Eric Foster replied gruffly, but still sat down at the other end of the chessboard. Yet, the moment he picked up a chess piece, a thought still flashed through his mind.

He hadn’t expected that William Carter actually possessed a talent for spiritual power. For an ordinary person with no cultivation to last half an hour in the Armament Order, such talent was quite impressive.

But, he had offended the Zhang family—what a pity.

Chapter 3: Absorption and Improvement

William Carter left the mansion with a frown, his face twisted.

He stretched his legs and ran back to the Armory Camp as fast as he could. Old Craftsman had been waiting in the quarters for a long time. Seeing him rush in, he scolded with a laugh, “Kid, how do you feel?”

Seeing Old Craftsman, William Carter immediately felt a weight lift from his heart. In this military camp, the only person he could fully trust was the one before him.

He grinned and said, “Old man, I… caused you some trouble.” With that, he collapsed straight into Old Craftsman’s arms.

Old Craftsman caught him at once, looking utterly puzzled.

This kid went to take the Armament Order, so how could he have caused trouble for me?

Looking at the unconscious William Carter, he snorted softly, picked him up, and laid him on the bed, carefully removing his outer clothes, shoes, and socks, and tucking him in. All the while, he kept muttering quiet scoldings, saying that when this kid woke up, he’d teach him a lesson and so on. But his voice was so soft, barely louder than a whispering insect. If the unconscious William Carter could hear it, that would be truly strange.

A full day and night later, under Old Craftsman’s worried gaze, William Carter finally woke up.

He turned over, wanting to laze in bed, but suddenly realized that once he was awake, his mind was instantly clear, with not a trace of sleepiness left.

He blinked a few times, not understanding what had happened, but immediately recalled everything before he fell asleep.

He sat up with a flip, and seeing the familiar surroundings, finally let out a sigh of relief.

Hearing movement in the quarters, Old Craftsman came in and tossed a bundle of clothes over, saying, “Good kid, since when did you become a lazy pig? Hurry up and get dressed for work.”

William Carter answered loudly, quickly got dressed, wolfed down his meal, and followed Old Craftsman to the Armory Camp.

Old Craftsman held a position of great authority in the Armory Camp. Not only was he the chief blacksmith, but he also had decades of seniority here—even the military officers had to show him respect.

Old Craftsman had his own private forge. He led William Carter inside and asked in a deep voice, “Kid, tell me honestly, did you absorb any armament energy?”

William Carter took a deep breath, recalling that wondrous feeling when he entered the Armament Order.

Vaguely, he felt as if something new had appeared inside his body.

He stretched out his palm, his gaze fixed on a spot in the center. There, it seemed as if something was about to break out of its cocoon.

Finally, in William Carter’s mind, it was as if a cracking sound rang out. Then, a wisp of white flame rose from the center of his palm.

“Good!”

Old Craftsman’s eyes instantly lost their usual cloudiness, shining with unparalleled clarity and joy.

The look he gave William Carter was full of deep appreciation. If before today he had only regarded William Carter as a son, now he had the hope and expectation that he would become a dragon among men.

William Carter blinked a few times, his heart also filled with joy.

According to what Old Craftsman had said before, even if one successfully absorbed armament energy in the Armament Order, it was not easy to use it. Most people needed at least ten days to half a month of effort before they could successfully activate it. Of course, to use it freely was even harder. Without months of hard practice, it was simply impossible.

However, with time and practice, one could always become proficient.

“Good kid, here you go!” Old Craftsman grabbed a broken saber and tossed it to William Carter.

William Carter nodded lightly, recalling Old Craftsman’s previous teachings.

Back then, he didn’t have any armament energy, but Old Craftsman had still tirelessly passed on his knowledge and experience. Perhaps, even then, Old Craftsman had already planned everything out.

William Carter calmed his mind and immersed himself completely in the armament energy.

As the armament energy approached the military saber neatly placed on the platform, an expression of disbelief suddenly appeared on William Carter’s face.

Because in his mind, a strange set of numbers suddenly appeared.

Item: Broken military saber.

Grade: Ordinary Weapon, First Rank.

Attribute: Sharpness +1, Durability 0.

At this moment, a huge question mark appeared in William Carter’s mind. What… exactly is this?

After being stunned for a while, William Carter finally managed to calm his almost soaring emotions and refocused his attention on the broken saber.

Repair, yes, what I need to do now is repair it.

Repair, repair, repair…

William Carter concentrated with all his might, trying his best to mend the break.