[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-a-knight-who-eternally-regresses":3,"chapter-a-knight-who-eternally-regresses-a-knight-who-eternally-regresses-chapter-651":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"english","A Knight Who Eternally Regresses",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":20,"prevChapterSlug":21,"totalChapters":22,"novelImage":23},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":16,"volume":17,"translator":18,"content_hash":19},428508,689,"Chapter 648: Because It’s Imperfect, It Can Be Completed","a-knight-who-eternally-regresses-chapter-651",651,"\u003Cp>A squire giving a name to their Will and training it stems from the same reason.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Once that stage is surpassed, one can be called intermediate. And intermediate knights develop refined techniques and a sense of individuality.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Rearvart didn’t have it, but Sir Jamal of Azpen did.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Both were impressive opponents.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That’s why they remain unforgettable, no matter how often the memory is revisited.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The difference between them, as extracted from the Library of Experience, was clear.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A distinct individuality.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Their fighting styles were similar.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They both focused on endurance battles, but Jamal had the individuality of “plundering.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“That’s the mark of the intermediate level.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Individuality—a distinct difference in technique.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Through experience, one builds the groundwork of knowledge.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That foundation becomes theory.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In other words, it becomes a system.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Enkrid was in the process of constructing that system.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The advanced level is not being bound by techniques.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Rem, Ragna, Jaxon, and Audin were like that.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even though they named their techniques, they were not obsessed with them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“They even tried to mold me into a fixed form while teaching me.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Like the Giant Grapple that Rem taught him, and everything from Audin, Ragna, and Jaxon.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And through that, they progressed one step further.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Enkrid knew—he’d watched it from up close.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“That’s why having a solid theory and system is necessary.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A path walked solely by instinct cannot be trusted.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sometimes, one must look back to move forward.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“No, even if one walks without ever wavering, looking back can still be helpful.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even Ragna, called a genius, only advanced further after looking back.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Swordsmanship requires meaning, methods of execution, and training discipline.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In a similar fashion, Enkrid devised a training system for becoming a knight.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Once again, he had been lucky in many ways.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If just a few experiences had been missing from his past, he wouldn't have come this far.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But then again, life was always a flower blooming between coincidences and miracles.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Just as imagining the paths not taken serves no purpose, there’s no reason to feel relief over the ones already walked.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>What matters is that one's attitude toward life remains unchanged.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Whether before becoming a knight or now, Enkrid had not changed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That constancy might be what brought him here.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Anyway, he could be called lucky again in the sense that nothing here interfered with his progress.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He sank deeper into himself.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The standards Enkrid envisioned could well be called the standards of a knight.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Of course, this alone couldn’t categorize a knight’s combat power.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>More precisely, it couldn’t determine victory or defeat.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fights where lives are on the line are influenced by many factors.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He himself took down Jamal with Urke.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Back then, I was closer to a beginner.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>According to the standard he now defined.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even if the system is perfected, that alone doesn’t encompass everything.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At the time, Jamal was a fully ripened intermediate.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The outcome came from the difference in their Will.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The scale of Will.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Not only individuality, but Will, divine power, and sorcery all influence combat.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But not all of that can be included in a system.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Distinguishing between what’s possible and what’s not—Enkrid had done so even when becoming a knight, never succumbing to a sense of omnipotence.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even now, it was the same.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He differentiated, categorized, and structured things to build a system.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Whatever it is, it can’t be perfect.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But it could be completed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Completion and progress mattered more.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It’s because he gazed not upon a perfect today, but upon an imperfect tomorrow, that completion was possible.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So that’s what he did.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The difference between beginner, intermediate, and advanced.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Now it lies in how one handles Will.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The difference in combat power includes physical conditioning, compatibility, and more.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So victory or defeat in battle should be treated separately.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>However, in order to standardize training and cultivation methods, a structure like this is necessary.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Establishing a theory leads to a system.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Enkrid opened his eyes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It had been a week of going back and forth between the Fairy Spring and minimal training.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the end, he hadn’t left the spring for two whole days.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I thought you drowned in there.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That was the voice he heard upon opening his eyes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lua Gharne, cheeks half-puffed, said it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Though not enough to suggest she was really upset.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Enkrid blinked several times.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The moisture gathered around his eyes dripped down like sweat, some running along the grain of his face.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His skin felt several times smoother than before.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“At least the fairies aren’t lined up waiting like before.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Enkrid, feeling the passage of time in his body, spoke.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He hadn’t fainted, but had instead entered a deep state of internal focus.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He had some vague awareness of time passing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“That’s a premature conclusion.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Pell was also there, speaking with a lopsided stance.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Still basking in the exhilaration of having opened a new world, Enkrid joked.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Servant, report what happened while I was gone.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Who are you calling servant?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Pell snapped back, though he didn’t deny it all that strongly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Perhaps he acknowledged it deep down.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He might even willingly accept the role if it came from Enkrid rather than Rophod.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When Enkrid stood and wiped his body, it was all shriveled.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His fingers had swelled up like Frokk’s from soaking in water.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No surprise—he’d spent the last two days submerged.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Envious of my finger shape, were you?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lua Gharne said.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Enkrid gave a small laugh, dried off, and dressed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Not in his usual clothes, but in a fairy outfit that had been placed there at some point.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A shirt and pants woven from green thread.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even underwear had been prepared, and his gear and armor were laid neatly to one side.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Enkrid only put on the clothes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They looked scratchy but wrapped his body softly, giving a cozy feeling.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Like being draped in sun-kissed leaves.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He wasn’t particularly thirsty.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Nor very hungry.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The fairy crowd started to grow bit by bit, and today they’re swarming.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lua Gharne said, and Enkrid, stepping out from the spring, walked the fairies’ treasured path—the one that, for Ragna, would clearly be a maze corridor.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Just as Lua Gharne said, hundreds of fairies were gathered ahead, waiting for something.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Why?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A rough guess told him they had gathered out of concern after he hadn’t emerged from the spring for two days.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Still, it didn’t seem like something to form a crowd over.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In fact, they seemed more heated and enthusiastic than when heading out to solve the maze known as the demonic realm.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even so, fairy enthusiasm rarely shows on the surface.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“There he is.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A dryad with captivating green eyes covered her mouth with a leaf as she spoke.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Some dryads who were shy even around their own kind habitually covered their faces when speaking.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fairies like these usually avoided contact altogether unless absolutely necessary.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So for them to be here meant they’d come just to check on Enkrid’s condition.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A fairy who left her home no more than five times a year had waited here for Enkrid for two days.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Shouldn’t a healer check your body?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Shall I?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Wouldn’t I be enough?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I came from the spring. There’s nothing wrong with my body.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fairies don’t make a fuss.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They regulate emotions and maintain rational, logical behavior.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even now, it wasn’t exactly noisy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Just vaguely resembled a marketplace.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Most were clustered in loose groups.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>One short-haired fairy stepped forward.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With Ermen and Shinar absent and no one stopping her, she was likely a designated or authorized figure.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“If there’s nothing wrong with your body, may I ask you to come with me?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She was the only one with an actual task.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The others had gathered purely out of worry.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Enkrid could feel it now—intuitively.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“If I so much as chipped a nail, there’d be hundreds offering to fix it for me.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lua Gharne’s words were slightly exaggerated, but not inaccurate.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Enkrid was the savior of the fairies.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That meant something very specific.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He had become the idol of the entire fairy race.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“This is excessive.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Enkrid muttered.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>There’s nothing wrong with receiving goodwill and recognition for what he’d done, but...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Excess is still excess.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even now, the moment he opened his mouth, hundreds of fairies fell silent, staring at him with glass-like eyes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The sound vanished, leaving only gazes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At this point, it felt like the stare of Argos, the demon who dwelled in the demonic realm said to be the origin of Evil Eyes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Argos was a monster hailed as one of the demon gods, with a massive body embedded with a hundred eyes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Where to?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Enkrid asked, ignoring all those eyes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The fairy before him was tall, with short reddish hair and soft amber-orange eyes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Her hands were covered in scars.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And she smelled different from the other fairies.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Instead of grass and flowers, she smelled of ash and flame.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The same scent Aitri had.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With just that glimpse, Enkrid could guess her role.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Having developed the Wavebreaker Sword technique and just recently established the stages of knighthood, his insight had sharpened.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I heard there’s a fairy tribe that handles fire.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Yes, our family forges Naidels and fairy weapons.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I glimpsed you before.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I am Lephratio.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The head of a family bears the family’s name.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Like Ermen.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This fairy standing before Enkrid was, simply put, the greatest blacksmith among the fairies.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Fairies create bonded weapons.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>These can function similarly to engraved weapons.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fairies speak only truth.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They have no reason to lie or bend their words.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I would like to forge a weapon for you, Sir Demon Slayer.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In other words, she wished to craft him an engraved weapon.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Instead of showing delight or gratitude, Enkrid scratched his chin, looking conflicted.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“That’s unfortunate.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He spoke openly, hiding nothing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“There’s already someone who promised to make me one.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Engraved weapons can’t usually be duplicated.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Since they’re created by inscribing one’s Will into the weapon, they’re inherently singular.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Then at least allow me to give you a gift.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lephratio said without a trace of embarrassment.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Enkrid nodded.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>There was no reason to refuse a gift.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He’d already received so much, but...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A gift from a fairy blacksmith?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That was something else entirely.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Weapons and armor—Enkrid had a bit of greed when it came to such things.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He never denied the saying that a fine weapon equals greater skill.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It may sound like a mercenary’s sentiment, but the essence remained unchanged.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A knight wielding a fine sword.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If that knight fought a barehanded one—who had the advantage?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If he could gain a favorable edge, he would take it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Enkrid hadn’t changed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No matter the realizations, his core remained the same.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His stance toward life had never wavered.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So he brushed past the gathered crowd of fairies and headed toward her forge.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>TANG!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was once the forge that Shinar had become ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) obsessed with—fire and steel.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A corner of the fairy city, and opposite from the Woodguard’s domain, who avoided fire.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>There, fairies hammered iron by large hearths, each immersed in their work.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In a clearing, black furnaces and bellows carved into tree stumps using some unknown technique were visible.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fairies didn’t forge weapons out of moonlight or leaves.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>To shape metal, one needed fire.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That was an unchanging truth and axiom.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They were all sweating to create what they desired.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Naturally, Aitri came to mind.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The one who was to forge his engraved weapon must be waiting for him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Will he be disappointed I broke the True Silver Sword?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No, he wouldn’t.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That sword had been given to be broken.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even if Aitri hadn’t said it aloud, Enkrid understood.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And thanks to that sword, he had escaped a near-death moment.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When he met him again, he wanted to say, “Your ‘luck’ truly brought me luck.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So here, Enkrid would not be forging an engraved weapon.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“It’s called Penna.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But then—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Hmph.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Enkrid smacked his lips.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His sharpened insight now extended to recognizing weapons.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He could tell without even touching it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was a gift brought by Lephratio.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A sword worthy of being called a masterpiece—on par with an engraved weapon.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So much so that Enkrid now wondered whether Aitri could truly craft something greater.\u003C\u002Fp>",2032,"2026-05-30T08:28:33.327Z","2026-06-01T04:30:45.896Z",1,"novelbin.me","720ecd367134e114378471894935124546a690874f31ce3dc540adab0e82e491","a-knight-who-eternally-regresses-chapter-652","a-knight-who-eternally-regresses-chapter-800",882,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fa-knight-who-eternally-regresses-cover.jpg"]