Chapter 6 : 【Tempering】 Trait
Chapter 6: 【Tempering】 Trait! Knight’s Squire
【Class: 【Swordsman】 (Green)
Trait: Tempering (Green) (A great Swordsman honed their swordsmanship day after day. Reduces fatigue generated from swinging the sword based on the Strength attribute)
Skill: Basic Sword Techniques (White) Level 1 25/100 (Strength +0.1, Basic Sword Techniques Proficiency Level 1)】
This was the new class Leo had unlocked in the morning.
And it was actually a Green-tier Class.
According to his past life’s experience, green represented a higher tier than white.
He did not know where exactly this Green-tier Class was stronger than a White-tier Class.
After he took on the 【Swordsman】 class, his Strength attribute directly increased by 0.1, reaching 0.9.
1.0 should be the average level of a normal adult.
Clearly, Leo felt that after taking on the new class, handling the Wooden Sword became much easier.
More importantly, it was the newly appeared 【Tempering】 trait.
Leo knew he had trained for a long time, but he did not know exactly how long.
At this moment, he was gasping heavily, sensing his body.
It felt like he had just finished running a thousand meters—indeed very fatigued, but not yet at his limit.
Originally, he had been staring at his experience bar, planning to grind to 30 experience points before resting.
He had not expected Eve to return.
He had originally thought this Eve was an irresponsible young lady, but now seeing the concern on her face,
he was somewhat surprised.
Eve looked at her newly accepted student in front of her. His ribs were clearly visible, and the tight trousers on his lower body were already completely soaked with sweat.
She had not expected this kid to have such strong perseverance.
She practiced swordsmanship every day, so she naturally knew what ten hours of such high-intensity training meant.
She had come to check several times in between, and Leo had always been fully focused on training.
In other words, he had not rested at all during those ten hours.
At this moment, Leo was panting heavily, trying to steady his breathing.
Only after stopping did he feel a powerful wave of exhaustion sweep through his entire body.
Eve realized that her current behavior did not quite match her identity as a genius teacher.
She stood up, placed her hands behind her back, and reprimanded seriously, “Do I need to lie to you? Hmph! Blockhead. Is that how you train with a sword? Although I know you’re full of motivation after watching my demonstration.
But swordsmanship relies on persistence day after day, like a steady stream. If you think you can see visible progress in just one or two days, that’s nothing but a fool’s dream.”
Leo looked at her serious expression and replied earnestly, “Understood, Teacher. I get it. One day, I will become a Swordsman as outstanding as you!”
He clenched his fists, his face filled with admiration and longing, his eyes shining brightly as he looked at the young woman of eighteen or nineteen before him.
‘That flattery might have been a bit obvious.’ Leo carefully measured his tone.
In his previous life, he had already been a man in his twenties.
And now, combined with the memories of this body’s original owner,
it was as if he had lived for decades.
Meanwhile, this Eve had grown up secluded in the castle, with little social experience—a homebody.
She might appear loud and impulsive, but all her thoughts were practically written on her face.
Just like earlier—once he flattered her, the corners of her lips had already begun to lift.
Judging from her reaction, this teacher should not be difficult to get along with—as long as the flattery was on point and she was given enough emotional satisfaction.
“Ahem, that’s enough for today.” Eve cleared her throat. “Starting tomorrow, your daily sword training must not exceed ten hours. Take a one-hour break in between and make sure to eat lunch. Understood?”
Seeing Leo nod, Eve clasped her hands behind her back and left without looking back.
On her first day as a teacher, she had already delayed quite a bit of her own training time. “I’ll just sleep two hours less tonight and make up for it by practicing the breathing technique.”
While she was planning in her mind, Eve did not notice that two pairs of eyes were watching her from afar.
At the corner of a stone wall, Laforin looked at the tall, thin man beside him. “Zoro, what do you think of that boy?”
“Knight, I think his talent is average. However, he is very diligent. Being Miss’s Knight’s Squire is more than sufficient,” said Zoro, Laforin’s Knight’s Squire and the son of the steward Burton.
“Mm, then let him follow Eve and learn properly. It will also cultivate his loyalty toward her,” Laforin stated his plan.
Every knight needed one or more Knight’s Squires. For his daughter Eve, aside from swordsmanship and horsemanship,
she was not particularly proficient in the other four knightly arts—Poetry, Hunting, Strategy, and Medicine.
The duty of a Knight’s Squire was to take care of the horses, maintain equipment, assist in hunting, and manage daily living needs.
When battle arrived, they could also serve as support and assistants.
It just so happened that Leo, the son of a minor lord, had low status and average talent.
No matter how hard he worked, his strength would never surpass Eve.
This was the most crucial point—because the gap in strength was the foundation for a stable master-servant relationship.
Laforin looked toward the direction of the Training Room in the distance and nodded in satisfaction. “Let’s go. To the stables—let’s see if my treasure has woken up.”
……
Inside the Training Room, Leo slung the Wooden Sword across his back.
“It really is a bit tiring.”
He pulled open the curtain and looked outside the window.
From early morning until now, with the sun setting in the west, Leo had not even felt how quickly time had passed.
Once fully immersed in something, one could not feel the passage of time.
But now that he had stopped, his stomach began to growl unwillingly.
Leo stretched his wrists. Even with the 【Tempering】 trait’s support,
his upper arms and forearms were still somewhat sore.
“Excess is as bad as deficiency. If I injure my body from overtraining, it’ll slow down my progress instead. That’s enough for today.”
However, stopping sword practice did not necessarily mean wasting time—he could still grind the Mount Control skill.
On the way back, Leo deliberately passed by the main stable.
However, at this moment, the stable was surrounded by guards, and the gates were tightly locked.
He casually glanced over.
It seemed that Knight Laforin had hidden something inside.
Leo felt as if he heard faint breathing sounds.
Not lingering any longer, Leo headed straight to the small stable in the Back Courtyard.
He wanted to check on his six old companions.
He wondered how the six of them had been doing today under Arthur and the others’ care.
The Mount Control skill had not yet been maxed out. If possible, Leo also wanted to see if there was anything he could do to gain a bit more experience.
But from afar, Leo could already hear the noisy chatter of the three inside.
“They’re still here this late?” Leo’s brows twitched slightly.
Normally, by this time, the day’s work in the stables would already be finished.
This meant Arthur and the others must have encountered some kind of problem.
As expected, when Leo entered the stable, he saw Arthur and the others standing helplessly outside.
The three of them were chattering noisily, yet looked completely at a loss.
Inside the stable, the six horses were stomping their hooves, constantly tugging at the reins tied to their necks, appearing extremely agitated.
“What’s wrong with these six beasts!” Eddie was clearly impatient. “They won’t eat this, won’t eat that!”
“How about we try pressing their heads into the trough?” Hogg suggested, looking at their small leader Arthur.
“Y-you… why are you looking at me? I’m the son of a count! You go… you go try it,” Arthur said, staring at the white horse opposite him, not daring to approach at all.
But at that moment, the restless horses suddenly stopped their movements, as if they had instantly calmed down.
“I’ll try.”
Ignoring the three of them, Leo walked straight to the feeding trough.
At a glance, he noticed that the expressions of the horses were somewhat strange.
In their eyes, there was a kind of instinctive fear.