"Let''s stay a little longer in the south to earn a little more money and thene back north."


    Saying this, Maxime was firmly convinced that when he returned, he would create a small earthquake in the Kingdom.


    After all, his strength and his mercenary group couldn''t be hidden forever.


    Previously, his strength and that of the mercenaries were still within an eptable range.


    But when they returned to fight Baron Barthon, Maxime would probably have at least the strength of a knight at the grand sess stage, while he would have at least 3 men at the knight entry or even petit sess stage.


    In this way, the strength of his mercenary group could even bepared to that of a powerful baron or even a viscount, so strong will they be.


    But all this would happen in the future.


    After the momentous events of the past few weeks, a rare period of calm set in for Maxime and his elite men.


    Settled in the Académie des Chevaliers Pourpres, a ce dedicated to training Count Ardan''s elite, they took advantage of this respite to train, hone their skills and enjoy a few moments of daily life away from battle.


    The academy itself was an impressive ce: a vast fortifiedplex surrounded by high stone walls and featuring several training grounds, forges and libraries.


    Statues of knights with fascinating and heroic histories stood in the main courtyards, reminding students and guests of the importance of discipline and honor.


    Saber-toothed tigers enjoyed a special status, since they had proved their worth against the orcs and obtained the Count''s authorization.


    As a result, they were all housed in spacious, luxurious quarters. They were even better housed than the students and some of the professors.


    They were also allowed to use the academy''s facilities, which led to regr scenes of mercenaries taking part in supervised training as well as cultural courses, usually reserved for nobles.


    Most mercenaries had never had ess to intellectual courses.


    Everything they learned came from their parents or neighbors when they were still vigers.


    Obviously, the knowledge passed on in this way was limited.


    And most of these courses were very advanced, so very few mercenaries managed to learn anything from them.@@novelbin@@


    Only Tena, Ernest, Rodrigo and Laura continued to attend.


    Tena, on the other hand, was a particrly keen learner and spent a lot of time in the library.


    For his part, Maxime had spent most of the week practicing like crazy with his sword.


    With abination of hard work, talent and rick''s help, he finally achieved his goal.


    [Sword mastery level 3 (1/100)]


    "Congrattions Maxime, I think you now have fencingparable to that of a knight!"


    ric smiled at Maxime, his eyes showing admiration for the young prodigy''s progress.


    He''d never seen anyone improve so much in such a short time.


    "Thank you rick, I couldn''t have done it without you.


    Maxime thanked rick sincerely.


    If it hadn''t been for his help, he''d never have made such rapid progress.


    Of course, he had been content to keep up the physical level of an apprentice knight at the peak stage.


    There was no need to show all his strength right away.


    It would have been difficult to exin, not to mention unhelpful during training.


    After all, he could crush rick with just his physical strength now.


    "I''ll leave you here Maxime, I''ve got to go and prepare a lesson for the 4th graders."


    "No worries."


    For his part, Maxime went quietly to eat in the great hall.


    There were only a few groups of apprentice knights filling it, leaving thisrge room a little empty, but allowing him to eat in a less noisy atmosphere than usual.


    After eating, Maxime decided to check on his new VentBois recruits to see how they were doing.


    He''d only run into them briefly during meals, and with the strict schedule he''d imposed on himself, he hadn''t been able to chat much with them.


    So he strolled out into the main courtyard of the Purple Knight Academy.


    The air was fresh andden with the scent of damp leaves. The afternoon sun was gently illuminating the cobblestones, casting a golden glow over the academy''s majestic buildings.


    The weather was fine, despite the low temperature.


    Maxime strode forward, his long ck coat fluttering slightly behind him.


    He had borrowed the coat from among the things the academy provided, thinking it would fit him rather well.


    As he reached his destination, he was increasingly eager to see the thirteen mercenaries he had recruited in Ventbois.


    These men and women, though still young and inexperienced, all had promising potential thanks to his talent.


    Particrly Garen and Lira, who were now 4-star talents, and therefore likely to have knightly strength in the future.


    What''s more, Garen possessed the Berserker talent and Lira had an affinity with shadows.


    For the moment, the two had shown no signs of awakening these talents, but when they did, there was no doubt that their fighting power would explode.


    There was also Jean, who, although a notch below them in terms of potential, possessed the blessing of the wind, and already knew to some extent how to use it to scout.


    As he passed through the arches leading to a secondary training area, he heard familiar noises: the tter of des, cheers, and the muffled impacts of blows to training dummies.


    When he arrived on the field, he was immediately greeted by Garen, who was acting as leader among these new recruits.


    "Chief, there you are! It''s a pleasure to see you here!"


    Maxime nodded, watching as the twelve remaining mercenaries interrupted their exercises to gather around him. The group had changed in just a few days. Their posture was more assured, their looks more determined.


    "Good to see you again, guys," Maxime said with a smile.


    "So, how''s your stay here going?"


    Jean, stepped forward with a confident smile.


    "Chief, it''s incredible! The training here is demanding, but we''ve learned so much. The teachers say we all have good potential, even if we''re not from noble bloodlines."


    Beside her, Lira nodded.


    "We also took part in battle simtions with first-year students. At first we were getting beaten up badly, and many of the students were secretlyughing at us."


    "Some of them had funparing us to the old mercenaries, saying we were really garbagepared to Andrew or even Laura."


    "But now we''re starting toe into our own."


    "Everyone''s surprised by how fast we''re progressing and is starting to look at us differently."


    Maxime observed each of the mercenaries in turn. Garen, Lira, Jean and the others did indeed seem tougher, their physiques having been strengthened by intensive training.


    But it wasn''t just their physical strength that had evolved. He could see a new confidence in their eyes, the kind of confidence you gain by oveing hardships and bing stronger, both physically and mentally.


    "Good. Now I''d like to see what you''ve learned. Show me what training here has done for you."


    At these words, the mercenaries quickly scattered to prepare for a demonstration. Garen picked up a sword while Lira grabbed a pair of daggers.


    The two quickly began to spar under Maxime''s watchful eye.


    Their duel was fast-paced and technical, with every move revealing a heightened mastery of the basics of closebat.


    "They''re already not far from reaching level 2 in their weapon mastery, that''s really good," Maxime thought as he watched them.


    After that, other recruits such as Reta and Yvan practiced breaking reinforced dummies, showing impressive raw power for people who had only been vigers a few days before.


    Because even brute strength required technique.


    Otherwise, it was impossible to reveal even 70% of his raw power.


    Once the demonstrations were over, Maxime called the group together.


    "You''ve worked hard over thest few days. Keep up the hard training. I have a feeling we''ll have an important mission soon, and when that timees I''ll be counting on you to show what you''re capable of."


    "You may be young, but I see in you the future of our group. Stay focused and disciplined."


    The mercenaries nodded in agreement, Maxime''s words touching them so deeply that the fire of determination shone in their eyes. Maxime, satisfied, gave them a few more instructions before leaving them to resume their activities.


    He continued his day by talking to his mercenaries scattered throughout the academy.


    All had adapted well to life at the academy.


    The next morning, as Maxime watched abat demonstration in the academy''srge arena between James and a 4th-year apprentice knight, a soldier approached him softly.


    "Chief of the Saber-toothed Tigers, Count Ardan wishes to see you in his office."


    Maxime exchanged a puzzled nce with the mercenaries standing beside him, before following the messenger.


    He crossed the long corridors of the academy and arrived at the door of Count Ardan''s office.


    The soldier knocked gently three times on the door before taking a step back.


    "Who is it?"


    The Count''s deep voice rang out. Enjoy new tales from My Virtual Library Empire


    "This is Private Kotar, reporting that the chief of the Saber-toothed Tigers is waiting outside the door."


    After a brief moment of silence, the Count''s voice rang out again.


    "You may go, Kotar, and pleasee in, Maxime."


    The soldier gave Maxime a slight military salute, to which he also replied, and then left.


    Simultaneously, Maxime opened the door and entered the academy director''s room.


    Count Ardan was waiting for him, standing in front of a map spread out on a table.


    He was dressed in a richly embroidered but sober tunic, and looked grave. His weathered face betrayed a certain tension.