NOVEL FROG Chapter 430: The Unlucky Apprentice
Leo observed the three and nodded to himself. Daring to face a great knight as a knight’s attendant was an extremely bold move except, of course, when you had a golden knight as your bodyguard. With Caelon protecting him, Leo wasn't worried, even in the face of hundreds of great knights.
"Which of you is the mage apprentice?" he asked, though he had already guessed who it was.
"M-Me," Rhovab stammered. As a mage, his spirit was quite high, but in the presence of a golden knight, that amounted to nothing.
"Sir Caelon," Leo said, giving a simple command.
Sir Caelon understood immediately. He concealed his oppressive aura, allowing the three to finally take a breath of relief.
"What’s your name?" Leo asked, uninterested but still needing to know. He had been waiting here for an apprentice mage, and it seemed the boy in front of him was unlucky enough to be the one.
"Your Excellency, my name is Rhodes Everlong from the Icereach Kingdom. My father is the Duke of Stoneheaven City, and I am a core apprentice of Evernight Academy." Rhodes emphasized every detail, hoping his connections would deter the man in front of him.
Thorne cursed silently in his mind. Rhodes was trying to use his backers to intimidate Leo, but how could this man, who commanded a golden knight as a bodyguard, fear a trifling duke? Even the entire Icereach Academy would probably be nothing in his eyes.
"Good," Leo said with a nod. "I like that you’re a noble. All right, from now on, I will hire you as my teacher. You are responsible for teaching me your magical techniques—spells, meditation, everything."
Thorne, Rhodes, and Arwen all had the same thought: You command a golden knight like a servant, couldn’t you just hire a mage? Why kidnap a mage apprentice? It made no sense. It was so absurd that it seemed something only a fool would come up with it. But the presence of the golden knight made them bite back their thoughts and show no reaction on their faces.
"It is my honor, Your Excellency," Rhodes replied, trying to maintain composure. "I’m sure my father would agree when I send a letter informing him of this great honor." He attempted to sneak in a request to send correspondence.
"No," Leo said firmly. "This matter is a secret. For your own safety and comfort, teacher, I will have to imprison you. If you teach me well, I will free you."
"Your Excellency—" Rhodes tried to negotiate, but Leo interrupted him with a sudden command.
"Unalive these two," Leo said, pointing at Arwen and Thorne.
It took only a second for Thorne to understand what "unalive" meant. Before he could even beg for mercy, he exploded into a mist of blood. For a golden knight, killing a mere great knight didn’t even require a movement. A simple wave of energy was enough.
Leo was cautious. At the moment, he had only one golden knight. If not for Caelon, dealing with the great knight in the trade group would have been a significant problem. Allowing a potentially dangerous knight to remain in his territory would steal his peace of mind. No matter how he imprisoned Thorne, as a great knight, Thorne could recover and escape. Leo couldn't afford to have Caelon watching the prisons all the time. The same went for the woman knight, Arwen. It wasn’t practical to waste a senior knight to guard her constantly.
Besides, neither Thorne nor Arwen had been summoned by his system. Leo never trusted anyone not summoned by it. In his worldview, only system-summoned beings could be trusted.
As for why Leo used the term "unalive," it was simple. As a modern, civilized person, he didn’t like killing people. So, he ordered everyone to use the word "unalive" instead of "kill," and "unaliving" instead of "killing." With this simple solution, Leo felt he had solved the problem of being a killer. Now, he didn’t kill anyone—he simply "unalived" them. His logic was straightforward.
Rhovab stood still, staring at the blood and organs on the ground, unable to move or react.
"Take the teacher to the prison," Leo ordered Sir Lucan, the only great knight he had summoned. "Put two guards on him. I don’t want any problems."
"Teacher, rest for now," Leo said with a disturbingly calm tone. "We’ll begin our lessons tomorrow. Trust me, I'll release you once I learn magic from you. But if you try to betray me, I’ll kill you and your entire family. Don’t even think about suicide. I’ll just bring you back to life and torture you until death is the only thing you wish for."
Rhovab didn’t answer. His mind was too shocked to process anything.
Leo shook his head, thinking, Maybe I shouldn’t have let him see the blood? I’ve heard some people are so cowardly they can’t handle the sight of blood without being mentally shaken.
"Yes, my lord," Sir Lucan replied, dragging the dazed "teacher" away.
...
Leo glanced at his system panel:
Name: Leo Fitzroy
Age: 25
Title: Baron
Level: 98
Physical Constitution: 13.1
Strength: 2.5
Agility: 2.4
Spirit: 3.8
Combat Power Evaluation: Knight Attendant
Free Attribute Points: 1
Skills:
Hidden (Max)
Mental Immunity (Max)
Critical Hit (Lv 2)
Horse Riding (Lv 3)
Sword Skill (Lv 4)
Bow Skill (Lv 2)
Evasion (Lv 2)
Quick Mind (Lv 10)
Photographic Memory (Max)
Power Surge (Lv 6)
Accelerated Regeneration (Lv 6)
Agility Surge (Lv 6)
Advanced Regeneration (Lv 1)
Senses Enhancement (Lv 12)
Improved Digestion (Lv 8)
Disease Resistance (Lv 7)
Yang Enhancement (Lv 5)
Cold Resistance (Lv 1)
Clear Headedness (Lv 3)
Poison Resistance (Lv 12)
Boredom Resistance (Lv 10)
Meditation Efficiency Enhancement (Lv 10)
Comprehension Enhancement (Lv 1)
Creativity Enhancement (Lv 1)
Cooking Skill (Lv 1)
Passive Physical Defense (Lv 1)
Passive Magical Defense (Lv 1)
Passive Physical Attack Enhancement (Lv 1)
Passive Magical Attack Enhancement (Lv 1)
Sensitivity Enhancement (Lv 20)
Boredom Resistance (Lv 10):
Passive: Increases your resistance to boredom by 150%.
Active: Increases the boredom resistance of allies around you by 15% for one day. It can be cast once per month.
Meditation Efficiency Enhancement (Lv 10):
Passive: Increases your efficiency while meditating by 150%.
Active: Increases the meditation efficiency of allies around you by 15% for one day. It can be cast once per month.
Comprehension Enhancement (Lv 1):
Passive: Increases your comprehension ability of everything, including complex books and concepts by 15%.
Active: Increases the comprehension of allies around you by 1% for one day. It can be cast once per month.
Creativity Enhancement (Lv 1):
Passive: Increases your creativity in all areas by 15%.
Active: Increases the creativity of allies around you by 1% for one day. It can be cast once per month.
Cooking Skill (Lv 5):
Passive: Increases your cooking skill by 75%, making it more pleasing to the taste buds.
Active: Increases the cooking skill of allies around you by 5% for one day. It can be cast once per month.
Passive Physical Defense (Lv 1):
Passive: Increases your passive physical defense by 1%. The current max level of this skill is 90; please upgrade the system for level 100.
Active: Increases the passive physical defense of allies around you by 0.1% for one day. It can be cast once per month.
Passive Magical Defense (Lv 1):
Passive: Increases your passive magical defense by 1%. The current max level of this skill is 90; please upgrade the system for level 100.
Active: Increases the passive magical defense of allies around you by 0.1% for one day. It can be cast once per month.
Passive Physical Attack Enhancement (Lv 1):
Passive: Increases your passive physical attack by 1%. The current max level of this skill is 90; please upgrade the system for level 100.
Active: Increases the passive physical attack of allies around you by 0.1% for one day. It can be cast once per month.
Passive Magical Attack Enhancement (Lv 1):
Passive: Increases your passive magical attack by 1%. The current max level of this skill is 90; please upgrade the system for level 100.
Active: Increases the passive magical attack of allies around you by 0.1% for one day. It can be cast once per month.
Sensitivity Enhancement (Lv 20):
Active: Increases your sensitivity by 300%.
Active: For one hour, it increases the sensitivity of targeted persons (max 20) around you by 300%. It can be cast once per day.
Leo had spent an entire year learning magic. Simply put, he wasn’t talented. He had only progressed as far as he had because of the system skills that increased his efficiency. Regardless of talent, as long as his spirit stat reached 16, he would be eligible for promotion to an official mage. After a year of intense meditation and consuming many magical elixirs, he hadn’t even reached the threshold of Grade 3, Apprentice. But Leo wasn’t worried. With the system, he could continue increasing his efficiency. He would reach the level of an official mage in a decade or two. By then, he might summon more golden knights or even Heavenly Knights, giving him the power to dominate surrounding academies and possibly find rare elixirs that can upgrade his talent.
The system, unfortunately, did not have any skill to directly boost his magical or knight talent—a pity.
One thing he had learned after a year of meditation was that mage cultivation was... boring. His Boredom Resistance skill had levelled up naturally, without needing him to add any system skill points. Sitting in one place for hours, trying to absorb natural energy, was impossibly tedious for someone like Leo.
To compensate for the boredom, Leo had purchased the Sensitivity Enhancement skill from the system. There was one primary reason for this: enjoying himself with his 'maids.' Activating the skill made those moments much more intense. Leo had become somewhat addicted to the pleasure, which explained why he had spent 20 valuable skill points on such an ability. It wasn’t entirely useless—the skill had practical applications in interrogation. When used on someone being tortured, it tripled their sensitivity to pain, making the experience far worse for them.
Leo’s daily routine had become repetitive. He woke up, meditated for 10 hours, spent time with his maids, and slept. He no longer trained in martial arts or knight skills. His physical stat improvements came solely from the precious elixirs he consumed, not from training.
The affairs of his territory, including dealing with bandits, had been delegated to his two great knights and Sir Aldric, his first knight summon, who still held a special place in his heart. As for Sir Caelon, Leo always kept him by his side. He couldn’t afford to let his only golden knight perform routine tasks, as Leo’s personal strength was weak—he couldn’t defeat even a junior knight. Caelon’s presence ensured Leo’s safety.
...
"Alright, let’s see today’s summon," Leo said, looking forward to it. Seven months ago, he had drawn his second great knight. Since then, all his summons had been ordinary troops, disappointing him each time. But still, each day, he eagerly awaited the draw.
00:03... 00:02... 00:01...
"Congratulations! Heavenly Knight card +1!"