Swords, magic, and martial arts

With Baron's help, Rhodes entered the castle's hall.

The castle hall was enormous, nearly ten meters high. At the very top of the hall was the lord's seat, where he usually sat to handle affairs within his territory.

In the very center of the hall was a huge long table, large enough for nearly a hundred people to sit together and eat. Hammer and Weber were already seated at the table.

Seated at the most honored position at the long table was a burly, bald man of similar build to Baron, wearing a bearskin coat with crossed swords embroidered in gold thread on the chest. A large scar ran across his face, severing his nose from the left side of his mouth and extending to his right eye, giving him a menacing appearance.

He saw Rhodes and the others enter the hall, and stood up to greet them. "Come and sit down. Don't bother with any aristocratic etiquette here."

The long table was laden with food: grilled sausages, fried bacon, soup made with dried meat, pickled fish, white bread...

The only people eating were Rhodes and his companions, along with the scarred lord. Rhodes sat in his chair, curiously looking around.

"I haven't formally expressed my gratitude to you yet. Let me toast you to thank you for avenging my brother." After saying that, Scarface raised his glass and drank the wine in one gulp.

Rod paused for a moment, then raised his glass and took a sip. "I'm truly flattered by your kindness. I was going to offer you a toast as well, but please forgive me for not having an appetite after just waking up from a coma."

Scarface nodded and said, "That's alright, then eat more."

He wiped his mouth with his hand. "Today we'll drink until we drop. This is a vintage wine I found in the castle's cellar today, poured out of the oak barrels just before dinner."

Baron raised his glass to Scarface and said, "Thank you for your generous hospitality. May you live a long life." He then downed the wine in his glass in one gulp.

Hammer and Webber also toasted Scarface, while Rhodes hesitated whether he should also offer a toast.

"Why are you so nervous today, even though you were dealing with the priests of the Cult of Death all by yourself a few days ago?" Baron said to Rhodes.

Scarface laughed loudly, "Stop with the formalities. Why weren't you like this yesterday? You're suddenly being so polite today, it's making this young man a little uncomfortable."

Hammer laughed too: "As commoners, we naturally need to show respect to you, our lord. Jon, you got me drunk yesterday, but I wasn't in good shape then. Today, I'm going to get my revenge."

"Baron was the last one to get drunk yesterday. If you want to get revenge, then get him drunk today," Jon laughed.

"Why are you shifting the blame onto me again? Jon, you should remember that I used to be much less tolerant of alcohol than you. You two drank too fast yesterday, that's why you got drunk so quickly." Baron spread his hands, making an innocent expression.

Looking at Baron's hand, Rod understood why he was the biggest drinker among them. His own spatial ring was still on Baron's hand, but he didn't intend to expose Baron.

Jon nodded to Baron: "Then let's drink slowly today and see who can drink the most."

"Of course it's Lord Jon," Baron joked, taking another big gulp from his cup.

……

After Rhodes filled his stomach, he returned to his room, where Baron and Jon were still drinking with each other in the hall.

Baron and his group had known Jon for a long time and had a good relationship with him.

Jon Snow was once an adventurer like Balon and his companions. His brother and his family were murdered by the Cult of the Death. By law, he was the first in line to inherit the throne from his brother and his brother's son.

He was then asked by the Duke to return and inherit the fief and the title of Earl, which is why he ended his life as an adventurer.

Noble families like theirs usually pass all their fiefs and titles to the eldest son, unless the second son is knighted by the local duke or king, in which case he may receive a small fief.

In the Kingdom of Nord, most nobles who are not heirs to their families choose to go on adventures to earn wealth and status for themselves.

Weber always wanted to become an aristocrat and then return to his hometown in glory to spend his old age in peace.

Rhodes sat on the bed, thinking about how he had been able to generate flames all over his body like Baron near the altar before. He wanted to try again, but no matter how he tried, he couldn't generate flames like last time.

What's going on? Why can't I use it now? Does it require extreme anger to unleash my inner power? I'll ask Baron next time.

Why is my flame dark green and can it heal injuries? Is it because I've cultivated the Divine Illumination Technique?

He stared at his charred right hand. Why did his right hand feel like it was burned, while the rest of his body was fine? Baron had never been burned by his own flames.

My right hand healed the female knight's injuries. Does that mean that the life force of my right hand was transferred to her body, which is why this happened?

Rhodes had many questions that he couldn't answer in a short time; he could only find the answers when he could reignite the flames within him.

He picked up the "Wise Man's Calamity," a longsword that had been lying on the bedside table and was now unusable. It had been in the tomb for who knows how many years and was still very sharp.

This time, the sword was distorted by Rhodes' own flames, rendering it unusable as a weapon and unattractive as a decoration.

Rhodes used gravity magic to carefully examine the enchanted runes on the longsword and found that the runes were not damaged. He thought that if he found an experienced blacksmith, he might be able to repair the sword.

The last task is completed, and more than a week has passed since I accepted it. I should be able to accept another task now.

As he was thinking, he opened the system's task interface, and a new task appeared before his eyes.

Task 1: One's own strength is the capital to dominate the world; without strength, one cannot move an inch.

Requirement: Increase any martial art skill by two levels.

Task Two: Knowledge and experience are very important; there are many places where you can quickly broaden your horizons.

Requirements: Enter taverns in five different cities.

Task 3: Becoming a nobleman will allow you to travel freely in most places and enjoy respect.

Requirement: Become a nobleman.

Without hesitation, Rod chose mission one. This mission was similar to the last one. The last mission was to raise the total martial arts level by two levels, while this one was to raise a single martial arts level by two levels.

Based on his past experience, although it would be difficult to complete it within a week, there was still a good chance. As for the other two tasks, they might not be completed even in a month.

Rhodes was now covered in bandages. The castle was warm, with many fireplaces, which made him sweat a lot while he was unconscious.

He really wanted to take a bath, and the conditions in the castle allowed it, but he was afraid of his wound getting infected, so he had to give up the idea.

He had slept too much before, and now he was lying in bed not sleepy at all, but he was also very bored because he couldn't get up to cultivate.

If the Divine Illumination Skill can bring the dead back to life when practiced to a high level, then can't actively using the Divine Illumination Skill speed up the recovery of my injuries?

Rod had never tried this before, but now that he thought about it, he sat cross-legged on the bed and began to try it...