Chapter 29 : Power of Dark Tide
Chapter 29: Power of Dark Tide! Who Else?
That sound was deep and resonant.
A large chunk of Fidis’s broad blade shattered, instantly flying into the air.
The blade spun once midair before, with a thud, embedding itself into the ceiling.
Fidis froze in place.
He had lost—and that strike just now… what kind of power was that?!
He tried clenching his hands, only to feel both palms burning with pain, barely able to even form a fist.
Leo followed the line of his forearm and looked at the iron sword in his hand.
He felt that he had already grasped the key to the Power of Dark Tide.
That key was accumulation.
What was accumulated was sword momentum.
Treating his body like a spring—once that momentum was compressed to a certain degree, it could release immense power at the moment of attack.
That was the so-called Power of Dark Tide.
On the surface, the water appeared calm.
But beneath it, currents had already been building.
Fidis and the other Knight’s Squires were completely stunned by that single strike.
No one had expected that the powerful Fidis would have his blade knocked clean out of his hand.
Victory had already been decided.
Leo had consecutively defeated the two strongest among them.
Although the process appeared evenly matched,
everyone present now understood—
not a single one of them dared to underestimate Leo anymore.
Winning once might be luck.
Winning twice in a row—
that was undeniable strength.
Meanwhile, Leo silently pocketed the four silver coins.
Very nice.
He was extremely satisfied with today’s gains.
Not only had he unlocked a new sword technique in his panel,
he had also earned four silver coins.
But Leo had no intention of wasting this opportunity.
He intended to strike while the iron was hot.
Looking at the group of Knight’s Squires before him, he spoke loudly,
“Who else?”
At this moment, his panel already displayed the unlocked sword technique:
【Tide Cross Sword (Blue) First Stage 1/100 (Effect: Power of Dark Tide)】
Next, it was time to harvest another wave of experience from these “crops” in front of him.
At this moment, Leo’s gaze toward these squires had changed.
There was a clear hunger in his eyes—
like a tiger staring at a flock of sheep.
The entire room fell silent.
Facing Leo’s arrogance, the squires all wore frustrated expressions.
Even Rog and Fidis had lost.
They stood no chance.
Leo’s gaze passed through the crowd and landed on Eddie in the corner.
Smiling sincerely, Leo extended an invitation:
“Eddie, we all arrived here together, but I haven’t sparred with you yet. How about we have a match?”
At first, Leo hadn’t noticed anything unusual.
But after practicing advanced swordsmanship himself, he felt something off about Eddie.
Eddie appeared frail, yet his steps were extremely steady—as if he had a solid foundation in footwork.
Leo wasn’t certain, so he wanted to test him.
Eddie was clearly taken aback. Spreading his hands, he feigned weakness.
“Leo, how could I be your opponent? I’ve only been practicing swordsmanship for a few days.
Besides, we both come from the borderlands, yet you’re already this strong.
It seems like this year’s end-of-year assessment has no suspense left.”
As he spoke, Eddie took two steps back.
But his words stirred emotions among many.
The end-of-year assessment was only two months away.
According to tradition, the top three each year would receive rewards.
And first place not only earned generous rewards but would also become a key candidate for focused training.
Among the five—no, six—knights of Blackstone Castle,
three had risen through this very selection process.
Thus, every year, the Knight’s Squires took this assessment extremely seriously.
Those ranked above the middle tier were all striving toward that goal.
But now, out of nowhere, a Leo had appeared.
A country lord’s son from the borderlands.
How could they tolerate a “country bumpkin” standing above them, taking what should have been their spot?
“I’ll go.”
A tall, thin Knight’s Squire stepped forward.
“Me too.”
Under Eddie’s subtle provocation, Leo gained new opponents once again.
But now, Leo cherished these valuable opponents.
Although the gap in strength was huge, he deliberately played along, making the fights appear evenly matched.
Time passed quickly.
In the blink of an eye, two hours had gone by.
Even with the 【Tempering】 Trait, Leo’s stamina was nearly depleted under such high-intensity sparring.
Under this kind of continuous combat—
【Tide Cross Sword First Stage 10/100】
His swordsmanship had increased by nearly ten experience points.
It seemed this technique was far harder to grind than Basic Sword Techniques.
Moreover, after Rog and Fidis, no one dared to bet silver coins against Leo anymore.
Most of them sparred with him just to gauge the gap between them—
not because they expected to win.
“It looks like making money through betting on sword fights isn’t going to work anymore.”
Leo currently had four silver coins on him.
Including the living allowance sent from home this month,
he had a total of nine silver coins.
Still not enough to buy even a pound of Level 1 Orc meat.
That was a problem.
Now that he had begun practicing the Breathing Technique,
combined with high-intensity sword training,
the strain on his body was immense—his nutrition had to keep up.
“Maybe I should borrow from Arthur.”
It was an option.
But unless absolutely necessary, Leo didn’t want to borrow money.
First, it was hard to ask.
Second, although Arthur always talked about the Xilin Family,
his family seemed strict with him, and he didn’t have much money himself.
“Sell the white horse?”
Leo shook his head.
Impossible.
He needed a long-term solution.
Having made up his mind, Leo left the training room and returned to the stables.
Raising horses, practicing swordsmanship, and training the Breathing Technique—
these were now the entirety of Leo’s life.
However, the next day, Leo’s ten-silver-coin problem was solved by Rog.
After yesterday, no one else was willing to “donate” money to him.
Only Rog remained unconvinced and brought out another four silver coins to bet.
This time, Leo carefully revealed even more openings, trying to hook this willing fool.
Time passed quickly.
In the blink of an eye, ten days had gone by, and it was once again the day the Kingdom Merchant Caravan arrived at Blackstone City.
Morning sunlight fell across Leo’s rising and falling chest.
He stopped the Breathing Technique and exhaled a long stream of gray air.
“I didn’t expect a month to pass so quickly.”
Leo looked at his panel.
He had been practicing the Breathing Technique for about ten days.
【Furnace Breathing Technique First Stage 7/100】
His progress had increased by less than ten points.
This was already the limit of his current speed.
But in truth, for an ordinary person, this pace was already extremely fast.
At this rate, Leo would reach the second stage of the Breathing Technique in less than half a year—
the Low-tier Knight realm where Eve Sova currently stood.
This was twice as fast as the fastest record in Blackstone City mentioned by Eve Sova.
Leo stood up, put on a leather coat, and stepped outside.
His gaze shifted to another line on the panel.
【Tide Cross Sword First Stage 55/100】