Ch. 17
Chapter 17. The Power of a Gold-Tier Knight
After several days of busy work by Estor and Ella, the finished population census booklet, bound together from a thick stack of rough papyrus sheets, was placed on Eli’s wooden desk.
Eli flipped through it carefully. Written across its pages in crooked charcoal strokes was the basic information of the territory’s current residents.
Their names, ages, approximate origins, and, most importantly, their specialties.
Although most entries were followed by simple notes such as “farmer,” “no special skills,” or “strong,” there were still quite a few useful talents among them.
“Fishermen... six of them? From the eastern coast?”
Eli’s eyes lit up at once, and he immediately called for Estor. “Estor, take these six men to the riverside.
“Have them choose a place where the current is gentle and the water is deep enough, then build a small temporary dock there.
“Tell them that if they can cast nets and catch fish, so much the better. From now on, the fish in the river will be part of our meat supply.
“If they do well, their freefolk status will be given priority.”
“Yes, Young Master!” Estor accepted the order.
“Hunters... three? And one of them even served as the head of a hunting party for several years?”
He immediately sent a member of his personal guard to take the three men and assign them to Wolfgang’s hunting team.
When he turned to the later pages, one name and the note behind it immediately drew Eli’s full attention.
“Hadi, fifty-seven years old. Skilled in agricultural affairs. Formerly served as an Agricultural Officer.”
Eli was instantly invigorated.
An Agricultural Officer. That was a true professional, someone skilled in managing farmland and irrigation, and in organizing spring plowing and autumn harvests.
“Ella, invite this Hadi over. Tell him the lord wishes to consult him on something.”
A professional talent had to be treated with the proper respect.
Before long, a middle-aged man with mud and dried grass clinging to his clothes entered the tent.
“Hadi, you wrote that you once served as an Agricultural Officer. Is that true?”
“It is true, Lord Eli. I was once the Agricultural Officer of Oak Town, under Storm City in the Western Frontier.
“Later, war broke out. I failed to flee in time, and through a cruel twist of fate, I became a slave...”
Seeing that the man did not seem to be lying, Eli spoke directly.
“Good. From this day forward, you will be the Agricultural Officer of our territory.”
“Ah?! My lord!”
Hadi’s account was cut short by those wonderful words.
“Hadi... will serve you.”
Once the initial distribution of talent had come to an end, Eli stretched lazily and decided to go to the edge of the camp to inspect the training of the new recruits.
With Buck, a Gold-Tier knight, presiding over it, the results of training should be completely different.
The moment he drew near the open ground that had been designated as the temporary drill field, a sharp, murderous aura rushed toward him.
Buck was standing in the center of the field.
He wore no armor, only a set of black training clothes.
Yet the invisible pressure that belonged to a top-tier powerhouse made the soldiers tremble under his instruction.
In front of him were the sixty remaining new recruits of the territory, currently divided into several squads.
Under the leadership of Bol, Aika, and the others, they were practicing the most basic thrusting and blocking drills.
Buck demanded each movement with near-brutal strictness.
“Your waist! The force comes from your waist! Do not just hack at it with your arms!”
“Your footwork! Keep up! Anyone who cannot keep up will train extra at noon!”
“Your eyes! Where are you looking?! Look at your enemy! Imagine that in the next instant he is going to tear out your throat!”
Buck’s voice was like cold iron striking against iron. It carried not the slightest fluctuation of emotion, yet the weight of it crashed down heavily on every soldier’s heart.
Bol and Aika felt as though they had returned to Black City once more.
Suddenly, one of the recruits tripped over his own feet during a thrust and staggered, causing his movement to deform.
Buck’s eyes sharpened. Without anyone even seeing how he moved, he merely brought together the index and middle fingers of his right hand.
Then he pointed lightly through the air in that recruit’s direction.
FSSHT—!
A pale golden beam of battle aura, compressed almost into physical substance and carrying a shrill tearing sound, crossed more than ten meters in an instant and struck the tip of the recruit’s spear with perfect precision!
CLANG!!!
The recruit only felt an irresistible force surge from the spearhead. Agonizing pain exploded through the web of his hand, and the spear flew out of his grasp, hurtling into the distance before stabbing into the ground. Even then, the shaft continued to buzz and tremble violently.
The recruit himself was driven backward by the impact, stumbling several steps before dropping hard onto the ground. His face had turned deathly pale, and his eyes were filled with shock.
That was battle aura projected through the air.
Such was the terrifying strength of a Gold-Tier knight.
Watching from the edge of the field, Eli’s pupils suddenly contracted, and his mouth parted slightly.
He had known that a Gold-Tier knight could release battle aura outward, but seeing such effortless control with his own eyes was far more shocking than he had imagined.
An indescribable heat ignited in Eli’s chest.
Power. This was the sense of absolute control that came with true power.
As he looked at Buck’s mountain-like figure, Eli also thought of the purple intelligence report the system had guaranteed for him several days ago.
【Twenty-three kilometers from Black Territory, there is an abandoned mine occupied by a sand bandit gang of roughly sixty men, the “Vulture Gang.” Their leader, Vulture, is a Mid-Silver Tier knight.】
A bold plan instantly took shape in Eli’s mind.
Rather than passively defending and waiting for sand bandits or some other trouble to come looking for them, it would be better to strike first.
If he could pull out that poisonous fang so close to home, not only could they seize supplies, they could also train the troops and establish their authority in one stroke.
And now, with Buck, a Gold-Tier knight, presiding over matters, it was simply a heaven-sent opportunity. It would be a waste not to use it.
With that thought, Eli lowered his head and began considering tactics.
Late that same night, the lord’s tent was brightly lit.
After marking the position on the map, Eli laid out his entire plan.
“Captain Buck,” Eli said, his eyes burning.
“Our scouts have brought back intelligence. About twenty li to the northwest of our territory, there is an abandoned mine.
“A band of roughly sixty sand bandits is entrenched there, and their leader is no more than a Mid-Silver Tier knight.
“They have looted a fair number of supplies. I want to...”
“Wipe them out?” Buck set down the cup in his hand.
He glanced at the coordinates on the map, then lifted his eyes to Eli.
“They are just a gang of sand bandit vermin. I need only take a short trip there.”
“Good.” A smile curved Eli’s lips.
“How many men do you need? Shall I have Bol and Aika assign soldiers to support you?”
Buck’s mouth twitched, a rare expression indeed.
“Soldiers? There is no need.”
He raised five fingers.
“Including myself, six men will be enough. The Black Crow Knights will depart tomorrow and return to report before nightfall.”
His tone was flat, yet it carried overpowering confidence.
Eli was momentarily shaken by that domineering declaration. Was this the confidence of a Gold-Tier knight?
Then delight rose in his heart. If it saved time, effort, and rations, why would he object?
“Very well. Captain Buck, I leave this matter in your hands,” Eli said solemnly.
“Be careful. Safety comes first.”
“Please rest assured, Young Master.” Buck inclined his head slightly.
Then his tone shifted, and his gaze settled on Eli as he said with a smile, “Also, Young Master, I can tell from your aura that compared to when you left the royal capital, it has become much more condensed and much deeper. May I examine it?”
Hearing this, Eli gladly agreed. “I was just about to ask for your guidance.”
He stood up, walked to the open space in the center of the tent, took his stance, and began circulating the Raven Breathing Technique.
At once, a black current with a metallic texture began to flow faintly through his body. His aura was steady and forceful.
Buck stepped forward and extended his right hand, bringing together his index and middle fingers before lightly pressing them against Eli’s wrist.
A gentle, yet incomparably pure and powerful, stream of battle aura entered Eli’s body.
After a moment, Buck withdrew his fingers, and for the first time, a trace of unconcealed surprise and delight appeared on his face.
“High Black Iron Tier. And your battle aura is condensed, with a stable foundation.
“Excellent, excellent. If the Marquess were to learn of this, he would be extremely pleased as well!”
Buck remembered that the Marquess had once said Eli had only just barely stepped into the Lower Black Iron Tier. How long had it been since then?
Such speed would have been terrifying even among the geniuses of the royal capital.
Could it be that Young Master Eli had been hiding his true ability all along? Had everything he had done before been deliberate?
But why? Good heavens...
(Eli: I have been wronged!)
Eli remained modest. “It was only good fortune. I merely encountered a small opportunity out in the wasteland.”
Buck cut off his wandering thoughts. In their place, a complicated light appeared in his eyes, as though he had made some sort of decision.
Looking at Eli, he said, “Young Master, your foundation is already stable, and your battle aura is full.
You have reached the stage where you can begin trying to gather your aura into a weapon and bring out some of battle aura’s true might.
“From what I can see, Young Master, you seem to favor the bow. That suits this method perfectly.”
He paused, and a trace of remembrance flashed through his eyes.
“And the technique I practice is also House Black’s secret art, the Raven Breathing Technique.”
“What?!” This time, Eli was genuinely shocked.
According to Eli’s memory, the Raven Breathing Technique was a method that only members of House Black were permitted to cultivate.
Buck seemed to see through Eli’s confusion and sank into memory.
“Twenty years ago, during the ‘Frostwolf Rebellion’ in the kingdom’s northern frontier, I was serving as a squad captain in the Royal Domain Army. I suffered grave injuries and stood on the edge of death.
“It was the late eldest son of House Black, your uncle, Lord Gordon Black, who led his army in defeating the northern rebels and happened to save me.
“Lord Gordon saw that my aptitude was passable and that I was loyal.
“So... in private, he taught me the first half of the Raven Breathing Technique.
“And he required me to swear an oath that for the rest of my life, I would make it my duty to protect House Black.
“But in the end, the Blackwind Knight who brought glory to both the Royal Domain and House Black remained forever in the northern frontier...”
His eyes were full of deep remembrance and unwavering loyalty.
“So, Young Master, there is no need for concern. For me to instruct you in the method of gathering aura into a weapon could not be more fitting.
“The Marquess... also knows of this matter.”
A look of understanding came over Eli, and at the same time, a warm current rose in his heart.
Buck’s bond with House Black ran so deep that it surpassed all expectation.
No wonder his father had sent him personally to deliver the money. He had likely also intended for Buck to observe him in secret.
“Captain Buck, for a knight, there can be no better resting place than that.”
When Buck heard those familiar words sounding in his ears once more, he froze.
Then he threw back his head and laughed.
“Hahahahahaha! Yes!”
“Please teach me, Captain!” Eli bent at the waist with solemn respect.
Buck nodded and said no more.
He had Eli pick up his usual longbow, then reached out with his broad hand and placed it over the back of the hand that gripped the bow.
A warm yet mighty stream of battle aura guided Eli’s raven battle aura through specific meridian pathways, circulating it slowly.
In the end, it gathered in his arm before beginning to seep into and condense upon the bow itself and the arrow nocked on the string...
Inside the tent, only Buck’s low, clear voice of instruction remained, along with the sound of Eli’s breathing as he focused with complete concentration.
As for the plan to launch a surprise attack on the sand bandits, it seemed to have become an insignificant matter, one that had temporarily been forgotten.