Bang! Their weapons collided violently, and both Rex and Cecil recoiled. Rex staggered back three steps. Seeing Cecil retreat only two, a satisfied smile lit up his eyes.
He raised the broad greatsword in his hand and shouted, "Again!"
"All right!" Cecil's gaze grew solemn, his initial ease completely gone. As expected of the Greymane royal bloodline. His talent truly is astonishing. He's only at early Ninth Rank, yet he's already closing in on me at Ninth Rank Peak. Gilneas will surely flourish under Prince Rex. It's been decades since Gilneas last had a Hero Rank king. I still remember how Archibald Greymane led the people of Gilneas out of poverty and into prosperity, single-handedly building its capital into a city that rivaled Lordaeron City and Stormwind City.
With Prince Rex this strong, my efforts to win the position of protecting him weren't wasted.
Cecil's eyes shone, and all the unease in his heart vanished. Rumors had been circulating among the upper nobility lately. As a Ninth Rank fighter, Cecil was not as oblivious as the common people. King Genn's dismissal of the Knights of the Round Table as a plaything had unsettled him somewhat, especially with his former colleagues mocking him. Cecil knew those men in the Royal Guard were merely venting their resentment over losing to him and not being chosen by King Genn, but their words had still left him uncertain. Now, however, he was full of confidence in Prince Rex.
Someone at early Ninth Rank could already hold his own against Cecil, and he was the Heir Apparent besides. Ultimately, strength reigned supreme in Azeroth. Eighth Tier and Ninth Rank were entirely different things. No one knew exactly how many Eighth Tier fighters the human Alliance had, but if there were not a thousand, there were nearly that many. Ninth Rank fighters, however, numbered only a little over a hundred. That counted humans alone, without including the other races. Humanity had a population of roughly ten million: around three million in Lordaeron, over two million in Stormwind City, about one and a half million in Gilneas, and another three million or so across the other four kingdoms, including Stromgarde. These figures also included the people of the Kingdom of Alterac. Although Alterac had been destroyed after siding with the orcs and betraying the Alliance, most of its people still remained, though many had become rebels.
At a ratio of only one in a hundred thousand, all of Gilneas had just ten such fighters. No, eleven. Today, Prince Rex had joined their ranks.
Surging holy light enveloped Rex. Paladins really did cut an impressive figure, with a natural aura of warmth. Watching Prince Rex charge toward him, Cecil gripped his warhammer and guarded himself carefully. Unlike Rex, who was a Paladin, Cecil was a Warrior, one skilled in wielding a hammer.
The duel between Rex and Cecil drew countless spectators. At first, Rex's arrival at the training grounds to fight Cecil had caused little stir. One was Eighth Tier, the other Ninth Rank Peak; the gap between them was enormous. Anyone who heard the news simply assumed Cecil was instructing Prince Rex in combat techniques. But once Prince Rex revealed his strength, he actually seemed capable of holding his own against Cecil. Only when people noticed this did an uproar break out. What were they seeing? Prince Rex was not Eighth Tier at all, but Ninth Rank! Ordinarily, the appearance of a Ninth Rank fighter could certainly cause a stir.
But it would never have caused such a sensation. That was where Rex's other identity came into play: Heir Apparent.
Rex was only twenty-three that year, yet he had already reached Ninth Rank. He was certain to become a Hero Rank powerhouse in the future. Humans knew little about the other races, but among humanity, there was an unwritten rule: anyone who failed to reach Ninth Rank before thirty would essentially have no hope of attaining Hero Rank. Azeroth's cultivation system was completely different from that of immortal cultivation. Living longer did not necessarily make someone stronger. As humans here aged, they reached their prime between thirty and forty, when their strength was at its greatest. After forty, their strength might not decline, but further improvement became difficult. After fifty, it depended on how well they had maintained themselves. The rate at which their strength declined varied from person to person.
Breaking through to Hero Rank was easiest during one's prime. If someone failed to reach Ninth Rank before entering that period and use those peak years to break through the bottleneck, their chances of becoming Hero Rank were slim.
Anyone who reached Ninth Rank before twenty-five was all but guaranteed to become a Hero Rank powerhouse, provided nothing went wrong along the way.
Ten years would bring them to their prime. By thirty-five, they could reach Ninth Rank Peak, then use the remaining years to make their breakthrough, with a strong chance of success. Why else had Arthas's Paladin initiation caused such a sensation, drawing countless powerful figures, including humans of such exalted standing as Antonidas? It was because of Arthas's extraordinary talent. Ninth Rank at nineteen, combined with his status as Lordaeron's Heir Apparent, had caused an exceptional stir. Everyone wanted to establish good relations with Lordaeron's future king.
Arthas was certain to attain Hero Rank; no one doubted that. A commoner with such talent might still die young or suffer some unexpected misfortune, but with all of Lordaeron's resources devoted to nurturing him, Arthas was guaranteed to become a Hero Rank powerhouse. The same was true of Prince Rex. King Genn would certainly use Gilneas's resources to nurture him.
King Genn, who was in the palace at that moment, had already received the report and could not help bursting into delighted laughter. Although Gilneas's Royal Guard had one Hero Rank powerhouse, however close a member of the Royal Guard might be, he was still an outsider, nowhere near comparable to an heir of the Greymane bloodline. Genn laughed freely. The potential Rex was displaying now could not have come at a better time. The man in the Royal Guard was a powerhouse left behind by Archibald Greymane, King Genn's father, and he was already old. Yet Gilneas had still failed to produce anyone capable of breaking through to Hero Rank. This had been a source of worry for King Genn. Thinking back to the days of Archibald Greymane, when two Hero Rank powerhouses stood guard over Gilneas, how mighty the kingdom had been! Now it had fallen so far that no successor was ready to take over.
How could King Genn not know the consequences of a kingdom having no Hero Rank powerhouse to protect it? Now that this worry had vanished, the smile on his face grew even brighter. The matter of the Knights of the Round Table needed to be reconsidered.
Meanwhile, at the Godfrey estate, Vincent received the report. Seeing the disbelief on his son Ulysses's face, he shook his head slightly. The recent series of events had made Vincent realize that his son was far inferior to Prince Rex. The gap was so great that there was simply no comparison.
"I underestimated you, Darius. To think a brute like you could scheme like this. But I, Vincent, am no slouch either. Ulysses has joined the Knights of the Round Table too," Vincent murmured to himself.
(End of chapter)
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