Sol left the squad quarters after repairing the walls and cleaning up the mess he had unintentionally made. He made his way to the Commander's office just as Zaman was leaving.
“Sol? Haven't seen you in a while. How is the progress with Lapis’ revival?”
“Making steady progress. We have almost everything but the blood of priests. Still need to talk to the church about that.”
While Sol didn't ask for the Commander's help, Zaman was still aware of their efforts. After all, he knew what book Sol had read in the Royal Library and could easily get a list of all the materials he bought with merit. It wasn’t hard to put two and two together.
Zaman pondered for a moment and asked, “Do you need my assistance talking to them? I'm not sure how they would react to such a proposition, but it shouldn't be too extreme if it comes as an official request.”
Sol shook his head. “No thanks, Commander. I'm worried if they react negatively, it will make the recent situation worse.”
He was referring to the recent drama and problems cropping up everywhere lately. Royal Knights had been failing missions or getting caught doing some sort of crime. Many nobles and merchants loyal to the crown had also been caught up in different controversies. The situation around the capital had become rather tense as a consequence.
Sol knew something was afoot, and when his squad was chatting about it, Duncan assumed it was some noble faction rebelling. But since they weren’t mobilized to do anything about it, Sol focused on Lapis’ revival and his own improvement instead.
Zaman appreciated his considerations. Though he was willing to lend a hand, he was also worried about the possible repercussions.
“There is something I wanted to ask. Can you tell me how I can get a law technique?”
Zaman raised a brow upon hearing him mention a law technique.
“Who told you about it?”
Sol plainly spoke the truth. “The scale told me about it and said I should ask you.”
“It did now…” The Commander put his hand under his chin and, after a moment of consideration, nodded. “Sure, I can teach you about law techniques. Funnily enough, you asked at the perfect time. Follow me.”
Zaman began walking down the hall, leaving Sol confused. Sol followed after him and asked, “Are we not going to talk in your office?”
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He shook his head. “No, we are heading to meet with the princess. I have a lesson scheduled with her soon.”
“The princess?! Right now?!”
Sol almost stumbled in shock. He didn’t understand how asking about law techniques immediately led to meeting the princess.
Zaman reassured him, “It will be fine. You said you wanted to learn about law techniques, and it just so happens that today’s final lesson will cover that.”
Sol still wasn’t sure about this. “I don’t know… Would she be alright with me joining at the last minute?”
The Commander chuckled. “Don’t overthink it. She isn’t that sort of person. Plus, taking you with me will save me from having to explain it twice.”
With his Commander insisting, Sol decided to stop worrying about it.
‘I’ll just speak as little as possible. I don’t want to accidentally say the wrong thing and make an enemy out of her…’
Sol was still overthinking it.
The two made their way through the winding halls as Sol continued to wonder how to leave the best impression, clearly not heeding Zaman’s advice.
Eventually, they arrived at one of the many doors in the palace, which Zaman gave a light knock and opened. They entered and saw Princess Valerie, who was storing some books she had recently finished into her storage ring before she noticed the new presences in the room.
“Zaman, you're just in time. I just finished reviewing the material from the last lesson.”
Zaman chuckled, “Haha, when am I not? We will briefly go over what you studied to make sure you retained the information before going into the final lesson. Ah, before doing anything, let me introduce you to Sol. He will be joining us today.”
Sol gave a standard knight salute and spoke, “It's a pleasure to meet you, Your Royal Highness.”
She gave a polite bow back. “The pleasure is all mine. I still remember your valiant performance at the knight tournament. Holding your own against an A-Ranker for so long left a deep impression on me.” She then turned to Zaman and asked, “Is Sol here to also learn about law techniques?”
Zaman nodded with a serious expression. “Yes, though I would have liked both of you to work on developing your battle sense and combat techniques a bit more, it would be best if both of you began working on breaking into A-Rank as soon as possible.”
Sol at first assumed Zaman was referring to the situation in the capital and the current public sentiment towards the crown. He knew public opinion was lower than usual, but he didn’t think it was bad to the point of riots and open complaints. He guessed something else was the true reason.
‘Seems something is going down soon, or at least the Commander is preparing us for what could happen.’
Given another reason to train harder, Zaman began the lesson. The first half of the lesson consisted of a lot of reading and information Sol had already gone through when Zaman was training him. He mostly stayed silent, letting Valerie answer for herself, which she did flawlessly. But what was most impressive wasn’t her ability to retain and memorize the information she read but her ability to expand upon it, adding a new perspective on a few subjects that Sol had never thought about before.
Twenty minutes later, Zaman judged it was time to head into the final lesson and the main reason Sol had joined today's session.
“Congratulations to both of you on finishing your studies. I have little left to teach you, and from here, only you can teach yourself. Still, I can provide some guidance to help both of you get started. As you may know, law techniques are the only way one can become an A-Ranker. How one goes about learning or acquiring one—well, there are three main methods. From the most common to the rarest, there are: Talent Ascension, Skill Ascension, and Enlightenment Ascension.”