The parchment in Roland's hand recorded none other than the Mithril Body Tempering Method he had obtained by chance.

In truth, this was also the main reason he had specifically come to visit Sean.

Among the people he knew well, Hawk was a blacksmith focused on ironwork, while John was a lazy old soldier. Neither needed such a thing.

As for Darco...

That young noble had long since cultivated his family's inherited body tempering secret art.

After thinking it over, only Sean was truly suited to this method.

His close friend, like him, came from an ordinary background. Although he had earned Beckham's appreciation, whether Beckham would teach him this kind of secret art was still hard to say.

Of course, there was also Bronson.

But given that scholar's obsession with research, he probably would not be very interested in tempering the flesh.

"Wait!"

Thinking of Bronson, inspiration struck Roland.

"Maybe I can give this Mithril Body Tempering Method to Mr. Bronson to study. Perhaps that scholar can bring me an unexpected surprise..."

"Roland, with our friendship, teaching you a few techniques doesn't need any gift. But..."

Seeing Roland raise the parchment in his hand, only for his pupils to lose focus, Sean asked in confusion.

"What are you holding?"

"Do you remember the assassin we ran into in the forest?"

Roland returned to himself, spread the parchment across the wooden table, and beckoned Sean over.

"You mean..."

Sean frowned in thought, then got out of bed at once, fists tightening.

"That bastard Marco! Right, Roland, what happened to him?"

"Him?"

Roland raised an eyebrow and waved a hand.

"That's not important. Come look at this first."

"Oh!"

Sean obediently leaned over the table and stared seriously at the parchment for a long time. Then he scratched his head in embarrassment.

"Roland, you know... I don't really recognize these words..."

"I nearly forgot..."

Roland slapped his forehead, only then remembering that his close friend knew barely a few characters.

So he stopped keeping Sean in suspense.

"This is a body tempering method!"

"Body tempering... wait!"

Sean's eyes widened, and his brown curls seemed to stand on end.

"You're saying... this is a secret art Knights use to temper their bodies?"

"That's right!"

Roland struck his sturdy chest hard, producing a dull sound.

"What else did you think trained this body of mine?"

"This... this..."

Sean had never doubted Roland's words.

Although he could not read the text, he still held the parchment carefully, treating it like some priceless treasure.

Scenes from adventure novels rushed through his mind, and fanatical light ignited in the simple youth's eyes.

But soon, that fervor faded.

He turned his head aside awkwardly, placed the parchment back on the table with care, and stammered,

"Ro... Roland, this gift is too valuable. I... I can't..."

"All right!"

Looking at his best friend's bashful appearance, Roland laughed and patted his shoulder.

"What? Do I have to give some moving speech about friendship, then the two of us hug and cry before you'll accept it?"

"That... won't be necessary."

Sean rubbed his slightly hot eyes and smiled in embarrassment.

"Then... I'll accept it without being polite?"

"That's more like it!"

Roland nodded in satisfaction. Then he took out the medicinal herbs and tools he had prepared long ago from his luggage and began grinding them with practiced ease.

With his current potion-making level, preparing this kind of basic medicine was effortless.

Before long, the silver liquid had been evenly applied across Sean's entire body.

"Roland... this feeling... hiss!"

Sean sucked in a cold breath.

"Relax..."

Roland leaned back against the wooden chair, watching his friend's reddened face and bulging veins. His mouth curved slightly.

"Pain is normal. It'll pass quickly."

Out of absolute trust in his close friend, Sean clenched his teeth and endured without making a sound.

Soon, the silver liquid dried, turning into gray-black powder that fell away in rustling flakes.

Sean released a long breath. His legs went weak, and he dropped to the floor, bean-sized beads of sweat rolling down his forehead.

"How... does it feel?"

Looking at Sean, whose body had nearly grown a whole size after practicing the Mithril Body Tempering Method, Roland felt complicated.

If he remembered correctly, when he had cultivated it for the first time, the panel had shown only a 0.7 increase in Strength, and there had been almost no visible change in his appearance.

But Sean...

"Looks like the stronger the cultivator's base physique, the more obvious the effect of the Mithril Body Tempering Method..."

Sean, immersed in surprise, did not notice anything strange about his friend.

After adjusting his breathing for a short while, the honest young man stood abruptly, tensed every muscle in his body without thinking, and beamed.

"Roland, this body tempering method is incredible! I feel like my strength has at least doubled!"

"As... as long as it works."

Roland felt his throat tighten and hurriedly poured a cup of water to moisten it.

"Next, as long as..."

The words reached his mouth, but he fell into thought.

"I remember that after I cultivated the Mithril Body Tempering Method three times, my Strength attribute basically stopped increasing. I wonder what Sean's tolerance limit is..."

Thinking this, Roland continued,

"During this period, I'll keep refining the secret medicine for you until you feel your strength no longer growing."

"Thank you so much, Roland!"

Sean excitedly waved his thick palm and slapped it heavily onto Roland's shoulder.

"Hiss!"

The familiar sharp pain in his shoulder made Roland's mouth twitch.

At that moment, he felt a flicker of doubt about his decision to let Sean cultivate the Mithril Body Tempering Method.

After chatting for a while longer, the two climbed into bed and soon fell asleep.

At dawn the next day, just as the horizon began to pale, Sean hurried to the barracks.

Accompanied by Peyton, Roland strolled through Mist Creek Town and looked over the streets.

He also made time to visit the Adventurer's Guild.

After all, cultivating long weapon techniques should be very fast for him. If he could conveniently accept a few commissions to slay monsters and complete the requirement of killing enemies from horseback, then before going to the River Kingdoms, he could successfully complete the [Squire] job change.

When going to a place as mixed and complicated as the River Kingdoms, every bit of extra strength meant another layer of insurance.

Unfortunately, just as he had heard before, under Beckham's suppression, the monsters in the Black Fir Forest had all withdrawn underground and refused to come out.

And the only recent commission to subjugate a monster lair had been taken by someone unknown.

Roland could only return empty-handed.

"Forget it. I can complete the horseback kill requirement after reaching the River Kingdoms. If there's enough time, perhaps I can also try my luck in Pinewood Town..."

Thinking this, Roland returned to the tavern and helped Gary with some work.

When the sun sank in the west, Sean returned leading a brown steed.

The moment they met, the honest young man pulled Roland toward the outskirts of town.

After arriving at an open field, he swept out his right hand and unloaded all kinds of weapons from the horse's back.

Spear, lance, long-hafted axe, long-hafted hammer.

They were precisely the four weapons he was proficient in.

The process of teaching techniques went surprisingly smoothly.

Some parts of weapon techniques were shared.

Therefore, with the foundation of [Short Weapon Mastery] and the assistance of the [Focus] trait, Roland quickly grasped most of the key points of those four long weapons.

However, when he truly mounted a horse and practiced, he discovered that wielding long weapons on horseback was far more difficult than he had imagined.

...

...

Maintaining balance on horseback was harder than expected.

Every time Roland swung the spear, Blackwind grew restless because of the shift in his center of gravity.

The lance held in both hands always dipped during a charge.

The heavy long-hafted axe had only just been raised halfway when Blackwind made a sharp turn and nearly threw Roland from the saddle.

As for the long-hafted hammer, merely keeping it stable beside the saddle for a long period made his arms ache.

All these difficulties could be summarized in two aspects.

The first was whether he could maintain coordination and stability after swinging a weapon while mounted.

With the bodily flexibility granted by [Twin Martial Performance] and the support of his current powerful attributes, this only required more tempering.

The other, more important issue was the degree of understanding between mount and rider.

The angle of force during sharp turns and the control of rhythm during a charge both required a nearly telepathic rapport between horse and rider.

This understanding could not be made up for with riding skill alone. It had to be built through countless rounds of shared training, until the warhorse became familiar with every one of the rider's force habits, and the rider could anticipate every instinctive reaction of the horse.

Although Blackwind was a horse of decent quality, perhaps because Roland had rarely ridden it in battle, whenever the weapon swung, it instinctively resisted the change in center of gravity.

Roland lowered his head and looked at Blackwind's rolling eyes, then shook his head helplessly.

"If only Blackwind had even half of Joe's intelligence..."

Sean was not surprised in the slightest by Roland's rapid grasp of weapon fundamentals.

In his mind, his brother was a true genius to begin with.

Back when they trained Basic Swordsmanship, Roland had needed only a few days to use it skillfully.

Using long weapons on horseback was harder, but it definitely would not stump Roland.

The days that followed seemed to return to the time of hard training at the estate.

Roland did not rush for quick results. After all, mastering long weapons was only a matter of spending more time.

Aside from regular training, he also found time to practice [Crescent Moon Draw], which Gundar had taught him.

With the support of [Twin Martial Performance], this combat technique was soon recorded by the occupation panel.

What surprised Roland even more was a discovery during cantrip practice.

Compared to [Fire Bolt], [Mage Hand] had greater tactical value in certain situations.

This transparent hand condensed from Spirit was nearly invisible to ordinary people.

Although its power could not compare to [Fire Bolt] under the support of fire affinity, its concealment and malleability could often win by surprise.

Especially in the state of [Twin Martial Performance], he could fight with a weapon in his right hand while smoothly casting with his left, the two working together without a flaw.

As for the elemental plane erosion near the estate, according to Bronson's letter, it had not spread rapidly for now, so Roland was not in a hurry to return.

Before he knew it, half a month had passed.

"Clop, clop, clop!"

In the evening glow, Roland galloped on horseback, the blade tracing a silver arc through the air.

The instant Blackwind raised his hooves and made a sharp turn, Roland sank his waist, swept the long-hafted axe sideways, and sent up a whistling wind.

"Beautiful!"

Sean clapped and cheered from the side.

"I knew you could do it, Roland!"

"It's only been a dozen days, and your movements are already more standard than the veterans in the barracks!"

"Enough of that, Sean!"

Roland laughed brightly, then dismounted with practiced ease.

As his thoughts moved, a transparent occupation panel appeared before his eyes.

In the skills column, several long weapon techniques were all clearly marked with an eye-catching "MAX."

Seeing this, Roland released a long breath.

"Next, for the [Squire] requirements, only killing one hundred enemies from horseback remains."

"All right, Roland!"

Sean quickly stepped forward and patted his close friend's shoulder hard.

"It's my turn on night patrol these next few days, so I won't keep you company. When you go back, remember to tell Old Man Gary not to wait for me for dinner."

"No problem."

Roland waved goodbye and watched Sean mount his horse.

Before long, that burly figure disappeared at the end of the forest path.

"Since all the long weapons have reached max level, and there's still some time before the River Kingdoms fleet arrives at Far Harbor, why not go to Pinewood Town and see whether there are any monster subjugation commissions?"

Thinking this, Roland sighed in frustration.

During this period, he had gone to the Adventurer's Guild almost every day, yet he always missed the already scarce commissions.

Without commissions to point the way, it was very difficult to find traces of monsters in the dense forests nearby.

According to the receptionist, those commissions had all been taken by the same person, which made him even more depressed.

"Who exactly is so obsessed with subjugating monsters? Do they sleep at the guild entrance every day waiting for postings?"

Just as he was thinking, the faint crack of a dead branch sounded beside his ear.

"Rustle, rustle!"

Hearing that sound, Roland's right hand instinctively pressed against his sword hilt.

As the rustling drew closer, a blurry figure appeared in the thin mist at the edge of the forest.

Every muscle in Roland's body tensed.

This was a place Sean had specially chosen to avoid frightening or hurting others during training.

In more than ten days, no one else had ever appeared nearby.

For a stranger to appear in such a remote place, Roland had to be wary.

Although Mist Creek Town had good public security, there were still plenty of active mercenaries and adventurers in the surrounding area.

Ever since seeing the ugly behavior of those desperate men in Pinewood Town, Roland had maintained the highest level of vigilance toward such people.

But as that figure approached and finally lifted the black hood, Roland froze slightly and returned the half-drawn mithril longsword to its sheath.

"It's you?"

"Forgive the intrusion, Mr. Roland."

The newcomer nodded slightly, lifted the corner of her black robe with her left hand, placed her right hand over her chest, and performed a standard courtesy.

Silver-white hair lifted gently in the wind, adding a bit more liveliness to her already heroic face.

It was Teresa, who had once joined hands with Roland in Pinewood Town to slay a Winged Kobold.

"If I remember correctly..."

Roland relaxed a little. His back remained straight, and hesitation entered his tone.

"Your name is Teresa Her... Her..."

"Teresa Hernandez."

Seeing the woman frown, Roland gave a noncommittal chuckle.

"All right, Teresa."

He folded his arms across his chest and asked with some curiosity,

"Did you come here specifically to find me?"

"That's right."

Teresa nodded lightly, then took a brand-new parchment from her chest. The Adventurer's Guild's exclusive seal was clearly stamped on it.

"Mr. Roland, are you very short on money?"

The moment the words left her mouth, she seemed to realize her phrasing was rude. After coughing twice, she explained,

"Recently, I have often seen you near the Adventurer's Guild in Mist Creek Town..."

At this point, the silver-haired woman's slender fingers tightened around the edge of the parchment, and struggle crossed her eyes.

"To repay your kindness from before... would you like to complete this commission together?"

She paused, then added after making up her mind,

"When the time comes, the reward... can be split with you half and half."

Before her words had fully faded, those blue eyes had dimmed slightly, and even the corners of her mouth pressed together.

Roland suddenly understood. His expression turned strange, and his brow lifted.

"So the person who took all the commissions during this time was you?"