One Rider Against a Thousand

Without much surprise, the Black Dragon Knight Order lost the arena battles.

But they still managed to hold out until the Azure Sky’s last person took the stage.

Out of respect, the Azure Sky sent a full nine people for the team battle, ultimately winning with a decisive 9-2 victory.

As it wasn’t a battle of pride, Ryan didn’t arrange a second or third round.

However, seeing his soldiers full of hope and drive for the future, Ryan was quite satisfied.

What surprised him a little was that the blonde girl, seeing this scene, also showed a look of joy.

There was no sign of her eyes being clouded or her thoughts swayed by hatred.

Ryan was even more pleased.

And he became even more resolute in his intention—to take her from the Blue Lion.

Yes, this drill was a plan Ryan had orchestrated to kill three birds with one stone.

Testing the blonde girl’s origins was one.

Allowing the Black Dragon Knight Order to show improvement was another.

The third was—

“You’ve worked hard, Count Mounten.”

Morick said to the burly general who walked onto the platform.

“It is our honor to spar with His Highness Ryan’s Black Dragon Knight Order.”

The burly general said politely.

Morick and he exchanged pleasantries, eventually agreeing that the eighteen riders would be stationed at the camp, while Mounten himself would stay in the mansion as a distinguished guest.

As soon as Morick finished handling these welcoming formalities, Ryan could no longer hold back and asked,

“General Mounten, how is the Marquis’s health?”

Upon hearing this, Morick, who had been all smiles a moment ago, immediately stiffened.

Mounten, however, looked as usual.

“Thank you for Your Highness’s concern. Lord Champion has merely been campaigning abroad for many years and is overworked, but otherwise, he is fine.”

“The Marquis is a pillar of our empire, a figure of peerless genius. Any minor condition should be given utmost importance.”

The Crown Prince showed a worried expression, “Theo, immediately prepare the finest tonics for me and send them urgently to the Marquis’s residence.”

“Understood!”

Despite the words, Morick felt a cold sweat run down his spine.

The reason was none other than the Crown Prince’s current behavior being too suspicious.

Known for his cruelty, coldness, and ruthlessness, his sudden solicitousness made it hard for people not to misunderstand or suspect him.

As expected, Mounten, who had previously been unperturbed, couldn’t help but frown slightly and deeply bowed his head, saying,

“Thank you, Your Highness, for your immense kindness to the Marquis.”

And the Crown Prince, who was usually most sensitive to others’ wariness of him, now appeared completely unconcerned… oh no, it should be said he was overflowing with concern.

“It’s only right. By the way, what does the Marquis usually enjoy doing?”

“Lord Champion enjoys reading.” Mounten answered casually.

“An excellent interest. Theo, send a few of the latest and best-selling books to the Marquis’s residence…

By the way, does the Marquis have any special requirements for you during training?”

Mounten’s expression began to turn strange.

Morick quickly interjected, “Your Highness, it is already lunchtime.”

Only then did the Crown Prince drop the idea of continuing to inquire for information, instructing Morick to arrange a banquet in the camp to welcome the distant Azure Sky Knight Order contingent.

At this moment, the blonde girl, who had been encouraging everyone and conducting a simple review in the ranks, also returned to the platform. After learning the upcoming schedule, she quickly said,

“Your Highness Ryan, Kumi Inhomsen should have awakened.”

Upon hearing this, Ryan felt a bit ashamed of his own self-satisfaction and immediately nodded,

“I understand. General Mounten, I’m afraid the banquet will have to be slightly delayed.”

“No matter.”

Mounten showed no dissatisfaction at being slighted. Seeing this, Ryan admired him even more and simply invited him to visit Kumi together.

Every awakener would eventually be at least ennobled as a baron.

And Kumi was the Black Dragon Knight Order’s third Guardian Spirit awakener, holding significant importance.

Even if Mounten was a count, visiting Kumi was not beneath him; he quickly agreed and congratulated Ryan.

Kumi Inhomsen woke up again, feeling that everything had changed dramatically.

First, there was a controllable warm current within him… very much like the magic rumored that only a portion of noble offspring possessed.

Then, his five senses became sharper, and strangely enough, even when he closed his eyes, he could see things.

Something had become his third eye.

Even more remarkably, that thing seemed manipulable… though currently, he couldn’t control it at will, only making it float steadily behind him.

“Kumi, how are you feeling?”

Finally, when he opened his eyes and saw the military doctor, a number appeared in his field of vision.

36.

The number just hovered a short distance above the military doctor’s head.

“That’s great, I’ll go inform His Highness right away.”

His excited fellow attendant, who ran out, also had a number above his head, but it wasn’t 36, it was 108.

“Kumi… oh no, I should say Lord Inhomsen, you must take good care of me when you rise to prominence.”

“You little rascal, you’re really amazing now.”

The other two fellow attendants also had similar numbers above their heads, 104 and 101 respectively.

“Well done.”

And the knight whom he had always followed and learned from, had the number 208 above his head.

Before he could figure out the difference, he heard someone call out,

“His Highness Ryan is coming!”

Everyone quickly stood up.

Soon, His Highness Ryan appeared at the barracks door with a group of people.

“Kumi Inhomsen, you performed very well.”

Kumi noticed that the Crown Prince, who was praising him, had the number 1307 above his head.

And the general of the Azure Sky Knight Order had 2880.

The assistant who had always worked for the Crown Prince, however, had a pitiful number of 10 above his head.

The other accompanying knights had numbers ranging from 200-300.

The fellow attendants mostly ranged from 90-130, with the top student, who usually performed the best, having a striking number of 167.

Just as Kumi thought these numbers were related to combat power, he saw a surprising sight.

Units, tens, hundreds, thousands…

Miss Haggia, who had been instructing them, actually showed a number over ten thousand above her head!

Oh, wait, no.

He looked closer and found a single digit 5 before the number over ten thousand.

5 – 10000.

What on earth?

How could there be such a huge fluctuation?

He quickly rubbed his eyes and looked at the blonde girl again, finding that the number above her head had changed to a pitiful single 5.

After looking a few more times and finding no further changes, he decided he must have been too tired, or hadn’t fully controlled his ability after just awakening, which caused him to see things incorrectly.

The best proof was that when he looked at the empty ceiling in the room, he saw the numbers 427 and 432 in the left and right corners, respectively.

His Highness Ryan and the others also knew he needed time to adapt, so they simply offered a few words of comfort and left.

Flora was no exception; as she left, she gave a radiant smile and waved to the new awakener youth.

‘It’s a rare detection-type Guardian Spirit, it seems I’ll have to be careful from now on.’

But contrary to her outwardly calm demeanor, Flora felt a little nervous inside.

Though she didn’t know what the other party was detecting, just in case, she withdrew all her sensory abilities and used a secret method to conceal her magic power.

Now, no matter who investigated her, she would appear as nothing more than an ordinary, delicate beautiful girl.

However, because she had withdrawn all her unique and sensory abilities, she failed to notice the burly, mountain-like man in the front of the procession, who subtly glanced back at her as if by chance.