Chapter 357 Female Followers

Upon obtaining "Breath Attenuation," Liszt immediately decided to cultivate it.

By now, he had fully mastered "Flame Wave" and "Fire Dragon Drill," and was nearly proficient in "Multiple Arrows." His "Magic Eye" had reached a transcendent level. Further delving into these secret techniques and manuals would not significantly enhance his strength. It would be more beneficial to cultivate "Breath Attenuation" to conserve his energy.

Meanwhile.

Thomas returned with the organized documents, reporting to him, "My Lord, these are the records regarding the female serf child, Emily, from the administrative office."

Emily, hailing from the Kingdom of the Eagle, had lost both her parents and her brother. At eleven years old, she was the first girl among the serf children to harness mana, surpassing most of the male serfs in the passing group. She performed excellently in knight classes but still had to attend embroidery lessons.

However, her performance in embroidery classes was abysmal; she couldn’t even handle needlework properly.

"Emily doesn’t get along well with her foster family either, mainly because she can’t do household chores. She dreams of becoming a female knight and is often scolded for it. After knight classes, she prefers to stay in the knight plaza rather than go home early," Thomas reported.

After reviewing the documents, Liszt understood that this girl named Emily yearned for the knight's life. "Get Rom over here, and bring Emily along too," he instructed.

"Yes, my Lord."

Soon, both Rom and Emily arrived. After Rom bowed and stood to the side, Liszt’s attention was fully on Emily. The eleven-year-old girl stood about 1.5 meters tall. Although her face was youthful and her frame was thin, her eyes were bright and full of spirit.

Her deep-set eyes and high nose bridge gave her a somewhat exotic look—exotic compared to the people of the Sapphire Duchy and the Kingdom of the Eagle.

She might grow up to be quite beautiful.

However, her large bone structure made her thin body seem somewhat disproportionate, as she hadn’t fully developed yet.

"Your name is Emily. I heard you don’t like being a seamstress?" Liszt asked.

Although it wasn’t the first time Emily had seen Liszt, this was the closest she had ever been to the Lord, and she felt slightly nervous. Still, she boldly replied in a childish but determined tone, "Yes, my Lord, I don’t like being a seamstress. I hope to become a knight!"

"Ambitious, but do you know that the effort required for a female to become a knight far exceeds that of everyone else?"

"Emily knows, but Emily is not afraid!"

Seeing her determination, Liszt couldn’t help but smile. "Then do you know that the resources required to train a female knight exceed those needed for a male knight? If I invest heavily in training you as a knight, do you know what will be expected of you?"

"I..." Emily was a little lost for a moment; she was just an eleven-year-old child. But soon, she regained her determination and replied firmly, "My Lord, if you train me, I am willing to serve you for life, even if it means not hesitating to sacrifice my life!"

Her mature response surprised Liszt a little.

Indeed, she was a child whose fate was influenced by the smoke mission. There was something extraordinary about her. He nodded approvingly. "I am satisfied with your answer, Emily. Since you have chosen a difficult path, as your Lord, I will give you a chance to change your fate. I hope you will live up to your promise."

"Yes, my Lord, Emily is willing to follow you and charge for you!" Emily, with her young body, mimicked the adult knights and performed a follower's salute—kneeling on one knee, placing her right hand over her chest, bowing her body forward at ninety degrees, lowering her head, and looking at the ground.

Liszt walked over and helped her up. "I accept your allegiance, Emily."

Once Emily stood up, straightening herself excitedly, he smiled and said, "You are my youngest follower and also my first female follower. I wish you will one day become an honorable knight and chase glory alongside me... For now, you’ll train with Maggie."

Maggie, the object of envy for all the serf children, because her sister was the personal guard of Lord Liszt.

She received specialized knight training every day and was progressing rapidly.

Emily nodded excitedly. "Yes, my Lord!"

Liszt then turned to Rom. "Rom, take care of Emily’s training arrangements. Also, inform her foster parents to be kinder to her. She won’t need to attend embroidery classes anymore; she will focus on knight training."

"Yes, Lord Baron!"

"Alright, you may all return to your duties." Lord Baron Liszt signaled for everyone to withdraw, and then said to his personal footmen, "Go and bring Parris here."

Calling Parris over was merely to inform her that her sister Maggie would be given a companion for training. Having a companion for Maggie's knight training would make better use of resources and provide a good reference point for both of them.

Parris replied, "I have no objections; in fact, I'm quite pleased that Maggie will have a companion. She's been slacking off more and more in her knight training… I’m just surprised that you, Lord Baron, have accepted an eleven-year-old girl as a follower."

"Her eyes, filled with the desire to be a knight, moved me. I believe someone with such eyes will have an extraordinary future. Perhaps, among my followers, a female sky knight will rise one day." Lord Baron Liszt smiled, but in truth, what he believed in was the smoke mission, not Emily herself.

Parris smiled, "I wish her the best of luck."

"How is your mana cultivation coming along?"

"I still haven’t made any progress. The power of the Black Dragon Specter keeps assimilating the small amount of mana I manage to refine."

"Perhaps your approach is wrong. Mana originates from within a knight's body, but you already possess the power of the Black Dragon Specter, which creates a conflict… You might want to seek advice from Cris and learn magic. Using the power of the Black Dragon Specter to harness light-based magic might be a better approach."

Invisibility is one of the light-based spells that many great magicians study. With the power of the Black Dragon Specter, Parris had quickly developed her own invisibility technique.

"Yes, if my mana cultivation fails, I’ll focus on magic instead."

……

After Parris left, Lord Baron Liszt paused in thought for a moment, and smoke slowly emerged.

"Mission complete, reward: Hiddleston's new magic—Rock Wall."

"Rock Wall?" He stood by the window, just in time to see Hiddleston playing with the eight pups as the sun set. Suddenly, Hiddleston opened his mouth, and a rock wall shot up from the apple orchard, blocking the eight pups' path.

Faced with a three-meter-high, ten-meter-wide, and twenty-centimeter-thick, irregular, and twisted rock wall, the eight pups barked excitedly non-stop.

Hiddleston, like a child with a new toy, kept raising more rock walls, turning the once beautiful apple orchard into a chaotic maze of stone.

"Enough, Hiddleston!" Lord Baron Liszt couldn't help but shout.