Chapter 17: 17 Bluffing

At night, several burning campfires illuminated the road in the wilderness.

After finishing dinner and resting for a few dozen minutes, Luoning had the group of Guards assemble and began teaching them commands like marching in step, goose-stepping, and standing at attention.

Four years had passed since his university military training; he didn't know the professional terminology for these movements, but he still remembered the basic essentials of each one.

He taught them while recalling the details, and it took a good half-hour before all the Guards, including Maiken, had basically mastered the movements.

"Starting now, train in rows of five. Those not marching, keep your eyes open and watch, observe others' mistakes to correct your own movements!"

Luoning looked at his Guard Officer, "Maiken, I leave them to you. You call the commands, and I'll inspect the results during morning exercises tomorrow!"

"As you command, my lord!"

Maiken walked to the side of the formation with trepidation, "First row, listen to my command, attention~"

After handing the training over to Maiken, Luoning returned to sit by a campfire and found the manservant Chahaer grinning foolishly while adding firewood to the flames.

"What, do you want to join the training too?" Luoning asked with a smile.

Chahaer immediately withdrew his gaze and laughed awkwardly, "Master, I just think their training is very interesting."

"Haha~"

Luoning said with a smile, "If you want to go, then go; there's nothing to do right now anyway."

Chahaer hesitated for a moment, then gritted his teeth, stood up, and said excitedly, "Then thank you, Master!"

After speaking, he ran toward the formation and, after receiving Maiken's approval, joined the last row.

Seeing this scene, Luoning couldn't help but shake his head. Once he increased the intensity tomorrow and added punitive measures, then taught them military boxing, he would see if Chahaer still wanted to train.

He rested for a while, drank some water, and then drew his longsword to practice common attack moves like hacking and thrusting.

His predecessor's attainments in this area were almost zero; like the group of Guards, he also had to learn diligently.

People immersed in learning and training completely forgot the time, and it wasn't until Luoning felt his arms aching and was panting for breath that he stopped practicing his sword.

He looked back at the Guards who were still training; although they were still practicing under Maiken's intimidation, one could see their exhaustion.

"Let's stop here for today."

After giving the order, Luoning walked to the side, scooped up two buckets of water to take a shower, and was the first to return to the tent to lie down and prepare for rest.

His tent was the only one in the entire group; the others had to spend the night by the campfires, and it was fortunate that it wasn't winter.

After being dismissed, almost none of the Guards bathed; they went straight to the campfires, sat down on their backsides, and began to rest.

As for Maiken, after arranging the night watch, he stood guard outside the tent where Luoning was.

The entire camp soon quieted down, with only the crackling of burning firewood and the uneven rhythm of snoring.

Luoning wanted to fall asleep, but he forced himself to stay awake; he was waiting for midnight to arrive.

Time ticked away, and finally, just as Luoning was about to reach his limit, the familiar text appeared:

【Check-in successful, Attribute Point +1】

Luoning looked at the Seven-Day Login Panel and, with a thought, claimed the fourth-day reward.

Suddenly, in his field of vision, a Premium Gift Pack opened magnificently, erupting with a burst of light, and then two lines of text emerged:

【Attribute Point +60】

【Energy Essence +100】

Luoning had been prepared for the Premium Gift Pack not to contain anything good, but upon seeing the quantity of Attribute Points and Energy Essence, he couldn't help but beam with joy.

He looked at the Attribute Panel:

【Level】: 1-Primary Knight (32/100)+; 1-Primary Mage (0/100)+

【Attribute Point】: 61

【Energy Essence】: 100

With these Attribute Points, Luoning's progress in his warrior level was only seven points away from completion, but unfortunately, due to physical limitations, he had to advance both professions together and could not raise his Knight Rank to Intermediate first.

"Although I cannot break through, Maiken can!"

Maiken's Knight Rank progress had already reached 80/100; it would only take 20 Energy Essence to allow him to break through and become an Intermediate Knight.

Primary and Intermediate, although only one level apart, were a process of qualitative change for a Knight.

An Intermediate Knight's Battle Qi breaks through the seed, allowing the Knight to use Battle Qi to attack, greatly enriching the attack methods of a Professional Knight.

Just then, a rustling sound came from the Shanlin to the north, accompanied by continuous muffled grunts.

Luoning's expression tightened; he was wide awake at this moment and captured the anomaly immediately.

The second to discover the situation was Maiken outside the tent; his gaze was like lightning, shooting straight toward the source of the sound, only to see several tall shadows becoming clearer in the night.

"Ah, there are Magic Beasts! Magic Beasts are here!" The Guard responsible for the night watch also discovered the situation and shouted in a hurry.

The sound of panic spread through the camp, and those sleeping Guards were startled awake, grabbing their weapons to stand guard.

Under the illumination of the campfires, those three huge fellows revealed their forms.

They were not Magic Beasts, but three large wild boars.

"These guys aren't afraid of fire?"

Luoning walked out of the tent and couldn't help but marvel at the wild boars, which were the size of small calves.

These three large wild boars didn't seem to fear humans; they stared straight at the carriages, attracted by the fragrance of the grain and vegetables coming from them.

"My lord, leave these beasts to me to handle!"

Luoning gave a hum, and at the same time, used all 20 points of Energy Essence.

Hum~

At this moment, it was as if something had broken inside Maiken; earth-yellow energy emanated from his heart and then coursed through his entire body.

"This is?"

Maiken felt the Battle Qi within his body in astonishment; he discovered, to his disbelief, that he had actually broken through.

Even though he knew this was his master's doing, he was still amazed that Luoning possessed such ability.

"Go, end this battle as quickly as possible, and let the Guards witness your might!"

"As you wish, my lord!"

Maiken's gaze was firm; he drew his longsword and leaped forward, his speed so fast that all the Guards marveled at it.

The wild boar let out a howl and, instead of retreating, charged toward Maiken.

"Let's go too, help Captain Maiken!"

The Guards did not shrink back either; one by one, they raised their longswords and charged into the fray.

But just at that moment, a light flared; Maiken slashed with his sword, and a blade of light formed by Battle Qi crossed several meters to land precisely on the wild boar's head.

The Battle Qi Slash tore directly through the wild boar's hide and flesh, the immense impact force striking its head and knocking it dazed to the ground.

"Battle Qi projection!"

A knowledgeable Guard shouted, "Captain Maiken is an Intermediate Knight!"

Guards who participated in training year-round were clear on the mark of an Intermediate Knight; the moment they saw the Battle Qi Slash, they knew Maiken's rank.

Following his shout, all the Guards stopped their movements.

For an Intermediate Knight to deal with three ordinary wild boars, there was simply no need for them to help with anything.

At this time, someone asked in confusion, "When the Captain introduced himself during the day, didn't he say he was only a Primary Knight? How is he an Intermediate one now?"

A know-it-all explained, "You don't understand; Knight lords often hide their strength, intentionally stating their rank lower so they can confuse opponents in battle."

"Oh, so that's how it is!" The man listened, appearing to understand yet not quite grasping it.

Luoning walked forward at this moment, "No, during the day, Maiken was indeed only a Primary Knight."

His words instantly drew the Guards' attention.

Luoning smiled mysteriously, "It's just that he practiced the movements I taught him diligently, and he broke through after training ended tonight."

The main reason he said this was to increase everyone's enthusiasm for training.

In this world, who could resist the temptation of becoming a Transcendental?

This group of Guards, especially those under eighteen years old, were merely ordinary Infantry of the Knight Squad with limited futures.

If they wanted to advance further, they could only hope to awaken a Battle Qi Seed and become a Professional Knight.

Originally, this wish was very difficult to realize.

But now Luoning had provided an explanation, and they had seen with their own eyes that Maiken, who was a Primary Knight during the day, had become an Intermediate Knight by night.

What did this signify?

Luoning did not state it directly, but the Guards automatically associated it with the idea that as long as they diligently practiced the movements the lord taught them, they could obtain improvement!

In a trance, Luoning felt the gazes of these Guards seem to change; it was their yearning for transcendental power.

Thanks to Life Spent on the Road to Weight Loss and Light of Lightning for their vote support.

(End of this chapter)