Knight Academy, the square!
The Red Maple Clan's leaders came as soon as they heard the news. The patriarchs of the six great families-Russell, Herbert, Howard, Carven, Borgia, and Rengat-came in person.
As one of the Red Maple Clan's seven great families, the news that the Campbell Family was about to gain a first-in-line heir carried considerable weight.
"The Count has arrived!"
At the shout, the crowd parted down the middle. Kevin Herbert walked through them with a solemn expression and came to a stop before Logo.
After looking him up and down for a moment, the peak ninth-tier Slaughter Knight released his extraordinarily keen perception, enveloping Logo.
Logo's muscles tensed instinctively, but he soon relaxed.
A dozen seconds later, surprise flashed in Herbert's eyes, and his solemn expression softened.
But rather than give his verdict immediately, he looked at a rugged-faced middle-aged man in a red mage's robe beside him.
Doug Borgia, 110 years old, nicknamed the Blazing Flame Mage, an eighth-tier fire-attribute caster of the School of Evocation.
Doug knew what the Count meant. "He's already been examined with a bloodline instrument. All his physical indicators are normal, and his life essence is abundant and resilient. Although his spiritual power is very active, it's unexpectedly stable. There's no problem!"
At the same time, Doug used a mental spell to transmit a message to Count Herbert: "His soul wavelength is stable, and his soul body is pure, with no foreign impurities or negative energy. We can rule out the possibility of a spirit invasion!"
Hearing this, Herbert was finally completely reassured.
His expression turned kind. "Very good. A second bloodline awakening will greatly increase your growth potential. Work hard at your cultivation from now on, and don't disappoint Augustus!"
Those words were effectively a verdict: there was nothing wrong with Logo's breakthrough.
As soon as he finished speaking, the previously quiet atmosphere came alive.
Everyone was astonished, and numerous intrigued gazes fell on the anxious Catherine and the conflicted Xisi.
The two reacted very differently to the old Count's words. Xisi looked utterly dejected, his face hanging and his spirits low, just like Logo had been back then.
Catherine's face was so dark it looked as though water might drip from it. Veins bulged on her forehead, giving her a somewhat ferocious appearance.
But she didn't dare question the Count of Red Maple to his face, so she could only hold it in.
"There's still a chance, still a chance. As long as he fails the practical combat test, there's still a chance..."
Catherine shouted it over and over in her heart, unconsciously clutching her skirt so tightly that her fingers turned pale.
Only if Xisi took charge of the Campbell Family could she obtain enough resources. If Logo took the position of patriarch, then...
"Are you ready for the practical combat test?" Count Herbert asked Logo with a smile, his tone even.
"We can begin at any time!" Logo answered firmly. Beside him, the excited butler Lunbate hurriedly handed him the war scythe he was holding.
The Gendaya People had a particular fondness for war scythes, and all their melee weapons were scythe-shaped.
There were many types: long-hafted heavy war scythes (great scythes), long-hafted light war scythes, short-hafted light war scythes, double-bladed war scythes, spear scythes...
That was because war scythes were closely linked to the Gendaya People's racial class, the Slaughter Knight.
Many inherited combat techniques had to be used with a war scythe!
Lunbate had handed Logo a long-hafted spear scythe, 2.23 meters long and 0.64 meters wide. Forged from extraordinary metal and bearing multiple enchantments, it could hook, thrust, and slash, and was immensely powerful!
"Then let's begin now!"
The old Count was as decisive as ever. With a wave of his hand, he sent everyone moving aside.
A large truck then drove into the square. Piercing roars and clattering impacts came incessantly from its cargo compartment.
Teacher Beifu stepped forward and opened the vehicle's door. Once the aura of a fifth-tier knight was released, the once-powerful roars turned to frightened whimpers.
An image involuntarily surfaced in Logo's mind.
A mad dog was barking wildly in a cage when a fierce tiger suddenly appeared before it. Frightened, the dog tucked its tail between its legs and curled up trembling in a corner.
The cage was lifted out with one hand. Inside was no mad dog, but a boar with dark skin, a hard shell on its back, and a pair of sharp tusks.
A Black-Armored Boar!
These creatures were roughly as intelligent as ordinary human children of three or four. Once fully grown, they generally reached the first tier of the extraordinary. They were widespread in the Sunset Jungle and had fierce temperaments, but their meat was firm and springy, making them one of Crassus's favorite prey.
On Planet Oklo, extraordinary creatures with low intelligence like these were generally called "monsters." The Mercenary Guild had compiled a special illustrated guide to monsters, an essential reference for adventurers.
Black-Armored Boars were difficult to deal with. They had thick hides and tough flesh, and were extremely fast when charging at full speed. Although they had no spell-like abilities, their destructive power was not to be underestimated.
"Rub this on your chest!" Teacher Beifu tossed him a black pill.
Logo did as instructed, crushing the pill and rubbing it on his chest.
Then he noticed the Black-Armored Boar looking at him, its brownish-yellow eyes bloodshot. It squealed at him in a frenzy and repeatedly slammed its armored back against the iron cage. Even Teacher Beifu's suppressive aura no longer worked.
"Mm, good. It works as well as ever!" Beifu nodded in satisfaction.
Black lines covered Logo's forehead. Of course he knew what the pill was.
An aphrodisiac!
A fucking aphrodisiac made specifically to attract Black-Armored Boars!
"Heh heh, kid, are you ready?" Beifu grinned maliciously.
"Come on!"
Logo spread his feet shoulder-width apart, lowered his center of gravity, and held his war scythe at an angle, waiting in concentration.
Clang!!
The iron cage sprang open, and the frenzied Black-Armored Boar charged at Logo, foul-smelling drool streaming from its mouth.
At the Black-Armored Boar's speed, it needed only two seconds to cross a hundred meters.
An ordinary person wouldn't even have time to react before being skewered on its nearly meter-long tusks!
Thud, thud, thud...
Charging at full speed like a tank, the Black-Armored Boar was quite intimidating, but Logo showed no fear.
He had no intention of dodging at all. As he raised his war scythe horizontally, his life seed throbbed violently, and fiery red battle qi surged out like flames, enveloping his body.
"Whoa, that feeling is back!" A wild look appeared in Logo's eyes, and his whole bearing turned fierce and overbearing.
He focused his attention, especially on the Eye of Gendaya on his forehead. It was the Gendaya People's most important extraordinary organ, capable not only of firing energy rays but also of granting them vision far superior to that of normal humans.
Logo's Eye of Gendaya was even more remarkable because it had fused with the Eye of Insight: superb vision plus lightning-fast processing ability.
As his pupil focused, the entire world seemed to slow down in Logo's eyes.
He caught even the slightest movement of the Black-Armored Boar, and one after another, phantom images of it appeared in his Eye of Gendaya.
This was prediction!
A rush of air struck his face, blowing his hair back along with a foul stench. The boar's hooves rapidly grew larger before his eyes, while its two spear-like tusks pierced the air with a sharp whistle.
He slid a step, turned sideways, lowered the scythe blade, and gripped the end of the spear shaft. Exerting his arm and using the ground's opposing force, he leaped up and landed on the Black-Armored Boar's head.
Then the muscles in both his arms bulged. Terrifying strength traveled along his taut muscle fibers, ultimately forming a tremendous pulling force.
Under that force, the sharp scythe blade easily sank into the Black-Armored Boar's neck. Immediately afterward came a sound.
Rip!!
An artery was severed, and blood sprayed through the air. Still holding his war scythe, Logo performed a nimble backflip and landed steadily.
He turned around and shook his arm, flinging the droplets of blood from the scythe blade.
He came to the Black-Armored Boar, which was lying on the ground and struggling wildly, and raised his war scythe. He drove the sharp spear tip down hard, and as he felt the resistance of it piercing the brain through his palm, the creature's scream abruptly stopped.