Issho took his seat quietly, and soon Martha arrived carrying the food.
The warm smell of freshly baked bread and pork porridge drifted toward him before the bowl was even placed on the table.
The faint sound of the bowl touching the wooden surface echoed softly in front of him.
As soon as she placed the food down, Martha asked with a small smile in her voice, “Today you came late to eat.
It seems you were practicing even more today.”
After hearing this, Issho smiled faintly and nodded.
“Yes, I was busy practicing more today, and from today onwards it will probably continue like this.”
Martha nodded after hearing his answer.
She had already become somewhat familiar with Issho’s routine by now.
So hearing this, she immediately understood that Issho must have added another training regime on top of his previous one.
Following his already intense swordsmanship training, this new addition would increase his total daily training time to around three hours or perhaps even more, just like today.
Honestly, even many normal trainee knights would not train with such consistency every single day.
Martha looked at the blind young man for a brief moment before quietly leaving him to eat.
Meanwhile, Issho began eating his usual meal.
The warmth of the porridge spread through his body as he steadily ate the bread alongside it.
His exhausted muscles seemed to relax slightly after finally receiving food.
Normally, after finishing this amount, Issho would already feel satisfied enough.
However, today was different.
Even after finishing everything, Issho could still clearly feel the emptiness in his stomach.
He paused slightly.
Still hungry…?
Issho immediately understood the reason.
After becoming a Trainee Knight as a Blood Forged Knight, his physical strength had increased significantly, and naturally, the body now required more nutrition to sustain itself.
Especially after today’s brutal training session, his body was demanding even more energy than before.
Without hesitation, Issho ordered another bowl of pork porridge.
Soon, the second bowl arrived, and Issho immediately began eating again.
This time, only after completely finishing it did he finally feel the hunger inside his body calm down.
A deep breath escaped from him unconsciously.
The warmth settling into his stomach made the exhaustion throughout his body feel slightly more bearable.
However, with the extra food today, his meal expenses also increased.
Normally, the average amount Issho spent on a meal was around twenty-five copper coins, but today it rose to nearly thirty-five copper coins.
Still, Issho did not feel much about it.
At most, it simply meant he needed to earn a little more money.
And honestly, Issho was now even more confident in his ability to earn through hunting.
After all, he had already become a Trainee Knight now.
His strength was no longer comparable to before.
Not to mention, once he officially became a true Knight in the future, he could earn even more money by becoming an adventurer.
So this small increase in expense did not bother him much at all.
After finishing his meal, Issho slowly stood up from his seat and walked back toward his room.
His footsteps were calmer now after eating, though exhaustion still lingered in his muscles.
Soon, he entered the familiar small room and sat down on his bed.
The room was quiet except for the faint sound of the wind outside.
Issho leaned back slightly while resting his hands on his knees, silently thinking about everything that had happened today.
“Now I am a Trainee Knight.
With the money that I currently have, it should be enough to support me until I reach the Knight level, and after I become a Knight, that strength alone would already be more than enough for me to become a Bronze-level adventurer.”
Issho quietly muttered to himself while sitting on the bed.
The room remained silent around him, with only the faint sound of the breeze entering through the slightly open window.
His tired muscles still ached from today’s training, but his mind remained active.
“Even though I can probably become an Iron-level adventurer right now, I don’t want to take that risk,” Issho continued thinking calmly.
“Why should I unnecessarily risk myself when I can simply become a Bronze-level adventurer after becoming a true Knight?”
Issho understood very well how the guild system of this world worked.
In this world, there were many guilds spread across different kingdoms and empires, and most of them were officially regulated or monitored by the ruling powers.
Their main purpose was to deal with monsters, dangerous beasts, escort missions, unexplored regions, and various dangerous tasks ordinary civilians could not handle.
Generally, as long as someone was not a wanted criminal, they could freely join an adventurer guild or an adventurer party.
Of course, there were exceptions.
Some guilds secretly opposed particular kingdoms or empires and therefore did not care whether a person was a criminal or not.
In fact, some even intentionally accepted fugitives and enemies of certain nations.
There were even guilds completely formed by criminals from different countries and empires.
Those guilds were commonly known as Dark Guilds.
Issho had already learned about them from Elric’s memories.
Dark Guilds usually accepted assassination jobs, illegal trades, smuggling, mercenary warfare, and various underground activities.
They operated in the shadows of society and were feared by ordinary people.
However, that was naturally not something Issho intended to join.
His goal was to join a proper adventurer guild in the future.
As for the ranking system inside the guilds, Issho already knew the general division quite clearly.
From lowest to highest, the first rank was Iron-level adventurer.
These were usually people at the level of Trainee Knights or beginner mages.
Most new adventurers entered the guild at this level and handled lower-risk tasks such as hunting weak monsters, gathering materials, or escorting merchants through relatively safe areas.
Above Iron rank came Bronze rank.
This rank was generally given to true Knight-level or Mage-level powerhouses.
Reaching this rank meant a person had already become significantly stronger than ordinary people and could independently handle dangerous missions.
Above Bronze rank was Silver rank.
These were Elite Knights and similarly Elite Mages.
Such adventurers were already considered highly respected figures in many towns and cities.
Then came Gold-rank adventurers.
These were Grand Knight or Grand Mage-level powerhouses, individuals capable of easily dominating battlefields and handling extremely dangerous monster extermination missions.
Above Gold rank came Platinum-rank adventurers.
These were Transcendent-level powerhouses, beings standing at the peak of strength in many kingdoms.
Their names alone carried tremendous influence.
And even above them existed the legendary Adamantine-rank adventurers.
These individuals were among the strongest adventurers in existence, monsters among monsters.
Many guild masters themselves stood at this level.
Their influence extended across entire kingdoms and even empires.
This was generally the division of adventurer ranks throughout the world.
As Issho quietly organized all this information in his head, he slowly leaned back slightly on the bed.
Step by step…
first become a Knight.
Only then would he truly begin entering this world properly.
With Issho’s current strength, he could already join an adventurer guild and easily be ranked as an Iron-level adventurer.
However, Issho was not desperate enough for money right now to rush into becoming one immediately.
At present, the money he possessed was still more than enough to support his training until he reached the Knight level.
So there was no need for him to unnecessarily expose himself to dangerous missions too early.
Still, Issho also understood that sooner or later, he would definitely have to become an adventurer.
The reason was simple.
Food.
Right now, the food he ate mainly consisted of ordinary meat and common meals—bread, pork, chicken, and similar things.
That amount was manageable currently, but as his strength continued increasing, the nutritional demands of his body would also rise drastically.
Even now, after merely becoming a Trainee Knight, his appetite had already noticeably increased.
If this continued further, then once he became a true Knight, ordinary meals might no longer be enough to sustain his body properly.
Issho silently thought about it.
Maybe even eating an entire wild boar alone would not fully satisfy him after becoming a Knight.
After all, powerful bodies consumed tremendous amounts of energy.
The stronger a person became, the greater the burden on their body and the more nutrients they required to maintain that strength.
Especially for Blood Forged Knights like him, whose bodies constantly demanded physical enhancement, food consumption would only continue rising.
Which also meant his money would start disappearing even faster.
Issho slightly rubbed his forehead before quietly shaking his head.
“Let’s leave it to the future,” he muttered calmly.
“I will observe things for the next few days and then decide what to do.”
The room remained quiet as his voice faded.
“Anyways, I am only going to join a guild after I become a Knight.
That will be much safer in this kingdom area because, generally, the strongest powerhouses in low level kingdoms are mostly Elite Knights.”
Issho slowly organized his thoughts one by one.
Knights were already considered very powerful figures in ordinary kingdoms.
Most people would never even dare offend one casually.
If he himself became a true Knight, then in this region at least, he should already possess enough strength to defend himself from most dangers he might encounter.
At the very least, he would no longer be as vulnerable as he currently was.
“Not to mention…” Issho muttered softly while leaning slightly against the wall, “with more training, I hope I will eventually master the ‘Breath of All Things’… or as this world calls it, the ‘Law of Sharpness.'”
The moment he thought about it, memories and understanding regarding swordsmanship surfaced in his mind once more.
The Breath of All Things.
Or rather, the Law of Sharpness in this world.
A mysterious realm of swordsmanship where one’s control, perception, and cutting ability reached an entirely different level.
Once mastered, a swordsman’s attacks would undergo tremendous qualitative change.
Even though Issho had only touched its surface slightly through Fujitora’s inheritance and swordsmanship insights, he already understood how terrifying that power truly was.
“If I can master that…” Issho continued quietly, “then with my gravity control ability and the Law of Sharpness combined, I should even be able to threaten an Elite Knight-level powerhouse.”
The thought itself made his heart become slightly heavier with anticipation.
Right now, that level still felt distant.
But not unreachable.
Not anymore.
With all these thoughts in mind, Issho slowly lay down on the bed.
The rough blanket shifted softly beneath him while exhaustion finally began fully catching up to his body.
The soreness in his muscles, the strain in his legs, the pain in his fingers from Finger Pistol practice, and the fatigue from two continuous hours of brutal training all surfaced together at once.
His body felt incredibly heavy now.
The faint sound of the wind continued entering the room quietly while the surroundings gradually became still.
And before long, Issho’s consciousness slowly faded as he fell asleep from pure exhaustion.