The healing potion did its work and healed Percy quickly. Most of the wounds weren’t serious and were from talons digging into his flesh. They healed quickly, leaving Percy exhausted but happy.
Although he had not received permission to participate in the Imperial training, that didn’t mean the Wintermoon estate was useless to him. Something about the Wintermoon estate—or the clearing—kept the monsters of the Moonlight Forest away. It was a safe zone, which Percy could use like he did today. The interfaces in the corner of his eyes verified that.
[Blueflame Hawk Card’s Augmentation -[Hawk Eyes⭐] has been unsealed. 150,000 Prosperity has been deducted.]
Unsealing [Hawk Eyes] had been expensive, but the Augmentation was worth every Prosperity point. His vision had always been good, but it was further augmented. He could see everything up to the finest detail in his proximity and had no problems seeing far in the distance. However, the best aspect of [Hawk Eyes] was its active function. Channeling mana through his eyes – circulating it in a specific method – enhanced his eyesight temporarily to a much higher degree. That was something Percy discovered while fighting the Blueflame Hawks.
He noticed how one Blueflame Hawk took advantage of the tiniest openings in his and Hyean’s defenses to dive down and attack. The Blueflame Hawk always managed to escape their counterattack and return to the safety of the sky.
Percy’s Blueflame Hawk did something similar using [Hawk Eyes]. It used the Augmentations and killed several Blueflame Hawks before helping Percy and Hyean deal with the special monster, which, given how precisely it attacked, must have unlocked [Hawk Eyes] as well.
Percy studied [Hawk Eyes] a little and observed the summoned Blueflame Hawk to learn and understand what his summoned monster did differently. He discovered the Blueflame Hawk’s secret and copied it shamelessly.
“It is good to see you smiling even if you look like a creepy Berserker. I’m not sure if I like what you are doing to our reputation. Rumors about the squire in the Glacia Knight Order will spread,” Ulfhar chuckled, but Percy could sense a note of seriousness in his voice.
“Officially, I’m not a member of the Glacia Knight Order. Just say that you picked up a Berserker, and you will be fine,” Percy responded with a teasing smile. But I am happy. [Hawk Eyes] is stronger than expected. I should have no problems fighting a few Ogres or Archyeas alone. I don’t even have to use my Cards to deal with a handful of them.”
It wouldn’t be easy, by any means, but Percy’s confidence was justified. He had a powerful Sword Artifact and three Augmentations boosting his combat prowess. Last but not least, Percy’s TIer was at Elite-3.
His progress was fast, but he was aware of a few – more or less – annoying facts.
In a city, or maybe even a town with commercial ports and a general trading focus, Percy’s Tier would increase much faster. He could acquire more Armor for a low price, transform them into Artifacts, and sell them for a much higher price. The gold he’d earned could then be used to repeat the process until he had enough Prosperity to acquire the strongest possible equipment.
His power level would increase rapidly through ranking up, a wide variety of self-made Artifacts, and strengthening his Monster Cards. Considering that, Percy progressed a little ‘slow’ in the Wintermoon estate.
Of course, Artifacts and Monster Cards were only external means of empowering him. The Wintermoon estate might not have allowed him to use the markets of a city focusing on trading with other kingdoms, but it helped him strengthen his foundation and earn experience.
This place gave him different means to grow stronger if he had full access to them.
Percy could sense the mana vein underneath the Wintermoon estate, but he couldn’t access it. All he received from the mana vein was the remnants oozing out of the massive mansion. The commonbirth Egos, chosen to become the next generation of Imperials, and nobles were given the best resources, while Percy had to feed on the leftover mana to refine his mana control and grow stronger.
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“Once the Imperial training ends, we will return to the Reeze family’s main residence. I will arrange a meeting with the Duke, and we can solve all official issues quickly.” Ulfhar waved his hand dismissively, ignoring the young man’s expression.
“That’s nice,” Percy responded, lackluster and with a forced smile.
I don’t know if I want to go with you in the first place. I owe you some gold, and Melissa might have invested in my future with the Blueflame Hawk, but I don’t think I ever accepted my role as a future Glacia Knight. All I said was that I think it would be cool to join the Glacia Knight Order. Now…I’m not so sure about that. Maybe it’s a waste of time to follow Melissa’s orders and ‘escort and protect’ her on trips like these. I have better things to do than following some nobles like a leashed dog.
Percy didn’t speak his thoughts aloud and would never reveal them to the Glacia Knights. He liked the Glacia Knights because they were good friends, though some looked too satisfied with his pain and suffering. That was creepy. Still, Percy would never follow in the footsteps of the Glacia Knights.
They chose to follow a noble because it promised good pay and resources. However, most chose this path because they didn’t have another choice. Ulfhar, who was also an Ego, might have had a different choice, but he decided against it.
I am not the same. Joining a Knight Order will only slow me down. What if I’m ordered to join an escort mission that wastes precious months… or I have to obey someone much weaker than me? It has only been a few months, but I should have had little to no issues winning against Igor.
Percy looked at Glacia Knight Igor and nodded inwardly. Igor and the other Glacia Knights trained occasionally, but they enjoyed torturing Percy with their training regime much more. Most didn’t even try to hide their dislike for the knight training. That was understandable, given that most Glacia Knights were forced to train daily for over a decade before they were knighted. Percy didn’t doubt that training daily for a decade was troublesome, but switching from training daily to exercising weekly or bi-weekly wasn’t good. It would work for a few weeks, but Percy could already see how rusty some Glacia Knights had become.
Now that [Hawk Eyes] had been unsealed, Percy discovered most openings in the Glacia Knights’ gait and training regime much better.
We are not made from the same wood. I think that’s obvious. But even Melissa…She is powerful and manifested her Ego when she was fourteen. That might be young for an Ego, which is also how she became one of the top candidates in the Imperial training…but I manifested my Ego only a few months ago and am already closing in on her. I can catch up to her…and succeed her. With my Ego, I can do it!
His encounter with Melissa Reeze and the Glacia Knights changed his worldview. He learned a lot about the kingdom and the other forces, but most importantly, Percy learned a lot more about himself, his ambition, his ideals, and the things he wanted to do in the future. Meeting dozens of commonbirth Egos and young heirs showed Percy where he stood and how much stronger he had to grow to surpass them.
It was satisfying to see how strong he was compared to the future Imperials of the kingdom, but a seed of regret had blossomed in Percy’s heart. He had expected more from this, maybe even to get to know some Egos and become their friends. Connecting to the future Imperials was never wrong, but Percy’s bigger issue was that he…missed being around other people.
The Glacia Knights were kind, and he liked them, but their relationship felt different from that with Butcher Kevin, Merchant Erdwin, Leonhard Meiser, Bertha, and Olivia. The people in Raewood had been different and intriguing. The Glacia Knights weren’t boring, but they didn’t tell him about themselves. His relationship with them was more…superficial.
It wasn’t that bad when we traveled. Or was that because of Melissa? Even if she acted rudely, her actions felt genuine.
Percy scratched his head and contemplated.
He expected to meet Melissa and the other future Imperials a few times in the last few weeks, but only a few commonbirth Egos sometimes left the Wintermoon estate.
But maybe that wasn’t the worst-case scenario. Most nobles would ignore Percy either way. He might as well try to make friends with many commonbirth Egos.
His eyes landed on a duo of commonbirth Egos, brothers covered in cuts and bruises, and a grin formed on his lips.
Another fight? That was about damn time! I almost thought the instructor tamed you two. Good thing they didn’t.