The three suns hung in the sky, their radiance painting the entire sky a fiery red.
In the July of the Frostwinter Calendar year 492, which also went by Scorching Month, signifying the hottest month of the year.
There wasn't even a breeze, the thick air seemed to have solidified.
And below the scorching sun, within Vernon Manor.
A handsome young man was practicing, his torso bare, wielding a silvery-white long sword with some clumsiness.
Sweat trickled down Milton Cheney's chiseled muscles, as he panted slightly.
Practicing swordsmanship in such weather, even with Milton's physique, was somewhat unbearable due to the intense heat.
It was hard to imagine how those clad in heavy armor had endured, had they waged a Lord's War during this month.
He hadn't forgotten that his cause of death in the last simulation was a Lord's War.
These past few days, he had also investigated which territories had significant conflicts with the Far East Territory, but to little avail.
Milton stopped his sword-waving motions, sheathing the silvery-white long sword and placing it back on the rack in the courtyard.
"You're doing quite well, Vernon. Being able to barely execute a simple swordsmanship routine after only half a month is quite good. You have tremendous talent on the path of a knight," William Connelly said with a gentle smile, his tone filled with a tinge of gratification, as he saw Milton cease his practice.
William was the leader of Earl Arthur's guards.
He was a Grand Knight who had activated the Life Seed and advanced far on this path.
Some who were at odds with the Far East Territory would call this man, who had been Earl Arthur's right-hand man for thirty years, the Greedy Wolf Knight.
It was not an overstatement to say that William had watched Vernon Wesley grow up.
Seeing this young master walk the same path as his lordship once had, it was no wonder he was filled with gratification.
"Lord William, I am immensely grateful for your generous teachings during this time. I won't let you or my father down. I will do my utmost to become a glorious Guardian Knight," Milton said solemnly, his right fist pressed to his left chest.
Having merged with all the memories of his predecessor, Milton realized that people here seemed to place a great deal of importance on these formalities.
Indeed, upon hearing Milton's words, the smile in William's eyes deepened as he happily patted Milton's shoulder.
William bid farewell to Milton, as, aside from teaching Milton every day, he had other matters to attend to.
A Grand Knight was a highly revered existence anywhere.
Watching William leave, Milton took a bath in the manor's small bathhouse, changing into a clean set of clothes.
Over half a month had passed, and his aversion to water had become almost negligible.
After the bath, Milton used a handkerchief to gently dry the water droplets from his blond hair.
The next moment, a transparent light screen appeared before him.
[Name: Milton Cheney]
[Spirit: 1.3]
[Physique: 2.1]
[Realm: Quasi-Knight (Pseudo)]
[Magic: None]
[Knight Skills: Basic Swordsmanship (Intro 12/100)]
[Simulation Count: 1]
"A new simulation count!?" Milton's heart leaped with joy upon seeing the transparent light screen.
He would check the panel every day, just to see if a new simulation count appeared. He hadn't expected one to actually show up today.
Calming his emotions, Milton did not rush to start the next simulation.
Instead, he pondered in his mind, contemplating the sudden opportunity for an additional simulation.
Milton racked his brains but couldn't pinpoint anything special about today.
After all, today's activities were the same as the past half-month.
If there was anything unusual, could it be that he'd eaten one extra apple pie and drunk an extra cup of milk more than usual in the morning?
Milton shook his head, dismissing this far-fetched idea.
Suddenly, a flash of insight crossed his mind, and he immediately grasped the crux of the issue.
"One month! Today is exactly the first month since the activation of the simulator!
Could it be that the simulation count is once a month?
It seems I'll have to wait until this time next month to see for sure."
Milton Cheney felt that this was very likely.
If he had to say what was different about today compared to other days, the only possibility was that today was his thirtieth day since binding the simulator, commonly referred to as a month.
He didn't know whether the simulation counts could accumulate, but he still planned to use this simulation opportunity.
After all, it was necessary to improve his strength sooner rather than later.
The next moment, a string of black text appeared before him.
[Do you wish to initiate a Life Simulation?]
"Yes!"
Milton Cheney did not hesitate and inwardly affirmed.
The blue light screen disappeared, and strings of black text began to float before Milton Cheney's eyes.
He read very carefully, ensuring that he did not miss any content.
[Life Simulation initiated, due to the low version of the simulator, only text simulation is supported.]
[At 17: You have adapted to the new environment and have a physique comparable to that of a Quasi-Knight. You begin practicing Horse Archery and Swordsmanship.]
[At 18: Due to your extremely high physical quality, your skills in Horse Archery and Swordsmanship advanced by leaps and bounds, reaching the level of a Knight Apprentice in just one year.]
[At 19: In just two years, you have reached the standard to practice the Breathing Technique. Your father, Arthur Wesley, hailed you as the most talented Knight in the Wesley Family for nearly three hundred years.]
[At 21: After two years of practicing the Breathing Technique, you still cannot activate the Life Seed and decide to take a Secret medicine in an attempt to forcibly activate it.]
[At 22: Your father, Arthur Wesley, refuses your request but, so as to prevent your disappointment, imparts to you the Wesley Family's ancestral Knight Skills, "Lionheart Slash."]
[At 23: "Lionheart Slash" is the only Knight Skill in the Wesley Family that can be executed without qi. You spend the year mastering "Lionheart Slash."]
[At 25: You train hard in "Lionheart Slash" and persist in honing your physique, but even after three years, you still cannot activate the Life Seed, and your father, relenting from your persistence, agrees to let you take the Secret medicine.]
[At 26: You take the Secret medicine, but activation fails, and although your father is disappointed, he still comforts you not to lose heart.]
[At 29: You take the Secret medicine a second time in an attempt to activate the Life Seed, but it still fails, and you can only resign yourself to honing your Knight Skills in disappointment.]
[At 32: The Lord Battle breaks out, and you fight with all your might, killing two Official Knights from the Earl Garden's Territory, but are also split open by the Grand Knight Liam Steves with his sword, and you die.]
[Simulation ends, please choose your reward!]
[Maintain State] or [Preserve Sorcery]
*Sigh*
Milton Cheney exhaled a breath of turbid air, and the black text began to disappear one line at a time, leaving only the last sentence.
"Still couldn't activate the Life Seed to become a Knight, died at the age of thirty-two during the Lord's War."
Milton Cheney muttered to himself, the name Liam Steves lingered in his memory.
Liam Steves was a subordinate of Earl Melan, next to the Far East Territory, also known as Rock Knight.
Earl Melan was also called Earl Garden.
In Milton Cheney's memory, this person had a good relationship with his father, Earl Arthur.
"Since I didn't activate the Life Seed to become a Knight, I'll retain the technique."
It just happened that Milton Cheney was also curious whether Knight Skills counted as technique.
The Simulator did not disappoint him.
The moment he contemplated it, a flood of memories poured into Milton Cheney's mental ocean like a stream.
Memories related to Horsemanship, Archery, Swordsmanship, and the Knight Skill [Lionheart Slash] instantly surfaced in Milton Cheney's mind.
These memories felt as if Milton had personally gone through countless years of practice.
Milton Cheney could feel some changes in his body too; at this moment, his back was forcibly straightened, becoming unusually erect.
He could feel that although his strength hadn't increased, he could now wield it better.
How to put it, if before he only had strength, now he had mastered it.
And the reason for such a significant change was merely two simulations!
With two simulations, Milton Cheney went from an ordinary person to a Peak Quasi-Knight who could even rival an Official Knight.
(I'll write an extra 400-500 words for chapters with simulation scenes, so don't doubt my diligence ^.^~)