It felt so good to be close to the witch!

"The earliest knight training focused on physical training. Through various methods, including medicinal baths, the body was honed to its limits. This process is called apprentice knight."

"Once the physique reaches the limits of the human body, the apprentice knight can begin to learn breathing techniques. Generally speaking, ordinary knights can only learn those common and rudimentary breathing techniques. These breathing techniques only help to temper the physique and cannot cultivate battle qi to advance to bronze."

"While practicing breathing techniques to strengthen their physique, formal knights will also begin to specialize in weapon training, choose a weapon that suits them, and raise funds to purchase their own armor, weapons, and warhorses."

"The combat power of a formal knight is beyond what ordinary people can contend with. A formal knight who has cultivated to this level can have a physique that is twice the limit of an ordinary person."

"To break through from a regular knight to the bronze rank, one must learn advanced breathing techniques."

"Breathing techniques are classified into low-level, high-level, and special-level, from low to high. The breathing technique that can cultivate battle qi is at least a high-level breathing technique."

"The Turenbell family's breathing technique is an advanced breathing technique bestowed upon them by Duke Soros on the border—the Explosive Flame Breathing Technique."

"This breathing technique is top-notch even among advanced breathing techniques. It is said to be a lower-level version of a special-grade breathing technique."

"I am fortunate to have learned the Explosive Breathing Technique thanks to the Lord's grace."

"Although my skill in this breathing technique is far inferior to that of Lord, it should be sufficient for your introductory instruction, Young Master Roy."

"Your physique is even stronger than that of a trainee knight on the verge of a breakthrough, which is enough to support the practice of breathing techniques."

"Next, I will tell you the contents of this breathing method. Please write it down and memorize it. Tomorrow we will start our first attempt at the breathing method."

Roy nodded, then listened attentively to the contents of the "Explosive Breathing Technique," afraid of missing a single word.

……

Half an hour later, after repeating the "Explosive Flame Breathing Technique" three times, Red looked at Roy in front of him and smiled, "Young Master Roy, have you memorized it?"

“Got it.” Roy nodded.

The description of the Blazing Breathing Technique is not extensive; its difficulty lies in successfully performing the first breath and in putting it into practice.

Having crossed over into this world, perhaps due to the fusion with the original soul, Roy's memory became much stronger than in his previous life, making it easy for him to quickly memorize the information.

“Your memory is amazing,” Reid exclaimed, then bowed and took his leave.

"Then I'll take my leave now. You still need to prepare for your practice tomorrow."

"Wait, Uncle Red." Seeing that Red was about to leave, Roy quickly called out to him and asked under his somewhat puzzled gaze, "I want to ask, to what extent does a knight's training need to be in order to have the power to resist a witch."

Hearing this question, Reid didn't seem particularly surprised.

Young Master Roy was recently captured by a witch, so it's not surprising that he has this problem.

only……

Red sighed, "Witches... they are both lucky and cursed."

"They are lucky because even witches who have just been 'mutated' from ordinary people, even if their abilities are not very aggressive, are not something that ordinary bronze knights can deal with."

"As long as one's abilities are slightly stronger, even a Silver Knight above Bronze would find it difficult to contend with them."

"The most powerful witch, it is said that even the Golden Knight is no match for her, and it takes a large number of people to capture her."

"Sometimes I think about it and I'm a little jealous. Witches don't need to train hard day and night like knights. One 'transformation' is enough to surpass countless sweats."

"They are lucky, but they are also unlucky."

"The knight's power comes with great difficulty, requiring accumulation bit by bit, but without any side effects. On the other hand, every time a witch uses her power, she is corrupted by magic. No matter how powerful a witch is, her end is destined to be tragic."

“Young Master Roy, if you wish to gain the power to resist the witch, you must at least possess the strength of a Silver Knight, but a knight of this level…”

Red shook his head and said nothing more, but it was easy to tell from his expression that he did not think highly of Roy.

In reality, even with a breathing technique, not every formal knight can break through to the Bronze rank.

Compared to apprenticeship and formal training, the bronze stage represents a qualitative leap, the true beginning of reaching the extraordinary.

Young Master Roy is eager to learn the way of the knight, and Red is very happy and willing to teach him, but after all, Roy is already sixteen years old, and it's too late for him to start his knightly training now...

Chapter 7 First Cultivation

Red left.

Inside the room, Roy sat alone in a chair.

The soft, crimson moonlight streamed in through the window, casting a hazy glow on the tabletops, wardrobes, and other furniture.

"Breathing technique... Silver Knight..."

Roy muttered to himself.

Although a promise was made with the white-haired, silver-eyed witch Ais, ultimately, having sufficient strength of one's own is the true foundation for survival.

For ordinary people, the Silver Knight is an unattainable existence, but Roy is confident that he can achieve it.

The combination of the witch and [Infinite Desire] granted him the ability to continuously grow stronger even without training.

Although he was eager to begin his knightly training, Roy dared not attempt it without Red's guidance.

Breathing techniques are not something you can practice simply by knowing the content. Everyone's body is slightly different, involving internal organs. Many details are not recorded in writing and cannot be recorded. Instructors need to sort them out and adjust them little by little according to the student's physical condition.

The stars are sparse, the moonlight is dim, and many things have happened tonight. Before I knew it, it was already two o'clock in the morning.

Filled with anticipation, Roy drifted off to sleep.

-

The next day, just as dawn was breaking, Roy opened his eyes.

After washing up, changing clothes, and having a meal, he followed Red to the lord's training ground.

There are two training grounds in the lord's manor: one is used for the knights' daily training, and the other is used by the lord.

As the lord's son, Roy naturally had the right to use this training ground.

"Uncle Red, let's begin."

Upon arriving at the training ground, Roy couldn't wait to look at Red.

He was so focused on breathing techniques last night that he woke up from his sleep several times.

Seeing Roy's performance, Red was secretly pleased and solemnly said, "Young Master Roy, before we begin trying the breathing technique, let me explain its essence to you."

"Everything breathes. Whether it is flesh and blood, living beings, or mountains, rocks, and trees, they all have their own rhythm of breathing."

"The original breathing technique was created by the knight pioneers who observed and simulated the natural world."

"There exists a supernatural power in the world called 'magic power'. It is unpredictable, violent and unruly, and has extremely terrifying destructive power. Therefore, if the human body comes into direct contact with magic power, there is not only a very high probability of sudden death, but even if one survives, one will be contaminated by magic power and die soon afterward."

"Just like a witch."

"In other words, you can also understand witches as the very few lucky ones who survive after being attacked by magic."

"Of course, there are differences, but that's beyond my understanding. As for witches, most of the secrets are still held by the temple."

Because of Roy's experience last night and his interest in witches, Red specifically explained to Roy what he knew about witches, and then returned the topic to breathing techniques:

"Magic is difficult to control and extremely dangerous, but its powerful energy is something that people yearn for. Breathing techniques were created to allow the human body to receive magic through flesh and blood."

"Apprentice knights hone their physical strength to the limits of ordinary people, while the breathing techniques that formal knights begin to practice are essentially a process of absorbing magical particles from the environment through repeated breaths, thereby allowing the body to gradually adapt to magical energy."

"The magical particles transformed through the human body, due to the addition of human life force, have a fundamentally different nature from the magic in nature. Therefore, the extraordinary energy wielded by the Bronze Knight is called battle aura, not magic."

"Next, I will guide you through your first attempt at the breathing technique. If you experience any discomfort during this process, please speak up immediately."

"By the way, did you forget anything about the Explosive Breathing Technique from last night?"

Roy shook his head. He had memorized something so important before going to bed; how could he possibly forget it?

"Then let's get started."

Under Red's guidance, Roy began his first attempt at the breathing technique.

After continuous adjustments and corrections, it was two hours later that Roy was able to perform the Blazing Breathing Technique smoothly.

On the training field, Reid wiped the sweat from his forehead, his face pale.

Instructing someone on the initial practice of breathing techniques is not a simple matter. It requires the instructor to control their inner energy without harming the student, guiding and observing within their body. The mental effort required is comparable to that of extreme sports.

Fortunately, Roy was very quick to understand, and he would correct himself with just a little guidance whenever he made a mistake, so there was no need to correct him again afterward, which saved Red a lot of effort.

He had originally prepared himself to spend several days on the "breathing technique adjustment" stage.

"It seems that young master Roy does have a good talent for chivalry..."

Looking at Roy, who was sitting cross-legged with his eyes closed and breathing, Red thought to himself.

He himself was quite talented in breathing techniques, but it still took him most of the day to adjust his breathing for the first time.

Unconsciously, Reid felt a pang of regret.

If young master Roy had been willing to undergo knightly training when he was of age, he would at least be a senior official knight, even if he couldn't advance to the Bronze rank yet... It's still too late to start knightly training now. He's wasted several years and missed the best time for training.

The most suitable age for knight training is between twelve and fourteen years old. At this time, the human body is developing rapidly and is most adaptable to magical particles.

If you miss this age range, it's not that you can't cultivate, but it will be much more difficult to adapt to magical particles. Red himself suffered from this.

But he had no choice.

Advanced breathing techniques are extremely rare, and commoners have no way of accessing them. If it weren't for the Lord's favor, which allowed him to practice the Explosive Breathing Technique at the age of thirty, he would still be unable to advance to the Bronze level.

However, because he was too old when he practiced the advanced breathing technique, he suffered greatly in the process of adapting his body to the magical particles. After advancing to Bronze, he struggled to make progress. More than ten years passed, and he only managed to take a small step on the path of a knight, reaching Bronze II.

This made Reid take this issue extremely seriously.

Looking at Roy, who clearly had the opportunity but didn't cherish it, Red felt a mix of emotions, but mostly regret.

Missing the optimal time for training means that no matter how hard Roy tries in the future, his potential will not be very high.

Hopefully, young master Roy can be faster in using the magic particles.

Red clearly remembered that it took him more than half a year to barely be able to use the magic particles.

Roy is now sixteen years old, having missed two years of his prime. While this is better than the more than ten years he missed, there is no fundamental difference.

Once it's missed, it's missed. Sigh...

Shaking his head, Red turned around to prepare a medicinal bath for Roy.

The essence of breathing techniques is the process of the body adapting to magical particles. Before it is fully adapted, each attempt will cause considerable damage to the body, requiring the use of medicinal baths for rapid recovery.

But just as Red was about to turn around, the strange change in Roy caught his attention.