Locke was surprised that Wyr, a high-rank Knecht, had come to ask for a strengthening potion. It had only been one night, yet Wyr had already found out that he had a strengthening potion. It was most likely from Cardoj.
This also indirectly showed that the strengthening potion wasn't as simple as it seemed.
Locke didn't think long before he agreed to Wyr's request. Not to mention Wyr's noble title and powerful strength, Locke's current rank was one rank lower than Wyr's and he had to work under Wyr, so he had no other choice.
Of course, the potion wasn't for nothing. Locke hadn't forgotten about the three favors Wyr had promised him. Three favors from a high-rank Knecht in exchange for a small potion wasn't a loss for him. To be honest, he still hadn't figured out how to use the strengthening potion.
Locke took out a strengthening potion and handed it to Wyr. Wyr took it carefully and solemnly placed it in the inside of his chest pocket.
"Sir Wyr, can you tell me how to use the strengthening potion?" Locke asked.
Wyr seemed surprised that Locke didn't know the purpose and method of using the potion, but he didn't say much and explained, "Strengthening potion is used to help beginner-rank Knechts break through the bottleneck of low-rank Knechts. It can improve a knight's physical fitness and speed up impetus absorption."
That wasn't all. Strengthening potion's biggest function was to stimulate the human body's potential with minimal side effects. The potion was passed down from the Aomar Empire. Due to the scarcity of its main ingredients, most of them had to be imported from Aomar, which was why it was so precious.
Locke found it strange that Wyr wanted to use a potion for beginner-rank Knechts to break through the bottleneck. Wyr seemed to notice Locke's doubts and explained, "This potion isn't only used to break through bottlenecks. It can also be used by low-rank Knechts or mid-rank Knechts, and it can still improve a lot." Wyr continued, "Even a high-rank Knecht like me, who has never used strengthening potion before, can improve a little when I use it for the first time."
Only after hearing Wyr's words did Locke realise how precious the strengthening potion in his hands was. It was a treasure that even high-rank Knechts could use. It was no wonder that there were only a few of them in the entire Second Division.
After Wyr left, he looked at the two remaining strengthening potions in his hands and thought about how to use them. These two potions were a little troublesome for him at the moment. It had only been one night and someone had already come to ask for them. He was afraid that in a few days, other nobles would come to ask for them.
Locke was very dissatisfied with the baron revealing that he had the strengthening potion. He didn't know why Cardoj, who had always been cautious and had a lofty image, would do such a thing.
In fact, Cardoj was the one who revealed Locke's strengthening potion to Wyr. It wasn't only because the potion was precious, but also because Cardoj wanted to take advantage of Locke.
After all, Locke was still a soldier under his command and a commoner of Cardoj's domain. As a noble lord, Cardoj's status and power were far superior to Locke's. But because Locke had saved Angelina, this commoner boy had appeared in the eyes of the higher-ups.
Cardoj had a strong desire for control. He didn't want his subordinates to have unstable factors that he couldn't control.
In fact, Cardoj was overthinking things. Although Locke was appreciated by Prince Kenzir and Marmen, it was because he had saved Angelina. It was impossible for them to promote Locke to a noble title or a high military rank.
Kenzir and Marmen wouldn't break the rules of the nobility for so many years just for a nobody.
To be honest, Locke didn't have much ambition. He never wanted to be in the limelight. He just wanted to live honestly with his family. This was the greatest hope of a commoner like Locke, and also the goal that countless Faustian commoners struggled for their whole lives.
Locke, who had learned about the use of the strengthening potion from Wyr, was ready to use it immediately. The siege of Audis was about to begin. This battle was the final one, and it might also be the last one Locke would experience. He knew that he had to improve his strength as much as possible before the battle.
Only when he was alive would he have the capital. Locke had always only had one capital, and that was his life. In order to prevent others who might have designs on his potion from succeeding, Locke decided to find a free place in the afternoon and use it directly.
As for the will-condensing potion, it was impossible for others to obtain such a precious potion, judging from the fact that even the user's name had to be registered yesterday. Locke wasn't in a hurry to use this potion. He didn't even know how to use it. If he used it rashly, it would be terrible if there were any side effects.
His plan was to ask Angelina about it some other time. He had already heard yesterday that Angelina was currently in an area in the middle of the joint camp. When the time came, he would ask someone for directions and inform her. He believed that Her Royal Highness would agree to 'summon' her savior.
He wasn't stupid. He didn't tell anyone about the ambiguous relationship between him and Angelina. If he was exposed, he wouldn't be able to think of a way out other than being hanged.
Angelina didn't seem to care about their future at all. It seemed that she had already thought about their future plans, but she hadn't told Locke about it. Locke wasn't in a hurry. Some things would have to be faced sooner or later anyway.
In the afternoon, Locke went to the training camp. After instructing the two soldiers on duty outside not to disturb him, he walked straight into the training camp.
It was around two or three in the afternoon. Although it was winter, the sun was still shining brightly. Many soldiers were either patrolling or training, so no one would disturb him at the training ground. With two beautifully packaged wooden boxes in his arms, Locke walked to the area that belonged to him.
He first practiced a set of fist techniques and was sweating profusely. It wasn't a special fist technique. It was something that Locke had learned from actual combat on the battlefield. It was simple but practical. It could be considered as something that Locke had comprehended on his own. Perhaps in a few years, Locke would pass these things on to the next generation.
It was just like how Locke Sr. had taught him the things to consider when farming. Locke, who hadn't held a hoe for a few years, could still remember the details that Locke Sr. had taught him.
After stretching his muscles and bones, Locke didn't rush to take the potion. Instead, he sat cross-legged on the ground and circulated his Falconim.
His efforts weren't in vain. He'd asked Wyr about the strengthening potion in the morning. Wyr didn't take it for nothing. Apart from the three favours he owed him, he also asked him about how to use the potion and some cultivation knowledge.
Wyr might have taken advantage of Locke, so he didn't hide anything from Locke. Instead, he answered Locke's doubts dutifully. In his opinion, there was nothing particularly important about these questions. They were all trivial questions, and many of them were even common knowledge for knights.
However, Locke also benefited a lot from Wyr's words. He was an unorthodox practitioner of impetus. Without a professional teacher to guide him, he could only rely on himself. Although Yoshk, Karl and the others had been practicing impetus longer than him, they knew almost the same things as him.
Most of the commoner platoon jarls who had mastered impetus had to rely on their own comprehension and experimentation to use impetus. Top students like Wyr, who had returned from the Aomar Empire, could share some common knowledge with Locke. In Faustian, such knowledge might even be a treasure of some nobles. Locke had asked the right person. He had asked an expert by a fluke.
After the preparation process, Locke started to take the strengthening potion. According to Wyr, strengthening potion was best for beginner-rank Knechts. It was best to take it when one reached a bottleneck. This way, the success rate of advancing to a low-rank Knecht was sixty percent.
However, Locke didn't intend to delay it for so long. Although he could still feel the impetus vortex in his abdomen growing, the speed was too slow. After experiencing the redsea flower, Locke couldn't bear the current tortoise-like speed. Perhaps it was because of the major monster meat or the abundant elemental energy in the forest when he was in the Bering Mountains, his progress was faster than it was now.
If one potion didn't work, he would take two. Anyway, strengthening potions also had the function of increasing the total amount of impetus. After taking two potions, Locke roughly estimated that the success rate of advancement was ninety percent.
To most Faustian nobles, using two strengthening potions to advance to a beginner-rank Knecht was an extremely wasteful act. Due to the preciousness of strengthening potions, they were often used by nobles to help them break through the bottleneck of low-rank Knechts. Even many mid-rank Knechts used this precious potion.
Because of its minimal side effects, strengthening potions were widely sought after by Faustian nobles.
He took out one potion and rubbed half of it on his chest. Then, he poured the other half into his mouth and held it under his tongue. This was how to use it according to Wyr's instructions.
After a while, Locke felt a stinging pain in his chest, followed by an unbearable numbness. If it weren't for Locke's strong endurance that he had developed on the battlefield for many years, the stinging and numbness would've been unbearable for most people.
Green veins popped up on Locke's sturdy chest like earthworms and thin snakes, giving off a frightening illusion.
In addition, Locke's upper body was red at this time. Due to the cold weather, wisps of evaporated sweat formed white smoke and gathered on top of his head. If someone saw Locke's current appearance on the training ground at this time, they would definitely be shocked. This could already be considered a supernatural phenomenon.
The movement of one's blood actually affected the surrounding environment. With Locke as the center, the temperature around him was more than ten degrees higher than other places.
When Locke was about to finish absorbing the potion under his tongue, he didn't feel like a butterfly breaking out of its cocoon as Wyr had mentioned. He decisively opened the other wooden box, took out the strengthening potion, and drank it in one go.
This time, he didn't apply it externally and directly consumed it orally. Although the potion's effects were stronger, it also gave him a greater impact.
Wisps of white smoke gathered around Locke's red body, and his muscles tightened. The sound of cracking was caused by the strengthening of his bones.