Name: Adam
Race: Gallia
Attributes: Strength (2.3), Constitution (2.1), Spirit (2.8), Charisma (1.7)
Bloodline: Blood of the Gallia Royal Family (3)
Talent: Archery Proficiency (2)
Skills: Hodge Knight Training Skill (Level 2), Archery Skill (Level 1), Hodge Fighting Sword Skills (Level 2)
Experience Points: 25
With a single thought from Adam, the character panel reappeared.
The values are pretty much the same as before, with the only change being the increase of five experience points.
This was his reward for dealing with an unusually large rat they encountered on their way home, which netted him those extra five points.
This incident confirmed for Adam where experience points came from—it seemed to be from slaying the various beasts of this world.
Yet, what confused him was what these experience points were exactly for.
As per his past life's memories, shouldn't these experience points be for leveling up?
But Adam didn't see a level bar for himself.
His character panel had attributes, skills, and experience, but there was no character level section to be found.
Instead, the skills did have levels.
Could it be they should be added to the skills?
Just as this question rose in Adam's heart, the panel in front of him began to change.
Plus signs began to appear on the panel, hovering over each skill.
Adam was taken aback for a moment, then began to look more closely.
Bloodline, talent, skills—all had a plus sign behind them, indicating they could be upgraded?
The only exception was the attributes section—there were no plus signs behind them, suggesting they couldn't be upgraded.
Should he try it out?
Adam hesitated for a moment.
In the end, he fixed his gaze on the Hodge Knight Training Skill.
The Hodge Knight Training Skill, something he had learned at the Hodge Royal Academy, had been honed over several years to a certain degree.
According to the panel's evaluation, it was at Level 2, higher than his other skills.
This was the skill Adam cared about the most amongst all he had.
What happened next was truly magical.
The moment Adam acted, the number in the knight training skill row changed quickly from Level 2 to Level 3.
A surge of intense heat began to stir within him, emerging from deep within his body.
Scenes flashed through Adam's mind—all depicting him training.
In these scenarios, Adam was covered in sweat.
He was striving hard, painstakingly practicing the knight training skill, ultimately taking it to a higher level.
All of it was so real, as though he had truly experienced it.
And then, in an instant, it all rebounded back onto him, resulting in various changes to his body.
Name: Adam
Race: Gallia
Attributes: Strength (2.7), Constitution (2.5), Spirit (2.8), Charisma (1.7)
Bloodline: Blood of the Gallia Royal Family (3)
Talent: Archery Proficiency (2)
Skills: Hodge Knight Training Skill (Level 3), Archery Skill (Level 1), Hodge Fighting Sword Skills (Level 2)
Experience Points: 5
The character panel emerged once again.
Now, compared to before, drastic changes had taken place.
"This....."
Staring at the panel before him and feeling the newfound power within him, Adam was at a loss for words.
He knew about leveling up, but he was still stunned.
He had never known that there was such a miraculous method that could make one stronger in an instant, sparing years of grueling training.
Just now, Adam had skipped at least four or five years of effort, directly raising the knight training skill to a higher level through experience points.
How was this possible?
Adam was awestruck by this power. It truly was magical.
The various memories from his previous life had already left him astounded after his awakening, making him realize the world was truly magical.
But compared to what was happening to him right now, his previous astonishment seemed trivial.
Neither in his past life nor in this life had Adam seen such a thing.
He hadn't just never seen it before, he hadn't even heard of it before.
"If there are enough experience points, then..."
Adam looked at the experience points column, a thought flashing through his mind.
The experience points had changed from twenty-five to five.
Upgrading the knight training skill a level had used up twenty of Adam's experience points.
These twenty points were approximately what he received from killing a direwolf.
It took less than half an hour to slay a direwolf and this allowed him to upgrade the knight training skill, saving Adam four to five years of time.
What did this mean?
Adam felt a flicker of unease, deep in his subconscious.
His past life's memories and experiences taught him that there are always people in this world who prefer to take shortcuts, obtaining wealth and power through unscrupulous means.
But in the end, those people never seem to meet a good fate.
The education he received from a young age also taught Adam that the only true power is the one achieved through gradual training—it's the only one that can genuinely belong to oneself.
There are no shortcuts to obtaining power, only a path carved from blood, sweat, and tears.
Adam felt as if both his past life and present life were telling him the same thing: taking shortcuts is disgraceful, as well as inappropriate.
But...the power gained from these shortcuts feels so real, so easily attainable.
By merely slaying a wild beast, he could gain experience points that would otherwise take years of training. This...
Adam found himself sinking into confusion.
By age, he was merely a child. Despite regaining the memories of his past life, some things were not easy to understand or digest, leading him to overthink.
However, life turned out to be the best teacher.
The following day, on their way to a nearby gathering place, a group of bandits emerged from the roadside and began marauding about.
Faced with this situation, Luman and his companions seemed unfazed. They immediately led Adam away through a small path, planning to leave while the bandits were occupied, avoiding them by a wide margin.
With just the three of them present, if they hid in the jungle, the bandit group would most likely not be able to find them.
But Adam chose otherwise.
Initially, he didn't react much and simply followed silently behind Luman and his companions.
He was a Knight Apprentice, but he was not the guardian of this place. According to traditional rules, he didn't have the obligation to protect this place.
However, when he saw the atrocities committed by the bandits, he couldn't hold back any longer.
The merchant convoy along the road was being looted. Men were being brutally murdered while the women in the caravan were forcefully dragged into tents, crying out in anguish.
What hurt him the most were the two children.
As Adam watched, they were being hung from ropes, at any moment they could be trampled to death by horses hooves.
All of this was making it hard for Adam to hold back.
In the past, constrained by the harsh environment, he never saw anything wrong with such scenes.
He was brought up that way, even as a knight, he was only to protect his lord and king in the future.
The common folk were not within his sphere of protection.
But the memories and soul of his past life gave him a different perspective.
Facing such circumstances, for the first time, he felt that he should do something.
A knight's sword is wielded for his rightful lord, but it should also be wielded for the innocent people.
So, in the end, Adam made his move.
He held his long sword and charged toward the bandits all by himself.
From behind, Luman and his companion wanted to hold him back but didn't have the time.
In the end, they could only grit their teeth and follow him, hoping to find opportunities to help.
Of course, if all else fails, they would escape at the first opportunity, as they wouldn't waste their precious chance at safety.
While the Noah World is a game world, a player's life is valuable there.
Every player, from the moment they create an account, only has three lives in total.
After experiencing three deaths, they can no longer enter this world—the stakes couldn't be higher.
Therefore, unless absolutely necessary, Luman and his companions didn't want to lose their precious lives.
If Adam wasn't an extraordinarily important game character in their eyes, they wouldn't even take the risk.
But Adam's combat power exceeded their expectations.
Despite being alone, his strength was extraordinary, both in speed and power he stood above ordinary people.
In just a blink of an eye, several approaching sneering bandits were cut down, their bodies peppered with sword wounds.
"You have gained five experience points...."
The familiar prompt sounded in his ears startled Adam.
He initially thought that only beasts could provide experience, but it seems humans could too.
But he didn't pay much attention to this and continued his fight.
In comparison to ordinary people, a Knight Apprentice is undoubtedly a formidable existence.
Although they have not awakened their life seed yet, their bodies have undergone the stress of Knight Training Skills and have transcended the abilities of ordinary people.
With this physical prowess, if coupled with armor and a steed, one could easily fight ten men.
Adam had neither armor nor steed, but his display of power was nonetheless unyielding.
In an instant, more than a dozen men were chopped down by him, and the bandit group inevitably plunged into chaos.
As it turns out, the bandits were mighty in numbers only.
Their discipline and morale were not high; they could merely bully the little merchant convoys without much armament.
As soon as they encountered a genuine life-threatening existence, they would immediately scatter and run faster than anyone else.
Charging alone at a bandit group of nearly seventy individuals, Adam was prepared to be severely injured, or even lose his life.
But the result came surprisingly easy, giving him an unreal sensation.
And it was at this moment that the confusion in Adam's heart completely vanished.
He suddenly understood something.
Whether power is attained through shortcuts doesn't seem to matter.
What matters is whether you have power or not.
If he didn't have power, Adam probably wouldn't be able to contemplate this matter at this moment. Because, on his way to the charge, he would probably be killed, let alone do what he is doing now—defeat the bandit group and achieve what he wants.
Whether power was achieved through shortcuts, while important, wasn't the most significant concern.
Without sufficient power, Adam couldn't possibly accomplish what he wanted. He would only futilely meet his end along the way.
And once a person ceases to exist, the matter of taking shortcuts or not loses its value for contemplation.
Having come to understand this, Adam felt relieved and looked ahead again.