Flashgold Town Church Square.
A group of nobles dressed in splendid garments or clad in plate armor were gathered around a young man demonstrating swordsmanship in the center of the area.
The Night Watchmen, who had been busy nearby, couldn't help but slow down their actions and stretch their necks curiously to watch the scene unfold.
"Eh, it's Lord Reine!"
"Yes, it's the new Assistant Security Officer, Lord Reine!"
"That's right, it's Reine; he seems to be demonstrating swordsmanship."
Since Reine had been the youngest among the Night Watchmen, although his positions had continually risen, many still called him by his name.
It wasn't a lack of respect but merely a matter of not having had enough time to adjust.
At first, they called him 'Little Reine,' then just 'Reine,' and about half a month ago they called him 'Captain.' Now, he had become the Assistant Security Officer. His promotion speed had been unmatched!
One wonders how long it will be before the 'Assistant' in his title is dropped.
Reine suddenly looked solemn, beginning with an extremely swift Furious Slash followed by a fierce Leap Slash.
Instantly, sharp swooshing sounds filled the area!
"Smooth Cleaving Slash!"
The Giant Bear Sword Technique performed by Reine linked each move seamlessly, giving the impression that one was watching a dance of strength and beauty!
"Indeed, Reine's Giant Bear Sword Technique has reached the mastery level!"
"This boy Reine is improving too quickly!" Hamilton's eyes suddenly widened as he muttered to himself.
As Reine's direct superior, Hamilton could say that he had watched Reine grow stronger step by step from an ordinary farmer's son.
Now, reflecting back, Hamilton realized that every once in a while, Reine's strength would advance to a new level.
Upon careful comparison of the gap in combat strength between him and Reine, Hamilton was astounded to find that Reine's current strength seemed to no longer be beneath his own!
Perhaps there was a slight difference in combat experience, but it was negligible.
Hamilton had to admit, Reine was now a master of the same level as him!
One had to say, the speed of Reine's rise was dazzling!
"This... this is the mastery level of the Giant Bear Sword Technique!"
"Only fourteen or fifteen years old and he has reached this level! Truly an astonishing talent!"
At the edge of the area, the person who felt the deepest impact from Reine's performance of the Giant Bear Sword Technique was Perez, a noble scion and swordsmanship instructor from the Habsburg Estate!
At the moment, he too had a face of disbelief, watching Reine demonstrate the Giant Bear Sword Technique in the center of the area.
Since Perez also specialized in the Giant Bear Sword Technique, he clearly remembered that it took him about four to five years to reach the level Reine was displaying now!
Though he wasn't familiar with Reine and didn't know how long Reine had been practicing the Giant Bear Sword Technique,
one could guess just by reason that Reine had not been practicing the Giant Bear Sword Technique for long.
But in any case, it couldn't have been more than two years!
The reason was simple, the sheer weight of a Dual-Handed Greatsword, weighing several tens of pounds, was evident.
An eleven or twelve-year-old commoner's child would definitely not be able to swing it.
After all, from Reine's seemingly normal physique, one could tell that he wasn't someone with an extraordinary innate strength.
Meanwhile, Alonso grew increasingly anxious as he watched, his expression gradually turning grim. A certain fear began to form in his mind because he realized the rapid improvement of Reine's strength uncontrollably reminded him of someone.
That person was his sister—Cleya!
Alonso remembered clearly, when he was already a Level Three Knight Attendant, Cleya had just learned to hold a sword.
But two years later, he could only manage a draw against Cleya.
Defeated, never victorious!
Although, in the recent year, with a sufficient supply of Divine Blood from the Cult, his strength had increased rapidly, but now it seemed foolish to compare his training progress with someone with exceptional talent.
Fortunately, Alonso had anticipated this with his sister Cleya.
Thus, he had chosen to collaborate with the Cult and looked forward to the gains from the Black Flame Prayer Ceremony.
At that time, if he could obtain control over the Black Flame or some other special abilities through the ceremony, he would be facing a tremendous increase in strength!
While Alonso was unsettled, the people from the church were also intently watching Reine's swordsmanship demonstration.
"Berial, how do you rate Reine's swordsmanship?" Priest Rudolph turned to ask a Temple Knight beside him.
"Very strong, on par with me, but considering his age, I am far from comparable!"
"I think, this newly knighted Transcendent Lord Reine, must possess both excellent swordsmanship and knightly talents."
"Just as I thought. It's a pity, such a talent didn't join our Goddess Church," Priest Rudolph nodded with a sigh.
"However..... Priest Rudolph, if Reine's current displayed strength is considered, he might be able to kill an ordinary Cult member for sure, but I think he would still find it challenging to kill a high-ranking Angel Envoy."
The knight named Berial, seemed to be observing very carefully, and after a serious examination, stated his judgement.
"Hmm, you are right! However, I suspect Lord Reine must have an ace up his sleeve that he naturally wouldn't display in this setting," Priest Rudolph nodded, fully agreeing with Berial's opinion.
"Based on his swordsmanship display, it at least has the potential to kill at the 'Angel Envoy level', doesn't it?" Rudolph said with a smile.
"Uh... You are right!" Berial was initially stunned, then also agreed with a laugh.
Among all the nobles present, the only one who could not quite see through the intentions of the others was Viscount Hamadi from County Town, who watched Reine expressionlessly, pondering something.
Beside them, Baroness Cleya and Jenny watched with gleaming eyes.
For them, they naturally hoped that Reine, the Guardian Knight of the Cleya family, would be as strong as possible.
The demonstration of Reine's swordsmanship lasted no longer than ten seconds, yet it ended.
However, it left a profound impression on the onlookers.
Hamilton stepped forward, his expression complex, and patted Reine's shoulder, whispering, "Reine, you've given me another big surprise."
"Your Giant Bear Sword Technique has already reached the level of mastery, which is truly remarkable!"
"Besides, once the review comes through, I estimate the 1000 Merit Points needed for your ennoblement will be sufficient." Your next read is at m v|l-e'-NovelHub
"I was a bit worried that you ascended to Transcendent too soon and lacked strength, but now it seems my worries were somewhat unnecessary."
This news brought a slight joy to Reine, as he hadn't expected that these Cultists of the Black Flame were so 'valuable.'
He had thought that he would need several months to accumulate the necessary 1000 Merit Points to register for the ennoblement assessment.
While Reine and Hamilton were talking, a knight approached Rudolph and whispered in a low voice:
"Elder Rudolph, I think you should check the situation inside the church..."
Rudolph raised his eyebrows, glanced at the knight in slight surprise after seeing him nod slightly, which caused Rudolph to frown.
Rudolph, followed by Berial, quickly walked into the church to inspect the site.
After carefully examining several corpses of Flashgold Town residents, Elder Rudolph, with a grave expression, said, "A ritual of the Black Flame Cult was certainly conducted here, and apparently, it was successful."
"Hmm! If based on what the Night Watchman just said, all the Transcendents of the Black Flame Cult were killed by Reine, then their Energy Storage Crystals should be in Reine's possession," Berial suddenly realized something, then spoke up to remind the others.
"Ask Reine if the 'Energy Storage Crystal' is still there, or if it got destroyed during the previous battles," Elder Rudolph speculated, speaking in a solemn tone.
"At your command, Elder!" Berial strode out of the church.
Soon, Berial approached Reine, who was still talking with Hamilton, and asked, "Excuse me, Lord Reine, during the battle with the Cultists, did you happen to see a rhombus-shaped crystal?"
Reine pondered for a moment and nodded. He certainly remembered the blood-colored rhombus crystal atop the bone staff.
Not just remembered, but remembered vividly, since touching the staff had given him a prompt to change profession.
"That's wonderful! Lord Reine, this crystal holds exceptional significance for the church. Could you..."
"Hold on, this crystal, according to regulations, belongs to the spoils of war and must be handed over to the empire. I'm afraid the church will have to excuse itself," suddenly, someone interrupted Berial's speech.
Reine turned to look, seeing Viscount Hamadi smiling as he approached.
"What do you say, Hamilton?" Viscount Hamadi then turned to Hamilton.
"Well... Viscount, you are correct according to the regulations," Hamilton said, his expression slightly uneasy, but he still nodded.
Although he doubted Viscount Hamadi's position, without conclusive proof, it was not possible to bring down a Viscount.
Regarding the sudden betrayal and assassination attempt on Reine by Andrews, Hamadi explained that he was completely hoodwinked and unaware.
Moreover, even if Viscount Hamadi had issues, as per regulations, it was up to the provincial level to deal with it.
"Reine, regarding the value assessment of the Energy Storage Crystal, after conversion, it can directly transfer into Merit Points for you. Perhaps, Merit Points are more useful to you than Gold Coins," Hamadi turned to Reine and said.
Reine glanced at Hamilton, who nodded slightly to him.
It seemed that he, himself, would likely not be able to keep this item deemed mysterious by the system.
'A rank higher in office can crush one to death,' and even two ranks higher, he had originally wanted to keep it to study.
Thus, Reine nodded to Hamadi, "Alright, Viscount, please wait a moment, I'll be right home."
After returning home, Reine went to his room and immediately locked the door and picked up the bone staff to examine closely.
However, Reine then thought that both Hamadi and the knight had only mentioned the crystal, so maybe he didn't have to hand in the staff itself.
Wondering if he could detach the crystal alone.
After a bit of fiddling, Reine quickly discovered that there seemed to be a slot between the bone staff and the blood-colored rhombus crystal, then, gripping the fist-sized crystal in one hand and the staff in the other, he pulled hard.
With a 'click', the blood-colored rhombus crystal was removed.
"Since you all just want the crystal, I'll keep the staff," Reine thought to himself.
However, as Reine held the crystal, the system prompt suddenly sounded.
[Ding! A large amount of unknown absorbable energy detected. Yes/No absorb? (Note: After absorption, it can be converted into specified Professional Experience Points.)]
"Damn! Is there such a good thing?"
"Then, do I even need to think about it, of course, I choose to absorb!"
"Hand it over? To hell with that!"