lerbook Chapter 62 : Quasi-Knight Duel
Chapter 62 : Quasi-Knight Duel
Chapter 62: Quasi-Knight Duel! Breathing Technique Test!
“Sir, this Eddie… ” Burton gritted his teeth, “he is my nephew.”
“Nephew?”
Laforin looked at Burton in front of him. “He won’t die. Getting injured and bleeding during the assessment is very normal. Since he’s your nephew, then you can take him to Grell for treatment.”
Laforin seemed to have noticed something and ordered people to carry Eddie onto the carriage.
Toward this old butler, Laforin actually had many dissatisfactions.
But after decades of master-servant relations, there were many things he simply turned a blind eye to.
Burton did not linger. He stepped onto the carriage in one stride and personally urged the horse forward toward the outskirts of the city.
“Hyah!”
With a crisp crack of the whip, the carriage sped rapidly toward outside the castle.
“Nephew?” Laforin turned his head. The Knight’s Squires who had been watching at the doorway quickly withdrew their gazes.
The assessment was not yet over. Eddie’s incident was only a minor interlude.
Leo also walked back in from the doorway. Earlier, he had noticed the look in Burton’s eyes at that instant.
That was the gaze of someone who wanted to kill.
Leo would not sit and wait for death.
But for now, he still had one final opponent ahead of him.
Not far away, Fidis looked at his opponent Leo. In truth, he still had no confidence.
In his impression, Leo was also a ruthless figure.
The bloody scene of him slaughtering Goblins that day surged back into his mind all at once.
At that time, Leo had reminded him of a butcher slaughtering livestock in the market.
But now, Leo smiled at him. “Come on, Fidis.”
Leo actually had quite a good impression of Fidis as a person.
The two faced each other, and all eyes at the scene focused on them.
Especially the five knights.
This Knight’s Squire assessment had turned out to be far more exciting than they had originally expected.
Particularly Fidis and Leo—they all wanted to see who was stronger between the two.
Only Laforin had already reached a conclusion in his heart.
He was still calming the shock within him.
He knew very well that what Leo had just used was absolutely his daughter Eve Sova’s Tide Cross Sword.
As an experienced sword master, he naturally understood how powerful Eve’s sword technique was.
It wasn’t just powerful—the key was, for a beginner like Leo, how could he have learned it so quickly?
At the time, he had arranged for Eve to teach Leo mainly to let them build some rapport as master and servant.
But in less than three months, this boy had actually trained the Tide Cross Sword to the third stage.
His eyes were fixed tightly on Leo before him, wanting to see his next performance.
At this moment, Leo extended his front foot slightly and assumed a classic inviting stance.
Fidis also raised his long blade.
The final duel between the two was about to erupt.
Facing Fidis, Leo felt that his state of mind was completely different from when he had faced Eddie earlier.
At this moment, he was single-minded and had restrained his killing intent.
In the assessment, he naturally would not farm experience.
But now, he also wanted to see just how big the gap was between a Quasi-Knight who had just mastered the Breathing Technique and himself.
However, he quickly discovered—
The gap was enormous, far greater than he had imagined.
The strength increase from the Breathing Technique, combined with the additional strength attribute from skill bonuses—
The difference in strength between the two was further amplified through their sword techniques.
A loud clang rang out.
Fidis’ long blade was knocked out of his hand and flew toward the crowd, where it was caught by Ross on the other side.
The hilt vibrated and hummed under the tremendous force.
Ross looked at the long blade in her hand. The force that had knocked it away was so powerful that it made her feel an involuntary surge of excitement.
She looked at Leo. “What a strong kid.”
Leo had only used a single full-force strike, and Fidis simply could not withstand it. With just one strike, his blade was sent flying.
In merely a second, victory had been decided.
None of the Knight’s Squires had expected the outcome to be decided so quickly. Applause erupted like thunder.
But the five knights at the front saw through the underlying details.
The duel just now was far from as simple as it appeared.
Leo had actually struck later but controlled the outcome.
In an instant, Leo used his footwork to force Fidis to make the first move.
He deliberately refrained from striking, and at the moment Fidis attacked, he cut directly into the incoming strike.
This was a style only the strong could use—a style born of absolute confidence in one’s own strength.
The goal was to disarm the opponent with a single strike, minimizing unnecessary harm to the weaker side.
A seemingly simple strike required extremely refined swordsmanship and exceptionally precise judgment.
A brilliant duel!
A duel filled with knightly spirit.
The five knights looked at one another and applauded together.
Fidis also let out a long breath. He stepped back and gave Leo a standard knight’s salute with respect.
Leo returned the salute in kind.
This represented mutual respect between knights.
Under everyone’s gaze, the first round of the swordsmanship assessment came to an end.
In the end, Leo took first place.
All five knights gave Leo an AA rating in the swordsmanship category.
The last person to receive this rating had been Eve.
However, Leo’s training time was far shorter than Eve’s had been at the time.
After the first round ended came the second round—the Breathing Technique assessment.
But compared to the first round, this one was much simpler.
“All those who have already mastered the Breathing Technique, step forward.”
Without any suspense, only three people stepped out from the group: Leo, Fidis, and Rog.
For the remaining Knight’s Squires, their year-end assessment had already ended.
The five knights then led the three of them out of the Training Room.
They were going to the training ground to test their mastery of the Breathing Technique.
The eight of them arrived at the training ground.
From afar, they could see those Quasi-Knights drilling on the field.
Since there would be a banquet and knighting ceremony later that evening, they had no time to carry out other tasks. So in the afternoon, a swordsmanship guidance session had been arranged, where Eve would strengthen their sword techniques.
This was Laforin’s arrangement.
The goal was to allow Eve to establish authority among these Quasi-Knights from the very beginning.
At this moment, the five knights brought Leo and the others to a glass instrument.
“This is called a Gray Aura Tester. It is used to measure the concentration of gray aura within your bodies. This instrument is expensive, so cherish the opportunity.” The second round was still presided over by the Enforcement Knight Ray, and the short-haired recorder had also been summoned by him.
Just like the Quasi-Knights in the morning, they needed to use this device—the Gray Aura Tester—to measure their level of Breathing Technique cultivation.
“I’ll go first.” Rog looked at the novel glass instrument, already eager to try.
He hadn’t taken first place in the swordsmanship test just now, so he hoped for some surprise in the Breathing Technique.
But there was no surprise at all.
“Scale one.” The recorder casually made a mark on the paper with a feather pen.
Scale one meant just having entered the basics.
Inside, Rog gritted his teeth and struggled for a long time, but the liquid level did not change any further.
It was not unexpected.
Meanwhile, several Quasi-Knights who had been practicing swordsmanship nearby stopped and looked over.
“Hey, three cute little ones—welcome aboard.” A tall Quasi-Knight spoke, giving a bow toward the three of them, though his expression was full of disdain.
Blackstone City’s management of Quasi-Knights was not overly rigid. Competition for merits among them was encouraged, so this kind of provocation was not stopped by the five knights.
It was like a veteran asserting dominance over new recruits.
Bang!
At that moment, Eve’s sword sheath gently landed on top of his head, rubbing against it. “Seems like your swordsmanship is already quite good, huh? Come, let’s spar.”