The Strongest Knight

Ten days passed in a blink of an eye.

Early that morning, Gray washed up and changed into a well-fitting white cloth shirt that he had just bought for two copper coins.

After seeing the reflection of a vigorous blond boy in the deep well, Gray was satisfied and took the money and set off.

Birch Castle has set up a registration point in Green Town.

There were many people who signed up. Gray queued up and handed in a gold coin that was exchanged for a thousand copper coins. After registering his information, he received a beautiful letter envelope.

Gray's name is written on the front of the book, with the seal of Birch Fort stamped on it, and a landscape painting of Birch Fort on the back.

If Gray failed the test, fifty silver coins would be returned.

"The next convoy will depart in fifteen minutes. You can wait here." The staff of Birch Castle reminded Gray.

Gray nodded, thanked him, and waited aside.

Also waiting on the side were dozens of small town teenagers of similar age.

Soon, a carriage team spontaneously and free of charge organized by the town's merchants arrived at the registration point.

Amid the shouts of the drivers, the young men from the small town filed in.

After taking out Shuhan and showing it to the driver, Gray quickly got on the next carriage, which was soon filled with ten teenagers.

After counting the number of people, the convoy set off and headed for Birch Fort, 15 kilometers outside the town.

The character of the Drew people was fully reflected in the teenagers. The teenagers looked at each other secretly, curious in their hearts, but no one was willing to speak first.

Gray was also happy to see the quietness, so he chose a seat near the car window.

As the carriage swayed, Gray looked out the window, watching the scenery receding, which was quite pleasant.

About an hour later, the Birch Castle standing on the high ground came into Gray's sight.

The carriage stopped at the three-kilometer landmark of the castle. The boys got off and saw five imposing knights lined up in a row.

The knights rode on the tall Drew horses, a specialty of the Drew Kingdom in the north. They were over 1.8 meters tall at the shoulder, could run very fast, and had great endurance. They were one of the best war horses on the Barrow continent.

The knights were dressed in armor, holding lances and heavy swords on their waists. Their facial features were hidden in their cold helmets, and they looked at the young men without any emotion.

This is the Drew Knight in the boy’s mind.

Of course, these five knights are different from Sir Fielding who was awarded the honor of knighthood. To be precise, they can only be regarded as cavalrymen. They may have the strength of a knight's apprentice, but they are not of the knight class.

Among the five cavalrymen, the one who was slightly in front spoke up: "Line up according to your height, and then join the formation over there."

Under the momentum of the cavalry, the order was quickly executed.

The boys lined up and began to move forward. Only then did Gray realize that there were hundreds of boys of similar age waiting in the array on the other side.

Viscount Campbell owns three small towns and countless villages under his jurisdiction. It is not only the young men from Green Town who come to participate in the knight training.

Fortunately, the town of Green is only fifteen kilometers away from Birch Castle, and the other two towns are much farther away. Many young people from the other two towns or remote villages arrived here one day in advance.

They lined up, and when the last wave of teenagers from Green Town arrived, the array was crowded with more than three hundred teenagers.

The characteristics of the Drew people are particularly precious when there are a large number of people. More than 300 teenagers lined up, but it was very quiet and there was no noise.

With this orderly temperament, it is no wonder that some people say that the men of the Dru Kingdom are natural soldiers and knights.

"Very good, now that everyone is here, let's start the first test."

"After the horn sounds, you will start running outside the landmark, around the Birch Tree Fort. The first one hundred people who complete five laps will pass this round of testing."

Gray, who was hidden in the queue, frowned secretly. The distance of running around the three-kilometer landmark of Birch Fort is not short. If the estimate is correct, it is about fifty kilometers.

There is a trap in the knight's words. Only a few people can finish the 50-kilometer race. It is entirely possible for them to be among the top 100.

Misled by the knight's words, the young men who are not clear about the concept of five circles may suffer a great loss.

It is estimated that more than two hundred people will be eliminated in this first round of testing.

The leading knight rode his horse in a circle around the boys and repeated his words three times.

After making sure that the young men understood, the leading knight raised the lance in his hand high, and at the moment he swung it down with force, the four knights beside him took out their horns and blew them.

The melodious sound of the horn stirred the blood in the hearts of the Dru boys, and they ran out like a flock of sheep leaving the pen.

Gray kept running at the center of the team at a leisurely pace. If he ran at his usual morning ten-kilometer pace, he could also be at the front.

But this is 50 kilometers, so I have to conserve my energy to maintain my speed in the second half.

Five knights were standing several dozen meters apart, accompanying the boys on one side and also monitoring any cheating.

Gray's guess was correct. After just one lap, his position moved from the middle to the front. Many young people who were working hard suffered the consequences and could not maintain their speed and fell behind.

After running a lap of ten kilometers, Gray was still full of energy, but he felt a little sad when he saw his new shirt stained with dust while running.

After the second lap, some teenagers gave up and the weak ones fainted, while Gray remained stable in the first queue.

There were about thirty teenagers in the first group.

After the third round, the number of more than 30 people in the first queue was reduced to more than 20 people.

Gray felt that he had consumed a lot of physical strength, but he still had some strength left. Two young men next to him came into his sight.

One was a dark-skinned, bald boy who was leading the way, and the other was a red-haired boy who was following Gray.

The two of them, plus Gray, were the front three in the entire first queue, with a distance of more than a hundred meters from the fourth place.

The red-haired boy looked like he had already reached his limit by following Gray, while the bald, dark-skinned boy in front of Gray was indeed gifted.

Gray planned to overtake the bald, black-skinned boy in front of him on the fifth lap and win the first place in this test.

Gray has no intention of hiding his incompetence. He comes from an ordinary family. If he hides his incompetence and gets no attention, his path as a knight will be doomed to tragedy!

During the long run, the dark shadow of Birch Castle was always waving at him from the right side of Gray's peripheral vision.

It was as if he was telling him about the benefits of becoming a knight.

It was the last stretch of distance. Under the red-haired boy's grief-stricken eyes, Gray and the black-skinned boy tacitly understood and burst out at the speed of a sprint almost at the same time.

It is hard to imagine that after four laps, the two teenagers can still burst out with such speed.

Even the leading knight who was following beside him couldn't help but nod secretly.

Gray didn't expect that the black boy in front of him was not satisfied with maintaining the first place, and even had the energy left to try to get rid of him, the second place.

"What a monster!" Gray cursed inwardly, followed the black-skinned boy, and jumped over the finish line in a few steps.