Chapter 12: Chapter 12

For the vast majority of subjects in the Sis Territory, the bell tower was simply a tower that told time. But for Sis Castle, the bell tower served more as an accompanying watchtower, shouldering the responsibility of vigilance and lookout.

Passing through the castle gates, what met the eye was a small square measuring roughly twenty to thirty paces north to south and forty to fifty paces east to west. But this open area didn’t consist solely of the square. Toward the northeast, Ron thought he could also make out the presence of farmland or vegetable gardens.

After arriving at the castle, Pierce did not dismount. He simply halted his horse at the castle entrance, seemingly making a deliberate show of avoiding suspicion.

At the same time, a middle-aged man dressed as a steward arrived with a group of servants, bringing bread, roasted meat, and other food for the apprentices.

Ron ate a little to replenish the energy spent during the recent activity.

Soon, Foss issued another command: “Form groups of twenty and follow me!”

He then instructed the steward-like middle-aged man, “When the first group comes out, bring the second group over.”

With that, he led the first group of twenty into the castle’s main building. The pitch-black doorway swallowed everyone’s figures, a sight that made Ron feel somewhat uneasy.

He was fortunate enough not to be in the first batch, but he was in the second.

He actually knew that Foss was doing this to provide the apprentices with the Knight inheritance.

According to Jason, the Knight inheritance possessed by the Sis Territory was called the 【Ice Breathing Technique】, but ordinary Knights could not directly teach this breathing method. One had to receive the inheritance at the lord’s castle.

But Ron’s inner self was an outsider after all. He wasn’t sure whether he could receive the inheritance. If he failed to obtain it, who knew what kind of trouble it might invite.

“I hope everything goes smoothly!” Ron prayed silently.

Under these circumstances, the situation was beyond his control. This feeling of leaving things to fate was deeply unpleasant for him, but he could only await destiny’s judgment.

He did his best to calm his tangled thoughts and waited patiently among the crowd.

…

About an hour later, the twenty apprentices who had earlier entered the castle’s main building emerged from the suddenly opened doors as though they were barely being held upright, supporting each other.

“Quick! Go help them over and get them something to eat!”

The steward who had remained on the square immediately ordered his servants to assist them. The servants moved with practiced ease, seemingly having dealt with this situation more than once before.

Then the steward called out to Ron and the others: “Second group, follow me!”

Ron, blending into the queue, was inconspicuous. Under the steward’s guidance, the group also walked into the castle’s main building, passed through several corridors, and arrived at a room resembling a storage room, where they descended a spiral staircase to the underground inheritance chamber.

Upon reaching this point, the steward went no further. He simply said, “Young Master Foss is waiting for you below. Head down on your own. Come back up on your own once the inheritance is complete.”

Naturally, no one had any objection.

…

After descending roughly twenty or thirty steps, Ron suddenly felt a bone-chilling cold radiating from below. The others shared the same sensation, and they couldn’t help but quicken their pace.

As they descended further, the cold emanating from below grew ever deeper. Ron felt his teeth chattering, but since Foss was down there waiting, though the group had their doubts, no one discussed them aloud.

They merely exchanged glances, which steeled their resolve.

Soon, the spiral staircase ended, and the group finally arrived at the inheritance chamber. It was a place that looked like a natural grotto. Considering that the lord’s castle was built against a hill, having a grotto beneath it didn’t seem entirely impossible.

But the scene inside the grotto was astonishing enough.

There was actually a simply designed circular pool. In the center of the pool rose a miniature iceberg standing nearly a meter above the water’s surface. And the water in the pool was not the colorless, transparent liquid one would ordinarily expect.

Instead, it was tinged with a layer of blue, as though dyed by that blue iceberg.

Ron could confirm that the piercing cold he had felt from the spiral staircase until now originated from this very block of mysterious ice before him!

Just then, Foss’s voice rang out abruptly beside the pool:

“The inheritance is right before your eyes. What are you waiting for? Get in the water, all of you!”

Hearing this command, Ron didn’t hesitate for even a moment. He immediately stepped forward and plunged straight into the pool. The next instant, he felt as though his lower limbs were being sliced by countless steel blades. The bone-chilling cold penetrated to his marrow, threatening to freeze his consciousness solid in an instant.

At this point, he was completely unable to care about anyone else’s reaction. Under the erosion of the cold, he could only subconsciously follow Foss’s next instruction:

Gaze at the miraculous ice block in the center of the pool while submerging his entire body in the water, leaving only his head above the surface.

In this moment, Ron’s thoughts seemed to grind to a halt. All that occupied his mind was the expanse of deep blue before him.

“Follow my commands: exhale, inhale, exhale, inhale.”

Foss’s words were like an incantation. Ron subconsciously began to breathe in rhythm with the cadence. After completing one cycle, a thread of warmth welled up from within his body.

This wisp of warmth, born from within the extreme cold, restored Ron’s nearly stalled consciousness to full vitality the instant it appeared. He was astonished to find that the external cold seemed to have diminished slightly.

“No, it should be that my ability to resist the cold has grown stronger!”

He certainly didn’t think a group of apprentices could cause any change to such a miraculous block of ice. It seemed to be the effect of that thread of warmth. But why did that warmth feel so familiar to him?

Almost instantly, Ron thought of the warmth generated when the 【Comprehensive Body Refinement Technique】 took effect. According to Jason, that was the trace of Life Energy circulation.

Could it be that he had already become a Knight this quickly?

As if noticing that Ron had already regained his senses, Foss’s voice sounded again: “Remember this breathing rhythm. You’ll be in for some hardship from now on!”

“Yes.”

Ron quickly acknowledged. Only then did he notice that the others had not awakened as he had. Foss’s words were spoken to him alone, like a reminder, or perhaps a caution.

So Ron once again focused his attention on the blue ice block ahead.

Having gone through the previous experience, he now perceived something wondrous when he looked at the blue ice. It was as though he could sense an indescribable rhythm, or cadence, within the cold that ceaselessly radiated outward.

As he tuned into it further, the cold seemed to strike again. But unlike the initial instant when it had flooded in all at once, the cold now came in waves, surge after surge, like ocean waves continuously washing over his body and mind.

Following the breathing method Foss had taught, with each exhale and inhale, the warmth that had already begun to fade grew pronounced once more.

But before Ron could continue to explore the sensation, his field of vision suddenly shifted. The blue ice block was replaced by a stone wall. Only then did Foss remove his hand from Ron’s shoulder, and his voice, now carrying considerable authority, rang out once more:

“Enough. Look at your body. If you keep breathing like that, aren’t you afraid of dying right here!”

Hearing this, Ron immediately looked down at his own body. Peering past his collar, the firm, solid muscles from that morning had been reduced to skin and bones. The sight gave him quite a fright.

“This,”

“In the future, without Ignition Potion and sufficient meat to replenish yourself, never perform the Ice Breathing Technique carelessly.” Foss warned again.

“Yes, thank you for the guidance, Young Master Foss.” Ron hastily expressed his gratitude.

“Stand to the side. Wait until the others have all awakened, then go back up together.”

With that, Foss stopped looking at Ron and turned his gaze toward the other apprentices still in the pool.