Chapter 173: The Verification Is Complete (3)

A person consumed by desire often ignores precise intuition and fails to make rational judgments.

Such was the case for Zwalter and Randolph at that moment.

When faced with a new breakthrough to reach greater heights, neither experience nor instinct mattered anymore.

The two were so thrilled that they immediately summoned the knights.

"Recently, Ghislain had a small revelation and refined the family's mana cultivation technique. It's said to be more effective than the previous method, so let's all train in it together."

At Zwalter's words, the knights murmured among themselves, their unease evident.

It was now common knowledge that the young lord was quite strong.

However, his eccentric and often reckless behavior raised questions about whether he could be trusted.

Mana cultivation is a delicate practice—any slight disruption in its flow could lead to disastrous consequences.

Hearing that such a method was modified by someone as erratic as Ghislain naturally made them anxious.

Sensing the knights' unease, Randolph stepped forward confidently and spoke.

"Do not worry! The lord and I have both thoroughly reviewed this. We'll ensure safe training, so there's no reason to be afraid!"

Only then did the knights relax a little. If the lord and the knight commander had reviewed it, it must be trustworthy. Such is the power of credibility.

But there was one knight who didn't trust the assurances of the lord and the knight commander.

That was Skovan, the captain of the Forest of Demonic Beasts' guards.

'What? The young lord modified it? Sure, that sounds like something he'd do. But practicing it? Have they all lost their minds? Don't they learn?'

Skovan had come to the northern fortress under Homerne's orders to deliver supplies and relay the news that Ghislain had cleared an entire forest.

He had been at the fortress for quite some time, having been roped into additional guard duty by Randolph.

Due to the chronic shortage of knights, everyone in the estate was accustomed to being tasked with unrelated duties.

While he had accepted it without complaint at the time, he never imagined he'd end up witnessing Ghislain's sinister behavior.

'If the young lord improved it, I'm sure it's better than before. But I guarantee there will be side effects.'

Skovan had interacted with Ghislain more than any other knight of Perdium.

Having experienced painful consequences every time, he was certain the mana cultivation technique Ghislain introduced wouldn't be ordinary.

'I'll wait until others practice it and all the issues are resolved. I'm sitting this one out!'

Having made up his mind, Skovan raised his hand and spoke.

"Lord! I must return to my post. The estate is short on knights. Besides, shouldn't we test this method further?"

The answer came not from Zwalter but from Randolph.

"You're always slacking off in the Forest of Demonic Beasts, aren't you? Where do you think you're going? You need to practice this and then teach it to the remaining knights back at the estate. I already said it's been reviewed—what more do you need? If I say jump, you jump, you idiot."

Skovan immediately drooped his head in dejection.

Randolph might not cause as much trouble as Ghislain, but his temperament was equally unyielding and foul.

He was the kind of person who would hand out shovels and order knights to level a mountain if he found it inconveniently placed.

With someone like that giving the orders, there was no escaping this.

Reluctantly, Skovan joined the other knights in practicing Ghislain's mana cultivation technique.

The knights' original methods of mana cultivation varied.

Some had learned the Perdium family technique, while others had studied under different families or masters.

However, Ghislain's book explained how to transition from existing methods to the new one seamlessly.

By following his instructions, the knights, albeit at different paces, began to adapt to the new technique.

'Wow, this actually works pretty well.'

'To think it's possible to switch without conflict with the previous method. Is that even possible?'

'The speed of absorbing and expelling mana has increased so much. It's incomparable to before.'

The effects were evident early on, encouraging those who had doubts to gradually increase the intensity of their training.

The visible improvements made it hard to stop. The drastically increased destructive power particularly hooked them.

'Seeing myself grow stronger—I can't stop. I've got to surpass that guy!'

Strength is a knight's virtue. Once the competitive spirit kicked in, their training escalated rapidly.

As everyone became obsessed with the new mana cultivation technique, there was no stopping them.

Watching this, Zwalter and Randolph wore pleased smiles.

"Ha, it's been so long since everyone was this dedicated to training. Ghislain has truly accomplished something incredible. To think it's this effective. I'm proud."

"Haha, my lord! I'm itching to take on the barbarians now. Why haven't those guys attacked recently?"

While the two, as high-level knights, advanced more slowly, they could feel themselves gradually breaking through their walls, which was satisfying enough.

The difference between being entirely stuck and seeing a way forward was like night and day.

One month of intense training passed in this manner.

Then, some of the less-skilled knights began experiencing issues.

"Ughhh!"

"Cough!"

The more mana they used, the more knights began coughing up blood and collapsing.

While resting seemed to help, stopping their training caused the accumulated mana to surge uncontrollably out of their bodies. This forced them to resume training, leading to more bloody coughs.

Under normal circumstances, using mana wouldn't cause such problems. But the explosive power of this method overwhelmed their bodies.

With no way to regulate their mana usage, the condition of all the knights worsened rapidly.

"What is happening?"

As the knights collapsed, the northern fortress was thrown into chaos.

Randolph, pale-faced and as alarmed as Zwalter, stammered.

"My lord… I think we've been tricked by Ghislain."

"Tricked? What do you mean, tricked?"

Randolph explained his suspicions to a bewildered Zwalter.

"That bastard must have tampered with the cultivation technique! He's trying to kill us all!"

"Kill us? Why would he do that?"

"So he can take over the Perdium estate, of course! He's the only heir with any credibility. The damned brat is a traitor!"

Zwalter clutched his head and staggered. The reasoning made terrifying sense.

It was a flawless plan. If everyone died from their own training, it would be the perfect crime—no one could accuse him of murder.

Zwalter felt like crying blood.

To think that a son he had trusted (to some extent) would commit such a heinous act!

As he wallowed in despair, Zwalter suddenly realized something odd.

"But we're still fine, aren't we?"

While they weren't completely unharmed—intense mana release left their insides churning and occasionally drew a trickle of blood from their mouths—there was no major issue.

'The internal strain could just be a reaction to the sudden increase in mana.'

Zwalter wasn't entirely convinced that the problem lay with the cultivation technique. After all, they were undeniably growing stronger.

However, Randolph disagreed.

"We're high-level knights! We're stronger and have more mana than the others, so we're holding out for now! But eventually, we'll collapse too!"

Randolph's anguished cry left Zwalter unable to retort. He closed his eyes in despair.

No matter how important power was, to think his son would plan to kill the family knights for it!

'It's his inheritance anyway, so why couldn't he wait? Oh, what a failure I've been as a father. My dear wife, I'll see you soon.'

But they couldn't simply sit back and wait for death. That arrogant son of his had to be punished.

He would rally all his forces and deliver justice to Fenris Estate…

"My lord! My lord!"

Just then, an attendant rushed in with a letter in hand.

"What is this?"

"It's from the young lord. He said it contains critical information and must be read immediately."

"What? Is this his declaration of war?"

"No, he didn't mention anything like that. I don't know what it says either."

Zwalter opened the letter from Ghislain. The more he read, the more his expression turned strange.

The letter seemed to predict the current situation, outlining the issues with the cultivation technique and how to resolve them.

In summary, they needed to keep accumulating mana until they surpassed a certain threshold, at which point the issues would resolve themselves.

[Also, everyone has been neglecting physical training lately. If you want to survive a little longer, combine mana training with physical conditioning.]

In other words, the only way to avoid death was to push both body and mana to their absolute limits through relentless training.

"Damn it! Why didn't he say this earlier?"

Zwalter grumbled, moving on to the next line of the letter.

[If I'd explained earlier, no one would have wanted to learn the improved technique. Since the situation demands rapid growth, I had no choice but to withhold this information.]

It was as if Ghislain had anticipated his complaints. Clicking his tongue, Zwalter stood up.

"Damn it! Get up, everyone! If you don't want to die, you'd better train until you drop! Randolph, stop crying and get up, you idiot!"

The usually dignified Zwalter was now barking orders in desperation.

Lying around complaining would only weaken them further. This was the most grueling cultivation method he had ever encountered.

While it was a relief that Ghislain wasn't planning a rebellion, Zwalter's frustration boiled over.

Now, the knights of the northern fortress faced the dual challenge of relentless training and defending against barbarians.

They had truly entered an unprecedentedly harsh training environment.

Meanwhile, Skovan, collapsed on the ground, coughing blood and crying, thought to himself:

'I knew I didn't want to do this… I told you I didn't want to get involved…'

But regret always comes too late.

***

While chaos engulfed the northern fortress, Fenris Estate was abuzz over the results of a wager.

The estate's vassals began gathering one by one at the demonstration site.

Claude, the head butler, nervously bit his nails, unable to hide his anxiety.

He turned to Wendy, who stood beside him.

"It's impossible, right? How long does it usually take to master mana?"

"Unless they're a genius, it takes at least several years."

"Exactly! And there weren't any geniuses among the mercenaries or the new recruits. Logically, it's impossible, right?"

"Logically, yes… but the lord has consistently achieved the illogical."

And that was precisely why Claude was uneasy.

Ghislain had a habit of defying common sense and making ordinary people look like fools.

Claude closed his eyes and shook his head.

'No, this time it's really impossible.'

Based on his observations, the knights undergoing training looked like they were barely holding on. Their deteriorated physical states were likely due to excessive training.

As the vassals gathered, Ghislain finally arrived at the demonstration site.

With a relaxed demeanor, Ghislain looked around and raised his hand to declare.

"As agreed with the head butler, we will now confirm whether the knights can use mana. From this moment on, I will not entertain objections to our campaign. Bring in the knights."

At Ghislain's signal, the knights who had been training entered the demonstration site one by one.

The vassals gasped in shock when they saw them.

"What… what is this…"

"How could they look like that…?"

It wasn't admiration—they were horrified. The knights resembled walking skeletons.

Although they had occasionally seen the knights and noticed their poor condition, it was much worse now.

Ignoring the reactions around him, Ghislain continued.

"Let the head butler call their names and verify them."

Claude had been given the responsibility of selecting the knights and weapons for the demonstration.

As skeptical as Claude was, Ghislain had readily entrusted him with the task.

After some deliberation, Claude called upon someone he was certain wouldn't have succeeded.

"Gordon! Gordon, step forward and demonstrate!"

At the call of his name, a frail, bald figure staggered forward.

Claude looked him up and down a few times before speaking.

"What? Not you. I mean the muscular crybaby Gordon!"

"I'm Gordon."

Claude studied the man's features closely—it was indeed Gordon.

Stammering in disbelief, Claude finally managed to speak.

"What happened to your body?"

Gordon, on the verge of tears, replied.

"My body hurts so much that I've lost muscle…"

"…"

Looking at Gordon with a mix of pity and suspicion, Claude handed him a sword.

"Use this to cut through that."

He pointed to a long, thick iron bar that had been placed specifically for the demonstration.

Everyone present held their breath, watching Gordon intently.

Taking the sword, Gordon stood before the iron bar and took a deep breath.

"Inhale…"

As Gordon focused, a faint blue aura enveloped his blade.

Then, with a single strike, he brought the sword down on the iron bar.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

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