Chapter 45: Grand Knight

First things first, Van had to fix his arm. He grabbed his forearm and gritted his teeth.

'3… 2… 1…'

"Augh!"

Van snapped his arm back into place, ignoring the stings of pain. With his arm fixed, he sat down, deciding to break through to the Grand Knight stage before venturing further into the kingdom. Not only would it make him stronger, but he wouldn't have to waste drawing in mana from the environment to replenish his capacity.

Where the Knight rank was learning to use mana to empower oneself, through forming the 7 Swords, the Grand Knight rank had something similar, the 3 Boons. 

When a Knight reaches the Grand Knight stage, they must decide the type of fighter they want to become. The 3 Boons will be their special techniques/attacks they create as they grow stronger.

Maverick was a 1st Boon Grand Knight while Kiver was a 2nd Boon Grand Knight. Maverick had chosen to excel in raw physical ability (his beastly transformation was a technique looted from one of their raids), while Kiver had chosen to be more explosive with how his mana affected his body.

As for Van, he decided to focus on speed. A big part of his fighting style was being able to dodge and outmaneuver his opponents, and speed and flexibility would be even better.

Sitting down, Van closed his eyes and went into a meditative state. He recalled all of his 7 Swords, and began to figuratively merge them together in his mind. Once he reached the Grand Knight rank, he would gain new power that he chose to specialize in while still retaining his 7 Swords.

'The 1st Sword, being able to use mana.

The 2nd Sword, learning to release and move mana outside my body.

The 3rd Sword, learning to layer, stretch, and manipulate my mana.

The 4th Sword, wrapping my legs with mana to achieve quick bursts of speed.

The 5th Sword, layering my fists with mana to blow holes in my enemies.

The 6th Sword, stretching mana over my pupils to see further distances.

And the 7th Sword, constructing my mana around my body such that it grants insane durability.'

Van recounted his 7 Swords, thinking, willing about what he wants, speed. Speed to attack, to dodge, to surprise, he needed it.

He sat there, fully focused on his meditation. Before long, mana began to fly towards him from the surroundings. The ground he sat on trembled, and Van opened his eyes, his mana flaring up.

Van stood up and breathed out slowly. He felt stronger, healthier… and faster. He knew that his lifespan (by Fendorian time) had also increased. If Knights had around 80-100 years in their lifespan, then Grand Knights had at least 200 years.

Van felt his body changed a little, too. He was slightly thinner, his physique was more compact, a little smaller, shaped to not weigh him down. His height had changed too, but Van felt like he had lost an inch or two. 

'Might just be a drawback or something.' Van waved it off.

Van decided to check his status, as he felt something else change in him during the fight.

<> Status <> 

Name: Van Brown

Mana: 232/232

Rank: 1st Boon Grand Knight, 3rd Link Mage

<> Items <>

Salamander Tongue (Low)

<> Skills <> 

Transmigrator's Mind [T] [Passive]

Transfer [T] [Active]

Locked Skill [T] [???]

Higher Pain Resistance [C] [Passive]: 

The user still knows pain, and has become familiar with a higher kind. After so much pain, only getting higher and higher, the user has now built up a high resistance to pain, and only abnormally large amounts of pain can make him falter

Ground Geyser [E] [Active]

Hands of Flame [D] [Active]

<> Combat Arts <> 

Intermediate Reflexes [Movement] [1 Star]:

Proficiency: 6% (Master)

Intermediate Engagement [Unarmed] [2 Stars]:

Proficiency: 91% (Experienced)

Street Fighter [Mixed] [2 Stars]:

Proficiency: 49% (Master)

<> Worlds <> 

Earth

Pibar 

Fendor

<> End <>

Van was surprised at the changes. For starters, his Pain Resistance skill had evolved to Higher Pain Resistance, going from E to C, two whole ranks.

'They do say being burned alive is one of the most painful things imaginable.' Van nodded.

His Combat Art proficiencies had also grown, but what excited him the most was in his status, labeling him a 3rd Link Mage.

While Knights had 7 Swords, Mages had 10 links. They had more to do than Knights because of the difficulty in being a mage, as well as the effort needed. A mage had to manipulate mana in more complicated ways than a Knight can, since they control the elements and their surroundings.

'Looks like controlling the fire is what awakened my Mage path. It probably sent me straight to the 3rd Link since I already know some stuff about mana manipulation from my Swords.' 

Van would have to learn new tricks to form the 10 Links. The Swords were all about the body, but the Links were all about the mind. Having the will, the focus to spread your senses to the environment and control the elements.

'I'll have to learn more about sending out mana particles, and using mana to sense my surroundings.'

Ready to grow stronger, to explore Fendor properly and achieve his goals, Van walked away from the ruined estate of the dead Raphael, now a free man.

"Just gotta avoid the unmarked lands, and I'll be fine."

Van jumped into the forest, deciding to travel in the wilderness until he reached the nearest city. With the direction he was headed in, he would be going deeper into Holdor, towards the middle of it.

'At least he had a map of the world.' Van gave some credit to his "ex-boss".

Van spent some days in the forest, killing all the beasts he could and absorbing their mana. It felt real good to not have to share any of his spoils. And now that he was a Grand Knight AND a Mage? His mana capacity was increasing by leaps and bounds.

A few days after Van started heading for the next city, a group of men showed up at the estate. They wore bright colored clothes and looked stuck up. They looked at the scene with disbelief, seeing the wreckage and the many rotting corpses. 

"What the hell happened here?"