CH4

In the castle's training ground, there was an open space dedicated to swordsmanship training. Beside the open space stood a wooden rack, adorned with gleaming longswords.

The guards trained with real swords, though they were not sharpened to ensure a certain level of safety.

Helag and Emil each held a longsword, standing opposite each other.

Emil personally teaching Helag swordsmanship showed how much he valued him.

"Swordsmanship is for killing enemies. My swordsmanship doesn't have the fancy moves of court swordsmanship; there are no unnecessary flourishes," Emil said.

"Slash, chop, thrust, parry, block!"

"These five words are the unchanging foundation of all swordsmanship. Once you master these basics, the rest is about gaining combat experience."

Emil took a deep breath and suddenly slashed forward with his longsword, stirring up a cloud of dust.

His movements were swift. Without the chip's assistance, Helag wouldn't have been able to see Emil's actions clearly.

"This is normal speed. Next, I'll go slower. Pay attention to the details of my movements. When learning swordsmanship, don't chase speed. Just make sure each move is precise."

Emil slashed forward again, this time slowly enough for Helag to see the movements clearly.

"Try it," Emil said after demonstrating.

"Deep Blue, activate swordsmanship training assistance."

A blue figure appeared in Helag's vision, demonstrating the key points of the slash.

Following Deep Blue's prompts, Helag adjusted his stance and slashed forward.

[Too much wrist power, use more arm strength] Deep Blue immediately corrected Helag's technique.

Emil also noticed the issue, saying, "The move looks good, but you should use more arm strength. Try again."

Recalling the previous feeling, Helag found the right point of force and slashed forward again.

"Very good! Now I'll teach you the other moves," Emil said, smiling for once.

The entire afternoon, Helag practiced the basic swordsmanship. His learning speed impressed even the usually stern Emil.

Helag didn't hold back his skills. Coming from a lowly background, he needed to show his value to attract more resources.

"Keep practicing. I'll provide opportunities for you to train. One cannot become a knight without seeing blood," Emil said, already considering Helag as a potential knight.

"Thank you, Sir Emil! Thanks to the baron!" Helag said gratefully.

After a day's training, Helag returned to his hut and received his salary from Butler Ivan.

"Butler Ivan, there are five extra silver coins," Helag said, opening the pouch.

"It's not extra, Mr. Helag. Captain Emil reported your progress to the baron, who decided to increase your salary," Ivan, a white-haired old man, said with a kind smile.

"Oh, I see…"

Emil hadn't mentioned this, probably considering it a trivial matter.

With his salary in hand, Helag took a jug of good wine to the back garden.

"Old Henry, I brought you some wine!" he called out, seeing Old Henry lying on a chair with his eyes closed.

"What kind of wine?" Old Henry sniffed but couldn't tell.

Helag placed the wine beside the chair, "I don't know much about it. Someone went to town, and I asked them to buy it."

"Let me see." Old Henry perked up, opened the jug, and sniffed.

"This is wine from Marco's in town. It does taste good," Old Henry said, looking pleased.

"By the way, my salary increased. I now get ten silver coins a month. I'll give you half!" Helag said, handing over five silver coins.

Old Henry scoffed, "What do I need money for at my age? I can't chew meat, and if I go to town to find a girl, they'd be afraid I'd die on them. When you're old, spending money doesn't feel the same as when you're young. You're still young, go enjoy yourself. All I need is wine."

Helag, hearing Old Henry's words, recalled an old poem from his previous life: "I wish to buy osmanthus and carry wine, but it will never be like the days of youth."

Suddenly, he thought of something and asked, "Old Henry, how long do knights like Emil live?"

"How long? Few knights die of old age. From what I've heard, they live to about a hundred years, a bit longer and stronger than ordinary people," Old Henry recalled.

"What about great knights like the baron?" Helag continued.

"Great knights are still human, about the same," Old Henry said after a sip of wine.

"Only around a hundred years…"

Helag had thought knights, with their extraordinary powers, would live much longer, but it seemed they only lived slightly longer than ordinary people.

"Old Henry, are there people stronger than knights?"

"Stronger? Of course, but those are just legends. Wizards are said to be stronger than knights, but they're very mysterious. No one knows if they really exist," Old Henry said after some thought.

"Wizards…" Helag silently noted the term.

Helag returned to his hut late at night, having spent the evening drinking with Old Henry.

He helped the drunk Old Henry to bed and left the five silver coins behind.

He was a grateful person.

***

Half a month later, at the castle training ground.

Helag, wearing armor, stood in a line with six other guards, waiting for Emil's orders.

"A group of bandits has appeared at the pumpkin farm. It's our duty to protect the people of the territory. The baron has ordered us to eliminate the bandits…" Emil explained the mission.

For the past half month, Helag had been diligently practicing the Earth Breathing Technique and basic swordsmanship. Today, he finally had a chance for real combat.

"Although they're just ordinary bandits, don't be careless. A knife wound can still kill you!" Emil warned.

Helag listened attentively, feeling the other six were not taking it seriously.

Eliminating bandits was common. It was the lord's responsibility and a way to showcase his power and deter others.

This era was chaotic, with frequent conflicts between territories.

Helag often heard about territories being annexed or suffering from famines.

Bandits had to be quickly eliminated to prevent others from seeing the territory as weak and attracting more bandits.

Emil personally led the team, consisting of seven castle guards, forming the expedition.

Helag, still somewhat unfamiliar with riding, quickly learned to control his horse with Deep Blue's assistance.