Chapter 3 – Knight
Knight
After she made her apology, the girl ran off like a startled little fawn, leaving her wonderful scent behind.
Looking at the disappearing red figure in the distance, Leylin was rather puzzled. “It was clearly Leylin who had assaulted you, why did you come to apologise? Is there something wrong with your brain?”
He touched the bottle in his hand, thinking to himself: “Did I misjudge her earlier? Could this Bessita be a kind-hearted girl?”
Leylin studied the glass bottle in his hand curiously. “It seems like they already have the technology to produce glass. Although, judging by the workmanship, it still seems rather rough, it is quite decent already!”
As he opened the bottle cap, a medicinal fragrance wafted out.
Following the habits of his past life, Leylin immediately said: “A.I. Chip! Scan this medicine and analyse its components!”
[Beep! Task Established! Begin Scan!] [Discovered unknown components. Starting simulated experiments!] [Experiments complete! Unknown Medicine has effect of strong itching! Duration: 7 days!]
“Eh!” Looking at the results of the experiment, Leylin was struck speechless. “I retract my previous statement; that girl is rather blackhearted!”
However, he soon had the feeling of an adult being pranked by a naughty kid.
“She is still a child after all! She can’t use truly malicious tricks! Perhaps if it were a few years ahead, the bottle would be full of deadly poison instead!”
Looking at the bottle in hand, Leylin thought about it and decided to keep it. “I’ll just keep this for now, who knows when it might come into handy in the future!”
After Bessita left, no one else came to disturb him.
Leylin lay back down. Though it seemed as if he were sleeping, his mind was actually working in overdrive as he thought through things.
“It seems like there shouldn’t be any problems or risks of being found out by going to a Magus academy. Those white robed figures should be Magi, and I have walked by them a few times without drawing attention. It seems like they are also unable to detect anything strange about me. This means… entering a Magus academy should be relatively easy in that sense.”
“However, according to rumours, Magi are all secretive and cruel, at least according to what Viscount John heard. It also seems that in the academies, there is extremely fierce competition amongst the acolytes of the same level despite it being against the rules to kill one another. I need to at least have some form of self-protection.”
As he thought about that, he once again touched the ring hung around his neck, and held it in his hands.
The ring was jet black and nondescript. Within the inner ring, there was a small ‘Y’ inscribed, along with elaborate inscriptions around it.
“With the technological advancements of the Middle Ages, to be able to inscribe such a complicated pattern onto the inner ring is incomprehensible! However, regardless of the issue, as long as it has to do with the mysterious Magi, it shouldn’t be surprising at all!”
Leylin muttered to himself, and issued another command: “A.I. Chip! Scan the ring in my hands!”
[Beep! Task Established! Begin Scan!] [Discovered unknown metallic components. Comparing to Data Banks. Insufficient Data. Unable to analyse!]
“As I’d thought! With the A.I. Chip’s current level, it is still inadequate to analyse something that a Magus left behind!” Leylin sighed and stored the ring.
“How can I increase my power? This body of mine is truly too weak! It cannot even compare to those of the same age. That will not do.”
“If it were my past life, I could still undergo genetic modification. Alas, there is no such option here. Perhaps I should explore this Leylin’s memory once again, and see if there are any methods…”
Leylin thought to himself once again, then found a comfortable spot to lie down, thinking out aloud in his mind: “A.I. Chip! Scan the entirety of Leylin’s memory and arrange it!”
[Beep! Task Established! Starting arrangement!]
In Leylin’s former world, the world of science had always been of the opinion that the majority of the human brain’s power was not being harnessed. Amongst that power was the ability to access every memory since birth.
Some memories, even if the person in question could not recall them, were actually still stored somewhere in the brain!
Now, as Leylin gave the command, memories of Leylin’s entire life, from birth to his being chosen as a Magus acolyte and going on this journey, were all displayed in front of Leylin’s eyes with the A.I. Chip’s assistance.
Every single memory, down to what was eaten in every meal, as well as their tastes, were retained and displayed in his mind.
Such a large mass of memory was just too confusing, and was also full of useless information. In the past, Leylin had only taken what he had urgently needed, and ignored the rest.
At this point, with the help of the A.I. Chip, he was arranging and sorting everything out!
[Data sorting has been completed!] The A.I. Chip notification sounded out.
“Create a new file, named ‘Leylin Farlier’, and save it!” Leylin gave a new order.
[Beep! File created – Leylin Farlier!]
“New task, search the file for all possible methods for the host to improve strength quickly!”
[Beep! Task Established. Begin Search!]
In front of Leylin, innumerable amounts of data flashed past, seemingly forming a beautiful picture.
[Search Complete! Search Results – 453 methods!]
“So many?” Leylin paused a while as he thought. “Remove those with estimated success rate of 50% and below for the Host. Also, add another requirement: The Host must be able to carry out the strengthening method now. Begin filter!”
[Beep! Filter Complete. Remaining methods: 2!]
“Show them to me!”
[Method 1: Become a Magus.] [Method 2: Begin Knight training]
“Oh! Method 1 is not realistic at the moment; at least, not until I reach the Magus academy, Otherwise, how could I possibly learn how to become a Magus? As for the Knight training, I wonder what that is?”
As Leylin muttered to himself, he immediately assigned a new task. “A.I. Chip, assemble all memory regarding Knight training. Once it has been arranged properly, send it into my memory!”
After the data was directly transmitted to his brain, Leylin began to understand what a so-called Knight was.
In this world, there were several mysterious forces. However, the ones commoners had the most experience with were Knights!
Knights were warriors who had gone through tough training and had stimulated their inner life energy. Their physical attributes were way beyond that of a normal human.
To be a Magus, it required a specific kind of gift, and amongst tens of thousands of people, it was possible that there wasn’t even one such person. However, being a Knight was different; as long as they were willing to put in the effort, anyone could become a Knight!
For these Knights, not only were their physical attributes several times that of normal humans, they were also well versed in using various weaponry, as well as in the killing arts. Some Knights even had special secret skills that could unleash a sudden burst of power!
The kingdoms of the common world, along with the nobility, were generally made up of Knights.
The Farlier family which Leylin was part of was also a Knight family. The original founder of the family had fought in wars together with the king, and had accomplished much meritorious service. Thus, they had been awarded with the Viscount title, as well corresponding holdings.
After an overall sweep of the information, Leylin remembered a scene from the past.
It was a small jungle in the viscount holdings, and John Farlier was wearing a warrior’s outfit with a stern expression on his face. He was facing the infant Leylin as he said: “Today, I will teach you the secret skill that has been passed down in the Farlier family: the cross blade technique and the accompanying breathing techniques. You must remember that you can never teach this to anyone outside our family!” At that moment, Viscount John’s face held an unprecedented stern look!
Alas, Leylin was still an infant at that point, and obviously did not put much thought into the matter, thus eventually forgetting it. Viscount John tried to force him into training a few times, but Leylin was so afraid of suffering and fatigue that after a while, even Viscount John had to give up.
“Sigh… an overly compassionate father leads to a failure of a son!” Only now did Leylin realise how the previous body’s owner had became such a spoilt brat.
Although the young Leylin only knew how to act like a playboy and had totally forgotten everything about the Knight training for the family secret skill, Leylin managed to recover all of it with the help of the A.I. Chip.
Cross Blade Basic Sword Style: Horizontal Slash, Vertical Slash, Piercing Attack, Slanted Slash…
Footwork: Advance, Retreat, Dodge…
There was also the accompanying breathing technique. All of it appeared clearly in Leylin’s mind, along with the experience that Viscount John had imparted.
The memory finally ended with Viscount John emitting white mist from his mouth as he manipulated his cross blade, and splitting a rock as large as a millstone in two with a single cleave!
“Hm… a Knight is considered the lowest mysterious power, yet they are already so strong! What kind of existence are those Magi who are high above Knights?”
Leylin’s eyes burned with a fiery passion.
“Sigh! I have to take things step by step. I had better concentrate on this Knight’s breathing technique first! Anyways, the Knight training does not clash with Magus training. At least I’ll have some measure of self defense for now.”
After a detailed analysis, Leylin discovered that the so-called breathing technique of this world was very similar to the internal qigong of his previous world, but was a lot more crude. It was very dependant on external stimulations to activate the inner life energy.
“According to rumours, if a warrior goes through the Knight training and is still unable to activate their inner life energy, the only option is to enter the battlefield and go through fierce and bloody battles. This is the only other way to trigger their inner life energy, and become a Knight!”
“A.I. Chip, transfer the knowledge of the cross blade technique to me!” Leylin issued his next order.
Soon after, a large amount of knowledge regarding the technique was transferred directly into his mind. It was etched deeply into his brain, as if he had been training in it since he was young.
“Isolate the cross blade technique and save it into a new file, with the filename of ‘cross blade technique basics’!”
[Saved New File: ‘cross blade technique basics’]
As the A.I. Chip notification sounded out in his mind, Leylin’s lips curved in a smile. With the help of the A.I. Chip, his learning speed was unbelievably quick – fast enough to make any so-called genius commit suicide from shame!
“Now that I have all the memories of it, it is just a matter of finding a cross blade, and going through some actual practice. If all goes well, I have confidence in mastering it within ten days, bringing myself to Viscount John’s level!”
All these sword techniques are merely killing arts. The most important thing for Knight training is the accompanying breathing technique!” Leylin muttered to himself.
“A.I. Chip! According to my statistics, simulate and create the best model for me to start training the breathing technique!”
[Beep! Task Established! Host human model established! Begin simulation…]
As the mechanical voice sounded out, a 3D model of a human figure appeared in front of Leylin’s eyes. It was transparent and shimmering in blue light, and appeared exactly the same as him – a 13 year old youth with Western features, brown hair, big eyes and bushy eyebrows.
The 3D figure repeatedly started training the breathing technique, constantly adjusting the frequency, rate and magnitude. Slowly, a red line could be seen moving around in the 3D figure’s body.
After a few minutes, the simulation ended, and the A.I. Chip’s mechanical voice sounded out once more.
[Simulation ended. Cross blade accompanying breathing technique – Time required for one revolution: 30 Minutes. 10 Revolutions will improve the Host’s body by 0.05 strength, 0.06 agility and 0.03 vitality. The improvements will gradually lessen as the stats improve!
Warning: If the Host goes through long term training of this technique, it will result in residual damage caused to the Host body. Recommendation to think twice before starting.]
“Phew! This is indeed an impressive Knight training technique! As long as I persevere, I will quickly be able to improve my power! Alas, I wonder if there is any way to remove the effect of the residual damage?”
Leylin said with a faint smile.
At this time, the A.I. Chip’s voice suddenly sounded out.
[Do you wish to optimise the breathing technique? Y/n/n]
“The A.I. Chip actually has such abilities?” A joyful look rose on Leylin’s face.