Soul of Searing Steel

Starfall Year 832, 17th of February, Main City of Moldavia.

Joshua was standing in the middle of the courtyard of the military camp with no expression whatsoever on his face. Right before him were the knights that were wearing heavy armor. There were tens of them. There was an insignia two hands bearing swords on their chest. Anyone could tell that these were the loyal knights that served the Radcliffe family.

Each of these knights was about twenty to thirty years old. That was the age where these men were hot-blooded and had the courage and the passion to battle. However, even though that was the case, they could feel an inexplicable tension and thirst in their mouth while they were being watched by the calm eyes of their liege. The power of Joshua's soul had somewhat invaded their spirit. The formation of the knights was slightly shaken up.

Truthfully, every single one of them had already been on the battlefield and survived. They had all gone to the battlefield and experienced the power of blood and fire. However, it was obvious that the existence of the warrior was much more terrifying than anything they've ever encountered on the battlefield.

The clouds were tumbling, and the winds were blowing gentler than before. Snow was falling down to earth bit by bit. It was already February. The cold weather in that period was not as cold as one month ago. The breeze of the weather was swaying across the city gently, indicating that the weather was going to get warm soon.

Meanwhile, at that moment, Joshua began to speak.

"Each of you is chosen to be here for a reason."

He spoke in a flat tone, void of emotions. However, even though that was the case, most of the people in the vicinity were obviously hyped by his speech. Only a few of them remained calm. Meanwhile, the warrior overlooked that trivial matter as he stared at one of the young knights that was not trembling at all and said, "You're all aged between twenty to thirty years old. Your strengths range from Lower Silver tier to Intermediate Silver tier. Do you know what this means?"

"We're young… and our strengths are not weak!"

A brave young knight raised his hand and replied in a loud voice. He replied Joshua's question with enthusiasm, "We have more potential that has yet to be discovered!"

"That's a good answer. You're all chosen to be here because you have much more potential that has yet to be discovered and utilized!"

Upon praising the young knight and nodding his head, Joshua remained grim as he continued to say, "But there's something wrong about what you said. That is, your strengths... Your strengths are still too weak!"

Upon listening to those harsh words, everyone stood straight up in an instant. Meanwhile, Joshua walked back and forth in front of the knights while he was observing the expressions of the knights one after another. After that, he shook his head, and said, "With your current strength, I could have taken twenty of you at the same time back then when I was still an Upper Silver-tier warrior. You would not stand a chance in defeating me even if you come at me at the same time… You are my knights. Won't you feel ashamed of this? Do you still need me to protect you?"

"No!"

Because of the long-term education, these young knights had been made to know when to feel ashamed of themselves. They went red with shame upon hearing what Joshua just said. Their own pride made them ashamed of being weak. The knights then stood straight and shouted loudly, "Never, my liege! This is the greatest shame of all time!"

"It is good that you know shame. However, that still cannot change the fact that you are very weak now."

Nodding slightly, Joshua was satisfied with the response of his knights.

These knights were basically warriors that were picked from the fortress and the defending force of the city, potential seeds that were picked for nurturing. They were equipped with certain Gifts on them. However, their Gifts and talents were buried all because their families were poor and some other reasons. However, those reasons no longer affect them. In Continental War, as long as they had rage and resentment in their hearts, and they had the desire to change their current situation, then their futures would not be cemented. They would then gain the chance to improve themselves. All they needed was a chance, an opportunity to prove themselves. Then their strengths would improve without a doubt.

Meanwhile, Joshua was the man who was willing to give each of them a chance for that.

Upon thinking about it, the warrior said, "Fortunately, your weak strengths can be changed and improved."

"…!!!"

"Rolance, you're thirty three this year. You're an Intermediate Silver-tier combatant. Because of your body's quality, you cannot generate enough Combat Aura to shroud yourself around with it. So you cannot reach the realm of Upper Silver tier yet, let alone becoming a Gold. However, that's not because your Gift is not enough. That was because you're born poor. Your body did not receive proper development and your potential was not fully exploit. You need to think about using low-level Awakening Magic Potion to exploit your hidden power that has yet to be discovered. By doing so, you can undoubtedly breakthrough to a higher tier without having to worry about anything else."

"Blart, you're twenty four this year. You're a Lower Silver-tier combatant, and you're young. Your stamina is strong. However, you cannot sense the Combat Aura to reach into the realm of Intermediate Silver tier… Your problem is that your will is not pure enough. Even though you have the courage, you lack faith and conviction. You need a target, a goal to motivate yourself to fight. That will sharpen and purify your will. That will allow you to sense the power within you."

Pointing out the weaknesses of the knights, Joshua concluded what he wanted to say and paused for a brief moment. He wanted the knights to reflect on their own problems.

"I see."

"I first thought that this was my limit. I've never thought that this could be the reason to all that."

"No one had told me about all these before…"

The knights, every single one of them, had never experienced receiving such detailed points. They had been following and learning from another knight since they were young. They were treated as attendants as they learned and trained bit by bit.

After all, being an attendant to another knight could only earn them so much basic skills and techniques. However, without a proper and complete legacy at the later stages, these knights could only explore and learn everything else all on their own. Meanwhile, all sorts of legacies were in possession of larger forces like the aristocrats and the Empire in the middle region of the continent. So most low tier knights could only rely on their Gifts and instinct to improve themselves in order to attain higher tier. The younger knights did not understand the significance of the details. After hearing about their flaws and weaknesses, most of their eyes glittered with excitement. Then they began to reflect on their own shortcomings. However, the knights that were a little older than the young ones clearly understood how valuable such in-depth guidance was to them.

The knights in the courtyard had already reached the limit of their strength that they could attain with only their basic knowledge. Joshua's instructions could allow them to break through their own limits!

Not to mention that there had not been any lieges that would actually understand their own knights so deeply. They would not have taught their own knights to such a length! Upon sensing that they were being appreciated so much, their eyes filled with tears. Their hands also trembled softly. However, right after that, they toughened up their conviction and will, appearing stern.

Feeling a little comforted after seeing all that, giving a little time for the knights to stabilize their emotions, Joshua spoke once again.

"Inadequacy can be seen with our own eyes. So it's easier to improve on them. As long as you have the heart to improve, your strength will break through the limit and you shall attain a whole new level of strength by then. However, if you want to get stronger after that, what I just told you will not be enough."

Joshua's voice was not loud. However, the moment when he opened his mouth, everyone in the courtyard remained silent. All of the knights were listening to their liege's speech, "Back to the point, you only know the way of training that the Empire provided you with. Meanwhile, there's no such thing as a perfect training method… if that's the case, you'll make it to Perfect Silver tier at the best. However, you'll never be able to reach Gold tier."

"Gold tier?"

"That's too far-fetched…"

"Impossible."

"Can we become Gold tier as well?"

"I thought that's only possible for the elders from aristocrat families…"

Upon hearing that, the knights in formation began to mutter among themselves. However, right after that, they remained silent under the fearsome eyes of Joshua that was staring at them. Meanwhile, the warrior looked around at the knights who were a little nervous and excited at the same time. Then he spoke seriously, "I've gathered you all here today with one goal, that is to pass on a complete system for you to train yourselves."

"[Steel Armor Kokyu-ho]."

Joshua had thought about passing the [Steel Armor Kokyu-ho] to these knights a while ago. However, he only managed to make time to gather all his knights, picking the ones with Gift after he destroyed the time and space rift and after Ying had fallen into a deep slumber.

While teaching these young knights with Gifts about how to breathe based on rhythm, Joshua was also thinking about the future. He knew quite a lot of [Kokyu-ho] techniques. He even knew some of them that only the royal families of some smaller countries kept to themselves. Even some big countries such as the northern Empire were no match for him in certain regards. After all, Joshua had traveled into this world from Starfall Year 855, the time where the demon invaded the world and all humanity joined forces to fend off the invasion. In the period of time where battle was the only thing left for anyone who would like to survive, all sorts of [Kokyu-ho] techniques were no longer valuable. The techniques were taught to the people all around the world just like that.

"These knights are going to be my guards. So they need to have strong endurance and strong resistance ability to keep up with my pace… and for the side of the fortress, I should consider teaching them the [Rock Drake Kokyu-ho] which can provide much more explosive power and life force."

Upon putting his thoughts on solving this problem, Joshua could sense that one of the knights had an unstable breathing pace. That knight was not using the breathing rhythm that he asked all of them to follow. He felt a little uneasy about it.

"Control your breathing. Slow it down. Open your lungs. You need to learn how to get oxygen with your body, not just with your noses and mouths. You're Silver-tier knights. You're not regular folk who do not have any control over their own bodies. So slow down the process of your organs, lower down the speed of your blood circulating in your bloodstreams!"

With a punch on the chest of that particular knight, Joshua pushed the knight to spit out all of the air that he inhaled. His body bent into the shape of a bow because of that. However, he immediately stood back up straight while his liege was looking at him. Then he began to breathe steadily following the rhythm taught by the warrior. The knight did not show the slightest unhappiness on his face. Instead, he was feeling extraordinarily hyped to continue with the training.

This was not because he likes to be tortured of course. That was because he got to learn the [Kokyu-ho] techniques.

After all, that was one of the rare [Kokyhu-ho] Legacies! For knights who served at the borders, strength was much more important than wealth. Meanwhile, a complete knowledge of a Legacy power was undoubtedly one of the most precious treasures they could ever dream of getting!

Through this, they could all become independent nobles without a doubt after they acquired [Steel Armor Kokyu-ho]. Meanwhile, they could also build a knight family that bore Legacy They could even stand a chance to become a small lieges of other districts in the region. They could have a stable and peaceful life for a lifetime!

Our Liege does not only possess unparalleled power, he is also generous. He is actually willing to share such a rare and precious technique with his knights…

This liege was definitely worth following.

"That's right. Push out all of the air in your lungs. After that, follow the rhythm that I taught you, breathe in the air—your bodies will follow the pace and resonate with the power between heaven and earth. Your bodies will not just stay here like a pool of stagnant water that is not different than a piece of wood."

Without caring about the thoughts that the knights had on their minds, the warrior looked at the knights while they were trying their best to master [Kokyu-ho], nodding his head in satisfaction.

As the knights were practicing[Kokyu-ho] under Joshua's guidance, a slightly older guard stepped into the military compound. After greeting the warrior, the man whispered Joshua in a very soft voice, "My Lord, there's an old man and lady right outside the city wall. They requested to see you right away. That old man seems powerful though. I'm sure he's not weak at the least."

"A visit? Is that man a mage?"

Muttering to himself with a soft and yet deep voice, even though Joshua did not know which mage was paying him a visit, however, there must be something important if it was a mage. The North was a place that only a few would visit. So it was indeed rare to have a spellcaster as a guest.

"Escort the two of them over to my place at the west side of the city. I'll be right there shortly."