Knight and Wand

Chapter 169: Barracks Competition
"It's only been one night and it's grown so long again. Your hair grows so fast, Leon." Ms. Elena picked up the black hair behind his head and trimmed it carefully.

"It's just a side effect of that kind of extreme training. I'm used to it." Leon leisurely enjoyed the housekeeper's skillful haircutting technique.

Every half a month or so, he would undergo the inhumanly torturous "magic training". Not only would his appetite increase dramatically, but his hair would also grow wildly overnight.

However, there are no other symptoms. This should be just the extreme stimulation and impact on the body caused by the surge of magic energy in the body in a short period of time.

Olivia, who was sitting next to him, reached out, picked up a bunch of cut black hair from the curtain behind Leon's chair, and started playing with it.

The last time she saw this situation since they started living and sleeping together, she was really shocked.

When she opened her eyes that morning, she saw a disheveled long-haired man hugging her. Olivia was so scared that she grabbed the man's neck and was about to punch the "thief" in fear.

Fortunately, Leon was awakened by the suffocation and spoke out in time to prevent the girl from accidentally killing her husband.

"Your hair and eye color have changed so drastically. If I could learn to control my magic earlier, I wouldn't have to hide from the nobles and could be by your side all the time." Olivia said regretfully as she rubbed her lover's hair.

She still remembered how embarrassed the brown-haired Leon looked when they first met. Looking at him now, he was completely different from before.

It's not just his hair. Olivia doesn't know if it's an illusion, but Leon's appearance has changed a lot from what it was before.

Although he and herself were at a stage of rapid physical growth at their age, Olivia looked at her lover's face.

Even though she doesn't care at all about her partner's appearance, height, weight or body shape, the girl can still clearly feel the difference from the beginning as his increasingly handsome appearance becomes more and more obvious.

If it weren't for the fact that his features, temperament and demeanor remained exactly the same as before, one could hardly help but wonder if Leon had changed his body.

Judging from the rapid increase in height and physique, if it was magic that accelerated Leon's growth, it would really surprise her. It was incredible that a boy's appearance would be so different when he grows up.

After cutting his hair and washing the remaining stubble on his head, Leon put on his armor very efficiently with the help of Corvis, Olivia and Treia.

During the battle that day, the silver knight's armor on the shoulder that was burned black by an erroneous spell had already been polished to a shine by the master craftsman in the barracks.

Although the original carved patterns could not be restored, Leon did not worry about the appearance. He put on an exquisitely tailored low-cut knight's robe to cover the wear and tear, so that the original difference could not be seen.

It’s just a pity that the winged helmet he loved so much was lost.

Although the cracks and holes and the wing decorations on both sides were repaired, the structurally broken helmet obviously could not be used in actual combat. Leon had no choice but to hang the love gift given by the girl in his bedroom as a decorative ornament.

Now his head was replaced with the original set of plate armor of Doson.

The original Casoles family's venomous snake headdress was removed with the help of the new master craftsman, so Leon didn't feel so disgusted when wearing it.

After Olivia and the others were dressed, and even Treia was wearing a set of plate and chain composite armor, everyone left the mansion and went to the completely completed Selva Barracks together.

The earth, wood and stone structure of the camp was surrounded by spiked trenches. On both sides of the open drawbridge gates, the black flags of Pendragon's sword-wings and swallowtails were hung. Fully armed archers and spearmen stood on the arrow towers and battlements. The barracks was filled with the sound of soldiers' orderly marching and shouting during drills.

Apart from some suggested physical fitness subjects, Leon did not interfere too much with Old Brian's training of soldiers.

Modern military infantry and formation drills, as he knew them, were not at all surprising to an old knight of the previous dynasty who was familiar with how to train soldiers.

In this era, professional soldiers emphasize uniformity and absolute order in the military formation, which is the most important part of combat effectiveness. Compared with the modern army that was already in a fierce war in Leon's previous life, it attaches much more importance to it.

Even if a knight of the Order of Arms with extraordinary martial arts skills was left alone and trapped in a dense forest of guns, he would eventually be turned into a hedgehog.

Besides, it’s not always the knights who use their martial arts to bully ordinary people on the battlefield. There are knights on our side and there are knights on the enemy side as well.

Unless one possesses the powerful strength and armor and weapons like "Garon", a member of the Yanyang Guard, and can crush ordinary opponents, otherwise, a lone knight without formation soldiers and guards, facing the enemy's neat formation, or even with the addition of enemy knights, will only die on the battlefield if he faces a group fight with brute courage.

According to Old Brian, he is training these young Selva men bit by bit according to the training steps of the previous king's royal guards.

Physical fitness, archery, fighting, swimming and so on. If there were not enough horses in the territory, they could only be used by the cavalry guards. Horseback combat is also a subject that every lord's personal soldier needs to learn in the plan.

Leon walked into the barracks as the guards on duty saluted with their guns. On the huge training ground, thirty crossbowmen were practicing single-soldier shield-advancing shooting at the sound of Brian's military whistle.

Sometimes when you come here, you can also see them forming mixed formations with the spearmen and conducting coordinated combat training, because in an ideal situation, an infantryman assisting the crossbowman in moving the heavy shield will effectively reduce the combat pressure of the crossbowman team.

But everything on the battlefield is always unpredictable, and crossbowmen must also know how to fight independently without the cooperation of friendly forces.

However, the soldiers were more concerned with what they needed to do when fighting alone than the officers who led them.

The most obvious manifestation is that, in addition to the cloth jackets and light armor issued to crossbowmen by the army, most of the wealthy crossbowmen have begun to submit applications to Azerien, paying at their own expense to order chain mail and other more comprehensive protective gear for themselves.

Joining the professional army means having generous treatment and a promising future, and every soldier is particularly willing to invest more money for safety.

The soldiers under his command were actually willing to pay to work. This was something Leon had not expected at first.

But on second thought, if I were working in the army and suddenly had extra money, I would definitely arm myself as much as possible to protect my life.

Only by surviving on the battlefield can you gain more military merits, more wealth and opportunities for advancement.

This also means that the elite crossbowmen who are equipped with swords, hammers and other personal weapons and have upgraded their chain mail on their own will still be a high-quality melee infantry even if they are forced into close combat in the future.

Continuing to go inside, passing by the crossbowmen in training, Leon saw Lohak and Azerien who had arrived at the barracks ahead of him and were waiting in the distance.

The two men, who were also wearing plate armor, seemed to have started fighting.

In terms of martial arts, Azerien's talent is not bad among his peers, but in terms of strength, there is still a big gap between him and Lohak.

I saw Lohak, who was wielding a red-headed hollow pole to simulate a halberd, beating the noble son who was holding a blunt-headed spear back step by step. He was exhausted from parrying and dodging. After several rounds, it was obvious that he was winning less and losing more.

Around the two sparring knights, their servants, as well as Hawke and six other guards, seemed to have just finished their riding training, and were watching the two knights' competition with great interest.

To Leon's surprise, Canis, who had been released from the Neti card as usual to take a walk, was also leaning against the flagpole with his arms folded and watching.

The young master of the Wolf family was strolling around Selva. He definitely couldn't have entered the barracks alone, so he probably came in with Azerien and the others.

This guy, who is unfamiliar with the place, must have gotten tired of the monotonous countryside scenery during his time in Selva. Only the barracks full of martial spirit can help him relieve his boredom.

Seeing that Leon finally arrived after doing his hair, Lohak and Azerien stopped their sparring.

Today is not a special day. Leon just suddenly wanted to try out his growing martial arts skills with his friends.

It's really frustrating to be beaten up by Olivia every day.
Ever since the girl's life turned upside down and she was no longer restricted from holding a sword, and had ample time to train, her strength has grown at an alarming rate.

This made Leon often feel that he did not have much sense of progress. After all, the girl's upper limit was rapidly rising through constant actual combat and practice.

You know, it was not until the last time he killed the half-human giant snake summoned by Mette that he truly realized how powerful his martial arts were compared to ordinary people.

"Well, why don't you two take care of it? I'll take a break first." Azerien took off his helmet, threw the blunt spear to Leon, sat aside, took the canteen handed to him by the servant, and rested for a while.

Leon caught the spear, spun it, flexed his wrist, and then walked towards Lohak who was carrying the weapon.

"It's been a while since we last fought each other?" Leon looked at his brother who was eager to try, and was amazed at how tall this guy was getting.

I have grown to over 1.8 meters, and Lohak looks like he is almost 2 meters tall. I really don't know what the angry demon did to Lohak's body. Did it open the gene lock? Or what?

"It's been a long time since we practiced together, but now it's different from before. I should ask you to show mercy, Leon." Lohak smiled foolishly and put on his helmet visor.

He had watched his brother and Olivia practice together many times. Compared to when they were under the windmill tower, there was a big gap between the two now in terms of strength and martial arts.

Leon smiled when he heard that, and did not dare to be careless. He also fastened the visor to protect his face.

Although the brothers' martial arts skills are still a little below the average level of Knights of the Order of Merit, their strength is no weaker than that of a knight. If they underestimate the enemy, they may also get hurt.

"Careful! I'm coming!"

As soon as he saw Leon was ready, Lohak took the lead.

Both of them are direct disciples of the founder of the "Olivia School", and their fighting styles are mainly based on active offense.

The heavy red-headed pole, which was much thicker, came towards Leon with a whoosh. Leon blocked it from the side with his spear and stabbed back.

There was a loud bang when the two weapons collided, causing the two practice weapons to tremble continuously.

This was the counterattack that Leon did not dare to use easily when facing Olivia's attack. If the girl with inhuman strength used all her strength, he would be out of place and would definitely end up getting hit.

However, once they started fighting and felt Lohak's strength, Leon realized that he must have let Azerien off.

As soon as this judgment thought flashed through my mind, I heard another terrible gust of wind.

Leon stopped his attack and used his side step to block Lohak's sweep with the tail of his pole.

Bang! A muffled sound rang out, and almost at the same time, Lohak's cat-pivot steps moved his burly figure, causing the end of the spear that was firmly against Leon's spear to suddenly pierce Leon's armpit.

This was an effective attack, because the end of the halberd axe he was actually using had a spear-like conical tip. Leon twisted his waist and followed the direction, dodging sideways like a two-person opera.

He couldn't help but feel refreshed by his brother's fierce attack.

Olivia's steps are nimble and graceful, sometimes giving people the feeling of a civet cat and sometimes of a bird of prey.

Nalohak's steps were like a tiger pouncing towards him, with a rather savage and aggressive attitude.

Seeing that his attack missed, Lohak did not choose to change his moves in an instant, but leaped forward. Relying on his physique and strength, he suddenly crossed the halberd with his right arm and rushed forward with unstoppable force like a locomotive that suddenly accelerated.

Leon cursed in his heart, this kid still wants me to show mercy? With such momentum, it is obvious that he is holding back evil intentions and wants me to suffer a loss.

If it had happened half a month ago, he might have succeeded and stumbled.

Leon's right leg retreated and rubbed the ground in a bow step, and the spear shaft between his iron fingers collided head-on with the halberd shaft that was hitting him.

Click——!
With a loud noise of flying debris, the sturdy wooden poles in the hands of the two knights were bent against each other by the huge force.

Leon's body was pushed backwards by Lohak's weight and slid on the ground. His hind feet scooped up a pile of dirt, but soon stopped because his steel boots were stuck in the pit.

"Haha!"

Leon, who had been gathering his strength the whole time, roared, pulled out his right foot, changed his attack, and charged forward repeatedly, using the bent spear shaft to push the strong as an iron tower Lohak back continuously.

Lockhak twisted his body and moved to his right, trying to use leverage to push down the red head that symbolized the halberd, but Leon stood up and stuck to him without dodging, and took the opportunity to loosen his right hand, with the iron glove pressing against the neck armor in front of Lockhak's neck.

At such a close distance, long-handled weapons simply cannot exert the power to inflict damage to an armored enemy.

Leon let the opponent's "halberd axe" press on his shoulder armor, and took the opportunity to trip with his right leg, and lifted his right palm to hit the neck armor at the chin of Lohak's helmet.

The tall knight lost his balance instantly, spun half a circle like a fan blade, and fell to the ground with his own weight.

There was a loud bang and Lohak was lying on the ground, staring blankly at the blue sky through the visor grille, without realizing how he lay there.

Leon pointed the tip of his spear upside down at his brother's visor, symbolizing victory in the battle, and then reached out to pull Lohak up from the ground.

"What kind of technique is this? Olivia doesn't seem to have taught it?" Lohak opened his visor and asked curiously.

"All kinds of martial arts, this is ahem, I learned this from Uncle Brian, court wrestling." Leon said with a smile.

Ever since the Battle of Lonka and the Fight with Canis, he had been eager to understand that when the strength was similar, it would be too difficult to quickly decide the life and death in a one-on-one duel between two steel cans.

The real reason why Canis was finally captured quickly was that Olivia charged with a lance and knocked the young master of the Wolf family, who underestimated the enemy, to the ground.

He thought about it and decided that at this stage, in addition to magic, learning wrestling would probably greatly improve his chances of winning when facing cans of the same level.

The problem is that Olivia is not proficient in this. She can speak some basic boxing techniques, but the girl has never had any experience in close combat since she was a child.

After all, with Olivia's strength, there is generally no violence problem in the village that she can't solve with a stick or a fist.

Fortunately, old Brian, who once served the previous king, unexpectedly learned a set of close combat skills.

"Alas, I secretly asked Olivia to teach me this three-hit combo a few days ago, and I thought I could give you a surprise." Lohak looked at the blonde girl on the sidelines and said regretfully.

Olivia helplessly spread her hands towards the big guy. She didn't expect Leon's strength to increase so quickly.

"If it had happened not long ago, a sudden attack would have really caught me off guard." Leon laughed. Unfortunately, after his special training the day before, his physical fitness seemed to have improved to a higher level.

Now that he can effectively control the magic power in his body, he can not only shorten the period of Corvis' assistance in magic training, but also feel that the special training is more effective.

"Come again." Leon was not satisfied yet.

Practicing with Olivia is like being a punching bag.

Practicing with the guards is bullying.

Uncle Brian had been suffering from hidden injuries for many years and had long lost the strength of a Knight of Arms.

Larian at the inn is not that familiar yet.

Now if he does not disturb the Thorn Flower Knights around Lady Adelina, the only suitable person to use as a reference for his martial arts is his good brother in front of him.

"Okay." Lohak called his servant to replace the wooden pole that was about to break, and got ready again.

While the two of them were sparring, the others were naturally not idle either.

Corvis competed with the well-rested Azerien in swordsmanship, and Olivia also began to instruct the guards and Treya in armored combat training.

The fierce martial arts exchange here soon attracted the attention of the soldiers who were on duty on the football field farther away.

The two teams of soldiers stopped playing ball and started whispering to each other, betting on the outcome of the knights.

Naturally, Leon noticed the soldiers' gazes, but did not stop them.

After fighting many rounds with Lohak, during the break, Leon came to the sidelines to drink water and looked at the soldiers who were watching on their turn.

To be more precise, it is the "football field" where they are.

This is really not a local entertainment. At least Leon has not heard from the original owner's memory or other people around him that there is a mature sport like football in the world. It is just a country game like kicking a ball, which is very simple and has no rules at all.

And right now, if nothing unexpected happens, the Selva Barracks is probably the world's first football field.

Leon understood that soldiers were not machines and they always needed to relax. Since he did not allow dancers to appear in his army, he must find a way to let his elite soldiers vent their excess energy, and training could not stop all the time.

You know, even harsh warriors like Astartes in previous works of art had entertainment activities in their rare free time.

Then interesting sports are the first choice, especially large-scale team sports.

Basketball does not have such good materials, and rugby is too easy to get injured without suitable protective gear. The excessive physical confrontation in this era without sports awareness can easily lead to real conflicts, which is not conducive to military unity. Therefore, football, which only needs a field and a ball and can control the intensity of the confrontation, has become the first choice for relaxing and leisure sports.

So before the construction of the barracks began, Leon discussed with Old Brian and planned several usable open spaces inside the barracks.

He couldn't remember the overly standardized rules, but even though the rules were simple, it did not prevent this world-popular sport from being welcomed by soldiers. Even if the world changed, games were still human nature, and changes in identity and age only made people interested in different "games".

Leon believes that among Earthlings, apart from anything else, he is quite experienced in having fun.

He also planned to build several civilian football fields in the three territories for adults and children to relax in their spare time. Perhaps this sport would become popular in the Western Continent a hundred years later, and the next generation of the three territories would have to win at the starting line.

"Are you interested in playing a few rounds with me?"

As he was drinking water, Leon turned around and saw Canis walking up with his eyebrows raised.

"Hmm? I don't mind. You might be dissatisfied with the Battle of Longka and want to take the opportunity to take revenge?" Leon put down the kettle and said suspiciously.

"I'm just too bored. There's not even a dancer in your territory. I might as well go back to sleep instead of watching the cows and sheep baring their teeth." Canis pouted helplessly and said, "Besides, even if I want to beat you up, the contract won't allow me to hurt you."

Of course he was not convinced. After seeing the martial arts displayed by Olivia in her daily life, he admitted that he was defeated and had nothing to say.

But if the girl hadn't intervened, Canis felt that he would never lose to the knight in front of him.

"Based on your current performance, if you didn't use witchcraft to increase your physical strength, you wouldn't have lasted ten rounds against me that day." The young master of the Wolf family commented arrogantly.

"I learned the spells by my own ability, why can't I use them? I also told you that you can't last a round under my sword without armor." Leon rolled his eyes at him.

Anyway, he is not a real knight, so why should he worry about chivalry? It is not a fair victory.

As long as you can win, American-style Iai is fine.

"Humph, it's impossible without armor, but if I don't use weapons, I am confident that I can defeat you, as long as you don't use witchcraft." Canis retorted.

"Forget about it, you are my witchcraft now. You are so stubborn. Let's practice. I don't need any weapons, let alone magic. I will show you what martial arts are." Leon stretched his shoulders and stood up, intending to let this country bumpkin see the secret court skills of the previous dynasty.

But a male servant suddenly entered the barracks and interrupted the two men who were about to start wrestling.

"Master, there is an urgent letter for you, sent from Glade County." The butler handed the letter bucket to Leon breathlessly.

Leon opened it and took a few glances before understanding it.

Finally waited.

Elif summoned them to head south immediately, and the Thornflower family prepared to welcome the king, Redwin III, who was leading the army in person, at Achesburg.

(End of this chapter)