Green Berries

The sounds of metal clashes reverberated in the afternoon.

A month had passed already since George had transmigrated. He had fully embraced his fate, and he was obviously impatient to start walking the path of Magic. The lifespan, strength and status that came along the title of 'Magus' sure were enticing to all mortals.

Unlike Leylin, however, George felt gratitude towards his family. The past month had allowed him to become a [Sword Expert]. It was a realm that allowed him to fully display his family's swordsmanship. He could feel that a few more months of training would suffice to reach the [Sword Master] realm, which was usually only attained by a handful of veteran Grand Knights.

This was how powerful the AI Chip was, fulfilling the role of a perfect master.

Any mistake, deviation of the original [Lionheart Sword Art] would result in an alert, allowing George to refine his movements. Training a dozen hours a day, his progress was astonishing.

*CLANG*

His sword was moving like a snake. The [Lionheart Sword Art] was a swordsmanship focusing on momentum and timing. Most of the time, the swordsman using this swordsmanship would focus on defence, and look for holes in his enemy's stance. Using minimal amount of stamina in parries and dodges, the swordsman would eventually get the upper hand, and deal a fatal attack to his enemy.

However, after reaching the [Sword Expert] realm, George was not just taking advantage of his enemy's mistakes. He would create the holes in his enemy's defence, by using feints, irregular rythmic slashes and terrifying barrage of horizontal strikes that would overwhelm his opponent.

His opponent was Alexander Holmes, third son of the Holmes Baron Household from the Sarad Kingdom. He was a close friend of the original George, but he must have died since there had be no mention of him in the book. Both had grown up in the Sarad Kingdom, which was a cold place. Still, as noblemen, they had lived quite the fulfilling childhood together, seeing each other every couple months during banquets and noble events.

Alexander was not a preparatory knight though.

[Name - Alexander Holmes | Status - Healthy | Gender: Male

Attributes : Strength - 1.3 | Dexterity - 1.5 | Vitality - 1.2]

Days of sparring had allowed him to become a bit stronger than the average adult, and he had started to practice his family's knight breathing technique with more seriousness after getting his ass kicked on a daily basis. Alexander didn't like it, but still went through it after a young man died from a boar charge after isolating himself in order to poop. The black-robed knights forbade anyone below a the preparatory knight realm from leaving the 'Safe Zone' set by the three white-robed Magi.

After all, the magi were tasked with escorting the 60 apprentices to the Magical Center. If too many apprentices were to die, then the Magical Academies would be quite disappointed, and they would offend fellow magi. Bad reputation was the same as a death sentence to those magi, since they needed fellow magi in order to collaborate for the sake of their own respective research. The fact that they were desperate enough to escort apprentices meant that they were already in dire need of magical crystals, or else they would meditate quietly in their respective dwellings rather than travel in those insect-infested plains where howls of wolves would keep them from having good nights of sleep.

No matter how many times Alexander tried, he could not seem to be able to land a single blow of George. He could feel that he was growing stronger and sharper, yet the gap between them only seemed to grow over time.

George Lionheart had been acknowledged by Alexander as a terrifying sword genius.

"Have you ever considered going to the Imperial Knight Institute in the capital", Alexander asked his friend, while patting his ribs that were blue from the impact of George's sword, "I can't believe you went through the trouble of learning magic with your talent in martial arts...If it's you, I am sure that you could have easily become a Grand Knight in thirty years. Perhaps it would have only taken you twenty years!"

George smiled: "You know that the number of Grand Knights who managed to fend off Magi can be counted on our fingers...Although it's not impossible, there is too much of a gap between the two. And there is nothing that prevents me from continuing to hone my swordsmanship as an acolyte, is there?"

Alexander smiled: "I guess you are right...How are you not a knight with your strength though? When I sparred with my father, his strikes were not that much more powerful than yours"

George smiled: "I have yet to awaken life force, although my body seems to be increasingly closer to the knight realm. To be honest, my knight breathing technique is losing effectiveness, and won't be of much use until I unlock my life force"

George took out a couple green berries from his pocket and ate them raw. It was incredibly acidic, to the point that he made a grimace, but still swallowed everything.

[You have consumed a [Great Plains of Death Green Berry]. This nutritious food is expected to increase your strength, dexterity and vitality by 0.005 upon fully digesting it]

[You have consumed a [Great Plains of Death Green Berry]. This nutritious food is expected to increase your strength, dexterity and vitality by 0.005 upon fully digesting it]

[You have consumed a [Great Plains of Death Green Berry]. This nutritious food is expected to increase your strength, dexterity and vitality by 0.005 upon fully digesting it]

George smiled upon hearing these familiar words. After a dozen failures, he had successfully identified the edible fruits and vegetables growing in the wild. The Great Plains of Death were famous for the danger, but there were also plenty of opportunities to seize in this place. Nutritious food capable of improving one's attributes was one of them.

[Name - George Lionheart | Status - Healthy | Title: Preparatory Knight

Attributes : Strength - 2.4 | Dexterity - 2.3 | Vitality - 2.6]