For Ivan, his appointment with Justine was just a minor interlude.
From his observation, Justine’s final declaration seemed to be said in a fit of pique and wasn’t to be taken seriously.
However, he still kept his guard up against this competitor because, in the Aromatic Wheat Dukedom, children matured early and it was common for boys and girls to discuss marriage upon reaching the age of 14. Those even younger could only set down a marriage contract, becoming betrothed husbands and wives.
Justine was about the same age as him, well-nourished, and it wasn’t too early for her to be considering marriage.
“What are you looking at?”
During another afternoon spent in the clinic, Justine noticed his gaze and glared at him, lowering her voice conspicuously.
Ivan glanced at Old Orio but did not respond.
Through thick walls that blocked all breeze, the fact that Old Orio could still hear everything clearly indicated that his strength was not as feeble as it appeared. This made sense—pharmacists sometimes had to venture into treacherous forests to gather herbs, so they couldn’t possibly be without strength.
Ivan wondered whether Old Orio was a squire or had the strength of a knight.
He also considered the possibility that the clinic may possess medicinal recipes that could aid in cultivation, which made him even more enthusiastic about staying there.
After practicing the Breathing Method for these past days, he had come to understand the difficulties in cultivation.
Firstly, the efficiency of the basic Breathing Method was rather low. Despite dedicating more time and energy to it each day, his gains were still less than those who practiced the Elementary Breathing Method.
Secondly, a person’s digestive capacity is limited. The meat had to be digested before it could be transformed into nutrients, which also affected efficiency.
Of course, he didn’t want to endure such a state—putting in the same time, even more effort, but making less progress than others.
‘The Swordsmanship Hall has Universal Secret Medicines available, but each dose costs 5 Gold Coins. Rather than taking secret medicine, it’s more like eating Gold Coins—there’s just no money.’
‘According to Old Mickey, Father will be coming back soon; hopefully, he can offer some support.’
Facing the prospect of his father’s imminent return, Ivan felt somewhat nervous; he had not yet met him in person. But what he felt more was anticipation because, after all, that was a mid to high-level knight who would have more than enough expertise to guide him.
…
That day, the Giant Shield Mercenary Group completed their mission and returned to Flying Fish Port.
When Ivan returned home from the clinic, he saw his father and two older brothers.
“Haha, I’m back, Ivan.”
This was his second older brother, Beaman, who came forward to embrace him, giving him several hearty slaps on the back in an expression of brotherly affection.
His eldest brother, Paul, also gave him a hug and, upon letting go, looked at him with a face full of relief, “I heard from Peggy that you’re learning from Old Orio. I’m glad to see your changes and efforts, my brother.”
Compared to Beaman, eldest brother Paul was always serious when he spoke.
The two were twin brothers, bearing about an 80-90% resemblance to each other. However, Beaman liked to keep his hair at medium length, while Paul preferred to grow a beard, making their appearances distinctly different.
The three brothers stood together, tall and straight, with brown hair and black eyes, handsome young men both within and outside of Flying Fish Port.
Compared to his two older brothers, Ivan was a head shorter and noticeably thinner.
“I’m very glad that you all came back safely.”
After saying this, he turned to look at his father, but Leider summoned all five siblings to the large backyard behind the house.
As the Marichadon family had been operating a mercenary group for two generations, their residence was naturally respectable. Located in the East City District, it ranked within the top ten, featuring a blue-walled villa with courtyards front and back. The front yard boasted an array of flowers and green plants, while the spacious backyard was more open.
Both yards were surrounded by walls, the front partially so, providing seclusion.
In the backyard, Leider himself took to the field, letting Ivan spar with him.
From the side, Beaman shouted, “Ivan, don’t hold back. You can attack any way you like; you won’t be able to injure an Intermediate Knight.” He casually tossed his sword into the ring.
Ivan caught it subconsciously and, seeing that Leider made no objection, drew his sword and advanced to attack.
Leider deftly took half a step back, evading as the longsword hit nothing but air.
“Clang.”
Leider’s palm, covered in a veil of black, flicked the longsword aside in a flash.
Ivan understood that the black energy wrapped around the palm was Combat Energy, which, after advancing to a knight, was transformed from blood energy and could cover the surface of the body.
Undiscouraged, he immediately twisted the sword, swirling it into a flower pattern, directing the blade at Leider’s thigh.
“Clang-clang-clang.”
The sound of clashing swords rang out, as the blade, once again blocked by his fingers, didn’t advance a fraction of an inch. Ivan changed his sword style again, attempting various methods to chop, slice, or cut, causing a succession of crisp sounds to fill the air.
Off to one side, Paul and Beaman exchanged a glance, both seeing a satisfied expression in the other’s eyes.
Beaman muttered, “Not bad at all, Ivan’s swordsmanship lacks the experience of battle, but it’s not rigid at all, just a little bit less than me when I started.”
Paul gave him half an eye roll, too lazy to respond.
At that moment, Leider called out, “Ivan, hit me with all your strength.”
Without hesitation, Ivan threw his longsword to the ground, took a big step, and swung a punch, which Leider caught steadily with his palm.
Leider signaled to stop.
“Alright, your strength is now around 180 pounds.”
Beaman interjected, “That’s equivalent to 1.2 graduated degrees of force.”
What kind of math problem was this, Ivan thought, completely confused.
Beaman laughed and said, “Haha, this is a mysterious calculation method passed down by sorcerers, not known to ordinary folk.”
Ivan curiously pressed, “Tell me.”
Ignoring Beaman’s glare, Paul gave the answer first, “Your Swordsmanship Hall has a Strength Testing Iron Stone, right? 150 pounds is equivalent to the strength of an untrained adult, which the sorcerers call 1 graduated degree of force, understand?”
So, that meant 0.1 graduated degree equalled 15 pounds, and 180 pounds of force was 1.2 graduated degrees.
Ivan suddenly understood, but he couldn’t help asking again, “Are there any mysterious sorcerers nearby?”
The brothers shook their heads in unison.
Beaman said with amusement, “Thinking of becoming a mysterious sorcerer, aren’t you? Who wouldn’t? We thought about it before too, but sorcerers have left our area, vanished beyond the sea, who knows where they have gone to—”
He didn’t go into more detail, not wanting to dampen his brother’s enthusiasm. After all, some things were only accessible to the nobility.
In people’s minds, the depths of the ocean were the most dangerous, the farther from the coast, the greater the peril. Even a not-so-large port like Flying Fish Port occasionally faced attacks from sea beasts, and sometimes they could only avoid them and wait for the creatures to leave on their own.
“Alright, time for dinner.”
The dinner that evening was particularly lavish, with a harmonious atmosphere engulfing the family.
With their father and elder brother around, Sean, the usual lively one, became surprisingly well-behaved; after all, he had tried to mix up a triple punch before and there had been nowhere to escape to.
Leider was fairly pleased with Ivan’s performance; he was a silent father and didn’t say much in the way of praise from start to finish.
Night.
Hearing a knock, Ivan opened the door to find his second older brother Beaman standing outside.
Beaman, noticing the book in his hands, exaggeratedly exclaimed, “You’re really reading a book, it’s hard to imagine.”
Ivan, used to such reactions, said casually, “Just browsing.” He gestured for his brother to come in.
Entering the room and looking around, Beaman leaned in close, whispering, “Heard you got hurt, were you bullied? Tell me, let me see who has the guts to mess with my little brother.”
At this, Ivan felt a warm surge in his heart.
He didn’t tell the truth, “Just a few stings from poisonous insects during an adventure, already cured by Old Orio.”
Previously, the reason he was friends with Rosyth and Benson was because their families lived in East City, not far from each other, and they had business dealings, so it wasn’t convenient for Beaman to intervene.
Seeing him say this, Beaman didn’t inquire further, “This is some pocket money from your brother.” As he spoke, he handed over 2 Gold Coins, stuffing them into Ivan’s pocket before leaving without allowing any debate.
“This—couldn’t be compensation for the Breathing Method, could it?”
Ivan paused, reflecting that his second brother Beaman had never before given him such a generous amount of pocket money.
“1.2 graduated degrees of force, would be even better if there was a data panel.”
Not able to figure it out, he redirected his focus, and the Academic Prodigy panel resurfaced in his vision.
[Apothecary Skill: lv1 (1/100)]
[Knight Breathing Skill: lv0 (5/10)]
[Linguistics Skill: lv0 (1/10)]
In the past few days, the Knight Breathing Method increased by 1 Experience Point, the rest saw no change.
Perhaps echoing his thoughts, the membrane of light in his vision began to flicker, a soft changing glow obscuring the data above, similar to when it was first activated, yet again pulling away some of his ability to think.