"I received reports that your territory has been expanding rapidly." Vekar said. "I heard you hired hundreds of mercenaries and built a massive army. So why did you only bring sixty men?"

Count Frankenstein laughed loudly, making Adrian look at him and raise an eyebrow.

He was a fat ass but there was a lot of muscle hidden behind all of that.

"He is just a fraud." The Count sneered at Adrian. "He probably bragged about an army he could not actually afford to pay. Or maybe he just thinks that all of this is a game."

Adrian felt a strong urge to punch the Count right in his stupid face, but he kept his cool. He just stared at the General.

"What matters is the result." Adrian said calmly.

"Results matter, yes." Vekar narrowed his eyes. "But sixty men inspire zero confidence. Do you have a death wish, Baron Sterling? Because you are expected to lead your unit on the front lines. You will not sit back and watch."

Vekar crossed his arms. "If I see you deserting your post or running from the enemy, I will execute you myself."

Adrian chuckled. "Who said I brought sixty soldiers?"

The tent went quiet, while Vekar and the Count looked confused.

"What are you talking about?" The Count demanded.

"I brought sixty knights." Adrian said.

The Count stared at him for a second and then burst into laughter. "Do you think we are fools? Sixty knights? Even a Duke would struggle to deploy a private squad of sixty knights all at once. You are a newly appointed Baron living in a barren wasteland."

Adrian shrugged. "There is no magic tool to instantly prove a knight’s rank. You will just have to watch them fight."

Vekar sighed heavily. "Play your games, Baron. But whether they are knights or farm boys, you are going to war. Dismissed."

Adrian turned around and walked out of the tent while Claire followed him silently.

Sebastian Kaldwin walked out right after them, looking deeply conflicted. He wanted to ally with Adrian, but he did not believe the sixty knight claim either. After all, training knights was an incredibly hard feat. His father had tried before and out of a hundred, only one or two could become one and even that would take years.

’Maybe he just hired some knights instead?’ he thought, but then he shook his head, ’No, there aren’t that many free knights around. Even if he did, these free knights wouldn’t be the same as the ones in my army.’

Adrian did not care about their doubts.

He casually walked back to his own designated camp area and stepped into a large tent with Claire. The five kids were sitting on the floor waiting for him.

"We are not doing any physical training today." Adrian told the kids. "We are in a warzone now. Focus entirely on your mana breathing. I want you to expand your mana reserves."

He sat down on a wooden crate. "Real combat experience accelerates growth. Fighting with your life on the line forces your body to adapt. Just focus on circulating your mana perfectly so you get used to it even more."

The kids nodded and closed their eyes.

Meanwhile, Claire sat down in the corner and started meditating as well.

Adrian opened his system screen and checked his own status.

His physical grinding over the last two months had finally pushed him up another level. He was not an F rank knight anymore.

[Status Screen]

Name: Adrian Sterling

Title: Baron

Knight Rank: E Rank

Mage Rank: Third Circle

Mana Veins: D rank

Daddy Status: Papa

Demonic Blessing: Dungeon Master

Divine Curse: Pacifist’s Shackles

Skills:

Gust (D), Telekinesis (C), Frost (F), Pain tolerance (D), Self Healing (D), Dad Strength (SSS), Daddy’s Love (SSS), Daddy’s Spanking (SSS), Dungeon Link (SSS) 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

Adrian closed the screen with a slight smile on his face.

He was an E rank knight now, but he had a massive, glaring weakness.

He had the raw strength, the speed, and the durability of an E rank knight. But because of his Pacifist’s Shackles curse, he had absolutely zero martial arts techniques. He did not know how to swing a sword, he did not know how to block with a shield and he did not know proper footwork.

Adrian had solely focused on pushing his rank for the past two months and nothing else.

He was just a guy with superhuman physical capabilities at the moment.

He sat there for an hour, watching the kids breathe, and slowly the anxiety of his lack of combat skill began to suffocate him.

Adrian stood up. He walked over to Claire and tapped her shoulder, making her open her eyes to look at him.

"Fight me." Adrian said.

Claire blinked. "What?"

"Teach me how to fight." Adrian said. "I will fight with just my fists."

Claire laughed. "So you finally decided to actually train with me? I thought you hired me just to be a decorative bodyguard."

"I just had other priorities." Adrian rubbed the back of his neck. "But I really need the practice right now."

Claire nodded. The two of them walked out of the tent and found an empty patch of grass near the edge of the camp.

"Are you an F rank yet?" Claire asked as she stretched her arms. "I know you were doing some weird mage training."

"I hit E rank two weeks ago." Adrian said casually.

Claire froze.

She stared at him in silence for a few seconds and smiled, "Stop joking. Seriously, what is your rank?"

"I am not joking." Adrian said. "I am an E rank."

Claire looked completely bewildered. "You reached E rank in two months? And you do not even know how to throw a proper punch?"

"Mage training is different." Adrian lied smoothly. "I used a very specific method to force mana into my body. It bypassed the need for physical weapon forms."

Claire shook her head. "That is terrifying... forget the lack of weapons, but the speed? That is crazy on it’s own. I needed an entire year just to get to the F rank." she said and shook her head, "But fine. We go to war tomorrow and we do not have time to slowly go through basic stances or textbook forms. I am just going to beat you up until your learn how to survive through experience and instinct."

"Works for me." Adrian raised his fists.