Chapter 15: Agent Elf: Morality, what is that?

In Drake City, there was a very ancient type of vocational training institution: the Knight Training Hall! Generally speaking, these were very private establishments. Neither the City Hall, nor the meritorious nobles, nor the Church would indiscriminately bestow extraordinary power upon others, unless those individuals were willing to join them.

Knight training halls were often founded by knights without titles, who might be fallen meritorious nobles, second sons expelled from their homes, disabled mercenaries, or undying veterans from the battlefield. For them, a knight training hall was a means of livelihood, and what they taught were very basic, even low-level, knight cultivation methods. Whether one could become a knight was uncertain, but activating battle aura was basically unrealistic.

Mr. Floret Declane, a junior knight, brought his son, little Will, to a fairly well-sized knight training hall today. Early in the morning, twenty to thirty young people, ranging from thirteen or fourteen to twenty-one or twenty-two years old, were already training with great enthusiasm.

Their training was overseen by a one-armed, dark-skinned, bearded giant. Despite having only one arm, he could use a wooden sword to make three or five adult apprentices cry out in pain. Not far away, Sheriff Rate had changed out of his uniform and into knight attire, performing rigorous knight training with a sword in both hands.

“Yo, buddy, I’ve been waiting for you for two days. I thought you wouldn’t bring little Will to my dilapidated training hall,” Rate gave Floret Declane a big hug, pointing at the enthusiastically training youngsters and laughing, “Seeing them reminds me of us when we were young, full of dreams, and fighting for those dreams.

When you first came to Drake City, I wasn’t yet a formal knight. I yearned for the glory of knighthood, righting wrongs, and almost got ambushed and killed by a few ruffians. You helped me. From then on, I could never forget the word ‘knight.’ I dreamed of becoming a formal knight like you, saving the weak and fighting crime. Later, we became mercenaries together, went on adventures together, until you received that mission and gradually withdrew from the mercenary world.”

“Your dream has come true, hasn’t it? You’re still a formal knight, and you even activated battle aura and advanced to intermediate knight. You’re much stronger than me now. Not only did you become a sheriff, but you also opened a knight training hall. But is this really a good idea?” Floret Declane said with some concern, “Is it really good to spread knight training methods? Although it’s only the incomplete training method we obtained when we wiped out the Dark Knights, no matter how low-level, knight training methods are not something ordinary people should have access to.”

“Haha, Floret, you’re still as cautious as ever. Father already said that as long as we don’t leak the family’s knight cultivation method, other low-level training methods don’t matter. After all, they’re not our own, so we don’t feel bad about it. By the way, how is little Will’s aptitude? You definitely didn’t make it easy for him these past two days, did you?” Rate’s face showed a mischievous smile. “Little Will, I heard your ‘Playboy’ was stolen again. Oh, my God, I really can’t believe that the public order in Drake City would be so bad under my governance that even a child’s magazine would be stolen. Hahahahaha!”

“Alright, you continue training. I’ll take him around first to let little Will understand more about how others train. This kid’s mind is better than both of ours, and he might have other ideas. I need to make him suffer a bit,” Floret Declane pulled little Will, his gaze turning to the one-armed man, and he called out loudly, “Yo, Calt, our one-armed Sword Saint is bullying apprentice knights again.”

“Floret Declane, I challenge you to a duel!” The one-armed man roared, rushing over menacingly with a greatsword, then crashed hard into Floret Declane. The two big men collided fiercely, then burst into laughter together.

Father seemed to have rarely been this happy before. Of course, it wasn’t that he wasn’t happy at home; it was just that the happiness at home was more about warmth, while here it was a relaxed and unrestrained joy.

“Little Will, let me introduce you. This is Calt, the knight who formed a team with Rate and me. His original title was Gale Knight. Now? Hehe, he’s the infamous and renowned one-armed Sword Saint Calt, who loves to bully apprentice knights! Hahahahaha!”

“Little Will, don’t listen to your father’s nonsense. Half of his ‘Flower Protector Knight’ title was hyped up by Rate and me. We both contributed to your father being able to win over Majesties. If it’s little Will, I don’t mind contributing my knight cultivation method, but you have to let me be his godfather.” The one-armed man, Calt, was unmarried and naturally had no children. He dedicated everything to the knight training hall, and upon seeing little Will, he immediately felt a strong urge to take a godson.

“Save it, you! The people who want to adopt little Will as a godson could line up from here to his house. Little Will is a top-ranked student in school, possibly even first, hailed as the ‘Last Hope’ and an all-around excellent graduate. Who knows how many teachers and professors are waiting to take him as their godson?” Rate snorted, glancing at the smug Floret Declane, and scoffed, “If little Will achieved something in knighthood, I could understand your pride. But for little Will to achieve something academically, it’s clearly Majesties’ credit. What are you proud of?” After becoming a sheriff, Rate only swore in very private settings. He was genuinely happy that Floret Declane had come today.

Little Will confirmed with the guiding sprite that the Eye of Appraisal, even the basic version, had an information gathering function. By observing others’ cultivation, it could record and summarize their cultivation methods. Collecting this knowledge would earn him contribution points. Moreover, he had priority exchange rights and even discounts. However, Will, who already had a plan, didn’t intend to exchange for too many cultivation methods. Improving the family’s cultivation method slowly would be enough; at worst, he’d just pretend to be a genius.

“Ding ~ Apostle has collected an Intermediate Knight Cultivation Method using the Eye of Appraisal. Rewarding two hundred contribution points. Allowing the Apostle to exchange for this cultivation method at a 90% discount. Do you wish to exchange?” The guiding sprite’s voice was full of temptation, but Will, who already had a plan, directly chose to refuse. “Intermediate Knight Cultivation Method is unnamed. Do you wish to name it? Refusing will default to ‘Unnamed Intermediate Knight Cultivation Method One.’ Apostle did not respond in time. Named as ‘Unnamed Intermediate Knight Cultivation Method One.’”

“Ding ~ Apostle has collected a Junior Knight Cultivation Method using the Eye of Appraisal. Rewarding one hundred contribution points. Allowing the Apostle to exchange for this cultivation method at a 90% discount. Do you wish to exchange? Junior Knight Cultivation Method is unnamed. Do you wish to name it? Refusing will default to ‘Unnamed Junior Knight Cultivation Method One.’ Apostle did not respond in time. Named as ‘Unnamed Junior Knight Cultivation Method One.’”

“Ding ~, collected a set of basic swordsmanship practiced by an Intermediate Knight. Recorded. Rewarding ten contribution points.”

“Ding ~, collected a set of basic swordsmanship practiced by a Junior Knight. Recorded. Rewarding five contribution points.”

“Ding ~, collected a set of basic swordsmanship practiced by an Apprentice Knight. Recorded. Rewarding one contribution point.”

“Ding ~, detected Apostle’s psychology. Only one copy of the same cultivation method at the same knight level will be recorded. Please do not waste the Eye of Appraisal’s time.”

Well, little Will’s plan to earn contribution points was thus shattered. Moreover, the Eye of Appraisal, which cost one contribution point every ten seconds, was not cost-effective for observing basic swordsmanship that took several minutes to record once.

“Ding ~, Apostle Space has opened a trial function. Based on the recorded information, it simulates the training process in the Apostle’s mind and semi-forcibly controls the Apostle’s body. Apprentice Knight Basic Swordsmanship experience, one contribution point per session. Junior Knight Basic Swordsmanship experience, five contribution points per session. Intermediate Knight Basic Swordsmanship experience, ten contribution points per session.”

Profiteer! Little Will began to doubt whether he was truly serving a deity, as their methods seemed to have become just like a devil’s. He couldn’t expose too much now. Besides the cleaving sword taught by Knight Wall, he could only train according to the family’s cultivation method. Fortunately, he had already prepared and optimized the family’s inherited cultivation method. Putting on the training gear, Will then realized that what Rate had given him was not from the City Hall’s security department at all, but custom-made by the knight training hall itself. And his sacred attire fit perfectly, clearly a very carefully crafted piece.

“Ding ~, Apostle’s basic swordsmanship is very poor. Do you wish to enable the auxiliary training function to help the Apostle improve strength better? The auxiliary training function costs one contribution point per minute.” Even with the guiding sprite’s voice appearing, Will couldn’t help but complain, “Your service is very timely, but it’s a bit too expensive. My training sessions are calculated by the hour. Am I supposed to spend dozens or even hundreds of contribution points every time I train? Heh heh, I’m not some rich magnate.”

“Ding ~, Apostle’s level is relatively low, so the fee can be reduced. One contribution point per ten minutes. Do you wish to enable auxiliary training?” The guiding sprite’s voice almost made little Will fall to the ground. He had only complained that it was too expensive, and it immediately offered a 90% discount. What was going on?

“Um, guiding sprite, is this fee collected by you, or by the Apostle Space?” Will felt like he still didn’t understand many things about this Apostle Space.

“Of course, it’s collected by me! I put in the work, so naturally, I should receive compensation. Is there a problem?” The guiding sprite’s voice was filled with displeasure. “You can’t always play with me, so I have to do odd jobs to earn some contribution points to play by myself.”

“Then, in the exchange function, when exchanging things, knowledge, or power, do you also charge for that?” Will felt like he was understanding this Apostle Space more and more.

“Apostle, that’s a very foolish question. The Apostle Space is like a branch of a chain store opened by a deity. Knowledge, items, and power are all commodities in the store. Although you exchange these things through my hands, the ultimate profit belongs to the great deity. I’m just a store clerk, providing some private services and collecting a small personal income.” The guiding sprite’s explanation gave Will a sudden realization. So that’s how it was. The store’s items all belonged to the great deity and were non-negotiable. When the deity was happy, there would be discounts, but no price reductions. However, the guiding sprite’s private services were different; they could be negotiated.

“Auxiliary training function, let’s try it for an hour, five contribution points. Deal or no deal?”

“Deal!”

Little Will found that he seemed to have overestimated the guiding sprite’s integrity.

Guiding Sprite: Integrity, what’s that? Can it be eaten?