Bab 17: Chat
When Makai opened the system panel, he directly observed the three icons below his status.
The first is still the icon of the black castle with ruby-red gates.
The second icon remains the system store.
Just below appeared the icon of a saddle. Clearly, this is the cavalry system icon.
Although Makai had opened the castle icon before, he didn't have time to explore all of its functions as he had been drawn to the names of Lionel and his brothers that flashed with the bronze-colored background and after clicking on them ended up triggering a series of events.
When Makai continued to accept sworn Knights, he noted that the Castle Lord's panel had changed after he accepted his 100th Knight and, with that, new functions had been released, but he had only seen the chat and did not explore the settings option. Now that he was in his free time, he decided to open the black castle icon first.
[Castle Lord]
[Sworn Knights: 1,501]
[Wagner Collins,
Lionel,
Salazar,
Arnold,
Rayane,
Alexia,
Skar,
Dahlia,
...] [Settings]
[Sworn Knights Shop]
As Makai is the host of the system, what appears on its panel is a little different than what appears for its sworn knights, such as when entering the castle icon, although the list of names continues on the left side, and the chat on the right side, only it has the settings option.
As Makai had already seen the chat, he opened the settings window and, after a while of exploring, he discovered many interesting functions and started making use of them with an amused smile, 'Hehe. Dahlia has already given herself a title. I'm curious to know what title the others will give themselves...'
...
The Sun over the Vita Continent of this June 13, 1400, left long ago taking with it unforgettable scenes such as the birth of a Child of Fate and, along with its departure, this beautiful starry night arrived, rekindling dreams and new hope for around 1,500 families.
The silver-armored guards of the night shift patrol between the narrow passages above the Crimson Fort houses.
The torches fixed to the gray walls not only served to light the dark night, but also to bring warmth to the guards.
Yet no matter how hot these torches heat up, they can't compare to the warmth of family.
At the dining table, in one of the tens of thousands of homes, there are 4 seats where 3 of which are occupied by a family of 3.
Lampard was looking at his son and his wife who were happily eating dry bread. He was still stunned-eyed as he couldn't believe everything that had happened today.
Lampard is a tall, thin, red-haired, middle-aged man. When he was very young, he always wanted to be a knight serving the Collins family, but he failed the recruitment test when he was 10 years old. Although he passed the combat check against his opponent who also followed the path of the spear, he failed the saving throw.
Since then, his world has crumbled and he could only go on like all other commoners, helping his parents with housework until he turned 15 and started working in the mines to receive a weekly gray linen garment and enough food for three meals a day.
Although many commoners were uncomfortable with these living conditions, they knew that this was not due to the Collins family, but to the royal family since the second king enacted such an iron law for military duchies.
Although the status of commoners in the left-wing party duchies was low, they still had more opportunities for work, pay, and many could even be part of a small mercenary guild. In short, their living conditions are much better.
Many commoners residing in the military duchies had the thought of migrating to these duchies, but it is not just about wanting and deciding to leave. The journey is very long and dangerous. Many tried but were killed by magical beasts on the road.
Within the Crimson Duchy itself, it is not entirely safe.
The commoners who work in the mines are occasionally attacked by the magical beasts that come from the forests and mountains. Fortunately, there are guards protecting them and casualties rarely happen.
When Lampard was 20 years old, his parents were killed by magical beasts in the Wandering Mountains. Unlike him, his parents had no desire to serve the Collins family and became Knights Errant. Both lived by hunting, but this has always been a very dangerous method of survival in the military duchies as there is no trade and only the military can wear proper equipment such as rune weapons and armor of one star or higher.
For Wandering Knights who wear a common set of silver armor obtainable at bartering establishments where there is no exchange for items of one star or higher, they were very vulnerable to the sharp claws of magical beasts.
Just like the Knights, the beasts had their own cultivation system.
Beasts that are found on the edges of the Wandering Mountains like Hungry Wolves are classified as Wild Beasts and their strengths are equivalent to Knight Apprentices.
When a wild beast undergoes its evolution, it becomes a magical one-star beast, and not only are their sizes more robostus and their claws sharper, but they also have strengths equivalent to the Bronze Knights. Of course, even if they rank by certain stars of the same level, some are always stronger than others.
Lampard's parents were Bronze Knights and they never ventured too deep into the Wandering Mountains, most likely they were killed by 1-star magical beasts, as even though their gear was common, with their strengths wild beasts didn't represent a great threat.
Lampard had never been so sad to wait for his parents at home for more than a month, but he had to continue to live his life while working in the iron mines.
When he turned 25, it was that he finally had become a Bronze Knight, but he didn't have the proper equipment and he didn't want to become a Knight Wanderer either, so he continued to work in the mines.
At age 30, he met his current wife and had their only child at 35.
Lampard can say that he spent almost his entire life working in the mines and always wanted his child, Skar, to be different from him and succeed in life.
When Skar was approved as an Apprentice Knight in the Collins family, he had been very proud, but fate had always been unpredictable and now his child had only two weeks to go before he was discharged.
While he worked in the mines today, Lampard couldn't help but look at the guards, imagining that it would soon be his child's turn to work as a guard. Although he was disappointed, it was still much better than working the mines or venturing into the Wandering Mountains.
As he absently glanced at the guards, he spotted his child being escorted by another guard and sighed at the thought that the moment had come sooner than expected.
However, when he saw the happy smile on his son's face and his next words, he even got over the shock of seeing the mighty Black Dragon in the skies as he was in disbelief at the news that his child had entered the Bronze Knight realm and swore allegiance to Makai. Not only that, but his child was there to take him and get ready because they would be leaving at the first ray of sunlight the next day.
It all felt like a dream, but it was real.
Now, they are here at the table happily eating. His wife who had long since lost the sparkle in her eyes was especially beautiful this evening. Lampard decided he would treat her very well under the covers to celebrate this occasion, 'Maybe it's time to have a second child...'
Seeing his dad distracted and with a goofy smile on his face, Skar didn't care what he was thinking, as he felt very happy seeing how his mom looked like she'd gotten younger since she got back from the farms today. Your smile and the sparkle in your eyes are more dazzling than the stars of this night.
If Skar had just been promoted to Bronze Knight, he would have been happy, but not this much. However, now it is different, not only did he become a Sworn Knight of your Young Lorde Makai and had a mysterious system, but he also felt that his talent had increased drastically and he had become a new person. Furthermore, he had a feeling that by following Makai, his future will be much greater than he ever imagined.
Thinking about it and seeing his mother's smile as they talked, Skar was about to say something to her, but then, he stiffened as a cold voice echoed in his mind.
[Ding!]
[Announcement from the Lord of the Castle]
[Please sworn knight Skar, check your Lord's announcement]
Skar got up abruptly from the simple wooden chair and, as he ran to his room not far away, his parents only heard his voice drifting away, "I'm going to sleep now as we have to get up very early tomorrow."
Skar's mother Vivian is in her mid-forties, she is a beautiful woman, but she looks tired after many years working on the farms.
Vivian looked a little surprised at her son's sudden departure from the table, but then thought that Skar must be really looking forward to tomorrow's trip and she wanted to say something, but a strong hand hugged her and dragged her away to the room leaving her perplexed.
...
Skar was excited and anxious as he closed the wooden door to his small bedroom and sat down on his mat which was covered with some gray linen sheets.
Upon opening his system panel, he quickly entered the black castle icon and what caught his attention right away was an ad with bright orange letters.
[Castle Lord: Hello everyone!]
[I made some changes to the chat. You can add a title next to your names to make communication easier. As for the choice of titles, it's up to you]
[Good rest!]
...
In another room of a small residence that seemed lost among the many houses of Fort Camesim, a young woman in her 15s was lying gazing absently at the gray rock ceiling.
'I waited so long for him, but when he showed up after 10 years, he barely looked at me...'
His eyes looked wistful, but then, a cold voice echoed in her mind, taking her by surprise.
[Ding!]
[Announcement from the Lord of the Castle]
[Please, sworn knight Alexia, open your system panel to check your Lord's announcement]
'Announcement from my Lord? Yup. He is my Lord, how could I fantasize about him?'
...
On this night when the autumn breeze blows, the 1,500 young people were not the only ones receiving ads from the system.
Wagner was still sweating after having a fierce battle with his wife in bed as he vented all his frustration accumulated over many years of getting stuck in her bottleneck. He looked with satisfaction at his wife who had her eyes rolled back and her mouth slightly open as she breathed heavily.
"Hehe. Dear wife, weren't you the one who said this old man had lost his abilities? Why are you the one who can't take it anymore..."
Wagner wanted to continue teasing his wife, but the system's cold voice echoed in his mind.
When opening the chat, it was silent.
[Congratulations, the Lord of the Castle has promoted you to First General of the Abyssal Cavalry]
...
After Makai made some adjustments, he was now looking at the chat screen hoping to see everyone's reaction as he thought, 'I'm sure he must be surprised now to be promoted through a chat.'
'As a war veteran who served alongside my father in the War of Kings, there is no other person better suited to be my first general...'
'Besides, he's also a Gold Knight...'
Soon, Makai saw the green letters on the dark gray chat background appearing one after the other.
[The Scarlet Rose Spear: I made some changes to my title, but it doesn't matter, the meaning remains the same. You know, I'm Dahlia!]
[Crimson Spear: Well, as a resident of the Crimson Duchy, that was the first name that came to mind. I'm Skar!]
[The Eternal Sword: I am Alexia!]
[...]
[Lover of Married Noble Women: I have a few affairs with this type, so I could only think of that name. I am Jiren!]
When Makai saw Jiren's title, he was speechless.
Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
Power 
-- Power
stone