King-Chapter 1092 - 160: The Brutal Selection_2

Many noble children had completed basic knight training before enrolling in the Soldier Training Academy, attracted not just by the Hudson name, but even more so for the Life Essence.

For smaller noble families with only one or two siblings, it was manageable, but for families like the Hudsons with many siblings, competing for a share of the Life Essence was necessary.

Baron Redman, who fared quite well within dozens of miles around, had to make a move against the Hudsons for a portion of the Life Essence, which spoke volumes about the situation.

Because of the competition over cultivation resources, it was not uncommon for siblings in the noble world to turn against each other.

A step to heaven, a step to hell. Born into a noble family, nobody wanted to be reduced to a commoner.

The emergence of the Mountain Territory Soldier Academy presented countless smaller nobility struggling without Life Essence with an opportunity, and they sought connections to send their children there.

Although they found it extremely humiliating to compete with the serfs’ sons and daughters, no one believed their own offspring would lose.

Since they could win, there was no need to be petty. Many even believed Hudson had arranged for so many people to participate just to add pressure to their juniors, to ignite their potential.

Looking at the students’ grades, the disparity was immense. The noble children with the head start almost monopolized the top rankings.

"As a reward for your excellent performance in this assessment, I’ve decided that those students who have reached the age of fifteen, ranked in the top twenty percent, and have completed basic knight training, will be granted early qualification to exchange for Life Essence.

Considering that you all lack contribution points, anyone willing to serve in the Snow Moon Knight Group for twenty years will receive a portion of the Life Essence," Hudson cheerfully announced.

From the first day the new students enrolled, he knew the nobles’ calculations. But why not use the enforcers who came to him freely?

Without these contributors, it would have been anyone’s guess when his Knight Corps could gather forces. And if it weren’t for Hudson deliberately easing the criteria, so many noble children wouldn’t have appeared.

Officially, everyone’s age was between 12 and 18, but those bearded fellows really looked too mature.

Some of the older youths were not just 18—in fact, some might well be over 28. Under normal circumstances, their life would have stayed that way.

Joining the Soldier Training Academy was their last stand. They could only slip in by altering their age because their families had ties to the Koslow Clan.

In this respect, Hudson was very accommodating. Regardless of which branch recommended the person, as long as they came from a clean background and were free from major power disputes, he welcomed all.

Limited by their perspectives, the value seen by each person was unequal.

In Hudson’s eyes, Life Essence was just a common Magic Potion that could be produced on a small scale if he so wished.

But for the smaller nobility, Life Essence seemed invaluable. Hudson’s granting this precious strategic resource to these over-aged children with no potential, simply because they were relatives.

Distant relatives were still family; one’s own people must be treated better than strangers.

Including within the academy, Hudson continuously instilled in the students the concept of "our own people." Noble children related by blood were their own, and so were the students from domain people.

The effect was clear. The youths were fooled, looking up to Master Hudson with eyes full of "admiration."

The older students were more rational, but still powerless against the Life Essence.

Favors were sold, and the enforcers were secured. Whether they had potential or not was secondary; at the very least, Hudson had a group of enforcers for the short term.

Now it was to see how many of these students who completed the basic knight training could successfully "Awaken the Life Seed."

Failure did not matter; as warriors, they could still serve Master Hudson. With a group of War Horses, they could also join the Knight Corps to make up the numbers.

Of course, influenced by the training system, even warriors on War Horses were far weaker than knights.

To distinguish the strength of a Knight Corps, just look at the proportion of knights within it to get a rough idea.

Seeing a crowd of emotional students try to maintain their composure in front of him to uphold their noble dignity, Hudson’s laughter grew even louder.

Clearly, this investment was definitely not going to be a loss. The worst fear for a person is the lack of desire; these individuals who were so obsessed with noble status were undoubtedly a good group of workers.

Without chopping off the heads of a hundred Orc Soldiers, dreaming of noble status is futile!

For those who wanted domain lands, Hudson thought it reasonable to set the target for decapitation at five hundred. The merit conversion between the Orc Royal Family and regular Orcs could be set at 1:10.

Further refinements could be made according to the different Orc species, with distinctions based on social and power status. After all, the Alpha Kingdom itself operated on a military merit and nobility system; he was simply making the standards quantifiable.

These promises were all for the knights. In theory, with sufficient personal strength and a bit of luck, it was possible to achieve these goals.

Specifically, they could join the Expedition Army Corps, follow Hudson from west to east, slaughtering over a hundred of Different Races. Soldiers who achieved such feats were not rare.

Considering the bonus for killing enemy leaders, if there was a complete military merit conversion system, there would be quite a few knights who could amass five hundred Orc heads’ worth of merit.

Updat𝓮d from freew𝒆bnov𝒆l.co(m)