It did not take too long for Angele to reach the special library on the third floor. He took out the key and unlocked the door. The room had no light at all, and it was very dark. Angele closed the door carefully, and he locked it. He lit the candle on the table, then finally seeing the room clearly.
There were three bookshelves in the room, but they were not completely filled up with books. The books were made out of leather; they looked heavy, and were very thick. Angele walked to the back of the third bookshelf. According to his memory, there was a strange book at the back of the bookshelf that was full of bizarre information, and he sometimes read it to kill time.
He also took out someone’s biography, and he walked to a reading desk. He started to read carefully. After a while, the candle was nearly out. He finally found a page with an image of the black card he had obtained. He took out his card and compared them carefully, and they were completely similar.
“That’s it!” Angele said, and he started checking the words at the side of the image.
Dark Emblem, an assassin organization across several countries. Their targets would receive black cards before the assassins would actually kill them. There was only one sentence by its side, but it was enough for Angele to understand what was going on.
“That guy will be coming for me.” Angele said, and he started to worry again.
‘Fear won’t help me anyway. I need to find a way to deal with him.’ He calmed down quickly this time and thought clearly. He thought over his day when he was in the bathroom, and he could calm down much faster now.
‘I’ve died once. It’s fine if I die again.’ He laughed.
‘Zero, did you get the data of the man that attacked me?’ He asked Zero in his mind.
‘Data collected and marked as Dataset 1. Name Unknown: Strength 4, Agility 1.5, Stamina 5. Weapon category: chain hook, longsword, knife.’ Zero reported.
‘Holy, how did I survive that…’ Angele thought.
‘He was poisoned before engaging.’ Zero reported.
‘Poisoned?’ Angele was trying to remember what happened before the chase. He shot an arrow, and it probably hit the man. He started dipping his arrowheads with the venom sacs he had found from red single-eyed snakes, and he could easily track down the preys if they were hit. He would burn the wounds to remove the poison if he wanted to eat them.
Angele started to scan through the biography quickly and used the chip to store all the information. He could search the data easily after, and it was like he only needed one second to scan all the words on the pages.
Besides the information about the black card, Angele also had something else he wanted to know. There was a record of a certain small flower. The author stated that there was a flower could make people become very strong within a duration. However, the aftermath was brutal as the people who ate the flower to fight their enemies all died afterwards. It looked like they died due to sudden heart attacks.
Angele stored the picture of the flower into his chip, and the flower had a fire-like red color. He went through the two books again before putting them back. He heard the footsteps of someone before he tried putting out the candle.
The door opened with a ‘Ka Cha’ sound, and the baron walked in with a serious face. He did not expect someone to be in the library, and he looked at Angele.
“Angele, still reading?” The baron asked.
“Yes, father.” Angele saluted, and he spoke with a light voice. “I am heading back.” He said.
“Alright.” The baron was not in the mood to talk. His hair was all over his shoulders, and he looked very tired.
Angele did not know what to say, and he decided to just leave instead.
“Wait.” The baron asked before Angele could go down the stairs. “I will send you to the Noman city, your aunt’s place. I am pretty busy recently, and I probably won’t have time for you. You can have a good rest there. What do you think?” He asked.
Angele turned back; it was actually a charming offer. He might escape the assassin if that man came for him.
“What’s this smell? Some fragrance from women? Angele, you need to control yourself, don’t spend too much time on it.” Before Angele could answer, the baron stopped him and said that.
“I…” Angele was trying to explain.
“Well, never mind. Go have some rest.” The baron stopped him.
Angele did not say anything; he left the room after seeing the baron waving his hands. Angele could hear his own footsteps in the darkness.
Angele walked down the stairs; he could see light coming out of the special library. He was a bit confused.
‘Check my body condition.’ Angele said.
‘Angele Rio. Body condition: Strength 0.8, Agility 2.4, Stamina 1.6. Status: Healthy, but with a special fragrance.’ Zero reported.
‘Special fragrance?’ Angele was surprised. ‘When did I get it, and where did it come from?’ He asked.
‘You got it before leaving the forest, and the smell comes from your right feet.’ Zero reported, and it showed Angele the graph of his body. Angele could see some blue circles around his right feet.
Angele confirmed his guess; the man in black left it on him. It was probably used for tracking. He ran into the bathroom again and asked the maid to bring him a bucket of water. He put his right feet into the bucket and started to wash thoroughly.
‘Is it still on my feet?’ Angele asked after washing for a while.
‘The concentration was not lowered.’ Chip replied.
‘I knew it would not be gone that easy.’ He thought; the fragrance was probably made for tracking.
‘He really wants me dead…’ He thought.
“Let’s see who is going to survive next time…” Angele whispered, and his face became solemn.
******************
It was the next morning, and Angele woke up before it got bright outside. He changed his clothes to a white hunting suit and walked down to the training grounds. Some people were already training there.
Dang!
A half-naked strong old man was hitting the forge with a large black iron hammer. There was a teenager standing by his side listening to the words of the old man, and they noticed Angele’s appearance right away. The old man put down his hammer, and he walked towards Angele.
“How may I help you, Young Master Angele?” The old man’s voice was deep.
Angele looked around the shop.
“I want a good complete set of body armor.” He said.
“Good complete set of body armor?” The old man was a bit speechless. “I have that, but it probably won’t fit you very well…”
“It won’t fit my size?” Angele was confused.
“The lightest set has a weight of over forty pounds.” The old man said.
Angele understood the reason. Based on his current strength level, forty pounds was probably too much for him, and his agility would then be greatly impacted. It was not a great idea for him to wear such a heavy armor.
“Well, can I just get some iron balls then? The ones that can pull the carriages?” Angele asked.
“We have a whole bunch of that here.” The old man pointed towards the corner of the shop.
“You can take as many as you want since they are made out of leftover iron. They’re perfect for parking the carriages.” The old man said.
Angele nodded, and he looked at the corner. There were a lot of round black iron balls there, about twenty or thirty of those. They were about the size of a hand, and it seemed burdensome to carry. They were forged to help store the iron in an easier way, and they could be used in many situations.
Angele thought of telling the baron about the fragrance on him, but he wanted to decide his own destiny. Also, he saw the baron had the same black card as he did, and he thought it was totally his fault.
‘If I can’t take care of myself in this world, I won’t live long. I can’t just rely on others all the time; I have to do this myself.’ Angele thought calmly. Since the baron had the card too, he was probably one of Dark Emblem’s targets too. Also, the baron was not stronger than the man in black he met; the baron’s data was even a bit lower. The baron looked apprehensive last night, and Angele did not want to make things more complex. Angele had advantages on agility, and he could probably try to retaliate with it. Last time, he wasn’t prepared, and he was trying to figure out a plan this time.
Angele asked several workers to carry the iron balls for him, and he took about ten of those balls. He also asked the maids to bind the balls with linen ropes and hang them over the beam inside his room.
He spent a long time to do everything, and it was already dinner time when he realized it. The red sunlight came through the window and poured onto the ground. There were about ten iron balls over Angele’s head right now. They looked like a bunch of cannonballs, and they were hung in a certain arrangement.
Angele stood in the middle of his room, and he examined those iron balls calmly. He took a deep breath, and he locked the door.
“Let’s get started.” He said, and he walked toward the first iron ball at the other end. He pushed the ball, and the ball started to swing. The iron ball matrix. This was exactly what he wanted. It was a game he played when he was on Earth, and he was pretty good at it. He could stay in the matrix for over an hour.
However, he played it with the AI on Earth, and now he was trying to use it physically. It was not easy, but the chip’s report said it would help him with his body’s development.
PONG!
An iron ball hit Angele’s chest when it swung back, and Angele lost his balance right away. The other balls started to hit him following the first one. He was simply knocked away from his original position.
‘How long do I need to recover?’ Angele checked with Zero after the fifth time he was struck by a bunch of iron balls.
’20 minutes.’ Zero answered.
Angele nodded, and he walked out of the door. He ran to the training grounds quickly; it was already a bit dark outside. Kerry and his father Audis were sparring against each other on the grounds. Both of them were using crossguard swords. Kerry seemed to be trying his best, and there was sweat all over him. Audis was very calm, blocking Kerry’s attacks easily.
There were many people watching the sparring, and people were all cheering for them. The place was boisterous.
Angele stood at a place slightly far away from the audience. He watched them spar carefully. Audis sometimes picked people to train with him in order to give them battle experience. Angele watched all of them, and he collected the opponents’ datasets. After half a month, he got the data of every strong fighter in the castle.
‘Are we done, Zero?’ Angele asked.
‘Data completed: 70%. Audis, Karl Rio, and Kerry’s sword skill data are complete.’ Zero reported.
Angele stopped watching, and he walked towards the dining area. He already gathered what he needed. Most of the workers in the dining area were out at the training grounds, cheering. There were only several maids cleaning there. One of them saw Angele coming, and she walked towards him.
“Young Master Angele, the things you’ve ordered are here. But I am not sure if I got them all, I did not have enough time.” The maid said, and she looked a bit nervous.
“Where is it?” Angele asked the others to leave.
“In the kitchen.” The maid answered.
They walked into the kitchen quickly. Many fruits, vegetables, and meat were placed on a large table in the middle of the kitchen.
“This was all I could find.” The maid said.
“Alright, you can leave now.” Angele said, and he walked towards the large table quickly. He wanted to sample all the food in this world, because he was trying to find something else that could boost his attributes. He then asked a maid to try collecting all the food she could find in the castle.
He gave two silver coins to the maid, and she seemed ecstatic about it. She bowed and left the kitchen after closing the door. There was a candlestand in the kitchen, and the place was a bit dark even with the light from the candle.
Angele grabbed a purple fruit on the table. It looked like a purple orange, and he took a bite on it. The taste of its juice was a bit spicy and sweet.
‘Analyze the fruits. Let me know if you can find anything that will boost my stamina.’ He ordered.
‘Analyzing contents…’ Zero started to work.