Chapter 131: Chapter 131

Following this failed challenge, Foss didn’t arrange another opponent for Ron. Instead, the team battles of the Martial Tournament began.

Because Knight-tier Team Battles could cause accidental injuries to the audience, they were not held at Bell Tower Square, and spectators below the rank of Knight were not allowed to attend.

Today’s matches only featured the quasi-Knight Tier and Apprentice Tier. Aside from participating in the matches, those quasi-Knights also had to handle on-site security during the bouts.

Only the apprentices could freely enjoy the entire event today. Of course, with Ron in the picture, the only ones capable of dominating the entire arena were the Blood and Fire Squad he led.

Under a double-elimination format, Ron’s Blood and Fire Squad successfully claimed the championship in just six matches, going undefeated.

While they didn’t completely crush their opponents in these six matches, under Ron’s leadership, they still won with relative ease.

After securing such results, Foss didn’t ask Ron to lead the Blood and Fire Squad in challenging the quasi-Knights, much to his relief.

If they truly had to challenge them, being completely crushed was almost the only possible outcome.

After all, aside from Ron himself, the rest of the Blood and Fire Squad completely lacked the foundation to clash with quasi-Knights. Battle Formations could make up for shortcomings to a certain extent, but they equally amplified the opponent’s advantages.

Even if Ron could flexibly manipulate the bodies of Justin and the others, they still had almost no hope of winning. He couldn’t possibly expect every opponent to be someone with easily provoked emotions or other fatal flaws like Mika!

…

For Ron, the end of the Apprentice Tier Team Battles meant the Martial Tournament was effectively over. He wouldn’t have minded going to watch the Knight Tier Team Battles, but the associated risks made him hesitate.

He could probably ask Captain Monte to take him there, but he had no desire to leave his life in the hands of another. Risks that could be avoided through his own choices were best avoided.

Regardless of what he did now, he wouldn’t be able to resist a Knight-level enemy anyway. Once he advanced to Knight himself, he could consult Captain Monte regarding both common knowledge and actual combat.

Therefore, after the awards ceremony concluded, Ron collected his rewards and headed straight home.

Aside from his reluctance to participate in high-risk activities, there was another crucial reason: he had just received notice that the apprentices were to return to the training grounds and no longer needed to help with the repair and reconstruction efforts in the eastern part of the territory.

The implication of this notice was crystal clear. It was telling everyone that the decisive battle was imminent and they needed to hurry up and prepare.

The ones who needed to cram the most for this upcoming battle were undoubtedly Ron and his fellow apprentices. Counting from the day they joined the Territory Guard, they had been training for a little over a month at most.

With the decisive battle looming, no amount of crash-coursing could be considered excessive.

Ron returned home precisely to seize every available second to develop himself as quickly as possible. It would be too late for regrets if he met his end at the hands of the enemy just because he fell short by that tiny margin of effort.

…

On the open ground in front of his house.

Ron paced back and forth, casually swinging a sharp sword without any set patterns. His movements were incredibly light and slow, resembling slow motion in a movie, but the changes his body was currently undergoing were no less significant than his daily Sword Stance training.

They might even surpass it.

By entering the Knight State through the Secret Pattern Program, Ron could experience exactly what one hundred percent Whole-Body Force felt like. Relying on this state, he continuously perceived every inch of his own body.

His ultimate goal was to achieve this one hundred percent Whole-Body Force state even without the Secret Pattern Program’s assistance.

This process was simultaneously one of continuous physical reinforcement. Prior to today, Ron had already gone through it countless times.

Just as he finished spending half an hour pacing across the entire clearing, Liya’s gentle voice drifted from behind him. “Ron, take a break and eat something before you continue!”

Although Liya didn’t understand what Ron was doing, she knew it was related to Knight training. When it came to his training, the only thing she could do for him was prepare ample food.

Hearing Liya’s voice, Ron, who was slowly moving his body, tensed up for a fraction of a second before immediately relaxing.

Realizing this, Ron couldn’t help but sigh inwardly. If his Whole-Body Force progress had reached one hundred percent, there wouldn’t have been this brief hitch in his movements.

Instead, he would remain completely relaxed the entire time, which naturally also meant remaining perfectly tense the entire time.

When one achieved complete mastery over their own body, the boundary between tension and relaxation became incredibly blurred.

…

Stepping beside Liya, Ron naturally accepted the roasted meat she handed him. Knowing that Ron always ate boiled meat at the training ground, she had deliberately prepared a different recipe and flavor.

“Thank you, Liya.”

Ron wolfed down the roasted meat in huge bites. Aware that Ron needed to eat quickly, Liya chatted to fill the silence: “I wonder if the territory’s operation to encircle and suppress the cultists will go smoothly. Ron, I heard from my father that you apprentices will most likely be kept in the territory to do auxiliary work. You mustn’t show off and try to go to the battlefield!”

“Mhm.”

Ron gave a vague, muffled reply. Liya nodded in satisfaction and continued, “This world is so dangerous. Even though I have my father and you protecting me, I still want to do my part!”

Hearing this, Ron, who had been stuffing his face, instantly stopped moving. He swiftly swallowed the meat in his mouth and asked Liya in surprise:

“You plan to join the Territory Guard?”

“I do have that thought.”

Liya didn’t hide it. After all, no matter what decision she made, she wouldn’t be able to keep it from her family in the end. She told Ron:

“I don’t want to just stay home every day waiting for news of you and my father. If possible, I hope to fight side by side with you and face all these crises together.”

Even though Liya spoke in a rather lighthearted tone, Ron could still hear the unwavering resolve beneath her words. Having spent so much time with her, how could he not know that the young woman before him possessed a soft exterior but an unyielding core?

He didn’t believe that women were inherently incapable of becoming soldiers or warriors, but society thrived on a division of labor; having everyone serve in military operations was certainly unwise.

However, Ron also didn’t think Liya was incapable of walking the Knight’s Path. But here in Sis Territory, whether one could obtain the inheritance of the Knight’s Path without joining the Territory Guard was highly debatable.

Based on what Ron currently knew, the only way to obtain the inheritance for the Ice Breathing Technique was by joining the Territory Guard.

Even after joining, there were still strings attached. If one couldn’t advance to become a Knight, they had to serve in the Territory Guard for at least five years. But if they managed to advance, those restrictions largely fell away.

Such was the harsh reality of reality itself.

Of course, if Ron possessed a Transcendent inheritance other than the Ice Breathing Technique, then there would be no need to abide by this rule. Unfortunately, he didn’t.