I woke up early the next morning. I was getting used to being in this world as I no longer had to spend so much time recovering after waking up. Immediately I was attacked by my own awful stench as I had forgotten to wash myself the night before prior to sleeping.

I went out of the castle to clean myself at the nearby stream. It may sound like a bad idea but the water wasn't as polluted as the ones you would find in modern cities or, you know, any major ones with hundreds of thousands if not millions of people using them.

When I returned to the castle grounds, some of the knights had already gotten themselves up and ready in the castle courtyard as well, sparring with each other and doing drills along with some of the militiamen. Most of the people from the castle town had already returned to their homes after the siege had been lifted and the corpses of the wolves and werewolves had also been dealt with. After the attack yesterday, I had managed to accumulate a good number of soul essences. I still don't know what they're used for or even how to use them, but I'd wager Al would know something about it. I'd probably learn it eventually when I get back to Dansville and continue my studies and learning with Alfred.

I decided to start training in the courtyard as well. I needed a good workout and besides raw power from leveling up, it wouldn't do for my sword skills to get all rusty. I walked up to a mannequin and started doing some sword maneuvers, trying to train my weapon control to be more efficient. After an hour of this, my strength and agility actually increased by two points each. Soon enough, the other knights began watching me train. At first it felt a bit strange, becoming a sort of attraction to these people, but, if they'll learn a thing or two, then I guess it can't be a bad thing.

This went on for a few more minutes until...

"Charles! Instead of whacking a poor defenseless old training dummy, why not try matching yourself against some real steel?" A confident voice sounded out behind me and it was none other than Sir Blakebow with the biggest grin I've seen on him yet. I didn't notice it too much yesterday, but I noticed the old knight's weapon of choice was a huge steel-looking warhammer.

Different from usual, he seemed totally pumped and I could feel his battle aura emanating around him. This was in no way or by any stretch of the imagination what you would call a fair fight. I could feel this individual knight was at least twice the level I was at that point, so that would make him exponentially stronger than me... After getting a full view of him, I now definitely believe wholeheartedly that he could've stopped those damned wolves by himself.

"Ehhh, milord, this honestly doesn't seem very fair." I voiced out my disagreements "No need to crush my pride, Sir Patrick, I'm sure you'd be able to defeat me easily. Besides, I'm not too good at hand to hand combat. Until now, all I've been fighting have been beasts and the like."

"Oh come now, Charles, it's just some friendly sparring. Tell you what, If you manage to land a clean bow to my person without me blocking it, I'll concede to you immediately. I just want to gauge the true extent of your powers. You can use any fancy skill at your disposal, just come at me..."

Sir Blakebow didn’t look like he was gonna give in anytime soon. *sigh* I guess I had no choice but to humor him at that point.

"This isn't fair, I'm not even a proper warrior!" I tried my last ditch attempt to get out of the fight

"No problem! Like I said-*Clash*" Not letting Sir Blakebow even finish what he was trying to say, I immediately lounged at him with my full power, a strong wind gust leaving in my wake as I struck Galesword at him.

I thought I was able to land a good hit, But the old man was incredibly perceptive as he blocked my strike with his warhammer which reverberated against my attack. I immediately jumped away as I sensed his counter attack coming at me. Still with that giant smirk, he looked at me after striking that giant hammer. It didn't even feel like a special attack but I could feel the power from it.

"You're a sneaky one, aren't ya, Charles?" Blakebow chuckled, "Honestly, you caught me by surprise there."

Without a second's delay, I immediately lounged at him again and attacked with a flurry of gale slashes and wind attacks. He tried blocking again, but I could see him getting pushed back from his position. Some of the knights even gasped as they saw me being able to push the Lord Steward back as his feet were dragged behind by the force of my attacks.

After about half an hour of this back and forth, I was already running out of steam. I couldn't discern any clear openings from the old man and he wasn't budging any further. I know for a fact that I was too fast for him to hit properly, but in terms of endurance and vitality, I was beaten by a longshot.

"I give up!!" I said as I threw my weapons to the ground and dropped to the floor while panting. It was good training, and I managed to gain a point to my stamina stat. "You're a damned iron wall! I can't even land a solid hit on you! You'd outlast me any day... Goddamn..."

"HAHAHAHAHA!!" Blakebow laughed heartily "You're a sly one you really are, Charles! How can you spend the entire time striking at me and then admit defeat just as soon as you run out of energy? You can't be telling me a young man has less energy than this old coot."

"That's exactly what I'm telling you, Sir Blakebow!" I said as I sat up. He wanted to prove a point of his power and I gladly admited to it. What more could he possibly want?

"Charles, I've acknowledged you as a competent fighter, but I haven't completely seen your true worth boy! Why don't we do it like this then." With a loud crash, Blakebow put his warhammer down on the ground before he cracked his knuckles ``If you can take just a single solid punch from me, I'll acknowledge you completely and take it as me owing you a favour!"

I must've made an unsightly expression as regardless of my consent, Blakebow was approaching me, getting his fists ready.

"I'm not sure if this is going to prove anything..." Still trying to talk my way out of this, I slowly backed away until suddenly I couldn't move as I felt my feet being stuck in place. When I looked down, I was clearly trapped by sturdy rocks, preventing me from moving and before I knew it, Blakebow was already in front of me when he gave me a good punch to my stomach.

*POW!!!* My entire body reverberated as I could've sworn I heard some bones crack and I was lifted slightly to the air, the rocks trapping my feet instantly being destroyed. This was the most painful sensation I've felt yet and my healthbar went critical from full in an instant. When I came down, I was wheezing and gasping for air, barely holding on to dear life as I fell. I think I actually blacked out for a good few seconds before coming to.

*You have withstood a punch from a master warrior! Your endurance stat is increased by 2 points!*

Goddamn! If I wasn't in such pain, I might have been thankful to Blakebow, but given the fact that I was in that state... Blakebow actually looked surprised when I fell but was still conscious and helped me up from the ground. After a full half an hour being sat down on a nearby bench and being given some water, my condition finally stabilised and I could breathe normally again shortly after. If it wasn't for the regenerating health feature that us awakened had, that punch would've landed me a few months in the hospital for sure at the very least. I think my bones were actually heavily damaged by that.

"Are you alright, Charles?" Blakebow said as he saw my breathing return to normal

Honestly, the old man had quite the nerve to ask me that after giving me quite a good socking on my stomach. If I'd eaten before, I'm sure the contents of my stomach would've gladly reintroduced itself to the outside world... From both ports.

"You're seriously asking me that right now, Sir Blakebow?" I looked at him with the most cynical smile I could conjure

"Hahahahaha!! It's simply brilliant! Al said you were special in his letter to me but I wasn't able to believe all that nonsense written there, but now I think I can a bit. I mean, a normal person would've been dead by that. You'd need to have at least trained your body to steel-rank or equivalent level of strength to withstand that punch, but even so, it would have left even the most seasoned of warriors and adventurers in pain for at least a few hours. But you shrugged it off in barely half an hour!"

This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

Wow I totally didn't feel like dying right about then. Sir Patrick may seriously have more than several issues personality-wise... Now I was also growing very concerned about how much about me Alfred had disclosed to the Lord Stewards. I definitely needed a chat with Alfred about this. Although, from what I could see, he and Al do trust each other an awful lot. And maybe that meant I could trust Sir Blakebow with the same level of trust too.

"What did the letter say about me, exactly?"

"Not much in particular. Only that you're special and have the potential to be as the heroes of old! Honestly, all that boasting is quite rare from Al, and trust me when I tell you that getting that old noble-boy impressed is quite a hard thing to do!"

Wait a minute... "Al's a nobleman?" I asked with the surprise from my tone being very clear.

"Yeah, of course he is! Not many people know but I was sure you did. He's a granduncle to King Albert himself. Prince Alfred de Lamellarouge, fifth son and youngest child of the late Emperor Peter the Honourable and brother to the last Emperor, Richard Ironfist!"

My eyes grew wide when I heard this, like a bomb dropping on me making me forget about the pain I felt earlier like it was a damn love tap. Honestly, who would've thought the down to earth head of a small thousand-soul village would be royalty? I mean if it was a large town sure, but a humble village... Although seeing as though he was oh so very knowledgeable with an actual library’s worth of information in his office and the bits of how he conducts himself, I felt more stupid than shocked because from a few points of view, it was frankly quite obvious he was more than he let on. Blakebow noticed my surprise, of course. "You didn't know this, did you?" He finally asked me.

I only shook my head. "This is the first I've heard about any of this definitively. I had a few inklings but nothing coming from Alfred himself."

"I see..." Blakebow finally nodded his head "Well, if he hasn't told you yet, I'm sure he has his reasons. It's good if you find out from him yourself. My accounts might be mired with some filters of nostalgia, so I might not represent the most accurate of sources."

"I suppose I will ask him myself when I get back." I said

"Good! Oh, and don't forget to have him train you more in the arts of the rogue. He may be a cripple now, but I'm telling you that man's skill is no joke. In his heyday, he'd be able to send an army of the most elite of the Reicher warriors running with their tails between their legs and since you have the same affinity as him I'm sure you'd be able to get even stronger."

"I'll make sure I get that training." I said. Obviously, it's the least Al could do for keeping secrets like that!

"Alright then. Well, my boys are ready to head to Dansville any time now. You just give the word and they'll be off. As a further sign of thanks, I got some supplies ready for your trip so that you can give to the villagers there. It ain't much, but it'll help." Blakebow said

"Then I'll get to it. I just need to get my things ready."

"Good. Oh! One more thing, though. How were you able to recover so quickly from my strike? I actually put a great deal of power in it and I was about to give you a potion immediately, but you stabilised so quickly."

"I wouldn't be surprised if you were actually trying to kill me." I chuckled at the man's curiosity. Well, I guess I can share one more secret. Not counting the damned punch, I do as this man a least bit of gratitude. "Don't act too alarmed by this, alright. Not even Al knows the true full extent of this ability. Heck, neither do I for that matter!"

I took out my Windwyrm and with a quick strike slashed my own arm until there was a big enough gash and quite a bit of blood flowing from it. Trust me, it stung like hell, but the pain was at least bearable. Some of the soldiers there were even surprised and they probably thought I was crazy, but after getting over the immediate shock, Blakebow had focused closely on my wound. It started to slowly close by itself until after about ten minutes when it was finally healed completely without leaving even a scar. Suffice to say, it left a few gasps in the air as the people were in shock.

"...Honestly, your surprises just keep on coming." Blakebow said as he scratched the back of his head "I didn't even see you cast your healing magic."

"I don't have healing magic."

Blakebow just stared at me blankly for a good five seconds before facepalming "Of course, you don't." He said as he sighed, seemingly giving up on trying to understand me.

"Well then, I'll be back in a bit." I said as I made my way to gather my things. It took me a bit to wash myself again after training, but Immediately headed back to the courtyard close to the front gates when I had everything in order.

It was already midday when we set off from Surlock Castle back to Dansville. Sir Blakebow sent me off with a strong 'pat' on my back which cracked me a bit more. That man and his monstrous strength... No wonder he held back against those wolves. If he had his way, he would've destroyed the entire army and the castle town with it as collateral damage.

The small platoon of soldiers and knights were friendly enough to me and they were nicer than most of the soldiers I knew during my previous life. I let them take care of some of the wolves and beasts that we ran into along the way. And due to the interface recognising me as the leader of the small squad, I also gained a bit of XP from their kills. I really wonder how this system works. So if I was a leader of a massive thousand-man army, would I also gain all those thousands of XP?

Putting that at the back of my mind, we finally reached Dansville by what I would assume to be near midnight as we took some stops along the way. This time, the village was peaceful and there were no signs of wolves anywhere near this place. In fact, I could spot some of the houses outside of the palisade area were already inhabited again. Life was returning to the village, and I am quite thankful for that. At least it didn't look like the ghost town it did when I first came to. When we reached the palisades, I shouted out to the watchman who immediately recognised me and opened the gates for us.

After the gates were opened, me and my party entered the main square of the village and we headed to the village office building where Al was. I knocked on the door and after waiting a while, Rosie had opened it and I saw in the back that Al was behind the desk doing paperwork. When he saw us, he let us in and he thanked the knights who had come and assigned them lodgings in some abandoned houses. After they were dismissed, I was the only one left in the office building.

"So do I also lodge with the knights or...?" I asked Al a little cheekily

"Don't be a damned stranger, boy." Al said in a little bit of an annoyed tone though also chuckling after "You've only been gone for two days so don’t be acting like we haven’t seen you in a year. Your bedroom's still the same, and nothing's changed."

"I'm glad that's the case..." I said with a smile before nonchalantly slouching myself over a chair

"I never realised you could look like such a slob." Al said

"And I never realised I was in the presence of quite the important figure." When I said that, I noticed Al looking at me with a raised eyebrow and a curious expression

"What do you mean-..." Before he could ask that question, I threw my old hunter knife at the old man, launching it with such force that a gust of wind was conjured up. This act of course surprised Rosie who was nearby preparing some tea for Al.

“Charles..!!” She screamed as she looked at me like I was mad - the first time I saw such an expression on her face - before I pointed her towards Al. The old man was completely unscathed as he held the tips of the blade like it was a pair of chopsticks. He had a bit of an unamused expression on his face. "Alright, Charlie boy, what's this about? What could you've possibly gained from doing that?" He said in a slightly annoyed tone. Granted, there were better ways to go about this, but I was assured of his skills ever since the defence of the village, but I still wanted to gauge his skills further.

"I only wished to see the true extent of your skills, Your Highness..." I said before I bowed in a gesture to further annoy him.

"Oh don't you do that! Get up, boy!" Al said after a tired sigh as he put his palm on his forehead "Goddamned Pat couldn't keep his bloody mouth shut could he... Blakebow's been telling you a lot of stories, hasn't he?"

"He's told me enough..." I said "I mean, everyone can have their secrets, I mean I have my own. I'm not asking for much from you, but..."

"Alright, I get it! I'll tell you the damned fairy tale you're looking for, but the day's getting late, and I need you in top condition for your true studies tomorrow."

"I also want you to train me in combat in addition to the scholastics!" I demanded the old man. it's the least he could do to prepare me for this world.

"Just go to sleep first, and we'll talk in the morning!" Al said in a slightly more serious tone like I was his damned grandchild. Not even my own grandfather has ever taken that tone with me. But very well, I complied with him. I was getting tired, after all.

It was when I turned my back towards Al, where I was shown the basics of the ways of the rogue. The dagger I had thrown was sent back to me with such speed that it lodged itself on the door. It didn't take long before I felt a searing pain on my cheek and I noticed blood running down from it. It wasn't much damage, but the fact that I couldn't sense it was what really freaked me out. I immediately turned towards Al who only looked at me with a slightly pleasant expression.

"The first rule of being a rogue, 'Never let your guard down!'..." He said before going back to his paperwork "Off you go then, Charlie boy."

The wound on my cheek was completely healed, but I couldn't help but feel my heart beat even faster with both shock and surprise. He could've killed me easily now, let alone when we first met. I shook my head as another feeling started rising up... one of excitement! Like a kid on christmas night waiting to get his presents I couldn't wait for tomorrow!

"Damned brat, pffft." I couldn't help but hear Al muttering this with a slight chuckle before I entered my room and closed the doors.