"All these magnificent prospects were built by my own hands, laid out since I was five years old. To see such a scene in just five years is truly moving. I wonder what this landscape of mountains, rivers, and seas will look like when I see it again in ten years." Passing through Red Leaf Ridge's inner fort, then its outer fort, and finally the city, the prosperity of Red Leaf Ridge left the two people behind him dumbfounded. Riding his Unicorn with a spirited air, Kayal felt an indescribable joy. Who says a wise man has no greatest pursuit? His greatest pursuit was to engrave his mark into this century to the greatest extent possible. He wanted to know what kind of imprint he, with only his own power, could leave in this era. As for contending for world (the world)... how shallow! Only common people would be so shallow!
Leaving his mark on a century, on the axis of time, was truly too interesting! Just like in his previous life, he had left his mark on the scroll of time to the greatest extent, but not many people knew him. What he cared about was not fame at all. If he didn't still have his mother and father in this world, he would probably be like Merlin, lurking by the King's side, silently observing everything in the world, and stirring up the greatest possible storms to leave his imprint.
He rode his Unicorn directly into the manor, but the two behind him were not so high-status. They dismounted at the entrance, had other servants take their horses to the stables, and then followed Kayal's steps into the inner courtyard.
"Why did you dismount?" Kayal asked, surprised.
"Eh? Haven't we arrived at the manor?" Gowen was a bit more lively than his companion, which was related to his kinship with Kayal.
"I never said we were stopping here." Kayal shook his head with a wry smile, "Never mind, this is fine too. Follow me." Kayal dismounted, called out to the two, and headed towards a certain place.
Along the way were girls dressed as maids. Seeing Kayal, they immediately bowed and greeted him. For this young master who could bring them comfortable lives, these girls liked him from the bottom of their hearts. At first, Cyber had once harbored ill intentions towards these attractive maids, but after so many years, Cyber had no other intentions beyond loyalty: his farm was next to Kayal's manor, with a wife, a boy, and a girl, living a very comfortable life on double salaries from Kayal and the farm. Naturally, his interest in beauty had faded.
This was a large, very spacious training ground, about four hundred meters in circumference. Inside was a fine lawn, with grape trellises overhead, full of green grapes, looking very spectacular.
Surrounding this training ground was a neatly laid bluestone path, like a track.
Arriving at the lawn under the grape trellises, Kayal pointed to a row of weapon racks and said to Gowen and the other child, "Pick a weapon and spar a bit. Let me see what level you're at now."
"Oh, oh!" Gowen became excited, jumping to the weapon rack first and starting to search. Many of the weapons here he had never seen, and he was very excited: "What's this, what's this?" He picked up a mace, which looked very powerful.
"That's for infantry. Just use whatever feels right to you," Kayal said, pointing to an unsharpened Knight Captain's sword.
"Ah." Upon hearing it was for infantry, Gowen sighed in disappointment. The tradition of looking down on infantry had a long history, and even children didn't think much of them.
"…" The other child had not spoken much from the beginning. He silently stepped forward, picked up a Knight's sword, and weighed it back and forth.
From this point, it could be seen that Gowen was a notch below the other.
"What's your name?" Kayal's previous actions had already stripped the two of their pride. When Kayal asked, the child was silent for a moment before replying, "Atoris."
Kayal, who was carefully observing the other, suddenly felt a stunning sensation. He hadn't paid much attention to this taciturn follower before, but now, upon closer inspection, he was a very delicate little 'loli-shota' (a combination of loli and shota). His golden hair was meticulously combed and tied up on his head, and his face was incredibly serious. At first glance, he looked like an angry little loli, but upon closer inspection, his gender became perplexing; it was hard to tell if he was male or female.
However, looking at his spirited appearance, despite his handsome looks, many more people would likely believe he was male.
"What's your name?" Kayal asked the golden-haired boy.
"Atoris." His voice was rough, as if deliberately faked or perhaps he was in the midst of puberty, but once Kayal knew his name, he didn't care much about anything else.
"At my command, the spar begins." With Kayal's order, the two clashed. Speed, strength, combat—Kayal, who had previously thought little of this world's martial arts, was suddenly filled with shame. Watching the two children's swords clash, their exquisite techniques, skilled combat, and grand yet absolutely battlefield-suitable fighting style startled Kayal, who had once looked down on Western martial arts. If he didn't have magic, he would be instantly killed by such a warrior! Not to mention they were only about ten years old!
As they grew older, their combat power would increase geometrically, and then Kayal, even with magic, might not be able to stop them.
While Kayal was contemplating, the outcome was quickly decided. Although Gowen was a few years older and had an advantage in strength, it was clear that in terms of technique, Gowen was completely outmatched. From the start, he was suppressed by the opponent's relentless momentum, and then was constantly pushed back by Gowen. Finally, under wave after wave of overwhelming attacks, he collapsed. His longsword was knocked away, and a blade was placed directly against his throat.
"I lost." Gowen weakly lowered his sword, defeated by what he considered a sissy. He was very dejected.
"Do you know where you lost?" Kayal asked with a smile. The two's battle had made him reflect, so Kayal was in a good mood. Gowen suddenly looked up: "Do you know where I lost?"
"Momentum," Kayal declared, "You saw his face like a woman's and already fell into a disadvantage, with contempt in your heart. Second, your momentum was insufficient, and you were overwhelmed by the opponent's relentless attack, leaving you flustered. Third and fourth, the reasons for your defeat were being too impatient. If you had defended well and let him exhaust his strength, you could have won. You also knew the opponent's strength was not as great as yours, but alas." Kayal shook his head. The foundation of martial arts itself is very important, and strength is one of the crucial factors. Between two people whose martial arts are not vastly different, the one with the advantage in strength naturally wins. But Gowen failed to assess the situation and instead lost to Atoris, which was a great pity.
"How about letting me see what this little wise man is capable of." The opponent's unsharpened longsword pointed at Kayal as he asked in a deep voice. It seemed he still had some pride.