“Ah…”

Blood trickled down the longsword and from Viscount Well’s back.

“So you wanted to run, did you? You nearly fooled me.”

Viscount Souter’s tone was disdainful. He had been momentarily fooled by the mad dash of his old rival, Viscount Well, and had thought the man truly intended to fight to the death. He never expected the man would turn on his heel at the last second, hoping to escape.

Unfortunately for Well, Ron arrived in time to engage him, and the viscount, who had lost his nerve, was ultimately killed by Souter’s knightly sword.

“Ron, are you injured?”

After all, a veteran knight like Richard would put up a desperate fight before his demise, and it seemed Ron had sustained some injuries.

“It’s nothing. Go assist Master Richard.”

“Mm.” The battle still raged, and Souter was no seasoned actor capable of playing the humble leader, so he ordered the cavalrymen at his side to cut off Viscount Well’s head before returning to the fray.

With the addition of two knights’ worth of combat power, the House of Welles cavalry, already wavering, began to fall apart. In the end, only two quasi-knights and a dozen or so foot soldiers escaped in different directions.

Richard, however, did not order his men to pursue the fleeing enemy. Instead, he gathered the remaining cavalry and, after a brief inspection of the foot soldiers of the House of Welles, found them woefully exposed without the protection of their cavalry. With a few dozen remaining cavalrymen, he easily punched through the House of Welles’s battle lines, shouting at the top of their lungs that Viscount Well was dead and displaying his head to the army.

The collapse of the House of Welles’s forces became inevitable. The peasant soldiers dropped their weapons and turned to flee, followed by the retinue and even the valiant quasi-knight.

One by one, they broke ranks, and in no time, a chain reaction ensued. A few quasi-knight managed to regroup and attempted to organize a futile resistance against the charging cavalry, but their efforts were in vain as Richard personally led his cavalry against them. After dispatching the last of the resisting quasi-knight, the war was as good as over.

The House of Welles’s peasant soldiers scattered across the snowy plains as the Hunter family’s soldiers chased them down, their eyes bloodshot with rage. These enemies were easy pickings for their military achievements.

Only when Richard ordered his men to stop killing the fleeing soldiers did the Hunter family’s soldiers reluctantly comply.

By the time the last pursuit returned to their unit, aside from those who had been captured, no trace remained of the House of Welles’s soldiers on the snow-covered battlefield.

After a brief cheer, the soldiers of the Hunter family began to clean up the battlefield. In the northern lands, where iron was relatively scarce, armor, knights’ swords, and even spearheads were all valuable treasures.

After cleaning up, they would be able to assemble over a hundred sets of iron armor, even if some of them were damaged; once disassembled by blacksmiths, they could be used to piece together fabric armor, forming the foundation for Richard’s future military expansion.

A faint hint of surprise surfaced in Richard’s mind as well.

A glorious victory:

Losses: 216

Enemies defeated: 898

Experience awarded: 5,560

Congratulations! You have been promoted.

Richard: Human Race

Level: 3 (3,280/5,000)

Strength: 6.2

Constitution: 6.5

Agility: 6.5

Spirit: 2.8

Skills: Beast Breathing Technique (Master rank; can be upgraded), Universal Qi-Refining Technique (Elementary rank; can be upgraded).

New skill – Elementary Offensive Spell (Increases the attack power of your soldiers by 10 percent; can be learned)

Available skill points: 3

First, Richard attempted to learn the basic Offensive Technique, spending one skill point. Then he called Ron and one of the City Guards’ quasi-knight candidates over for feedback. Ron confirmed that he felt stronger, but the other quasi-knight candidate was confused by Richard’s questions.

After sending the two off without further explanation, Richard began to ponder the matter more thoroughly. He was fairly certain that the Offensive Technique only affected units produced by the military system, but he wasn’t sure.

Thinking it over, he decided to add the skill point to his Beast Breathing Technique. The military system had too few soldiers, so adding points to Offensive Technique wouldn’t be very useful; a general qi technique like Universal Breathing Technique was too low level, and investing skill points directly would be a waste. Thus, he decided to see what his Beast Breathing Technique would look like if he took it one step further.

After investing two skill points into the Beast Breathing Technique, Richard could distinctly feel his body becoming more relaxed, his strength and senses all improving noticeably.

Even an improvement plan for the Beast Breathing Technique appeared in his memories, meaning that this technique was essentially a perfect refinement of Beast Breathing Technique. He could pass it on to everyone in the Hunter family…

When he checked his character window through the System, it had changed to:

Richard: Human Race

Strength: 8.6

Constitution: 8.5

Agility: 9.2

Spirit: 3.0

Skills: Beast Breathing Method (Grandmaster); Universal Qi Guiding Technique (Elementary); Attack Spell (Elementary)

Units: Pikeman (10); Archer (10); Swordsman (1); Crusader (1)

Richard’s physical attributes had all significantly improved. Without even considering his energy, his raw physical form was already on par with a veteran knight who had honed his body to the peak through years of battle experience.

Night had fallen, and after the soldiers finished clearing the battlefield, they set up camp. The main members of the Hunter family gathered around the bonfire to discuss matters.

Richard chose not to set out for Greatstone Castle that night. Travelling at night during this era was extremely perilous; the darkness was rife with too many unexpected dangers. Even elite troops who were veterans of many battles would not make such a move unless absolutely necessary.

At this point, the House of Welles was merely a slab of meat on the chopping block, so there was no need to take any risks.

Aside from the cheers of victory, the crowd around the bonfire was in low spirits. Although the battle had been a decisive victory, the Hunter family had suffered significant losses. Aside from two of Richard’s system-soldier knights, two of the City Guards’ three quasi-knight hundred-man commanders had died, one of whom was the son of Richard’s uncle, his cousin.

To stop the quasi-knight cadets of the House of Welles, the City Guards had lost a hundred men, and the peasant soldiers suffered the greatest casualties, as their lack of armor made them akin to grass being cut down by the enemy’s blades.

Although the Hunter family had established their family through martial prowess, this was their first experience suffering such heavy casualties in battle.

After making a few simple arrangements, Richard offered some words of consolation, which lifted everyone’s spirits, if only a little.

Richard then dismissed everyone so they could get some rest.

Only Richard and Viscount Souter remained.

“Did you see? When that old Welles saw his son die, his eyes were terrifying. I thought he was going to take me with him, not that he’d try to flee.”

“Ha ha, I never thought even a father could be frightened on the battlefield.”

“Who could’ve known? I thought he loved his son as much as I do.”

Richard fell silent. He was not one for sentimental chatter, and he didn’t quite know how to respond.

“But when I think about it now, he was right. If he had taken some men and retreated to Greatstone Castle, we wouldn’t have had such an easy victory today,” Viscount Souter continued, unbothered by Richard’s silence.

“Ah, Richard, if the day should ever come when your father dies on the battlefield, will you seek revenge at all costs or continue to plot with cold reason?”

Fuck, what a loaded question.

To be fair, this question also stumped Richard. He considered himself a man of reason, skilled in strategic planning; but if the one who fell in battle today were not his cousin but Viscount Souter himself, could he have remained unmoved?

“I don’t know how I’d respond until I’m faced with that situation. To avoid having to make such a difficult choice, I think I’ll just keep my father off the battlefield.”

“You stay here in Tie Mu City, hunting and enjoying the circus performances. I’ll invite the most popular circus troupe in the Golden Dragon Kingdom for your enjoyment. Just enjoy the good life, and leave the burdens of statecraft to your son.”

In truth, Richard had dodged the question.

“Shameful to flee, but it works.”

“You, ha ha ha ha.”

“You sound like a usurping prince from one of those bard’s tales.”

Richard laughed along with his joke. His authority in Hunter was that of a king; there was no need for him to usurp anything. Taking Greatstone Castle would mark the beginning of a new era.

The night wind rustled through the camp, and all in the encampment had sunk into slumber save for the soldiers on patrol.