Chapter 54: A Day Full of Problems.

It took us a while before we managed to get back to the city, and I'm a little surprised that we actually spend 3 hours inside of that cave, but until now we are still not sure on what's the people of the church doing inside of it.

And even though there is still a lot of undiscovered room inside of that cave, my father has strictly forbidden us all, from exploring it further, for fear that the unknown creature that killed those people from the church is still somewhere inside that place.

"Master Lucas, you're back." happily said by William as he run towards me.

"What did you find in that place? did you defeat any monsters or perhaps did you find a treasure inside of it?" He asks enthusiastically.

Although I'm still not used to the presence of this kid, I also can't deny that it feels good to have someone to talk to from time to time.

"Well, we found some dead people from the church, but father has strictly warned us, to not speak about it to anyone. So William, don't tell anything about what you heard earlier to other people, except for your uncle, understand?" I strictly said to him as I make my way towards my room.

"Of course, master Lucas you can guarantee that my mouth would remain shut about the things I heard earlier." William responded as he gave me a knight salute before giggling.

"Then that's good to hear, but do you still have any other questions about your training?" I ask as I tried to change the topic since I can't tell him about the big secret inside that cave.

"I do have a lot of questions." William said excitedly as he quickly went in front of my table.

"Master Lucas, Do I really have to do all those exercises every day? that seems to be unnecessary." William said in complaint to the workout activities that I commanded him to do daily.

"It is necessary, it might look foolish at first, but as you continue doing it every day, it would help you strengthen your body in proper proportion." I said as I explain to him the importance of the modern workout routine that I have given to him.

It might sound cruel to let a child as young as 9 years old to do all the modern workout activities like running around the city every morning and weightlifting. But I would like to remind all of you, that this young boy can easily lift a shield that weighs around 30kg by just using his one hand without breaking a sweat.

"A stronger body would also help you to easily find the source of energy inside your body to activate your own aura, as it would help you to improve your focus and concentration." I added as I try to convince him to continue the workout.

But be honest, I don't really know if this workout routine that I forced into him, would help him activate his aura earlier than normal.

As I said before, people on this continent, most of them transcend at around the age of 17-18. With the help of their cultivation technique and the resources that their families has given to them.

Cases like me who transcended at the age of 11 are very rare and can be considered as phenomenal, at this point, but somehow, I know that my modern routine has something to do with my early success of transcending into an official knight.

I just hope that this method would also work for him. At the same time, I also taught William several ways to control the flow of energy in his body, during his practice of cultivation, to see if he could replicate my success.

And if this thing really works, then I can build our own school of knights, that will teach all the children of Florentine city to cultivate at a young age to become an official knights. In this way, we would have more force and power to protect ourselves from this dangerous land.

The only problem that stopped me from doing it, is the limited resources that could help me train their body, and the cultivation technique that they needed to use since most of the cultivation techniques we have, are incomplete manual and off-limits to outsiders.

Every knight in this land used a cultivation technique, but each one of them is different and considered as a unique treasure. Some cultivation techniques are incomplete while others are complete.

An incomplete manual might result in that person being stuck on his rank forever since it would be hard to continue cultivation without proper guidance from a manual, and it was also not easy to change the cultivation technique midway.

"Okay fine." William said in defeat.

"But master Lucas, why should I always eat those plants in my meals? I had never liked their taste since I was young, and how could it possibly help me in cultivation If I could get all the energy I need from the meat of magic beast." William said while sulking.

"Well, it's true that you can get a lot of energy from the meat of magic beast, but it is also important for someone as young as you, to have a balanced diet. Even though the meat of magic beast could give you a lot of energy, it doesn't mean that it has all the nutrients that your body needs for proper development." I said to him as I explain the importance of a balanced diet.

"It might also affect your cultivation because, without a strong and healthy body, it would be difficult for you to feel the flow of energy inside your body, especially since your family cultivation focus on defense." calmly said by me as I lecture him about the importance of it. The Stratnan cultivation actually focuses on defense so I assumed that a stronger body would also help him to easily cross the threshold that separates the mortals from transcended.

"So, all those things are perfectly suited for you as it would directly train your body to its peak, making it much easier for you to break through." I said to him as he looked at me hopelessly.

William grew up in Kingstown city, and as someone who was born with a golden spoon in his mouth. He was used to eating meat in most of his meals. His family can afford it. Due to their wealth, unlike the Beaufort house which needs to save money that we even resort to budgeting our daily meals.

It also didn't help, that eating vegetable plants is discriminated by most of the nobility as they deemed it as a food for commoners. It sounds stupid, but that's the reality of this world.

"But master Lucas, those exercises you taught me always make my body feel sore every day." He said in protests.

"I know, and it's part of the process if you really want to become a successful knight, remember, if you already feel tired by doing all those exercises every morning, then how can you even handle the obligation of being a knight." I sternly said to him as he keeps on complaining.

Although William wanted to become a knight he lacks the effort and resolved to become one. I guess, that even the Stratnan family has become infected with the corruption of the nobility circle albeit not as severe as the others.

In William's case, I could say that he grew up pampered by his family, and a little bit spoiled, just a little bit.

I can't deny the fact that being born a man has a huge advantage in this era, as it is still the preference of most of the nobility as men are looked at as the only ones who can continue the bloodline.

And for the Stratnan family that have shrunk their number for the past few years, a child-like William, from the direct family line is an important person that will continue their lineage and legacy, that's why he got most of the thing that he wants.

"I can do it, I definitely can." He said firmly before running outside of my room to continue his daily routine.

"~Sigh~... that kid." I whispered in a tired voice as I lean back in my chair.

So many things have happened this past few weeks, that even I felt tired by just thinking about it. Although I didn't do that much, since most of the responsibility has fallen on to my father's shoulders.

It also didn't help that we have just discovered something big inside that cave.

Who would have thought, that the ancient people of this world, would actually have the same technology that's equivalent to modern earth.

The only question is, what happen to that civilization that managed to build that place?

A civilization that manage to trap all those dangerous creatures inside of those tanks, and yet, even they didn't make it and their civilization have fallen and has been forgotten by most of the people.

Just a single broken glass tank and it already managed to slay all the transcendent people from the church of Agatha.

Even if we include all the available forces of Florentine city. It won't be easy for us to do that, especially since they are holding a special relic, capable of suppressing anyone.

Although the church's influence have fallen. It doesn't mean that their people are weak. it's actually the opposite. Since they always have missions in dangerous places that makes them more powerful than people with the same ranks of power.

One of the reasons why the church has remained in existence till to this day is the power behind them, as they still have few people who are already on the supreme rank. Although it's not enough to contend with the three empires, it's sure is enough to damage them, if a war happens between them.

The church of Agatha has remained in power for so many years, that we don't even know how much treasure have they accumulated over the years, that they could use in an emergency.

But a lot of important questions have still remained unanswered till to this moment. First, What are they doing inside that cave? Even if they have just found that place, they should have brought a more powerful person with them, like a Supreme knight, and yet the most powerful person we could find among the remains is an Intermediate rank.

The things inside of that cave are already considered as a priceless treasures, enough to cause another massive war among the three biggest power on this land, and yet we only found a few people inside of it.

I'm sure that if the higher-ups of the church of Agatha knows about this place, then they would have brought more people with them, especially that man, who can threaten my father to surrender without a fight.

The second question is, Why do they bring that shield with them? A shield that they have put a lot of effort, to hide from the three empires, and yet, it easily falls into our hands. Is this some kind of plot against us or just plain luck?

The Shield of Obedience is a relic that can defend from any attacks, at the same time, it's also capable of commanding people against their will. This shield is just too OP to be carried by a mere Intermediate knight. It should be guarded by one of their strongest people, but we haven't even seen any of them.

And aside from that, How the heck did that shield even do that? I can't think of anyway, on how that thing managed to directly exert its power on us, even though our body is covered with aura, it still managed to bypass it without even breaking it.

My body has directly followed my father's command, without me knowing it. I just found out about it, when I'm already kneeling on the floor, and the pressure it brought to my body is monstrous, and I feel that I won't be able to decline any order from him.

And the most important question of all is about the unknown creature that killed them. What's their reason for freeing that thing inside of its tank? Do they just have a blind trust, in the capability of the shield, or do they just really think that it was already dead since it's been trapped inside of its tank for a long time, maybe thousands of years or even longer.

At the same time, we still have an ongoing problem with the sickening fog and the parasites that live inside of it. We don't even know how did that thing would affect us, once it managed to fully corrupt an entire living being.

There's also a problem with Gaspar, as he is still missing till to this day. The only good thing is that his life mark is still in a good condition without any signs of danger.

*knock* *knock*

My thoughts were once again interrupted by a knock on my door.

"Come in." I calmly said as Michael opens my door.

"Master Lucas, your father has called us all for a meeting." Michael said as he gets in front of my table.

"Yeah another meeting, lately the number of meetings we have is increasing. The longer we spent trapped in this city surrounded by this mysterious fog, the more problems are appearing." I said in an exhausted tone, as I still haven't recovered my full power from exploring that cave earlier this morning.

"But what we have found inside of that cave is something confidential, and necessary for the future survival of our city. Lord Hubert has just informed me that some changes would be made in regards to our security." seriously said by Michael as he stares at me.

"What, why so sudden? Did something happen?" I ask in a bewildered tone.

"I don't know, but our soldiers have discovered something inside the fog when we are inside of that cave, and they're just waiting for lord Hubert to return to report about it." He said as I stand up from my chair and followed him towards the meeting room.

I guess another problem shows up.