That's not how you use a witch!

Chapter 49 The Rebels Arrive!

After a busy night of work by the soldiers and civilians, the defensive fortifications of Fulong Valley were completed when the morning light rose.

According to Scarlett's latest reconnaissance, the rebels have already broken camp and are expected to arrive by dusk at the latest.

The militiamen seized the opportunity to eat and rest, conserving their energy for the upcoming battle. Meanwhile, patrols maintained constant vigilance to prevent the rebels from launching a surprise attack.

Ronan also stayed at the front line all night, checking for any gaps in the defensive fortifications and comforting the militia soldiers in each battalion.

He is both the commander-in-chief and the key combat force. Even if the upcoming battle does not require his direct involvement, he must still be present to boost morale.

The encouragement a lord gives to his subordinates is completely different from that of a lord who cowers in the rear and is ready to retreat at any time, and a lord who is always on the front line.

After confirming that everything was ready, Ronan rested briefly in the large tent that served as a temporary command post.

While he closed his eyes to rest, he reviewed the latest memo he had received.

[May 1, 2130, Sunny]

Today is a landmark day! Thanks to the tireless efforts of all the researchers, the first superhuman, "Number 0," has been successfully born! Whether in strength, explosiveness, endurance, or reaction speed, she has demonstrated levels far exceeding the physiological limits of ordinary people. After absorbing the energy from those psionic stones, a stable energy cycle emerged within Number 0's body, the core factor behind her breakthrough in physical abilities. Susan believes their functions extend far beyond this; with proper programming, this energy can be released in specific forms to meet the needs of different situations.

If Susan's vision can come true, the significance of the Extraordinary Human Project will far exceed our initial assumptions—true "new humans" will descend upon this world!

However, in my opinion, those patients who unfortunately come into contact with psionic stones and are contaminated by them also have untapped potential. Although their lives become shorter and their energy circulation is extremely chaotic, they also gain diverse and special abilities as a result.

My idea is this: if we could record their energy cycle patterns in some way, and then have extraordinary humans with stable energy cycles learn and replicate them, wouldn't that realize Susan's vision?

Sure enough, the so-called extraordinary human project was to create knights, and the witch was an accidental product... Wait, according to this theory, the knight's secret techniques may have originated from the witch's magical power?

Ronan summoned Bart to verify his claims and asked him who he had learned his secret techniques from.

"My lord, all the secret arts originate from the Church's 'Stone Tablets of Revelation,' which they claim are God's legacy that can only be deciphered through specific sacred rituals, and which they classify as the Church's highest secret. My secret arts were also learned through copies of the Stone Tablets of Revelation."

Bart rested his chin on his hand.

"As far as I know, very few people have ever seen a real revelation tablet; even senior bishops within the church do not have that authority. However, according to some folk rumors, there seems to be more than one revelation tablet, and a few years ago someone even claimed to have discovered a new one. Of course, the church would never admit to that."

Why does this sound like a memory device being excavated? Could the so-called ritual be a power-on process...? Ronan's lips twitched almost imperceptibly.

"During your training to become a knight, did you consume any resources?"

Ronan then asked, "For example, some kind of gemstone or other material?"

"No, that's not the case. Knights primarily cultivate and enhance their spiritual energy through breathing techniques, and theoretically, they don't need external aids. The reason it's considered costly is twofold: firstly, acquiring the necessary equipment is expensive, and secondly, most secret techniques are not cheap. Without joining a Grand Knight Order, ordinary knights would find it difficult to acquire sufficiently powerful secret techniques on their own. As for the various materials from the remains of evil beasts, while they do have an effect on cultivation, it's not the core reason. True knights don't focus their main attention on these."

"So, in other words, someone with no resources can potentially awaken as a knight simply by following the guidance of breathing techniques?"

"Theoretically, yes, and there are even a very small number of people who awaken entirely through self-realization. That's how it's written in chivalric romance novels."

Bart blinked. "Why did you suddenly ask that?"

Ronan silently put his hands in his pockets: "Aren't we about to fight the rebels? I was thinking, if all our militia could awaken into knights, perhaps we'd have a better chance of winning and fewer casualties."

"Haha, you really dare to dream. Putting aside everything else, just buying the breathing technique from the church is a considerable expense; even selling the entire Thornholde wouldn't be enough to cover it."

Ronan asked curiously, "Can't we just buy one copy so everyone can learn it together?"

"Of course not. Although the principles of breathing techniques are similar, each one is tailor-made and cannot be understood by anyone other than the designated person. Even if the church had the financial resources, it would not sell it to us, and might even become wary of it."

"So, what exactly do you mean by self-realization... how exactly does one achieve that realization?"

"That depends entirely on the individual. If I knew, I wouldn't need breathing techniques."

Seeing Ronan hesitate, Bart poured cold water on his idea, saying, "You should give up on this idea. Even with the guidance of breathing techniques, less than one in ten will truly master it. Relying on your militia to rely entirely on their own enlightenment and practice is less likely than finding a revelation tablet on the street."

"Alright..."

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It was evening, more than ten miles away.

The dark, imposing army swept across the banks of the white river, advancing towards the distant, faintly visible valley. The sound of their boots pounding the ground was like thunder, and the crimson crescent moons branded on their black battle banners, resembling plumes of smoke, fluttered in the wind.

Beneath the battle banner, Duke Manstein, clad in heavy armor and a black cloak, reined in his horse and slowly rode forward, scrutinizing the army before him with an expressionless face.

Since raising his army, his elite troops have never been defeated, and they have conquered the entire northern territory with lightning speed.

However, the westward advance strategy did not seem to go so smoothly—after driving the defeated northern troops to the west, they disappeared without a trace, without even making a splash.

If it weren't for his spies in the west telling him that the western border was still militarily lax, he might have even reconsidered the feasibility of advancing westward.

"My lord, the Fulong Valley is just ahead!"

To Manstein's left, a round-faced man with a thick beard and a large nose rode up and volunteered, "Leave the mission of a resounding victory to me! We need an overwhelming win to crush the morale of those Western scum!"

"Gorman, don't underestimate him."

Manstein pondered, "The closest territories in the West to the Valley of Dragons are Thorn Territory and Mountain Territory. According to my spies, it was they who jointly quelled that band of defeated soldiers, something no ordinary border territories could accomplish. Henry's special banquet for Ronan to celebrate his victory is enough to show that this man is no ordinary person."

"My lord, I think you are overthinking it. This man is indeed someone of note among the cowards of the Western Territory, but he's just the best of a bad bunch!"

Gorman laughed heartily. "If he were the duke ruling the western border, I would have to be somewhat wary of him, but he's just a minor baron. What can he possibly do? His most notable achievement is merely subduing our defeated foe with great effort, isn't it?"

Manstein's expression did not lighten. After a moment's thought, he looked at the officer on his right, a man in light armor with a mustache: "Anthony, what do you think?"

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