Mercenary System: I can increase innate potential !

"I should seriously look at my mercenaries' statistics more regularly."

Many of the men under his command had literally become monsters in human form. He understood better why he thought that his "simple mercenaries at the level of apprentice knights" could repel an army of thousands of Dravaks.

"It was because some of them had already surpassed the physicality of an entry-level knight..."

"And above all, the power of many mercenaries at the apprentice knight stage has been significantly improved."

His men were really monstrously powerful now. Maxime had completely underestimated the passive effect of his [Nox Limit] talent.

Now that he was at level 2, the potential of all his mercenaries had been increased by two stars, in addition to the fact that they benefited from a 600% improvement in training efficiency.

Thus the slow progression in Eternity, where each 0.1 point can take years of training, could take only a few days for the mercenaries of the Sabertooth Tigers.

There were no bottlenecks, as the potential of the body was far too strong.

The breathing methods, in particular, exploited the potential of the human body, strengthening it while improving the physique.

For example, an apprentice knight almost inevitably had a 3-star potential, but if he did not manage to progress to a 4-star potential, he could not, under ordinary circumstances, have a physique superior to 3 points.

For that was the limit of his body.

Only by awakening the vital seed and becoming a knight could the limit be pushed back again, and the potential improved.

But for many mercenaries, the limits were still far away. Very far away.

In that situation, how could they not take off?

But it also gave rise to strange scenes.

The physique of the apprentice knights that Kaite and Langus had recruited was normally only possible by becoming a knight.

Even more surprising, Kaite and Langus had both exceeded the limits of knights and were starting to approach the physique of grand knights!

And with a potential of 6 stars, they could potentially reach a physical of 6 points without becoming a grand knight!

But in this situation, their breathing method could obviously no longer improve their potential, even if they became a grand knight. However, by becoming a grand knight their fighting power would be greatly improved.

But to what extent, Maxime did not know.

Ding!

[Military salary received!]

[6 gold coins have been sent to your system balance!]

The monthly notification of the 6 gold coins earned thanks to his military rank was always nice to hear.@@novelbin@@

Maxime regretted that his military rank of Eternity could not be improved on the dimensional battlefields.

But no matter, this notification was always followed by another very pleasant notification.

Ding!

[An opportunity to go to Eternity has been unlocked!]

[You have been detected as having authorization to go to Eternity once!]

[Would you like to use it now?]

Maxime smiled.

"Of course."

In his bed, he closed his eyes.

When he opened them again, he felt a cool breeze on his face. The wind seemed particularly pure and pleasant.

He was in the courtyard of the Valderic mansion.

Around him were Andrew, Terry, Romuald, Laura, Henry, Ultia, Kaite, Langus, Garen, Lira, Jean and so on.

In total, there were about forty people around him.

"Welcome back to our world, boss," Andrew said with a smile.

"Welcome home."

"Welcome back, captain."

...

Everyone around him was smiling with happiness.

They had been through difficult times together, and now the bond between the members of the mercenary group had been significantly strengthened.

And of course there was also Aveline, Count Ardan's daughter, whom Maxime was supposed to protect until her marriage.

"Welcome back? What are you talking about?" she asked, looking confused.

Everyone looked at her with a slight smile without explaining anything.

"You'll find out if you join our mercenary group," Maxime finally said with a smile, certain that she wouldn't want to join them.

"What if I do join you?"

"What?"

Everyone was surprised.

The daughter of a count wanted to join them?

Seeing their surprise, Aveline laughed openly.

"I was joking, no need to make such faces."

After discussing and organizing the trip, Maxime and his troop of mercenaries made their way back to take Aveline home.

On the way back, the first thing Maxime thought about was Dravus.

He wondered if he could bring him to Eternity. If so, he would gain significant additional combat power.

Even with his lineage and the powers it granted, it was no exaggeration to say that he was the strongest man under Maxime's command.

So much so that he himself would not be sure of defeating him without activating his talent [Nox Limit]

As if the system had heard him, a notification echoed in Maxime's mind.

[Detected a creature named 'Dravus' under contract with the host in the real world.]

[Do you wish to summon this creature?]

"No!" Maxime shouted mentally with a slight panic.

If Dravus appeared out of nowhere in front of Aveline, Maxime could feel trouble coming.

So he would wait for Aveline to leave before bringing Dravus in.

At the same time, as he walked quietly alone in front of his men, he displayed part of his statistics window about his mercenaries.

[Mercenaries page]

Apprentice knight (peak stadium): Five-star potential. Physical: 3.4 (2.8)

Apprentice knight (peak stadium): Five-star potential. Physical: 3.3 (2.7)

"It's really a shame, considering that I recruited them at the same time as Kaite and Langus, that I didn't take the time to ask them their names."

"But now they are among the best men, second only to Kaite and Langus..."

"And on top of that, they can awaken their vital seed at any time, which would drastically improve their fighting power."

"It's a real shame that I never really spoke to them in depth."

"A leader worthy of the name should at least know the stories of his most important men."

Taking this thought as a reminder, he turned to Andrew, who was standing a little behind, chatting with Ernest, and signaled to him.

"I'm going to check on those two. Take charge and lead the group to Lapi, since we have to bring Aveline back."

Andrew nodded without asking any questions.

Maxime walked over to the two knights, who were walking slightly behind the group. As he approached, they instinctively straightened up, adopting a more rigid posture.

"Sir!" they saluted in unison.

Maxime smiled as he took them in.

"I would like to know your names. You are among my best men, and yet I know almost nothing about you."

The two men exchanged a look, visibly surprised.

Maxime's words were very direct, but it warmed the hearts of the two men.

Finally, the taller of the two spoke first.

"I'm Erwan, boss. And this is Lioran."

As they said this, his mercenary page came up.

[Mercenaries page]

Erwan (peak stadium): Five-star potential. Physique: 3.4 (2.8)

Lioran (peak stadium): Five-star potential. Physique: 3.3 (2.7)

"Nice to meet you." replied Maxime.

"Tell me, how did you become knights?"

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There was a moment's silence. Erwan and Lioran seemed to hesitate, but Maxime could see a hint of emotion in their eyes. As if they had been waiting for someone to ask them that question for a long time.

After a moment, Lioran sighed.

"Chief... There's nothing extraordinary about our story."

Maxime disagreed.

"All stories are extraordinary because of their uniqueness."

"Even if they may resemble others, there is always something that makes them unique."

Erwan put his hands in the pockets of his linen trousers, thinking for a moment, then began to speak.

"We were ordinary kids from different villages, but with a common dream: to become knights."

"The dream of every ordinary kid in the world, after all."

"So, of course, when we awakened our knighthood talent, we were overjoyed. In our village, it was a rare event. Everyone looked at us with admiration, and our families were so proud of us."

Lioran nodded with a slight smile, then continued.

"We were selected as recruits of Duke Devron to become knights in the future. An instructor there taught us a breathing technique and the Devron family also provided us with resources. At the time, it was truly a great honor. After all, being trained by a ducal family is completely different from being trained by a family of barons or viscounts."

At these words, Maxime noticed that their expressions darkened slightly.

Erwan clenched his fist before continuing the story.

"We trained hard, but effectively. We were convinced that we would become elite knights. And even if we didn't, when we returned home, people respected us. We were role models for the children in our villages."

Then Lioran continued, his voice deeper.

"But one day, everything changed."

Maxime remained silent, encouraging them with a simple look.

The three continued to walk, side by side.

"Duke Devron himself came to see us. Not a messenger, not an officer. Him."

"And that day... We lost our freedom."

Lioran smiled bitterly.

"He forcibly enlisted us in his shadow army."

Maxime frowned slightly.

"The shadow army...?"

Erwan slowly nodded.

"Well, that's what we called it, but it doesn't really have a name. It was just a unit that had to do the dirty work for the duke."

"And... we had no choice. He threatened us... Our families, our friends... As long as it could be used to manipulate us, it was used."

Lioran bowed his head slightly.

"At the time, we were both 15 years old, and we accepted like about twenty other teenagers."

"We were immediately sent to hell. The training was... inhuman. We weren't taught to protect as the knight's creed demanded, but to kill. We were molded to be emotionless assassins."

"Torture, whether on us or on slaves, fighting to the death among ourselves, murdering talented apprentice knights, surviving in the wild with fights to the death..."

"Of these trainees, fewer than one in ten could ultimately survive to become a true assassin."

On hearing this, Maxime realized that he had just stumbled upon a real gold mine without necessarily meaning to.

These apprentice knights were the elite of the elite, all endowed with exceptional fighting skills, but also with other very rare and valuable skills.

But of course Maxime said nothing about it, and continued to listen.

Erwan gritted his teeth.

"At first, we resisted. We refused..."

A heavy silence fell.

"But Devron made it clear to us that we had to choose between our honor and the lives of our loved ones. In the end, he presented us with a choice, but who in their right mind would sacrifice the lives of their loved ones? As long as our loved ones are alive, we still have a chance of getting out of this."

"But if they die... it really is the end."

Maxime folded his arms. He could imagine what followed.

And he said nothing. He knew that this kind of story was commonplace in a world like Eternity. But hearing the details from his own men was another matter.

Erwan took a long breath.

"For years, we were pawns. We carried out orders that we would have preferred never to hear. We dirtied our hands more times than we could count."

"To be honest, for several years we really lost our emotions."

Lioran continued but this time with a smile.

"But one day, we had an opportunity... And that opportunity is you, boss."