Chapter 11
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The Harry Knight's domain was 300 miles west of the Bennet Knight's domain. In between them was another domain of an honorary lord. If there wasn't a need to go around this region, there was no way that Abel's trip would've taken as long as six hours.
Despite being a royal who was granted his own land, the Knight of Bennett was in the "middle-high" class, which was still a bit far from being an aristocrat. Besides, he wasn't quite good at socializing with the other nobles. He tried his best to keep a polite distance from the other upperclassmen. This made it quite difficult for him to request his own army to make a direct pass into another domain.
The parade made its way to the Harry Knight's domain at around three in the afternoon. From over a distance, Abel could see a very big castle in front. On either side of this castle, red banners were depicting a rearing unicorn. Needless to say, they were the family symbol of the Knight of Marshall.
From what Abel could see, his father clearly wasn't pleased to see this. The Bennett Castle had its own banner, but that was only three meters tall and two meters wide. It was something that the Knight of Bennett had inherited from his own father. While it was unfinished back then, he had to spend quite a bit of money to add the final touches to it. "It's a treasure for the next generation," he would always say.
"He's doing this on purpose," the Knight of Bennett ground his teeth, "I've told him about the banners." Abel saw this, of course, and decided to slow down his horse for a bit. As upset as his father was, he didn't want to bring himself too close to any sort of trouble.
At the front gate of the Harry Castle, a middle-aged man was wearing a full set of golden armor. He was accompanied by two of his bodyguards who, for the sake of rubbing it in just a bit more, were also fully equipped with some very fine leather gears.
The Knight of Marshall had a carving of the god of sun on his left chest and the crest of the white unicorn on his right. For someone of his age, he was much sturdier than most would expect. He was very tall, too. There were quite some wrinkles on his face, but instead of making him look old, it somehow gave off this mature and refreshing aura about him.
"Marshall!"
With a growl of a bloodthirsty tiger, the Knight of Bennett jumped down his horse and quickly walked towards the Knight of Marshall. The ground below him trembled every time he had taken another step.
"Seth!" The Knight of Marshall responded with a roar that was just as loud and angry. With his golden hair flying in the air, he approached the Knight of Bennett with the menace of a fully-maned lion.
No one knew how to react to this. The two were meant to be best friends, but they looked like they were about to beat each other up?
The two just kept on walking towards each other. They were so close to each other that their fists were perfectly in range for a knockdown punch. They didn't stop at that point, either. Instead, when their chests were an inch apart, the two jumped at the same time and collided themselves right into each other. No fist. No kicks, either. Just two men pushing against each other with their armored chest. If Abel were to describe it, the noise that followed was almost to that of a car crash at full speed.
What a strange but impressive exchange of raw strength. Both the Knight of Bennett and the Knight of Marshall had to take several steps back.
The Knight of Bennett cursed as he steadied his two legs. "You became an Intermediate Knight? Why the hell didn't you mention that in the letter?"
"Well, the same could be said for you!" The Knight of Marshall replied as he caressed the bruise on his golden armor, "You didn't say you've become an intermediate knight!"
The Knight of Bennett, too, felt the urge to look at the dent on his own breastplate. After figuring out the cost that was needed for repair, he gave another shout towards the Knight of Marshall.
"You play dirty, don't you? Yeah, I did become one! If I didn't, I would be on the ground right now!"
"Dirty? Look who's talking?" The Knight of Marshall threw a dirty look and at the Knight of Bennett. The Knight of the Bennett did the same, and the two just kept on staring at each other in silence. Just when everyone thought that there was going to be a fight, the two suddenly slapped each other's armor with their fist.
Then they started laughing and hugging each other. Apparently, none of that etiquette nonsense was important at this moment. The two brothers were glad to see each other, and that was all that mattered. As someone who held a secret so great he couldn't tell anyone about it, Abel could only hope to have a friendship this close.
The adoption ceremony was very formal. They even invited a priest from the Temple of the goddess of harvest. As the ceremony was being held, Abel received a suit directly from the Knight of Marshall. The suit was marked with the symbol of the unicorn coat of arm, which signified that Abel had been officially accepted into the family. The welcome banquet commenced after the adoption ceremony ended.
If a Lord had no heir under his name, his property would be claimed by the Duchy once he had passed away. Such a change would be devastating for everyone who depended on their livelihood under the family's name. That being said, while it was rather tragic for Abel to leave his original home, it was also something truly worthy of celebration for the ones who took him in.
The Knight of Bennett didn't participate in the welcome banquet. He wasn't interested in celebrating his son leaving. After the adoption ceremony was over, he hastily went home with his men. Out of understanding for what the Knight of Bennett was feeling, the Knight of Marshall spent no effort in trying to make him stay.
After the day was over, the Knight of Marshall took Abel to a two-story-tall building on the left side of the Harry Castle.
"This will be your room from now on," the Knight of Marshall opened the door and welcomed Abel in, "I hope you feel at home here."
There was a lot of space on the first floor. The floor was made of some very hard rocks. At the edge were a table and some chairs for the guests, but that was about the only regular furniture here. The wall was stacked with a rack full of weapons. There were heavy swords, shields, bows, and lances. There was even a heavy ax that was only supposed to be wielded by the orcs.
To be honest, this place felt more like a mini-training room than a living room. As the base for a novice knight like Abel, pretty much all his daily needs could be fulfilled here. Credits could be given to the Knight of Marshall. He had put in his thoughts when he decorated this whole building.
The bedroom was up on the second floor. There was a very big, feathery bed that was almost too clean. Whether it was the oakwood wall or the wool carpet on the floor, everything had a glorious tone of white to it. As if this wasn't grandiose enough, the window was stretched from floor to ceiling. If you look outside, the view was much prettier than what you'd expect from regular homes.
The Knight of Marshall liked the color white. It must have something to do with the unicorn on his family's coat of arm. Even the big closet in Abel's room was made of white oak timber.
"Don't you worry about what to wear here," the Knight of Marshall opened up the closet, which had all kinds of new clothes inside, "These are all yours. It's going to be a while before your welcome party. Get some shower now. After you've got yourself some good rest, a maid will come to help you change into your formal attire."
The Knight of Marshall was a kind man. When he smiled at Abel, there was a certain warmth that felt both genuine and comforting.
"Is there anything else that you want?" he asked once more before he went downstairs, "Don't hold back. This is your home from now own."
"No, sir. This is already more than what I could ask," Abel said in a slightly anxious tone. As much as he appreciated the generosity of everyone in this castle, it was hard to get used to being this cared for by so many people at once.
While alone in his new bedroom, Abel took a look outside the floor-to-ceiling window for some night-time scenery. There were multiple dots of light flashing over the distance, most of which belonged to the guests who came over to the welcome banquet. All in all, the Harry Castle was very close to Harvest City, which had a scale far greater than a small town like Fort Lee.
This was Abel's new home from now on. He had just begun to acknowledge his new family, but fate decided to bring him out of his home, and here was he was. A new family. A new life. Abel couldn't help but shake his head and let out a deep sigh. Once he became old and strong enough, he swore that he would do anything he could to help out his parents and brother.
There were sounds of footsteps coming by the stairs. It was a maid, and she had just opened the bedroom door and came in. She was about twenty years old, and her face was round like a bun.
"Your bathwater is ready now," She said humbly as if she didn't want to bother Abel too much, "Do you want to wash now?"
With the maid leading his way, Abel came to a bathroom that was only meant for the Harry Castle's masters. Strangely, everything was made of timber here, and that gave off this unique fragrance like what you would find in a sauna. The bathing tub was made of marbles, and there were dry flower petals sprinkled on top of the steaming hot water.
Just when the maid was about to go in with Abel, she was ordered to stay where she was at. Abel might not look like it, but he was raised to follow the customs of the modern age. Having a female wash his body was not something he would feel comfortable with.
Once he had washed, Abel had the maid help him get into his formal attire.
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Chapter 12
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While standing in front of the castle gate, the servants were busy welcoming the guests who had been invited by the Knight of Marshall. From lords of neighboring lands and royals living inside Harvest City, everyone who paid their visit tonight had some type of reputation to their name. This just showed how resourceful the Knight of Marshall really was.
The banquet was to be held in the castle's main hall. There were hundreds of giant smokeless candles being lit across the building. For the supper tonight, there were some fine wine transported from Bakong City and some freshly cooked beasts that were just hunted from the forest.
As the night approached, almost all the guests had made their way into the ballroom. No one would be late for an event like this, of course. While night-time entertainment was plentiful on planet Earth, things get pretty dull in this world at night. The poor couldn't afford lanterns, so they would just sleep when the Moon had made its appearance. The rich, on the other hand, had nothing else to do but to read books in their basements. The theatre was an option if you lived in the city, but the shows were not displayed at every single night.
It was very expensive to hold a banquet as big as this one. Most noblemen could only afford one or two in a year. Their wallets would be empty if they decided to go any further.
Come to think of it, there was no banquet back at the Bennett Knight's domain. Abel didn't know how the Knight of Marshall managed his finances, but there was probably a lot the Knight of Bennett could learn from him.
Since Abel was the star tonight, he and the Knight of Marshall had to wait on the second floor before making their entrance. They would only come out after the butler Lindsay had introduced them to the guests.
"Thank you all for coming here," Lindsay called out in his fancy black suit, "Please, let's welcome the honorable owner of this estate, the Knight of Marshall. And let's welcome Abel, who is our new master of the Marshall Family."
The guests all started clapping as the Knight of Marshall and Abel came down the stairs. While Abel just kept on nodding his head to greet them, the Knight of Marshall seemed much more composed in this kind of situation. He held his head high, had a confident, wide grin on his face, and rose his cup to for a celebratory toast with everyone.
The Knight of Marshall was the only one that Abel recognized. Besides, as a young boy of thirteen, it wasn't like he was going to be invited to dance with any girls. The guests would say hello to him, but that was about it. The most he could do was to greet back at them and carry on.
"Look at that lucky kid with his dark hair."
"Yeah. He's really lucky, isn't he?"
"Hey, why is it him and not me?"
"You? Come on, it should've been me. I look better than you on any given day."
As Abel turned to the source of the noise, he could see a bunch of young men joking amongst themselves. They didn't seem to notice him, though, until he came a bit closer. Things started getting awkward real quick at that point.
A young man in white suit bowed and apologized, "Sorry, we didn't notice that you're here."
"No need for apologies," Abel greeted back with a bow of his own, "I was the one who interrupted your conversation."
Abel was technically a middle-aged man. Upon his arrival at the Harry Castle, he had already prepared himself for any gossip that could go behind his back. Besides, these boys were just having a chat. There was no big deal about that.
From what it looked like, these few youngsters took a liking in Abel's cool demeanor. They started dragging him into their little group and started talking about gossip together. At one point, they discussed how a lord found himself a new lover. Another time, it was about someone who caught some kind of prey.
The man in the white suit was Isaac, the oldest son of Baron Victor. He was the one who brought up Abel back then. Being adopted by an heirless knight was considered as "extremely lucky," and Abel happened to be one who has won the jackpot.
Baron Victor, who was one of the many barons living inside Harvest City. Overall, barons lived a comfortable life wherever they were, but most of them still had to work for their lavish expenses. To be a nobleman, one had to spend quite some gold for all sorts of things.
This was why noblemen tended to engage in the trading business. While such practices were considered lowly to the eyes of the aristocrats, they had no other choices but to learn to live with it. They had no lands of their own. Even someone like the Knight of Bennett was considered better than them because—well—at least he owned his piece of land.
No land, and no castle. This was why the barons could only live in the city. Life was convenient here, but nothing could be freer than living in your own castle. Besides, owning a piece of land was the same as having a secured source of income. It would mean securing the funding of your own troops and being able to grow your own crops.
No wonder Isaac sounded so sour back then. As long as there was no ill intention behind it, Abel didn't mind being the target of jealousy.
While sipping his wine, Abel listened to the conversation between these young men. He would occasionally say something as to not appear unsocial to them, but he also tried not to be too intrusive while doing so.
Everything was seemingly well until he felt a menacing stare. Abel wasn't sure what was going on, so he just pretended to not notice it. His eyes were scanning across the crowd, though, and his hands still waggling onto that wineglass he was holding.
It was a young man. He had an upright stature, a handsome-looking face, and blonde hair that was combed as neatly as it could get. His eyes were rather slanted, however, and that somehow made him look more feminine than he should be.
Abel lightly tapped Isaac on his arm, "Who is that?"
"Him?" Daniel threw a quick glance at the boy, but quickly turned his head back in disgust, " Oh, his name is Daniel. If you ask me, he's as slimy as it gets."
"Why would you say that?" Abel asked in curiosity.
"Well, his father was a merchant, but his older sister got married to Lord Walker, and makes him half a nobleman. You'd think he'd be satisfied with that, but oh no. After hearing about how the Knight of Marshall didn't have an heir, he started begging his sister to help him get adopted. His sister couldn't do anything about it, of course, so she asked Lord Walker to talk directly with the Knight of Marshall. He did, and the Knight of Marshall turned him down right away."
Isaac seemed keen to talk about this kind of stuff, "You know what the other nobles say about this? It's been a real hot topic amongst themselves lately."
Isaac paused for a bit more of his wine. He wanted to see some sort of reaction from Abel but was slightly let down by how calm this young boy was being.
"They've been saying that 'good boy'. Daniel doesn't know his place. Can you believe that? Not just him, everyone's been making fun of Lord Walker. He kind of deserved it, too, to be honest. What kind of knight would take in the son of a merchant? Even if the Knight of Marshall said yes, his whole family wouldn't agree to that!"
Thanks to how gossipy Isaac was getting, he pretty much told Abel everything he knew about Daniel. Because of him, Abel was starting to understand why Daniel had such a dislike for him from the very start.
But still. Abel didn't like talking behind other people's backs. He thought it was boring, and to be fair, most of the information that was thrown around was nothing but rumors. After spending a few more minutes with these youngsters, he said goodbye to them and went to the toilet.
Oddly enough, Daniel saw this and went to the toilet as well.
Abel didn't go in the toilet. Instead, he went to a nearby window for some fresh air. His twelve-year-old body was not quite used to having liquor yet. While the chilling night wind was blowing on his face, he reminded himself that he wasn't going to have any alcohol from here on.
For crying out loud, he was a former bodybuilding trainer. He knew better than to engage in underage drinking.
As the host of today's event, it would be rude to be absent for too long. But just as Abel was about to walk back to the hall, someone suddenly started charging towards him. Abel was fast enough to react to this, so he started activating his level four Novice Knight power.
Whoever this fool was, he didn't make Abel flinch. If anything, after running into him, he was bounced back three-meter from where he came from. His body flew in the air for a while, and his body started sliding for an extra two meters before he finally stopped.
Realizing that there was a situation going, people started coming over for a look.
"It's Daniel," a knight came and turned over the body of the attacker.
A young woman in fluffy skirts starting running over, "Oh my! Dear Daniel, what happened to you?"
"Abel! What just happened?" the Knight of Marshall came and demanded an explanation.
"I'm not sure either," Abel opened his arms to feign ignorance, "He started charging at me. Next thing I know, his whole body started flying away."
The Knight of Marshall didn't see it himself, but it wasn't hard for him to figure out what actually happened. Abel was a newcomer to this castle. He barely knew anyone, which meant that he had no motive to hurt anyone. And even if he was trying to show Daniel who's boss, it was unlikely for him to do it on the day of his welcome banquet.
As for Daniel, the Knight of Marshall knew who he was. After rejecting this young man's imprudent request, he remembered being mocked by his friends for turning him down so quickly. If it wasn't because of Lord Walker, he would very much like to teach this young man a lesson in proper etiquette.
And here they were. The Knight of Marshall didn't want to cause anything big, but what Daniel had done was unforgivable. At a banquet held by the Knight of Marshall, he decided to assault the future heir of the Marshall Family. Abel was already a noble now which made the crime twice as severe than it already was.
While paying no attention to the crying young woman nearby, the Knight of Marshall called out to Lord Walker, who was still standing back in the crowd.
"Sir Walker. So what is the purpose of you bringing Daniel to my castle? Is this an attempt to ridicule the Harry Family? Or are you trying to set up a duel with me on behalf of your family name?"
Lord Walker had quite a displeased look on his face when he saw Daniel on the ground. Honestly, he would've never brought Daniel here if he knew how feral the boy would be. Daniel was begging him to let him have a look at the next heir of the Harry Family. That was the only reason he was allowed to tag along.
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Chapter 13
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Lord Walker gave a deep bow to the Knight of Marshall, "I'm sorry for this, Sir. Someone like him should've never been allowed to attend an event like this. Please, settle this in whatever ways that you see fit."
Whilst acknowledging the apology with a nod, the Knight of Marshall pointed his finger towards Daniel, "Guard! Send him to prison. I want him to be trialed in Bakong City by tomorrow."
"No! You can't do this!" the woman cried even louder, but she was quickly dragged away by Lord Walker. The two left the castle before the banquet had even ended.
While watching from the side, the butler Lindsay rubbed his chin with his hand. He witnessed the confrontation from start to finish. There was a good chance that he had discovered something.
The banquet went back to normal quite quickly after that. No one was going to pay too much attention to the sad bastard who offended a knight, especially when that bastard wasn't even a nobleman.
Once the banquet was over, all the guests were led to the guest room. The butler Lindsay then came to the Knight of Marshall, who was busy cleaning his armor.
"What?" the Knight of Marshall dropped his cherished armor on the ground, "Abel is a rank four Novice Knight? Are you sure about this?"
"Yes, sir," the butler Lindsay asserted, "While I am only a rank five warrior, the energy sir Abel released back then was, without a doubt, something that would only belong to a rank four Novice Knight."
"Ha, haha!" the Knight of Marshall laughed frantically as he started slapping the table with his hand, "Seth is going to be so pissed about this! If only he knew that his son was a genius! Oh, but he doesn't know, does he? Why else would he give Abel to me?"
"From what I've heard," Lindsay lowered his voice for a reminder, "the eldest son of the Bennet Family is still a rank four Novice Knight, and he is eighteen right now."
"Yes," despite being wrong about Abel's intentions, the Knight of Marshall felt moved by Abel's decision to hide away his real power, "Abel is a good child. He didn't want to discourage his older brother, so he's been hiding his real potential this entire time."
"Send a letter to the old men at Bakong City. I want them to know about this," the Knight of Marshall commanded, then took a look at the armor he had just dropped, "Another thing. I want a full set of the blazing sun armor. When I left the place years ago, what they gave me was fake. Now I've brought a super genius into the family. They ought to do more to reward me this time, no?"
"Yes, master," the butler Lindsay replied. He didn't mind if his master sounded a little brash there. For the Knight of Marshall, his passion for the blazing sun armor was just as strong as his love for his deceased wife.
The blazing sun armor was the standard military equipment of the Blazing Sun Empire—an ancient empire known for its spectacular army. Whenever the Sun shone on a piece of the blazing sun armor, its surface would glow with a red identical to blood. Not only was it gorgeous to look at, but its defensive power was also, in every practical sense, something that every knight would want to lay their hands on.
After the Blazing Sun Empire had lost its former glory, most of the armor was lost. The few that remained were collected by noblemen as antiques, and they were rarely found as items to be sold.
It was now the second morning upon Abel's arrival.
Having brushed himself off with the help of a maid, Abel came to the dining room for some breakfast. After seeing that the Knight of Marshall was already waiting for him, he quickly came to apologize.
"Sorry for making you wait, Sir."
"That's okay. How's your sleep last night?" the Knight of Marshall asked casually.
"Very good. The bed was very comfortable when I slept on it."
"It's good to hear that," the Knight of Marshall gestured Abel to come, "Here, come have a seat."
The servants started handing out the dishes after they've said their grace. Surprisingly enough, there were a lot of different things in Abel's plate: eggs, sausages, bacon, and green vegetables. Actually, there shouldn't be green vegetables this season. How did they get them here?
Realizing the surprise on Abel's face, the Knight of Marshall explained, "It's the work of the druids. They used their special powers to grow these vegetables. The prices they sold these for are, well, very befitting of their status."
Abel's heart started churning after hearing this, "What other casters are there apart from the druids?"
Seeing how interested Abel was about this topic, the Knight of Marshall put down his knife, "You're talking about the wizards, aren't you?"
"Wizards!"
So maybe that's why Abel couldn't use the Scroll of Town Portal. Maybe magic scrolls were limited for the wizards. If Abel wanted to go home, he must find a chance to learn about the wizards.
Once breakfast was over, the Knight of Marshall told Abell to come to his study. He poured a cup of coffee for Abel, and only spoke once Abel sipped it.
"Abel, you are already a member of the Harry family."
"I-uh,"
The Knight of Marshall paused for a bit to find the right words, "I think I should be honest with you. The power you released yesterday belongs to a rank four Novice Knight."
Abel raised his head in shock. He didn't expect to be exposed to this quickly. In his defense, he only used his real power for only a few seconds.
"It's okay. It's okay," the Knight of Marshall held onto Abel's shoulder, "I know that you were watching out for your older brother. You didn't want to make him feel bad about himself, right?"
As far as that guess was from the actual truth, Abel didn't bother to give his explanation. If anything, that was a more reasonable explanation than talking about the Horadric Cube and all that other nonsense.
"I'm going to be straight with you. I don't know how you're doing it, but it's not a good idea to suppress your powers. Knights are supposed to be fiery and explosive. Once you decide to hold it back, you start to lose your primitive drive. Do you know what I'm saying?"
From what the Knight of Marshall was saying, "power" seemed to be defined differently in this world. Back on planet Earth, one would be considered powerful if he could control his strength, but here, only untameable powers were considered the strongest.
What Abel learned on Earth was about relaxation—conserving one's life forces. It was about surviving and living as long and healthy as possible. Since guns weren't invented yet in this world, nobody was looking to live as long as possible. The only thing they were thinking about was to outlive their enemies, which meant being better at killing than anyone else.
"How should I control my powers, then?" Abel asked.
"I was in the same shoes as you many years ago. Luckily, I've found a solution already."
The Knight of Marshall placed a long sword on the table, "Look at this blade right here. As you know, swords are the most important weapons for a knight. How much do you know about this blade right here?"
Abel replied after handling the sword for a bit, "This sword is one meter and five. Its weight is around twenty pounds."
The Knight of Marshall swung the sword for a bit, "This long sword is designed for a knight. It has been forged for a hundred times before it is in the shape that it's in now. The length of this piece is precisely 1.58 meters, and its weight is 21.2 pounds. Do you know why I know so much about it?"
"Because it's yours," Abel said softly, to which the Knight of Marshall could hear very clearly. Seeing how unconvinced Abel was getting, he couldn't help but let out a soft chuckle.
The Knight of Marshall grinned, "How about that light sword you have on you? Do you know how long and heavy it is?"
For a moment, Abel didn't know what to say. He just rubbed his nose for a bit.
"Estimate by sight. If you work for an armorsmith for about a year, you can do just as well as I can. You will have a better grip on your weapon than most trainers. At the same time, you will be able to release all that power and frenzy within you, meanwhile still maintaining the same amount of control that you would normally.
"Alright, you've convinced me. So where should I learn to make swords?"
The Knight of Marshall raised his cheek, "You ever wondered how I got so rich?"
From what Abel could see, the Harry Knight's domain was no bigger than the Bennet Knight's domain. Frankly enough, though, the standard of living between the two was miles apart from each other. That being said, Abel wanted to ask about it since day one.
"You see, there is an iron mine on my property," the Knight of Marshall said proudly, "I happened to found it right after I was given this piece of land. If it wasn't for that, I would've never built this castle the way Emma wanted me to."
The Knight of Marshall seemed rather sad when he talked about his wife, "When Emma was still with me, she drew the construction plan of this castle, but our savings alone were not enough for the job. We had a lot of faith, though, so we started building it anyways. And just when we were short on money, we happened to found that mine and thank the heaven, we managed to fulfill our dreams together."
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Chapter 14
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The blacksmith was not located inside the castle. It was right next to the iron mine, which took Abel and the Knight of Marshall twenty minutes to arrive by chariots.
Even from over a distance, Abel could hear the sound of iron ore being smashed by iron hammers. There was a pile of stone houses, all of which were made by some neatly-chiseled boulders. There were chimneys on top of each of them. Right now, four out of six had dark smoke puffing out.
Just by looking at these stone houses, Abel could tell that the Knight of Marshall paid a lot of attention to his blacksmith business. The boulders they used were the same as the ones they used for castles. Forget about their actual cost, it would've already cost so much just to carry them all the way from the mountains.
The Knight of Marshall instructed Abel carefully, "We're going to pay a visit to Master Bentham today. Remember to be respectful when you see him. I've invited him over because he's the best man I could find in Harvest City. If he wasn't trying to let his son take over his shop business, we wouldn't have a chance to see him today."
"Please to see you here, Marshall," Master Betham greeted the Knight of Marshall with a simple nod. He was a very big man, standing at 2 meters tall. He had a very solid build. Even at fifty-something of age, the big beard on his face gave a no-nonsense aura around the man.
"Hey there," the Knight of Marshall smiled without getting too much into formality, "I've brought a young man to you today. Apparently, he's interested in becoming your disciple."
Master Bentham looked quite perplexed when he laid his eyes on Abel, "Are you talking about this child, Marshall? Please, I know the difference between a "young man" and a "child." This boy is not even fourteen yet, and you want him to be one of my disciples?"
Suddenly, a lot of people started coming over to see what was going on.
"Master Bentham, this is Abel, my new adopted son. He is currently a Novice Knight, and he wants you to teach him how to control his powers."
"Nice thinking. Sorry though, I'm not taking him in, "Master Bentham said grimly, "My training is not something a young nobleman can bear. Besides, I don't think a boy as young as he has the stamina to swing a hammer."
Abel reached out his arm and flexed for a bit, "Don't you worry about that, Master Bentham. I can work very hard if I want to, and you aren't the only muscular one here."
"Ha!"
Abel was about 1.6 meters. He did have some muscles, yes, but that was nothing compared to Maser Betham, who stood at a bear-like height two meters. The stark contrast alone was enough to make everybody around laugh.
"Two more years, Abel. Once you are a bit taller and stronger, I promise that I will teach you how to forge," Master Bentham said patiently out of respect for the Knight of Marshall.
"How strong do I need to be to train under you?" Abel pressed on stubbornly.
Master Bentham turned back towards the backyard. "Come with me," he said, to which Abel did with the company of the Knight of Marshall. The other bystanders, too, came in to see if Abel was ready for the challenge ahead.
"How many do you think he can lift?"
"I'd be impressed with one."
"Nah, two. He's a Novice Knight. I'll go with two."
"I bet one."
"I bet two."
As rowdy as the crowd was getting, both the Knight of Marshall and Abel paid no attention to it. When they arrived at the backyard, they saw a bunch of iron pieces being lined up on the ground. There was an iron bar in the middle, and varying sizes of iron pieces on each side going from small to large.
They were essentially barbells. It was not very refined compared to the ones that Abel was familiar with, but the design was nevertheless the same. As it turned out, the cultural background had nothing to do with understanding how the human body functioned
"I use these locks to train my disciples' strength. You see, they come in different sizes. The smallest ones are 50 pounds, the biggest ones 500. Whenever you go one size bigger, you increase the load by 50 pounds."
"Get over here, Gedon," Master Bentham pointed towards a man in the crowd. While he was pretty strong himself, this particular fellow was not much different in terms of stature.
"Master!" Gedon explained anxiously as sweat streamed down his dark face," I-I I wasn't being lazy! I was throwing out the metal waste!"
Everybody started laughing. Gedon was a familiar face here at the blacksmith shop. He was recruited after Master Bentham came to the Harry Castle. Whilst originally an apprentice, he quickly became a disciple because of how hardworking he was.
There were a lot of differences between an apprentice and a disciple. Apprentices had it much worse because most of their work was centered around intense physical labor. Usually, it involved cutting and burning timber for the entire day. Even worse, there was no pay.
Disciples, on the other hand, had the privilege to learn from their master directly. At the end of the month, they would also receive a wage that was equivalent to the quality of their work.
Gedon was a very likable student to Master Bentham. He was honest, hardworking and willing to learn. Once Master Bentham retired, he would be the go-to person to continue serving the Knight of Marshall.
"No, Gedon, I'm telling you to come here so you can show Abel how to use the locks. Go ahead and teach him what it takes to be my disciple."
"Yes Sir," Gedon smiled modestly as he rubbed his hands together. He then walked to the third lock and turned his head towards Abel.
"Watch me closely, Abel."
With his hands grasping both ends of the iron bar, Gedon let out a big shout and raised the 150-pound thing from the ground. Because of how easily it went over his head, it almost felt like he was picking up a straw or something.
"Nice one, lad!"
With everyone cheering out for him, Gedon dropped the iron lock onto the ground.
As Gedon turned to his master for some feedbacks, Master Bentham nodded his head in approval, "Keep going, Gedon."
Yes Sir. Gedon proceeded to the fourth lock, which was roughly 200 pounds in total weight. It wasn't that hard for him to lift it, though. He readied himself, grabbed onto the thing and picked it up. No drama. It wasn't so easy when he tried out the fifth one. Still, he managed to raise it over his head after a bit of hesitation.
Things got tense when he walked over to the sixth lock. It was a 300-pound lock. Most people couldn't even hold one end for more than three seconds, let alone pick it up from the ground.
Gedon didn't start right away this time. For a few seconds there, he closed his eyes and adjusted his breathing for a bit. Once he was ready, he let out a roar and veins started bursting out of his neck. His face was red like a tomato, except it looked like it was about to explode from the inside.
Nevertheless, the lock went over his head. Everybody was yelling in celebration for him.
"Very well, Gedon," Master Bentham gave a proud look, "Even with the strength you have now, you are still making progress every single day. It wouldn't be long before you can surpass even my limits."
"Really?" Gedon scratched his head as he shied away from the compliment, "Aw, you're being too kind, Sir! There is still a lot I need to do before I can get to where you're at."
"Your turn now, Abel," Master Betham turned his head towards the boy who dared to challenge him. Contrary to what he had expected, Abel didn't back down after laying his eyes on Gedon's performance. Abel was already walking towards the third lock.
To be clear, Abel did approve Gedon of his strength. That being said, there were absolutely no skills in the way he lifted those weights. For the millionth time, Abel was a former bodybuilding trainer. The barbell was one of his favorite pieces of equipment back on Earth. It was his job to be good at using it.
If Gedon's maximum was around 300 pounds, he could probably lift to 350 pounds if he knew the right techniques. There were a lot of things that were wrong about his form. If he wasn't so strong already, he would be severely injured right now. Even if he wasn't injured, there was bound to be a lot of damage in the long term.
"He's going for the 150?"
"Good grace. He's not going to do it."
"Is-is he mad?"
The crowd started being noisy again when it was Abel's turn. Abel frowned a little because of that. He didn't like being watched like he was some clown in a circus.
"Out, thank you," Master Bentham shooed the crowd away. He could tell that Abel didn't like being watched. As for the reason for this, well, he just thought that Abel didn't want to be a laughing stock.
Realizing that they've angered Master Bentham, the crowd started rushing out of the backyard.
"Try your best, but don't push yourself too much," Master Bentham said.
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Chapter 15
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Since there was no drying powder here, Abel rubbed his hands with some mud he found on the ground. His mind might have been old, but his body still belonged to that of a child. With that being the case, it was very important for him to take care of himself in whatever small ways he could.
Whilst standing in front of the 150-pound lock, Abel had his legs parallel to the middle of the bar. When he tightened his grip, his thumbs were separate from his other fingers. When he picked the lock above his head, he did it in one motion and had his arms completely straight while doing so.
It was a beautiful lift, smooth and well-coordinated. The lock was only 150 pounds, yes, but in Master's Bentham's eyes, Abel clearly did it better than Gedon. Not only was he faster, but he also seemed more effortless when he was doing it.
The Knight of Marshall, on the other hand, was more focused on the way Abel used his muscles. He began by setting his feet up as a base, channeled his power through his thighs, waist and upper back, and executed the movement with his whole body moving in one with his arms.
Abel might not know yet, but what he did was the same as strength conservation, which was an advanced technique of the knights. For a child to have such a good understanding of muscle movement, Abel was truly blessed with talent.
After dropping the 150 pounds, Abel walked towards the 200 pounds and easily raised it. His form was the same as last time, and his speed was just as fast.
250. Easy. And just like that, as Master Bentham and Gedon watched in total shock, Abel was already standing in front of the 300 pounds.
This time, Abel had his hands closer to the middle of the bar. After doing a few prep hinges without any weight, he raised the lock and had it locked near his shoulder, meanwhile standing up with his legs slightly bent. His forearms were bent whilst pointing forward, and his chin was parallel to the bar. Then, slowly and steadily, he straightened his arms and raised the lock on top of his head.
As though woken up from a dream, Master Bentham turned to the Knight of Marshall, "Where did you find this monster, Marshall?"
The Knight of Marshall wasn't too pleased with what Master Bentham was saying, "Hey, who are you calling a monster here? He's a rank four Novice Knight, goddammit! If he can't even lift 300 pounds off the ground, what kind of rank four Novice Knight is he?"
"Oh, my spirits!" Master Bentham exclaimed as he looked towards Abel, "A rank four Novice Knight? How old are you, child?"
"Turning thirteen soon, Sir," Abel replied.
"You're twelve? You're a twelve-year-old, rank four Novice Knight," Master Bentham threw a dirty look at the Knight of Marshall, "Marshall? What kind of madman would send a genius like him to be your son?"
"Why you looking at me like that?" the Knight of Marshall cried out loud, "Hey, you. I'm an Intermediate Knight myself!"
"Yeah, but didn't you just become one? Marshall, isn't it better to send him to a commander? Actually, for someone as talented as him, you reckon we can send him to the head commander?"
"Just… Ugh! Don't you worry about it. Just let him stay with you and teach him how to forge, okay friend?"
The Knight of Marshall was a good friend with Master Bentham. If it wasn't for that, he would've never had him come over to the Harry knight's domain. That being said, however, Master Bentham was quite a loudmouth. His "straightforwardness" has caused a lot of headaches in the past.
"So be it, then," Master Bentham agreed but decided to keep on talking, "I'll let Abel stay, but are you sure you're the right man to teach Abel how to be a knight, Marshall? I'm just saying, the kid's got a bright future ahead of him."
"Alright Abel, be a good boy for me. Stay here and learn from Master Bentham during the day. At night, You'll learn the techniques of a knight inside the castle."
Having said that, the Knight of Marshall rushed out of the blacksmith shop. For a second there, he looked like he was trying to escape the scene here.
Master Bentham, too, started walking back to his workshop. "You should've taught him the basics first, Gedon," he said before he left.
Gedon said to Abel as it was just the two of them now, "Wow Abel. You're pretty strong, aren't you?"
"You are pretty strong yourself, Gedon," Abel replied. Even without being trained as a knight, Gedon was already strong enough as a normal human being.
Gedon rejected the praise, "But I'm so much older than you. I'm already nineteen, and you're just twelve. And look at how easy it was for you to lift the 300-pound lock! You seemed so confident when you were doing it. I'm sure you can lift more if you wanted to."
"You know, you can lift more if you know how to use all of your strength. If you want to, I can teach you how to lift those locks as I do."
"Wow. Are you sure?" Gedon almost jumped from where he was standing, "You think I can learn those techniques? Hey, how about we share what we know with each other? You teach me how to lift, and I'll teach you everything I know about forging. Not just forging. Feel free to ask me about anything that I might know."
...
It was about one month since Abel's arrival at Harry Castle. There were about three days before New Year's Eve. For all the time he's been here, Abel pretty much spent all his time learning at the blacksmith shop.
Thanks to Gedon, it wasn't hard for Abel to learn about the fundamentals of forging. He was actually in the middle of crafting a heavy sword for Zach, his beloved older brother. It was meant to be a new year gift for him.
Whilst holding onto a red hot base with a pair of tongs, Abel smashed it into shape with a 10-pound hammer in his other hand. Since the base would start to cool down after a few minutes, Abel had to heat it in the stove every once in a while.
Since this world was not yet industrialized, blacksmiths had to rely on very primitive techniques to forge their metals. To put it simply, their job was nothing more than heating metals, smashing them with a hammer, letting it cool down and repeating the whole process. As dull as that sounded, however, it was, by no means, something that anyone could do.
The long sword Knight of Marshall had was treated 100 times before the final product was finished. At best, an average blacksmith could only treat a base for about 30 to 40 times. Gedon was the disciple of Master Bentham, so he could do about 60. Only a master could make a base that's been treated for 100 times.
Having read a few scientific catalogs himself, it wasn't hard for Abel to understand the theory behind such forging methods. By repeatedly hammering the base, it essentially eliminated the amount of carbon inside. This meant that the more it was treated, the purer the resulting metal would be.
Having used a hammer for about a month, Abel was already pretty skilled with the art of forging. For a child as bright as him, he could now pinpoint the exact spot he needed to hit. Speaking of which, the base he was working on had already been treated for 50 times. At that stage, it became very difficult to shape the base into its desired shape. Not only would the base be extremely dense to mold, but the blacksmith would also be too tired to swing his hammers.
Not Abel though. Even after treating the base for a total of 50 times, he was still swinging his arms at a very steady pace. Master Bentham knew about this, of course. Even without having taught Abel anything directly, he's been keeping a close watch this whole time.
Master Bentham didn't teach Abel himself because there wasn't a need to. Abel was bound to be a knight, so the most he ought to learn about forging were pretty much just the basics. Besides, Gedon had been learning from Master Bentham for about five years already. In that sense, he was qualified to be supervising a young apprentice like Abel.
Whenever Master Bentham saw Abel forging a base, there was always a bizarre sense of harmony lingering in the air. Abel wasn't fast. It would take about one second for him to swing once with his hammer.
Technically, this wasn't too hard to do. Anyone could swing a 10-pound hammer for a few hundred times. But to treat a base 50 times? That would take about tens of thousands of continuous swinging from morning to noon. You'd have to keep doing this without any time for rest.
Truth be told, Abel came up with this way of hammering the base. He got his idea from boxing. To throw a heavy punch, one could not just rely solely on the power of his arms. It was about using every part of your point and concentrating all that power into one point.
This was exactly what Abel was doing. For every swing of his hammer, he was channeling his strength from his feet to his arms. And when the hammer hit the base, he would use the reaction force to his advantage and raise to hammer back to its original height. As energy-efficient as this technique was, it was difficult to perform it. Abel, however, had more than enough time on his hands. With the right amount of practice and knowledge, he soon found himself the ideal ways to forge a metal base.
"Why does this child have to be a Novice Knight?" Master Bentham would often ask himself. Someone as talented as Abel should've never been learning how to fight on a battle's frontline. With Abel's ability to learn and the level he was currently, he would be a master blacksmith if he was to spent a few more years in the workshop. It was sad, yes, but that was just how things were.
Having forgotten to eat his lunch, Abel was finally able to treat the base for a total of 80 times before two in the afternoon. He decided to stop after that. After a base was treated for 80 times, he could no longer hammer it with—even all of his strength.