Astartes of the Bear School

Chapter 1171 1153. Acknowledgement of Teaching
The campfire was crackling quietly, the flames flickering, and in the woods in the distance came the roar of a monster whose direction could no longer be determined.

Lan didn't say anything. His cat eyes, glowing slightly in the dim light, just quietly looked at the knights who were resting around the campfire or on duty.

After a long silence
"You guys impressed me."

The corners of Lan En's mouth curved into a beautiful arc in the shadow.

"We are merely following the footsteps of Butler Hackso and your ideas."

Lincoln knelt on one knee towards Lan and spoke in a deep voice.

All the knights looked at Lan En seriously and felt proud of him.

"Ha." Lan En chuckled, with a hint of pleasure in his laughter.

"The night is still long now." The witcher suddenly changed the subject and seemed to have started a new conversation, looking at the moonlight shining through the gaps in the leaves above his head.

Lincoln raised his head from his half-kneeling position and looked at him in confusion. The other knights also looked confused.

Suddenly, Lan En, without even turning his head, called out to Elu the cat who was tidying up his little bed with his little paws.

"Flannel ball."

"Meow?"

The calico cat shook its ears and raised its head in confusion.

"Before you go to bed, practice with them." Lan En chuckled, "Use the swordplay I taught you."

Lincoln and the other Embers Knights understood instantly, their eyes filled with eager surprise.

Instead, the flannel ball itself is relatively slow.

However, for the fluff ball, it immediately became excited when it heard that it could practice with the soldiers.

"Woohoo! Okay! Who of you will go first, meow!"

With a jump, Felyne pulled out his scabbarded Thundercat sword from the package that had been placed there, and stood beside the campfire with his hands on his hips, looking proud.

If a human did this kind of action, it would just seem frivolous and arrogant, but Felynx is just right.

Lincoln was eager to try it out when he saw this, but he still looked at Lan on the other side of the campfire with an inquiring look.

"You can hit it however you want, the flannel ball is very powerful, don't underestimate it. However."

The witcher chuckled at first, but then his tone became serious.

And his gaze was not limited to Lincoln, but scanned every Embers Knight.

"You must study hard."

"Since you all have such a surprising understanding, then perhaps the tasks I assign to you in the future will be more difficult and complicated than you can imagine."

There was no hesitation or confusion in Lincoln's and every Embers Knight's eyes, only eagerness.

With a "swish", Lincoln was the first to stand up from half-kneeling, and drew out the elf-style long sword at his waist, and walked towards the kitten who was already eager to try beside the campfire.

"We are just embers in the fire, and our lord is only burning our duty!"

Lan En didn't say much, but just turned around and instructed the fluffy ball.

"Hit slower and breathe more clearly."

Then, a moment later, the sound of swords clashing began to sound. In the unique and skillful swordplay, the crisp "dangdangdang" sound continued to be heard.

Qilin stretched his head and looked towards the campfire for a while, but then he opened his mouth and yawned, with several blue arcs of electricity bursting out from his mouth.

Then he turned his head to the other side, put his head on the ground and fell asleep.
-
Along the way, the Knights and the Flannel Ball began to have this sparring match every night.

The fluff ball was very happy. After all, the knights were completely different from the monsters it was used to dealing with. Although they did not have the monsters' hard scales and skin, they also did not have such exaggerated physical strength and power.

But the knights have brains, understand tactics and decision-making, are able to use weapons skillfully, and are very agile even under armor.

In the past, these characteristics were the advantages that the fluff ball had when dealing with monsters, but now, the opponent was the same as it.

The members of the Knights Templar were also very happy. These ten Ash Knights were the best and most selected "honorary swordsmen" in the Knights Templar.

Their sword-fighting foundation, sword-fighting talent and creativity are among the best.

After Lan's campfire chat that night, these smart guys naturally understood what Lan meant.

——He will teach the Embers Knights his own sword.

The Knights Temperance abandoned conventional half-hand swords and armed swords and switched to elven-style long swords. This was a spontaneous act of imitation out of respect for the chief officer.

But after being taught the swordsmanship, this action was equivalent to gaining Lan En's recognition and approval.

Regardless of the progress of the swordsmanship, the significance of this action alone is enough to make the Embers Knights happy.

As for the progress of swordsmanship.
"Breathe~blow~"

As the horses' backs were bumpy, the Embers Knights, who should have been riding horses as easily as walking on flat ground, were now frowning and gasping loudly.

He would cough a few times from time to time.

As long as the knight maintains this kind of deep breathing for a period of time, his figure on the horse's back will naturally rise and fall, and seem to become more upright.

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

[Ashina-style: Trunk Breath].

After actual combat training with the fluff balls and Lan En's explanation, the ten honorary swordsmen, who already had a foundation and talent in swordsmanship, made rapid progress in mastering the new techniques.

It only takes a few days to maintain a short breathing rhythm on the bumpy horseback. "Do you want me to change to another sword next time, meow?"

From in front of Lan En, the fluffy ball nimbly flipped to behind him as Qilin trotted, and lowered its head to speak to Lincoln.

Lincoln rode his horse and followed beside Lan. Although the horses of the Knights of Embers were of excellent pedigree, Qilin's shoulder height alone was more than two meters.

Therefore, normal knights and horses always appear relatively "small" next to Lan En and Qilin.

"It's too easy to use the ThunderCat Sword against the armor, meow. You guys will have your breathing disordered because of the electric shock when you're touched, meow."

After several days of sparring, the Embers asked Flannel to draw his sword during sparring instead of using a scabbard longsword.

As a result, the Thundercat Sword, which was mixed with Kirin mane and ashen horn fragments, won five consecutive victories on the night it appeared.

"No, no need, Mr. Fluffball."

Lincoln struggled to maintain his breathing while on horseback, trying to speak without breathing disordered.

"If this breathing should, should be practiced into a habit, then it is necessary to practice it under various obstacles."

"You're really brave, meow!"

Flannel Ball praised Lincoln and the other Embers.

At this time, Lan En and the knights had just passed the inn in the north of Velen, which had a plain name but was quite well-known - the Inn at the Crossroads.

This inn is not luxurious at all, and it doesn't have much service. But it is famous because of its good location and almost every caravan stops by to rest.

However, the hotel owner seemed to think there was no need to redecorate or improve the quality of service because of this.

It's a seller's market.

Lann is doing a little restocking of a couple of his space expansion packs here.

It was mainly bread, cheese, butter and the like, with five roast chickens and six roast fish.

After all, he was in charge of the team's supplies at the moment, and this little bit of food was eaten up very quickly.

Only when we arrived in the north of Velen did we escape from the humid environment and the stench of the swamp, and the density of monsters also decreased significantly.

Southern Velen is generally low-lying, resulting in puddles and pools throughout the area.

In weather that has not rained, the ground is covered with wet and caked soil when the boots step on it.

The northernmost point of Velen is the Pontar River, and across the river is Redania.

So now Lan and his companions only needed to turn around and head east, and they could go upstream along the Pontar River, all the way from the northern border of Temeria to Elland.

After two more days of walking, Lann passed through Vizima.

He did not go into the city because he knew that going into the city would only bring him trouble.

Although Foltest had sincerely invited him before, he felt that this method of keeping a distance from the political center of Temeria was quite useful, so he never went in once.

But when he passed the Dark Water outside the city, he went into the village tavern to replenish supplies.

There are still some old acquaintances in the village. The two daughters of the village chief have grown up a bit now, and many young people are around them.

The merman seemed to have regained some life in the underwater kingdom, although it was broad daylight now and Lan En did not see any merman coming ashore wearing breathing masks.

But in front of the statue of the Lady of the Lake outside the village, Lan saw some offerings that were clearly not in line with human customs.

Lan was waiting in front of the statue of the Lady of the Lake and did not enter the village. Lincoln led the team to buy supplies.

But Tal, the intelligence chief under Foltest, received the news and trotted all the way from the village to find Lan.

"I've been waiting for you here." The intelligence chief was sweating profusely, his eyes unable to hold his monocle, and he looked up at Lan and complained. "Who knew you didn't come at all?"

"Because of... that matter over there?"

Lan ignored Taller's complaints and pointed northeast, toward the Pontar River Valley.

"What the hell could it be?" Taller responded immediately with a curse word.

"Well, if you had come here, I would have told you then, and there would have been no need to send a messenger to Gos Velen to look for you."

"What do you mean?" Lan En frowned slightly. He heard something wrong. "Let him make an extra trip. Is this a big deal?"

At this point, Tal sighed in annoyance and scratched his bald head again.

"Well, it's no trouble for a dog to be fucked, he's just a messenger. It's just a pity, he's still quite young."

"What does that mean?"

"He's dead." Tal said simply, shaking his head. "He died on the way back."

"died?"

Lan En asked in surprise.

"Yes, he was shot in the back with an arrow. He died immediately and fell unconscious on the horse's back. When the horse was found, it looked like it had been bathed in blood."

In addition to regret, there is also a sense of indifference in Taller's words.

He felt sorry for the young messenger, but it was really ordinary for such a thing to happen in this world.

It's like talking about something as common as getting ripped off while buying groceries in the morning.

(End of this chapter)