"Advanced Vibration Force. Hahaha, this is Advanced Vibration."
"I've already mastered the first level of the Golden Cross Slash, the Vibroforce Slash."
Levi could not help but exclaim in satisfaction at the pleasure brought by the increase in strength.
"The current me should be able to put up a fight against a Quasi-Knight. It's just a pity that I don't have the chance to test it out. After all, the Golden Cross Slash is a killing move. Once it's used, blood will be spilled!"
Levi sheathed his sword. It had been a year since he started practicing the Black Snake Breathing Technique. Now, he was not far from reaching the third level of the Black Snake Breathing Technique. He should be able to reach it by the end of this year.
At that time, he would be a true Quasi-Knight.
One only needed to condense the Life Seed to become an official knight.
Becoming an official knight meant that he finally had the ability to protect himself in this world and entered the ranks of the upper and middle-class experts in this world.
In short, the difficulty of cultivating the breathing technique was still much higher than the first level of the Golden Cross Slash.
Of course, Levi guessed that it might also be because his talent in the way of the sword was not bad.
"Next, I'll use the Black Snake Breathing Technique to break through to the third level as soon as possible."
After setting his goal, Levi once again activated the explosive training mode.
This was how a lord's life was. It was repetitive, boring, and dull. However, every time he saw the +1 proficiency notification, Levi felt that it was all worth it.
..
Year 1004 of the Holy Brilliance Calendar, the Month of Winter.
It was the third year after the end of the Millennium Holy War between the Emerald Kingdom and the Tuva Empire.
Although the two countries no longer had major wars, small-scale conflicts continued.
In fact, everyone knew that this was not a war between two countries.
It was the conflict between the churches behind the scenes.
The Church of Holy Light, which believed in the Heavenly Father, and the Church of Storm, which believed in the Lord of Storm, wanted to expand their territory in order to expand their influence. They wanted to expand the influence of the church to the entire world!
Of course, it was very difficult to achieve this.
There were a total of seven large kingdoms and empires in the world. The citizens and nobles of each country had their own faith in their own gods.
The various forces were constantly fighting openly and covertly. It was easy to imagine how difficult it would be to destroy the other six countries and churches and unify the world.
However, since the birth of the seven churches, their purpose and significance were to spread the faith.
Therefore, in the foreseeable future, the evolution of civilization would inevitably be inseparable from the struggle of these religions.
Putting aside the war between countries, there was also a war going on in the mountains where the Black Water Valley was located.
In the dense forest, hundreds of Mountain Wolves surrounded a giant silver-white bear that had just woken up from hibernation.
The silver-white bear's shoulder was 1.8 meters tall, and its body was more than four meters long.
This was one of the most famous wild beasts in the north: the Giant Bear of the Northern Territory.
They had the strength of a knight when they grew up, and the best among them had the combat strength of a high-level knight. It was easy for them to kill a giant elephant.
This bear was actually a little smaller because it was a female bear.
If it was an adult male bear, it would usually have the strength of a peak knight.
Opposite the Giant Bear of the Northern Territory was a wolf pack that covered the mountains and plains as well as the Mountain Wolf King that led these wolf packs.
Mountain Wolves were the most terrifying existence in the black forest. Their individual strength was far inferior to the Giant Bear of the Northern Territory. However, they won in terms of team cooperation as there were many of them.
However, under normal circumstances, even if there were hundreds of wolves, they would rarely take the initiative to hunt the Giant Bear of the Northern Territory.
It was because there were too many wolves and there was a lack of food this year.
This was originally the Mountain Wolf King's territory, but this spring, this female bear had intruded into its territory and fought with it for scarce food. From time to time, she would also kill its wolf pack.
Today, taking advantage of the female bear's hibernation, the Mountain Wolf King had been considered for a long time and was prepared to kill this female bear and have a good meal.
Unexpectedly, this female bear was still very vigilant. It seemed to have sensed the arrival of the Mountain Wolf pack from afar and actually wanted to escape. Of course, in the end, it was still caught up by the wolf pack led by the Mountain Wolf King.
Now, the female bear, who was surrounded by a group of Mountain Wolves, stopped running. In terms of speed and endurance, it was impossible for it to run faster than the Mountain Wolves.
These were the most patient hunters. They were one of the few who could compete with human hunters in endurance.
It wanted to end the battle quickly. Its roar resounded through the forest. Its front feet left the ground, and it stood up. Its majestic body was as tall as a two-story building.
Many ordinary Mountain Wolves began to retreat. Seeing this, the Mountain Wolf King roared toward the sky to boost the morale of its team. It was a rare mutated wolf king, an existence that could be compared to a knight, although it was not a match for the Giant Bear of the Northern Territory in a one-on-one battle.
But it was not a lone wolf.
Just like that, the wolf and the bear began to fight in the valley.
Countless Mountain Wolves pounced at the female bear fearlessly. The female bear slapped down, and the Mountain Wolves that did not dodge were immediately turned into mud.
Not to mention wolves, even knights wearing armor would not be able to withstand a blow from a Giant Bear of the Northern Territory if they did not have plate armor. Although plate armor could barely withstand a frontal impact, the huge force could still shatter the internal organs and bones of most knights that practiced non-defensive breathing techniques.
In order to survive, both sides were doing their best.
There was no right or wrong, just for the sake of... staying alive!
In the end, the Giant Bear of the Northern Territory was covered in Mountain Wolves. Its thick and hard fur was also covered in wounds, and countless blood dyed the snow red.
It was already tired, but it did not collapse. Instead, it continued to fight.
In the end, after losing a third of the Mountain Wolves, the female bear was on the verge of death.
Only then did the cautious Mountain Wolf King make its move. Its sharp canine teeth bit the neck of the Giant Bear of the Northern Territory, and the other Mountain Wolves directly began to cut open its stomach.
The Giant Bear of the Northern Territory's shrill roar echoed through the forest, and the birds and beasts retreated.
The king of the forest was about to fall.
In this region, there could only be one king, and that was the Mountain Wolf King.
Not long after, the giant bear was completely silent. The battle was over.
The Mountain Wolf King enjoyed the spoils of war. With the corpse of the giant bear and the corpses of its dead companions, it should be enough to last for a month.
It had no pity for the dead wolves. As long as there was enough food, new blood would soon join the wolf pack.
What the Mountain Wolf King didn't know was that in the cave of the mother bear, which was more than ten miles away, three cubs the size of calves were looking sadly in the direction of their mother's death. They were running aimlessly and in a panic.
They were born in the spring of this year. The Giant Bear of the Northern Territory needed more than seven years to mature. They were less than a year old, and although they looked old, they had yet to learn how to hunt.
Instinct told them that perhaps the location at the border between the deep mountains and the human settlements would allow them to survive. There, they could sneak into the human settlements at night to pick up trash and eat. They could also stay away from these dangerous wolves.
Out of the three chubby bears, one was grey, one was pure white and looked like its mother, and the last one seemed to have mutated genes. It was mixed with black and white. In short, it was chubby and did not have the prestige of its mother at all.
The three little ones were connected head to tail, stumbling towards the valley where the Black Water Valley was located. What awaited them was an unknown new life.
They had not learned how to hunt, and their bodies were not strong enough. There was a high chance that they would die young and not see the sun tomorrow. However, this was a cruel world.
Living was difficult, wasn't it?