Michael felt his Superior Golden Nose ticking off, alerting him of talented individuals.
Now, seeing as they were in the territory of the Order, it was more than possible that the talented individuals were the Knights themselves. However, since they had already been awakened and became a Knight, then it meant that if they had some sort of unknown talent, then it would be in a different category of skill.
He would have wanted to find out more, but these Knights were fighting in broad daylight. Having his shadow inhabit them for a brief inspection would definitely catch the eyes of some few sharp-eyed individuals, especially from the Order.
"Bro Mike! You finally came!"
Zion pushed himself through the crowd in the bleachers to reach Michael and Fudge. The youngest Dragonborn seemed to have the time of his life, seeing as he was filled with Knightly paraphernalia like patched hats and flags all around his clothes.
He was accompanied by Grieve, who was completely draped in loose clothing in each crevice of his bones and a hood to cover his face, making sure that no one could discern his true nature.
"The city here is not much different from the cities that I was familiar with back in my time…at least I think so. It seems that your territories are the only ones that have advanced much farther than anyone else," the skeleton general remarked.
Michael then remembered that it was Grieve who sensed the talented individual first.
"Can you tell me who you think is talented?"
Grieve nodded and looked towards the arena.
The two Knights were deep in their fight, clashing their weapons with great fervor and passion.
For experienced fighters, they immediately saw how the Knights exaggerated their moves for the crowd. They clashed their swords more frequently than they avoided strikes, as if they just simply wanted to paint a picture of a more intense duel. After all, the crowds cheered whenever their blades sparked from each strike.
But as the duel progressed, it became apparent that one of them was going to win.
The Knight with the spear held the advantage, parrying the other Knight's strikes easily while keeping his distance.
He used the spear's advantage quite well, and was able to put its tip just an inch above the other Knight's neck.
"I concede."
The crowds erupted in cheers, with the Spear Knight brandishing his weapon for all to see. They cheered even harder, chanting his name even louder. Some even threw clothes, handkerchiefs, and flags towards him in an attempt to show their love for the fighter.
"Are those Knights talented in your eyes?" Michael asked Grieve.
The undead skeleton kept his silence until the two Knights left the arena and a few demi-humans came out. They wore simple clothing and wielded no sharp weapons, but wooden brushes and brooms.
They began to sweep up all the things the crowd threw in order to prepare the arena for the next fighter.
Michael was surprised to see these demi-humans here. Their striking red fur immediately caught his eye.
They were Red Mankeys!
"Those are elite soldiers," Grieve said, pointing his gloved hands towards the group of Red Mankey janitors.
"My memory is hazy, but I feel as if I have seen them before. I feel as if I had walked through hell, blood, and fire with their ancestors from before your time. At least, that's what my bones are telling me."
Michael believed his general's intuition. After all, he did discover that Red Mankeys had a natural talent for Physical Arts. They were basically born for it.
"I think it would be best if you could get them under your wing," advised Grieve, with his bluish green eyes flaring up for a brief moment.
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…
Michael went down the arena towards the barracks where the Knights and the Squires were chatting with each other. He even saw the spear and sword Knight with them being treated with bandages.
They seemed to be on a break, with their full metal armor unequipped and stored in boxes.
"Excuse me, this is for Knight personnel only," said one of the men as he chomped on a single bar of chocolate.
Then, one of the Knights on the back stood up and squinted as he looked at Michael's group.
A second later, his eyes widened as he stared at Zion.
"That's them!" he yelled out. "They are from the Reborn company! He's the one who punched that Apex Jaguar into the wall!"
The rest of the Knights perked up once they heard the name 'Reborn'.
Ever since the tomb expedition, the Knights in Angora City stamped the name of Reborn into their hearts.
It was one thing to showcase their immense strength through defeating a 6-star undead monster, but it was a completely different matter that they turned out to be the one who created chocolate in the first place! Even now, their preferred snack to eat everyday was Reborn chocolates.
"Reborn?! It's a pleasure to finally meet you!"
"Sir Jon said that you guys have Mithril Artifacts, is that true?"
"I even heard that you guys came here with metal carriages that need no horse!"
Michael and his group were surrounded by the Knights, gathering the attention of the crowd in the arena.
"Hey, who is Sir Rupert talking to? Isn't that supposed to be a restricted area only for Knights?"
"Wait…I heard them talking about a company called Reborn. Anybody heard of it?"
"They're the one who conquered the tomb!"
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Meanwhile, Michael bribed the Knights with some chocolate bars in exchange for more information about the Red Mankey janitors.
"They're quite the earnest workers," the Knight said, chewing chocolate cookies in his mouth. "They have weirdly strong bodies, which is perfect for janitorial jobs here in the Court."
"Some of them even show talent in the Ways. Unfortunately, even if they could swing a sword better than others, it's all useless if they can't wield any magic."
It seemed these Knights knew about the Red Mankeys' natural talents.
"Can I talk to them?"
About a minute later, the Knights gathered the Red Mankeys and gave them space to talk while they continued on with the fighting arena.
"Hello…sir…."
Michael secretly used his shadows to inspect their talents.
And as he expected, they all had latent fighting talents just waiting to be unburied.
However, none of them had overwhelming talent like the Dragonborns, which was weird because he thought that he would meet at least one S-class talent from them.
It was then that Michael noticed something.
Back when he met the other Red Mankeys in Welcome's Inn, his [Superior Golden Nose] skill also triggered. However, he found no one among them with transcendent talent.
This was the same case.
This couldn't be a coincidence. There must be a reason why his skill was getting triggered each time he met the Red Mankeys.
Michael was in deep thought when he suddenly realized Grieve's words from earlier.
"Those are elite soldiers," he said.
What if there was no transcendent individual talent within the Red Mankeys. What if they were all talented as one group, as one species?
What if they only showed their true strength when they were in great numbers?