Gluya Town in the Domain of Alton is a town, or more or less a large village, at least that's how Caelan sees it.
Caelan, the youngest son of the mayor of Gluya Town, traveled from a place called Earth to arrive here three years ago and is now nine years old.
Yes, the old-fashioned way of traveling, but after all, he is the mayor's son and is not starving to death.
Caelan's father, Lyle, is a knight (a 4-level warrior). A 4-level warrior is already very powerful in the Domain of Alton.
In this world, there are wizards and warriors (A warrior becomes a knight after being ennobled by a noble). Wizards are a noble profession. For example, the Lord of the Domain of Alton is a baron, and the baron is a second-level wizard. Caelan's father, Lyle, grew up with the Baron's squire and warrior team, and it is said that he has set great feats, which is why he was knighted by the Baron of Alton and given the territory of Gluya Town.
Knight is a respectful title.
Of course, only powerful knights loyal to the nobles could own territory.
There are 9 levels of warrior training, and Lyle, a 4-level warrior, is already an intermediate warrior. In the Domain of Alton, there are only five intermediate warriors in total, so you can see that intermediate warriors are still very rare.
(Warriors and wizards are both divided into 9 levels, with levels 1 to 3 being junior; levels 4 to 6 being intermediate, and levels 7 to 9 being advanced.
Why is it that of the 5 intermediate warriors in the Domain of Alton, only Lyle has his own territory, and what happened to the other intermediate warriors?
For one thing, the Baron is a wizard, and wizards are good at long-range attacks and need the protection of powerful knights by their side; for another, after Lyle had gone on many expeditions for the Baron, he broke an arm in the last battle and sustained internal injuries. To put it bluntly, his combat effectiveness had dropped significantly, and he was almost like a half-cripple...
Whether it was to appease the knights loyal to him or to buy their support, Lyle was granted the title of Lord of Gluya Town ten years ago.
In theory, Gluya Town is Lyle's fiefdom, and he does not need to pay taxes to the Baron.
However, a warrior sells himself to his lord almost completely from the day he vows allegiance as a child (if he doesn't vow allegiance, he doesn't even get the Warrior Codex).
Lyle was probably also influenced by this stubborn and outdated mindset, and most of Gluya Town's taxes were handed over. The townsfolk of Gluya Town were not wealthy, and the Lyle family was relatively poor...
When Lyle's eldest son was ten years old, he was sent to the Baron's side to continue serving the Baron. When his second son was ten years old, he was also sent to the Baron's son as a 'servant'.
Total loyalty, or the kind that requires a signed contract of servitude.
It looked like Caelan, the youngest son, was almost ten years old...
Damn it! Why should I be loyal to you?
Caelan, who had traveled back in time, was indignant! Stupid ideas really do harm people!
Are knights really that great? It feels like slavery! Kneeling before your 'master' at every turn, or else following your 'master' around as a bodyguard all day long –where's the freedom in that?
The problem is that Caelan's father, Lyle, thinks that knights are awesome. Even with one arm broken and internal injuries, Sinclair could still smash a huge stone to pieces with a single punch.
It's a world where strength is paramount. A 4-level warrior can lift a 2-ton boulder; a 4-level wizard can easily burn down Gluya Town with a single furious fire magic spell...
Without strength, you can only be a poor commoner.
There is one thing that Caelan envies wizards the most.
That is, a wizard who has reached 4-level can gain an extra 100 years of life, and if they reach 7-level, they can gain an extra 200 years of life!
What about warriors? No wonder they have no status compared to wizards.
A warrior who has reached 7-level can only gain 100 years of life.
However, it is extremely difficult to reach 7-level of a warrior. It is said that there is only one advanced warrior in the entire Nostferatu Empire.
That's a very, very low percentage! After all, the Nostferatu Empire has a population of at least several hundred million.
Of course, wizards have an even harder time training. At least, there are no senior wizards in the Nostferatu Empire.
'Caelan!'
Caelan, who was used to staying at home and daydreaming, heard his father, Sinclair, calling his name.
'Father!'
At least his family owned a fiefdom, so they were considered to be half-noble, and he had learned a lot about basic noble etiquette since childhood.
Although Gluya Town was poor and Caelan's family was poor, Lyle was a Fourth Rank warrior after all, and even though his strength had greatly diminished, he was still Transcendent. From time to time, Lyle would go hunting in the mountains and return with a good catch.
There was enough meat to help the child lay the foundation for training as a warrior.
By the time Caelan was almost ten years old, he was already 1.6 meters tall and followed Lyle in his daily basic exercises, so his body was in pretty good shape.
It's not good for the body to start training in the Warrior Codex too early. Almost all warrior training starts at the age of ten.
Of course, no matter how fit a poor child is, without the Warrior Codex, you can't train.
In this world, the Warrior Codex and Wizard Grimoire are monopolies of the nobles and kingdoms.
Without the permission of the Baron, Lyle would not dare to secretly pass on the Warrior Codex to his own child.
'Caelan, are you really sure?'
'Yes, I want to go to the royal capital!'
Caelan said with certainty.
'Father, maybe I have the talent of a wizard...'
Caelan really didn't want to kneel before the bullshit Baron and swear allegiance to him right now. Becoming a wizard seemed to be the only chance.
In this world, wizards are noble beings, and the Baron is not qualified to force a wizard to pledge allegiance to him.
In the Domain of Alton, every year Windmere Castle (the Baron's residence) recruits some children with better aptitude for warrior training from its own territory and teaches them the Warrior Codex. However, the Baron, being a wizard himself, would never teach the people of his territory the ancestral Wizard Grimoire.
Of course, the training of a wizard consumes too many resources for the average noble to afford.
Only a powerful empire can afford to train wizards.
The Nostferatu Empire has a highly prestigious school, the Eldoria School of Magic and Wizardry, which provides free Wizard Grimoire for Levels 1 to 3.
Once you reach 4-level, if you don't pledge allegiance to the empire (not quite the same as signing a contract like a Warrior does, but something similar), the empire will not provide Wizard Grimoire for 4-level and above for free.
For Caelan, a free Wizard Grimoire for Levels 1 to 3 is enough.
As for the 4-level? That's for intermediate wizards, and there aren't many of them in the whole Nostferatu Empire! It's too far away for him!
Of course, in order to train as a wizard, you need to have the aptitude.
As for what Mental Energy is and what Magical Elemental Affinity is, Caelan has only heard Lyle mention it a few times, so how would he know?
It's okay, Caelan has already thought about it and will figure it out when he gets to the royal capital.
Even if he really doesn't have the aptitude to train as a wizard, there is still a warrior school in the royal capital.