How to Live as a Genius Knight in a Fantasy World

6.

Following the shocking spar that day, Rohan’s name quickly spread among the soldiers.

Among the new recruits currently undergoing training, there was a boy who defeated Argent!

It was an unbelievable rumor, but surprisingly, people did not doubt its truth.

After all, the source of the rumor was none other than Argent himself.

After the spar with Rohan, Argent, who visited the tavern with a bitter expression, reluctantly admitted the truth.

Thanks to that, even soldiers who usually showed no interest in the new recruits’ dormitories began to loiter around.

“Doesn’t it seem like there are more people around here these days?”

Chris, who had just entered the dormitory after training, spoke up.

Upon hearing Chris’s words, the other boys expressed their sympathy, but the new recruits, who had no contact with other soldiers, couldn’t possibly understand the reason.

As they continued their conversation on trivial topics, Rohan was preoccupied with different concerns.

“My growth has been too slow.”

Although his physical strength was improving as he trained diligently, Rohan, who had opened his eyes to the new world of status windows, couldn’t be satisfied with that alone.

“I want to learn something else.”

It was a strong thirst for knowledge that he felt for the first time in his two lives.

The problem was how to learn a new martial art.

The knights’ swordsmanship was a difficult skill to even observe, and he still had to wait another two months to officially shed his trainee soldier status.

Furthermore, he doubted whether he would have the opportunity to learn a different martial art by training and working alongside other soldiers.

When he lived in South Korea in the 21st century, he had never imagined that learning would be such a precious thing.

Although he didn’t enjoy the benefits of expensive private education, he could easily gain knowledge through online lectures or local academies.

Back then, he had only thought of studying as difficult and troublesome, feeling embarrassed every time he had to do it.

But upon arriving in a world so backward compared to Earth, he realized how truly remarkable it was.

In his previous home, intentionally hindering latecomers from rising was commonly referred to as “kicking away the ladder.”

Such a concept didn’t exist here.

Why? Because there were no ladders to begin with.

In Rohan’s opinion, there were only two ways to live better than others here.

Either have good parents or be born with exceptional talent.

With diligence or effort alone, one would only struggle through life, benefiting others and die early.

“Should I talk to Charles? What should I say?”

As Rohan pondered ways to utilize the status window, a sudden call interrupted him.

“Rohan, Instructor Charles is calling you.”

“Huh? Why?”

“I don’t know? He just asked for you to come.”

Although he hadn’t caused any trouble, being called separately for training was a first, making him feel uneasy for no apparent reason.

“Well, it’s probably nothing special, right?”

Thinking about it, considering how amazing his growth rate was, if it were good news, it would be good, not the opposite.

And his assumption was correct.

Meeting Charles in person felt much more approachable than the image Rohan had originally held of him.

Although Charles had shown a strict demeanor as an instructor, as they conversed, Rohan realized that it was just one aspect of who Charles was.

Rohan had thought that Charles had no particular interest in him, but Charles had a precise understanding of the concerns Rohan was currently facing.

After a brief exchange of pleasantries, Charles got to the point.

“You find spear training dull now, don’t you?”

“Excuse me? hahahaha…”

Unable to deny or confirm it, Rohan just laughed.

Seeing Rohan’s laughter, Charles chuckled and continued.

“Truth be told, the spear training soldiers receive is quite basic. Well, spears themselves are somewhat monotonous compared to other weapons. Of course, the extent varies from person to person. If you, a talented individual, are getting bored, it’s not surprising. Oh, this is a compliment, by the way. Anyway, if you wish, I can teach you swordsmanship after work. What do you think?”

“Swordsmanship? Really?”

Rohan’s pupils widened in surprise at the astonishing offer.

“Well, it’s not for free. You’ll have to pay for the lessons later.”

“Yes! Of course!”

It was truly an unbelievable stroke of luck.

Although not particularly skilled in swordsmanship, Rohan was willing to invest time in mastering even the most basic techniques more shabby than the Easel basic swordsmanship.

Charles’ expression brightened considerably at Rohan’s enthusiastic acceptance.

Internally confident that Rohan wouldn’t refuse, the intensity of his response only served to improve his mood.

“Shall we start today?”

He asked in a tone suggesting it was fine to decline if it was too much, but Rohan couldn’t pass up this great opportunity.

“Yes! Anytime works for me.”

“Great. Follow me.”

As if prepared in advance, Charles grabbed two wooden swords and led Rohan towards the entrance of the camp.

Two torches illuminated the darkness that had settled in unnoticed.

‘Still quite dark.’

While oil torches were by no means inexpensive items, comparing them to modern street lamps was simply impossible due to their significantly lower performance.

They flickered and went out when the wind blew, were costly to maintain, and, crucially, were far too dim.

But still, they were better than nothing.

At least one could distinguish human figures well enough.

Under the flickering light, as Rohan followed Charles’ movements for the first time, an alert window appeared, much like when he first obtained the status window.

– Charles-style Practical Swordsmanship (SN) / 0%

“Oh! There it is! But Charles… style?”

Tilting his head slightly at the name of the swordsmanship, Rohan wondered if it meant that Charles had created his own style of swordsmanship.

He had heard that Charles had worked as a mercenary before, so perhaps this style was developed during that time.

While curious about the backstory, it wasn’t crucial, so Rohan focused on his stance for now.

He spent about two hours swinging swords under Charles’ guidance.

Given that Rohan was learning alone, the advantages were clear.

If he made a mistake, he could receive immediate feedback.

“You need to grip the sword tighter.”

“The position of the blade is too low. Raise it a bit higher.”

“Tilting it like this makes it easier to deflect enemy attacks.”

While receiving feedback during group training was not uncommon, it often came all at once after the training session, whereas now he could receive it immediately and make corrections.

Moreover, he could ask about anything he found curious or didn’t understand.

Although there were nearly three times as many movements compared to spear techniques, thanks to this guidance, Rohan was able to raise his proficiency to 50% in less than a week.

The issue was that he had already mastered the movements themselves.

‘With basic spear techniques… I had raised my proficiency to around 70% once I mastered the movements.’

Of course, there was also a difference in teaching methods, as they only moved on to the next movement after fully mastering one, but it seemed that the grade difference played a significant role.

‘In fact, I had expected a difference in grades from the beginning.’

Although he didn’t know how many grades existed, it was clear that obtaining skills of higher grades would require much more time and effort to train.

Moreover, now that Charles, having realized that Rohan had mastered the movements, declared the end of the lesson, Rohan knew he would have to work hard for a while.

“Hey, Rohan. You’re late again today?”

As they entered the dormitory after washing off the sweat, Chris struck up a conversation.

After the training, I was worried that things might get awkward between us, but surprisingly, we seemed closer than before.

“Didn’t you come in a bit early today?”

“Well, you have to know the time to do that.”

Rohan chuckled at Chris’s words.

Every time like this, he keenly felt how backward this place was.

Even though it was a world where magic existed, technology seemed to be no better than Earth’s Middle Ages in many aspects.

Having a wristwatch was a luxury beyond imagination, and since there was only a clock in the central castle to tell the exact time, the new recruits who couldn’t leave the camp had no way to check it.

Naturally, luxury items like clocks were not installed in the camp.

“Well, even in the Joseon era, they rang a bell to announce the time.”

“But you’re not looking forward to it?”

“What?”

“In just two more months, we can go outside.”

Seeing Chris looking pleased, it seemed like they had been discussing stories outside the camp until Rohan arrived.

In reality, Rohan wasn’t very interested, as his attention was mostly on his status screen, but the other boys were eager to explore the castle as soon as possible.

If compared to the villages in this area, Rohan, who had lived in the “Daejeon Metropolitan City,” the city of cities, was curious about the castle, but considering the population, he didn’t have high expectations.

He was simply curious about how people lived and worked in a ‘castle’ that had only remained as a historic site on Earth.

To be honest, the time inside the camp was so faithfully kept that he could endure not going outside.

But Chris seemed eager to rush out at any moment.

It seemed like they had become close, discussing with senior soldiers about what kind of place the castle was.

As Rohan listened dryly to the stories they excitedly shared, a particular phrase caught his ear, one he couldn’t just let pass.

“Wait, wait. Can you repeat that part you just mentioned?”

“Huh? Oh, the coming-of-age ceremony?”

“No, didn’t you mention something about a territory battle after that?”

“Yeah. I heard from Senior Sting that there’s a territorial battle going on in the neighboring territory right now. He said the atmosphere is intense…”

“A territorial battle…”

“Why are you so worried about it? It’s not like our castle is involved in any fighting. Senior said it’s something unrelated to us and laughed.”

“Is that so?”

Chris seemed to think it was nothing special, but Rohan felt a bit uneasy deep down.

However, there was no need to create an uncomfortable atmosphere for no reason.

Despite his somewhat dry reaction, which seemed satisfying enough, Chris chatted loudly for a while before leaving his spot.

“I guess I need to swing my sword a bit more fiercely.”

If sparks were to fly all the way to the castle, the only way Rohan could increase his chances of survival was by improving his own skills.

During the day, he practiced wielding a spear with other soldiers, and at night, he practiced swordplay alone, and two months passed quickly.

“Good job, everyone. You’re now proud soldiers of Izell Castle, not trainees. Rest well for two days and get ready to work as guards without causing any trouble!”

As Charles finished speaking, the new recruits cheered without waiting for someone to start.

“Yay!”

“We’re free!”

“We’re finally going out!”

Thanks to Charles’s kindness in bringing them to the village, the new recruits started exploring the city freely without going through unnecessary procedures.

“Wow, there are so many people.”

“What’s that? I’ve never seen something like that before.”

“It’s pretty…”

With just barely six people, it was amusing how each had different interests.

But even if it was a village attached to a castle, the population barely reached a thousand.

Despite wandering around all day, there wasn’t much to see to spend enough time looking around.

Of course, considering the other kids had never seen a big city, this alone was enough to captivate their attention.

After being dragged around by them for a while, they finally managed to secure a seat at a tavern.

Now, middle schoolers might wonder what a tavern was, but in this world, turning fourteen on the first day of the year marked the transition to adulthood.

Although noble adult ceremonies were rumored to be held on birthdays, without the recent Marquis Youngae’s ceremony, they wouldn’t have heard of it at all.

The reason for considering them adults at such an early age was simple.

To make one contribute sooner and to marry them off faster to increase the population.

With monsters scattered in the mountains and fields, and in an era of frequent wars, the population was the most important resource above all.

Among the recruits, Rohan was almost the youngest, so there was no one who couldn’t enter a tavern due to age.

“Wow, real liquor.”

“Then, is there fake liquor too?”

When Chris saw the liquor, he teased, and Ort gave a sarcastic comment.

Although Ort spoke as if he knew about liquor, Rohan thought Ort had never actually tasted liquor.

There was no way a child from a poor household who hadn’t even become an adult would drink liquor.

The kids, who seemed a bit tired after touring the village, became lively again as they drank liquor, raising their spirits.

Rohan, who felt mentally older than his fourteen years, chose not to join in the conversation and instead listened to the stories while sipping his drink and wandering around.