Evening.
In the dining hall on the first floor of Ice Wolf Castle.
Roy, Tony, and Erin were enjoying dinner.
After lying in bed for a week, Tony was finally able to get up and move around.
Tonight was the first time he had come to the dining hall for a meal since his injury.
Tony picked up his glass of wine, took a sip, and asked Roy, "Your 18th birthday is in a little over 20 days. Is there anything you want for a gift?"
"Nothing in particular."
"As long as you don’t plan a birthday banquet for me, I’ll be happy."
Roy shook his head and said slowly.
As soon as he finished speaking, Tony’s voice rang out.
"Absolutely not!"
"This is your coming-of-age ceremony. If we don’t even hold a banquet, it would be completely unacceptable."
Tony looked at Roy with a serious expression.
On this continent, an 18th birthday coming-of-age ceremony was a very important event.
Never mind nobles, even commoners would do their best to prepare a banquet on that day and invite friends and family to attend.
Moreover, for the nobility, the coming-of-age ceremony was not just a banquet, but also an opportunity to display the family’s strength.
If the ceremony was too shabby, they would become a laughingstock among the other nobles.
"Fine. Do what you want. You’re Baron Ice Wolf, you call the shots."
Roy had no intention of continuing the topic with Tony and spoke slowly.
"Don’t worry. Erin and I will definitely prepare a grand birthday banquet for you."
After dinner, Roy returned to his bedroom.
After resting for a moment, he went to Chaos Square, opened the Skill Proficiency Panel, and glanced at the progress of his Giant Elephant Breathing Technique.
[Giant Elephant Breathing Technique: Tier Four (4949/5000)]
Seeing that his Giant Elephant Breathing Technique was only 51 proficiency points away from advancing to Tier Five, Roy took a deep breath and began his cultivation of the technique.
For the past few days, he had temporarily stopped cultivating the Ice Wolf, Black Raven, and Shadow Leopard Breathing Techniques, focusing all his energy on the Giant Elephant Breathing Technique.
Time passed, bit by bit.
「A little over two hours later.」
[Giant Elephant Breathing Technique Proficiency +55]
[The Giant Elephant Breathing Technique has been upgraded!]
[Giant Elephant Breathing Technique: Tier Five (4/10000)]
’Finally, Tier Five!’
Having successfully raised the Giant Elephant Breathing Technique to Tier Five as he’d hoped, Roy remarked to himself.
The upgrade to the Giant Elephant Breathing Technique made his Fighting Qi, which was already far superior to that of other Peak Knights, even more substantial.
After briefly testing the extent of his improvement in Chaos Square, a satisfied Roy left and returned to his bedroom.
’It’s time to make a trip to Redwood City!’
After reading through all of *Basic Potion Making: From Beginner to Expert*, he had made a plan: first, raise the Giant Elephant Breathing Technique to Tier Five, and then head to Redwood City to find Alchemy Materials and an Alchemy Vessel.
Although it was unlikely that ordinary shops would have the Alchemy Materials and Alchemy Vessel he needed, he had never intended to buy from ordinary shops in the first place.
’Special items, of course, must be purchased through special channels!’
Just as he was about to change his clothes and jump out the window to leave his bedroom, a squad led by an Official Knight suddenly arrived outside the castle.
As soon as the squad reached the castle gates, the leading Official Knight activated his Fighting Qi and shouted, "I am Kario Knight, under the command of Count Rock Lion! Open the gates at once!"
Amplified by his Fighting Qi, Kario Knight’s voice echoed throughout Ice Wolf Castle, completely shattering its tranquility.
Although Kario Knight was one of Count Rock Lion’s men, Roy didn’t think he was the target.
Besides himself, no one knew that the Mutated Four-armed Demon Ape had died at his hands.
Soon, he had a guess.
Kario Knight was here to find the Mutated Four-armed Demon Ape.
As for why he had come to Ice Wolf Castle, the reason was simple: a few days ago, Tony had specifically sent men to notify the mayors and village heads in his domain, telling them to warn the public to be wary of the Mutated Four-armed Demon Ape.
Before long, under Tony’s orders, Sir Adam led Kario Knight to the castle’s reception hall.
Roy wasn’t particularly interested in Kario Knight.
Nevertheless, he put on his Noble Robe and went to the reception hall.
After all, his current identity was that of Baron Ice Wolf’s younger brother.
If one of Count Rock Lion’s men showed up at Ice Wolf Castle late at night and he didn’t even make an appearance, it would be inexcusable.
Inside the reception hall.
Kario Knight, clad in black armor, sat on the sofa with a stern expression, looking at Tony, who sat opposite him.
Although he was not a noble, merely a High Tier Knight under Count Rock Lion, his expression was exceptionally arrogant, as if he weren’t facing a Baron, but a commoner.
It was not surprising that he had such an attitude.
It wasn’t just him; the other High Tier Knights under Count Rock Lion had a similar attitude when dealing with the other Barons of Yorkshire.
’A dog borrowing its master’s might!’
That was the best way to describe them.
Upon entering the reception hall, Roy sat down next to Tony.
"Kario Knight, to what do we owe the pleasure of this late-night visit...?"
Before Tony could finish, Kario Knight rudely cut him off.
"I heard that you, Baron Ice Wolf, were injured by a Mutated Four-armed Demon Ape a few days ago."
"Did that Mutated Four-armed Demon Ape have any distinguishing features? Was its right eye blinded?"
Kario Knight asked, his tone icy.
’This guy really has no manners!’
Suppressing his inner dissatisfaction, Tony replied without a change in expression, "That’s right. The Four-armed Demon Ape that injured me was indeed blind in its right eye."
"Which way did it flee?"
Kario Knight continued to ask.
"Apologies, I’m not sure where it went. We underestimated its strength and had no choice but to retreat and regr—"
Just like before, Tony was interrupted again before he could finish.
"The older brother is trash, the younger brother is trash, the whole family is trash!"
"You clearly couldn’t beat it and ran away, so why try to make it sound so nice?"
Kario Knight looked at Tony and Roy with disdain.
Hearing Kario Knight insult not only Roy, who hadn’t said a word, but also the deceased Old Baron, Tony, who was already furious, could no longer hold back.
Just as he was about to berate the man and demand some respect, Roy acted first.
Before anyone could react, he snatched the teacup in front of him and hurled it at Kario Knight.
CRASH!
The teacup shattered on impact against the black armor, splashing hot tea all over Kario Knight.
This...
No one had expected him to do such a thing.
Tony’s expression changed instantly. He shot to his feet and raised an arm to shield Roy behind him.
He was still injured and in no condition to fight.
But he still rose to his feet in an instant.
"Brat, do you have any idea who I am?"
Kario Knight radiated an intense killing intent, his expression as ugly as if he were about to eat someone alive.
"I do. You’re nothing but one of Count Rock Lion’s dogs!"
"Count Rock Lion is a busy man and has no time to teach you how to respect nobility. So I’ll teach you instead!"
Roy completely ignored the killing intent radiating from Kario Knight and spoke quickly.
’Although fighting Kario Knight would definitely expose some of my strength, it isn’t a particularly serious matter if I do.’
’Worst case, I’ll just show my hand and stop pretending. I’ll switch from the ’staying-low’ path to the ’genius’ path!’
’He couldn’t just stand by and watch someone mock him and Tony for the sake of hiding his strength.’
Roy was ready to strike at any moment!
The moment Kario Knight showed any sign of releasing his Fighting Qi or retaliating, he would instantly crush the man’s head and show him what a true gap in power looked like!
...