Chapter 177: Knight

"What about Elena? Did she not come?"

After everyone walked into the room and sat in a circle, the old man sitting opposite Brenna looked around, his gaze lingering briefly on Yun Mu before he turned to look at Brenna and asked.

"No." Meeting the old man's gaze, Brenna shook her head and said with a calm expression, "I have business to attend to in Winter City this time, and I will be returning soon."

"And since Frostfall City cannot be left without personnel, I did not bring any Shadow Guard with me."

She paused, then said with some apology, "When I come again next time, I will definitely bring Elena with me."

After she finished this sentence, a very firm expression immediately appeared on her face.

And among everyone present, except for Yun Mu, no one knew the significance contained within this firmness of hers.

Chef Torres, sitting opposite her, was slightly stunned for a moment, then smiled and said, "Alright, with this promise from the Princess, I can rest easy."

"As for Elena, sigh." Chef Torres suddenly sighed, but he did not continue speaking.

He stood up and walked toward the kitchen at the back of the living room, saying, "The water is about to boil; I'll go make tea for everyone."

"Let me help you." Seeing this, Brenna immediately stood up to follow.

"No need, no need, I'm not so old that I can't move anymore." Chef Torres demurred, but he still let Brenna follow him into the kitchen.

After the two left, only Yun Mu and William remained in the hall.

"."

"."

The air in the room was stagnant; at this moment, neither Yun Mu nor William spoke.

Yun Mu was thinking about Elena's matter, while William... he had originally wanted to find some topics to chat about, but when he saw Yun Mu's serious expression, he didn't quite dare to open his mouth to disturb her.

*Cough cough, you are a Prince, William, show some Courage! * William encouraged himself in his heart.

"Um..." He turned his head to look at Yun Mu and tentatively called out, "Miss Yun?"

"Hm?" Noticing William's voice, Yun Mu looked at him with some confusion and said, "Is something the matter, Second Prince?"

"Cough, just call me William; 'Second Prince' sounds weird."

William felt inexplicably guilty being stared at by Yun Mu's pitch-black sunglasses.

After hesitating for a moment, he asked her, "Miss Yun, how old are you this year?"

*Ahhhhh, William, oh William, what kind of question is that! What about the topics you rehearsed earlier? Why didn't you say those!? *

*Is it that you don't want to say? * "Um, I'm just a bit curious," he said somewhat bashfully, "Didn't Brenna say that you could defeat a Third-tier Expert Shadow Guard?"

"But you don't seem very old, so I just wanted to ask." He explained.

"I see."

Yun Mu thought for a moment and felt that age wasn't really a secret, so she said, "I am one year younger than Brenna; I am fifteen this year."

"Fif, fifteen years old!?" William said with a look of shock.

"Fifteen years old and you can defeat a Shadow Guard who has undergone rigorous training, and you are also a Second Rank Painter?" He said with an expression of complete disbelief.

He had originally thought that among people his age, Brenna was already invincible; who, who is this subordinate of, to be so fierce?

Oh, it's Brenna's, then never mind.

William wiped the non-existent sweat from his forehead, feeling a bit drenched in sweat.

He had originally been quite confident in his own strength.

But compared to Yun Mu and Brenna, he, a 17-year-old Second Rank Knight, was simply a waste!

*With this, I still want to pursue the girl I like? No, I must become stronger! * William clenched his fists tightly, a burning fighting spirit igniting in his eyes.

*This guy, why did he suddenly become like someone who just walked out of a hot-blooded manga? * Yun Mu looked at the suddenly changed William with some bewilderment, not knowing what was going on with him.

"By the way." She thought of something, looked at William, and asked, "You said earlier that the Second Rank Knight profession also belongs to the 【Swordsman】 series of Transcendental?"

"That's right!" Hearing her words, William nodded subconsciously.

Seeming to be talking about a field he was familiar with, he immediately became a bit excited and continued, "The 【Swordsman】 series of Transcendental has many branches."

"Most of these branches are related to the Swordsmanship they learn or their fighting style."

"And the Knight is a profession that can use a Blessing in battle," William explained to her.

"A Blessing?" A look of interest appeared on Yun Mu's face as she asked, "What is that?"

Meeting the Young Girl's curious gaze, William's heart inexplicably began to race; he straightened his posture slightly and said, "A Blessing is a very complex power. If I were to explain it in detail, I'm afraid I couldn't finish even if I talked for a whole day."

"Simply put, you can understand it as a skill where one gains different abilities based on a Knight's faith, the object they swore loyalty to, or even an Oath they once took."

"For example, a Knight who believes in the Lady of the Dark Night can obtain the Blessing of Night, allowing them to use Invisibility at night and gain even more powerful strength."

"And when advancing to a Third-tier Expert, a Knight who believes in the Lady of the Dark Night can use this Blessing as a foundation to advance into a Night Knight who can transform into a Wolf at night."

"Trans, transform into a Wolf?" Yun Mu said with some surprise.

"Yes." William nodded and explained to her, "It's not a real Wolf, it's just borrowing the moonlight to temporarily obtain the power bestowed by the Demigod Werewolf Voder to transform."

"Borrowing the moonlight?"

"Demigod Werewolf Voder?"

Noticing the key information in William's words, Yun Mu immediately asked.

"Demigod Werewolf Voder is a dependent of the Bright Moon, and the Lady of the Dark Night and the Bright Moon are good friends, so..." William explained to her.

"So that's how it is." Hearing him say this, Yun Mu understood immediately.

"So, a Blessing is just as the name implies, a power similar to a blessing obtained from other existences?" She thought for a moment and said.

"That's not a wrong way to understand it..." He paused, and William continued, "It's just that besides the gods one believes in, a Blessing can also be obtained in other forms."

"For example, when a Swordsman advances to a Second Rank Knight, they must take an Oath. Depending on the degree to which the Oath is carried out, the Knight can obtain Blessings of different levels."

"For example, always remaining chaste, never betraying, never lying, never forsaking justice, etc..."

"Then what is your Oath?" Yun Mu looked at William with some curiosity.

"My Oath is related to the royal family; to describe it simply in one sentence, it is to be a loyal Knight who forever serves the Frost Kingdom and never betrays."

"My Blessing was born because of this."

William explained to her: "As long as I am standing on the territory of the Frost Kingdom, I can obtain power far exceeding that of an ordinary Second-tier Transcendent."

"If I make this Blessing my focus and promote to a Third-tier Protector Knight, I can even temporarily designate unfamiliar land as the territory of the Frost Kingdom to obtain the power of the Blessing." "It's just that the Blessing obtained this way is not as powerful as it is on home soil."

Good grief, you can play it like that?

Yun Mu raised her eyebrows slightly and said: "Must an Oath be carried out? What happens if an Oath is broken?"

"Also, besides the Oaths you mentioned earlier, can you obtain a Blessing from an Oath like, for example, having to drink a bottle of wine every day, or having to spend 10 Gold Frost every day?"

"Hiss."

William gasped; what kind of crazy questions were these?

"Let me answer the first one: if an Oath is broken, the Knight's strength will drop significantly, and in serious cases, they might even fall in rank."

"Of course, there are also professions that require breaking an Oath to take up the position, such as the Profane Knight or the Fallen Knight; I won't go into detail about those here."

"As for the second question," William's mouth twitched twice, seemingly speechless at the question she posed, and he said: "I haven't tested it, nor have I heard anyone mention it, so I don't know."

"Ahem."

Looking at Yun Mu's slightly disappointed expression, William coughed lightly and said: "I can ask my professional mentor; perhaps he knows the answer to this question."

"I'll tell you next time," he said.

Hmm, hopefully his professional mentor won't beat him up after hearing this question.

William thought silently to himself.

"You two are chatting quite happily," just at this moment, Brenna, who had finally finished brewing the tea, walked over carrying a tray with a teapot on it.

Following behind her was Chef Torres, who walked with a slightly slow gait.

"Everyone, have a taste; this is my long-treasured Thunder Mulberry Tea," Chef Torres said as he sat on the sofa and gestured.

Thunder Mulberry Tea, what is that? Yun Mu looked at the teacup placed in front of her.

She saw that the teacup contained a clear, pale purple liquid, and at the bottom of the liquid, some bright purple tea leaves could be seen.

"Thunder Mulberry Tea?"

Upon hearing what Chef Torres said, William's expression changed instantly.

As if afraid that Chef Torres would regret it, he grabbed the teacup and, not caring that it was hot, swallowed it all in one gulp.

After he finished drinking, he immediately signaled to Yun Mu with his eyes, urging her to drink her tea quickly.

"Hehe, no need to rush, I'm not that stingy," Chef Torres said, not angry at William's behavior of gulping it down like a cow chewing on a peony: "I have so much of that tea stored up that I couldn't finish it in this lifetime; giving a little to the younger generation doesn't matter."

【Appraisal Eye】

After thinking about it, Yun Mu still didn't drink the tea in one gulp like William; instead, while Chef Torres was speaking, she used her newly acquired trait to check the effects of the tea.

【Thunder Mulberry Tea】

【A tea brewed from the leaves of the demonized plant Thunder Mulberry. When consumed, the body will feel a numbness akin to being electrocuted, and it slightly improves physical fitness and the quality of Spirituality. It also has a certain degree of health-preserving efficacy and can extend the lifespan of ordinary people. It is worth mentioning that the price of this item in the Frost Kingdom is—1500 Gold Frost per gram.】

Holy crap, 1500 Gold Frost per gram! Looking at the information appearing in her mind, Yun Mu nearly threw the teacup in her hand away.

This isn't tea she's drinking; this is literally money! No wonder William looked so afraid that Chef Torres would regret it just now.

If it were her, she definitely wouldn't be willing to share this tea with others.

Even if she couldn't finish it herself, it wouldn't be a loss to sell the extra tea leaves for a fortune.

Raising the teacup, Yun Mu took a small sip of the tea.

Feeling the tingling sensation of electricity in her body and the condensation of Spirituality in her mind, she didn't hesitate at all and drank the remaining tea in the cup in one go.

Forget the tea; she even put the tea leaves from the cup into her mouth, chewed them twice, and swallowed them immediately! "Ugh."

The electric sensation, which would be slightly stimulating to an ordinary person, actually gave Yun Mu the illusion that she was drinking a carbonated beverage.

It's a pity that this isn't a beverage after all, just tea.

A faint plant aroma, plus a slightly bitter and astringent taste, brewed in her mouth. After being chewed, the tea leaves exuded an even richer juice. Ugh, can't spit it out... this is all Gold Frost! It can also increase physical fitness and improve the purity of Spirituality. But it's so bitter! How did William manage to drink all this tea without changing his expression?

William: I don't think I swallowed the tea leaves, did I? "Pfft, hehehe." Brenna, who was on the side, couldn't help but cover her mouth and chuckle when she saw her expression.

It wasn't until the latter glared at her that Brenna remembered the condition she had promised the other party. She immediately restrained the smile on her face and said seriously: "We bought a gift on the way here, I hope you won't mind it."

As she spoke, she handed the cooking pot, which had already been wrapped in packing paper and a gift box, along with the recipe that Yun Mu had dictated while Brenna wrote it down, to Chef Torres.

"A gift?"

Unsurprisingly, Chef Torres was not attracted by the latest model of cooking pot.

Noticing the note with lines of small text placed on the cooking pot, he looked at Brenna, chuckled, and said: "You don't mind if I open the gift now, do you?"

"Of course," Brenna nodded naturally and said.

"Dundee Cake."

Setting the cooking pot aside, Chef Torres picked up the paper and read the content written on it.

At first, the expression on his face was somewhat relaxed, but then, it became a bit tense.

Then, he frowned, and a thoughtful look appeared in his eyes.

Under the nervous gaze of Yun Mu and the others, after a long time, Chef Torres put down the paper in his hand and chuckled: "This is a very good gift, I like it very much."

"It's just..." a look of slight confusion appeared on his face, and he said: "Is this recipe missing a small part?"

"Ahem."

Yun Mu coughed lightly at this moment.

She said with some embarrassment: "I saw this recipe in an ancient document, and the content in that document was only this much."

This is a lie!

It wasn't because of any missing content in an ancient document at all.

In fact, she just forgot those missing parts!

PS: Happy New Year!

Sigh, a miserable Writer, still having to type words even though it's already the New Year.

Sob sob.

(End of this chapter)