Mercenary System: I can increase innate potential !-Chapter 217: Confirmation of rumors

This battle would be a mere formality.

...

When dawn began to paint the horizon, the camp of the Purple Knight Academy was still plunged in semi-darkness.

In the dormitory of the senior students, the mercenaries were all already awake except for a few who liked to sleep.

But of course, the latter were shaken awake by other mercenaries until they finally woke up, grumbling.

Everyone began to prepare their belongings for departure.

This ranged from going to wash their belongings in the academy’s water well to sharpening their swords with whetstones available in the dormitory.

It was obviously a must-have in a knight’s academy.

And all the mercenaries were well versed in the technique of sharpening their swords:

First, you had to wet your whetstone by immersing it in water for about 10 to 20 minutes.

A whetstone generally has one thicker side and one thinner side. You had to start with the thick side to sharpen the blade and make sure that the whetstone was placed on a solid and secure base, so that it wouldn’t slip.

After that, it was necessary to move the blade along the thick side of the whetstone at a constant angle. Generally 20 degrees for their swords.

There were still a few more steps to be taken, notably using the thinner side of the whetstone.

When the blade was sharp enough, it had to be rinsed and wiped with a towel.

Finally, it was necessary to let the whetstone dry until it was completely dry before putting it away.

There was therefore a technique to learn in order to sharpen one’s sword properly, but after doing it a few times, it became a rather simple routine to perform.

Other mercenaries were simply busy grooming themselves. With their wages, they could all afford to buy a few products for brushing their teeth and washing and styling their hair.

This type of product was very common, but the main customers were fairly well-off. Most villagers could not afford to buy these products, or only used them once a week, at the most.

City dwellers, however, could more easily afford to consume this product, and could consume it more regularly than villagers.

While his mercenaries were busy, Maxime took the opportunity to get some fresh air and do a little training to warm up for the day.

But surprisingly, he was not the only one out at that hour.

Three men wearing light clothing were already practicing the art of the sword, their swords reflecting the faint light of the rising morning.

Not far from them, their majestic griffins, creatures as imposing as they were fearsome, were resting peacefully, their wings folded and their claws motionless on the stone floor.

They were clearly men of the royal guard.

"They’re up pretty early. But I guess no matter what world you’re in, without effort, no matter how talented you are, it’s impossible to reach the top."

"These guards, being part of the elite of the kingdom’s elite, all have to have such discipline."

Maximus, wearing his reinforced leather armor, lingered for a moment near the griffins. He observed their powerful muscles quivering beneath their plumage, the fineness of their sharp beaks, and the quiet majesty they exuded just by lying on the ground.

How majestic it must be to ride such a creature and feel the speed and power of flight.

For a moment, he even wondered if he shouldn’t go back to the king and ask to join the royal guard instead of getting a territory.

The salary would be generous and as one of the kingdom’s strong men, the risk of losing his life would be relatively low.

"Maybe I should have been a little more ambitious and asked the king to give me a griffin in addition to the territory?"

"Hmm... would I have seemed too greedy if I did that? After all, a territory is worth much more than a griffin."

While Maxime was daydreaming, the three knights of the royal guard noticed him and approached with a friendly smile.

But Maxime didn’t recognize any of them, the two knights he had met the previous evening and who guarded the king, always having to sleep or be occupied with other things.

"Impressive, isn’t it?" asked one of them, a veteran in his forties with a long beard, while noticing Maxime’s gaze fixed on the griffins.

The other two who were following were slightly younger, looking to be in their thirties.

"Oh, and I’m being rude. My name is Kael and the two who are with me are Rita and Tamor."

Maxime shook the hand that Kael held out to him, as well as those of Rita and Tamor, who also gave him a welcoming smile.

"Nice to meet you, my name is Maxime. And yes, it’s true that to be impressive, he’s really impressive." Maxime replied honestly.

Otherwise, he wouldn’t have daydreamed for a moment about joining the royal guard to obtain such a majestic mount.

It wasn’t just in Eternity, even summoning such a beast on a dimensional battlefield or in the real world, could only cause a sensation.

Kael nodded, running an affectionate hand over the neck of his mount, which was sleeping nearby, and the latter emitted a slight growl of satisfaction at the feel of its owner’s hand.

"They are our most loyal allies, and we consider them members of our family. Without them, our fighting power would be drastically reduced and, above all, we would never be as mobile as we are today."

Maxime continued to look at the griffin next to him while listening to the bearded knight speak.

"The relationship you have with your griffins and what they allow you to do is certainly enviable."

Rita, who noticed that mercenaries were leaving the dormitory one after the other, changed the subject and asked:

"Are you leaving already? Dawn has barely broken."

Maxime nodded.

"Yes, we have to make a detour before returning to our base. In order not to waste time, we have to get up early." he replied with a smile.

The royal guard’s opinion of Maxime improved by a few points.

Knowing that the royal guard’s impression of him was already positive. The two guardsmen who had seen him enter the room where the king and Count Ardan were and had already discussed what they had seen with other members of the royal guard.

It was said that a young man with blond hair, who was also the captain of a group of mercenaries, had caught the king’s attention.

And that alone meant a lot.

"And if I may ask, where are you going?" added Kael, intrigued.

Maxime had nothing to hide, especially from the king’s men, so he told them directly about the detour he was planning to take.

"We’re going to Kadis Mountain."

Kael, Rita and Tamor all frowned at this announcement.

"The mountain of Kadis, eh? You’d better be careful. Our griffins detected a threat there a few days ago."

Maxime raised an eyebrow, immediately intrigued.

"A threat? What kind?"

"Hard to say." admitted the knight with a shrug. Stay tuned to novelbuddy

Tamor, who had been standing back until now, began to explain.

"Griffins have much keener senses than humans, and they sensed an unusual presence. And what I can say is that if they reacted, it’s because there is definitely something out there that can threaten them."

"But since it didn’t have the power to scare them, we didn’t go to investigate."

Maxime nodded slowly, but in his mind he was very excited.

This meant that the villagers’ rumors were based on something real!

"Thanks for the warning." he replied seriously, hiding his excitement.

The most uptodate nove𝙡s are published on frёewebnoѵel.ƈo๓.

He couldn’t tell them he was going for this mysterious threat, otherwise it would raise questions on their part.

And he didn’t want to explain anything, especially when it had to do with talents or classes.

There was only the downside of his talent [Nox Limit], which he didn’t care about anymore.

Clearly, it was going to become increasingly easy for those with a modicum of knowledge and intelligence, which he possessed, to use talent, valuable resources, ancient techniques or even magic to have so many strong men in his group of mercenaries.

And clearly, Maxime preferred that people guess part of the truth about this talent, because a talent could neither be copied nor stolen.

This also reduced the threats. But if some people thought he had a treasure or valuable techniques, then that could be the beginning of some problems.

And that was bound to happen in the future, so the goal was to become strong enough quickly to counter these future threats.

"We will remain on our guard." Maxime continued to reply, in order to reassure the knights of the royal guard.

Maxime and the knights of the royal guard continued to talk for a while, until the majority of the Saber-toothed Tigers’ mercenaries were already present in the vicinity.

Sensing that the time had come to say goodbye, Kael once again extended his hand.

"Pleased to meet you, Maxime. Take care, and have a safe journey." he concluded with a smile.

Maxime shook it firmly.

"The pleasure is mutual. Take care of yourselves too, the orcs are certainly not weak and obviously they won’t stop their attacks for a few months yet." replied Maxime with a sincere smile, before turning away to rejoin his men.

At that moment, the apprentice knights and the academy instructors were slowly waking up, but Maxime’s mercenaries were all wide awake, their gear ready and their weapons checked.

Without another word, Maxime gave the signal to depart.

The group moved off slowly but this time without horses, since the previous ones had all belonged to Count Ardan.

Aveline, who was surprisingly awake, watched the group leave with a certain reluctance from a room high up. She had befriended many mercenaries along the way, and would have liked to have accompanied them.

But with her noble status and as the only heir of Count Ardan, it was completely impossible.

She was mature enough not to do anything stupid. After all, the inhabitants of her father’s territory would be counting on her to provide for them in the future.

The knights of the royal guard also watched the departure of the mercenaries. Two of their colleagues approached them, clearly having already been awake for a while.

"What are you guys looking at?"

Kael, Rita and Tamor turned to their colleagues.

"These mercenaries, and particularly their captain, they’re really very interesting." Kael replied with a mysterious smile.