shattered and before the people on the ground went mad, calling myself a Storm Knight would have been nothing but a death wish."

"After the Storm Lord fell, the knight order broke apart. Vast numbers of knights and soldiers were branded as criminals, exiled to the borderlands, and mockingly called Exile Knights."

"The last ones to defend the royal capital of Stormveil... were only two generals, Oleg and Engvall, known as the Storm Lord's Two Wings.

Oleg submitted to the Grace King and ultimately returned to the Erdtree as a hero of the Golden Family; while Engvall guarded the kingless capital day after day..."

The old knight let out a long sigh.

"After the Shattering War erupted, the masterless knights pledged themselves to new lords and even slaughtered one another. I understand them, but they had already betrayed their creed and no longer deserved to be called Storm Knights. The power of storm in their descendants faded with it.

I heard that kid at Castle Morne cannot even use a single storm skill... We may be the last inheritors of the storm.

So when people like us are all dead, the name of the storm will vanish completely from the history of the Lands Between. No one will remember it..."

"Later, Engvall passed away. That vile, ugly, weak demigod Godrick—a man who escaped the royal city disguised as a woman—actually seized the chance to usurp Stormveil's throne. How pathetic...

Stormveil should have been a sacred land veiled by storms..."

"So you forced me to practice swordsmanship because you wanted me to avenge you?"

Lu Mingfei asked tentatively.

"Idiot!"

The old knight violently smashed his scabbard against the ground, sending sparks flying.

"A knight's sword is wielded only to protect his creed! The Golden Family has long since rotted away, but the will of the storm must not perish!"

"If I wanted revenge, I would have long since charged into Stormveil with the twin swords in my hands. But that would be meaningless. The age of storms and Ancient Dragons has already passed. It may be remembered, but it can never return.

I hid and fled, sitting uselessly in this place for so many years, only so that one day, someone in this world would still know the name of the storm—not for revenge!"

"Then," Lu Mingfei said, scratching his increasingly messy bird's-nest hair, "why did you choose me of all people?"

The old knight sneered.

"Do you think there are many living people left in this world? After the Elden Ring shattered, ninety percent lost their minds, and most of the remaining ten percent died in several wars. Even I am nearly old enough to die.

The only ones who can still walk this world are the strong, demigods, and Tarnished like you.

And Tarnished... there may not even be several dozen in all the Lands Between.

If you had not suddenly stumbled onto this island, where else was I supposed to find someone?"

He stared at Lu Mingfei, his gaze blazing.

"I'll tell you the truth, brat. At first, I took you in because I saw the bloodline within you. You are practically a living Ancient Dragon in human form...

But later, after teaching you so much, it was because there is something in your bones... that stubbornness that makes you grit your teeth and crawl back up even when you are terrified to death."

Lu Mingfei stood there blankly. He remembered being knocked down and getting back up again and again, remembered the sighs the old man hid beneath his angry curses whenever he kicked him.

"Old man..."

Lu Mingfei quietly said,

"You said you were about to die of old age. What did that mean?"

"Exactly what it sounds like." The old man snorted. "The knights of my generation are almost all dead. The Storm Lord's Two Wings passed on long ago, Niall joined the Haligtree, and Oniel has vanished without a trace..."

At this point, his deeply lined face grew even more somber.

Only then did Lu Mingfei realize that this tall, mighty old knight was, in truth, merely an old man in the twilight of his life.

Perhaps that day, he had come to mourn old friends. Perhaps he had come to the church intending to wait quietly for death.

No, perhaps something even more painful than death awaited him. He would gradually lose his mind, wandering everywhere like those deformed, immortal nobles, like a living corpse.

Lu Mingfei did not want to hurt the old man further, but he could not help saying,

"Old man... I'm not even one of your kind. What if I simply can't learn those storm skills of yours?"

The old knight's back paused. His silver-white hair and beard seemed to give off a chill beneath the moonlight.

"Then keep practicing."

His voice was cold and unfeeling, like a rough, hard stone.

"Practice until you can."

"What if... I can't learn them for my entire life?"

Lu Mingfei asked carefully.

"Then keep practicing in your next life."

The old knight turned around, firelight dancing across his deeply lined face.

Lu Mingfei froze.

The old man lightly tapped the ground with his scabbard, the sound bringing Lu Mingfei back to himself.

"I don't know what that brat from the East spends all day thinking about...

Do you think I'm crazy? Before teaching you, I had already confirmed it. The power in your body is nearly identical to that of an Ancient Dragon.

I don't know about lightning and fire, but this old man has dealt with storms his entire life. Whether you can use them or not, I know perfectly well."

"Extra training tomorrow."

He suddenly rose to his feet, his tall shadow engulfing Lu Mingfei.

"Since you still have the energy for wild thoughts, you clearly aren't tired enough. Lunging steps, spinning slashes, ready stance—three hundred of each."

"Again?!"

"Four hundred."

"I was wrong! Three hundred is fine!"

The night wind swept ashes through the ruins. Lu Mingfei gazed silently at the old man's stooped yet upright back, unable to say a word.