It felt so good to be close to the witch!

Chapter 8 People from the Temple

In the center of the training field.

As Roy sat cross-legged on the cushion, an extremely faint white glow appeared on his body, like tiny fireflies fluttering about.

This...this is the body starting to absorb magic particles after adapting to them?!

Red's pupils widened little by little as a huge sense of absurdity welled up in his heart.

Just seconds ago, he was secretly lamenting that Roy's future path as a knight would be bleak; just seconds later, Roy actually managed to absorb magical particles, a feat that only a seasoned knight could achieve!

For a seasoned, officially recognized knight capable of this, promotion to Bronze is a certainty; it's just a matter of time.

The training of a formal knight can be divided into three stages.

Breathing technique adaptive adjustment—with each breath, the body gradually adapts to the magical particles—absorbing the magical particles and gradually integrating and transforming them with its own life force.

When the amount of fusion and transformation is sufficient, and the first wisp of battle qi is born in the body, that is the day when a knight officially advances to the bronze rank.

From that moment on, the knight truly came into contact with the extraordinary, and the world changed completely.

But now, a newcomer who has just completed the adjustment of breathing has actually crossed the second stage "the body gradually adapts to the magic particles" and reached the third stage "the fusion and transformation of magic particles with one's own life force" in just a few minutes. How could this not shock Red?

"Young Master Roy's talent in chivalry is terrifying?!"

Red was somewhat bewildered.

Several years ago, when Roy first began his knight training, he only did basic physical exercises and did not learn breathing techniques. Therefore, Red could never have imagined that Roy's talent in breathing techniques would reach such a terrifying level.

He had never even heard of such a talent, let alone seen it.

It is said that the youngest daughter of Duke Soros, the border duke of the Radiant Empire, possesses the greatest knightly talent in the empire. However, even she took a full week to adapt to the magical particles from the moment she began to learn the breathing technique, which has already broken the empire's previous record.

Leaving aside the shock that Red was feeling at that moment.

Meanwhile, Roy was immersed in an unprecedented and wonderful state.

The initial adjustment to the Blazing Breathing Technique was painful and difficult, which made him realize the hardship of knightly training.

After finally adjusting, Roy carefully followed the breathing instructions.

But it was this very breath that made him realize something was wrong.

According to Red, during the first breathwork, because the body has not yet adapted to the magical particles, the body tissues will be torn apart upon contact with the magical particles, causing trauma, and this process is accompanied by pain.

The training of a formal knight involves enduring the pain of practicing breathing techniques repeatedly, eventually allowing the body to fully adapt to the existence of magical particles. It is through this process of damage and repair that a formal knight's physique gradually improves, eventually reaching twice the limit of an ordinary person.

But now, during the first breathwork, as magical particles in the environment were ingested, Roy not only did not feel any pain, but instead, he felt a warm and comfortable sensation, like being soaked in a hot spring.

His body seemed to be naturally adapted to magical particles.

As soon as a magical particle extracted from the environment by the breathing technique entered his body, it was greedily devoured by his cells and eventually transformed into a wisp of energy that was gentler and completely under his control.

"That must be battle aura..."

Roy thought to himself.

Of course, because the amount was too small, this trace of fighting spirit could not be released at all, and was far from enough to support the knight's advancement to the Bronze rank.

But now that the first trace of battle qi has appeared, how far away can the next trace of battle qi be?

The qualitative change has been achieved; all that is needed now is to accumulate quantity step by step.

When all the threads converge into one, that is the moment of advancement to Bronze.

After breathing for another hour, Roy managed to draw another magical particle from the environment with great difficulty.

As the second strand of battle qi that had been transformed settled in his body, he gained a deeper understanding of the Blazing Breathing Technique.

As an advanced breathing technique, the Explosive Breathing Technique grants one magic particle per hour during practice.

This speed is already considered very fast among advanced breathing techniques, but for Roy, it is undoubtedly still too slow.

His body can absorb and transform a magic particle in just three minutes. If there are enough magic particles, he can obtain twenty strands of battle qi in an hour.

Based on a breathing time of ten hours a day, it would only take a maximum of five days for the thousands of threads to converge into one, thus advancing to the Bronze level.

However, the progress has been greatly slowed down due to the limitation of magical particles.

Suddenly, Roy thought of something.

The essence of battle aura is a relatively mild energy that is formed by the fusion and transformation of magic power and the body's life force.

If magical particles in the natural environment can fuse with the body's life force, then what about the magical energy absorbed from witches?

Is it also usable?

Thinking of this, Roy perked up and, despite his extreme lack of magical particles, immediately began to experiment.

Under his strong will, the energy clusters that had been absorbed from the white-haired, silver-eyed witch Ais and the fox-eared witch Elena separated from his body and began to integrate into his body cells.

A dozen minutes later, looking at the five new strands of battle qi that appeared in his body, Roy was filled with joy.

Really!

Compared to the arduous process of absorbing magical particles from the natural environment using the Explosive Breathing Technique, this method is infinitely faster!

It could even be said that the factor that originally limited Roy's advancement to the Bronze rank has changed from the number of magic particles to the speed at which his life force and magic power merge and transform into battle aura.

While overjoyed, Roy couldn't help but feel increasingly wary of the witch.

The small amount of magic power he absorbed from the witch was enough to advance him to the Bronze rank, and there was even some left over. If that's the case, how vast must the magic power within the witch be?

No wonder Red couldn't even put up a fight for a few seconds last night when facing the white-haired, silver-eyed witch Ais.

The gap is really too big.

A single breath of battle energy is enough to advance one to the Bronze Knight level, and the witch's magic power is far more than just a single breath.

After completing the initial attempt, Roy paused his first breathing exercise.

Although I really want to continue my spiritual practice, there are some things I need to take care of first.

This includes the repeated warnings and attempts to silence the knights who saw the witch last night, as well as the subsequent arrangements for the white-haired, silver-eyed witch Ais and the fox-eared witch Elena.

Roy opened his eyes and saw Red's face, which was blank with shock.

“Uncle Red?” Roy said softly.

“…Huh?” Hearing the voice, Reid was jolted awake. He looked at Roy, his eyes shining with an unprecedented light: “Young Master Roy, your talent in the way of chivalry is simply, simply unparalleled… If Lord Roy knew, he would be very happy!”

Roy smiled, stood up from the ground, and was about to say something when a series of hurried footsteps approached from afar.

Roy and Red both turned to look at the same time.

This is the lord's training ground, and since Red had given prior instructions, no one will come here unless there is an extremely urgent matter.

"咚咚-"

The entrance gate to the training ground was knocked on urgently, accompanied by anxious voices: "Young Master Roy, Lord Red, people from the temple have arrived!"

Someone has arrived at the temple?

Upon hearing this news, Roy's eyes showed a hint of surprise, and he turned to look at Red beside him.

Chapter 9 Letters and Bad News

Facing Roy's gaze, Red's eyes were also filled with astonishment: "I didn't inform the temple, and I also warned the knights who witnessed it last night to forbid them from leaking the information... The nearest temple or church is two days' journey from Blackrock Territory, and judging from the time, there's no way they could make it in time..."

In this world, knights who are loyal to their lords are already vassals of their lords. Even if the lord executes them, the imperial law cannot hold them accountable. Therefore, knights rarely dare to disobey their lords' orders.

After hearing Red's explanation, Roy suddenly understood and had some guesses in his mind, but now was not the time to investigate. The key thing was to figure out the temple's intentions.

If it involves witches...

Roy's expression was off, but a sharp glint flashed deep in his eyes.

After practicing the breathing technique, he realized the witch's power, but he also understood more deeply the witch's influence on him.

The combination of the talent "Infinite Desire" and the Witch is the foundation for becoming stronger.

Having the talent of "Infinite Desire" but without the witch to provide magic power, there's no way he can become stronger quickly.

If the temple jeopardizes his interests...

While pondering, Roy nodded to Red, then walked to the entrance of the training ground, opened the door, and looked at the knight who had come to report the news. A young man of about twenty-five years old asked, "Where are they?"

"At the entrance of the mansion."

“Young Master Roy, the people from the temple are always domineering, and the visitors are two temple knights. The guards probably won’t be able to stop them for long, so I came to report to you immediately.”

Roy nodded, offered a word of encouragement, "Well done," and strode toward the door, with Red quickly following behind.

……

As Roy approached the mansion gate, he encountered two visiting Templar Knights.

They were about two meters tall, wearing bright silver full-body armor. The one on the left was slightly shorter, with a knight's sword at his waist, and stood a little further back. The one on the right was taller, with more ornate armor, mainly bright silver, with more intricate patterns on the edges. He carried a giant sword almost as long as himself on his back.

It was immediately obvious that the two were led by the greatsword temple knight on the right.

As Roy saw them, his reflection was also seen in the eyes of the two Templar Knights through the gaps in their helmets.

“I am Roy Tulumber, son of the Blackrock Lords.”

"My lords, we apologize for keeping you waiting. We were just cultivating and that's why we're a little late."

As he spoke, Roy stepped forward, extended his right hand to the greatsword temple knight on his right, who was clearly in charge, with a flawless, polite smile on his face.

"We apologize for the intrusion; our visit was abrupt, and we did not send a prior letter of inquiry."

A deep, resonant voice came from beneath the helmet of the Greatsword Temple Knight, who then reached out and lightly shook hands with Roy.

"I wonder what brings you here, Sir Knight? Oh, I apologize, it was my oversight. Please come inside and we can talk further."

Roy made an apologetic gesture of invitation.

The two temple knights nodded and followed him into the lord's mansion.

Some time later, in the reception hall.

Roy and the two temple knights took their seats, and a maid served them tea.

Behind Roy stood Red, fully armed, looking at the two Temple Knights with a hint of wariness. He felt a great threat from them, especially the leader, the greatsword-wielding Temple Knight, whose oppressive aura was no less than that of the Silver Knight-level lord.

“I am Rami Garoway, and beside me is my squire, a Bronze One-Star Knight, Al Hartley.”