An Ultimate Skill is not only a knight's ace in the hole that they rely on to get themselves out of any pinch situation, but it also grows stronger with them.
Usually, a knight, even a high level one, can only learn one or two ultimate skills in their lifetime. Furthermore, ultimate skills also depend on the individual's traits and aptitude. If they aren't suited for a specific type of ultimate skill, they can't learn it.
The reason why Gwen asked if Reinhardt's skill was an ultimate skill was due to the power it possessed.
"Do you want to learn my skills?"
Gwen gulped nervously and nodded her head. The skills of a level 10 Divine Paladin who could summon humungous swords of light and annihilate a demon with just the raise of his hand.
Who wouldn't want to learn such skills?
"I-I have to become stronger so that I can take my revenge on those demons. I have to… if not for myself then… " The young girl clenched her hands, her eyes burning with resolve.
"Gwen… It's good that you want to get stronger. However, you cannot get fully blinded by revenge and ruin your own life" Reinhardt patted Gwen's head.
"I know what you are going through, believe me when I say I have seen many young people lose their lives blinded by greed. The demons, those abhorrent, vile sons of bitches, I have slain many of them in my long years of combat. Each one more evil and foul than the others"...
"The atrocities I have seen them commit… I do not forget them; instead, I keep them with me and use them to fuel my power when I fight them. The tragedy that fell on the Earldom of Odessa. It is no longer your own problem but the entire Temple of Light's".
Gwen looked askance, not expecting to hear those words.
"What? You thought Bob said those words just to make you newbies more comfortable with the order? When you get time, you should talk with those seniors of yours. The members of the Temple of Light, many of them have a tragic past. This place is now their home and family, and we don't abandon our family but support them with all our power".
Reinhardt looked at the tear stained face of the young girl and smiled, "Now that you have joined my Order of the Temple of Light, your problem is our problem. Don't try to shoulder everything yourself"…
"Uhn" Gwen nodded, holding back her tears that threatened to slide down her cheeks.
"Alright, it's late now. Go and sleep. We have to head back at the crack of dawn tomorrow".
.
.
Five days later, Reinhardt's group that left for the capital returned back with new members in tow. The moment they got down from the horses and carriages, they received a warm welcome from all the members of the Temple of Light and the Duke Arcknight family.
"My sons, darling… I missed you all" Raymond stood at the lead, welcoming his family.
While Reinhardt nodded, Arthur dug into the embrace of his father and started excitedly reciting his recent adventure.
"Honey, I will be heading inside first" Verdia announced and headed inside the mansion first, accompanied by her maids.
"?" Reinhardt sighed. He wanted to patch things up with her, but ever since the deed they did back then in the capital, it has become awkward for him to even interact with her. Plus, Verdia seemed like she was trying to avoid him since that day.
"Don't worry son, she is always like this whenever she travels out. Give her some time to rest, and she will be back to her usual self. You don't have to force yourself to make a bond with her. I'm sure the two of you will be a normal family in the future"…
"Y-Yeah" Reinhardt didn't know what to say, the guilt he was feeling in his heart was immense.
After he finished interacting with his father, his eyes shifted towards his personal guard, Karina the assassin. She had been standing there pouting for some reason.
Beside her was Anastasia who was giving him an apologetic smile.
"My love, I'm back!!"
Bob shouted passionately and stepped forward to hug his wife. The husband and wife discussed their past few days of life affectionately, attracting some jealous gazes from the single knights.
"Commander, are these our new recruits?" the old knights pointed at the fresh faces they had seen here for the first time.
"That's right. Train them well" Reinhardt nodded.
"Hehehe, leave it to us to get them back in shape. We will show them what hell looks like in the upcoming training" the old recruits grinned, thinking back to what was going to happen.
Every year, there would be new recruits joining the order, and every year, they celebrate what their Temple of Light calls the Newbie Crushing Ceremony. It was a long standing tradition passed down since the time of Reinhardt's father and was being carried out till this day.
Basically, the old recruits have a squabble with the new ones to make them accustomed to the life here and the training they must go through to gain strength like them. Well, this was putting things in a good way.
In reality, the old recruits just want to vent out the beating and frustration they received from their superior to someone else. The new recruits were the perfect target.
"You can try, but some of this year's recruits are really good" Reinhardt gave a good luck pat to that knight and headed inside the mansion with everyone.
The first thing they did after arriving back was take a bath. The Temple of Light's bathhouse was so big that more than thirty people could comfortably bathe in it, with even some room to spare.
The men headed for the men's section of the bathhouse while the women headed for the women section. There were some smart asses who tried to sneak a peek at the women, but they were all very close to getting a dagger stabbed into their eyes by Karina.