1- 6

Prologue

Singwa hung high up in the sky as always, sending light and warmth down to the streets.

The massive statue of Singwa, the God of the Sun, Light and War, under the illumination of sunlight, stood shiny and gleaming at the shrine, exuding an air of magnificence.

Morante City, the capital of the Forde Trade Union, was the largest trade and port city in the Grindia Continent.

This city had the largest amount of shrines dedicated a pantheon of deities, earning the city the moniker: The City of Shrines.

It also had the most academies on the whole continent, among which included seven of the top ten highest ranked ones, causing it to also be known as the Academy City.

This was the most populated city on the Grindia continent; it had a population which numbered almost eight hundred thousand.

Over here, businesses flourished and people came and go. The amount of gold coins circulating in the daily economy of the city usually amounts to millions. Countless mercenaries, swordsmen, adventurers, artisans, peddlers as well as the common folk and slaves each with their own dreams and aspirations.

The bards often sang about how this city was a favored land of the gods, a land rich with wealth and prosperity…

The second largest waterway on the Grindia Continent, the Silver River, silently nourished the Falik Plains and entered the seas from the west part of the city, giving rise to a bay filled with hidden treasures and a great maritime armada.

The vast and rich Falik Plains, thanks to the abundant sunlight, produced various goods including honey, allowing the city to grow larger and larger thanks to the yearly harvest.

167 years ago, the Archduke of the old Falik Empire, Forde Morante suddenly announced a reform that led to the relinquishing of the hereditary feudal lord system and the adoption of the republic system. Serfdom was also abolished, liberating up to 400 thousand serfs. This reform greatly startled the various nations on the continent.

Greatly advocating trading as a means to develop the nation, Archduke Forde Morante rallied six other merchant guilds under one banner, forming the Forde Trade Union and began to trade with various other countries. This was later recorded in history as the Great Forde Reformation.

The newly-founded trade union embraced freedom and openness, causing hordes of wealth-hungry people to flock over as well as inciting jealousy from various other powers.

The Krissen Empire, one of the three great empires of the Grindia Continent, declared the Great Morante Reformation to be illegal and proceeded to invade the Falik Plains, starting a war the lasted more than a hundred years.

The newborn Forde Trade Union however did not yield. Rallying countless slaves under the banner of freedom, they met the invasion with similar appalling force. For more than a hundred years, blood stained across the Falik Plains.

Two Krissen emperors, more than ten dukes and countless elite soldiers fell at the Falik Plains to the forces of Morante City. However, the bright blue flag of the Forde Trade Union stood proud and tall.

Over the countless years of war, the trade union grew stronger. With 100 thousand warriors and clever plots, they dealt the empire a final blow that brought down the sole Sword Saint of the empire, winning themselves twenty years of peace and sending the Krissen Empire down the path of decay.

Following the Krissen Empire's last emperor's death by sickbed, the three princes started an internal power struggle for the throne, further crippling the already dying empire and allowing the trade union to be free of their threat and to rise and prosper. Within those twenty years, the trade union apexed and became the top superpower on the Grindia Continent. The influence the union had on trade throughout the continent was immeasurably great.

Morante City, the city that persisted, the capital of freedom. Originally, it was known as the Seaview Citadel. To commemorate the great deeds of Forde Morante for fending off the Krissen Empire's invasion, the name was changed to Morante City. To accommodate for rapid economic development, the Forde Trade Union commissioned for thirty six other districts to be built outside the citadel's walls as well as a new wall surrounding the newly-built districts, dividing the city into the outer walls and the inner walls.

But Morante himself didn't call the different sectors of the city that. He termed the inner part the Upper City Sector and City Core. The west outer part was called the Academic Sector, which contained about twenty academies of various disciplines. The northwest part of the outer city contained the Naval Sector, the Port Sector the Business Sector, which occupied the most space, and the Camp Sector which was where non-residents usually resided. To the northeast of the city was the Garrison Sector and the rest of the east and south parts were the Residential Sector.

Although Morante City was the capital of the Forde Trade Union, the union's highest council was not responsible for the city's management. Instead, the city's management was handled by a mayor in the City Core who was elected once every five years by the union council. After the mayor's five-year term, the council collects evaluations from one representative from every district and decides if the current mayor will take on another term.

The Forde Trade Union was faced with powerful underworld syndicates which resulted in sky high expenditures during the time of its formation. So, to prevent corruption and to streamline the administration process, they set up a brilliant new policy from a mercantile perspective: They legalized the syndicates and put them in charge of the security, taxes and hygiene of the various districts of the city. This achieved multiple things. Firstly, each and every syndicate kept each other in check and prevented the rise of an uncontrollable major syndicate. Second, this decreased the city management's expenditures and human resources by a huge fraction. Lastly, it also made the syndicates easier to manage. For example, should the citizens of a district be unhappy with the management of the syndicate in charge, the city council will remove said syndicate with the cooperation of other syndicates.

Initially, this policy was not met with much favor. However, that all changed within two years. The security of the area was greatly improved and the crime rate greatly decreased as well. The expenditures saved from having to suppress the syndicates went to the development of infrastructure, further improving the living standards of the city residents.

This result greatly surprised the naysayers of the union and it also prompted many kingdoms to reevaluate the management of the city. The conclusion was that the effectiveness of the syndicates' management greatly surpassed that of the many kingdoms' own officials, who were great embarrassments in comparison.

This was Morante City, a haven for merchants, filled with vigor and rife with many curiosities. Some called it heaven while others called it a city of devilish temptation and deprivation.

During the day, the streets were filled with the sound of rowdy merchants and the shrines resounded with hymns of prayer, while the nights were full of merry debauchery. This was Morante City, the city that never sleeps.

Red Grace Inn (1)

Two large bags were slung on each of Norton Lorist's shoulders, with another large shoulder-width rucksack hanging from his bag. His left arm held a yellowish-green rattan box while his right was wrapped around a bunch of rolled up beast skins which were resting on his shoulders. A red double door with a white wine glass painted on top of it was kicked open by him; he looked like a big, clumsy bear as he toiled and stumbled, struggling to squeeze himself through the doorway which was wide enough to let two bulky men go through at the same time.

It was three in the afternoon. This was the time when the inn was at its quietest. The main hall of the inn only had three people in it. The red-nosed bard old Mike, who's had a little too much to drink, slept very soundly face down on the table. At the table beside the fireplace sat old Hope the cobbler and the retired postman old Tom, both of whom were previously immersed in a card game, stared wide-eyed at Lorist who had just barged in.

Nodding at Hope and Tom, Lorist laid his luggage on the ground in front of the counter and stacked them up into a pile. He placed his bear fur cap on the table and shed his black leather jacket and subsequently removed two swords of different lengths that were slung on his waist and laid them on the table. He let out a long sigh, knocked on the table and called out. "Old Char? You here? Where is he… Hey, your wine barrel's being carried away!"

"My god, it's Locke…" said Tom as he finally recognized Norton Lorist without his jacket.

Hope couldn't resist anymore and stood straight up. "Hey, Locke. It's been quite some time now, about… half a year? We thought something happened to you. Did you bring back some star-spotted deerskins that I wanted?"

Pointing towards the beast skins on the floor, Lorist said "I got three of them wrapped up inside. Go check it out yourself."

A thin and tall old man emerged from the door behind the counter. Seeing Lorist standing at the counter, his glum face lighted up with a hint of a smile. "You're back!"

This old man was the boss of the Red Grace Inn, Brennan Charlando, whom Lorish referred to as Old Char. Don't take his limping walk for granted; nobody could even conjecture that this expressionless, quiet old man behind the counter was actually a One Star Gold Swordsman. Most of the patrons of that inn never had a clue.

"Hey, Old Char. Get me some blackcurrant ale. Oh, and ask McDuffin over there to cook me a big meal. For half a year I've been having meager rations… I miss the food here so much!" said Lorist without a shred of hesitation.

"I got it." Charlando served Lorist a large mug of blackcurrant ale. "Drink some of this first. I'll go wake McDuffin up."

"Oh, and, could you check the goods out for me? I brought a bunch of things back from this excursion. I wonder if it matches up." said Lorist as he watched Old Hope fumbling through the beast skins.

Charlando nodded and disappeared behind the door.

"Yawn…" A sleepy-eyed woman subsequently came out from the door. "Who is it? Don't you see that everyone's taking a nap? You must have a screw or two loose if you come at this hour for a meal, sheesh."

That busty woman was dressed in tight clothing which accentuated her curvaceous figure. This was the head serving girl of the inn, Louise.

"Cough…" Lorist choked up and blushed. No matter who it was, there was no way of completely staying calm when faced with the first woman they had a physical relationship with. That was especially the case with Lorist, who was even more nervous in front of Louise. Back then during his twentieth birthday, the drunk Lorist had his virginity taken by Louise, who said that it was her gift for his "passage into adulthood". Some amount of fear still lingered in Lorist's heart even after all these years.

"Oh my! Our Locke's back! I've missed you so much over these six months… Come, give your big sis a hug." Louise's eyes gleamed as she saw Lorist and all traces of sleepiness vanished from her eyes as she spread her arms and leapt towards him.

Louise hugged Lorist over the counter and forcefully planted two kisses on his cheeks.

"Did you return just recently? Look at you, poor Locke… You've gotten so much thinner and tanned during the past six months! All of were worried about you and couldn't get our minds off you. You didn't send us any letters for so long. We were really worried something bad happened to you…" Louise started chattering on.

"Come on, aren't I back here safe and sound? This expedition to the Relic Islands brought me far overseas, there was no way I could contact you. And, don't you know the ferry to the Relic Islands only operate once every six months? What are you worried about? Don't you guys have any confidence in my abilities?"

"With your Three Star Iron power level? Haven't you heard about all the Silver Swordsmen who perished on the Relic Islands… We hear a lot of stories like that in the inn." said Louise without holding back at all.

"Eh? But I, a Three Star Iron Swordsman, has never lost a match to even one Silver Swordsman…" said Lorist as he scratched his nose, embarrassed.

"Those are just sparring matches in the academy! How could those compare to life and death battles with magical beasts? Your competitors were just going easy on you. I really don't get what those old bastards at the academy see in you. They could've just picked one Silver Swordsman out of so many others… Why did they bring you along as a bodyguard instead?" Louise felt that it was extremely unfair to Lorist for him to be expected to carry out tasks meant for Silver Swordsmen given his rank as an Iron Swordsman.

Lorist could only laugh bitterly. Louise was only concerned about him. How could she understand the pain of having his Battle Force stuck at the Iron rank for so long? In order to join this expedition, Lorist had to pester and bug Academy Head Levins and was even forced to agree to multiple unfair terms including serving as the assistant for the whole expedition team before the old bastard agreed to bring him along.

The adventurers of the Grindia Continent all knew that it was suicidal to visit the Relic Islands without the power of a Silver Swordsman. Granted, non-combatant researchers who were protected by bodyguards were exceptions. Although Lorist had to serve the researchers throughout the expedition, he ventured just as much as the rest of the Silver Swordsmen. He managed to traverse a number of dangerous areas, even those that were potentially lethal to Silver Swordsmen.

The time taken for the trip to and from the Relic Islands took up two months while the actual time spent on them was four months. Lorist himself felt that his abilities had improved nevertheless after experiencing all those life and death battles with the magical beasts and walking the tightrope of life multiple times. His swordsmanship got sharper and his movements got more agile. Even the sensitivity of his senses improved. But the sole goal he had aspired to reach during this trip was never achieved; his Battle Force didn't manage to break through the Iron rank. He was still stuck at the peak of the Iron rank.

How he had regretted his decision back then. For some reason unknown to even him, he decided to use Ki-refining principles he remembered from his previous life to cultivate his Battle Force. One focused on the meridians pathways while the other focused on the blood flow. One trained the internal parts of the body while the other trained the external. They were akin to oil and water! His brain must have cramped up for him to even decide to do that! In the end, even with the high class Blazing Battle Force technique passed down by his family throughout generations, he ended up at a dead end and has remained stuck at the Iron rank for three years now, unable to progress to the rank of a Silver Swordsman. Originally a universally praised genius in swordsmanship, he has become a joke in the academy.

"Hey, brother Locke, you're finally back. So glad to finally see you again…" The fatty who snapped Lorist out from his self brooding was the head chef of the inn, McDuffin. Wearing a mottled blue apron, he struggled as he squeezed his large belly through the door behind the counter.

"Hi, McDuffin. Man am I glad to see you too." said Lorist as he raised his cup of ale. "Do you have any nice food around? I just got back and haven't even had my breakfast and lunch yet. The only thing I had back on the boat was a black wheat bar."

"Oh my, why didn't you say so earlier? Stop drinking that ale, it won't go down well given your empty stomach. McDuffin, is there anything you can serve up quick?" Louise said.

"Hmm, there's some roasted goose in the oven, but it's still unseasoned. In the wok we have some bean and ribs but it's still cold, I'll have to heat it up so it'll have to wait. Ah, right. I have some goat meatballs still steaming over there which I can get you right away. Louise, go into my room and look into the chest beside my bed. There should be some cream bread inside. I was planning on having that for tea, but I guess you can go get that down for Locke…" said McDuffin who seemed reluctant to part from his cream bread.

Louise went off in a hurried manner.

"Alright. I'll have some roasted goose and ribs. McDuffin, fry me a herring, make me some green bean bloodwurst, fried eggs with shrimp, cabbage and mushroom as well as another glass of fruit ale." said Lorist as he made his order.

"That much? Can you finish them?" McDuffin looked at Lorist with a hint of doubt.

"I'm so hungry I can swallow a cow whole. Go make the food, after that we'll have a good drink together."

Just after McDuffin returned to cooking, Louise brought a plate with some steaming hot goat meatballs and two pieces of cream bread over. "Eat these quick. You don't want to upset your stomach."

"Whoa, Locke… This is great! These are the skins I want! Look at all these star spots…" Before Lorist managed to stuff the bread into his mouth, Hope's praises rang out from behind him. He was raining praises upon the three beast skins he cradled so very dearly in his arms.

"Oh, I better go back to get some cash. I'll be right back." Old Hope let the deerskins down and rushed out of the inn with a speed that was unfit for a man of his age.

"Eh, why's he in so much of a rush?" mumbled Lorist with his mouth stuffed with meatballs. Louise only shrugged.

"This old bastard was talking about you nonstop that I actually thought he was worried for you. Turns out he was only looking forward to the skins you promised him…" said Tom the retired postman as he raised his ale cup and took a swig.

Just as Louise served up the green bean blood sausage, old Hope burst through the door, sweaty and huffing ragged breaths as he rushed over to Lorist's table. He took out fifteen gold coins from an intricately striped leather purse, counted them meticulously and instantly got ready to take the deerskins home.

"Hey, wait a second old Hope. Are you sure you're paying the right price?" Without others noticing, Boss Charlando appeared in front of Hope and pressed down on the skins on the table.

"What's wrong with you Charlando? Locke doesn't have any objections, does he?" said Hope, glaring fiercely at Charlando.

"Just because he kept silent doesn't mean he doesn't have any opinions on the price. Right now, a skin like this costs 7 gold and 8 silver Fordes. Don't you think it's a little much to take three away for only 15 gold Fordes?"

Old Hope's face turned red. "But six months ago we set the…"

"You didn't set any exact price when you ordered the skins at that time and arbitrarily decided it to be at the market price back then. You'll have to have some rather thick skin to suggest a market price from six months ago. Right now, the supply of star-spotted deerskins on the market is getting lesser by the day, giving a significant boost to its value. I believe he can easily get eight gold Fordes for one of these skins in the market. The shoes you make with these can already sell for ten Fordes and you can make ten of theme with these. If you don't agree, you better give up on buying it and I bet I can get a better price for Locke if I sell them at the market."

"That's right. Two days ago there were two mercenaries who said that purchasing the star-spotted deerskins from the Relic Islands would cost 5 gold Fordes a piece. Think about the shipping and import fees. Aren't you just taking advantage of him? Locke got you three quality skins from so far away! You can't just do this to him!." said Louise as she rushed up to Hope with a fierce gaze and rolled her eyes.

Old Hope bitterly went back to Lorist's table and took out another seven gold coins. "I didn't bring any silvers with me…"

One gold Forde was worth twenty large silvers. Old Hope still owed four silvers.

"It's alright." Lorist shrugged with magnanimity.

Seeing Old Hope rushing to leave, Louise felt really dissatisfied. "You didn't have to be so generous. That old one got away good. You could get a great meal with four silvers."

Lorist smiled and said "What? Old Hope got on your nerves?"

Louise instantly exploded. "That miserly bastard… He feels up all of our serving girls and doesn't even give them any tips! And he orders a cup of ale worth five coppers and stays at a table for the whole afternoon!"

It wasn't weird for serving girls in the inn to be felt up by patrons. It's just part of their job, to serve and to flirt. But patrons who don't tip well was always met with the disdain of the serving girls. Those patrons were the most unwelcome kind.

Red Grace Inn (2)

Brennan Charlando didn't give off any impression that he was the owner of the inn. Ignoring the endless chatter of the head serving girl, Louise, he took a few beast skin parchments, knelt on the floor and rummaged around the rattan box, the beast skins as well as the bags, as he mused:

"Two pieces of Dark-scaled Rhinoceros skin, this is Throm the Armorer's order…"

"Five pieces of Crimson-eyed Black Fox skin, for old Park from the leathersmith's…"

"Three pieces of Gold Python skin, Jason from the weaponsmith's needs these to make scabbards…"

"One Striped Wildebeest's tendon, Jecks wants to use this as a bowstring…"

....

"What is this?" said Charlando as he lifted up a greyish-white, meter-long bone.

Lorist put down the roasted goose and said, "It's a legendary Razorbeak Owldragon's humerus that is used by the indigenous Remandotu people on the island as staves. It's both light and tough. I believe Sir Maleiff asked for this."

According to legend, the Razorbeak Owldragon came about thousands of years ago from experiments conducted by ancient magi by cross-breeding nightowls and draconians, which resulted in the creation of a large flying beast that was savage and adept and combat. Only, it has already been extinct for a long time. The only complete skeletal specimen was only found a hundred years ago at the Relic Islands by an expedition team sent by the Magi State. It was named as such due to its seemingly large body and razor-sharp beak.

Sir Malieff was one of the more high-ranking regulars of the Red Grace Inn. Rumored to be a noble from some faraway republic, he came over to Morante City and lived a life of seclusion in a house near the inn, citing his hatred of war as the main for his leaving his country. He is a man who likes to collect weird and eccentric items.

"Oh." That's just another one of Sir Maleiff's eccentricities. Placing the bone down on the floor, Charlando took out a leather pouch that contained several test tube-like glass containers which contained liquids of different colors. "What about this?"

"Seven types of magical beast blood, as request by Professor Simpkin of White Rose Academy. He said he got an ancient tome that detailed a recipe for a potion that required the blood of these magical beasts. He wanted to see if he could synthesize the potion mentioned in the book," explained Lorist.

Only now did Charlando notice the small labels at the bottom of the containers, with names of various magical beasts, including, Dark-gold Pythons, Greenback Direwolf, Dark-scaled Rhinoceros, etc.

"That old guy Simpkin sure has a lot of money to throw around. Replicating a potion? That's ludicrous! Mana doesn't even exist anymore, and the magi are not faring any better. How can you make potions without mana?" mused old Tom as he shook his head incessantly.

"Then what about this thing?" Charlando waved around a large, sealed bamboo container that was almost a meter long. Sounds of flowing liquid could be heard as he shook it around.

"Erm..." mumbled Lorist, embarrassed. He hesitated a moment before replying "That's some Terrence-donkey Whip I got for Els..."

The Terrence-donkey Whip was a native product of the Relic Islands which was famous for being a potent sexual stimulant. It was very popular among the nobles, especially the men whose sexual potency withered early.

"Pffft!" Upon hearing about Els's request, Louise laughed her guys out nonstop.

Charlando looked grim. "What is wrong with him… This little runt using aphrodisiacs at his ripe young age… Skirt-chasing all day long without actually doing anything useful… I gotta teach him a lesson! Leave that with me and tell Els to see me when he asks about it.

Els, or Brennan Evanport, was one of the syndicate heads three districts away. He was a Two Star Silver Swordsman as well as Charlando's one and only family member; his nephew.

The table was cluttered with utensils and plates. Finishing what's left of his ale and burping in satisfaction, Lorist called for McDuffin to clear the stuff up. ��Big sis Louise, go see if old man Luke from the back street is busy. If he isn't, I'd like to get a haircut and a beard trim. Oh, and, get me a room upstairs and prepare the bath for me. And, please get the clothes in the rattan box washed and go buy me some new ones at Auntie Misha's as well. Put that bill on my tab."

Old Luke packed his tools and came over with little delay. At this hour, there was usually little to no customers for the barber shop behind the inn. Putting a black linen cloth around Lorist, and placing a shiny silver mirroring plate on the table that was just cleaned up by Louise, Luke took up his scissor and walrus tusk comb and asked, "Would you like your usual cut?"

On the Grindia Continent, nobles from certain countries were expected to wear a certain hairstyle to differentiate themselves from the commoners. There was no rule for commoners though and they chose whatever hairstyle they liked, though sometimes hairstyles like ponytails gained popularity and many people followed suit. Aside from the slightly inferior barber tools, everything else pertaining to hairstyles were pretty much the same with that of Lorist's previous life.

Lorist has always preferred a crew cut for two reasons: In his previous life he served as a soldier for seven years and it has become something like a habit to him. It was also much easier when it came to styling his hair.

"Yup, I'd like the usual," replied Lorist as he straightened himself in his seat.

Old Luke cleared his throat and said, "Actually, Locke, your hair is very lush and black. I bet you would be able to easily charm countless young maidens if you kept a ponytail."

"Get out, that kind of hairstyle requires so much effort to maintain. It's too much trouble. By the way Luke, why don't you tell me about the things that happened here during the past six months?"

Old Luke loved to gossip when he gave haircuts. He was very well versed with the rumors and stories being passed around in the local grapevine.

Luke made a thoughtful expression as he continued tending to Lorist's hair. "Well, it's been pretty much the usual. Two months ago, Lind, the one who runs the roadside fruit stall, had his stall run over by a startled horse. Despite that, the owner reimbursed him with four gold Fordes and he even profited from that incident. Just last month, Watt the butcher's wife got into some trouble with a mercenary. The funny thing is: the mercenary actually got slashed in the shoulder by Watt, a person who hasn't even awakened his Battle Force! What a joke!

"Idle gossip aside, three months ago it was announced on the newspapers that the war in the north finally ended, most of it thanks to the various trade unions slaving away for two years nonstop. A peace treaty was signed and the northern market seemed like a gold mine to many. For two whole months the papers were filled with recruitment notices for mercenaries and northern business investment advertisements. There were also multiple reports of people getting attacked by bandits though."

"Oh, the Krissen Empire finally stopped attacking?" Lorist really didn't expect such a big historical event occurred in the six months he went on the expedition. As for the peace treaty, nobody really treated it seriously as the Krissen Empire had been enemies with the Forde Trade Union for more than a century, during which at least three major conflicts erupted between the two powers. Why would the Trade Union bother to settle anything, given that the empire had already began to tear itself up since the start of the power struggle between the three princes for the throne of the late Krissen Emperor six years ago? It was already a blessing that the union did not take advantage of the empire's situation.

"What does the treaty entail, exactly?" Lorist was very curious about the specific agreements between the two powers. The northern empire's princes and dukes has been at odds with each other for almost six years now, uprooting the once stable foundations of the empire and crippling the economy, causing much poverty and famine. Even the nobles had to rely on loans to maintain daily life. If anything, it was much more believable for the trade union to have been involved in putting the empire into this predicament.

"Hmm, I really didn't pay much attention to the details of the treaty. I'm just a barber, you know. I've never really been into these confusing political things…" said old Luke with a blush.

"I know about it!" beamed old Tom with a bright smile. As a retired postman, he has always liked to pay attention to the political undercurrents on the continent. "There were three main clauses. First, the empire is to be partitioned into three kingdoms and seven grand duchies. In other words, the Krissen Empire has ceased to exist and there will no longer be any northern invasions. Secondly, the stability and security of the trade routes are to be maintained and taxes will remain the same for all nations, regardless of whether they are kingdoms or duchies. Additionally, the subsidiaries of the trade union shall be allowed to conduct business freely in any territory. The third clause states that the trade union is to give loans to the seven nations with different interest rates ranging from 13 to 70 percent depending on the nation."

"Brother Locke, aren't you a northerner yourself? I remember you riding in a carriage with some kind of insignia, usually the kind used by nobles. Given that the war is no longer ongoing, wouldn't you like to go back to your hometown for a visit?" said McDuffin as he reminisced the time when he first met Lorist in front of the academy entrance ten years ago.

"Locke, are you really a citizen of the Krissen Empire? A noble at that?" exclaimed old Luke with a surprised tone.

Back when the Krissen Empire was still standing strong, conflicts between the empire and the Forde Trade Union were common and battles frequently happened on the Falik Plains. Many of the soldiers were led by the nobles who really caused the folks of the trade union a lot of grief. Although not everyone in Morante City would actually assault anyone of the empire, nobody had any good impressions on them either.

"To be precise, I came from the northern parts of the Krissen Empire; I'm a northern highlander. The highlands should be located thousands of kilometers from here, which is way too far and impractical for soldiers over there to come over. The march itself would take more than three months. My father was a baron and his barony was situated in the far north. I have an elder brother as well as a younger brother. I guess that makes me the second son, which means I won't be inheriting the barony at any rate. The fact that I'm so far out here means that my family has abandoned me. I've had to rely on myself for seven whole years since I lost all contact with them. That's why I now consider myself a Moranite and have nothing to do with the north or my family anymore," explained Lorist.

"That's right. Many nobles send away every child but the heir to the land to prevent infighting and strife, usually by means of exile, separation or marriage. Locke's case is pretty common. After all, his family does have a hereditary title," appended old Tom.

Luke worked quickly and finished the haircut as well as the shave. He ended the session by applying a final layer of oil to moisturize the skin.

Lorist stroked his clean-shaven chin with satisfaction and paid old Luke a small silver coin. He subsequently asked McDuffin to get Luke and Tom a glass of ale and put it on his tab. He took his swords and went upstairs with Louise.

There were eight rooms on the second floor of the inn, four on each side of the corridor.

As they arrived on the second floor, loud sounds of men and women during intercourse resounded throughout the corridor.

Lorist asked with much curiosity, "Who is the one getting it on at this kind of time?"

"That's Jumile. She picked up the three Blackbear brothers from the streets for seven large silvers. They've been at it for three hours or so. I wonder if she can still get up tonight."

"Jumile was also one of the serving girls of the inn. As for the Blackbear brothers, Lorist knew for a fact that all three of them were low-ranked mercenaries, usually only working on short escort missions and miscellaneous tasks for others. All three of them were burly and tanned and people started calling them the Blackbear brothers and eventually, the name caught on and stuck.

Louise brought Lorist to his room, which was situated at the far right end of the corridor. The bathtub was already set up and filled with hot water.

Taking out a pink fragrant bar of soap and a white linen cloth, she subsequently collected the clothes on the ground and placed the wallet, the sword belt and the waist bag on the table and was just going to leave, before turning back and asking, "Locke, are you free on the night three days from now?"

"I don't know, what for?" Lorist popped out from the water and took a deep breath.

"There's this girl from the village who wants to work here as a serving girl. She's looking to sell her first time for quite the sum, about two gold coins. Since you've made quite a profit this time around, why don't you help me out?"

"Hm? Doesn't the inn already have you, Jumile, Shala and Nina? Is it going to hire another one?"

"Nina just got married last month and isn't coming back. The girl from my village is also going to work here for two to three years for some money before going back to the village and finding someone to marry. I promised her that her first client would be a handsome and magnanimous young lad. Come on Locke, help me out, won't you?"

"I… I'll think about it later," said Lorist in an awkward muffled voice and submerged his head back into the bathwater.

Dawn Academy (1)

Lorist slept soundly the whole night until he was awoken during noon the next day by the noises in the main hall. Lazily lying by the bedside, he waited some time until the hall had quieted down before slowly pulling himself out of bed.

A set of new clothing lay beside the bed, among which included some grey linen undergarments, a dark green wool shirt, a black leather vest, a grey wool coat, some white socks as well as a pair of black pants. There was also a pair of black leather boots beside the clothes.

Lorist was very satisfied with Louise's purchase; she knew what he liked best: clothes with dark, unassuming colors. He thought the other mercenaries who often wore bright colors looked even more ridiculous than clowns. However, that set of clothing shouldn't have come cheap. It probably cost more than one gold coin.

Fully-dressed and wearing his new boots, he slot two daggers into his boots and equipped his mini-crossbow on his left arm. He then pinned his shorter sword to his belt buckle and slung the long one on his back. Ruffling his wallet and waist pouch, he checked if he left any belongings in the room before locking the doors behind him and heading downstairs.

The lunch hour is already over and there were only twenty or so people chatting and drinking in the main hall as they listened to Mike singing "The War of the Gods" in a wistful tone. This was an epic poem that depicted the conflict between the magi and the gods thousands of years ago. Only, the author of the poem was sympathetic towards the gods. The author described the humans who were led by the magi as the frenzied attackers, and mourned for the fall of the gods. Aside from this one flaw, the poem had beautiful language, unpredictable plot twists as well as brilliant pacing. The tale has always captivated the people of Grindia and has even been adapted into stage plays, musicals as well as other entertaining performances in bars.

Lorist went to an empty table and took a seat. Several acquaintances raised their cups and silently made a toast as a greeting, before refocusing their attentions on Mike's performance.

Louise appeared before the table and said in a low voice, "When I saw you sleeping so soundly in the morning, I just couldn't bear to wake you. You look great in these clothes. Do they fit right?"

Nodding, Lorist said, "They're great. Many thanks to you. Anything I can have to fill my belly with?"

"We just got a fresh batch of cod just now. Do you want one?"

"Alright, get McDuffin to fry the fish for me. I'd like some rib soup, one omelette rice with some sausages and a cup of blackcurrant ale as well. I'm going to the academy later this afternoon."

"Coming right up. I'll get McDuffin to work faster since you're gonna be busy."

"Wait," called Lorist as Louise was just about to leave. "I'm not in a rush to go to the academy later. Louise, I'd like the room for a few more nights, and leave my laundry inside when it's done. Get Mike a cup of ale too and put it on my tab."

Full and satisfied, Lorist exited the inn and waited for a little while by the street until he saw a horse cart taxi passing by.

Rapidly waving, Lorist said, "Get me to the Dawn Academy."

"Alright, it'll be fifteen coppers. Sit tight." The brown-clothed driver flicked the thip and the Delemont Striped Horse raced towards the destination.

After ten or so minutes, the horse cart stopped in front of the entrance of the academy. Lorist paid the driver one silver coin, which was worth 20 coppers, with five coppers as a tip for the driver. The driver showered him with gratitude by as he got off the cart.

Dawn Academy was situated at the western part of the Academy Sector. It offered courses in multiple disciplines and was ranked the fifth among twenty or so academies in Morante City and ninth among all the academies on the Grindia Continent.

A statue of a girl who looked about twelve to thirteen years old slaying a gigantic dragon with a jeweled sword could be seen at the entrance. This brave young girl was the Dawn Goddess Loria. She is the daughter of Singwa, the god of light, sun and war, and Daphlyn, the Silvermoon Goddess. In the Grindia mythos, it was said that the Dragon King of Darkness hated the lights Singwa emitted as he patrolled the world. By means of a trap, it managed to send the five divine horses that were pulling Singwa's chariot down the road to the Abyss. In this critical moment, Loria acted and successfully slayed the Dragon King of Darkness, returning the horses back onto their normal trajectory, allowing the god of the sun to once again illuminate the skies of darkness. It was at that moment Loria was granted the title of the Dawn Goddess.

The dawn, the time when the day breaks, the time that signifies the coming of light. In the Grindia mythos, Loria the Dawn Goddess was emblematic of bravery and hope.

Circling around the gigantic statue that was jokingly interpreted by some students of the academy as a lustful dragon pushing down a young girl, Lorist stood right in front of the main entrance of the academy. The entrance of the academy had no gates or doors. It only consisted of the statue and a boulevard that led straight into the academy.

Sighing, he reached into his waist pouch and took out an iron badge which was about one inch large and pinned it in front of his chest. On the black badge was an embossed image of a greatsword with three stars on top of the blade. That represented his Three Star Iron Battle Force rank.

There was nothing he could do about it: one had to wear one's Battle Force badge in order to enter the academy. Aside from that, professors, teaching staff and students all have their own respective badges that must be worn at all times within the premises.

Lorist put on another badge beside his Battle Force badge. On it was an image of a long sword plunged straight into the ground with a half-risen sun beyond the horizon in the background. This badge was gold in color unlike his Battle Force badge. It represented his status as a dual instructor in both swordsmanship and Battle Force awakening.

A few teenagers wearing the uniform of the academy came over from upfront. They should all be freshmen. Lorist recalled that the recruitment day was almost one month ago. As he watched these teenagers jump around in excitement, he reminisced his own times as a student here ten years ago. Time really flows quickly and unceasingly.

At first, these students didn't pay Lorist much heed. After all, there were many students of his age in the academy. But once they saw his golden badge, they all hurried to pay their respects.

Lorist merely nodded and smiled before continuing onward. At the Dawn Academy, students were required to pay the respects to the instructors.

Some sounds of chatter could be heard behind Lorist. "That must be Instructor Locke, the legendary Black Iron Gold-ranked Instructor of our academy!"

"He has a gold instructor badge even with his Battle Force at the Three Star Iron rank. The rumors were true… I even heard that he's invincible against Silver Swordsmen, earning him the nickname of 'Silver Undefeated'!"

"I really hope my Battle Force instructor will be him… I heard that all his students three years in a row have awakened their Battle Force without fail! They're already at the Iron rank now."

"I heard the seniors say…"

...

On the Grindia Continent, one's Battle Force and swordsmanship represented one's strength. The four different ranks of Battle Force included Bronze, Iron, Silver and Gold, which were further divided into three sub-levels for each rank. Beyond that was the level of Blademasters and Sword Saints. People like Lorist who were stuck at the Three Star Iron rank for more than three years were far and few. Aside from breaking through to the Blademaster level, which required deep levels of insight, when one reached the third star level of their rank, their Battle Force would usually break through to the next rank quite easily. This was why Lorist was so harshly berated in the academy.

Ten years ago, a carriage with an insignia of a roaring bear brought a 14 year-old noble youth from the Krissen Empire to Dawn Academy. McDuffin, who was selling food by the entrance of the academy with his parents, clearly remembered that scene. The youth that came down from the carriage had an ugly, unwilling expression on his face. He viewed McDuffin and his family with much disdain. That youth was extremely cold and prideful.

Not even one month later, McDuffin heard that that youth got into a fight with someone in the academy and got badly beaten up. He had to rest in bed for three whole months.

The next time he met that youth, McDuffin didn't see any trace of who he was before; in front of him stood a smiling, bright young man whose face radiated endless curiosity. He stretched his hand out towards McDuffin and said, "Hi, nice to meet you. I'm Norton Lorist. What's your name?"

In the coming months, McDuffin got to know that Lorist befriended him because he couldn't stand the food provided by the academy anymore. Stale rice, black bread, potato mash and vegetable soup were served for all three meals every single day. Lorist had no choice but to go to McDuffin's stall for some variety to sate his cravings.

McDuffin couldn't forget the time when Lorist showed his culinary skills at his family's stall for the first time. His parents stared wide-eyed at the dishes he cooked up that emitted wafts of mouth-watering aroma. Even his siblings had their eyes glued to the food.

At that time, McDuffin's parents' stall only sold baked apples and potatoes as well as smoked sausages, soybean and some other common dishes. They were quite satisfied with a daily income of a few large silver coins. But after Lorist's arrival, their stall quickly became one of the must-visit places for food in the Academy Sector, reaching its peak of profit.

The young McDuffin quickly learned all the "hometown dishes" of Lorist, who was also happy to teach him everything. Lorist himself pointed out that McDuffin had a knack for cooking. The young McDuffin even believed Lorist's hometown to be a haven for good food and was planning to go on a "pilgrimage" to the holy land of food.

When Lorist finally had enough with McDuffin's annoying pestering he told McDuffin that those recipes came from a secret cookbook passed down only in his family and that nobody else in his hometown could make food like that. It's a shame so many ingredients listed in the book could no longer be found. But Lorist easily improvised and cooked out dish after dish of delicacies.

It was at that moment when McDuffin relinquished his desire to visit Lorist's hometown.

Time passed incessantly and five years passed quickly. Having saved up a hefty sum, McDuffin's parents stopped running the food stall and bought a small farm in the countryside to do some farming and his siblings tagged along. McDuffin also got a well-paying job as the head chef for the Red Grace Inn. Lorist was only nineteen back then and his Battle Force was at the Two Star Iron rank. He was promoted to an instructor by the academy due to his stellar swordsmanship and was viewed to be a growing talent with a bright road ahead of him.

Five years after, McDuffin was still the head chef of the inn while Lorist became a legendary figure in the academy, due to his dual instructor qualifications. However, with his Three Star Iron Battle Force unable to break through, he became the laughing stock of the academy. With much mockery and disdain, his peers referred to him as the powerless genius swordsman.

Usually, academy sword instructors of higher ranking academies were usually of the Silver rank and above. That was even more so the case, given that Dawn Academy was ranked number nine out all other academies on the whole Grindia Continent with most other instructors' Battle Force being at least at the Three Star Silver rank. Lorist was the only exception who was a dual gold ranked instructor with a Three Star Iron Battle Force, easily earning the envy and hostility of his peers.

The reason he got a gold rank instructor badge was due to the fact that all his students managed to awaken their Battle Force for three years straight. This 100% success rate was unprecedented. Even only 25 out of 26 students from noble families had their Battle Force awakened in one Blademaster's Battle Force course. The one who failed was deemed to have little force circulating in his blood. At that time, that was the highest recorded rate of success for Battle Force awakening courses. Usually, only two thirds of students will be able to awaken their Battle Force.

However, the moment Lorist was put in charge of his first Battle Force awakening course, all 17 commoner students who no instructor wanted to help successfully awakened their Battle Force one year later. The second class which was attended by 31 other people also had a 100% success rate. During the third year, his course was attended by 59 people, among which included 10 students of noble descent who went out of their way to apply for the course. But, the most eye-catching ones were the three students who previously failed to awaken their Battle Force.

One would still stand a chance at awakening their Battle Force even after the failed first attempt, albeit with a lower success rate. However, a year later, all three of them successfully woke their Battle Force. This didn't only stun the people of the academy, it also greatly surprised the whole of Morante City. Lorist had since become a legend who managed to awaken the Battle Force of three students who has already failed once, earning him his golden Battle Force instructor badge.

As for his gold swordsmanship instructor badge, Lorist got it from winning duels. He has battled students as well as instructors of the Silver rank more than a hundred times without a single loss, earning him the nickname "Silver Undefeated".

Walking along the boulevard, Lorist thought back at every effort, gain, loss, bliss and grief throughout his ten years at the academy with an air of sentiment and nostalgia.

Dawn Academy (2)

At the end of the boulevard was a crowded plaza. Lorist couldn't help but wonder why the plaza would be so crowded at a time like this. What was going on there?

By the time Lorist arrived at the plaza, the sound of chatter rose audibly.

"Instructor Locke is here…"

"That's Norton Lorist?"

"Where? Which one of them is him?"

"That one. That's Instructor Locke..."

"..."

Lorist emerged from the crowd of people.

A rough looking man with a bearded face wearing an old leather armor ran towards him while unsheathing his two-handed greatsword. Raising his blade high, he roared, "Aha, Lorist! I'm here to request a duel with you…"

The two-handed sword emitted a glowing light that signified his power as a Two Star Silver Swordsman.

Different Battle Force ranks were easily distinguished. Bronze Battle Force gave one a slightly buffed look and greatly increased one's strength, agility and endurance when it circulated through one's body. Iron Battle Force mainly focused on the protection of the body. For example, it can be used to fortify the hands, causing them to radiate a faint glow and have the toughness of iron, greatly increasing their defensive capabilities multiple times more than that of an average person's.

Silver ranked Battle Force excelled at the attacking aspect. Silver Swordsmen can project their Battle Force onto their weapons and make them emit various forms of sword glows, with the length of the glow indicating the Star rank of the swordsman.

As for Gold Swordsmen, they can gather their Battle Force to execute ranged attacks. Beyond that was the level of Blademasters, who could project their Battle Force onto anything from flowers to blades of grass and use them as invincible divine weapons to eradicate their enemies.

Sword Saints, however, were more like legends. Not much was known about them, though it was said that they can utilize something along the lines of a "domain". There were only about four or five known Sword Saints on the Grindia continent. Nations which had the backing of a Saint had incredibly stable foundations. That's why these Sword Saints were kept hidden from the masses and were shrouded in mystery and enigma.

Lorist looked at that man holding the raised greatsword with a look of admiration. That guy must have quite a few gold coins to spare for him to dare to draw his sword like this in the academy, he thought.

"Stop!" A loud cry rang out as a troop of black uniformed swordsmen marched towards the plaza.

Sword glows pointed at his throat, lower torso and chest, the brutish man stood still without moving an inch. The scary part was that two of the sword glows that were pointed at him were much longer than his own. The owners of those swords were definitely Three Star Silver Swordsmen.

The few other men who came with the brutish man hurriedly attempted to hide their weapons.

"You, you, you, and you, the one wearing a chainmail, yes you! And that other one in the blue clothes! And that one wearing the leather hat! You guys are really brave… For you to even dare to unsheathe your weapons in the academy! Bring them to the Enforcement Department!" A fat man appeared before the men and shouted loudly.

Those who were named by the fat man attempted to escape.

"You dare to run from me!? You guys, apprehend them and double their fines!" said the fatty with a cruel expression.

"Yes sir!" said the black robed men as they made the chase.

If the students of the academy were asked to name one most wretched people in the academy, that person would definitely be that fat man who was also the head of the Enforcement Department. His name was Charade and was called by many as the "Deathly Miser".

As the head of the Enforcement Department of the academy, Charade never scolded or physically punished the transgressing students. Instead, he gave them a very huge fine. If the students couldn't pay up, the department has got just the solution for them. The Enforcement Department provides loans for the fined students. And to make sure they repaid their loans, the department also found jobs for them and made them work until their debts and interests were paid up in full.

Once, there were two students who broke the rules and did not have the money to pay the fine. The fatty merely smiled and said, "Don't worry about the money. As long as you can work, it'll be fine."

Without delay, they were sent to the mines for three whole months. It was also rumored that they almost got sodomized there. After the three month term, the fatty called for someone to go bring them back. A tear-jerking scene soon unfolded: the two students knelt and desperately hugged the ones who were sent to pick them up, refusing to let go.

After the black robed men apprehended the ones who tried to escape, the fatty walked towards the one who brandished the greatsword leisurely. He motioned for him to sheathe his sword, which the man soon did with much haste.

"Have you come to the academy to rob and kill?" asked the fatty with a "courteous", wanting tone.

The burly man replied with a flustered look, "Umm, no-nope. I came here after seeing the notice issued by the academy."

"Notice? What kind of notice allowed you to come terrorize our students? I don't ever recall seeing anything like that," said the fatty with an expression of intense curiosity.

"What?" the man let out a startled cry. "It's that duel notice that you guys put up! It says that any Silver rank contestant who can defeat the Black Iron Gold-ranked Instructor Locke gets to take his place as gold-ranked instructor and will be rewarded a hundred gold coins! That's the reason I came…"

"Oh, it's that notice. That's right, the academy did put up something like this. But, are you sure you checked it out properly?"

"Of course I did! The words on that notice were larger than my fists! How could I have missed anything?" roared the burly man loudly.

"Well, then. Tell me the fine print on the notice! It was never stated that you could come in randomly and just pull your sword out in public!" shouted the fatty, whose expression had suddenly turned dark, glaring at the burly man.

That man winked and coughed out, "I was just worried that someone would beat me to Lorist! I didn't see no fine print!"

"It was stated very clearly on the notice. Didn't you say that you had read it carefully?"

"You mean those words that were smaller than my fingernails? That was the fine print? Who reads those? I only read the words at the top…" The man's voice grew softer and softer. He looked like he just realized his grave error.

"Did you think the academy would just let anyone barge in like that with a sword in hand? Of course there were terms and conditions! We at the Dawn Academy are the elites of the Grindia Continent. Everything we do has to follow strict protocol. It is stated that any Silver ranked individual who wished to challenge Lorist was to report to the Enforcement Department. You see that white stone building over there? That's the Enforcement Department! You must go there and apply for a duel and pay a registration fee of ten gold Fordes. After that, we will notify you the time and place for the duel within two or three days. If you don't show up at that time, it will be considered your loss by default and we will not return your registration fee.

"You won't profit if you don't invest. It might cost you ten gold Fordes, but think about it: your opponent Lorist is but an Iron ranked swordsman with somewhat better swordsmanship. If you had won, not only would you get a hundred gold Fordes, you will also be employed by the academy as a gold-ranked sword instructor! A gold-ranked instructor's salary is ten gold Fordes a month. You can easily buy a house in this city and settle down here with that kind of money."

Charade talked like a patient salesman with the brawny man nodding to every one of the points Charade made.

"It's such a shame…" said Charade with his expression turning glum as his tone changed. "You actually ruined such a good chance by not reading the notice carefully and committed such an act at our academy. Not only have you broken the rules of our academy, you have also greatly insulted the academy and caused deep mental anguish in our students! That's why, you must be punished before you will be allowed to register for a duel."

"Punishment? What kind of punishment?" asked the brawny man, scared.

"Oh, don't worry. According to our academy's rules, we will not cause you any physical harm. We only ask you to pay a small fine. This matter will be settled if you hand over five gold Fordes," said Charade with a pleasant smile on his face.

"What! Five gold coins?" The brawny man could never imagine having to lose five gold coins just for drawing his blade. "I… I don't have that kind of money…"

"That's perfectly okay. You can borrow it from some friends. If you can't do even that, the Enforcement Department can find you some work which will guarantee the repayment of your debt." The fatty got a little impatient after hearing the man's reply. He waved for the men in black to bring the transgressing men back to the Enforcement Department.

By the time this ended, only half the people who were at the plaza remained.

Lorist turned to look at Charade with a grim expression.

"Deathly Miser! What are you up to this time!?"

The fatty replied with a face full of smiles, "Haha, isn't this brother Locke? It's so nice to see you again! I've missed you so very much."

"Cut the crap. What's with that notice you guys put up?" Lorist said while glaring at Charade.

The fatty let out a long sigh and said, "Brother, weren't you troubled by the constant challenges you received from people last year? Didn't I come out with a solution to that problem that also profited us both by charging anyone who wanted a duel with you for five gold coins, from which I took two and the rest went to you? Us brothers earned quite a bit after 57 duels last year. However, that old bastard took note of our little business…"

Charade pointed at the sky, hinting at the pressure from his higher ups. "Just two days ago the old bastard came looking for me and told me that you still didn't manage to break through during your excursion at the Relic Islands. The other academies mocked that of all the people in Dawn Academy, you, a Three Star Iron Swordsman, was appointed a dual gold ranked instructor. To teach those people a lesson, we decided to put up that notice, mainly to attract the Silver Swordsmen from other academies to challenge you and see for themselves your ability."

"Is that all it is?" Lorist didn't believe for one moment that that was all it is.

"Erm..." the fatty hesitated. "And, we also wanted to earn some money from this. The old bastard said that I didn't think far enough and that I was satisfied with only just a little over a hundred gold coins. He thought that if we offered a tempting gold reward, it would attract even more people, even if we raised the dueling fee by two times. Of course, the old guy said that since you're the one doing most of the work, you'll still receive your cut of three gold coins per duel. The enforcement division's share got cut to only one gold coin per duel for arranging the dueling location and maintaining security during the duel. The rest of the money will go to the academy."

Lorist understood that the "old bastard" referred to by Charade was no other than Academy Head Levins. "The old guy isn't afraid that I'll lose a match?"

"Hehe," laughed the fatty, "I myself trust you wholeheartedly. Even though I'm a Three Star Silver Swordsman, I know full well that I will not last more than twenty bouts should I battle with you. Based on your 57 wins last year, we at the Enforcement Division don't doubt you one bit!"

"But I find it weird that the old bastard has so much faith in you that he set the reward prize so high. Oh, did you spar with Instructor Claude during your trip to the islands? I heard you took more than 200 moves from him without losing. Is that true?" said the fatty as he recalled the rumor.

Instructor Kellen Claude was a Three Star Gold Swordsman and was heralded by most as a person who would one day break into the Blademaster level. He was the chief swordsmanship instructor and was the only other person in the academy other than Lorist who had a gold swordsmanship instructor badge. He got it because of his skill while Lorist got his by winning 30 straight duels against opponents of a higher Battle Force rank than him. Additionally, Lorist would lose his appointment as a gold ranked swordsmanship instructor if he loses even one duel.

Instructor Claude already wanted to spar with Lorist ever since he heard of Lorist's 57 wins. However, he was hesitant to do so as his Battle Force rank was far beyond that of Lorist. The expedition to the Relic Islands, however, presented itself to be an opportunity for him to spar with Lorist. The excuse was that Lorist's aptitude had to be assessed to determine whether he was fit to attend the expedition.

Lorist endured more than 200 moves and finally lost due to the sheer difference in Battle Force power, which was already an amazing feat in itself.

"How did you know?" asked Lorist, as there were only three people present during that duel.

"The old bastard himself told me," exposed Charade without blinking an eye. "He said that even though he wasn't well versed in the matters of Battle Force or swordsmanship, Instructor Claude's high evaluation on your abilities, which included your undefeatable status among Silver Swordsmen and your swordsmanship that far surpasses most Gold Swordsmen made the old bastard very confident in you, so much so that he's willing to bet such a large amount of money on you. Ever since his duel with you, Instructor Claude has also entered seclusion training to attempt to break through to the Blademaster level."

"Huh..." Lorist was speechless. Just like that, he was swept into this money-making scheme by the academy head right after returning, causing him to feel incredibly annoyed. "I'm going straight to meet that old bastard!"

Young Noble

"Excuse me, but may I have a little bit of your time?"

A man came up behind him and asked politely just as Lorist was going to turn around and walk away.

Lorist turned to his back and looked; it was one of the students who remained at the plaza. This young noble youth donned an intricately cut shirt under a white leather vest with baggy pants that were decorated with threads of gold. Numerous diamonds that were set on his boots could be seen gleaming in the sunlight while the collar of his shirt boasted two golden buttons. On the outermost layer was a refined black linen coat that was fastened tightly around his body by a black belt. The youth exuded an aura of elegance with a hint of defiance in his eyes.

The guy had a superficial smile that was typical among nobles which caused Lorist to feel a sudden impulse to throw a punch at his face. Although that person looked familiar, Lorist felt much disdain towards his condescending, prideful gaze which held no one else in any regard.

"What business do you have here?" asked Charade with a serious tone.

"Greetings, Instructor Charade. I'm only here to ask if Instructor Locke has missed me since we last met," nodded the youth to Charade and subsequently turning his gaze to Lorist.

"My dear Instructor Locke, I, your former student, has come to pay my respects to you. I am eternally grateful for the guidance you have provided during these past few years. I heard that you've been unable to progress in your Battle Force training. That's certainly too bad. As of late, I've managed to break through to the Three Star Silver rank and I have decided to return to the academy to offer my thanks for your lessons and advice. To my surprise, I've heard that you will be accepting duels from Silver ranked students, and that really awed me, since there's a great disparity between your Battle Force and that of Silver Swordsmen. I got the news a little too late and ended up being placed behind a number of your other challengers. My only hope is that you defeat all the others so that I may taste your blade and receive your education again. Please try hard for this student's sake."

After saying all that, the noble youth bowed, before retreating a few steps and walking away.

What's going on? He seemed sincere when he said all that, but something still felt off. What's up with that guy, thought Lorist. He proceeded to ask Charade, "Who was that guy? He just came up to me with five or six other followers and said some really weird stuff. Somehow, he looks kind of familiar."

Charade rolled his eyes. "Come on, you really don't remember him?"

"Well, I kind of remember seeing him some time ago… But I really can't recall who he is. He did seem like he was some kind of big shot though… He looks pretty loaded too," answered Lorist honestly.

Charade clapped his hands in amazement and said, "He lost to you in a duel before. Remember three years ago?"

"Three years back? What happened at that time?" Lorist still couldn't recall that incident.

"Sigh… Even if you can't recall it now, that guy couldn't forget it even if he wanted to. When you were first appointed as an official swordsmanship instructor three years ago, that bloke brought a group of other students to ambush you. He was the main perpetrator of the incident that occurred during the last dual elite course, and was also the one that you punished the hardest. He ended up bruised all over, with several broken ribs and got bandaged up like a large mummy," recalled Charade painfully.

Oh, so it was that guy. Lorist finally remembered.

Every three years, the Dawn Academy has special training session for the students who excelled in both Battle Force and swordsmanship. It was called the "dual elite course" and was also regarded as one of the most difficult courses offered by the academy. Given that the students that attended the course were the top among their peers in both disciplines, and that most of them were nobles with their own unique Battle Force techniques passed down through their families, the students were extremely arrogant and prideful and would not accept an instructor who lacked the necessary qualifications.

Three years ago Lorist was just appointed as an official swordsmanship instructor and had been given the task of teaching the dual elite class. Naturally, there were students who looked down on him, but all of them were utterly defeated by Lorist. That youth just now was ranked one of the top two in terms of swordsmanship and was also an assistant instructor of the dual elite course. He was swiftly defeated in a duel with Lorist after merely three blows. Unable to suppress his hatred after his loss, he managed to manipulate the other students into attacking Lorist en masse while he himself attempted to strike at Lorist while he was occupied, desiring to put an end to Lorist's life with the cruelest method available to him.

Lorist, unable to suppress his anger at that guy's actions, utterly pummeled him to the point where he could not go through daily life without assistance and was bedridden for more than six months.

"Oh yeah, didn't you say he went away to recover and even decided to leave school? Logically speaking, shouldn't he be brimming with hate and desperately trying to kill me? Why did he even come to pay his respects?" asked Lorist as he stroked his chin, annoyed.

"Hahaha…" laughed the fatty, "This is a custom of the nobles. Even if they were facing their archenemy and was going to challenge them to a duel to the death, they would still extend their greetings and salute the enemy. This is called 'being chivalrous'."

"Who is he to come over like that and spout all that insincere nonsense about me not letting him down and fighting my way to him! So what if he's a Three Star Silver Swordsman! I've defeated tons of people of that caliber!" said Lorist, disgruntled.

"Hehe, you better look out for that youngster. Do you know his family background?"

"I can't remember anything else about him, not even his name…"

"You… Sigh, forget it. Let me tell you. That kid is called Sandoz Hirda and he's the second son of the Archduke of the Kalia Kingdom, Sandoz Lyam. You do know about the Kalia Kingdom, right?"

"Of course I do. It's one of the neighboring nations of the Forde Trade Union and was located somewhere southeast of the union, I think," answered Lorist after contemplating for a while.

"To the east of the Kalia Kingdom is the Romon Empire and to its south lies the Khawistan Khanate. Do you know why there has been no conflict between the Kalia Kingdom and the two major powers right next to it?" asked Charade seriously.

"I don't know," replied Lorist honestly.

"That's because the Kalia Kingdom has a Sword Saint. Neither the Romon Empire nor the Khawistan Khanate wishes to agitate that person. The Kalia Sword Saint is also known as the 'Tempest Sword Saint'. According to rumors, he revealed his power once when he was still only a Blademaster: when the rain poured, he could pierce every single raindrop with his sword and after the shower, an area of three meters from the spot where he danced with his sword was completely dry, causing his name to instantly soar to fame."

"That Sandoz Hirda whom you've beaten up has since become the disciple of the Tempest Sword Saint. Think about it, three years ago he was merely a One Star Silver Swordsman, Right now, he's already at three stars. He must have trained very hard all this time to settle this grudge with you. Some rumors say that he challenged those of the same rank as him and defeated them with merely two to three strikes. It seems that he's confident of being able to take that gold swordsmanship instructor badge from you. You better watch out, Locke, he's not your average small fry. Let me check his number…"

Charade took out a few sheepskin scrolls and scanned through them for a while. "It's here. He's your 284th challenger. He must have registered just yesterday afternoon."

"Huh?" Lorist exclaimed, starting. "Fatty! When did the registration start!?"

"Two days ago…" said Charade as he silently smiled. "As of now, there are more than 350 applicants. There were 30 others when I was walking over from the Enforcement Department just now. I believe it'll hit 400 by today…"

Lorist flicked his middle finger at Charade. "I'm really gonna give it to that old bastard! Does he want me to die!? How is that even remotely reasonable?"

The fatty snickered like a fox who just stole a chicken. "The old bastard just rebuked me this morning for not being able to see the big picture. He said that we should open the registration to the whole of the Academy Sector, and after that, Morante City! Maybe when this gig gets big, we can even let challengers from the Falik Plains come! In time, news of this will spread throughout the continent and there will be more challengers than we can count! By then, the profit we'll make from the registration fee will increase exponentially and our academy's reputation as well as influence will also rise… I'll be sending some students to go post the notices around the city later this afternoon, especially in the taverns and mercenary guilds… I'll need even more notices for those places."

Hearing that, Lorist staggered and almost fell face first to the ground.

The fatty delivered the final blow, saying, "The old bastard already said that he hopes that this year there will be as many as 3600 challengers. This way, he can arrange 10 duels per day for you. That's actually going rather easy on you."

"Bam!" Lorist fell straight to the floor, struggled to get up, flashed two middle fingers at Charade and walked away swiftly.

Charade was still yelling, "Locke, you better be careful of Hirda! Don't be careless and lose to him!"

Hirda can just go to hell. He's just a Three Star Silver Swordsman, thought Lorist as he dismissed the possibility of him losing to Hirda entirely. Lorist felt ever more confident in his abilities ever since his four months of training at the Relic Islands, Over there, a leader of some mercenary group who was a Two Star Gold Swordsman had been trampled and roughed up by a Dark-scaled Rhinoceros while he easily took care of that beast with a single strike.

Should he challenge Instructor Claude or any other peak Three Star Gold Swordsman to a duel, Lorist believed that it would take more than a 1000 moves before a victor can be decided, and he might just be the victor. Lorist wasn't being conceited or boastful; although his Battle Force was only at the Three Star Iron rank, he gained much benefit from training in the Aquametal Ki Technique passed down in his past life's family.

Just by squeezing his palms, he could easily pulverize a thumb-sized rock into fine grains. This was the power of the "Inch" component of the Aquametal Technique. In his past life, he had trained in the technique for more than 30 years, but he hasn't even reached the peak of the Bright Stage of the technique; the Dark Stage was even further away. However, in this world, by training his Battle Force with the Aquametal Technique, he managed to achieve the Dark Stage within a short span of four years. Maybe this world was more suited for training the internal energies of the body.

Silver Battle Force could be projected onto a sword and cause a sword glow to form which can only be blocked by weapons that are also infused with Battle Force. Battle Force infused weapons could easily dominate and overcome common weapons or shields. While Lorist himself couldn't form a sword glow, he could still infuse his weapon with Battle Force or internal energy and grant the weapon extraordinary strength and sharpness that rivals even those of weapons that emanated sword glows. Only, that effect was usually unnoticed by most other people as the energy was hidden from the eye and focused within the blade.

Currently, he could circulate his Battle Force with some methods from the Aquametal Technique at will and perfectly coordinate his body motion and his strikes, allowing him to execute forceful, fluid movements while maintaining a stable breathing rhythm, and every step he took was silent and stealthy as well as being firm and stable. His dantian contained boundless Ki energy which rapidly regenerated before he even got to use it up. That was the power of one who has reached the Dark Stage, as described by his family's technique manual.

The only difference was that the Aquametal Technique manual states that at the Dark Stage, the meridian points at the temples would swell up. Lorist's temple meridian points, however, were still flat and ordinary. He figured that it could be due to him training in the technique using Battle Force. Since that had no observable repercussions, Lorist didn't worry about it too much. His was more troubled by that darned academy head who was treating him like a money printing machine. He didn't mind dueling others himself and was already used to it. Furthermore, this body's enhanced dynamic vision gave him quite an edge; Lorist had never considered Silver Swordsmen to be a threat.

Ten duels a day wasn't strenuous for him either. It only took a few sword blows to end the duels; his usual swordsmanship classes required him to participate in ten or more mock battles to give his students some hands-on experience, and the fact that he had to point out his students' flaws made that even more troublesome than simple dueling. The only kind of combatant who would pose an actual threat to him were those who were at least of the Two Star Gold rank. Then again, no self respecting Gold Swordsman would stoop so low to challenge him to a duel.

His main frustration was that he had been ordered to duel others rather than asking for the duels himself. To him, that wasn't the same at all. That old bastard was profiting off his labor while he had to do all the work! Lorist solemnly cursed that old bastard to one day be buried and crushed to death by all those gold coins he made.

The Origins of Battle Force

In front of him was the main lecture building of the Dawn Academy. Its design was like the form of a large bird spreading its wings, with both of the "wings" enclosing a central plaza; it looked like a bird that was embracing the central area. The main hall had five floors that served as the main offices for instructors of the various disciplines taught in the academy. The other two wings only had four floors which comprised 80 classrooms altogether and could fit up to 4000 students in total at any given time.

To the left of the mini plaza between the wings was a white stone building. Originally, it was a defense outpost, but in recent times it has been used as an office for the Enforcement Department as well as the Department of Student Affairs. To the right of the plaza was a small forest which was an ideal place for training and even romantic rendezvous.

To meet with the academy head, Lorist had to go through the main hall of the lecture building, circle around the assembly ground and canteen, pass through the herb garden and research building that were used mainly by the academy's herbalists and finally the library before he arrived at the main administration building, which was previously an abandoned training ground. The academy head's office was on the top floor of the administration building.

Despite being a multidisciplinary academy with more than 153 years of history, the Dawn Academy wasn't famous for their Battle Force or swordsmanship courses. Most other schools that ranked above them usually had a Blademaster in charge for the two courses.

Rather, the academy was more famous for accounting, archaeology, language studies, herbalism as well as magical beast studies. They were also quite renowned for their painting and music composition courses.

To ensure that their students were multitalented and holistic, the Dawn Academy insists that all students choose two other professional disciplines and one arts course besides their main Battle Force and swordsmanship courses or they will not be allowed to graduate. On the other hand, the academy does not care about how long it takes to graduate as long as the fees are paid.

Besides the few renowned courses, the academy also has multiple other disciplines for students to choose from, namely, construction, sculpting, city management, business management, knight training, horsemanship, ship building, smithing as well as leather tanning. They even had one course specially designed for descendants of noble families among which included flower appreciation and fine-dining courses.

Although these other courses were not the academy's best ones, they still held a certain standard and only hired qualified instructors. As these courses only taught the basics of the disciplines, students could easily pass them and graduate, provided that they put in a decent amount of effort into it.

Lorist took up accounting and knight training as his additional professional courses. This was chosen ten years ago by his uncle who also handled all of his family's business affairs. His uncle thought that learning accounting would benefit Lorist even if he doesn't end up inheriting the title of the family head as he can always inherit his position as the head of the family's trading group.

As for knight training, that was chosen because his family had a glorious military history and considered martial prowess paragon. Lorist also showed tremendous talent as he had awakened his Battle Force at the young age of 14. Had it not been for the grave error he committed in the past, he would not have been exiled to Morante City by his father.

Being exiled meant not being able to receive the traditional knight training of his family. At that time, Lorist's uncle thought that it was not good for Lorist to not have any training in this field and chose knight training as the other professional course he had to take.

What his uncle didn't expect was that before even a month has passed since his precious nephew's enrollment, due to his overbearing arrogance, Lorist had got into some trouble with several other students and ended up beaten to the brink of death. It was at that time that another consciousness took over young Lorist's body.

Because of that, Lorist only took one year to complete the accounting course since to the current Lorist, the subject was merely some crude, simple arithmetic on the level of mathematics classes taught to fourth or fifth graders back in his previous life.

However, the current Lorist had some initial trouble with his knight training. Had it not been for his already fit body, he would've suffered quite a bit during the arduous three years of the course. He had to start of as a squire of other knights and carry out many miscellaneous tasks for his seniors as well as manage their armors and take care of their horses on top of attending his own physical exercise and training sessions in the skills of a knight. After three years of bitter training, he finally obtained his pass for the course.

Despite all that, he could only become a knight apprentice, unlike his other course mates. That was due to his Iron ranked Battle Force. Only Silver Swordsmen could become full-fledged knights.

That being said, the main cause for his stunted Battle Force training was due to a mishap in the cultivation of the Norton family's Blazing Battle Force. Ever since inheriting the memories of the original owner of the body, he knew that he was in possession of a hand-copied version of the Blazing Battle Force manual that only allowed him to train up to the Three Star Iron rank. At that time, his Battle Force had just recently been awakened and it would take him a few more years to reach the Three Star Iron rank, so he wasn't in a hurry to obtain the rest of the manual.

Battle Force training was very much different from the Ki-refining techniques he had encountered in his previous life. He was forced to train the Aquametal Technique passed down in his family by his grandfather at the young age of seven back then. Battle Force training, however, did not start until one reached the age of 15 or 16; one could not awaken one's Battle Force at too young an age when the pulse wasn't strong enough to agitate the magical beast factors present in the blood.

Legend says that thousands of years ago, the world was rife with magic and great magi and sages dominated the world. They called the Grindia Continent the 'main plane' and set off to the stars in search for other planar worlds. In one of their countless expeditions, the magi discovered a worrying problem. The magi usually travelled in small numbers and did not have much prowess in close combat to fight the warriors of the other planes. Thus, they returned to the Grindia Continent to figure out a solution for the problem.

Initially, the magi resorted to taming magical beasts, but they soon felt that it wasn't that great of a choice, as the beasts had relatively low intelligence and could not efficiently comprehend the magi's instructions. Problems solved with magical beasts usually ended up messy or bloody.

One day, after long periods of brainstorming, the magi got a spark of inspiration and injected blood from strong magical beasts into humans who could not train in the art of magic, and through the use of a magic formation, Battle Force was manifested.

Battle Force totally changed the world of humans. Possessing techniques to train in Battle Force, the magically inept humans could thrive against magical beasts without the protection of the magi. Not only did that greatly lessen the magi's responsibilities to protect the normal humans hence allowing them more time to pursue their own interests, it also provided the magi with a formidable army.

Following that discovery, various other types of blood from different magical beasts were integrated into the human body and thus different types of Battle Force attributes were identified. At that time, Battle Force awakening and training occurred with the aid of magical formations. The magi also categorized the different ranks of power and their difference in abilities. With the extensive research conducted by the magi, Battle Force training got easier and faster and humans with Battle Force started showing up everywhere, with their training speeds getting faster and faster. In time, Sword Gods roamed the world and Sword Saints were littered all over the place.

Those thousand years were the most glorious era of the humans. The countless planes conquered by them supplied Grindia with an massive amount of resources and riches. At that time, the fairies sang for the humans, the halflings cooked them wondrous delicacies, the dwarves built them majestic palaces, the dragons served as their mounts, the minotaurs plowed their fields, the beastmen herded their livestock; all the other races revered the humans and treated them with utmost respect.

However, something happened and sparked the beginning of the end. Some magi explorers of the boundless void discovered the desolate ruins of a race of gods on an abandoned plane. The magi soon got to know that all the resources available in the countless planes did not even add up to an iota of the resources on the plane of the god race. On that plane were countless high grade magical materials, the purest of ore mines as well as the legendary, arcane secrets of immortality.

All of the magi turned their focus to the land of the gods. They formed large and powerful parties of magi and rallied armies of Sword Gods and invaded the plane of the gods.

The war waged by the magi against the gods lasted a thousand years. Countless different nations on that plane were eradicated and the blood of countless magi and Sword Gods tainted the battlefields. No side emerged victorious from the war; both parties were left crippled and ravaged. The event was just as described by 'The War of the Gods', blood stained the skies, countless brilliant stars fell like meteors, human greed triggered earth-shattering change and darkness enveloped the world...

The actual factor that kick-started the downfall of the humans was the gradual depletion of the once omnipresent magical force, causing the great magi to lose their main source of power. Nobody knew the cause of such a phenomenon, but all of them were convinced that the era of magic was coming to an end.

As the magi lost their last strands of power, the previously subordinate Sword Gods and Saints reckoned that their time had come, and that the main driving force in the near future of Grindia was the Battle Force that they possessed. For their own selfish ambitions, they began to fight among each other. No longer bound by a pact with the magi, they murdered, pillaged and destroyed to their hearts' desires. They hated being under the control of the magi and vented their anger on the majestic structures built during the age of magical civilization. They would not be satisfied until every one of them were reduced to ashes.

Founding their own kingdoms or nations, they towered over the common folk and were worshipped by their subjects. But in their arrogance, they had forgotten that without the magi's aid in the first place, they did not have the right to own what they had. As they grew older, they discovered that their descendants could not inherit their fantastical abilities and were only ordinary men as they didn't know how to draw out the innate Battle Force in their blood. Their empires and legacies they built were left with no eligible heir.

When the last Sword Saint breathed his final breath, a thousand years of darkness descended onto the human inhabitants of Grindia. Having lost their ultimate means of defense, the humans could not fend off the dreaded magical beasts and were helpless against their assaults. They had no choice but to live in seclusion for the sake of survival.

The human population on the continent was reduced up to two thirds during the thousand years of darkness.

However, one lone warrior miraculously awakened his Battle Force in a battle to the death with a magical beast while he was hunting. Using the power of his newly-awakened Battle Force, he killed the savage beast and survived. Fortunately, the settlement he lived still had an ancient Battle Force manual that was passed down by his ancestors.

The curtains of the night were lifted and the rays of dawn once again shone upon the humans. The awakening of this sole warrior's Battle Force was a silver lining and brought great hope to the human race, prompting the survivors to cooperate and research alternative ways to awaken Battle Force.

In the long years of battling against magical beasts, the humans slowly began to understand the dynamics of Battle Force and grasped the means of Battle Force awakening. Without the magical formations of the magi and given that the Battle Force manuals left by their ancestors were not applicable to them, the humans could only learn from their experiences in battle through the process of trial and error. Their progress was slow, but steady.

Another thousand years elapsed and the humans have once again become the overlords of the Grindia Continent. Battle Force was no longer an arcane discipline and has become common knowledge. Stimulating the innate magical beast factor in their blood to awaken their Battle Force and training to achieve higher levels of power allowed the humans to turn the tables against their once again thrive over magical beasts and become the predators instead.

No longer having any threats to their survival, the once unified humans broke apart again into different tribes and creeds and once again competed among each other for their own agendas and goals for hundreds of years up until present time.

Historians opined that the end of the magic civilization marked the end of magic age as the foundations for their technology had long been eroded. According to them, magical energy did not just disappear. It was actually replaced by another force that could resonate with the magical beast factors in the blood of humans that once again allowed the awakening of Battle Force.

It was thought that if a family had produced Sword Gods or Sword Saints in the past, their descendants would have a higher chance of awakening their Battle Force as the magical beast blood that their ancestors had assimilated were from stronger magical beasts, and that was believed to be the main factor of the relatively high success rate for Battle Force awakening of the descendants of such families.

That line of thought caused many noble families to pay more attention to their family's marriages in the name of maintaining a purer bloodline, even forcing siblings into marriage in certain instances.