After leaving Lady Elif's room, Martin went straight to the guards' quarters.
He had a plan in mind: first, he would promote Beitan to a Black Iron Knight, and then gradually upgrade other guards one by one, ensuring the entire process was done carefully and without drawing too much attention.
After all, if others knew that Martin possessed such a magical ability to help people advance quickly, even as the Earl's son, the Earl would likely be unable to protect him completely.
Upon arriving at the guards' quarters, Martin called out Beitan. Although Beitan's loyalty was already over seventy, Martin, out of caution, never mentioned the system.
Even if Beitan were to join the Sworn Guards in the future, Martin was determined to keep the system's secret buried deep within him.
The two went to a corner of the Training Ground. Martin looked at Beitan with a solemn expression and asked very seriously, "Since you are now serving under me, I naturally won't let you have any worries. Are you willing to pledge your life to me?"
Beitan responded without hesitation, "My Lord, I am willing!" Just then, a system prompt sounded in his mind: "Ding, the system has detected a member who meets the criteria. Do you permit him to join?"
Martin silently thought, "Permit." Immediately after, Martin said to Beitan, "Next, I will help you advance to a Knight. You must properly feel this powerful strength."
With that, he ordered in his mind: "System, upgrade Beitan, deduct 100 gold coins."
"Ding, Host: Martin White, Level 0, Sworn Guards: 1 person." In an instant, under Beitan's disbelieving gaze, his body emitted a soft glow from within.
As the light gradually dissipated, a powerful aura burst forth from Beitan's body, and Martin, standing before him, distinctly felt the pressure coming at him.
A moment later, Beitan gradually became accustomed to his new physical strength, steadily retracting the outward aura back into his body.
Beitan was incredibly excited and knelt on one knee, speaking earnestly, "Thank you, Young Master, for your great kindness. From now on, anyone who stands in your way, I will do my utmost to remove all obstacles for you!"
After becoming Martin's Sworn Guard, Beitan's loyalty instantly soared to a fanatical 100, meaning that no matter what difficulties or dangers he encountered, he would unhesitatingly dedicate everything to Martin.
At this moment, for Beitan, the most pressing task was to thoroughly familiarize himself with this new, powerful strength.
So, Martin decided to let Beitan stay at the Training Ground to continue honing his skills, while he himself turned and walked towards his room.
Along the way, Martin's thoughts churned, constantly pondering how to skillfully control and utilize the magical power granted by the system.
Stepping into the room, a gentle breeze slowly wafted in from the window.
Martin gently closed the door, walked to the window, and looked at the pleasant scenery outside. The breeze brought a hint of coolness to his face, but his heart was burning hot with infinite anticipation for the future.
Martin began to meticulously plan. Currently, the most difficult problem was the lack of money.
Catching the Shadow Wolves alone cost dozens of gold coins. The gold coins he received from his mother, plus his original savings, amounted to a total of just over 800 gold coins, along with some silver and copper coins.
If all this money were used to upgrade Knights, the subsequent costs for magic potion cultivation and armor maintenance would be unaffordable, let alone purchasing and maintaining them.
Although selling the Shadow Wolves was expected to bring in about a thousand gold coins, after deducting the cost of buying 10 Knight potions, only a little over 500 gold coins would remain, which was far from enough.
After repeated deliberation and careful consideration, Martin finally made up his mind to first have Beitan and others set up a mercenary group to earn some gold coins.
However, before that, there was a crucial task that needed to be completed: raising their levels.
After all, if their strength was not improved first, once the mercenary group officially operated, facing various powerful enemies, they could very likely suffer a crushing defeat, or even be completely wiped out.
Therefore, improving the strength of the team members was the most urgent matter. Only by having sufficiently powerful strength as a solid backing could this mercenary group stand firm when carrying out various tasks in the future.