After a good night's sleep, Ren wasted no time in testing the limits of his new Gift. In fact, he would've tested it the night before but his exhaustion had won out.
He'd been planning to lay on his bed till the squires were asleep before sneaking out but he'd been the first person to fall asleep.
The next day, right from the moment the sun rose, he was in the training yard, pushing his body and mind to their limits.
The more he trained, the more he felt everything he'd seen or learned, every new motion he made, every technique he practiced, every form he attempted, integrated into him like an instinct.
It was like he'd been practicing them for months, instead of hours. He could feel himself getting better at a rate that no human could safely replicate, but he'd also discovered that there were rules.
Through constant practice, he discovered how Unfettered Enhancement truly worked.
Whenever he did any simple, repetitive training or anything that wasn't challenging, his growth slowed to a crawl. While he was still moving gracefully, the progress he was making was barely noticeable.
However, when he pushed himself into strenuous, demanding exercises—when he placed himself in situations where failure had real consequences—his growth skyrocketed.
This was why he usually improved rapidly during the barbarian raids. The madness of it all, the unpredictability, and the ever-present risk of death had forced his body and mind to evolve at an accelerated rate.
Unfortunately, in the month since he had acquired the Gift, there had been only three raids. Though he had made good use of them, it was clear that he needed a more structured way to improve.
At the end of the month, Lord Ross had finally ordered Ren to return home. He hadn't even bothered to protest the order and a Knight escort had been arranged. And that was how he found himself on horseback, traveling back to the Ross castle.
As they rode, Ren's thoughts drifted to the topic of Knights.
During the barbarian raids he'd seen the power that Knights wielded. In this world, Knights were not simply warriors granted a title. They were warriors who wielded the power of Bloodbinding.
Bloodbinding was an art, one of the strongest weapons a warrior could wield. It was the ability to imbue an inanimate object with power, using one's own blood to infuse it with specific traits. The growth was usually slow and steady up to a certain point, but the rewards were worth it.
By bleeding onto their weapons or armor, Knights could imbue them with elemental affinities, defensive capabilities, and self-enhancing effects. Whatever they wanted.
They could create fire resistant armor, swords that could shoot blades of ice, weightless weapons, self-repairing shields, whatever their imagination could come up with. The possibilities were endless.
While Knights require their own blood to create the enhancements, they shed the blood of others, whether human or animal, to strengthen their weapons and armor.
This was one of the things that made any Ross Knight that survived for a long period of time a force to be reckoned with. With armor stained by the blood of the barbarians, while one couldn't call them the deadliest warriors in the world, they certainly were stronger than the average local Knight.
Ren knew that if he wanted to hold his own in the battles to come, he would have to learn Bloodbinding.
Unfettered Enhancement was the best Divine Gift he could have at the moment, but it wasn't an offensive power. It enhanced his ability to learn, but it didn't give him a weapon of his own.
Bloodbinding could change that.
He was jarred out of his thoughts by squire Thorn, who was riding beside him.
"Are you comfortable, Lord Terence?" Thorn asked politely. He was the squire of the Knight escorting Ren home.
Ren nodded. "I'm fine. How much farther until we reach the castle?"
"Not long now, my lord." Thorn assured him. "The castle should be visible by sundown. We'll be home before nightfall."
From fighting side by side, Ren could tell that the boy had potential. If his Knight approved of his training, Thorn would soon be allowed to begin learning Bloodbinding himself.
At the thought, Ren entertained the idea of claiming Thorn for himself as his personal guard. Together, they could achieve great things.
"You must be looking forward to learning Bloodbinding." Ren said with a grin.
Thorn's face brightened. "Yes! It's an honor to learn the art. My Knight says that only the most dedicated squires can begin training in it. I hope to prove myself worthy."
Ren studied Thorn for a moment. Dedicated, but inexperienced, he thought. Bloodbinding wasn't for the weak-willed. It required the shedding of blood to achieve any sort of power.
Thorn seemed eager to learn, but Ren couldn't help but wonder if he truly understood what he was stepping into.
With an exhale, he turned his thoughts back to his own plans.
He needed Bloodbinding, but that wasn't his only goal. Now that he had Unfettered Enhancement, his next step was to head to the capital.
The capital was the center of power, where most of the important nobles and warriors gathered. More importantly, it was where he would find the Penny Prince.
Eternal Souls: Last Judgement had been a game unique for the fact that even though you could play as other characters, the game had a protagonist. And the Penny Prince was the original protagonist of the game.
The last son of the current king, the Penny Prince is a cunning and ambitious royal with a talent for survival and strategy.
In the game's story, he was one of the few people that had survived the game of thrones after the death of the king that resulted in the fracturing of the kingdom.
However, there was something that only he had as the main character.
Plot armor.
Ren wasn't sure if plot armor actually existed in real life, but he knew that if he wanted to secure his own place in this world and a future for his family, he needed to form a connection with the Penny Prince.
The sun was beginning to dip below the horizon when the silhouette of Ross Castle came into view. Thorn pointed toward it excitedly. "Look! We've arrived."
Ren straightened in his saddle, staring at the towering stone walls in the distance.
His time at the border had been valuable. He had power, he had knowledge, and now, he had a plan.
But that was just the beginning.
Bloodbinding would be his next step, and after that—
The capital awaited.