Engelich

## Personality

He is not an ambitious or victory-obsessed person. His own survival is all that matters to him. He is the kind that takes the path of least resistance.

## Background

Engelich was originally a garrison captain of a small city back in the days of the Krissen Empire and lived quite a decent life. However, when the three princes started the struggle for power, the first wave of battles engulfed his hometown. With his son and daughter-in-law both dead, his own wife soon passed away from extreme depression. Worried about his daughter’s livelihood, the old man deserted the army and brought his 12-year-old grandchild to Morante City, only to be forced to stop at Armatrin Harbor due to severe seasickness. When he found that he had no way to overcome that hurdle, he met the leader of the slaver group, Sloph and joined their group to ensure her daughter’s health and safety and has remained within it ever since.

The leader of the group knew that he didn’t like to do dirty work, so he was tasked to stand guard and protect their army camp instead. He explained that he managed to stop some others from needlessly hurting the slaves during his years of service there.

When his granddaughter recovered, they moved them to the Sloph Bastide right away and they had stayed there ever since. That was Sloph’s main base of operations and the security there is nothing to laugh at. It would still be fine for him to escape alone, but there was no way he would be able to pull that off with his granddaughter. Aside from that, Sloph himself was also a Gold ranked fighter with his cousin brother Pike being a Blademaster. At that time, he could only accept my fate.

## Story

Back when Lorist was traveling through Armatrin Harbor with the northbound convoy, he had gotten into conflict with the Sloph Slavers. Lorist had killed two of their gold-ranked swordsmen all by himself, but Engelich, a three-star gold rank, hadn't dared to fight him at all. Instead, he turned tail and ran, only to be caught anyway. Lorist had confiscated all his money and his battleforce manual and even had the old man hand in his beloved granddaughter and sign a ten-year slave contract before letting him off.

Back then, as Charade had been injured by Engelich and was bandaged up like a rice ball, Lorist had no choice but to make the old man's granddaughter Charade's maidservant. He didn't think that the two would be attracted to one another. Lorist had no choice but to go easy on the old man as a result. It would be unseemly for him to treat the father of his chief knight's lover as a slave.

But after joining the convoy, he felt incredibly relaxed all of a sudden, as if he no longer had any burdens. He later came to understand that it was because Lorist had eradicated the Sloph Slavers. He no longer had to work for others against his better conscience and it allowed him to cast off the burdens he carried with him. He was finally able to improve his circulation of battleforce, and it even became easier than before.

When Lorist had returned to the convoy at Nadegas in the Andinaq kingdom to lead them back to the Northlands, he had to reward those who had contributions to the journey. He had intended to take the old man as one of his household gold-ranked knights, only to be refused by the latter who said that he was satisfied if he got to stay by his granddaughter's side. Charade had already impregnated his granddaughter around and even pledged to take her as his wife when he returned to the dominion. In consideration of the harsh life, the old man had led and his wish to spend the remainder of his time in peace with his family, Lorist allowed the matter to be settled and didn't disturb Engelich. However, he hadn't expected that the old man would come to be the house's first blademaster.

Lorist didn't send him on missions once they arrived at the dominion either, and instead allowed him to spend his time with his granddaughter and newborn grandchild. The sight of his daughter becoming the mother of another fulfilled the last of his wishes and removed the last of his regrets. He had no more desires or unfulfilled goals in life, as long as he could spend his life in peace with his granddaughter and her child, he would be satisfied.

The child grew rather rowdy, so he got him a wooden sword as a toy. He realized just how blissful his life was when he saw him swing the sword around in the backyard and chase the butterflies. The realization gave him a profound insight. The blue of the sky appeared more striking than ever, and the fragrance of the flowers and plants seemed to be stronger and clearer than before. He could clearly discern every motion that occurred within a sphere that stretched out in all directions for ten meters.

Fortunately, his observant granddaughter noticed that he had gotten insight and stopped their servants from entering their backyard. Every day, she would serve him his meals personally. He didn't feel anything particularly different about himself. He ate when he was hungry, drank when he was thirsty, and slept when he was bored, but he never left the courtyard - it had become his private universe, a world where he was completely free. One could even say that he was barely conscious of his own condition at the time. It was as if I had lost my soul during those three months. He was either tracing in the air or sitting on the ground like a statue. She said that he would not heed anyone's calls and repel her with the battleforce around his body when she tried to tug at him.

He only regained his mind after three months and realized that he had broken through to become a blademaster. That lass was elated and had wanted to write a letter to Charade to inform him, but he stopped her because he didn't want Lorist to find out.

When he became a blademaster of the household, he received a salary of five thousand gold Fordes annually.

Lorist gave honorary baron titles to the house's two rank 1 blademasters, Engelich and Shuss. Shuss had prospects and ambitions of becoming a hereditary noble in the future, Engelich was already satisfied with his life as a rank 1 blademaster. While Shuss still actively served the house, Engelich was only willing to guard Firmrock Castle.

## Abilities

He was already a three-star gold rank by the time he submitted to Lorist, but he encountered a bottleneck shortly after, and for years he could not progress no matter how hard he trained. He thought that he would stay like that for the rest of his life, so he didn't have any hopes of progressing any more.

The old man had broken through not because of his swordsmanship, but thanks to his mental fortitude. That was why the moves demonstrated by Engelich after he broke through had so much control, precision, and stability, like the still water of a lake that would vibrate in a constant pattern the moment it was disturbed, seeping through every nook and cranny it could find. It was unlike other blademasters who had broken through thanks to their swordsmanship, which was reflected in the attributes of their battleforce.

As the sword in his hand moves, it radiates an air of controlled and contains sword aura. Even though the blade glow arced through a wide space, not a single flower was disturbed. The control, accuracy, and stability demonstrated by him were amazing, to say the least. Those were the things that differentiated a blademaster from a gold-ranked swordsman.

After becoming a blademaster he gained another 30 years of life. His condition was comparable to a strong, healthy youth.