Perhaps worried that Roland might doubt him, Hobby immediately explained part of the navigation knowledge he had mastered in detail.

His explanation was well organized. For Roland, a beginner, he also deliberately broke down the difficult professional terms into simpler language so even an outsider could understand.

In only a short while, Roland felt he had gained quite a lot. He was inwardly amazed by the Halfling's learning ability and intelligence.

"Very good."

Roland raised an eyebrow.

"How about this? I teach you combat techniques, and in exchange, you teach me navigation knowledge."

"Of course!"

Hobby's eyes shone astonishingly bright, and his voice was filled with excitement.

Looking at the delighted Halfling before him, Roland smiled.

Through their conversation just now, he had confirmed the deep bond between the two brothers.

Although he could ask Nielsen to find someone to teach him navigation knowledge, making this trade with Hobby would not only allow him to learn the knowledge he needed, but also possibly win the friendship of a young and promising captain.

And what he paid was merely a little time.

Besides, he had to come to the training ground every day to temper his techniques. Guiding Hobby was only something done along the way and would hardly consume additional energy.

This was a guaranteed profitable trade.

"Then let's stop here for today..."

Roland pointed at the already darkening sky.

"Tomorrow afternoon at this time, I'll wait for you at the training ground."

"All right, Mr. Roland!"

Having received Roland's approval, Hobby's face glowed.

After they briefly chatted a little more, Roland said farewell to Hobby and left the Knight Academy.

But he did not go straight home. Instead, he boarded a small boat and headed toward the Adventurer's Guild he had passed the day before.

Since he had already grasped the techniques required to change into [Knight Apprentice], what remained was relying on time to polish them to max level.

Then the two requirements of "killing monsters" and "leading a squad to defeat a powerful enemy" also had to be put on the agenda as soon as possible.

After paying the fare, Roland followed his memory forward and soon arrived at the entrance of the Adventurer's Guild.

Unlike the guilds in Mist Creek Town or Pinewood Town of Blackwater Territory, this Adventurer's Guild in the River Kingdoms' royal capital had a grander yet simpler exterior.

The mercenaries and adventurers entering and exiting it, judging from appearance and bearing alone, were far beyond the mob in Pinewood Town.

Taking a deep breath, Roland pushed open the door and entered.

In an instant, noisy voices surged toward him.

However, the air did not carry the pungent smell he had expected, that mixture of sweat and cheap alcohol.

Although voices filled the place, the mercenaries and adventurers inside the guild all sat properly around wooden tables and conversed. There was no sign of anyone causing trouble.

Roland quickly looked around. After confirming that the interior layout was no different from other guilds, he went with practiced ease toward a clean wall covered with commissions.

The contents of the commissions were largely similar.

Monster extermination, caravan escort, finding people or objects...

However, as his gaze moved upward, several commission sheets that were clearly different from the others firmly drew his attention.

One piece of parchment was slightly curled, its surface yellowed.

Compared with the clean, new commission sheets around it, it had clearly been hanging here for a long time.

What drew Roland's attention even more was that where mission difficulty was usually marked, there was no ordinary crimson dot, but a shocking large red cross.

"Exterminate Goblin camp. No time limit. Reward..."

The place where the reward number was written was covered with repeatedly smeared ink marks, and in the end, Roland could barely identify it as "ninety-two silver coins."

"Quite generous..."

Although Roland did not currently lack money, looking at this payment far exceeding the surrounding commissions still made him marvel inwardly. Then he continued carefully examining the commission's contents.

"Located east of the royal capital, in Moss Swamp, now within the Misty Lands..."

After the specific location description and simple map, there were several lines of handwriting that had clearly been added later.

They were written in shocking blood-red ink.

"Bugbear inside! Extremely dangerous! Do not go without absolute confidence!"

Immediately after this warning, an equally crimson arrow roughly pointed toward another parchment beside it.

On that paper, a long list of names was neatly recorded.

[Dawn Mercenary Band: wiped out. Overall strength assessment: Transcendent]

[Raven's Eye Squad: three seriously injured beyond treatment, others missing (presumed dead). Overall strength assessment: Transcendent]

[Blood Oath Brotherhood: severed remains discovered inside the camp. Confirmed identities: leader "Scarface" Carlos (torn in half), second-in-command "Quickblade" Lina (head crushed). Overall strength assessment: Transcendent]

[Ashes: no survivors...]

[Anvil Mercenary Band...]

Looking at those shocking lines of text, Roland's brow tightened.

Although he still did not know who truly controlled the Adventurer's Guild from behind the scenes, based on previous observations, this organization acted rigorously and never spoke without basis or deliberately deceived people.

This meant that the Transcendent strength assessments of the mercenary bands and adventurer squads on the list were very likely real, and that they truly had been annihilated during that commission.

"Bugbear..."

Roland softly murmured the name, his expression becoming extremely grave.

Unlike the Mutant Kobolds he had encountered in Blackwater Territory, Bugbears had truly existed in ancient texts. They were a savage variant of goblinoid creatures.

They were cruel and cunning, possessing not only intelligence no inferior to Humans, but also powerful physical strength and astonishing agility.

Even more terrifying was that according to ancient records, because of their devout faith in a certain deity, every Bugbear might be granted some strange and unpredictable supernatural ability.

However, after the Final Era, this creature had completely vanished.

At least since Roland had arrived in this world, he had never again heard their name in any adventure tale or local rumor.

"This kind of ancient-era monster has actually reappeared... It seems magical energy is reviving much faster than I expected. But..."

A sharp gleam appeared in Roland's eyes.

"For me, perhaps this is an opportunity!"

Since even Bugbears had appeared, other powerful monsters would inevitably increase as well.

This meant he would have more potential targets for completing the [Knight Apprentice] job requirement of "leading a squad to defeat a powerful enemy."

However, Roland was absolutely not a reckless rookie.

Even though his current strength placed him among the stronger Transcendent Professionals, he deeply understood the importance of gathering intelligence and acting cautiously, even when facing Goblins or Kobolds far weaker than himself.

In this world where Mana Elements were growing increasingly active, danger would only increase day by day.

"Subjugating the Bugbear can be put on the agenda, but before that, I must gather as much detailed intelligence as possible. In addition..."

Thinking of the requirement for a "squad of three or more people," Roland's brow tightened again.

"Although Galvez seems frivolous, his strength is beyond doubt. Add Avril, that trainee Ranger who usually seems to have nothing to do... Counting them, I still lack one person..."

Roland shook his head helplessly.

Although the minimum requirement was three people, facing such a dangerous monster, he wished he could bring thirty or forty powerful fighters with him.

Unfortunately, with his current social circle, the only people whose strength was reliable and who could fight beside him seemed to be Avril and Galvez.

Although he was currently quite valued by the merchant faction, Roland did not think they would easily mobilize dozens of Transcendent Professionals to escort him just to satisfy his personal need to exterminate monsters.

"It seems this matter needs to be planned carefully..."

With that thought, Roland moved his gaze away from the commission written in crimson text and began checking the other papers instead.

But after only a short while, Roland furrowed his brow.

It was not because there were few monster extermination commissions.

In fact, compared with the two Adventurer's Guilds in Blackwater Territory, this guild in the River Kingdoms' royal capital had a considerable number of monster extermination commissions, nearly half the total.

However, the target monsters marked on the commission sheets were unusually varied.

This was completely different from Blackwater Territory, where the monsters had been relatively limited to Kobolds and Goblins.

Not only were there Lizardfolk and fishmen that Roland knew from books and was relatively familiar with, but also some things he did not understand well: water ghouls, mud monsters, and serpentfolk.

They even included supernatural creatures.

"Will-o'-wisps... ghosts... zombies?"

As his gaze swept over the descriptions on each commission, Roland reached out and rubbed his chin.

"It seems the severity of monster activity in the River Kingdoms is far worse than in Blackwater Territory..."

He carefully recalled the commission contents he had just read and did not hurry to accept one.

It was not because he feared these monsters' strength.

After all, the fact that they were only posted in the Adventurer's Guild and had not drawn a purge from the regular army of the River Kingdoms itself showed that their threat had not yet reached the level requiring official intervention.

With his current Transcendent physical qualities, plus the support of various Traits and buffs, exterminating these monsters should not be a problem as long as he was cautious enough.

But...

Thinking of this, Roland's gaze returned to the commission sheet bearing the word "Bugbear."

With the naked eye alone, it was clear that "exterminate Goblin camp" was the original text on the commission, while the warning about the Bugbear had obviously been added later.

This meant that the news of the Bugbear had been brought back by survivors who went to clear out the Goblin camp.

This also indicated that the information described in these seemingly ordinary extermination commissions on the wall might not be complete.

Some of them had not even been thoroughly investigated by the Adventurer's Guild itself. Otherwise, an accident like the Bugbear would not have appeared.

Then could these seemingly ordinary commissions before him also be hiding powerful monsters similar to the Bugbear?

Otherwise, how could one explain that this guild had numerous mercenaries and adventurers, whose strength seemed not weak, yet the monster extermination commissions were piled up like a mountain, with several sheets even slightly yellowed, clearly having been left hanging for a long time?

After the precedent of the Bugbear, the mercenaries and adventurers here were probably holding the same concerns as him.

"It seems I need to be even more cautious about accepting monster extermination commissions."

"At minimum, I need to first improve my strength, gather more detailed intelligence, and form a reliable team of comparable strength to fight together. Only then can I ensure there are no mistakes..."

With that thought, Roland carefully browsed through the commissions on the wall once more, then turned and walked out of the Adventurer's Guild.

After smoothly returning home by small boat, he briefly greeted Galvez and Bronson, casually ate a little to fill his stomach, then entered his room.

Once the door closed, he sat in the chair and silently calculated.

"For me right now, the fastest path to improving strength is undoubtedly relying on the occupation panel, triggering more new occupations, and thereby obtaining all kinds of Extra Buffs. But aside from that, there is another method that can significantly improve my strength..."

Roland's gaze sharpened.

"Becoming proficient in the Knight breathing method!"

In fact, during daily training over the past two days, Roland had already roughly figured out the effects of the Knight breathing method. It shared certain similarities with the meditation methods mastered by wizards, at least as he understood them.

Meditation methods aimed to improve mental power and thereby awaken the Deep Consciousness.

Cultivating the Knight breathing method focused on strengthening all aspects of the body.

But aside from that, what truly stirred Roland's heart was the description in the job requirements for [Knight Apprentice].

[Use breathing method to kill 0/100 hostile creatures]

This clearly revealed that the Knight breathing method was not merely a secret art for strengthening the physique. It also contained the possibility of being used in intense combat.

Moreover, when Roland practiced the Knight breathing method, he could clearly feel the significant strengthening of all his abilities while the "breath sensation" flowed within his body.

Only...

"Maintaining the Knight breathing method while fighting for my life... the difficulty of that..."

Thinking of this, Roland shook his head helplessly.

With his current degree of control over the breathing method, let alone using it freely amid flashing blades, even sitting quietly in a chair or on a bed and focusing entirely on cultivation with all distractions removed, four or five out of ten attempts would still fail.

After all, guiding that subtle "breath sensation" and strictly maintaining the cultivation state according to a specific rhythm left no room for the slightest distraction.

The slightest carelessness would mean total failure, and might even bring backlash.

"I should first focus on improving the success rate of practicing the Knight breathing method while still. As for using it in battle... that can come later."

After making up his mind, Roland sat quietly in the chair and began practicing the Knight breathing method.

In the days that followed, Roland's life seemed to return to the noble estate in Blackwater Territory, becoming extremely regular.

In the morning, he went to the Blacksmith Guild to forge equipment and increase the experience of [Basic Blacksmithing].

In the afternoon, he rushed to the Knight Academy's training ground, tempering his own techniques while also guiding the Halfling Hobby's combat skills.

At night, he studied ancient texts to increase the experience of [Basic Magic Theory] while focusing on practicing the Knight breathing method.

Every few days, he would also spare time to visit the Adventurer's Guild and check the wall of commissions.

Just as he had expected, the monster extermination commissions had not decreased. Instead, they increased day by day.

This meant that Mana Elements were reviving at an astonishing speed.

It greatly deepened Roland's sense of urgency to improve his strength.

Amid this busy rhythm, Roland's grasp of the Knight breathing method became more practiced by the day.

Aside from his Spirit attribute, both his Strength and Agility had already broken past the twenty mark.

But just like when he had practiced the Mithril Body Tempering Method before, as his various attributes improved, the benefits brought by the Knight breathing method also began to weaken.

However, that was no longer Roland's main concern.

Continuous practice had greatly increased his success rate when practicing the breathing method while sitting still.

The only pity was that he had too many things to do. His daily time was seriously squeezed, forcing him to temporarily set aside the goal of triggering other base occupations.

Only the experience of [Basic Cooking] was still growing at a slow pace because of the occasional need to cook in daily life.

In the blink of an eye, half a month passed.

"Hah..."

After letting out a long breath, Roland opened his eyes and cast his gaze toward the occupation panel.

[Lv.MAX Basic Crossbow Art]

[Lv.MAX Basic Throwing]

[Lv.MAX Basic Shield Technique]

"All three newly mastered techniques have reached max level. And..."

Looking at the information on the panel, the corner of Roland's mouth rose slightly.

[Lv.2 Nameless Knight Breathing Method (1/200)]

"The Knight breathing method has also successfully reached level two!"

Feeling the "breath sensation" within his body flowing endlessly like a stream, Roland exhaled again.

"Now, when I practice the Knight breathing method while sitting still, the success rate is already close to ninety percent!"

"Perhaps next, I can try integrating the breathing method into daily training, and then..."

While he was thinking, not far away, the Halfling Hobby stopped swinging his weapon.

He wiped the sweat from his forehead and walked toward Roland.