The beginning of the journey towards the academy

After Kyle felt an inexplicable surge of joy, he regained his calm and stared at the table in front of him, where the items were scattered. He decided to use the Golden Touch and observe the changes that would occur to determine what modification to add to his plan.

While he was lost in thought, he heard a soft knock on the door. He jumped up from his seat, gripped the hilt of his sword, and approached the door with quiet, steady steps, his muscles tensed and his shoulders leaning slightly forward in readiness for any sudden attack. He felt his body heat rising with every step.

"Who's there?"

His voice was low and calm, but a hidden tension flickered in his eyes and crept into his fingertips; he hadn't expected anyone to visit him at this hour.

A calm voice answered from behind the door:

"Sir, it's the waiter… I brought your dinner."

The moment he heard that, he remembered that before coming up to his room, he'd asked for his dinner to be brought to him. At that instant, he noticed that the candle on the table had burned out, leaving only the faint blue glow of the magic lamps to light the room, which meant night had fallen without him realizing it. The scent of burnt wax mixed with the warmth of the food coming from behind the door, making his stomach growl softly, as if rebuking him for the delay.

"I'm coming."

Quickly, he put the items back into his storage ring and moved the chair he'd placed behind the door as a primitive barricade, even though he knew that any real attack could easily smash the door or slip in through the window.

Kyle opened the door cautiously, leaning his body slightly so that half of him stayed behind it. There stood a young man, about his age or a little older, pushing a food cart that gave off the smell of cooked meat and aromatic herbs. The waiter looked utterly ordinary—just a human with no sign of strength or aura. Even so, Kyle didn't lower his guard; his eyes kept shifting between the waiter's face and the cart, ready for any suspicious movement.

He took the cart quickly, then told the waiter to come back in half an hour to collect it. He closed the door slowly, peeking through the narrow crack at the hallway before locking it and leaning his back against it for a moment, letting out a heavy breath.

He sat down in front of the cart and began to eat with a composed, aristocratic manner. Even though he had never actually learned noble etiquette, the memories buried in this body made every movement seem natural and precise: he lifted the spoon lightly, placed the knife neatly at the edge of the plate, dabbed his mouth with a white linen napkin. His eyes watched his hands as if they were moving on their own, while his breathing gradually calmed.

After finishing his meal, he quietly pushed the cart outside the room. Then he closed the door tightly, preparing for a long training session. He went to the bed, sat cross-legged, his back straight, his palms resting on his knees, and took a deep breath that filled his chest.

He pulled out a book from his storage ring, opened it, and began flipping through its pages, which contained the basics.

He started reading slowly:

> The ranks of a knight are usually divided into the following stages: Bronze, Silver, Gold, Earth, Sky, Legendary.

Each stage consists of: Low, Mid, High, Peak.

Of course, I won't talk here about the advanced stages, because you, Kyle, are lazy! If you find these basics too long, you'd just toss the book aside without a care.

Kyle raised his eyebrows. He already knew this information when his soul merged with this body, but the last sentence made the corner of his eye twitch and a sarcastic smile tugged at the edge of his lips.

"Even the basics were shortened because of the laziness of the previous Kyle…" he muttered mockingly, squeezing the book between his fingers until his knuckles turned white.

A sudden thought crossed his mind to return to the Leothan lands and shout in their faces that he was no longer lazy Kyle. But that idea quickly faded; first, they wouldn't believe him, and second, they might suspect manipulation or hidden messages, which could draw the attention of the Temple of Life and make him the focus of the Life Matriarch herself. So Kyle had no intention of returning before completing his years at the academy.

He sighed and refocused on the words in front of him:

> Well then, if you break through to the Low Bronze rank, you might think you've become a knight. Congratulations! You haven't become a knight yet—you've only stepped into the world of knights.

He frowned, feeling something odd. "What do you mean I'm not a knight yet?" he muttered under his breath, tapping the edge of the page with his finger.

> You must be skeptical now, and that's normal, since you used to skip training sessions or nap in corners.

His eyes twitched again, and he gripped the edge of the book so hard that the paper rustled.

> First: To become a knight, you must awaken your aura. That's how you become a Bronze Low Knight Trainee.

Second: You must make that aura dense.

Third: Circulate the dense aura through your body.

Fourth: Form a core called the "Seed of Life."

Kyle shut his eyes tightly, feeling a mix of frustration and anger. "Damn you, Kyle! Why didn't you study before or at least listen to the explanations!" he hissed sharply, smacking his forehead with the palm of his hand before exhaling slowly.

If anyone saw him now, they'd think he was a madman cursing at himself. He took a deep breath and refocused on the book again.

> To make your aura dense, you must first make it thick while merging it with your blood and letting it flow naturally through your veins to find a suitable path that will ease its circulation when you create the Seed of Life.

Kyle read everything written in the book and began to understand what he had to do, then paused at that point.

"I guess this is the furthest the Leothan family expected the old Kyle to go because of his laziness."

He closed the book and started reviewing the steps he needed to take.

"All right, to make my aura dense, I need to consume cultivation resources and strengthen my body through physical training."

Kyle pulled out a paper where he had previously noted down the resources he had. His eyes quickly found the cultivation supplies, and a faint smile appeared on his face.

"It seems the resources were prepared meticulously enough to make my aura dense."

Some might see this as good, but for Kyle, if it were the old lazy Kyle, these resources wouldn't be enough to become a true Bronze Knight and walk the knight's path; he'd have to work and find solutions.

"Unfortunately, I'm not lazy Kyle. I'm a new soul in this body, and with my cheat, I'll become a real Low Bronze Knight in no time."

Thus, he began his training. He didn't rush to consume the cultivation resources since using them required physical training, but the time and place weren't right for that yet, so he postponed it. Still, that didn't stop him from strengthening his aura, so he began meditating calmly.

---

In the blink of an eye, a whole week passed since Kyle was reincarnated in this world. During that week, he first: Activated the Golden Touch on the items, but they didn't produce anything useful for him, so he decided to sell them at an auction—yes, he would put them up for auction in the central capital in the eastern part of the Kingdom of Astalia before using a portal to travel there. [Name: Moonlight Flower Vase

Function: Keeps flowers alive and vibrant, especially Moon Flowers.]

[Name: Silver Hair Comb

Function: Keeps hairstyles attractive and fixed and strengthens hair.]

[Name: Life Pendant

Function: Provides calm and focus during prayer and keeps the body lively and full of vitality.]

Even though these items had functions, they were useless to him but could benefit others.

Second: He searched for other items but unfortunately didn't find any. However, he did get a real map to the next city. You might ask: Do they sell fake maps? The answer: Yes, and plenty of them.

Third: He bought the supplies needed for his journey through the wilderness.

And so, Kyle stood in line at the gate of the city wall, where many people were coming and going, with various carts pulled by horses. He noticed several things at this gate: First, there was a special lane for nobles who weren't inspected. Second, there was a lane for commoners, where thorough checks were done when entering, but those leaving weren't searched.

Kyle muttered to himself:

"Strange world… its system doesn't run properly."

But for Kyle, this was good—it saved him a lot of trouble.

Quickly, Kyle left the city, where the scent of the earth hit his nose. He inhaled air that didn't carry the stench of animal and human waste like the streets of the city.

"To reach my next destination, I have to pass through the forest."

Kyle made up his mind and started walking along the side of the road carved out by the horse-drawn carts.