"This level of war is too dangerous. I'm sorry, but I cannot agree to this cooperation."
Rennes' calm refusal took Igor by surprise.
To him, Rennes' reaction was unexpected. After all, this was a rare opportunity—kingdom-level wars didn't come around often. The last one had been more than a decade ago. Miss this, and the chance to rise through military merit might not return anytime soon.
"Baron Rennes, won't you reconsider?" Igor asked again after regaining his composure.
He had personally sought Rennes because he'd heard of his legendary feat—slaying the high-level mutant beast, the Firestorm Tiger. With someone of that caliber joining their coalition, their safety and success on the battlefield would be significantly more assured.
"No need to reconsider. My wife is about to give birth, and I have no intention of leaving her side," Rennes replied firmly with a wave of his hand.
Seeing his resolute attitude, Igor and the other two barons had no choice but to give up. After exchanging a few polite farewells, they left with their retinues.
With Rennes refusing to join them, they would now need to seek support from other nobles for their military ambitions.
After seeing them off, Rennes' life quickly returned to its peaceful rhythm.
Two weeks later, Janice went into labor once again.
Roughly ten minutes after entering the delivery room, the cries of a newborn filled the air.
Rennes' seventh child was born.
Whether it was due to the potent magical elixirs Rennes had purchased beforehand or sheer luck, this child was exceptionally gifted.
[System Notification: The host's seventh child has been born. Magic aptitude: average. Combat aptitude: high. Overall evaluation: Silver-tier. Reward: 30 years of fighting spirit cultivation, enhanced combat aptitude, and a 6-star martial art—Furious Dragon Fighting Spirit.]
"These rewards are incredible," Rennes said aloud, unable to hide his delight.
The 30 years of cultivation were valuable on their own, but the most critical part was the improvement in aptitude.
His own aptitude for combat energy (Dou Qi) had always been poor. Even with relentless effort over more than a decade, he could barely keep pace with what a gifted person could achieve in a single year.
Aptitude wasn't just a matter of talent—it determined the quality of the cultivation provided by the system. If one's aptitude reached true genius level, even a single year's worth of cultivation from the system would be ten times more potent than what it used to be.
In short, this reward was a game-changer—it would benefit Rennes for the rest of his life.
And then there was the 6-star martial art: Furious Dragon Fighting Spirit.
In this world, fighting spirit techniques were far more valuable than combat skills. Even the mighty noble Laila family, one of the most powerful in the entire Rhine region, only possessed a 5-star technique: Frozen Fighting Spirit.
The higher the martial art's star rating, the more potent the fighting spirit it produced.
If 1-star fighting spirit was like a sharpened blade, then a 6-star technique was a bomb—utterly overwhelming.
The gap in power between the two wasn't just large. It was unbridgeable.
"Accept the rewards," Rennes ordered eagerly in his mind.
Instantly, he felt his body undergo a transformation.
His meridians widened and strengthened, evolving from narrow muddy trails to solid highways capable of channeling massive flows of energy.
The efficiency of his Dou Qi circulation soared—now more than ten times better than before.
Once the physical transformation was complete, the knowledge of Furious Dragon Fighting Spirit flooded his mind.
According to the information, Dou Qi cultivated with this technique wasn't just potent—it carried the power of a dragon, with destructive force strong enough to pulverize nearly anything. When trained to higher levels, it could even enhance the user's physique to rival that of a low-tier dragon.
"This is insane..." Rennes muttered, stunned by the power at his fingertips.
The Lion Fighting Spirit he had been cultivating—only a 2-star technique—was like candlelight compared to the wildfire of the 6-star Furious Dragon technique.
Without hesitation, he began converting all of his current fighting spirit into Furious Dragon Dou Qi.
Then, he integrated the full thirty years of system-granted cultivation into his body.
Once he had fully digested the rewards, his strength skyrocketed—his rank surged to the 9th rank, making him a high-level knight.
On the Roland Continent, this level might not be considered elite, but within the Kingdom of Lance, it placed him among the stronger warriors. The most powerful knight in the kingdom, after all, was only a 14th-rank Sky Knight.
If Rennes could ascend just one more rank, he would become a 10th-rank Earth Knight, one of the strongest individuals in the entire nation. At that level, he would qualify for automatic promotion to Count, along with a sizable fief—so long as he swore allegiance to the king.
With his heart full of excitement, Rennes walked into the delivery room.
There, Janice was holding the newborn in her arms.
"Rennes, it's a boy—our very first son! Look how cute he is!" she exclaimed joyfully.
"No matter how cute he is, he's not as cute as you," Rennes replied with a warm smile, gently taking the baby from her arms.
"Hmph, always using sweet words to trick me!" she teased, but her eyes sparkled with happiness.
Three months later, Janice had recovered her strength.
Rennes and his wife resumed trying to conceive.
However, despite several months of effort, Janice showed no signs of pregnancy.
Concerned, Rennes invited a priest from the Church of Life to examine her.
The divine examination revealed an unfortunate truth: Janice's fertility had been significantly affected due to years of repeated childbirth. She would need time—possibly years—to fully recover, and in the short term, pregnancy would not be possible.
The news was hard for Rennes to accept.
But Janice didn't seem too upset. After all, she was already the mother of seven children.
If not for Rennes' ambition to grow the family bloodline, she would have stopped long ago. In fact, a small part of her was relieved that she couldn't get pregnant for a while.
One night, after a tender moment together, she rested in his arms and spoke softly:
"Rennes, I can't give you more children for now."
"If you really want more heirs, why don't you take another wife?"
"I won't mind."
She knew how important children were to him—and she didn't want her condition to strain their relationship. If letting him marry another woman would help ease that burden, then so be it.
P.S. — Power Level System of the World:
Warrior Apprentice (Rank 0)
Low-Level Warrior (Ranks 1–3)
Intermediate Warrior (Ranks 4–6)
High-Level Warrior (Ranks 7–9)
Earth Warrior (Ranks 10–12)
Sky Warrior (Ranks 13–15)
Legendary Warrior (Ranks 16–20)
Demigod (Ranks 21–30)