“Knight Ronya!”
Seeing the face revealed beneath the Fourth Circle masked man's veil, William cried out in surprise.
“It seems you know him.”
Tyr wasn't surprised that William recognized the masked man. After all, they had targeted them so directly.
“He is Young Master Laciel's guardian knight.”
Remembering the man who always wore a humble expression, William's face turned incredibly grim.
“Laciel? Who is that?”
Over the past few years in the Sword Prison, Tyr had indeed studied many necessary courses for nobility, which included memorizing several great nobles and their children.
But in his memory, there was no one named Laciel.
“He is the youngest son of Count Ronal,” William continued, perhaps thinking Tyr had never heard of the name. “Count Ronal is a Count of the north. His family has declined somewhat over the years; the strongest transcendent in the Count's manor is only of the Seventh Circle.”
Transcendents were divided into three ranks based on their realm. Transcendents of the First to Third Circle were called Low-level Transcendents, those of the Fourth to Sixth Circle were called Mid-level Transcendents, and those of the Seventh to Ninth Circle were called High-level Transcendents.
To become a great noble, in addition to military achievements, a family had to possess at least one High-level Transcendent.
Count Ronal's family could be considered an established great noble house; at their peak, there were five Seventh Circle transcendents in the Count's manor.
“Do you know why they tried to ambush and kill you?”
Why would the child of a great noble try to ambush and kill William and his mother, who had already been reduced to commoners?
“He wants the 《Sword Qi Body Tempering Technique》,” William said, gnashing his teeth.
For clan members like William who had been stripped of their titles, the family did not strip away their memories of the cultivation techniques.
If they could one day rely on their own strength to cultivate to the Fifth Circle, the family would be willing to accept them back.
This was perhaps the last shred of warmth this family—which seemed utterly cold-blooded to other nobles—offered to its own kin.
Of course, to prevent these stripped-of-title children from leaking the technique, magic had been implanted inside their bodies.
Once they attempted to leak the secret, the magic patterns would activate directly, blasting them into dust.
Furthermore, these magic circuits all bore the Grand Duke's magic power mark. If anyone attempted to unravel the magic circuit of the secrecy magic, not only would they need to possess at least Ninth Circle strength themselves,
but they would also be sensed by Grand Duke Callis the very instant they touched the magic circuit.
“A few months ago, Laciel found me and expressed that he was willing to spend a huge sum of gold coins to buy the training method for the 《Sword Qi Body Tempering Technique》 from me. He even said that if I was willing to hand it over, he could have his father bestow upon me the title of Viscount.”
William still remembered that when Laciel visited their home that day, this Knight Ronya had been following right behind him.
“I refused his request at the time, but he still left behind a bag of gold coins. It was because of this bag of gold coins that our family's caravan was able to keep running. Back then, I only thought he was a decent person.”
William didn't finish his sentence, but Tyr could guess what he was thinking.
He hadn't expected this person to be a smiling tiger, acting one way in public and another in secret.
“Don't worry about this matter anymore. I will report it to the family after I return. However, you still need to be careful during this time.”
Once they reached Valenhill, Tyr would part ways with them, and they would have to rely on themselves.
“Thank you, Tyr.”
William thanked Tyr solemnly. Whether it was stepping in to deal with the Fourth Circle masked man earlier or reporting this matter to the family, William felt deeply grateful.
Otherwise, with his current status as a mere commoner, how could he possibly contend with Count Ronal's manor?
“Mm.”
Tyr nodded, then bent down to start picking up the swords of those masked men.
Members of House Callis would bring the swords of those they killed back to the Sword Prison. In the past, Tyr had only seen others deliver swords; now, it was his turn.
Seeing Tyr picking up the swords, the surrounding mercenaries quickly came forward to help.
Tyr and William's conversation just now hadn't been hidden from them. Those who could reach the Silver rank weren't fools.
This youth, whom they had previously thought was just coasting along, was absolutely a noble.
Remembering that he had wanted to go pick a fight earlier, the fierce mercenary broke out in a cold sweat.
“My lord, your swords.”
Working together, the several of them quickly gathered the masked men's swords.
“I only want these.”
Tyr extended his magic power, picking out the swords of the masked men he had personally slain, and threw the remaining swords back to the five Silver mercenaries.
These swords would fetch a decent price and would be a significant income for them.
After sorting out the swords, Tyr and William returned to the carriage.
...
A few days later, Valenhill.
“If you want to protect your family, you must grasp power yourself.”
“The family didn't take back your cultivation technique, so you still have a fighting chance.”
During these final few days, Tyr could clearly feel the silence of the mother and son.
Especially William; Tyr could see that he had shown feelings of regret more than once.
As for what he regretted, it wasn't hard to guess.
“I will.”
William nodded. In fact, since his family's decline, he had already begun cultivating.
However, gathering all the magic potions needed for the medicinal bath was no simple matter.
Both their rarity and their price gave William's current family a massive headache.
What he used to detest in the Sword Prison had now become something he yearned for but could not obtain.
This was also the reason why his realm had remained lingering at the First Circle all these years.
“Tyr, thank you again for what happened this time.”
William bowed, thanking Tyr once more.
“No need for that. This matter is no longer just your family's business.”
Trying to forcibly seize a cultivation technique of House Callis was already a direct challenge to the authority of House Callis.
After bidding farewell to William and his mother, Tyr turned and walked toward the Dragonfall Mountain Range.
Watching Tyr's departing back, William's heart was filled with complex emotions.
Back when they hadn't left the Sword Prison yet, Tyr was at the First Circle, and he had also barely reached the First Circle.
Although his strength was certainly incomparable to Tyr's, they were still considered to be in the same realm.
Yet now, seven years had passed. He was still at the First Circle, while Tyr was already a Fourth Circle swordsman.
Seven years ago, they were both Grand Duke candidate reserves.
But now, he had lost his noble status and could only rely on a small caravan to maintain his household, while Tyr had already become a Grand Duke candidate.
Such a massive gap left an indescribable feeling in William's heart.
“William, look.”
Just then, Lady Laurena's cry of surprise came.
William turned his head and saw Lady Laurena holding a small brown pouch filled with glittering gold coins.
And the place where Lady Laurena had found the gold coins was precisely where Tyr had been sitting earlier.
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