Chapter 21: Golden Lion Villa (2)
The Golden Lion Villa was well-known in Melvinger City, as it was one of the most expensive property that could be purchased in the inner area of the town. Its location was perfect, as it was near the Melvinger Square, where the tailors, blacksmiths, and artisans had settled.
The Golden Lion Villa was well-known for its marvellous garden. Ancient species of trees had survived for hundreds of years, and there were rumours that they were beneficial for knight cultivation. Ever since the rumours were spread, countless knights wanted to purchase the villa, but stopped themselves on their tracks due to the price. Thousands of gold coins were not an amount that could be accumulated in a lifetime for most knights.
Fortunately, George had been given nearly 8000 gold coins by his household, half of which he spent on the Golden Lion Villa acquisition. The Lionheart Household was anything but poor after all, and it was often known as the 'Bank of the Sarad Kingdom'. Possessing 12 out of 14 mines in the Sarad Kingdom, the Lionheart Household possessed a monopoly on the blacksmith industry in the whole Sarad Kingdom. Over the 400 years of its existence, blacksmiths from all over the kingdom migrated towards the Lionheart fief, and a legacy of optimal blackmith technique had been created, making competition utterly impossible within the kingdom.
Amassing tremendous amounts of gold coins every year, the Lionheart Household built countless friendly connections with other nobles by giving them financial support and lending them weapons. Over the centuries, interests built up, further increasing the yearly revenue of the household. Every year, the Lionheart would make nearly 120 000 gold coins of benefits, half of which would be reinvested in building connections, improving the blacksmiths union, improving the fief, and developping the army.
Naturally, the Count Frederick Lionheart would not be stingy upon parting with his eldest son, giving him an amount that most would find preposterous. 8000 gold coins was not a small amount, by all means.
"There used to be a guest room in this place, but I changed it so that it would become a training room, with a collection of swords that I acquired upon coming into Melvinger City. Although none of them can compare to my personal sword, I would often train with them, so that I would not decrease the durability of my favourite sword", George spoke
As a knight, John Billing had stars in his eyes, as if he was a child who discovered the subject of his dreams. All the swords in the training room was absolutely amazing, the blades being maintained perfectly, the sparrows of high quality. However, besides the collection of swords that would make any knight worthy of the name gasp, John was more interested in the collection of weights and strange machinery that was in this room.
With the help of his biochip, George had created some sort of gym in order to increase his vitality and strength, using the modern world as a source of inspiration. Although bodily workout was not as effective as practicing his breathing technique in attempts to increase his physical attributes, there was a daily limit to how much he could practice the Optimized Lionheart Breathing Technique. Overusing one's internal energy would result in poisonous and nefarious effects.
Hence, all knights would need to combine physical training and breathing techniques. The training room he had established was just an optimal way to train himself, and target specific muscle areas to further enhance his ability to cut and stab with a sword.
As if he wanted to prove himself, John asked: "Would you mind sparring?"
George titled his head, and inwardly muttered: 'Body Scan'
To his surprise, John Billing was not as weak as he had imagined.
[Beep! Scan complete!]
[Name - John Billing | Status - Healthy | Knight
Attributes :
Strength - 3.6 | Dexterity - 2.0 | Vitality - 3.3 | Spiritual Force - 1.6]
'Unlike me, John possesses clear weakness that stems from his unbalanced stats. However, the fact that he possesses nearly as much strength as I do despite not having access to half of the resources that I have means that he has trained very hard, with considerable genetics...', George analysed
For knights, genetics played a very important role. After conducting a small research, George realized that most knights who were residing in Melvinger City were actually heirs and heiress of knight households. A handful of knight mercenaries were the first of their lineage, but their breathrough would almost always stem from life and death situations, and their growth very limited from this point onwards.
To further grow as a knight, one would have to practice advanced breathing techniques and complete physical training. Depending on your genetics, you would hit a plateau at some point. For some people, the plateau would be inexistent until they would enter the Grand Knight Realm. For others, it would be right after the knight breathrough.
The more George learnt about this, the more happy he was about his lineage. The Lionheart family was a knight household, which had produced dozens of knights over the generations, including some Grand Knights. This was probably the reason why he could continue to improve his physical attributes at such a pace. Even though he was just a preparatory knight eight months ago, he had now reached the standard that would take an average knight decades to reach, hence his surprise about the biochip's assessment of John.
Grinning, George nodded: "How could a knight refuse a friendly spar, am I right? However, I hope that we will respect proper knight etiquette, and not use real blades for this. It would be a pity to injure ourselves before the Knight Festival"
Lady Emma Billing was cheering from the corner of the room, and to George's surprise, James was also cheering on him. The usually quiet old man seemed to have taken a liking to him.
"Of course! How about we make a bet? If I win, let me use this training room until the day of the Knight Festival"
George nodded: "What if I do win?"
John was about to talk about gold coins, but Lady Emma confidently showed a rock: "If you win, this is all yours"
[Beep! Negative Energy Stone scanned. Value: 3 Magic Crystals. Description: A stone that has been created over years of harnessing negative energy in a place full of resentment. Based on the database, this stone would be useful in 46 alchemical experiments, and it could also be used as a catalyst for meditation provided that the user possesses the shadow elemental affinity]
Taking a heavy wooden great sword from his collection, George's grinning face turned into an apathetic one. His eyes focused, he was here to test his progress against a worthy opponent. John was a bit taken aback, but nodded in acknowledgement. Ever since he heard about the fallen noble that had purchased the Golden Lion Villa, he had his doubts about the man's true strength.
George would not let this opportunity slide. Negative Energy Stones were not very expensive, but because of the Abyssal Bone Forest being filled with acolytes with shadow elemental affinity, it was a resource that was very hard to acquire. And when you found one on the market, it would often be very expensive compared to the its original value.
Beating John would serve two purposes: earn a negative energy stone, and prove his strength to Lady Emma Billing. George knew that it would be easier to sell his spiritual stones for a higher price if he was considered strong. This was the way this world worked. The strong was respected, while the weak was stomped onto.
Not waiting for John to make the first move, George swung his great sword with all of his strength. Even though John tried to parry the attack, he was only using a single-handed cross sword. Naturally, the force of the impact surprised him, and he was forced to retreat several steps.
George had seized the initiative. Now, it was only a matter of time before John would fall.
Weekly Power Status
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