Chapter 114: Forest (1)
Translator: Leo Editor: DarkGem/Frappe
Angele was given the best guest room in the Nunnally Family.
The decorations, furniture, and the carpet all looked gorgeous. The main tone of the room was yellow and silver.
'This place feels like it was built by a parvenu…' Angele thought.
He crossed his legs as he sat on the bed. Angele held the glowing heart in hand, and he asked Zero to help analyze the item. Zero was putting up a huge amount of complex data in front of his eyes.
*PA*
The candles were burning on the large candle stand and the flame was dancing.
The data started disappearing after a while. Angele spun the heart in his hand and smiled, 'Finally, the damage of this heart has been calculated. More than 40 degrees of negative energy burst, impressive even for a formal wizard. Not a lot of mentality is required to use it. The only thing I need to do is to detonate the energy inside. I'll use it when necessary.'
Angele carefully returned the heart into his pouch, 'I assume the one with the formula of Nightmare Potion has the same skill level as Kelly, but I still need to be careful. I wonder who is behind all this? After the mission is completed, I'll stay here and wait for Delanya to send me the items.'
Angele had notified Delanya before he left the school and told her his destination. They arranged the time, location and set up the secret phrase. Delanya said she would send someone she trusted here since it was impossible for her to come here by herself.
After Angele sat on the bed for a while, he blew off the candles and started meditating.
********************
Angele stayed in his room for the next several days. Kelly said she needed a bit more time to prepare, so he decided to spend the time on learning the spell books. He burned all the physical copies already after adding them into the database because he did not want to risk the possibility of losing them.
Besides eating and sleeping, Angele spent most of his time meditating and studying. He was not interested in the vendetta between Nunnally Family and Stephen Family. Even more so, he did not want to know who was right and who was wrong. The only thing important to him was the potion formula.
The head of Nunnally Family visited Angele two days ago. He praised Angele and gifted him some gold coins. The family head asked if Angele would like to have some fun with the girls in the family, but Angele declined the offer.
Of the Nunnally Family, Kelly and Michele were the strongest wizards apprentices they had, but they barely showed up in family meetings. The daily matters were usually solved by the leader and the elders. Kelly would only come back when there were problems the leader could not face alone.
Kelly told the leader that Angele was much stronger than her and that they must show respect to him. The leader was happy that someone finally came to assist them and he decided to fulfill any requirement Angele had.
Angele asked Kelly to bring him two high-quality crossguard swords. After all, his sword skills were far better than his dagger skills. He also asked for some special materials and made the poison for weapons in order to prepare for the incoming battle.
After about six days, the day of reckoning finally approached.
It was early in the morning and the room was still dark.
Angele tied his chain claw, dagger, crossguard sword, knives and pouches to his belts. His gray robe was great for hiding those weapons.
'I doubt there's a formal wizard helping the guy, but I still need to be cautious.' Angele looked down the yard through the window and he saw maids walking toward his room with candle stands in their hands. They protected the candles from being blown off by the wind by leaning their body to the side.
Angele pressed the bomb made from the glowing heart in the pouch with his right hand, 'Even if there's a formal wizard, I can surprise him with this.'
*Knock-knock*
The maids arrived.
"Master Angele, are you awake?" one of the maids asked.
"Are we leaving?" Angele knew that today was the day the two families had decided to once again confront each other.
"Yes, they're waiting for you," the maid spoke with a loud voice.
"I'll be there in a minute," Angele responded. He clapped his hands and a red glow flashed upon his robe for a second.
The dirt and creases on the robe disappeared with the red glow.
Angele was satisfied. He opened the door and left the room with the maids.
***************
The chilling wind was howling.
Below the gray cloudy sky, it was the sea of trees at the north side of Emma City. Countless small hills made the land bumpy.
The wind was blowing over the trees, and the noises made by the leaves muffled the birds' chirps. Two groups of people were confronting each other on a slope.
On the left side of the slope, it was a group led by a black-haired young man. Most of them had a serious look on their faces. They were wearing gray leather armor suits and the weapons in their hands varied. Some of them were nobles while some of them looked like hunters. The group's formation was unprofessional. It seemed like they stood wherever they wanted to. However, they were ready to fight.
A girl wearing a green one piece was standing beside the black-haired young man. The girl held the young man's left hand tightly with a worried look.
"Don't worry, Winnie. I'm right beside you." The young man had a pair of sharp eyes. There was a 1-meter-long silver scimitar on his back.
On the other side of the hill was a much larger group of people. They outnumbered the young man's group and had much better equipment.
The other group was led by two people in gray robes.
One of them was a middle-aged woman with long brown hair. She had an unfriendly demeanor, and the other one was a young man with blonde hair. He was smiling, but he kept staring at Winnie. It seemed like she was the only reason he came here.
There were about 30 people in that group, all wearing standard brown leather suits. People with crossguard swords were standing at the front, and several of them who had scimitars in their hands were on the side. They were all protecting the archers behind them.
Alongside the two people in gray robes were people all wearing caps with white feathers on top.
"Miss Kelly, do you really want to do this?" the young man with black hair questioned in a serious tone.
The woman in gray robe laughed coldly, "What do you mean? If you agreed to join my family and give us your potion formula, we'll not do anything to you guys," Kelly shouted, "Oh, wait. Winnie, I thought you were Michele's fiancée. Why are you holding Gondor's hand? You're making my family look bad. I'll make you pay for what you have done today!"
"Tell me, what do you want?! Are you really just going after the formula?" Gondor stared at Kelly and yelled, "Let me tell you something, Stephen Family won't just follow your orders! You already forgot what happened last year when you tried to attack us?"
Kelly gritted her teeth, "I'll never forget what happened last year. No more talking, Gondor. We finally caught you here. You shall pay for your insolence!"
Kelly waved her hands. Her family guards charged forward as the archers started firing. Hail of arrows flew toward the other side of the hill.
However, those archers did not receive proper training. Most of them could barely pull the strings to full and their aim was dreadful. (ED Note: Medieval Stormtroopers?)
They drew their swords after emptying their quivers and started charging to the other group of people. Although several soldiers from Stephen Family were hit by the arrows, most of them could still fight. They drew their weapons and started defending themselves.
Gondor withdrew together with Winnie and took out a yellow paper bag from his pouch. He shook the pouch and the yellow powder inside the bag spread into the air. A strange whirlwind came from behind and blew the powder toward the Nunnally Family.
"This again?! Sick bastards!" Kelly and Michele were trying to cast spells, but they immediately covered their mouths and noses with sleeves upon the sight of the yellow powder.
Kelly quickly finished her incantations and waved her left hand. A strong wind that came from nowhere blew all the yellow powder away before it could reach her guards.
Kelly looked at Gondor. He stood in front of Winnie, focused on completing the incantations. A small ball of silver liquid had already appeared in front of his body.
Although the forest was dark, the silver ball still caught everyone's attention.
The rest of the Stephen Family formed an encirclement around Gondor, doing everything they could to protect the silver ball.
"I won't let it happen again!" Kelly took out a small bottle from her pouch. She removed the stopper and poured a black tablet into her mouth. Kelly chewed several times before opening her mouth. She was aiming at Gondor's direction. She quickly drew two strange runes in the air with both hands.
"AH!"
A high-pitch scream came out of Kelly's mouth.
People in front of Kelly were all paralyzed after being struck by the soundwaves and they became deaf temporarily. Kelly's spell covered a large area in front of her, and people in the affected area all stopped moving after being stunned by the scream.
Kelly kept screaming. Everyone around her, including Michele, were all trying their best to stay away from her.
Chapter 115: Forest (2)
Translator: Leo Editor: DarkGem/Frappe
Gondor's spell was interrupted by the scream as well, and the silver liquid disappeared into the air slowly. He was having a hard time focusing on his incantations. He covered his ears with his hands. Winnie's eyes rolled up, and she put her hands on her temples.
Most of the Gondor's family members were affected by the scream and were paralyzed due to the constant shockwave. They were in a very passive position. Two of the hunters in the front had been taken down within seconds.
Kelly was satisfied with the power of this spell. Her mouth was wide open and the screams kept coming out of her throat. The two light red runes were still floating in front of her, blinking several times.
Michele started channeling a spell after dodging the scream. There was already a ball of green acid slime on his palm. The ball was about the size of a human's fist. Michele looked at Gondor and smiled at him.
"Farewell, Gondor," Michele muttered.
He pointed at Gondor as he finished his sentence. The green slime ball spun once and drew a green line in the air as it flew toward Gondor. Some of the acid droplets fell onto the ground while the ball was traveling in the air.
The ground was corroded by the acid, and green smoke rose upon the tiny holes. The strange smoke brought a sour and stinky smell to the place.
Gondor and his family members were still paralyzed by Kelly's spell. The only thing they could do was to watch the acid ball fly toward them. As long as Kelly could keep her spell working, they would not be able to dodge Michele's attack.
The acid ball was slow, but it was getting closer and closer to them. The green light reflected upon Gondor's pale face. Winnie and the other Stephen Family's members despaired.
*WOO*
A sharp noise came from the side.
A large black shield howled in the air and dropped into the mud. The shield stood in front of Gondor and became a metal wall.
*CHI*
The acid ball hit the shield and the noise sounded like water dropped onto a heated board. White steam immediately permeated the air.
Kelly's screamed stopped as the shield hit the ground. A tall man appeared behind Gondor with a lowered body. Kelly did not see the man's face, but she could see the silver greatsword at his back.
The man charged toward Kelly at the speed of an arrow. He was so fast that the guards around Kelly could not even react to the situation.
The man grabbed his silver greatsword and slashed toward Kelly. Kelly was still in shock when she saw her own face reflected upon the blade.
*DANG*
After the sudden clash, the man had been blown away. He stepped a few steps back before he steadied himself.
A crossguard sword spun in the air and dropped to the ground at high speed. The man's attack was blocked by the sword.
People still did not understand what happened. Michele was similarly in a stunned state. Kelly would've almost gotten killed if the man's greatsword was not blocked by the crossguard sword that fell from the sky.
"Ha, you came." Kelly looked relieved. She gazed at the man in front of her.
She slowly walked to the side, and a young man appeared from the bushes behind her. The young man had a pair of sharp eyes. His face was hard to see due to the shadows, but his eyes almost looked like two shining stars in the dark. He was staring at the man that just attacked Kelly.
"Master Angele, thanks for saving my life," Kelly spoke to Angele respectfully.
Angele slightly nodded his head. He was holding a sword with his left hand and there were more than twenty swords on the ground beside him. People finally realized that it was Angele who had blocked the attack.
"You're that mysterious old man who protects Stephen Family?" Angele questioned in a light tone.
The man that helped Gondor was wearing black. He had a serious expression on his face. The man held his greatsword tight in his hand. Kelly finally saw his face.
The old man's hair and beard were white, and there were wrinkles all over his skin, but his body was still strong and his stance looked like a veteran's. For some reason, the man reminded Angele of a wolf that had been driven out of its pack.
"Gondor is my student, young man. I can see that you're not here because of any evil cause. Can you tell me what that woman promised you? Please?" The old man's voice was loud and clear.
Gondor and Winnie stood up slowly, and they stared at Kelly with hatred in their eyes. Angele saw Kelly getting nervous after hearing the old man's request.
"I'm here for the Nightmare Potion," Angele told him without hesitation.
The old man was hoping Angele would ask for something else. "Well…" he muttered
Angele decided not to waste any time. He threw the sword in his left hand toward the old man.
He did not stop after throwing the first sword. There were about twenty swords on the ground. Angele threw them toward the old man one after another.
The crossguard swords formed a spinning circle in the air, traveling toward the old man at full speed. The old man had nowhere else to go to. He had to protect the people behind him.
"AH!" The old man roared and raised his sword to block the incoming attack.
*DANGDANGDANGDANGDANG*
The old man felt like his greatsword had been slammed by iron hammers. Each time he blocked a sword, he had to take a step back.
"Run!" He turned his head around and shouted at the people behind him.
"Teacher…" Gondor was nervous. "We shall retreat together! Uncle Rock, start moving!" he yelled at a hunter beside him.
Crossguard swords were still hitting the old man's greatsword.
The noise of metal colliding was the only sound that could be heard in the forest at the moment. Kelly and the others were not sure if they should assist Angele, but some of them had already started retreating. Gondor's family members started retreating as well. They needed each other's support as they were still recovering from the dizziness.
The old was trying his best to hold his position. His face was turning pale and his ears had started bleeding. The constant impact from his greatsword was hurting his organs.
After several minutes, the old man vomited blood.
"NEE HAN MURA!" he suddenly shouted.
Balls of silver liquid appeared from nowhere and gathered around his body. Their sizes varied, but they had the same shape, same color, and even the same silver glow.
More than ten silver balls floated in the air.
"Metal Impale!" the old man roared.
Those ten silver metal balls turned into sharp spikes.
*CHICHICHI*
Those silver spikes immediately flew toward Angele after the old man yelled.
Angele just stood there and grabbed two crossguard swords. Blue light dots appeared in front of his eyes. He smiled after seeing the oncoming spikes.
He jumped toward the left and dodged the first spike. After that, he leaned toward left and right to dodge the rain of spikes while charging forward. He could always detect the gap between the spikes.
However, Kelly and Michele were not able to dodge every spike. Kelly's right shoulder was pierced by one of the spikes, and Michele's right arm and right leg were wounded. He fell to the ground and could barely move. The rest of the guards already escaped. They hid in the bushes out of fear of the old man's power.
*BAM*
Angele kicked the old man's blade. He then rotated his body and started slashing the old man with the swords in his hands.
Once again, they started trading hits.
Angele's sword skills almost had no flaw. His strikes were steady and accurate. The old man blocked Angele's slashes with his greatsword, but he was losing his strength as time went by. Angele's speed was so fast that his body became blurry. He had not even revealed his real power yet.
The old man had no way of countering Angele's attack. He was forced back every time. They disappeared into the deep bushes together after several seconds.
"Teacher!" Gondor was furious, "Uncle Rock, please take the family back first, I'll go help my teacher."
Gondor turned around after saying these words. He started heading toward the bush the old man and Angele disappeared into.
Gondor left before Winnie and the other family members could realize. They heard what he said, but they were not able to stop him.
"Gondor!" Winnie shouted. She was about to follow Gondor from behind.
However, a middle-aged man with a beard on his chin struck the girl in the neck. The girl rolled her eyes up and fainted.
"Don't blame me, Winnie. You can't help Gondor." The man grabbed Winnie gently, "Hurry up everyone! Master Aqua is there and Gondor will be fine. Let's head back and wait for the good news."
"Yea. Master Aqua is our hope…" one of the hunters said.
"He helped us go through so many unfortunate events. I'm sure it'll be fine this time!"
"Guards from Nunnally Family are coming for us! Move out, everyone!"
The middle-aged man saw that Kelly and Michele were already recovering. He himself knew that he had missed the chance to finish them off. He waved his hands and started to flee along with the other family members.
****************************
Gondor was following the two's traces on the ground between the trees in the forest.
He was running at full speed, continuously stomping across the bushes. An empty ground appeared in front of him, and he heard the noise of metal clashing against. Gondor was happy that he had made it in time. He kept moving.
However, he was shocked after seeing the scene on the empty ground.
The young man had stabbed one of his swords into his teacher's chest. He could see the tip of the sword coming out of the other side of Aqua's body. Aqua went down on his knees. The grass beneath him was soaked in his blood.
It seemed like the young man had noticed Gondor's presence. He was staring at him. Gondor looked at the young man who had a blank expression on his face. The young man was strangely calm after winning the fight.
"NO!" Gondor roared furiously.
Chapter 116: Thoughts (1)
Translator: Leo Editor: DarkGem/Frappe
*CHI*
Gondor's scimitar drew a white line in the air. It landed on the ground and cut down some grasses.
Angele took a step back. He was about one centimeter away from being struck.
He stared at the crazed Gondor, who charged out of the bush and pulled the scimitar out of the ground.
Gondor turned berserk after seeing what Angele just did. However, his strikes were all dodged by Angele. Angele moved agilely. He stepped back and leaned his body to the right and the left, dodging all Gondor's attacks.
The battle was one-sided. It almost looked like they were playing a game.
"Stop!" Gondor heard a deep voice coming from his back, "I'm not dead yet!"
Gondor hesitated and suddenly slashed forward.
*CHI*
Angele jumped backward and stared at Gondor calmly. He did not try to counter Gondor's attack, only stabbing his swords into the grassland.
"Alright, give me the formula. I have no interest in the feud between Stephen Family and Nunnally Family," Angele spoke in a light tone.
Aqua had a bitter smile on his face. He stood up with the help of Gondor.
"I guess I'd be dead already if I didn't say my offer quick enough. You're pretty good."
"Of course. My plan was to kill you and search your body." Angele shrugged, "However, your offer was very charming."
Angele took out a small green tube and threw it toward Aqua.
Aqua caught the tube and removed its stopper before he sniffed at it.
"Some sort of healing gel? Thanks!" Aqua asked Gondor to help him sit down by a large tree, and tore off the clothes around his wound. He then poured some gel onto his palms and applied it to the wound.
Some green smoke came out of his wound after the gel was absorbed and Aqua groaned in response.
"Teacher!" Gondor got nervous again. He wanted to grab the tube in Aqua's hand, "Teacher, are you alright? What happened there?"
"Calm down, I'm fine. The hit I took was not vital because Angele intentionally avoided my organs. I just needed to stop the bleeding." Aqua forced a smile.
Angele stopped watching them. He started walking around since he wanted to check if there were any unknown plants around.
It took a while for Aqua to explain everything to Gondor.
"Master Angele, sorry for the wait." Aqua struggled as he stood up.
"It's fine." Angele smiled and turned around, "Can you give me the formula now? And the spell model of the spell you cast? Also, those data you promised. I'm very interested in Metal Spells, I hope I can combine them with my sword skills."
"Sure, sure. It's a fair trade." Aqua smiled as well. Gondor looked relieved after listening to Aqua's explanation about the current situation.
"Thank you, Master Angele, for the gel… For everything actually. I misunderstood you," Gondor bowed and apologized to Angele.
Angele was surprised. "Are you apologizing to me?" he questioned, "Are you dumb? I just stabbed a sword into your teacher's chest."
Gondor straightened his back and shook his head.
"I can understand why you did that. You did nothing wrong. My teacher was your enemy, but you still let him live. I know that the only thing you want is the knowledge we have now," Gondor spoke in a serious tone.
Aqua just stood there and listened to their conversation silently, but Angele knew Aqua was satisfied with what Gondor just said. Angele thought Gondor would hate him because he almost slew Gondor's teacher, but he really did not expect an apology coming from Gondor.
Angele thought that Gondor was mocking him, but it seemed like Gondor was sincerely apologizing to him.
"I wish I can become someone like you one day. I admire that you would do anything to obtain knowledge," Gondor continued.
It was the first time for Angele to be praised like this…
"Well… Thanks. Let's finish our trade first." Angele stopped Gondor from saying anything else, "Aqua, can we start now?"
Aqua had more experience than Gondor. He delayed the trade because he had not fully trusted Angele yet.
'What if he kills us after obtaining what he desires…' Aqua hesitated.
"Don't worry, Teacher. People like Angele keep their promises. He's just pursuing the knowledge we have. We should trust people who love to learn," Gondor said while smiling. He knew what Aqua was thinking. It was almost like the Gondor who had attacked Angele was a totally different person than the one was talking right now.
Angele's face twitched a bit. He really wanted to tell Gondor that he was not such a respectable person. After seeing Gondor's sincere smile, goosebumps started rising upon his skin.
"Well… Let's trade then." He planned to let Aqua live after seeing his Metal Spell. Moreover, he wanted to obtain the knowledge Aqua had. A dead Aqua would only leave Angele with a formula. However, a live Aqua had a lot more to offer.
Angele did not keep his promise with Kelly because the only thing he cared for was who could offer him more. At this moment, letting Aqua survive was the right choice to make. Helping Kelly would only give Angele short-term benefits, but he could get some great long-term benefits by siding with Aqua.
Angele raised his head and checked the weather. He then walked toward Gondor and Aqua and sat down with them on the grass.
"Metal Spell is a branch of the Ancient Spells. There's barely any information about it left in this world. Also, you don't need to meet certain requirements to learn it, the same with water energy particles. People inherently have metals in their bodies. Wizards call everything that hardens substances as Metal Spells. Those spells are mainly used in architecture and crafting. However, a wizard apprentice successfully developed his own Metal Spell system, and he started using those spells to fight. Metal Spells are not strong. You need high Mentality and Mana to be able to channel them."
Aqua drank some water his disciple brought him and continued to explain.
"My Metal Spells were found in an abandoned ruin. About 100 years ago, I was hired by a team of mercenaries. The leader was a wizard apprentice who wanted to adventure in the ruin. I was the only one who survived the trip. I obtained the apprentice's notes. I'm relatively talented and with all the information I acquired from the wizard apprentice and the rune, I became who I am now."
Angele nodded, "So… Metal Spells are good for close combat?"
"You can say that, but you need a wizard's body to learn such special system and you need a long time to prepare the spell. Metal Spells are not meant to be used for battles. Even if you mastered them, you'll probably not achieve anything great. I think it will become a lost art sooner or later. Wizard apprentices don't think spells like those are worth to learn." Aqua sighed, looking a bit depressed.
"I'm interested." Angele put his right hand on the handle of his sword and held it tight.
"I already told you it'll be hard, but if you insist, let's make the trade. If you stop helping Kelly in fighting against us, I'll provide you with all the Metal Spells' models I know and the necessary information that can help you learn them." Aqua smiled.
"Great." Angele nodded.
"The most difficult part in Metal Spells are the spell models. They are complicated, and you must have enough Mana…" Aqua started explaining everything about the system to Angele. Gondor crossed his legs and sat down by the side, listening to his teacher's words quietly.
********************
Three hours later…
Angele walked out of the bush slowly.
He turned his head around and saw Aqua and Gondor watching him leave.
"I didn't expect his research to be so complicated. A lone wizard apprentice with such knowledge is incredible. I wonder what else I can find in this world." Angele mumbled.
'Zero, have you finished creating the system of Metal Spells?' Angele asked.
'System created, 13% completed. One spell model acquired. Spell enhancement potential is 54%.'
Spell enhancement potential was set up by Angele. He wanted to know how much improvement he could do to a certain spell. 0% meant the spell was already perfect and it did not need any improvement, but if it was 100%, it meant the spell could be greatly improved. The percentage would decrease after each improvement was done to the spell. Basic spell models usually had a high spell enhancement potential.
Angele wiped the bits of grass off his body, 'With the Nightmare Potion formula in my possession, I think I already obtained everything I want.'
Angele smiled. As a compensation, he gave several high-quality magic stones to Aqua. Nightmare Potion was probably worth a lot more than that, but Aqua was satisfied with the trade.
Angele walked directly toward the Emma City after walking down the hill. It was noon, but the dim sunlight did not warm up his body.
After about ten minutes, he saw the main road to Emma City. Carriages were passing by, and there were several travelers with heavy bags on their backs.
A middle-aged man was looking for herbs in the forest with a basket in his hand, but Angele's presence did not place any concern to any of the people on the road.
They only looked at him for a second.
Angele was not wearing his gray robe, so he looked like a normal hunter. He left the forest and joined the people that were about to enter the city.
Chapter 117: Thoughts (2)
Translator: Leo Editor: DarkGem/Frappe
Angele was reviewing the information Aqua taught him while walking. Although they did not have too much time, Aqua still told him most of the system and he gifted Angele a tiny book that recorded the methods of how to learn the Metal Spell system. It was also the book Aqua made notes and recorded spells on.
It was a common behavior for a wizard apprentice to carry notebooks because they did not have a storage in their brain like Angele did. They needed to revise the information they recorded in the notebooks when necessary.
Angele quickly reached the city gate of Emma. There were many carriages and travelers waiting to be checked by the city guards.
There were several guards from Nunnally's family noticed Angele and they reported to Kelly. Angele wandered around the vendors for a while and returned to the manor of Nunnally Family.
*********************
"What?!" Kelly's shoulder was bandaged. She stood up from the chair, completely infuriated. Her high-pitched voice drew the attention of several maids outside the door who were now peeking through the windows curiously.
"Master Angele, you must be joking," Kelly said, slightly calming down.
Kelly and Angele were the only people in the hall, and Angele was sipping the special milk tea the maid brought him.
"I'm not joking." Angele put down the glass cup, "I've got what I wanted. Stephen Family fulfilled my requirement, and they offered me extras, so I decide to quit this fight between the Nunnally Family and the Stephen Family. What? You're questioning my decision?"
"Well… I'm not…" Kelly's face turned pale and her voice was shaky. She was trying her best to calm down, "If you already made the decision, I can arrange a carriage for you."
"It's fine. I'll stay here for several more days. I still have something to take care of. Also, I hear that there'll be a celebration event in the city later. I'm quite interested." Angele smiled calmly.
"Well… Have fun," Kelly spoke in a deep tone.
"Now, if you will excuse me." Angele stood up and left the meeting hall.
He heard the glass cup shattered on the floor as he closed the door.
****************
Three days later…
Early in the morning.
The street was gray. There was a small house built from dark colored bricks by the corner and white smoke was coming out of the chimney on top of it. The wooden door of the house was black, decorated with tiny white flowers.
A tall man in a black coat was standing in front of the house. He had a black cap worn on his head. The street was empty and the wind was chilly. A black carriage slowly passed by. The ringing bell around the horse's neck was a bit annoying.
The young man took off his cap, his short, brown hair waving in the wind. The man was Angele.
The carriage disappeared around the corner. Angele wiped the dust off his clothes with the cap and knocked on the door.
*Knock-knock*
He waited for a while, but no one answered.
"Anyone?" Angele asked in a deep tone and knocked on the door again.
"Coming…" Someone finally responded.
*Creak*
The door opened, and a middle-aged man with black hair appeared by the door. He had a smile on his face.
"You are?" Angele was a stranger to the man, so the man stopped smiling.
"I'm a friend of Gondor, may I come in?" Angele smiled.
"Of course." The man nodded and smiled again.
He turned around and shouted, "Gondor, come. Your friend is here."
"I'll be there in a second!" Gondor's voice came from inside the house.
Angele was invited into the house, and he started checking around.
The wooden floor was red, and the black fireplace had flames dancing inside. There was a small wooden table in the middle of the living room surrounded by several chairs. Several white flowers were lying in the middle of the table.
There was barely any decoration in the living room, Angele only found a painting hanging over the fireplace. There was a knight advancing forward on a grassland with his horse. The painting was black and white, and the color balance was a bit off.
The middle-aged man looked identical to Gondor. He wiped his hand on the white apron he was wearing.
"Have a seat. Gondor will be here in a minute. I need to take care of the kitchen."
"Sure, thanks." Angele nodded politely and sat down on a chair.
A girl walked out of a bedroom on the right as the man returned to the kitchen. She was wearing gray pajamas. It seemed that she had just been sleeping several minutes ago.
"Did… we have a guest?" The girl was about four or five years old. Her waist-length black hair was a bit messy. She was rubbing one of her eyes with her right hand, and she looked sleepy.
"It's your brother's friend." The man's voice came from the kitchen.
The girl stared at Angele curiously, and asked, "Where is my brother?"
"In his bedroom. Go tell him that lunch is almost ready."
"Okay."
The girl started walking toward a bedroom on her left, but then she tripped on her own feet.
*PA*
The girl's face planted itself to the ground.
"Mom! My head!" the girl cried loudly in pain.
Angele was a bit speechless. He had not seen people tripping on their own feet in ages…
Gondor opened the door and walked out of his bedroom. He raised his head and noticed Angele immediately. It seemed that he was surprised to see Angele in his home.
"Why are you here?" Gondor ignored his crying sister and looked at Angele, "Oh! Yea! You are here for the thing my teacher prepared for you, right?"
Gondor recalled the agreement they reached back in the forest. Aqua had promised Angele about that had Metal Spell models' detailed explanation written on it.
"Help your sister get up first." Angele pointed at the crying girl.
"Oh…" Gondor walked toward his sister immediately and helped her get up. He patted her head and rubbed her face.
It took a while for the girl to stop crying, and Gondor seemed relieved.
"Please wait here, I'll go grab it now," Gondor stood up, and said. He returned to his room and grabbed a thin leather book with a brown cover.
Gondor walked toward Angele and handed the book over to him.
Angele grabbed the book and started observing it. The book was not well-made. There was no decoration on its cover. The title was written in black ink: Fundamentals of Metal Spell.
The book was written in Ancient Byrun, a language that was commonly referred to as the Devil's Language because people believed Byrun contained mysterious powers. The characters of Byrun had strange shapes and sometimes they would rearrange themselves into special runes or glyphs.
The title was written in Byrun. The words looked like a twisted black centipede, and there was a red eye in the middle of the centipede. It was staring at whoever was trying to open the book. Angele found it strange and a bit horrifying.
Angele lightly pressed the book. It was soft and thin. He was not sure what kind of leather it was. The book felt like a pile of clothes; it was light.
"Great. Thank you. I'll be leaving now." Angele stood up.
"Wait. Would you mind having lunch with us?" Gondor said, "My father is a great cook. I believe you'll find his dishes charming! Even the picky dwarfs adore his cooking skills!"
"Dwarfs? You mean Halflings?" Angele smiled.
"Yea! Halflings." Gondor laughed and scratched his head. He looked like a naive boy. Although he was at the same age as Angele.
The book was the only reason Angele visited Gondor, but his family was so kind that Angele decided to join in their lunch. Angele was a bit curious about Gondor's family anyway.
They sat down at the table in the living room. Dishes were on the table.
The first dish was cabbage rolls with black sesames sprinkled on top of it, and it smelled great. There was also a whole plate of golden crispy crepes. They were cut into triangles and there were green veggies and minced meat between them. There was also a plate of foie gras covered in black sauce, and a bowl of colorful veggie salad.
There were a small plate and a bowl in front of Angele. The iron silverwares were put down beside them. The fragrance of the dishes actually made Angele a bit hungry.
"Help yourself, try this." Gondor's father kept putting food onto Angele's plate, "You should visit us more often, Gondor barely invites his friends to our house ever since his mother left. You and Winnie are the only ones visited us."
Angele was a bit speechless. His plate was completely filled with crepes.
"Thanks, sir. I can't eat that much." Angele was not used to be treated with such pure kindness.
Gondor's younger sister was chewing the cabbage rolls while staring at Angele curiously.
Gondor did not say anything. He just kept eating. It took him only several minutes to finish about 500 grams of crepes.
Angele was eating the food on his plate slowly. It was quite tasty, and Zero told him the food was not poisoned as soon as he put the crepes into his mouth.
It seemed like Gondor's father did not care who he was, which made Angele feel a bit speechless again.
Gondor���s father and sister probably did not know what had happened in the forest, but Gondor knew. He treated Angele like a true friend, and it seemed like he believed Angele was a very nice person. Angele was actually a bit worried that Gondor's kindness and naivety would lead him to death one day.
Angele finally realized that it was the kind family environment that made Gondor trust people easily.
Chapter 118: The Trip (1)
Translator: Leo Editor: DarkGem/Frappe
Angele left Gondor's house after lunch.
He just could not get used to being treated like that. They were kind, but they were naive.
It was still noon. Rays of sunlight shined upon the street. They were not strong, and the air was refreshing.
The street was getting busy. There were more carriages and pedestrians passing by than this morning. Angele walked down the street slowly. He enjoyed the time with Gondor's family. However, he thought that having tender feelings would only slow him down.
The main problem was still the Water of Asu. Angele quickly returned to a hotel he found when he came back to the city. It was impossible for him to stay in Kelly's manor anymore since he broke his promise.
He spent several days studying and meditating in his room. Angele was waiting for the celebration to begin, and Delanya would send a messenger to meet him that day.
Delanya would bring him Water of Asu, the resource that would help Angele become a wizard, and it was essential.
Angele noticed strangers who were trying to peek his room through the window when he first checked in. He knew that it was the spies from Nunnally Family. They must have followed him to Gondor's house and saw him leaving with a book in hand. They probably thought Angele started helping Gondor, so they wanted to collect any intel they could.
However, Angele was not concerned. He did not care if his location was detected. After all, Kelly and Michelle were not threats to him. He would not even come here if Stephen Family did not have the Nightmare formula. There was no point for him in communicating anymore since he had already acquired it.
He admired Gondor's family life, but he would only help him if huge benefits could be foreseen. Angele and Kelly were from the same Wizard organization, but he could not fight against her just because he sympathized with Gondor's situation.
******************
In the manor of Nunnally Family.
Kelly sat on the main seat in the meeting hall, listening to her servant's report. Family head Gother and several other family elders were on the side seats. They all had serious looks on their faces and the servant was the only one talking at the moment.
"Master Angele rented a room in the hotel run by The Kates. He never left his room. We fear his power, so the spies did not get too close to him…"
Kelly bit her lips and thought for a while, "Wizards and wizard apprentices are all very selfish. The reward we provided was not good enough. It's fine that he decided to stop helping us. However, we are from the same school, so we shall leave him alone. I thought it over already, and I believe Angele won't join the fight between Stephen Family and our family anymore. We have no reason to spy on him anymore. Ask them to come back."
"But Miss Kelly, we treated him very well and he's just going to leave?" one of the elders asked in a low voice, "Everything we spent on him was just a waste?"
"Well, that old man, Aqua was injured by Angele. Although it wasn't critical, it'll take him some time to recover. He didn't keep his oral promise, but what he did was still beneficial to us. I didn't know that Aqua had such horrifying power." Kelly smiled, "I learned one thing from that battle, Aqua won't try to kill me and Michelle. We're from Ramsoda. He fears the school's Vengeance Order…"
"You mean… We should take this chance and finish off the Stephen Family right now?" Gother asked.
"You're right. They're extremely vulnerable at the moment. One last hit and they'll disappear from this land." Kelly nodded.
************************
Two days later, evening.
Emma City was busy and noisy.
There were no carriages or horses on the street. The main roads were filled with people celebrating. Most of them were wearing tiny red flowers. They all looked happy and relaxed.
"Emma! Wait for me!"
A boy shouted and ran past by Angele. He was wearing a red flower over his head, but it looked a bit strange.
Angele sat on a long chair beside the street quietly, watching the kids chasing each other. The sky turned dark, and the atmosphere in the city was light and charming under.
Several residents were selling their orange cakes on the street double their regular price. Still, parents were still buying their kids cake. Otherwise, their kids would just keep annoying them.
There were also carts selling bread and toys.
Angele saw some of the kids holding small spinning glowing sticks while running around. Those sticks were made from wood with tiny wheels attached to it. The edge of the wheel was brushed with the paste of Glowing Mushrooms and they looked quite beautiful with the blue glow.
Angele watched people partying in the exciting celebration, but he was not here to have fun.
"Two more minutes and Delanya's messenger should be here." Angele checked the time with Zero. He had no expression on his face and he was glancing around.
"Bark!"
Angele heard a dog barking from his left side.
Angele turned his head to the left. An old man was walking a white dog with wing-shaped ears slowly. It seemed like the old man was blind as Angele could not see his pupils.
A man in the gray-white cloak was following the blind man in the back. His face was covered by the hood and his body was hidden under the oversized robe.
Angele recognized the person behind the blind man immediately. He stood up and started walking toward the man in the cloak slowly.
The man leaned toward Angele and nodded slightly. Angele had great eyesight. Otherwise, he would not notice the gesture.
The man in cloak joined the crowd and walked toward a certain direction after nodding his head.
Angele followed him from behind. They were moving across the busy street and the distance between them was getting longer.
"Move!" A team of city guards that was led by a knight was patrolling the city slowly. The knight was chubby and his armor was waving in the air like pieces of clothes. It was amusing. The city guards separated the crowd from the middle as they moved forward.
The man in the cloak followed the people on the left side and turned into a back alley.
Angele followed him into the alley and saw a kid trying to take the bread from another kid's hand by the corner.
He walked past the kids and followed the man into the alley. The noise from the celebration lowered as Angele proceeded further.
The man in cloak finally stopped and turned around after two minutes of walking.
"Long time no see, Angele." She took off her hood. Her long brown hair and pretty face were revealed.
"Long time no see, Princess." Angele smiled and bowed.
"Don't mention my title here, just call me Delanya." Delanya furrowed her eyebrows, "The thing you asked for is here. I assume you brought the item I wanted too."
"Of course." Angele nodded, "I just didn't expect you to come here yourself."
"The value of the item is too high, and I can't find any trustworthy people to do it for me, so I decided to come by myself," Delanya explained, "Well, let's do the trade then, I can't stay here for too long."
"Sure," Angele nodded again, "Wait, do you have the orbuculum that helps transfer information?"
"No, I believe only wizard apprentices or wizards from Northland Alliance have those things, and using the orbuculum is same as forcing your brain to accept that information. You won't be able to transfer that short-term memory into long-term memory," Delanya spoke in a deep tone, "There's no shortcut in absorbing knowledge in this world. I'd suggest you not to spend too much time on those gimmicks."
"Ah, thanks for the suggestion. I understand." Angele nodded. He then took a round, gold metal ball out of his pouch and put it on his palm.
His empty hand turned red within seconds, and he moved his red hand toward the ball slowly.
*CHI*
After several seconds, the yellow ball was chopped into half by Angele's hand. He threw half of the ball toward Delanya.
Delanya threw two small bottles toward Angele after catching the ball. Angele caught the bottles safely, but he was surprised by her action.
"Well, please be careful next time, if I fail to catch them…"
"It won't break even if you drop them." Delanya stopped Angele from continuing, "The bottles are made from vulcanized crystals. They're harder than the back shell of Underground Devils. You can't scratch it even with an ax."
"Is that so?" Angele held one of the bottles in hand and started observing it.
The cylindrical bottles were translucent. They were about the size of a finger. The liquid inside was light golden and clear, glowing slightly.
Those small bottles were surprisingly heavy. It felt like he was holding two iron bars.
"Beautiful… I'd call them tubes rather than bottles. Two tubes of liquid, two servings."
Angele shook them slightly and put one of the tubes into his pouch. He held the other one in his hand and raised it above his eyes.
After a flick of a finger, some golden light dots dropped out of the surface of the tube, which slowly dropped down to the ground. The light reflected on Angele and Delanya's face and disappeared after it reached the ground.
Delanya waited for Angele to check the items she brought him quietly on the side. Angele checked both tubes and made sure everything was right before saying anything.
"And the spell models, I brought them here as well." She took out a thick leather book from her robe and handed it over to Angele, "You have the basic knowledge in your school as well, so I'll just leave you with those important models."
Angele grabbed the book. It had a brown cover and it was about cooking. The title was Kristian's Kitchen Tips.
Angele checked several random pages, and a green glow rose upon them. The cooking recipes turned into lines of spell information recorded in ancient languages. There were also hand-drawn three-dimensional mentality models. They were presented in spiral lines and they were black and white. Those mentality models looked somewhat like DNA graphs.
Chapter 119: The Trip (2)
Translator: Leo Editor: DarkGem/Frappe
The spell model recorded in the book was named Twisted Barrier. It could be cast using any type of energy particles, but the effects would vary and two types of energy particles were needed in order to set up the barrier. The two different types of energy particles would collide and form a force field that could help defend against both physical and energy attacks. It was the spell Angele chose from the list given by Delanya after contacting her recently.
"Many wizards chose this spell before they broke the limit. However, most of them failed to accomplish their goals. You need to be able to master two types of energy particles. It'll affect your future developments as a wizard, but it's your own choice and I respect it," Delanya advised.
"I understand." Angele nodded. He already knew the importance of focusing on one type of energy particle, but he knew Fire and Wind energy particles fairly well. Therefore, he decided to study the fundamentals by learning this spell model.
After seeing the Metal Spells Aqua used, Angele suddenly found the possibility of developing a combat style that suited his fighting skills, which was the main reason why he did not kill Aqua.
He wanted to combine Twisted Barrier with High-Temperature Field and modify them with Metal Spells after understanding the basics of all those spells. He wanted to create a special passive skill that would create a field around him with Metal Spell wherein this field would enhance his weapons or gears automatically. When he was equipped with a crossguard sword and slashed forward, countless metal spikes would come out of the tip of his sword. When his slash was blocked by the opponent, the blade's shape would shift and his opponent would be hit in surprise. Also, if he shot a metal arrow toward a group of enemies, the arrow would turn into a lot of metal spikes in mid-air…
Angele's opponents would not be able to figure out what Angele's next actions would be if he successfully developed such skill, and his fighting ability would be greatly improved. This was probably the strongest way of using Metal Spells.
Casting Metal Spell required a great amount of resources. Its spell model was complicated, so making it into a passive spell that worked like Talent Spells would be the best choice for Angele. This special spell would assist Angele in offense and defense at the same time. Angele had the metal liquid he made with the large claw, which had high magic resistance. It was a great carrier for Metal Spell.
Angele thought for a while, realizing after that Delanya was waiting for him.
He had an apologetic smile on his face, "Sorry, I got a bit distracted."
"It's fine. One last thing," Delanya took out several scrolls from her pouch. Those brown scrolls were sealed with several black strings, "Those are the potion formulas you asked for. They're low-rank formulas, but that's all I have."
"No worries. Thanks." Angele grabbed the scrolls and untied them.
Angele checked the content of the scrolls, the formulas recorded on them were three basic potions: Sleeping Powder, Jacqueline's Neutralizer and Ghost Voice.
Delanya used the Sleeping Powder in Moss Town to drug the residents. Jacqueline's Neutralizer was mainly used as a potion component. When the reaction was too strong, adding the neutralizer into the potion would restrain the reaction and reduce the chance of explosion.
Ghost Voice was used to record vocal messages. The recorded voice messages could be stored for one up to more than ten years based on the quality of the potion.
Angele looked at the formula for Ghost Voice and chuckled, "I heard the Ghost Voice made by the Sirens were very popular in the world of wizards about 200 years ago."
"This is not the formula the Sirens used, though I liked their singing voices." Delanya smiled, "Sadly, they extinguished. The only way I can enjoy their songs is by using the Ghost Voice. The good thing is that those potions last for years until they dry off. Otherwise, I won't be able to listen to those heavenly voices anymore."
"True." Angele tied those scrolls up and put them into his pocket.
"We spent too much time here. Thanks again for bringing those items to me."
"It's nothing. You saved my life there." Delanya stopped smiling. She looked very calm.
"If you need anything else, just contact me through the telescope. Farewell." She put on her hood again and lowered her head.
"Farewell. If you need any help, just let me know." Angele responded. He stood there and watched Delanya leaving the alley.
Angele rubbed the pouch that had Water of Asu in it. He couldn't help but laugh. He stood there waiting for a while before he walked out of the alley slowly and returned to the busy street.
Angele saw a bard wearing white clothes on the side of the street. He was holding a black harp in hands, playing relaxing music.
It was the first time Angele watched a bard playing the harp in person. He learned about the bards when he was at Marua Harbor. He was told that they were traveling all the time. Most of the bards could fight, and they were welcomed by the people most of the time because they were great storytellers and the people were interested in what they experienced during their travels.
Most of the bards were raised in noble families. They were usually modest and kind. However, not all of the bards were honest. Some of them would make up stories just to attract people.
The bard Angele saw after leaving the alley was sitting on a long chair, surrounded by the kids. Several adults were listening to his songs as well.
"Ah~ The beautiful bush warbler on the beefsteak plant, the flower of the Empire, Princess Mirani. She was married to Duke Lelouchlyn of Santiago. She's beautiful and elegant. I saw her once in the empire's celebration, but she was not shining like diamond anymore. She was depressed and haggard. Maybe it's her destiny. Ah~ Sad and lonely~ How unfair~" It was the end of the song.
Angele's eyebrows furrowed and goose bumps started rising upon his skin. The bard's voice was feminine and his vocal trilled by the end of the lyrics. It looked like he immersed himself in his own song.
'Well, if all bards are like him, I'd be disgusted…' Angele buried his opinion deep in mind.
"Great! Nice song!" the crowd cheered.
Angele's face twitched. He watched the kids and adults cheering around the bard and felt a bit speechless.
Angele walked away from the bard and started strolling around the street. A young couple was dancing in the middle of the audience. Everyone was clapping their hands rhythmically and yelling in a dialect that Angele did not understand.
A group of men held a beer drinking completion sponsored by several pubs in the town. The participants sat on beside a long table, and they kept drinking beers from large glasses. There were many beer lovers cheering for them by the table.
Angele walked around for a while and sat down in front of an old man that was performing puppetry. The thin man was wearing gray linen clothes, and the surface of his outfit was coated with oil. His white hair was messy and he stank. The man smiled at the pedestrians from time to time, trying his best to please people watching him. There were translucent strings tied to his fingers, and he controlled two palm-sized puppets to fight each other.
The puppet wearing white one-piece represented a girl and the puppet wearing a black suit represented a boy.
The old man was doing voices for the two puppets as Angele approached him. There were two kids sitting by the side watching the puppetry with keen interest.
"... He knows nothing about what happened. He saw Julia take his toys away. No! Julia! You can't do this!" The old man was faking the boy's voice.
He then moved the string a bit and switched the girl's voice, "Why? Why can't I do that? He's mine, so why did you gift my belongings to Adolf? Even if he really wanted it, you can't just…"
Angele did not find the man's puppetry attractive. He shook his head and walked away.
He was just curious and he wanted to know how people on this land entertained themselves, but sadly, he did not find anything worth trying. Angele decided to return to the hotel.
He packed everything up before he paid the bill and walked toward the city gate.
Beside the city gate, there was a livery stable. Several merchants were bargaining with the clerks. The owner of the stable was helping a chubby nobleman carry goods to his carts. The place was busy.
A clerk approached him as Angele arrived at the stable.
"What do you need? A carriage? A horse? Or you want to mail items or letters to someone?" The clerk had a business smile on his face.
"A horse, please. I want to travel faster," Angele responded.
"Sure, follow me please, I will take you to pick the horse you want." The clerk was happy after hearing Angele asking for a horse. Selling horses would bring the stable the most profit, carriage rental and post service were cheap.
Two other clerks walked toward Angele after hearing he was buying a horse. One of them looked like a manager. They led Angele to the backyard.
Angele picked a strong black horse after several minutes. The black horse was good for traveling at night. Its color made it hard for others to detect it.
"Have a safe trip!" the manager smiled and said with a loud voice.
Angele nodded. He applied pressure to the horse's girth and turned around. He started heading toward the city gate slowly.
The nobleman stared at Angele for a second and started chatting with the owner again.
"Nunnally Family and Stephen family are still fighting. The lord of the city ordered us not to help any side. They can do whatever that want in the south of the city," the nobleman sighed, "It'll probably end in several days, both families had strong backgrounds."
"Yea, they will have a battle again soon. We should just lay low in the city. The city guards reduced their patrol shifts."
They chatted and watched the workers carrying the goods.
"I'll probably stay outside the city for a while. I don't want to get involved in their fight." The nobleman looked worried, "So many things going on…"
"True." The owner of the stable sighed as well.
Chapter 120: Return (1)
Translator: Leo Editor: DarkGem/Frappe
Rays of the morning sunlight shot through the gaps between the branches in the dark forest.
The branches were barely visible, and the Glowing Mushrooms by the root of the trees were not shining due to the dim sunlight. Trees, grasses, and leaves all sank into the darkness.
Angele was advancing slowly on his horse. He glanced around, but everything was dark. He could barely see the road under the morning sunlight.
It was silent in the forest. No birds, no insects, the only noises were made by the galloping horse.
"It's probably the darkest time of the day in the forest," Angele mumbled, "There were Glowing Mushrooms bringing the light to the road during the night, much better than the early morning sunlight."
He rode on the black horse with a crossguard hanging beside his waist and his body was slightly shaking as the horse moved forward. The dim sunlight hit him from the side, and the light was coated with a strange blue glow.
The air was wet and cold. The smell was like grass mixed with mold.
Angele narrowed his eyes and looked at the road ahead. He kept controlling the direction the horse was going with the reins in his hands.
It had already been a day since Angele left Emma City. He wanted to make sure everything had gone as he planned since he was carrying Water of Asu with him. He couldn't afford to lose those two precious tubes since it was impossible for him to obtain more Water of Asu at the moment.
Angele picked all the shortcuts since he left the city. He found those small paths on his way here, and with the help of Zero, he created the simulation of the best route on his map.
Based on Angele's calculation, he needed about two more hours to reach the outer area of the school after daybreak. Choosing a route like this would eliminate the possibility of being followed by the spies who saw him trading with Delanya. Also, he wanted to go back to the school as fast as possible. Although Master Liliana had a horrifying appearance and Angele heard rumors about her eating someone alive, she would still try her best to protect her students.
Masters in the Wizard world were usually very kind to their talented wizard apprentices because those wizard apprentices would become a part of their force after being distributed to different kingdoms. The network they created would be incredibly helpful, and it would be stronger than any large family on this land. A strong wizard started to recruit disciples when he decided to create a strong force.
Formal disciples of the wizards would reunite from time to time and would form a strong alliance to fight against others. A network like this was named as School Faction.
As a top wizard in the Ramsoda College, Master Liliana's name was well-known in the enemy wizard organization, Northland Alliance. If one could be taken in as a disciple by her, he would be able to gain strong power from Liliana's faction.
Angele needed to take this chance. If he successfully became a wizard, he would be taken into this unknown faction. However, his talent level was 2, so he was worried if two tubes of Water of Asu was enough for him.
Master Liliana would gift him one serving of Water of Asu after she took Angele in as a formal disciple, and with three servings of Water of Asu, the chances of Angele successfully breaking the limit would be greatly increased.
Also, as a disciple, he would probably gain access to the material shop. He wanted to craft the Nightmare Potion to increase his success rate again.
*Ta-ka Ta-ka Ta-ka*
The horse stomped upon the leaves on the ground, the noise echoing in the silent forest.
Angele suddenly pulled the reins and stopped after traveling for a while.
'Distance limited again, need to scan again,' Angele thought as he halted the horse.
'Zero, enable the objective sensor.'
'Objective sensor enabled. Scan radius, sensor limit, 32.1 meters. Threats will be marked with red,' Zero reported. The radius was determined by Angele's sensory limitation. If he was on a high ground, the radius would increase. Angele's sensory ability would change based on the environment.
Angele closed his eyes and opened again immediately. A flash of blue blinked through his black pupils.
*CHI*
Everything in Angele's sight was coated blue. It took several seconds for the color to disappear.
A moving red crosshair appeared in the middle of his eyes, and various information was displayed beside it.
Angele looked to the left. The red mark stopped at a large black tree.
A list of data appeared beside the tree, 'Black Skin Tree. 132 years old. Not a threat.'
The hardness, humidity, usage, and environment requirement were all displayed beside the tree. Angele glanced around. His eyes were wide open, and there were blue light dots flashing in his eyes.
After several seconds, he looked relieved, 'I'm very close to the school. It seems like there's no threat around.'
The crosshair in his eyes suddenly started flashing as he thought.
'Warning! Warning! Strong creature detected! Distance from you, 103 meters.'
Angele's expression changed and he looked at the marked area. There was a grassy ground on the left side of the trees.
Something black was lying on the ground. It seemed like there many black strings moving around its body. The creature had the size of a bull.
The creature was not roaring. Angele could only hear people laughing and clapping their hands. It sounded like there were many children dancing around, but the black creature was the only thing in Angele's sight.
'I should choose another path…'
He held the reins tight and tried to turn his horse around. However, the horse just stood there and refused to move. The horse was anxious and was breathing heavily. No matter what Angele did, it just would not follow his order.
"Damn!" Angele cursed. He jumped off the horse and tied it to a tree beside.
'The creature is approaching you. Distance: 102 meters, 100 meters, 98 meters, 96 meters…' Zero reported as it detected the creature's movement.
Angele realized that he had already been detected.
He was trying to steer away from trouble, so he chose another route as he was carrying some rare materials. However, the horse was stunned due to fear. It needed some time to calm down.
Angele drew the crossguard sword without making too much noise. He lowered his footsteps and started walking toward the creature.
As he got closer, he finally obtained a clear view of the black shadow under the morning light.
'A black cactus but the needles were replaced with moving arms…' That was Angele's first impression of the creature.
The black shadow revealed itself. It was a ball-shaped creature with black human-like arms all over its body. It had about 80 arms, each hand having a dark red eye in the middle of its palm.
Angele's presence made the creature that was covered with a huge number of arms excited, and it pointed all of its eyes on the palms at him.
"Ha… Ka… KAKAKA…" Some strange noise came from the middle of the arms.
'Hundred-Eyed Monster… It's the Hundred-Eyed Monster!' Zero finally displayed the information in Angele's sight.
'Hundred-Eyed Monster: Strong mid-size creature. Strength 5. Agility 3. Stamina 21. Mentality 5. Ability unknown. Data incomplete. Please keep a safe distance from the creature,' Zero reported as the Hundred-Eyed monster approached. The monster was marked with a red glow by the chip, which meant the creature was a threat to Angele.
Angele blinked his eyes and disabled Zero's scan function. He held the crossguard sword tightly with his hands and stayed alert.
He had heard about this monster before. He was told that this monster had an extremely strong physique, and it was highly aggressive. Hundred-Eyed Monster enjoyed swallowing its prey in whole, it was very strong when it became an adult. However, the one in front of Angele was still in its younger stage based on its size. An adult Hundred-Eyed Monster weighed more than 10 tons and was larger than a Glowing Elephant. Barely any information about its actual battle ability was recorded, so the only way for Angele to find out was to actually fight it.
"KAKAKAKA… KAKA!" The monster waved its arms, which sounded like it was trying to say something.
Angele was about ten meters away from the monster, but he could not understand a single word it was trying to say. Thus, he just stayed there and observed its movements.
The bull-sized monster did not get any response from Angele, so it became furious.
"KAKA!" The high-pitched voice came out of its mouth and it started charging toward Angele. It tried to embrace Angele with its dozens of arms. The bloody eyes on the palms were blinking and they were trying to grab Angele from all angles.
Angele's scalp numbed. He stepped back immediately.
*BAM*
The creature grabbed a tree behind Angele with its arms and broke it into half. Many leaves were dropping to the ground as it raised the tree trunk into the air.
The tree trunk was swung toward Angele in full speed.
The Hundred-Eyed monster charged forward while the tree trunk was still flying toward Angele, the monster's large body and countless arms left no chance for him to dodge its attack. It almost looked like a huge black slime trying to jump on Angele.
*CHI*
It sounded like clothes were torn apart.
Angele jumped backward and escaped the incoming arms. He landed on the grassy ground that was several meters away from the creature. He had no expression on his face, and there was blood dripping down the tip of his silver crossguard sword.
Several arms of the monster were cut off by Angele and dropped to the ground. The fingers on the hands were trembling, and the bloody eyes still blinked several times.
The Hundred-Eyed Monster charged forward again. The tree trunk in its hands was howling in the air while being swung toward him.
Angele simply stepped back and dodged the tree trunk.
"Ysta-man… Zio!" He roared and pressed the blade with one of his hands.
Blue electric pulses immediately rose upon the blade and covered the whole sword within seconds.
The silver crossguard sword turned blue, and the electric pulses were sparking. Intense electricity kept flickering around the blade. The noise it produced was irritating.
When Angele saw the Hundred-Eyed Monster trying to swing the tree trunk again, he lowered his body and charged forward.
Chapter 121: Return (2)
Translator: Leo Editor: DarkGem/Frappe
The crossguard sword was infused with electricity. It hit the incoming arms from the monster hard. More than ten arms were cut off easily within seconds, and the pulses electrocuted its wounds.
The blue electricity kept flowing through the Hundred-Eyed Monster's body.
Angele then stabbed the monster's mouth furiously with his sword. Its mouth was wide open but there were no teeth inside. The force Angele applied on the sword was not enough, only the tip of the blade pierced through its body.
He felt like he was stabbing a piece of extremely hard wood. His strength was much stronger than an average human being, but he failed to truly damage the monster's body.
*BAM*
As Angele tried to pull his sword out of its body, the monster hit him with one of its arms, and Angele was blown away by the impact. The crossguard sword was left in its body.
Angele quickly drew his second crossguard sword and held it in his left hand. His right arm had twisted to a strange angle, its bones broken. He could feel the constant pain coming from his broken bones. He furrowed his brows and took several steps back.
Angele started carrying two crossguard swords after the fight in the forest. The Hundred-Eyed Monster had high physical resistance, so Angele decided to wield the sword with both of his hands. However, his right arm was injured and he had to find another way to deal with the creature.
'No, this thing recovers so fast. I won't be able to kill it just by stabbing it, and I'll lose if the fight lasts too long.' Angele knew how hard it was to kill the Hundred-Eyed Monster. It had a fast regeneration and a high defense. He had no effective way to damage it at the moment, and it was almost impossible for him to slay it by himself.
If this monster did not block his path, and his curiosity did not overcome his fear, he would not even approach it. The monster grew new arms rapidly. It almost looked like he was never hurt by Angele. It was the reason why it did not back off just because several arms were cut off by Angele.
Angele stepped back again. He stared at the monster with his eyes unblinking. He crouched and picked a black arm up. It was the first time he saw something like this, so he decided to do some research on it after he got back.
Rare monsters like that were usually hard to find. Angele thought he would find something helpful after studying its body part.
The skin was hard and cold. It felt like holding a wooden stick in hand.
'Hundred-Eyed Monsters inherited the blood from the ancient monster, Hundred-Eyed Ghost. Hundred-Eyed Ghosts can connect itself with the nightmare plane by using parts of its body. I might dig out some valuable data from it.' Angele kept withdrawing. The monster was still paralyzed by the electric pulses, and its actions were slowed down. With the black arm in hand, he ran back to his horse, untied it and jumped on it.
"Go!" He applied pressure to his feet and shook the reins.
The black horse neighed as it raised its front hooves and stomped toward the right.
Angele rode on the horse. He did not whip the horse, but it was running away from the monster at full speed.
He could still hear the Hundred-Eyed Monster roaring closely from behind. It seemed that the monster had already recovered from the paralysis.
Angele was not worried. He was already close to the outer area of the school. The guardian of the gate, Master Moroco, could easily finish off a creature like the Hundred-Eyed Monster. Hundred-Eyed Monsters were stronger than Glowing Elephants. It had high magic resistance and physical resistance. Furthermore, it had strong strength, fast speed, and with its incredible regeneration ability, it was hard to be defeated. To compare its power level with wizard apprentices or wizards, it was likely to be stronger than a rank 3 wizard apprentice but weaker than a formal wizard. However, they usually lived in mountains or swamps and was actually rare to see them in the deep forest.
'Zero, do a basic scan on the monster's arm.'
'Mission created, scanning…'
A three-dimensional hologram of the arm appeared in Angele's sight. It was rotating.
Rows of data were listed beside the arm.
'Please provide a sample of the blood.'
Angele put his hand on the ragged wound and some of the slimy dark red blood stuck onto his palm.
'Basic scan completed.'
'Scan result: 81.75% of the sample is identical to human blood.
Parasites' similarity, 13.11%.
Blood activity similarity, 0.21%
…
…'
After a list of scan results, a sentence suddenly appeared by the end of the data.
'Based on the simulation of the model, you can extract the high-energy parasites from the sample and inject it into your body. I can modify the energy. There is a 51% of chance that your gene limit can be broken. There is a 23% of chance that it will have no effect on you and there is a 26% of chance that unknown effect will be applied. Accurate experiment is required.'
'High-energy parasites injection?' Angele was a bit confused, 'Is anything related to it mentioned in the wizard's books?'
'No record is found in the database. There is a 93% of chance that wizards have not discovered high-energy parasites yet.'
Angele knew the reason why wizards were yet to discover it. There were many research data recorded in Wizards' books, but nothing about cells were mentioned in them. It was possible that they could enhance their eyesight to help them detect relatively smaller objects, but it was impossible for them to actually see bacteria or parasites. They spent most of their time studying Macro Energy because they did not have accurate microscopes. Wizard apprentices and wizards of Necromancy knew more about biology but were only studying the general structures.
'Basic scan brought me so much information, I need to head back and experiment as soon as possible. There are still many things I need to test.' Angele felt a bit relaxed although his right arm was broken and the monster was still chasing him.
"KAKAKA!" Suddenly, he heard sharp voices coming from behind.
Angele turned his head around. What he saw frightened him.
Another Hundred-Eyed Monster appeared running beside the previous one. They were both going after the black horse like crazy. They were running with their arms. Some of the hands were clapping and some of the arms were swinging furiously.
"Damn! One was enough!" Angele cursed. He could handle the attack from one Hundred-Eyed Monster, but he could only run when chased by two Hundred-Eyed Monsters. Electric spells were Angele's strongest damage spells at the moment, but the monster's magic resistance was extremely high.
They were fast, strong, and their arms were nimble. Without high damage, single target spell, Angele would not be able to hurt it.
He whipped the horse and shouted, "Faster!"
The black horse increased its speed, but the two monsters were pursuing after them. When they passed through many trees, Angele suddenly saw campfire ahead and heard people chatting.
Those people were alerted by the intense noise made by the hooves and the monsters.
The horse went across the bushes and appeared in the sight of the people around the campfire. They stood up and looked shocked after seeing what was chasing the horse from behind.
"God! Hundred-Eyed Monsters! Two of them!"
"Run!"
"Hurry!"
There were two men and one woman beside the campfire. They were all wizard apprentices based on the look of their gray robes. Their expressions changed as they saw the monsters, untying their horses right away and attempting to escape.
The three rode on their horses and started moving forward, however, their speed was slow, Angele and the monsters were right behind them.
Angele was a bit speechless. He did not expect to see any wizard apprentice from the school here. He pulled the reins to the right side and started turning right. He did not want to bring any trouble to those apprentices.
"Annie! It's too late!" one of the male apprentices shouted.
The female wizard apprentice turned her head around and looked at Angele while moving her lips.
*CHI*
A long white ray came out of her hand and landed on the black horse's chest accurately. The white ray turned into ice lance, and Angele's horse neighed in pain. It tripped its own front hooves as it fell down to the ground and died.
Angele did not think she would attack him without saying one single word. His right arm was broken, so he supported himself with his left arm as the horse fell to the ground. He rolled several times on the grasses to reduced the inertia.
"F*cking hell!" Angele was enraged. He stood up with the support of his left arm, but the arm of the monster was dropped somewhere while he was rolling.
*BAM BAM*
The two Hundred-Eyed Monsters landed in front of Angele. Their heavy body hit the ground and made a loud noise. They tried to grab him with their arms.
*BOOM*
A ray of green fire came out of Angele's hand. The monsters retreated together, their bodies lit by green flames. The light from the fire brightened the dark forest.
However, the flames disappeared quickly as the monsters recovered.
"I'm in deep sh*t…" Angele held the crossguard sword with his left hand, stared at by hundreds of red bloody eyes. Goosebumps rose upon his skin. He had a bitter smile on his face.
"Selfish bastards…" Angele cursed in a deep tone. The woman did not even hesitate after she heard what the male wizard apprentice said. The woman knew the monsters would stop for Angele, and the best way to do it was to slay his horse.
Angele already decided to change the route as he did not want to drag the strangers into his fight. He only needed to reach the outer area of the school, and Master Moroco would take care of the monsters for him. The guardian would never allow such threats to stay in the school's territory.
The three miscalculated their distance from Angele. The monsters would not hurt them had Angele turned right in time.
However, the ice lance from the female wizard apprentice completely ruined his plan. The ice lance landed right in the heart of the horse while it was galloping at full speed, dying within seconds. The death of the horse bought the three some time for their escape, but Angele was left behind instead.
Chapter 122: Promotion (1)
Translator: Leo Editor: DarkGem/Frappe
"KAKAKA…" The two Hundred-Eyed Monsters roared with their high-pitched voices and were clapping their hands in a certain rhythm.
Angele was retreating slowly. He carefully put his hand into his pouch and grabbed the bomb made from Glowing Elephant's heart. The surface of the heart was coated with a light green glow.
He stared at the monsters in front of him as he took out the heart.
"I didn't want to use it," Angele spoke in a low voice, "Alright, come on. I know you understand my words."
The monster on the left leaned its body to the left. All the red eyes on its palms blinked once, staring at the heart in Angele's hand.
"A bomb made from the heart of Glowing Elephant? We underestimated your power." A high-pitched voice came from its body that was covered with arms.
"Why bother talking to him, Mermura? He's just an apprentice," the other monster interjected.
Angele chuckled, "Try me, this bomb was hard to make. I was lucky enough to successfully make it on the first try."
Angele raised the bomb above his chest with his left hand. He was holding the bomb and the sword with the same hand, as though he could detonate it any time he wanted.
The monsters remained silent after hearing what Angele just said. The three just stood in the middle of the forest as they kept staring at each other.
After several minutes.
"Fine, you can leave," the Hundred-Eyed Monster on the left finally spoke again.
"I won't cover your ass if the elders ask about this, Mermura!" the other Hundred-Eyed Monster shouted before it turned around and began to leave. Its bull-sized body quickly disappeared into the bushes.
The monster named Mermura looked at Angele. "Tell me your name. It is the first time I'm failing my hunting mission," it spoke in a light tone.
Angele smiled, "If…"
*BOOM*
A white boulder suddenly flew out of the bushes, stopping Angele from speaking further.
His expression changed. He wanted to dodge the stone by stepping back, but he saw another boulder thrown by Mermura coming at him. Those stones were about one meter tall, which eliminated Angele's escaping path.
Dark shadows covered Angele's body.
*BAM*
Green flames exploded around him. Two boulders broke into pieces due to the explosion and turned into a large pile of ash after several seconds.
The green flames were spreading around as a circle. Rays of green light were howling across the forest. Everything at the place turned green under the light.
"Oh! God!" The other monster hid behind the tree. His eyes on the palms were staring at the explosions.
The furious green flames blew straight to the sky, and the green light rays cast a reflection upon the clouds. Most of the trees around Angele were burning.
*Crack*
A large tree broke in half and smashed to the ground. It became the fuel of the fire. The heavy smoke blurred Angele's sight.
"Mermura… Mermura died? Unbelievable…" Someone mumbled, "How strong was that bomb?!"
Angele heard people's voices coming from the burning woods. The surviving monster took one final look at the flames before it jumped into the bushes and disappeared.
*********************
Angele hid behind a tree, still thinking about what just happened.
He saw two boulders flying toward him and noticed that he had nowhere to hide, so he decided to throw the bomb directly at Mermura. Angele did not expect the power of the explosion to be so strong. He was pushed thrown away a distance away from the explosion radius by the flying boulder thrown by Mermura before it disintegrated in the flames.
"Ugh!" Angele spat out some blood onto the grass. He put his left hand on his chest.
"Thank god the stone blocked the flames for me. Otherwise, I'd be dead already. The power of the explosion was incredible! Zero, check my body condition."
'Two broken ribs. Right arm broken. Internal bleeding. Immediate treatment is a must,' Zero reported within seconds.
Angele heard people who must've seen the explosion walking toward him. He struggled for a while and made sure that the other Hundred-Eyed Monster was gone.
He then quickly ran toward the edge of the burning area.
"It was still here, great!" He picked the broken arm from the monster and made sure it was not burnt before he ran toward the other side of the forest.
****************
After Angele escaped the fire, he started advancing once again but with greater caution. He tried not to alert any living creatures detected by Zero. He finally arrived at the outer area of Ramsoda College on the second day.
"Finally, I'm back!" It was already afternoon. Angele walked out of the forest and surveyed the yellow ruin. The sunlight was a bit too strong for him, so he covered his eyes with his left hand.
There was a black crow hovering above the dusty ruin. It was Master Moroco.
Angele did not stop. With a flick of his finger, his gray robe was coated with a red glow, and the dirt was cleaned right away. He arranged his messy hair a bit, his right arm already temporarily fixed in place with a piece of modified plank.
After everything was done, he started walking toward the ruin. Moroco looked at him for a second. It knew Angele was a Wizard apprentice of the school, so it did not descend to check.
Angele bowed to the sky and ran to the entrance of the school.
He performed the gestures, which opened the door to the underground tunnel, and went straight back to his dorm. Angele met several other Wizard apprentices on the way, but he had no time to greet them.
*BAM*
The door of his room was slammed shut. The hallway was still quiet. No one had cleaned the dust off the floor. Only Angele's footprints could be seen on the floor. It was obvious that others had not yet returned.
Angele pointed at the door after entering his room. Light green smoke came out of the tip of his finger, which stuck to the door immediately. He then pointed at the oil lamp on the desk and sent several specks of red light into the lamp.
*CHI*
The oil lamp was lit, causing it to brighten the room.
Angele walked toward the desk and removed the random items from it. He quickly took out the tubes that contained Water of Asu, the formula scroll, the arm of the Hundred-Eyed Monster and laid them down on the desk. The book containing the spell model of Twisted Barrier had already been burnt by Angele after he stored everything in the chip.
"I must not carry these around in the school. There are Wizard apprentices missing every year due to unknown reasons. I need to be as cautious as possible." Angele mumbled as he quickly put everything on the desk into a bag beside one tube of Water of Asu.
This small tube was shining under the light. The liquid inside almost looked like dust particles glowing with a golden hue.
Angele grabbed the tube before he shook it several times and rubbed its surface.
Red light slowly rose upon his palm, which climbed up the tube. A row of tiny twisted runes appeared on the translucent crystal surface.
"The incantation is…" Angele checked the runes carefully.
"The eternal soul shall return to the motherland!" he read the sentence in a whisper.
The stopper of the tube started rotating as Angele finished the incantation. He could hear it moving and the stopper broke into six silver spider-leg-shaped pedals right away.
It almost looked like a silver flower blooming at the top of the tube.
Angele narrowed his eyes, looking intently at the six sharp petals as he poured some Water of Asu onto his palm.
"Close," Angele said in a light tone.
The petals slowly returned to its original shape, reforming into a stopper.
'Zero, simulate my success rate of breaking the limit, and analyze the Water of Asu.'
'Analyzing… Simulation started. Time required, 11 hours and 32 minutes,' Zero reported in its mechanical voice.
Angele returned the tube into his pouch and watched his skin absorb the golden liquid. He then stood up and sat on his bed with his legs crossed.
He had not sat on the bed for a while, as the sheet was still a bit cold and wet. He sat there without the blanket and closed his eyes. Angele started meditating, trying to absorb the life energy particles in the air to help him recover.
Time flew by. The room was getting darker and darker. It seemed that there was not much oil left in the lamp, which was finally consumed = from the last drop of the oil after a while.
The room sank into the darkness.
'Simulation completed. The success rate is 17% to 33% with the help of two servings of Water of Asu and the defensive spell model.'
Zero's voice suddenly echoed in Angele's mind, causing the latter to be woken up by it. He slowly opened his eyes, and the green light dots around him disappeared.
'What if I acquire one more serving of Water of Asu? Calculate the success rate again.'
'Calculating… The success rate will be 47% to 59%.'
'Add Nightmare Potion on top of that?' Angele kept questioning
'Potion effect unknown. Creating model… Analyzing�� Possible increment in the success rate, 6% to 9%.'
Angele stopped asking. After several seconds, he had a smile on his face.
****************************
*Clap Clap*
A group of people in black robes were standing in a room with yellow walls. All had glasses of wine in their hands.
They were all looking at an old woman in a black robe and a young man with brown hair in the middle of the room.
The young man looked a bit shy while being stared at by so many people. He raised his glass above his head, "Thanks for coming everyone. As a new disciple of my master, I hope you could lend me a hand when I need help in the future. Thanks again and cheers!"
"Cheers." People raised their glasses together.
The old woman's skin was covered with patches, almost as if her entire body was sewn up. She finished her wine in one sip, and put down the glass.