CHAPTER 22: A PEERLESS GENIUS

Halden felt James’s gaze and tilted his head. "Young Master James, welcome back."

James chuckled lightly. "I didn’t know that you were there yesterday, Sir Halden."

"It seems that you have talked with your father. Well, it’s only right since the current is completely different—a full 180° from the person you used to be." Halden smiled.

He then waved his hand and commanded as he glanced at the sea of knights. "Continue your training."

"Yes, sir!" Hundreds of voices roared in unison, their discipline echoing across the field.

As James looked at the half-naked, battle-scarred commander before him, he asked curiously, "Where are the normal knights?"

Even with hundreds of Elite Knights before him, James knew this wasn’t the full force of the Steelhearts. Because the number of Normal Knights in the Steelhearts amounted to almost two thousand.

"Oh, them?" Halden replied, brushing his beard with a grin. "They’re out hunting and training in the Blackfang Mountain."

His attention then shifted to the figure standing behind James. His sharp eyes swept over Nyxrael from head to toe, and a faint smirk tugged at his lips.

"He’s indeed extremely strong." Halden mused, licking his lips slightly. "How about a little spar? I’m curious to see just how powerful he truly is."

James shook his head helplessly. ’This fighting maniac... I still can’t believe Father sent him yesterday.’

James thought that it was fortunate that things weren’t escalated further before because Halden was a fighting maniac and always made a ruckus wherever he went. The only reason he now served as Knight-Commander of the Steelhearts was because, years ago, he had challenged Cassian himself and lost badly.

But rather than kill him, Cassian had seen potential and recruited him, a decision that later became one of the Steelheart family’s greatest strengths.

"Not today, Sir Halden," James said with a bitter smile. "Maybe after we return from Uncle Edmund’s territory."

Halden clicked his tongue in disappointment. "Tch. Fine, I’ll wait. I won’t disturb you anymore then."

James laughed softly, then added, "Besides, we might need your guidance when we begin learning our swordsmanship."

Halden’s eyes gleamed. "Now that’s a promise I’ll hold you to."

"Then, it’s settled," James said with a grin before walking off toward the left side of the field, where a stone path led to the manor’s rear wing—the Steelheart Grand Library, one of the family’s most guarded places.

A few minutes later, they came out of the library with James smiling, as he was in a good mood. James had taken out two copies of Steelheart Swordsmanship until the 6th move.

The Steelheart family’s swordsmanship was on a different level from the others within the Grimwald. Because the outside world only knew that it only had seven moves, with the strongest move being equivalent to a Transcendent Knight.

But in reality, which only a few people knew about, there were ten moves. The final and most powerful one could only be learned by those who reached the Hallowed Knight Rank. It was this secret foundation that made the Steelheart family unrivaled in pure combat strength.

James had once asked his father about the deeper origins of their swordsmanship, but Cassian had kept silent, saying only, "You’ll understand when you become the head of the family."

Even now, the true history of the Steelhearts remained a mystery to him.

Subsequently, James ordered Nyxrael to tell his little sister to wait for a bit because he wanted to break through to the Silver Knight.

He also reminded Nyxrael to use this time to do whatever he wanted to, as this was his new home.

Three hours later, James opened the door of the cultivation room with a wide smile. The power that radiated from his body was that of a Silver Knight Rank.

’I feel that my body becomes a few times stronger and faster.’ James punched forward, creating a small gust of wind.

James had actually wanted to continue to cultivate after he felt the satisfaction of becoming stronger, but because he had already promised Elara, he quickly diminished his thoughts since it wasn’t worth making his little princess hate him.

Besides, it wouldn’t change anything even if he became a Gold Knight Rank.

After doing some shadow boxing, James climbed up the stairs since the cultivation rooms were located underground.

Just as he opened the main door, which connected to the manor’s main building, he noticed that there was a commotion from the training ground.

"Wow! He almost mastered the Fourth Move—The Twin Lions Rend already!"

"He’s a peerless genius!"

"Still, he’s an Epic Knight. Of course it’s easier for him to grasp the forms."

"Don’t forget that this is his first time seeing the Steelheart Swordsmanship."

"Even Duke Cassian admitted he wouldn’t have learned it this fast in the same situation!"

...

Hundreds of people gathered and whispered softly, discussing the masked man who displayed the 4th move of the Steelheart swordsmanship—The Twin Lions Rend.

"Brother James... Over here!" A little girl that was about six years old with a pigtail hairstyle waved her hand cutely while being piggybacked on the shoulders by Cassian.

Everyone instantly turned silent and made way for James.

"What are you doing here, Elara?" James asked with a smile, pinching her on the cheek softly.

"We’re watching your knight practice!" Elara said excitedly as she pointed her finger at Nyxrael, who just finished executing the 4th move (Twin Lions Rend).

"Dad said even he couldn’t learn that fast!" Elara tapped her hand on Cassian’s head, making most of the knights shiver because only the little princess dared to do such a thing to Duke Cassian.

James smiled and shook his head helplessly before picking Elara up from Cassian’s shoulders.

"Alright, Have you had enough fun? We’ve delayed our trip long enough. You can watch him train again once we arrive at Uncle Edmund’s estate." James patted her hair softly.

"My Lord." Nyxrael appeared in front of James and bowed slightly.

James nodded. "Good. Let’s—"

He stopped mid-sentence when he felt a firm hand rest on his shoulder.

"Wait," Cassian spoke as he looked at Nyxrael with a smile. "No one has ever shown you the 5th move yet, right? Then allow me the honor of demonstrating it to such a genius like you."