Upon returning to his room, Alaric took a quick bath in his private bathroom and changed into comfortable silk nightwear.

    It''s time to use ''that thing''.

    (Note: Item Upgrade Card will be changed to Equipment Upgrade Card to prevent confusion.)

    Alaric hadn''t used the Equipment Upgrade Card which he had gotten recently. He had been thinking which of his equipment he should upgrade and he had finally made a decision.

    He looked to his left where two swords could be seen neatly placed on a hanging sword holder.

    He grabbed the sword at the top.

    This was just an ordinary steel sword before, but it had become something impressive after he used an Equipment Upgrade Card on it.

    [Do you want to use your Equipment Upgrade Card on the selected item?]

    [Yes] [No]

    Alaric had been hesitant to use it on this sword since he also wanted to upgrade the other one. However, he was curious about what would happen to the Uncommon Steel Sword if it were upgraded once again.

    This curiosity drove him to press [Yes].

    [Congratulations! You have upgraded your Uncommon Steel Sword to Rare Steel Sword!]

    [Rare Steel Sword]

    Sharpness: 20

    Durability: 20

    Unexpectedly, the weight of the sword didn''t change. Stay updated through My Virtual Library Empire

    Alaric slowly pulled the sword, revealing a pristine blade. He ran his fingers through the fuller while admiring the blade''s appearance.

    There are more changes to its appearance now. The blade is thicker, but a fuller has been made to reduce its weight. Although it looks bigger than it was before, the weight remains the same.@@@@

    Alaric was satisfied with the sword''s new look.

    He gave it a few swings.

    Swoosh! Swoosh!

    Oh?

    His eyes lit up when he felt almost no resistance as he cut through the air.

    The balance of the sword was impeccable. It felt perfect in his hand with no awkwardness.

    He infused mana into the sword, revealing the archaic patterns hidden underneath the blade.

    The man turned his head and glared at the person who had spoken. "Didn''t I tell you to call me boss recently?"

    "I''m sorry, b-boss! I''m still not used to it."

    "You better get used to it soon if you don''t want to be captured along with me." The man snorted.

    At this moment, his face which had been hidden in the darkness was revealed.

    This man was Liam Paxley, a wanted criminal who had been on the run after escaping the punishment of the sacred duel.

    Many things had happened to him since he left Ryvaad.

    Together with the warriors sent by his mother, Liam somehow managed to escape. To hide his identity he decisively carved a few scars on his face and he even cut his hair short.

    Now, he had formed a small mercenary group together with his remaining subordinates. They were new to the city, but they had established themselves as a capable group after more than five successful operations.

    However, the most surprising thing was that Liam had already become a Knight Apprentice!

    "It''s them! They''re out!" Liam mumbled when he saw their targets coming out of the pub.

    He made a hand gesture to his subordinates.

    The target was surrounded by ten warriors and one of them was an old Knight.

    On the other hand, Liam''s crew only had six people, but two of them were Knights, while the remaining four were Knight Apprentices.

    Although they were outnumbered, Liam knew that they could pull off the assassination.

    The old Knight who was protecting their target seemed to have sensed that something was wrong.

    "Enemies! Grab your weapons and protect Sir Ben!" The old Knight shouted as he pulled his sword.

    Upon hearing his roar, the warriors immediately grabbed their weapons and surrounded their master.

    At this moment, a series of whistling sounds echoed.

    Suu! Suu! Suu!

    Three unlucky warriors were hit by the crossbow bolts and one of them who was struck to the head died on the spot. The other two fell to the ground, screaming in pain.

    "Don''t panic! Hold your positions!" The old Knight shouted when he saw his men falling into disarray.

    Just then, he sensed a feeling of extreme danger. His eyes narrowed into slits as he diagonally raised his sword above his head.

    Clang!

    The javelin aimed at his head fell after hitting his sword.

    "Brace yourselves! They are coming!" The old man glared in a certain direction.