Bear School Astartes

The campfire crackled softly, its light flickering, while the distant forest echoed with indistinct monster roars.

Lann remained silent, his cat-like eyes gleaming faintly in the dimness, quietly observing the knights resting or standing guard around the fire.

After a long silence...

"You... have truly impressed me."

A fine curve appeared at the corner of Lann’s mouth, hidden in the shadows.

"We merely followed in the footsteps of the Hacksaw Chief and embraced your philosophy."

Lincoln knelt on one knee before Lann, speaking in a solemn tone.

All the knights also looked at Lann with seriousness and pride.

"Ha." Lann chuckled softly, a hint of satisfaction in his laughter.

"The night is still long," he suddenly changed the topic, looking at the moonlight filtering through the leaves above.

Lincoln, confused, lifted his head from his half-kneeling position, as did the other knights.

Suddenly, without turning his head, Lann called out to the Elu Cat nearby, who was tidying its small bed with its little claws.

"Rong Buqiu."

"Meow?"

The Three-Floral Elu Cat perked up its ears, lifting its head questioningly.

"Before sleeping, have a practice with them," Lann said with a light smile, "using the swordsmanship I taught you."

In an instant, Lincoln and the other Ember Knights understood, their eyes filled with excitement and surprise.

It was Rong Buqiu who was a bit slow on the uptake.

However, upon hearing they could practice with the warriors, Rong Buqiu immediately perked up.

"Woohoo! Who’s coming first, meow!"

The Elu Cat hopped around, drawing its Thunder Cat Sword from its sheath, standing proudly by the campfire.

If a human made such a gesture, it would appear frivolous and arrogant...but for the Elu Cat, it was just right.

Seeing this, Lincoln was eager to begin but glanced towards Lann on the other side of the fire, seeking permission.

"Fight however you like, Rong Buqiu is quite formidable, don’t underestimate it. However..."

Lann chuckled at first but then spoke seriously.

His gaze not just on Lincoln, but scanning all the Ember Knights.

"You should learn well."

"Since you’ve reached a realization that surprises me, perhaps... the tasks I assign to you in the future will be unimaginably difficult and complex."

There was not a trace of hesitation or confusion in the eyes of Lincoln and each Ember Knight, only eagerness.

With a "swish," Lincoln stood up from his kneeling position, drawing the Elf-Style Long Blade at his waist, advancing towards the eager young cat beside the fire.

"We are but embers in the fire, sire... burning is merely our duty!"

Lann said nothing more, merely turning his head to instruct Rong Buqiu.

"Go slower, and breathe more noticeably."

In an instant, the sound of clashing swords began to resonate. In the unique and skillful swordsmanship, the crisp ’clang clang clang’ rang without cessation.

The Qilin stuck out his head towards the fire to watch for a while, but soon after, yawned, with a few electric blue arcs sparking from its mouth.

Then, it turned its head the other way, resting its head on the ground to sleep.

-----------------

Along the journey, the knights and Rong Buqiu began nightly practice sessions.

Rong Buqiu was delighted, after all, the knights were entirely different from the monsters it was used to dealing with. Although they lacked the monsters’ tough scale armor and hard hides, nor their exaggerated stamina and strength.

But the knights possessed intellect, understanding tactics and strategy, and could wield weapons skillfully, their bodies agile even under armor.

These characteristics were usually the advantages Rong Buqiu had over monsters, but now, the opponents were just like it.

The members of the Knight Order were also quite pleased. These ten Ember Knights were the cream of the crop, the ’Honored Swordsmen’ of the Knight Order.

Their swordsmanship foundations, talent, and creativity were among the finest.

After Lann’s campfire talk that night, these clever fellows naturally understood Lann’s intent.

——He would teach the Ember Knights his own sword style.

In the Knight Order, abandoning the conventional hand-and-a-half sword and armed sword for the Elf-Style Long Blade was initially a form of imitation born out of admiration for their superior.

But after receiving swordsmanship instruction, this behavior was equivalent to Lann’s approval and commendation.

Regardless of the progress in swordsmanship, the significance of this action alone was enough to delight the Ember Knights.

And as for the swordsmanship progress...

"Inhale~ exhale~"

With the bumping of the horseback, the Ember Knights, who should have been riding as if on flat ground, were now frowning and breathing heavily.

Occasionally, some would cough from a misstep in their breathing.

Whenever a knight managed to maintain this deep breathing for a period of time, their figure on horseback naturally became more upright and steady.

But after the breathing breaks, it will return to its original state.

[Iwami Style: Trunk Breath].

After sparring with Rong Buqiu and with Lann providing verbal explanations on the side, the ten honored swordsmen who already had a basic foundation and talent in Swordsmanship progressed very quickly in getting accustomed to the new technique.

Within a few days, they could maintain a short breathing rhythm on the bumpy horseback.

"Want me to switch to another sword next time, meow?"

From in front of Lann, Rong Buqiu nimbly flipped to the back during Qilin’s trot and lowered his head to speak to Lincoln.

Lincoln rode his horse beside Lann. Although the Embers Knight Order’s warhorses were of excellent lineage, Qilin’s shoulder height alone was over two meters.

So the Knights and their horses always seemed somewhat ’petite’ beside Lann and Qilin.

"Using [Thunder Cat Sword] to deal with armor is too easy, meow. You all get your breathing thrown off just from getting touched and shocked, meow."

After a few days of sparring, the Ember Knights requested Rong Buqiu to draw his sword during the practice instead of dealing with the sheathed Longsword.

The mixed [Thunder Cat Sword] of Qilin mane and gray horn fragments made a stunning debut by achieving five consecutive victories the first night it appeared.

"N-no need, Master Rong Buqiu."

Lincoln, trying to maintain his breath while speaking, managed to utter his words without losing his breath on the horseback.

"If this breathing should... become a habit, then practicing amidst obstacles is necessary."

"You’ve got real grit, meow!"

Rong Buqiu praised Lincoln and the other Ember Knights.

At this time, Lann and the Knights had just passed a well-known, yet simply named inn in northern Velen—The Crossroads Inn.

This inn was far from luxurious and offered no services. It’s just that its good location meant nearly every caravan stopped there, thus earning it widespread recognition.

However, the innkeeper seemed to feel no need for redecorating or enhancing service quality.

Seller’s market, huh.

Lann took this opportunity to lightly restock a few of his spatial expansion packs.

Mainly bread, cheese, butter, along with five roasted chickens and six grilled fish.

Since he was in charge of the squad’s supplies, this amount of food got consumed quickly.

Upon reaching the northern bounds of Velen, they finally escaped the damp and swampy stench, with monster density significantly decreasing.

Southern Velen’s terrain generally being low led to widespread swamps and ponds.

In weather without rain, ground stepped on with boots becomes clumped wet soil.

The northernmost part of Velen is the Ponta River, across which lies Redania.

So all Lann and his group needed was to turn eastward and follow upstream along the Ponta River from Temeria’s northern border all the way to Elrand.

In the course of two more days’ travel, Lann passed by Vizima.

He didn’t enter the city because he knew venturing inside would only invite trouble.

Although Veltrest had sincerely invited him before, Lann found maintaining a distance from Temeria’s political center quite effective, hence never entering.

But he did enter a tavern for resupply on the outskirts of the city called Dark Water.

The village was full of old acquaintances, and the elder’s two daughters had grown a bit—now drawing young men around them.

The underwater realm of the Half-Fishmen seemed to regain some vitality too; although Lann didn’t spot them surfacing during broad daylight.

But in front of the Lady of the Lake statue outside the village, Lann noticed some offerings clearly differing from human cultural norms.

He waited before the Lady’s statue without entering the village—Lincoln’s team went in for the supplies.

Yet Taler, Veltrest’s informant leader, received word and came running from the village in search of Lann.

"I’ve been waiting here for you," complained the sweaty informant head with even the monocle barely staying on as he looked up at Lann in frustration. "And who knew you wouldn’t come?"

"For... that matter over there?"

Lann ignored Taler’s gripes, pointing northeast instead. It was toward the Ponta River Valley.

"Where else could it be, dammit?" Taler responded exasperatedly, curses flowing freely.

"Ah, if you’d come over yourself, I could’ve told you right then, no need for a messenger to make a pointless trip to Gos Velen for you."

"What do you mean?" Lann’s brows furrowed slightly, apprehension in his voice, "A needless trip... is this matter really troublesome?"

Upon saying this, Taler sighed in vexation, scratching his bald head again.

"Ah, damn it... not troublesome, just a messenger, but quite unfortunate, he was rather young."

"What does this mean?"

"He died," Taler straightforwardly stated, shaking his head. "Died on the way back."

"Died?"

Lann asked in surprise.

"Yes, an arrow in his back, instantly breathless, collapsed unconscious on horseback, found later with the horse seemingly bathed in blood."

Taler’s tone held regret, yet it was calm.

Though regretful about the young messenger, the occurrence, considering the times, was rather mundane.

As routine as saying one got scammed while buying groceries in the morning.