23: Flame Cross Slash

"Flame Slash!"

Red gave a low shout, and a faint ripple of Spiritual Power—invisible to the eye but clearly perceptible—spread out. Immediately after, the air on both sides of the longsword in his hand distorted slightly.

A large number of pale Red energy particles slowly emerged, and under the guidance of the Spiritual Power ripples, they attached themselves to the blade of the longsword.

In the next moment, powerful Battle Qi energy surged from his body, flowing through his arms and palms into the longsword, then merging with the Red particle energy on the blade to become a new form of energy.

Swish!

He swung the longsword heavily toward a boulder three or four meters wide in front of him. The energy on the blade shot out, and wherever it passed, scorching airwaves surged.

Boom!

With a loud bang, the boulder instantly exploded, and small stone fragments splattered in all directions.

The strong wind from the impact made the corners of Lister's and the other's clothes flutter loudly.

"Young Master Lister, it's like this," Red said respectfully as he withdrew his longsword.

Lister, who had been stunned, snapped back to his senses, a feeling of excitement erupting in his heart.

That's so damn cool!

Having been in this world for so many days, he hadn't actually seen Red and the other two knights take action many times.

Even when Red killed the Black-Haired Wild Boar magical beast last time, because of the vast difference in strength, he didn't use any skills; he simply relied on his Proficient level Spearmanship to slay it.

In comparison, real skills were more shocking and oppressive.

Suppressing the excitement in his heart, Lister began to try practicing.

For him, having already become a Bronze Knight, although his Spiritual Power was meager, it wasn't that difficult to mobilize.

Soon, a faint ripple of Spiritual Power emerged in the air. He didn't let it distract him and immediately began to sense the fire element energy in the air.

This step wasn't easy; if his Spiritual Power slackened even slightly, he would sense nothing.

Minutes and seconds passed, and finally, after five minutes, a small amount of deep Red particle energy slowly emerged in the air.

Once it reached the maximum limit that Lister's Spiritual Power could perceive, he began to use his Spiritual Power to guide this energy, gathering and attaching it to the blade of his black iron heavy sword.

A moment later, just as the energy attachment was complete, a powerful surge of Battle Qi energy erupted from his body, quickly flowing toward the sword blade.

However, just as they were about to merge, the deep Red energy seemed to possess a consciousness of its own, constantly resisting and repelling.

"Merge for me!" Lister shouted lowly. A wolf's howl echoed from within his body, and the further strengthened Battle Qi energy instantly swallowed and merged with that deep Red energy.

In the next moment, he swung his black iron heavy sword and chopped down heavily toward a large tree in a nearby clearing.

Swish!

The deep Red flame cross energy that shot out stirred up waves of scorching air and a sharp, piercing sonic boom, hitting the tree trunk like a terrifying magical beast.

Crack!

Accompanied by the sound of the tree breaking, the upper half of the trunk, which now had a hollow cross-shaped hole, crashed to the ground with a 'thud'.

Seeing this, Red, who was standing to the side, looked excited and praised, "Young Master Lister, you've succeeded!"

"To think you've reached the entry level of the Flame Cross Slash in such a short time; your talent is truly the highest I've ever seen in my life."

The other knights practicing nearby also couldn't help but let out sounds of exclamation and praise.

Hearing this, Lister's lip twitched. He felt Red's words were somewhat familiar; it seemed he had said the same thing when Lister first started practicing.

Time to change the script!

Of course, this was just a joke; Lister could still hear the heartfelt admiration in Red's tone.

But while he accepted the praise, he didn't feel complacent. After all, his Spearmanship had reached the entry level quickly before, but its progress had been very slow afterward.

Without wasting time, he continued to consolidate his practice. Unfortunately, there were still no breakthroughs in his technique, but the good news of another Apprentice Knight advancing in the middle of it made up for his slight disappointment.

Before leaving, Lister looked at Red and instructed, "Red, come to my room after breakfast tomorrow."

"As you command, Young Master Lister."

...After washing away the fatigue from his body, Lister returned to his room on the third floor.

He saw the two cute little sprites surrounding the Purple-Eyed Magic Lion Egg, chirping and wondering why the egg hadn't hatched yet.

Lister also felt helpless about this. He wasn't sure if the hatching method was wrong or if it couldn't hatch without its mother.

If it were the latter, he would have no options left. He couldn't exactly find another female Purple-Eyed Magic Lion to be its stepmother.

Setting aside whether it was appropriate, he would be lucky just to survive an encounter with one.

After observing for a while, Lister began his pre-sleep divination, but a minute later, he fell asleep with an angry, grumbling expression.

What garbage divination!

Ptui!

...The next morning, after breakfast.

"Red, how has your cultivation been lately? Do you have the confidence to break through to a Silver Knight?"

In the room on the third floor, Lister, sitting in the main seat, looked at Red opposite him and asked.

Hearing this, Red said respectfully with a seemingly calm expression, "In reply to Young Master Lister, I have been stuck at Bronze Rank 9 for over a year and have never been able to break through the shackles of advancement."

"If there's no opportunity, it will likely be very difficult to break through."

"Is that so?" Lister nodded slightly.

Although Red hid it well, Lister could still catch the deep disappointment hidden in his eyes.

Lister wasn't surprised. After all, for a knight—especially one as young as Red—being able to break through realms and increase strength was the thing that could make them the happiest.

He wasn't sure about others, but he knew very well how deep Red's love for being a knight was.

But now, this path of cultivation was blocked by a solid wall; it was inevitable to feel disappointed.

Yet Red didn't show it, obviously not wanting to let Lister down too much.

Coming back to his senses, Lister took out the dragon blood fruit he had prepared and looked at Red with a gentle smile. "In that case, I shall give you the opportunity to break through."

"Given your consistent dedication, this dragon blood fruit is rewarded to you. I hope you can advance to a Silver Knight in one go."

At this, Lister joked, "A couple of days ago, I saw the chief Silver Knight of that Duke's son passing through the Ironthorn Territory, and I was quite envious."

As soon as he finished speaking, Red, who had been calm, could no longer maintain his composure. Shock, excitement, and disbelief intertwined, eventually turning into a look of endless gratitude.

Having been stuck at Bronze Rank 9 for so long, he had thought about buying precious resources, and the dragon blood fruit was one of them. But unfortunately, it was too expensive and hard to find even with money.

Now Lister was rewarding him with one for free. What was the difference between this kind of trust and favor and a gift from heaven?

Full of gratitude, Red carefully took the dragon blood fruit with both hands, held it in his palms, and performed the most sacred kneeling salute of a knight to Lister.

"I swear in the name of the holy light god that I will not fail your trust and great expectations, Lord Lister!"