The name William King was not one that Eric heard for the first time.
On the very first day of his rebirth, Jack had mentioned William's name. Later, Chris, Mark, and even their homeroom teacher, Mr. Johnson, had talked about him several times. Although Eric had never met William, within a few days, the name had become incredibly familiar.
William was a student from the regular class who hadn't particularly stood out academically. Yet, he managed to pass the final exam and gain admission to Columbus Knight Academy. In the small town where Eric lived, this kind of achievement was enough to make William a local legend. His fame even surpassed that of those who had been accepted into other knight academies last year.
...
After leaving the office, Eric was still reflecting on his teacher's words. Mr. Johnson had indeed shown him some special attention.
As the teacher had said, the other students in the class had been preparing for the Knight Academy exam for several years. They knew exactly what to do. But Eric was different; his application had been so sudden that hardly anyone had much hope for him.
However, since Eric's blood energy test results had been revealed, Mr. Johnson's attitude had shifted. The teacher now thought that perhaps Eric, like William King, might create a miracle. The two shared a lot of similarities: both came from ordinary families and had average academic performances. Although William had been preparing for a while, almost no one had believed in his success before the exam.
Because of these similarities, Mr. Johnson decided to add Eric to the list of students who would greet William.
Walking down the hallway, Mark grinned with excitement and said, "I never thought our teacher had this much pull. I can't believe only our class gets to greet William King."
Indeed, the task of greeting William had only been assigned to four students from 12th grade, Class 4. The school had even arranged a car and a driver for them. This wasn't because the teachers were trying to show off — in fact, William King's accomplishments already exceeded those of many teachers, some of whom would have loved to get closer to him.
However, when William communicated with the school earlier, he had expressed that he didn't need too much ceremony and wanted to keep things simple. But the school insisted on sending students to meet him, and William eventually agreed, as long as it was just a few juniors and not a grand reception by the staff.
Mr. Liu Anguo, their teacher, had worked hard to secure this opportunity, even showing up early to block the entrance to the director's office, demanding that they be allowed to do it. With the principal absent, the director had no choice but to agree.
Thus, the task of meeting William fell upon Eric and the other three students.
Mark continued, "We don't have classes tomorrow morning. We'll meet at the school gate by nine o'clock, and the school car will take us to the station to pick up William. We'll have lunch with him, and after returning to the school in the afternoon, our task will be done."
Jack and Lisa nodded, while Eric asked curiously, "What level of knight is William now?"
The question caught Mark off guard. After thinking for a moment, he admitted, "I don't know. Knight Academy students are far more mysterious than those from other liberal arts colleges, and much of their information isn't publicly available."
"William's only in his first year at Columbus Knight Academy. It's decent within the state, but only middle-tier nationally. I'd guess he's either a Level 1 or Level 2 knight, but that's just my assumption."
Before Mark could finish, Lisa suddenly interrupted, "Level 1 or 2? Do you really think every student at Knight Academy is a knight?"
She left the conversation hanging as she turned and walked away, leaving the group looking at each other in confusion.
Eric mulled over her words, "So, does she mean that just because you get into Knight Academy doesn't necessarily mean you become a knight?"
Mark smiled wryly, "It sounds like that's what she's suggesting. But I'm not sure either. I've heard that some students don't become knights even after graduation. But that's all pretty far off for us, so we don't know much."
Eric nodded thoughtfully, slowly realizing that even if you were admitted to Knight Academy, it didn't guarantee you would become a knight. No wonder knights were held in such high regard.
As for whether William King had already become a knight, Eric still didn't know.
Nevertheless, William was the first person Eric would meet who was truly connected to the world of knights. He had heard plenty of stories about knights, but had never encountered one in person. Now, the upcoming meeting filled him with anticipation.
...
After lunch, Eric went to make a copy of Mark's notes. Once he finished, his fifty dollars were completely spent.
He was out of money and felt awkward about inviting Mark to eat. Although Mark didn't mind, Eric still felt the weight of owing a favor.
It had only been a few days since Eric's rebirth, and he already felt like he owed so many favors — to his teacher, to Mark, and even to his classmates. Sometimes, favors were harder to repay than debts of money.
Putting these thoughts aside for now, Eric returned to his studies.
...
When Eric got home that evening, his sister Amy and their mother were already there, but his father, Michael, hadn't yet returned.
As usual, as soon as Eric walked through the door, he reached out to pinch Amy's cheek. It was a habit between the siblings, and Amy had long since grown used to it. Unsurprisingly, they soon began to mess around, and their mother, Mary, who was preparing dinner, smiled helplessly and said, "You two never give me a moment's peace."
The two siblings played around for a while until they tired themselves out. By the time they stopped, their father, Michael, had finally come home.
"Is everything arranged?" Michael asked directly as he stepped inside.
Mary nodded, and Michael turned to Eric with a serious tone, "Later, your mom will give you twenty thousand dollars. Make sure to properly thank your classmate and his family. As for me, I won't visit them in person, but once you finish the exams, we'll definitely invite them out for a meal."
Earlier in the day, Michael had gone to ask the foreman at his factory about the price of the blood-energy pills. As expected, they were sold for thirty thousand dollars each at regular pharmacies, and there was no room for negotiation.
When Michael asked whether it was possible to get one for twenty thousand, the foreman had almost laughed in his face. Although getting a discounted blood-energy pill wasn't unheard of, it wasn't something someone from an ordinary working-class family like Michael's could pull off.
After learning this, Michael reluctantly decided that owing a favor was unavoidable.
Given the family's current financial situation, they couldn't afford to be wasteful. Even if Eric was accepted into the knight academy, the expenses would continue to pile up. If he wasn't accepted, they would need to be even more frugal. So, saving where they could and owing a favor seemed like the only option.
With his father's decision made, Eric felt a burden lifted from his shoulders.
Having the money would make many things easier. He'd been so busy these past few days that he hadn't had any time to earn money. To ensure he could pass the exam, borrowing from his parents had become a necessity.
After dinner, Mary went into her room and brought back twenty thousand dollars for Eric.
When the money touched his hands, his vision blurred for a moment, and the system interface appeared again:
**Wealth: 20000**
**Blood Energy: 1.1**
**Mental Strength: 1**
Seeing this, Eric breathed a sigh of relief. His guess had been correct: only money given by his parents or close relatives would be converted into wealth by the system.
He couldn't help but chuckle to himself. He was like a human counterfeit detector. If the money wasn't enough or if it was fake, the system wouldn't recognize it. If this ability worked for others, and he didn't get into Knight Academy, he could probably become the national champion at any bank's counterfeit detection contest.
Shrugging off those nonsensical thoughts, Eric thanked his parents and went back to his small room.
...
In his room, Eric stared at the system panel, deep in thought.
Should he boost his blood energy first, or enhance his mental strength? He already knew the effects of increasing blood energy. But what about improving mental strength? Would it enhance his memory and comprehension, just as he had speculated?
Although he couldn't be certain, Eric decided to test out a mental enhancement first. After all, he still had twenty thousand wealth points left. If the mental enhancement didn't show noticeable results, he could always use the remaining ten thousand to increase his blood energy.
As for his blood energy, there was no need to rush it just yet. The strongest students at school were only around 120 points. If Eric suddenly boosted his own to 130 or more, it might not work out in his favor.
Having made up his mind, Eric softly muttered, "Enhance mental strength, or else."
Nothing happened.
Eric felt a little embarrassed. Wasn't this how it worked last time?
After trying several more times, he finally realized that no magic words were needed. He just had to focus on what he wanted to enhance, and the system would respond accordingly.
After wasting a few minutes experimenting, Eric finally succeeded in enhancing his mental strength.
Soon enough, the system panel changed:
**Wealth: 10000**
**Blood Energy: 1.1**
**Mental Strength: 1.1**
...
The moment his mental strength increased, Eric felt a cool sensation in his brain, like gentle hands massaging his temples, bringing a comfort that was hard to describe.
"Ah…"
After a while, Eric snapped out of this pleasant state, feeling completely refreshed. The exhaustion from the day had vanished.
Without immediately boosting his blood energy, Eric grabbed his textbook and began studying.
...
After about ten minutes, Eric closed the book and recalled what he had just learned. He frowned slightly.
He hadn't achieved the photographic memory effect he had hoped for, but his memory had noticeably improved, even if the change wasn't as dramatic as he had expected.
Eric couldn't tell if this was just a placebo effect, but he guessed that the improvement might be too subtle with only a 0.1 increase.
It was similar to his blood energy enhancement. Even though he had reached 110 points, he hadn't become superhuman. If he got into a fight with Jack now, he'd probably still lose.
Whether it was blood energy or mental strength, both were gradual transformations of his body. He would still need to train and apply these enhancements through practice.
Understanding this, Eric no longer felt impatient.
Since the mental enhancement was useful, he would continue working to improve both stats. A 0.1 increase might not be much, but what if he doubled it?
With the thought of meeting William King the next day, Eric decided not to stay up too late. He quickly washed up and fell into a peaceful sleep.
---
This is the translation of **Chapter 15: Mental Enhancement**, keeping the original structure and style intact. Let me know if you need more chapters translated!