After speaking, the boy performed a gesture, not very standard: his right hand brushed against his left chest, while his left hand extended straight out to the side, palm facing upward.
"Hello!" Laine nodded, and the old blacksmith breathed a sigh of relief at the sight: "Lord Knight, this child is called Nim, he is thirteen years old this year, awakened his professional talent at the age of eight. He is now a warrior, and upon seeing you wield the sword, he may be eager to learn something, please pardon him."
"Awakened professional talent at eight years old?!" Laine became intrigued.
The awakening of professional talent usually happens around seven or eight years old. If a person's talent is good enough, it will automatically awaken during that time, setting forth a future career path and transitioning.
Most civilians who haven't awakened professional talent will go to the church between ages nine and thirteen to have their talent checked, and the church will assist them in awakening it—but not for free. If unable to pay, they can borrow from the church. Most of those who don't will remain civilians, learn a craft or simply farm. There's a small chance some may awaken talent before turning thirty, but after this aging limit, the likelihood dramatically decreases.
Those who have awakened become known as ordinary professionals or ordinary adventurers. This level forms the backbone of the national army and adventurers, and Laine mostly sees them as a ragtag bunch.
Only a handful of soldiers and adventurers continuously train and ascend to the Elite Tier; these people are the fixed core of humanity, like the official knights of the Knight Corps, the royal Elite Knight Corps, and seasoned adventurers and old-school mercenaries are at this tier.
Above this is the Legendary Tier. At this level, powerhouses have enough might to dominate a region. A military's combat capability varies vastly depending on whether it's led by a Legendary Tier power. A nation's strength is directly reflected by its number of Legendary Tiers.
And beyond that... Laine thought that King of Nod was at the Holy Sanctuary Tier, how could such a little town have Holy Sanctuary Powerhouses?
Awoken professional talent at seven or eight, this child's talent must be exceptional.
"Lord Knight, could you teach me how to use a sword?" The boy appeared fifteen or sixteen years old but was actually only thirteen, looking at the longsword hung on the wall, his face full of yearning.
"Why do you want to learn swordsmanship?"
"Because I need to protect my family! My father is a hunter, and a few days ago, I saw him coming home covered in blood without catching anything. If I learn swordsmanship, I could go hunting with him!" Judging by the boy's clothes, the family seemed to be quite well-off. Laine grew more interested and continued to ask: "Other than hunting? Is learning swordsmanship solely for hunting?"
"Certainly not, my goal is to master swordsmanship and strive to become a knight's squire, like becoming the squire of the Lord, following him to eradicate evil." The boy clenched his fists, eyes filled with flames of hatred, just like all humans, taught from a young age to hate, hating the demons that slaughter humans, hating those monsters.
"Ultimately, I will surely be like you, Lord Knight, becoming a glorious knight, wielding the hammer sword and fighting on the battlefield!" Finishing his ambition speech, the boy received the approving gaze of the Kingdom Knight.
In the past, the nobility of the Old Empire were quite stingy and arrogant, but after the second Chaos Invasion War 150 years ago, the old nobles either defected to Chaos or avoided combat passively, abandoning their territories, fleeing south desperately. Only a few nobles chose to fight to the death following Savior Ludwig.
In the end, the Order Alliance Army won, and the fate of those who surrendered to Chaos and deserted their territories is understandable. Apart from some being executed publicly, their properties were confiscated, titles revoked, seven to eight out of ten old nobles lost everything during the post-war purges. These who lost their former honor and status were the subject of contempt across the continent, among both commoners and nobles.
Most of the new nobles were war meritocrats, gaining their territories through achievements in battles. Compared to the old nobles, they were more approachable and tolerant, albeit to an extent dictated by new laws and systems. These new nobles realized the importance of increasing and prospering their populace within their territories for guaranteed income and security, knowing that excessive extortion was self-destructive.
It was not surprising that young people aspired to become a knight's squire; besides earning commission and future bragging rights, becoming a knight apprentice was a crucial path for civilians to rise into the noble class.
Knight apprentices accompany knights in learning and taking care of their daily lives. Several years later, exemplary knight apprentices are promoted to squires. Squires gain certain status, able to follow knights into battle and earn merit. Excellent squires have a chance to become apprentice knights, fight on horseback and await noble conferment of titles, becoming official knights, entering the noble class.
However, official knights at this stage are still not like Laine, the Kingdom Knights. These knights are typically called Ranger Knights, with the main distinction between them and Kingdom Knights being the lack of fiefs. Any Kingdom Knight would at least have a small village and a few acres of land as fiefs. However, there are some, like Laine, who refuse fiefs and only regularly receive stipends as Kingdom Knights. The primary difference between Ranger Knights and Kingdom Knights lies here, Kingdom Knights have stable income, whereas Ranger Knights do not.