“If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.”

In a matter of three days Marcus Cornelius came to understand that the middle aged man and the young woman were indeed his parents. His father was a blacksmith and his mother mostly dedicated herself into house chores and rearing some unfamiliar flowers in the coutyard.

He never left the stone house and only observed things with complete focus as he tried to grasp as much words to learn from her parents.

He also came to know that the boy's name is Qai. At least that was how it sounded out.

Marcus Cornelius, or Qai, also observed that apart from the phenomenal three suns, the peculiar world he currently lives in, also has seven moons so much so that a day and a night are way longer than he is used to.

And the food he eats were mostly from crops and grains. But what was surprising was that the occassional slices of meat served were truly nutricious. Every chunck evidently gives certain warm feeling. In fact, the flow of the energy can be physically sensed.

'With this kind of food, breaking through the early ranks in knighthood would be easier.'

He obviously never abandoned becoming a knight once more, even if such training is not a thing in this world.

Then an entire month passed.

By this time, he had learned enough words to make some short communications. In every aspect, he appeared to be normal. Even the way he stammered with his language sounded like he really was a child. It was also that time he came to learn that he was exactly three years old.

Eventually, everytime he gets to eat some nutricious meat, he disguisely spent some physical training. At first, he simply tried to run around the courtyard until he exhausted himself. Then later on, he carried some heavy things while running.

Although such sight was surprising in the eyes of his parents, the couple never suspected anything wrong with their child's action. Afterall, running around the house were pretty normal for children. And besides, there are some families who really did expose their children to early training, especially the ones from the family of hunters and soldiers. The couple simply thought that Qai must have seen some children before with such training and decided to copy it.

Also by this time, Marcus Cornelius has completely assimilated himself with the identity of Qai.

He contunued his training regulary for few more months. He somehow felt that his bodily strength is much superior than those of other children of the same age. But he also felt that breaking through to Iron rank Knight is still far from completion. He would have to re-master the 'Fundamentals of Spearmanship' with his current young body to do that.

Although he has comitted the exact spear movements to memory, he is not willing to train it at this point. Otherwise, he might give away his secret.

Thus, he thought instead to further his perspective of the new world and approached his mother.

"Mother, I want to learn how to read," he asked.

"Eh!?"

He had never seen any book in his parents' house, but he decided to ask just the same. There must be some place where records are kept. And he knew that knowledge of the world was an important tool in life.

While reading and writing was not a regular thing in every household, it is not that uncommon either. Unfortunately, Qai's parents do not know how to read. And what was even more surprising to him was that there is actually no existing system of education in the place.

The lands he was currently at is apparently a nameless place. For whatever reason, the people who lives in the believe that there are no other existing human settlement anywhere near. In fact, some are even concvinced that the lands surrounding the 'nameless village' compose the world itself.

From the walls, one could see that, more or less, a mile far to the south is a sea shore. But people do not try to get near there because it is said to be highly dangerous; that apart from the chaotic waters, the villagers believe that the vast ocean was filled with sea beasts of unfathomable danger.

Then to the north, west and east of the nameless village are forested areas just few miles from the farmlands surronding the walls. The forests were of course, the sources of the hunt.

Apparently, the paths outside the gates only lead to the fields. Beyond that, there are no traces of path leading to any other human settlement.

Accordingly, the largest forest leads to the north. In fact, from a view from the walls, there was a mountain range in the north. Some miles away, a towering three-peaked moutain could be seen. But the peaks themselves are covered by thick clouds. And that is why, the people in the nameless village calls the mountain peaks the 'Evercloud Mountain.'

And although the nearer mountain range were much lower in altitude, the people has also bound themselves not to dare enter the place. Aside from being dangerous due to the presence of peculiar beasts, people believed that there was an Immortal who live in there.

And according to legend, an Immortal is someone who should not be offended. A mere shake of his sleeve could kill anyone in an instant. Although no one seen the Immortal, people are convinced that entering the territory is already an act of provocation.

Of course, these things were not explained to Qai. It was just that the reality is that people thought that learning how to read is not a necessity.

His mother sighed at the request.

"If you really want to learn how to read, then there's only one place you can access to plenty of writings."

Qai's eyes grew wide in excitement. On the other hand, his mother could feel his child's eagerness to learn so she could only comply with Qai's wishes.

"Near the north gate, a herbalist lives by a hut surrounded by hundreds of plants. He is this place known healer, and also an elder, Master Han. He comes by to your father for some tools regularly, so maybe we could put in a good word for you. But learning how to read from him may not come free. Perhaps you will have to serve him as a service boy or something."

Qai was stunned. But it was not really unexpected.

"Will you do it?"

The nameless village has less than a thousand population. And its mainstream occupations were hunting, farming and mining. Jobs like weaponsmith, healer and others, required certain level skills so the number of such workers are very limited.

Moreover, a person who reached the age of thirteen—according to their custom—are already eligible to work in these occupations, so it was not unordinary to see children as young as three or four to start training as servants.

And to people like Master Han, accepting him as service boy is almost the same as apprenticeship.

Further, there is actually no available currency; so most transactions are done through trade. And taxes to the council of elders come in the form of apportionment of products or sevice which form part of the treasury reserve of the village.

Perhaps, in the nameless village, the most lucrative occupation is becoming a soldier since their weapons and food allowances come from the treasury. Healers enjoy better status, as their skills were of great necessity to the people. Thus, becoming Master Han's servant, in truth, was not a bad thing at all. In fact, it may come with great reputation once people get to know of it.

But even if Qai knew of it, he would not mind it as he only has a certain goal for doing such.

He wants knowledge.

So any other opportunities that come along with it would just be bonuses.

"I'm willing, mother."