Chapter 76: Everlasting City Siege (2)
Three days after plundering the elven village, the Landragon Army managed to reach Count Elderwood's settlement.
Rather than the massive and mighty Elderwood Army standing proudly in organized war tactics, the sight that greeted them had a big impact on the [Dragon Army]'s mind.
"We need army doctors right here! A couple men are convulsing again!", a soldier shouted, visibly worried about his companion's life and death
"Please! Please kill me!", another man who was visibly amputated shouted in agony
"Why...Why does war exist?", a soldier who had lost his brothers-in-arm muttered, looking at his blade, as if he was contemplating whether to take his own life.
Seeing such a low morale, John titled his head and asked: "Did something happen? They are quite far from being 1000 too...The only answer to this is that Count Elderwood tried to conquer Everlasting City alone, and failed to do so"
Arthur nodded: "This is what we are about to find out"
Dismounting from his horse, the three Landragon brothers entered the massive [General Tent], where four familiar faces greeted them.
The first was a huge and fat knight. His battle-hardened face and monstrous aura made it clear that this man was the strongest individual in the tent and an advanced-rank knight. He was none other than Count Elderwood himself.
This was the first human advanced-rank knight Arthur ever saw, so he hurriedly scanned him.
[Name - Count Elderwood | Class - Level 18 [Advanced] Knight
HP - 180 / 180
Attributes:
Strength – 17 | Agility – 5 | Vitality – 18 |
Status - Healthy
Skills - Intermediate Swordsmanship (64), Horsemanship (65), Spear Mastery (55), Strategy (30), Leadership (35), Etiquette (30),...]
Knight Skills - (?)
Enchanted Item - Elderwood Great Sword Heirloom ([Heavy] Rune)]
Comparing himself with knights was a good indicator of how far behind or how far ahead he was in terms of his body refinement advancements. An intermediate-rank body refinement acolyte should have attributes equal to intermediate-rank knights. Of course, there were exceptions, such as descendants of Body Refinement Magus Households that might possess even stronger bodies, but they were quite rare.
As a result, Arthur was proud of himself, as he realized that he wasn't that far away from having advanced-rank knight physical attributes, in spite of being a newly advanced intermediate-rank acolyte. This meant that he was on par with Body Refinement Magus household heirs, despite his lack of backing.
Still, the biggest shock to Arthur was his swordsmanship attainments. He had always known that he had quite the talent in picking sword arts and mastering skills. He didn't know whether it was the ring's ability or the fact that he had almost scientific methodology when it came to training, but his skills rose faster than his peers, in pretty much all areas, be it magical studies or martial arts.
In addition to that, Arthur had completed his fair share of missions, some of which granted him [Skill Points], which could be used to be 'enlightened'. Rather than knowledge being forced upon him, it was like understanding a certain part of a skill that he didn't fathom previously. It was a shortcut, but one that wouldn't harm his growth.
As a result, he had attained advanced-rank swordsmanship a couple of months ago, something that an elderly advanced knight who had trained all his life and confronted himself to a considerable number of harsh battles would probably never achieve.
The higher a skill proficiency was, the more difficult it was to raise it after all.
And the gap between intermediate rank swordsmanship and advanced rank swordsmanship was too big to be crossed over the timespan of a couple months, or years even if you were a genius.
Arthur had come to the following conclusion: Even if he was not very talented, be it in knight or acolyte cultivation, the fact that he could increase his skill and spell proficiency at a rate much faster than his peers made him more dangerous than genius heirs from magus households. In fact, his growth rate in terms of battle prowess was unmatched in his generation. Those who could pose a threat were similar to Rick Crimson and the likes of him. In other words, those who could threaten him were usually twice, or even thrice his age, and they all came from privileged backgrounds.
Arthur had successfully overcome his origins, and rose past the 'wall' of resources, using his own talent. It wasn't magical talent, or martial talent. It was pure, sheer dedication to growing stronger. He didn't have much time for leisure or lazing around, and every thoughts of his were related to grow stronger more efficiently. He would constantly think about plans, schemes to earn more magical resources, and his every interaction was meant to benefit him in some way.
Dorian Sylvester, who could be considered his 'best friend' in the tower, did not even know Arthur's true self. Only his subordinates did. Arthur could be considered a Master of Deceit at this point, a demon who had ultimately sparked a huge faction war in the Ivory Tower, before hiding after annihilating the Crimson Clan.
Looking at the three intermediate-rank knights besides Count Elderwood, Arthur nodded.
[Viscount Palford - Level 12 Intermediate Rank Knight]
[Baron Halefire - Level 8 Intermediate Rank Knight]
[Baron Galeheard - Level 10 intermediate Rank Knight]
Viscount Palford and Baron Galeheard were famous knights on their own, being precious vassals to Count Elderwood, and close friends of Viscount Landragon himself. Arthur and his brothers had seen the men quite a few times at banquets and noble gatherings in the past, though they had rarely conversed.
Baron Halefire, however, was more interesting. Although he was a bit weaker, he still was an intermediate-rank knight. The interesting part is that he was already a baron, yet he was 25, the same age as John himself.
Baron Halefire was part of the same generation as Arthur, Victor and John, yet he had already risen in status. The young man seemed quite proudful, but his uneasy face probably came from Arthur's presence.
He had always been hailed as a genius, a rising star in the South. But, he no longer was the only rising star.
[Arthur Landragon], who had returned from the famed Ivory Tower, had become the [Supreme Landragon Wizard] of the Landragon fief, a title that was equal, if not superior to that of the Viscount himself.
It was competition.
If he knew that the three brothers had successfully taken down an elven army, then the young baron would probably collapse.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
Eggcellent
Eggcellent Giving a bit of insight about the body refinement path, Arthur's ego and thought process in the story :)
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