"Angelina, ask Locke to pick up the dagger from me this afternoon," said Joaquin through the crystal ball.
"Okay." Angelina glanced at Locke, who was exercising in the courtyard outside the alchemy workshop.
Low-grade Apprentices already had the basic ability to send messages through magic, and communicating through crystal balls was the most common method of communication. Crystal balls were bought in the academy and were quite expensive, so they were usually kept in spatial rings.
In the afternoon, Locke appeared in Joaquin's living room.
As expected of a count's mansion. Although he'd been there once, he was still mesmerized by the various rockery and gardens in the mansion.
The mansion that he, Angelina, and the others lived in was very big and had a lot of courtyards. Otherwise, it wouldn't have been able to accommodate so many shadow guards and royal guards. However, the size of the mansion was one thing, and the luxury of the mansion was another.
Locke's house also had rockery and gardens like this, but it wasn't like Joaquin's house, which had almost every courtyard.
He thought to himself that being an Imperial Count was indeed rich. He sat on a chair in the living room and enjoyed the tea served by the maid while admiring the various handicrafts and paintings hanging around the living room walls.
Joaquin finally came out when he finished his cup of tea.
She usually liked to wear bright red dresses, but today, she wore a beige off-the-shoulder skirt and a pair of silver-white sandals.
Locke was momentarily stunned by her slender legs and pearl-like toes.
Joaquin was obviously satisfied with Locke's expression. She snorted and said, "What took you so long?"
"I came as soon as I finished eating, okay?" Locke complained after he snapped out of his daze.
"That's too slow," said Joaquin in dissatisfaction.
Locke couldn't be bothered to argue with her. She made him wait in the living room for such a long time.
"Where's the dagger?" Locke asked. What he was most concerned about now wasn't what she was wearing, but his dagger.
Joaquin pouted and was a little annoyed that Locke was only paying attention to her dagger. She flicked the spatial ring on her index finger and a silver-white dagger with a hint of emerald suddenly appeared and flew towards Locke.
Locke caught the dagger that was flying towards him and flipped through it impatiently.
Originally, the dagger was made of ordinary iron ore. Now, some unknown material had been added to it, and the surface of the dagger was shining silver. Moreover, the body of the dagger was streamlined, and it seemed to be smoother than before.
Complex green patterns were all over the dagger. They weren't ordinary decorations, but mysterious runes drawn by a master alchemist. Angelina could only draw simple runes at the moment. She still needed a long time to learn more complex and fine runes like these.
The end of the dagger was still wrapped in the familiar roll of dark red linen. However, he noticed that there was a layer of gold thread wrapped around the ordinary linen. In terms of texture and aesthetic value, it was much better than before.
"Thank you!" Locke thanked him sincerely this time.
"You're welcome!" Joaquin said. "I didn't know what kind of dagger you like, so I didn't change it in general. I only changed some of the details," said Joaquin as she pointed at the dagger.
In terms of appearance and shape, the dagger was indeed the same as before. However, a normal person wouldn't associate this sharp and luxurious dagger with the previous one.
Locke thanked Joaquin, not because of the powerful dagger, but because she didn't make any major changes to the dagger's original appearance. Compared to its power, he cared more about the dagger itself.
"I added some wind mana and engraved two simple spells, Spin and Sharpness," said Joaquin as she pointed at the green patterns on the dagger.
Actually, even without her saying it, Locke could roughly feel the dagger's new function the moment he touched it.
After throwing the dagger out, the dagger could spin and return to the user's hand without any reduction in speed.
Sharpness: Firstly, it increased the dagger's sharpness and cutting ability. Secondly, it indirectly increased the speed of the dagger. It was very likely that the user would only see a flash of green light before the dagger hit its target.
These two magical properties alone were enough to double the value of the dagger. Not to mention the silver blade, it must have been made with some precious metal other than the green cuckoo's feather.
After taking his dagger and chatting with Joaquin for a while, Locke got up and was ready to leave.
"This is for you!" Joaquin tossed two bottles of red bubbling potions to Locke.
Locke took the potions and asked in confusion, "What's this?"
"Crimson potion," said Joaquin.
"It's enough for me with the dagger. I can't take this potion anymore!" Locke refused. He had already taken advantage of her, so there was no way he would accept another gift from her.
"Don't be in such a hurry to reject me." Joaquin bit her lip and said, "Take it as a reward for saving me!"
Locke was stunned and put his hand down. He held the potions in his hand and paused for a while before saying, "Alright."
Crimson potion was a precious potion that could even help mid-rank Knechts improve. If Locke wanted to quickly become a high-rank Knecht, he really couldn't do without it.
I'll just take it as owing Joaquin a favour, thought Locke.
After Joaquin sent him off, Locke walked out of her mansion. The moment he got into the carriage, he suddenly realised the second half of what Joaquin had said.
While Joaquin was about to go home, Locke suddenly asked, "When you said I saved you, was it that night or from the green cuckoo?"
Joaquin, who was halfway through turning around, paused, as if she didn't hear Locke's question. She then walked into the mansion without slowing down.
In the end, Locke still didn't get an answer even after the servant closed the door.
Locke tilted his head and got into the carriage. The shadow guard then drove the carriage back.
In June, not only did the academy go on a holiday, but almost every academy in Princeton also had a long holiday. It was rare for Locke to have a whole month of rest. During this month, he spent time with Angelina, Glace and the other girls at home. One week, he even brought them to Aethweiss, the province next to Princeton, for a week.
Angelina had participated in a few missions and went out many times, but for Glace, Suzanne and the other girls, it was their first time going out since they arrived in Aomar, so everyone was very excited.
Kristin was the craziest. She grabbed the hands of Locke, Glace, and the other girls along the way, looking curious about everything. She even bought gifts for everyone, including Angelina.
The gifts were exchanged for various treasures in Kristin's spatial necklace. She was now the richest girl in the family, second only to Angelina and Glace.