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Chapter 68: Dragon Scale Flower (1)

Translator: Leo Editor: DarkGem/Frappe

By the end of the forest, there were two tall black bunkers sitting on both sides of the main road and endless black city walls were connected to them. A large wooden door was opened between the two bunkers, several guards in white leather suit patrolling around it. Some of them were questioning the coachmen on the carriages that were trying to enter the door. The guards' iron helmets looked like hats, most of them looked a bit chubby, and they all had the goatee on their chins. There were V-shaped red signs marked on their chest pieces, and none of them looked like experienced fighters.

Two large carriages were waiting to enter the door while slowly moving forward. A cute blonde girl stuck her head out of the first carriage's window, looking around curiously. In the second carriage, Angele was peeking through the window with no expression on his face.

He was recovering well after resting for several days. His attributes were climbing back to normal, and he felt much better. Angele could finally pick up weapons and he could finally protect himself. He was now in a much lighter mood, but he still needed some time until he could do whatever he wanted.

Several swordsmen were following the carriages by the side and Dunleavy was one of them. The guards saw the noble insignia on the carriage, so they just let them through, not even checking with the coachman.

The carriages entered the outer area of Lennon City without issues. Many paths laid between the trees. Angele could see pedestrians and other carriages on the road. They continued along and Angele began seeing houses and mansions.

He saw a small river running down the roadside and a wooden waterwheel moving slowly on the other side. There were people carrying water buckets back to their houses and women washing clothes by the river. Several farmers were working hard on the cropland. It was noon and the sunlight was strong enough to make everything look golden.

Angele sat on a chair and looked out the window, feeling pleased with the scenery.

"Peaceful, eh?" Dunleavy asked, walking by the second carriage with his greatsword on his shoulder.

"Yea, it's a different world for me." Angele nodded.

"It's great," he continued.

"Lennon City is the safest city in the territory and Lord Melos is very kind. I've always wanted to settle down here," Dunleavy said.

Angele nodded his head and looked ahead. There were several kids playing with the water by the river, and he could hear them laughing.

"It's a peaceful place. I think I'll just stay here." Angele smiled.

"Really?" Dunleavy looked at him in confusion.

"Well, it's pretty hard to get a residential permit here," he said. Dunleavy wasn't sure if the young man impulsively decided just now.

"It's fine. It being hard doesn't mean it's impossible, right?" Angele shook his head before speaking. There were 20 provinces in the Ramsoda Empire. Angele thought Lennon City was great. This was the first city he visited in this country, and he liked it a lot so he decided right away. In this place, no one knew who he was, and it would take him only half a month to reach the harbor. Wizards would give their utmost not to hurt civilians, so they wouldn't fight in such a peaceful city.

After Angele told Dunleavy of his plan, the latter caught up with the first carriage and told the owner. The carriages suddenly stopped and Avril's family quickly got off the carriage. Angele did the same.

"Angele, right?" The nobleman smiled.

"You decided to settle down here?" he asked.

"Yes. The environment here is great and I like it a lot," Angele bowed as he answered. They saved him, so he wanted to show them his gratefulness.

"I think you know how to protect yourself right? What's your actual plan?" the nobleman asked.

"Yes, I can protect myself. I was just traveling around and I was attacked by the bandits on the way. It's my first time in Lennon City, but I think it's a great place for me to settle down for now," Angele replied.

"Since you have made your decision, I think you wouldn't mind dropping you off here," the man nodded before he said.

"Thank you for saving me. If there's anything I can…" Angele planning on returning the favor, but the man didn't let him finish speaking.

"It's fine. We don't want anything from you," he said before returning to their own carriage. Avril followed him from behind with a disappointed face.

"Thank you! For everything you did for me." Angele bowed again. He knew that if it wasn't Avril, the nobleman wouldn't stop and help him. He really wanted to do something for them, but it seemed like they didn't care. Angele waited by the side and shook his head. The guards brought him his black horses, and Angele held the reins in his hand.

He understood why the nobleman wanted to stay away from him. He was a total stranger and the nobleman probably knew that he was lying about the bandits. The nobleman still didn't want to become the target of whoever was tracking Angele down. Avril had a disappointed look on her face. Angele guessed that she had tried convincing her parents to let Angele stay with them but she failed.

The nobleman helped Angele, but he didn't want anything in return because he didn't care. He thought the less relationship he had with Angele, the safer his family would be. Angele watched the carriages leaving, only stopping after another team of merchants walked pass him.

He had prepared some valuable items that he was going to give to Avril, but they left so quickly that he didn't get the chance to give it. Angele stood on the grass by the side. He heard horses neighing, wheels rolling, and people chatting. He felt everything was so real. He took a breath once, inhaling the fresh air.

There were several white flowers mixed in the grass and several insects moving around. Angele raised his head and looked ahead. The road seemed endless; there were many farmlands and ranches around. The wind was gentle, causing Angele to feel refreshed.

'Zero, check my body condition,' Angele asked.

'Analyzing… Angele Rio: Strength 2.9. Agility 4.1. Stamina 3.9. Mentality 3.8. Mana 3. Status: Healthy,' Zero reported.

'Good, I recovered a lot…' Angele thought smilingly.

'Great, my mentality also increased. Haven't checked it for a while.' He was satisfied with the result. Angele's mentality was 3.5 before, and it took him about ten days to increase it to 3.8. An average rank 2 wizard apprentice would need 20 days to achieve it. If Angele could continue to increase his mentality like this, he would reach rank 3 in a year. He could feel the change brought by increasing the mentality. He could sense things better than before.

'I need to find a place to live. Although wizard resources are hard to find, the chip can help me build a new database. I can make some basic medicines to make a living here. Also, I can try to look for new materials as substitutes so that I can reach rank 3 much faster.' Angele planned as he kept moving forward on the road.

More and more houses appeared by the roadside as Angele advanced further into the city. There were also more pedestrians and the road was much better than the outer areas of the city which was pretty much just mud. Angele entered the downtown area with his horses.

The street was busy and most of the people around were wearing gray-white clothes. Some women were checking around the vendors with large buckets hanging on their arms. Every building was medieval-style, either having white or gray color.

Two drunk men were drinking by the entrance of a pub Angele passed by, barely could understand what they were saying. Angele walked down the street slowly fully geared. The people around him tried to stay away from him after seeing what he was carrying.

The street was wide and Angele kept checking around different stores. He saw bakeries, pubs, cloth shops, spice shops, drug stores, grocery stores, and crepe stands. It was the most advanced city Angele had ever been to. It was better than Marua Harbor because everything was well-organized here. The place was busy but people were following the rules.

Angele found what he was looking for quickly as he entered an alley. It was dark and quiet, but the air here smelled sour. Angele saw a middle-aged woman asking two young men to carry wooden barrels out of her shop. There was a paper pinned on the board of the store that read 'Shop for Sale'.

"Excuse me, are you the owner? Is the shop for sale?" Angele asked. The woman heard Angele asking and walked toward him.

"I am. Are you interested?" she smiled as she asked.

"I almost cleaned it up. You just need to pay me the money, show me your identity card, and sign the contract. After signing the contract, the shop will be all yours," she continued.

"Identity card?" Angele scrunched his eyebrows.

"I just got here, where can I get it?" Angele asked. He had enough money; he learned that the magic stone was actually a commodity that could be used everywhere. He acquired this information on his way here. Initially, he had thought that he wouldn't be able to use the magic stones after he left the school. Angele also learned that one magic stone could be exchanged for a lot of money. Avril told him about the exchange rate and what a magic stone could get him. Its value was very high.

"That could be an issue…" the owner said. She suddenly saw the black magic stone in Angele's hand and stopped for a second.

"But for a rich guy like you, it would not be a lot of trouble," she continued.

"Good." Angele smiled. It seemed that his plan would work.

Chapter 69: Dragon Scale Flower (2)

Translator: Leo Editor: DarkGem/Frappe

The owner only wanted a fragment of a regular magic stone. However, Angele didn't know that magic stones could be broken into pieces. She then asked for Angele's information and quickly ran out of the shop. Half an hour later, the owner returned with an identity card and a commercial lease agreement in her hands.

She handed the card over to Angele and asked him to sign the contract. The owner left with her crew after everything was done as though she didn't want to stay here any longer. Angele wasn't sure if he was ripped off, but he was surprised that he could get the identity card so easily.

Dunleavy told him that a residential permit was hard to get and the identity card that would grant him the right to be a resident here according to the shop owner. Angele knew the magic stone had a high value, but he didn't expect to get the identity card and the shop with just one piece of the regular magic stone.

Angele put the card and the contract into his bag, and he checked around the shop again. He decided to do some cleaning and he wanted to close the door. Suddenly, he heard people walking towards his shop.

"Get out," a man yelled. Angele raised his head and saw five strong men standing by the door. They had daggers or axes in their hands, and they were covered in sweat and awful smell.

"Who are you?" Angele scrunched his eyebrows, and he asked.

"You're the new owner?" The man stepped forward before he asked. His skin was darker and there was a scar on his face. The guy looked tough especially when he kept swinging his axe with his hand.

"Yea." Angele nodded.

"Good. Do you know the rules?" the man asked.

"Rules? What rules?" Angele scrunched his eyebrows before asking.

"Twenty gold coins per month and the bad guys will leave your shop alone," the man stepped into the shop as he said.

"Twenty gold coins? Fine." Angele nodded. He was still a stranger to the place, so he wanted to stay out of trouble. He still needed time to adapt to the new environment.

"Also, since you're new here, we need to charge you a little extra. It will be a one-time fee. 2000 gold coins." The man got greedier after seeing Angele agreeing to pay 20 gold coins each month without hesitation.

"2000?" Angele asked with a disappointed face.

"Yea. Why? You don't want to mess with us." The man raised his axe and waved it in the air. The other men started to laugh, staring at Angele in mockery.

"Young man, pay the money and we'll protect you from any trouble, but if you don't…"

"Heh, hurry up!"

"I saw your sword, but you don't look like a swordsman at all," they started to yell. 20 gold coins was fine, but 2000 gold coins would be a huge amount to anyone. Those thugs wanted to blackmail him. Angele looked outside through the showcase, unable to see anyone walking by.

"I suggest you guys leave right now and I will forget what happened." Angele stared at them and said with a deep voice.

The leader hadn't expected Angele to threaten them. He looked at the sword that was hanging by Angele's waist carefully and realized the young man probably knew how to fight. The leader saw Angele's sheath that had some blood stain on it, which made his expression change.

"You little punk! How dare you try to threaten us! Do you know we're with Roddie's Sword?"

"Let's f*ck him up!"

"We need to let him know who the real boss is!" The other thugs didn't see their leader's expression, only continuously yelling.

Angele suddenly stepped forward and grabbed someone's neck. He then threw him toward the wall, which made the man faint right after hitting the wall. The other thugs were still wondering what just happened. One of their members was taken out within a second and the only thing they saw was Angele putting his hand around the fainted man's neck.

Angele had the speed of a knight, so these thugs stood no chance against him. He wasted no time and put down the other four men left. They rolled around grimacing in pain.

"Give me all your money," Angele talked to the leader. Angele was trying to stay out of trouble, but since he already beat them up, he decided to collect some pocket money.

"How dare you! You know we're with Roddie's Sword, right?" the leader said as he glared at Angele.

"Well, I don't care. You know you won't win a fight against me." Angele said with a mocking tone as he kicked the leader's waist.

The leader winced in pain as he rolled around. Angele grabbed the black leather pouch that the leader dropped on the ground. There were about 40 gold coins, some silver coins, and some random items inside it. There were also two egg-sized yellow balls which looked strange.

Angele thought they were made from mud and also noticed that the weight of the gold coins here was lower than where he came from. He grabbed one of the yellow balls and squeezed it with his fingers.

'Umm?' Angele found something strange about it. The ball had a smooth surface and he could smell the fragrance of herbs from it. It was surprisingly tough, but he got more surprised after figuring out what it was made from.

'It can't be…' Angele thought.

'Zero, compare the fragrance to the one in the database,' Angele asked.

'Comparing,' Zero reported.

'Comparing results: Rubra 94%. Viper Skin Grass 79%. Dragon Scale Flower 71%. Lizard Flower 13%.' It took Zero several minutes to search the database.

'I knew it… If it really contains Dragon Scale Flower, it must be the real Rubra. Those balls are Rubra, and I can use them to increase my Mentality. Also, if there were Dragon Scale Flowers growing around the city, I will be able to make them by myself,' Angele smiled after thinking of this.

The leader was lying on the ground, glaring at Angele with hatred, but Angele found him likable after finding the information he needed from the pouch.

"Where did you find this?" Angele asked as he hid his excitement in his mind.

"If you touch my boss again, I will…" a thug lying beside his leader yelled. Angele didn't want to waste any time, so he kicked the thug in the head. The thug flew out of the door and stopped moving after hitting the ground. Blood was coming out of his head. No one knew if he was dead or alive.

The others were silent after seeing what Angele just did, while the leader looked scared.

"One of my men stole a bag of goods and this was one of the items I found inside the bag." The leader looked at the Rubra as he said.

"Did you see a flower that has white petals and black pistils?" Angele asked.

"Yes! I did!" The leader nodded his head rapidly.

"Give it to me." Angele was really excited, but he tried not to show what he was feeling on his face.

"I don't have it with me… I left it at home," the leader said.

"Get up everyone. Take me to your home." Angele looked around. He wanted to make sure no one escaped. Angele wasn't sure what exactly Roddie's Sword was, but if one of them called for reinforcements, he could be in trouble.

If he could find the Dragon Scale Flowers, he would be able to craft the Rubra. The Dragon Scale Flowers were the rarest material, but the rest weren't hard to find. A good amount of Rubra could help reduce the time he needed to reach rank 3 by half and the Rubra would still be helpful even after reaching rank 3.

Angele saw the Dragon Scale Flower once when he was still in the school because one of the masters showed it to them in a class. Otherwise, he wouldn't have it in the database. Zero recorded the Flower's properties when Angele saw it in class.

The thugs got up from the ground and one of them grabbed the unconscious on the ground. Angele took his most important bag with him and followed the leader into the deeper alley.

They spent about half an hour in the alley and finally arrived at the leader's home.

"We are here," the leader said in a light tone. There were barely any people around, but Angele could see prostitutes with heavy make-ups walking around and he also heard drunken people singing random songs. The ground here was covered with dirt and it was very sticky. The place really stank.

"Move, everyone." Angele stared at the leader and the other thugs followed them into a small building. The leader grabbed a small bag from his disorganized bedroom and took out a flower that had white petals and black pistils.

"That's the one!" Angele yelled.

"That's… what you want?" The leader started at Angele.

"Give it to me," Angele said.

The leader suddenly looked behind Angele. His eyes were wide open and had a horrified expression on the face. Angele was so excited that he forgot Zero to report if anyone appeared behind him, so he just turned back to check. It was too late when he realized what the leader was trying to do.

The man threw the flower into his mouth and swallowed the whole thing. He had a smile on his face as though he was proud of what he just did.

"F*ck you!" the leader swore and stepped back.

"Kandra, kill him!" he yelled.

A man jumped into the bedroom from the window, trying to attack Angele. Angele saw the flower was gone. He felt the blood rushing into his head, turning his excitement into pure rage.

"No! My flower! You will pay for this! You filthy insect!" Angele felt his temples boiling from the blood.

"How dare you!" he yelled.

Angele had never been so enraged. Even the wizards thought the flower was rare as one Dragon Scale Follow could be made into a great amount of Rubra. It would cost Angele more than a thousand regular magic stones to get it, yet the thug merely ate it in front of him.

Anger boiled deep in Angele, not expecting a thug to have the guts to do something like this. Also, Zero didn't detect the guy who just jumped into the bedroom. He must've hidden extremely well.

"You are going to die!" Angele screamed, and his voice echoed.

'Elimination plan initiated. Sensory integration enhanced. Targets locked,' Zero reported. Angele's eyes started to shine, and the blue flashes produced lit up the whole room.

Chapter 70: Settling Down (1)

Translator: Leo Editor: DarkGem/Frappe

Angele's blood was boiling; he drew the sword and slashed forward with great force.

*DANG*

The man's dagger blocked Angele's attack. The noises created by the clashing of weapons echoed in the room.

Angele yelled and applied more force to his sword; the dagger was pushed back to the man's face. Suddenly, a stream of blood appeared in the air and the man's head was cut open. The man dropped his dagger and Angele slashed down with his sword. He could feel the sensation of cutting the man's body open, and the noise sounded a bit horrifying.

The leader thought his plan worked, only standing there and laughing, but after seeing what Angele just did, his expression changed and he decided to run. However, he suddenly lost his balance when he turned back. His legs were aching.

"Ah! My legs!" the leader screamed in pain and he fell to the ground. There were lines of blood coming out of his ankles slowly. Angele kicked him in the waist again.

The man with a dagger dropped to the ground and the stench of blood permeated all over the room. The man didn't suffer for too long, dying after several seconds.

"Even Kandlean can't fight him…" one thug said with a shaky voice. Angele didn't say anything, only turning around and stepping forward. He cut the two thugs' necks open before they could escape, causing them to just fall to the ground and die.

"You don't run after destroying my Dragon Scale Flower!" Angele's eyes were still shining and his blood vessels were visible around his temples. The blue light coming out of his eyes made him look horrifying. Two thugs outside the door knew that things went wrong, quickly putting down the injured thug and deciding to run. Angele grabbed the daggers the dead thugs dropped to the ground right away.

��Target locked. Adjusting force. Adjusting parabola,' Zero reported. Angele could see two blue points marked on the escaping thugs with in front of him.

'Done,' Zero reported. Angele threw the two daggers toward the thugs.

The daggers flew through the air and pierced the two thugs' back. They screamed as they fell to the ground. Their bodies were twitching after Angele had aimed for their vertebras. Even if they survived, they would be paralyzed for the rest of their lives.

Angele turned back and finished the unconscious thug off with his sword. Angele then glared at the leader that was lying on the ground and pointed at his neck with his sword. The blood on Angele's sword kept dripping onto the leader's neck.

"No! No! No! You need me! Don't!" the leaders yelled. His tears mixed with the snot were running down his face.

"You want the Dragon Scale Flower, right? The one I ate was fake! It was a fake!" he kept yelling.

"What?" Angele was still pointing his sword at the leader.

���It's fake?" He grabbed the leader's neck before he asked.

"Say that again?" Angele glared at him.

"I'm a member of the Snake of the Sand Forest, so you… you should let me live!" the leader stuttered. He could see the blue light coming out of Angele's eyes, causing him to nearly piss his pants. Angele leaned toward the leader and he didn't smell the fragrance of the Dragon Scale Flower. The flower the man ate was probably something else as he probably just tried to lure Angele into an ambush.

Angele calmed down a bit and pulled the leader up.

"Where's the real Dragon Scale Flower?" Angele asked.

"And what's the Snake of the Sand Forest?" He added.

"Master Wizard, we're just low-ranked members of the organization. The flower I just ate isn't the real Dragon Scale Flower. It's something that we use to trick the buyers. We don't have any Dragon Scale Flowers at all. The Snake of the Sand Forest is the name of our organization. I know nothing else…" the leader explained quickly. He was still staring fearfully at Angele's sword. There was still something suspicious, but Angele knew most of his words were true.

The Dragon Scale Flower was a well-known treasure and most nobles knew about it. Angele knew he wouldn't be so lucky, but he wondered why he got so angry after seeing the man eating the flower. He felt that he was too greedy, so he decided to be more careful next time.

"Do you know where I can find the real Dragon Scale Flower?" Angele asked in a low voice.

"I'm just collecting the protection racket and I really know nothing about it…" The man was sweating that Angele could see beads of sweat running down his face. The man knew that if he couldn't make Angele satisfied, he would become a dead body just like the others. He decided to at least give something else to Angele.

"Also, Master Wizard, I still have the fake flower I ate. Would you like some of that?" the leader asked.

"You still have those?" Angele asked.

"It's right here, in the storage chest." The leader was not lying.

Angele looked around. There was a broken wooden bed in the room; the floor was dark and wet with blood all over it. He could see spider webs in the corner and could smell the horrid stench. Angele found a gray iron chest filled with the fake Dragon Scale Flowers by the window. He grabbed one of the flowers; the flower was soft and it had a good fragrance. The pistil was black and the petals were white, but its shape was a bit different from the real Dragon Scale Flowers.

The Dragon Scale Flowers had sharp edges on its petals, while this one had round petals. If Angele didn't take a closer look, he wouldn't notice the difference.

"It's fake…" Angele felt a bit disappointed. He couldn't imagine how much progress he could make if the chest was filled with real Dragon Scale Flowers.

'Searching the database… Similar match: Lizard Flower,' Zero reported. Angele put his hands into the chest and he confirmed that it only had Lizard Flowers in it. He looked disappointed.

Angele stood up and left the bedroom. The leader was still lying on the ground and he looked scared. Angele walked toward the man that jumped into the room through the window. He finally knew what the man looked like.

The man was wearing a black suit. His face was covered with a black facemask. He was bald and his skin had a weird skin tone. It was green mixed with gray, and the green parts looked like mold. Angele almost sliced his head off, and the man also received a deep wound on his chest.

Angele scrunched his eyebrows and searched the body. He found a small leather pouch tied to the man's waist, seemingly full. Angele took it down and opened it. There were some gold coins and silver coins. Angele also found a piece of paper inside, and there were several words written in Anmag on it.

'18th… Afternoon… Restfor… When the Hallows of the Sun disappear…' Angele read the paper, finding out that it looked like some sort of plan. There was a red dagger mark below the words.

"It looks like they're trying to kill someone else with this plan. The ambush is set for someone else, yet the leader had to use it on me. That's why they didn't say anything about the fake flower on the way," Angele said while reading the plan.

'The Lizard Flowers and the Dragon Scale Flowers looks very similar, but Lizard Flowers are just flowers, while the Dragon Scale Flowers were great materials for Wizards. The fragrance of the yellow balls is probably created by some spice master. I should have used the chip to scan the flower when I saw it.' Angele thought. He stood up with a disappointed look on his face.

"This is just part of the plan, right?" Angele turned back and asked the leader.

"Yes… There were ten more ambushes set up in different areas of the city, and that's all I know. I didn't know you are a wizard." he said.

"So you're just looking for people who are rich enough to buy the Dragon Scale Flowers and lure them to the ambush?" Angele threw the paper on the floor, and he asked.

"You're right. I thought you were just a rich traveler…" The leader regretted what he did.

"I don't really care about you. I just want to know where the real Dragon Scale Flower is, and why the man in black could stay undetected," Angele said with a cold smile on his face.

Ten minutes later…

Angele walked out of the alley and he could see no one around. People probably ran away after hearing the commotion. Angele looked at the item in his hand in satisfaction. It was a small scroll that the leader had given to Angele before he died. It was the secret skill of the assassin's guild 'Snake of the Sand Forest', and this was the skill the man in black used, even Angele could not detect his presence.

'The plan was made by the Snake of the Sand Forest, and it has nothing to do with me. Though I didn't get the Dragon Scale Flower this time, I still obtained the secret skill,' Angele thought as he put the scroll back into his pouch carefully.

'Warning! A large group of people is approaching. Please stay alert. 150 meters…148 meters…145 meters…' Zero warned. Angele looked around, walked into an alley and disappeared.

Ten seconds later, a group of guards gathered around the building, and they were wearing white leather armor suits. Most of them were overweight, only moving slowly with the heavy armor suits. It seemed that only the two leading men in the team were capable of fighting.

"That's the place," a man with a war hammer said with a light voice.

"But someone already took care of the problem." He kicked one of the bodies on the ground hard, causing the blood to be spilled everywhere.

"Let's check the place," one of the leaders walked inside, and he said.

"Follow me!" he yelled.

Several minutes later, the two leaders stood around the body of the assassin. They had serious expressions on their faces.

"It's a member of the Snake of Sand Forest. Furthermore, he's a Black-Mask Assassin. It looks like they messed with the wrong guy," one of the leaders said.

Chapter 71: Settling Down (2)

Translator: Leo Editor: DarkGem/Frappe

"There aren't that many people who can survive the ambush of a Black-Mask Assassin. I can also sense a mysterious power around here," the other man spoke in a low voice. He took off his helmet, showing a blue face. The man had fin-like ears, blue skin, and white pupils — clearly not a human being.

"You Merfolk are so sensitive to mysterious powers. Since you mentioned it, the Snake of Sand Dust must be dealing with a…" The other man didn't finish his sentence, but his reaction was etched with fear.

"You're right. The first time I encountered such mysterious power was around 13 years ago. I can still recall it." The merman nodded with a serious face.

"I suggest we leave this master alone…" he continued.

"I will report the situation to the Senior Officer," the other man said.

"It's been so long since I last discovered this mysterious power," the merman stood up, and he said.

"Let's move. We still have work to do. Take several guards with you and report our findings to the senior officer," he said.

*****************************

Angele had been hiding in the shadows behind the building all along. After a few moments, he heard the guards leaving.

"Merfolk could be a problem…" Angele murmured as he scrunched his eyebrows.

'But they didn't seem to care about the guys I killed. What's more, it looks they fear the power of wizards,' Angele thought. He lowered his footsteps and walked out of the alley.

He followed the way he came from, quickly reaching his newly-bought shop. No one else was around, but he could still see the leftover footprints of the thugs. Someone had stolen his horses. However, Angele took everything important before leaving, so he didn't care about it anymore.

Angele walked into the shop, put down the bows and quivers, and his bag. Before leaving, he locked the door. Angele had taken a decent amount of coins from the thugs. His dried food rations were gone, so he had to buy something to eat.

He found a pie store by the street, which had a sign outside that had 'Darling's Pie House' written on it. Angele carried his sword on his back as he walked into the store. The store had white counters, and there were about 7 to 8 tables arranged in a neat manner, showing a clean and well-organized store. Several workers were handing packed pies purchased by customers on the line.

Angele could smell the delectable scent of a freshly baked meat pie, making him salivate from hunger. He inhaled once, relishing the smell before sitting at an empty table. Albeit busy, the place wasn't crowded; several waiters and waitresses were entertaining the customers.

"Hello, what would you like to order?" A waitress saw Angele sitting down, so she came over to take his order. She wiped her hands on her white apron.

"What do you have?" Angele asked.

"Our signature dish is the Scallion Meat Pie. We also have the Sesame Sweet Bread, Deep Fried Doughs, and the Vegetable Pies," the waitress said, her voice crisp.

"Can I have a Scallion Meat pie, please? How much is that?" Angele asked.

"Two silver coins," the waitress replied. Angele took out two silver coins from his leather pouch and handed it to the waitress as payment. It took about 10 minutes for the dish to arrive. The meat pie had a golden crispy exterior; the minced meat and scallion were mixed up inside its filling. Angele sliced it into pieces and put some into his mouth with a fork. The texture was great, the pastry layer was crispy, and the fillings were savory: not greasy and not too salty. The wholesome and succulent taste instantly turned Angele into a fan of the meat pie.

He ordered another portion after he finished eating it and even quickly finished the second serving. Angele stood up and walked toward the counter. Lunchtime had already passed, so there weren't that many customers at present.

"How can I help you, Sir?" a clerk asked.

"Do you deliver? Can I have meat pies delivered to me every day? I'll give you the time and location," Angele asked.

"Sure, we can do that," the clerk replied.

"Also, bring a glass of milk and some juice, too," Angele added.

Twenty minutes later.

Angele didn't need to worry about purchasing food every day after placing orders at the pie store. He returned to his newly-bought shop again, and then he decided to start meditating after closing the door. His shop was still empty, without any merchandise to sell. Angele didn't bother with it for now. He just sat on the floor with his legs crossed and began to meditate. Angele was a knight-level warrior, and as long as the environment wasn't too bad, he would be able to meditate.

The infection which inflicted him along the way was most likely due to the black needle. Otherwise, he wouldn't be infected so easily. However, there was no data about the black needle found in the chip's database, so he had no way to test it. He needed several types of equipment for him to obtain data on the black needle, but he was out in the wild with no ways of having access to a full set of equipment.

After about an hour of meditation, Angele stored the Stun Spell in the chip and decided to go shopping. He wanted to buy a bed, some basic furniture, and some daily supplies. Also, Angele wanted some new clothes and boots.

It seemed he needed to be a noble at this place for him to purchase and wear colorful clothes. Angele could prove he was a noble, so this wasn't a problem to him.

************************************

In the next half-month, Angele lived in his shop, and the only thing he did besides sleeping and eating was meditating. The only times he'd go out was for shopping, which was merely for several instances. At present, Angele finally had the time to study the information stored on the chip. He had also tried to learn the secret skill of the Snake of Sand Forest. Angele thought it was worth it considering how it helped the assassin stay undetected within the radius of the chip.

Angele already learned the basics of the Hand of Exhaustion, and he needed a huge amount of mentality for the chip to improve the spell. He had no way of increasing his mentality at this point, so he decided to take it slow.

*Tap tap tap*

Someone knocked on the door while Angele was training his sword skills. Only after wiping the sweat off his face did he open the door. A 10-year-old girl with a ponytail and was wearing a polka dot apron and a white headband was standing by the door with a black metal box in her hands.

"Mr. Angele, here's your pie," the girl politely said.

"You can leave it on the table." Angele turned back and walked to the backyard since he wanted to train in the basic sword skill set. The backyard had plenty of space for him to work around, and there was a well in the middle if he became thirsty.

Angele held his crossguard sword, training his front slash, vertical slash, and horizontal slash. He kept training in these three basic slashes with a speed so fast there was barely any noise generated in the moving sword. It was as though a silver triangle's conception was made possible because of the sword moves.

"You're not leaving?" Angele suddenly sheathed his sword, turned around and looked at the door. The girl was peeking through the gap with a face filled with interest in sword skills. The girl's face turned pale after noticing Angele's gaze.

"I am very sorry." She stepped forward and bowed to Angele.

"Mr. Angele, I was just wondering what you were doing…" she said in a wobbly voice. Angele looked at the girl. Her height was average for her age, and she was a bit too thin as though she was malnourished. The girl was the one who had been delivering food for Angele every day. She was very polite, never late, and always showed respect to Angele. Angele liked her attitude — he thought people must be humble and hardworking in becoming successful in life.

"It's fine. I'm not mad. Do you like swords?" He walked toward the girl slowly, and he asked in a manner that wouldn't scare her.

"Yes, Sir. I am just… curious. Please forgive me for walking into your backyard without permission!" The girl bowed again, apologizing nervously.

"You are lucky, girl. I'm in a good mood today. What's your name?" Angele asked. His understanding of the secret skill of the Snake of the Sand Forest was close to perfection, so he was currently feeling enraptured.

"Tia. My name is Tia," the girl answered right away.

"Next time you deliver the food, you can stay here and watch me train." Angele knew Tia wasn't merely curious; she also had the desire to learn. Angele had seen her expression and realized that for a long time, she must've wanted to learn the sword. Angele didn't care if others were to attempt to copy his sword skill set as he wasn't a phony noble like others. Instead, he would love it if he could give others the chance to control their destinies. Tia looked extremely excited upon hearing Angele's words. She was so happy that she forgot to thank Angele. She merely stood there, not knowing what she should say.

"Okay, watch my movements carefully," Angele said. He walked back to the backyard and started to teach Tia the fundamentals. Angele had always thought that fundamental was important. Although fundamentals were easy to understand, mastering it was too difficult.

For generations, humans had dedicated their whole lives just to improve the fundamentals. One had to master the basics first before one could learn anything else. If one didn't pay too much attention to the basics, one's bones could break, and one's joints would suffer, resulting in a lifetime impairment.

This world was completely different to Earth. The weapons Angele saw were all far superior to Earth's counterparts. The swords, bows, and crossbows were too heavy, and their damage output was nearing the extremity. If he could wield a 50-pound sword in the same speed and agility as he could with a 20-pound sword, he would be far stronger. The only problem Angele had was that he needed to spend more time training.

Chapter 72: Invitation (1)

Translator: Leo Editor: DarkGem/Frappe

Half an hour passed.

Angele showed Tia several different basic sword maneuvers and thought it was enough for the day. He returned the sword to its sheath carefully before he gazed at the sky. It was covered with billowing clouds as though a storm was coming.

A chilling wind blew into the backyard, deprived of the sun's warmth, as darkness took over. The weather had been scorching hot in the past several days, yet now all the heat was gone. Angele walked toward the well, put down his sword, and wiped the sweat off his face with a black towel.

"Why are you still here? Go home and think about what you learned today," Angele turned back, and he said. Tia was still standing by the door filled with disbelief from Angele letting her stay. She nodded after she heard what Angele said, her face filled with happiness.

"Yes, Master. Thank you very much! I'm leaving now!" Tia said. As she turned to leave, her path was blocked by several strong men. Two men in plate armor suits pushed Tia away and stared at Angele.

"Excuse me. Are you Angele Rio?" one of the men asked.

"Who let you in?" Angele asked with a grim tone.

"I'm a noble, still, and you're on my private property. I didn't know the guards of Lennon City were this insolent," he continued.

"We're just doing our job. I don't think it's appropriate for you to accuse of us being rude!" the other man replied with a deep voice.

"Scum." Angele had a cold expression on his face.

"Say that again, and I'll make you pay for your arrogance!" the first man yelled, his hands placed on the handle of his sword.

"Try me, scum." Angele grasped his crossguard sword, taunting the guard mockingly.

"Come on, Morph. We're still on a mission!" One of the men stopped the guard named Morph as he calmed Morph down.

"We apologize for trespassing in your backyard without permitted entry, it's our fault," the man turned around, and he said as he bowed slightly to Angele.

"We are the City Guards. We're here to check your residential permit. We do this occasionally, so please be considerate. If you show us the permit, it would be nice," the man said.

"Yea, that's the attitude I like. However, you still violated my privacy, causing my mood to worsen now, so I don't want to show you my permit. You may leave now," Angele calmed down a bit, and he said.

"You!" Morph glared at Angele in anger, intent on drawing his sword.

"Morph!" The man stopped Morph again.

"Calm down! You'll be punished again if you keep acting like this!" the man yelled.

"Don't worry. I think you already did your job here," Angele said in a low voice as he looked at the two guards. Suddenly, they heard people in heavy armor marching into the backyard.

"Get out of my way, son." The two guards were pushed away by a huge swordsman.

"I…!" Morph got mad again, but the other guard pulled him back.

"This is the place." A group of heavily armored swordsmen marched into the backyard. Their leader was a person that had a black feather on his helmet. He didn't seem to care about the guards he pushed aside just now.

"Sorry, Master Angele. We saw the door already opened, and we could hear people arguing inside, so we entered to see if there was anything we can help you with." The leader bowed, his tone sounded like he respected Angele a lot.

"You're too slow." Angele shook his head, put down the black towel, and walked toward the door with the crossguard sword in his hand.

"Get out of here. I need to change," Angele said.

"You!" Morph was still infuriated. He had just been pushed aside by the leader of this group of heavy armored swordsmen, but he knew that Angele and the swordsmen probably had a higher stature than the City Guards. The other guard knew that there was nothing they could do, and instead just tried his best to calm Morph down.

These heavy armored swordsmen were the guards of the Lord Mayor of Lennon's mansion. The leader was named Gerac, a knight-level warrior. He guarded the city's entrance for five minutes alone during the War of Andrew. Thousands of enemies invaded the city, yet not even one of them was able to enter the city. Gerac killed countless enemies, and the slain corpses stockpiled until it nearly blocked the entrance.

The citizens called Gerac 'The Tiger of Lennon', so the City Guards decided not to cross with Angele after witnessing Gerac showing respect to this noble who had just arrived in this city not too long ago.

Gerac yelled; the guards quickly left the backyard one by one. Tia was the only one who remained in the place. Angele looked at the girl and saw her pale face. It seemed that she was scared witless by what just happened.

"Well, it looks like they misunderstood our relationship," Angele said. Tia looked at him in confusion, unable to make heads or tails of what Angele was saying.

"It could be a good thing for you." Angele didn't explain, only walking into his room and closing the door.

"Master Angele… He must be someone influential…" Tia stood in the backyard alone, not knowing what to do. She was just a girl who had a very frail body and an average-looking appearance. Tia didn't think Angele would become interested in her.

Tia knew that Angele didn't want anything from her as he was merely teaching her basic sword moves. Because of that, she felt very grateful to him. Her father was a drunkard, while her mother disappeared during childhood. Tia had known that she needed to do everything by herself since she was very young, that no one would be there for her if anything were to happen to her. One day, when she was nine, her father left the house and never came back.

She lost her home and lived on the streets for a while before she gained a job at the pie store. She only wanted food and shelter, so the owner never paid her actual money as her wage. Every day, she needed to work more than 12 hours, and if she ever made any mistakes, the owner would beat her up.

Still, Tia endured every pain she suffered. During work time, she would listen to the customers' conversations as her hobby. She learned that people feared the ones who carried weapons and knew that people who could fight would at least be able to protect themselves.

Tia dearly wished to become someone who could use weapons one day, so she tried training in the sword using tree branches whenever she had spare time. However, due to her lack of knowledge in wielding swords, her right hand got injured.

Angele corrected her moves, thus preventing her from damaging her right arm's muscles. If she hadn't met Angele, it would lead to her right arm becoming completely disabled one day. She wanted to gain power, so she trained every day no matter how hard her situation was.

Angele realized her right hand was in pain when he saw her the first time, but he never thought that the girl had been learning to use a sword without teaching her. He liked the girl's unyielding nature. After all, Tia wanted to become stronger, and she tried to reach her goal as if nothing could deter her. Angele thought that even if she couldn't become a knight, she would still become a great warrior.

Angele wanted the guards to have misconceptions about his relationship with Tia because he knew it was better for her. No matter what Gerac thought of their relationship, it would make people treat her better. However, Angele didn't want anything in exchange; he merely wanted to do something for her.

It wasn't a big deal to Angele, but what he had done would drastically change the girl's life.

************************

Half an hour later.

Angele had his clothes changed and all the valuable items kept inside his pouch. He was wearing a white suit with his sword tied to his waist. Angele walked out of his room and saw Tia standing in the middle of the shop; it looked like she didn't know what to do.

"Well, if you're not leaving, you better practice what I just taught you. I'll be back by nighttime," Angele said.

"I will, Master Angele," Tia said as she bowed to Angele. His words uplifted her mood.

Angele was planning on taking her in as a disciple. He discovered that she had the potential to become a knight upon analyzing her attributes with the chip. Though the chances were at a low point, she had better talent than Angele. Angele wanted to pass down his sword skills and archery, and he also needed some people to help him out while living in the city. He needed people he could trust and people who would obey his bidding. Angele could do everything by himself, but he wanted to spend more time studying and experimenting.

Tia was still young, but she was already hardworking, and she had a great potential. Angele had some spare time to spend. It would be nice if the girl became a knight, but it was alright if she didn't. Angele planned on just doing whatever he wanted.

"Let's go," Angele walked toward Gerac, and he said after.

"The Lord is awaiting you in his mansion," Gerac said politely. Angele knew the Lord was going to make a move after discovering the mysterious power Angele had. There was a black carriage waiting near the entrance of the store. It had a 'white bird and sunflower' insignia. The sunflower looked like jimsonweed, but it had a golden hue. Surrounded by the flowers was the white bird at flight.

Angele was surprised that the Lord himself had invited him to the mansion. It looked like they paid much attention to the mysterious power they discovered. Angele rode on the carriage and closed the door. The carriage started to move forward at a slow pace, escorted by the heavy armored swordsmen beside the carriage.

They left the alley right away. When Angele peeked outside the window, he saw the street bustling with activity.

Chapter 73: Invitation (2)

Translator: Leo Editor: DarkGem/Frappe

After the peak hour, the street had gotten much quieter, proven by how there were merely several noble carriages traveling along the way. Angele began to hear thunder rumbling from the sky as the clouds became much thicker; the street became darker as shadows loomed over the surroundings. It was as if nighttime descended, yet it was still noon.

The wind that had its temperature dropped screamed as it blew into Angele's carriage through the window. Angele slightly pulled up his collar to combat the chill; to no avail, however. It was because Angele was wearing a high neck collar luxury suit, which had silver flowers embroidered on the edge of the collar. If it wasn't for the night banquet he was going to attend, Angele wouldn't wear such impractical clothes.

Angele's white, high-neck collar suit looked a bit like a commander's suit but with fewer decorations. This suit he was wearing was similarly one commonly used by swordsmen.

The carriage kept advancing for another half an hour in peace only to be disturbed by a roaring sound. Angele heard this sound drawing near. He looked out through the window and found himself going uphill along a mountain path.

Angele glanced around. At the opposite side, there were mountains, and as he looked down, he found a river leading to a large waterfall at its end. This waterfall was the source of the sound Angele heard earlier. Large pieces of wet stones shined below.

The carriage he was on was advancing on the twisted hill road, which was beside the waterfall.

"We're almost there!" Gerac yelled outside. The noise created by the waterfall had almost muffled his voice completely, so he had to increase the volume of his voice to let everyone hear what he said. Angele nodded, pulling down the curtain to keep his suit from getting wet. Angele now missed his gray robe allocated by the college. The robe had a spell enchant, which maintained a new look and cleanliness. Thus, he never needed to wash it. Ever since he arrived at Lennon City, he hadn't heard any news about the school's situation at all.

"I'm already 16…" Angele closed his eyes and sighed. Many things had happened to him since he reincarnated into this world. He knew he needed to think twice before making decisions, but there were still some decisions he regretted. Angele inhaled the cold and humid air, making him feel refreshed. He stopped thinking about the past.

The carriage quickly arrived at the hilltop. A large, gray castle sat atop the hill surrounded by tall, thick walls. There was a large gate upon the castle walls, which was the only entrance to the castle. The carriage and the escorts stopped when they reached the gate. Angele opened the door and got off the carriage.

Angele hadn't had a haircut for a while, so his long hair flew about in the air as the wind blew. With him wearing a white suit that showed his robust body and his long hair, it gave off a wild yet gentle impression.

"I'll notify them of our arrival." Gerac bowed to Angele before walking into the gate. Angele waited outside along with the other guards.

Angele looked around as he remained standing by the carriage. He could see another hill at the opposite side of the waterfall, and built atop it was a large, gray castle. It had a slightly smaller size compared to the one in front of him, and there were sentry towers built along the hill roads heavily guarding the castle.

The scenery where the large waterfall lay in between the two castles looked magnificent.

"Great place," Angele praised.

"You think so too?" Angele turned his sight to the gate when he heard a voice coming from it. His eyes fell onto a muscular old man wearing a large, white leather coat. He sat in a wheelchair with a pale face, but he seemed to be in good spirits.

"Welcome to Lennon City. I haven't seen such a person with mysterious powers for years. We wouldn't have known you arrived in the city if it weren't for our Merfolk friend who sensed your power," the old man smiled, and he said before asking the maid to push the wheelchair toward Angele.

"Nice to meet you, my name is Alford Reed, Lord of Lennon City," the old man said.

"I'm Angele, pleasant meeting you too." Angele placed his left hand on his chest and bowed in courtesy.

"The night banquet is about to start, please come and join us," Alford said.

Angele nodded in response, and he followed the old man into the castle. Gerac and another white-armored swordsman walked alongside the Lord, while the rest of the guards followed them in the back. Angele had just entered the gate when he heard noises of arriving carriages coming from behind.

"Father! Why did you not tell me there would be a guest today?" a young man said. Angele turned around and saw a blonde man walking toward him with a smiling face. The blonde man had a beautiful face and a soft and smooth skin. Angele thought it was a woman until the blonde man walked closer to him. There was a whole group of guards behind him.

Before the carriage could stop, the young man jumped off it. Alford's facial expression became strange when he saw the young man, but it only lasted for a fleeting moment.

"My son, I didn't get the chance to tell you about Master Angele. I only saw the report today. I decided to invite him to my castle right after," Alford replied with a smile.

"You can call me Tinos, Tinos Reed. Welcome to Lennon City," the blonde man nodded as he said this to Angele. The latter caught the lord's strange expression. It looked like Alford feared his son.

For some reason, Angele couldn't help but do a double-take upon glancing at Tinos. The young man had a feminine face, fair white skin, and a clean, short hair. He was wearing a tight black leather suit. When he smiled, his purple lips caught people's attention. Tinos was strangely beautiful. If Angele were to associate him with something, it would be a thorny purple rose coated with deadly poison.

Angele glanced at the two guards behind Tinos. One of them was taller than the other. Both of them were wearing leather armor. The taller guard was similarly smiling. His white hair was left untied over his shoulders, and he was handsome. He was holding a black dagger.

The shorter one was a lady who had her face covered with a black mask holding two small stones in her hands. Her eyes and hair color were black. Complemented with the leather suit she wore, her attractiveness reached another level. Ten more guards stood behind them, all of which were beauties or handsome men.

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Tinos," Angele said as he gently smiled.

"I left the castle right away after hearing Master Angele was in Lennon City. Sadly, my father arrived first," Tinos said. Angele found Tinos's smile charming, causing him to feel a slight jealousy over Tinos's appearance. Angele, who had an average-looking face, had never cared about his appearance before but standing beside Tinos made him feel uncomfortably inferior.

"It's going to rain, why don't we enter the castle first? I hear the Lord has already prepared a banquet," Tinos continued.

"Sure," Alford replied, and Tinos nodded in response. Alford led the way; Angele and Tinos followed him. Some guards were dismissed, leaving the remaining guards to escort them to the castle.

Angele still wished to confirm his suspicions in regards to the strange feeling he had with Tinos. The young man didn't even have a beard, and his skin was smoother compared to other ladies. Angele could smell the woman-like fragrance coming from Tinos, causing him to have second thoughts. Angele kept convincing himself he was looking at a man.

They walked for a while. Every time Angele moved closer to Tinos, he found out the latter trying to stay away from him. It was as though Tinos was doing his best to have minimal contact with Angele.

'Zero, check Tinos's body condition and identify his gender,' Angele thought.

'Analyzing… Tinos Reed: Strength 2.0. Agility 2.7. Stamina 2.4. Mentality 1.2. Mana 0. Gene limit hasn't reached the peak. Status: Healthy. Gender: Male,' Zero reported.

'So he's a man… and his attributes are on a knight-level,' Angele thought. Tinos's attributes were on a mid-level knight's, but Angele wasn't certain of Tinos being a knight-level warrior. The chip was capable of gaining intel on Tinos's attributes, but it couldn't gain intel on Tinos's battle experiences and unique physical skills.

After Angele had become stronger, the results the chip showed had become more accurate. At present, he was 1 or 2 meters away from Tinos, and he decided to check everyone within a 5-meter radius. The two guards in black leather armor had knight-level attributes, and their Agility attribute was relatively high. The other guards had the same attributes as ordinary people's, and it was quite likely that they're worse than the city guards.

Angele hadn't expected to see many knight-level warriors here. However, the most important personage in Lennon City was living here, so the security level of this place must be the highest in the city.

'Well, it's likely that Tinos just likes handsome men and beautiful women. Perhaps he even hates average-looking people,' Angele made his conjecture. Lord Alford had an extremely high Strength attribute of about 5.0, but his Agility attribute was merely 0.5 and also, his Stamina attribute was only about 1.0. It seemed that Alford could no longer walk as he had been sitting in his wheelchair the whole time. Angele assumed that Alford would have been at least a top-level knight before getting crippled into his current state.

Angele also noticed that Gerac and the other white-armored guard kept looking at the guards behind Tinos. Instead, they kept a certain level of vigilance toward these guards. As Angele thought of this, he realized that there were still things he needed to figure out.

——————————————————

ED Note(s): I apologize for the inactivity during these past few days. Please forgive me as I haven't been able to edit quite properly because of one single reason: I accidentally broke my laptop several days ago.

*bows*

Please don't torch me or hang me. Please.

For now, I'm having it fixed so you can expect a normal release rate after 2 to 3 days… hopefully. I'll have to make do with my contingency plan — revive my antique pc. Heck, it's actually revived but the OS is still… um, Windows XP. Anyway, I hope that you won't get too angry with the recent silence in chapter releases. I'll compensate y'all with more chapters soon.

Chapter 74: Success (1)

Translator: Leo Editor: DarkGem/Frappe

As they passed through the garden, Alford whispered something to the guard beside him.

They weren't speaking in Anmag. It made Angele furrow his brows. Though he could hear what they were saying, he couldn't understand a single word.

The guard nodded in response before separating with the group and walking toward the right side of the garden. The garden was huge, and only after walking for more than 10 minutes did they finally reach the exit.

Angele finally saw the castle gate after walking past an ornamental pond. The gate was already open, and standing on both sides were maids and servants awaiting their arrival. It was still dark outside, but Angele could see the warm lights coming from inside the castle.

"Father, were you looking for me?" someone asked from behind.

"My son, you're finally here!" Alford exclaimed. This time, he had a face filled with gentleness — unlike when he was dealing with Tinos.

Outside the corner of Angele's eyes, he witnessed Tinos looking at his brother respectfully. After hearing his brother's voice, however, Tinos stopped looking at him nor showed any emotion on his face.

A blonde young man appeared from the corner of the garden and walked straight toward Alford. Angele looked at the man, his countenance turning stern. He was smiling; he had blue eyes and a balanced body. The man was handsome, and he looked identical to Tinos but was different. Angele could notice his eyes filled with confidence.

The young man's steps were heavy and steady. Angele felt like he was looking at a lion strolling in its territory. His expression turned more serious after that. Upon smelling a tinge of blood coming from the young man, Angele realized that this young man was a person who knew how to kill. The confidence radiating from his eyes indicated that he thought he's capable of anything. It was clear that the man's forged bloodlust wasn't a pretense. He must've had no small amounts of blood on his hands from his past experiences, which in turn numbed him toward violence.

"This is my other son, Harland Reed." Alford introduced the man young to Angele.

"It's a pleasure, Mr. Harland." Angele smiled and nodded.

Harland still held a garden shear in his hands. It seemed like he could care less about the presence of a man with mysterious power. He took pride in his power. Harland glanced at Angele for a second before nodding as a welcome gesture but spoke none of such greetings. However, after glancing at Angele, Harland did a double-take, and he became surprised.

"My apologies. I never thought my father's guest was a strong warrior," Harland said these words slowly. For a while, he looked at Angele, his face becoming solemn after.

"Haha, you're flattering me..." Angele replied, not understanding the underlying implication of Harland's words.

Harland handed the garden shear over to a worker at the side and walked toward Angele. He intentionally looked at Angele's sword for a moment, causing Angele to think Harland already had the knowledge of him being a top-level knight.

'Zero, show me Harland's information,' Angele thought.

'Analyzing… Harland Reed: Strength 8.2. Agility 6.1. Stamina 5.8. Genetic information: Unknown. Your possibility of surviving Harland's attack within a 50-meter range is 48.22%,' Zero reported.

'Holy…' Angele was surprised. It meant Angele would lose to Harland even with the assistance from his spells. Also, his attributes were extremely high.

'A grand knight… That's why he looks so confident,' Angele thought. He knew there were many strong warriors here, but he didn't expect to meet a grand knight with such high attributes.

Mid-level knights' attributes scaled between 2 to 3 in average, and top-level knights nearly had no contrast in attributes from mid-level knights. However, top-level knights had the burst potential that could increase their attributes dramatically. It was the reason why Angele became a top-level knight.

However, the situation was different for a grand knight. All of them were talented, and it was possible for them to have extremely high attributes. When dealing with an average knight, a grand knight could easily dispatch them in a battle because they have greater strength and agility. Also, grand knights had high resistance against physical attacks and their power after enkindling their burst potential was immeasurable.

One grand knight could fight against a whole army, and only archers and crossbow users would give them trouble. Average infantry stood no chance against one grand knight.

Harland met Angele for the first time today, but he had already shown great intrigue in Angele. They converse about everything, and they had a lot of drinks to boot.

Tinos and Alford didn't join in their conversation; the latter only sat there with a smile on his face. He was listening to the two talking about their experiences, but Tinos was disappointed. When Tinos tried to join in the conversation, Harland denied him.

After the night banquet, Harland asked the coachman to drive Angele back using his private carriage. He tried to invite Angele to stay the night in the castle, but Angele only smiled and declined his invitation. Harland didn't seem to be bothered by it, only being mindful of Angele's decision.

On his way back, Angele talked with the guards who were walking alongside the carriage. From their conversations, he learned a few things about Harland.

Harland Reed was the only grand knight in Lennon City, and the citizens called him the Molten Lion. He had a youthful face, but he was already 30 years old. Of the three major wars in the country, he took part in all of them. Harland gained a lot of great achievements during the wars. Subsequently, the king conferred upon him the title of 'Southwest Lion' and a decent-sized territory. The territory he gained was smaller than Lennon City but could still be considered a large one.

Harland showed Angele a gesture of goodwill by lending him his private carriage. This gesture caused Angele to try and make sense of whatever Harland wanted from him. The two of them both considered each other a threat unless Angele sided with Harland, which the latter indicated it to be a great thing. If Angele refused to do so, however, Harland would no longer treat him in a friendly manner.

Harland mentioned a lot about the rich reserves he discovered outside the city, and he even showed his desire of expanding his territory. He wasn't satisfied with what he had, so he desired more. To Harland, it was an infallible certainty for him to obtain whatever he wanted if he tried.

Angele had decided to settle down here, so he thought it was alright to join Harland's side. Still, he would rather initially ascertain the benefits in doing so.

Angele returned to his shop. He was surprised to see Tia still training with a twig in the backyard. She kept repeating the basic movements Angele taught today.

"That's enough, Tia. You should go back and have a good rest. Don't go too hard on yourself. Your right hand is still recovering," Angele told her after he threw a dry towel over.

"Understood, Master," Tia replied.

"Just call me Teacher." Angele corrected her.

"Yes, Teacher!" Tia enthusiastically said. She wiped the sweat off her body and refilled the water bucket at the well. Before leaving, she cleaned the towel first before returning it to Angele.

Angele found out that Tia had cleaned all the rooms for him and even mopped the floor. Because of that, Angele felt satisfied with the student he took in.

**************************

Time flew.

Angele stayed most of his time in his shop. He meditated, studied, trained his sword skills, and also tried to learn the secret skill he obtained before from the Snake of Sand Forest. Angele spent most of his spare time teaching Tia, and he went hunting with Harland twice. This new acquaintance of his invited him several times to private wine parties. At night, Angele would craft new potions using all the materials he could get his hands into the city as he tried to further his knowledge in Potion Study.

Harland had somehow found the horses Angele lost before and sent it back to him. Right after, the two horse thieves were arrested and sentenced to death with their carcasses getting discarded in the forest.

Angele had always known he wasn't that talented. He needed a long time to become a rank 3 Wizard apprentice, so he began to search for the Dragon Scale Flower and the Spartame Blue Stone. The Spartame Blue Stone was another rare mineral that could help Angele increase his mentality, and also difficult to obtain.

Though Angele didn't have high expectations of finding any of the two, he still amassed all the information he could find around the city. If he found one of them, the path to becoming a rank 3 Wizard apprentice would be much easier.

Angele kept doing those things for the next two months.

**************************

*Crack*

The sound of a beaker breaking into pieces was loud. Angele looked disappointed as he disposed the broken glass fragments into the garbage bin. The bin was already full of broken glass.

"Another one, gone," Angele mumbled. He started to think while staring at the equipment on the desk. Angele's desk was round, having a diameter of 3 meters. It was the largest object inside the shop. There were several different types of potion concocting equipment arranged on the desk, most of which had a red hue while the rest were transparent.

"The standard of the equipment is worse than the ones in school. Most of these can barely handle just one experiment," Angele said. He took another transparent beaker out of a wooden box from under the desk.

There were three large crates underneath, all made of black wood. One contained equipment, while the other two contained herbs. Angele segregated the fresh herbs and the dried herbs into these two crates.

Chapter 75: Success (2)

Translator: Leo Editor: DarkGem/Frappe

Angele took a dark red herb from the crate. He initially sniffed it before he put some of its leaves inside his mouth. After several seconds, Angele threw away the herb without saying a word and took out a mud-like material from the other crate.

Angele tasted it, only to throw the whole piece away afterward. He kept repeating this procedure until he finally found something of use to him.

Angele looked surprised but was also happy. He was currently holding an egg-sized yellow ball full of holes, scrutinizing it with his eyes.

"I hope this one works." Angele stared at this yellow ball.

He placed it inside a large beaker by the right side of the desk and grabbed a small glass bottle filled with some white, slimy liquid. He then poured some of the liquid into the large beaker.

Angele had a serious face while pouring the liquid, his eyes glowing with blue, shiny spots. With the chip's assistance, Angele could easily measure the number of materials and amount he needed. Angele closed off the glass bottle with a lid and put it down. He turned around, walking toward a small, black wooden box from the corner of the room. Inside the box was filled with green powder.

Angele scooped a bit of the green powder and sprinkled it into the beaker, white steam coming out of it right away. The green powder had begun to coagulate upon contact with the white liquid and burn from the flame that turned blue. The fire heated up the yellow ball and continuously produced steam out of it.

Angele maintained calmness as he poured some water onto the ball. With the vapor filling up the entirety of the room, he could barely see anything.

Angele waved his left index finger in the air and chanted.

*Whoosh*

Angele controlled the energy particles in the air and created a wind to blow away the steam out of his room.

Angele could finally see what remained in the beaker. The yellow ball had now melted, resulting in some slimy liquid that looked like a pile of mud mixed with water. The surface of the yellow liquid glowed under the light.

Angele looked excited, and the blue light spots in his eyes brightened.

'Successfully synthesized the substitute material. Usage of such material in the concoction of Awakening Potion is now possible. Please name the new material.' Angele heard Zero's voice resounding in his mind.

'Name it Green Water.' Green had been Angele's nickname, and he decided to use it as the name of the byproduct of the synthesis. He had collected more than one thousand types of materials, and with the assistance of the chip, he attempted to synthesize different materials to fabricate new types of materials. Finally, he had been able to create a substitute for the main component in the formula of Awakening Potion, and it gave him hope.

'Show me the comparison of Green Water and Dragon Scale Flower and tell me how similar they are.' Angele was extremely excited at this point. He tried to calm down as he ordered Zero.

'Comparing... inputting the formula... more information on the Dragon Scale Flower required... more practical data required... simulation model created.' Zero maintained its task unabatingly.

'Analyzing the results... If you use the Green Water as a substitute for the Dragon Scale Flower, the possibility of reaching half the effect of the original formula is 81.5%.'

Angele nodded his head. The result could already be considered good enough. Though the yellow ball called the Night Honeycomb was expensive, it was still much easier to obtain compared to the Dragon Scale Flower. Also, wizards uncommonly used Night Honeycombs in their researches and experiments, so he could easily purchase it from typical merchants.

Also, Angele needed the chip to monitor the material creation process. Otherwise, it would be difficult for him to control the temperature and amount of water. Every step must be done accurately and timed accordingly.

Without the chip, even a formal wizard wouldn't be capable of recreating the formula of Green Water. Angele didn't need to hide the formula. Even if he decided to teach the concoction process to someone else, it was nigh impossible for someone to concoct it successfully.

The concocting process involved the use of mentality. As each person had differing types of Mentality, this had become a critical factor in potion concoction, albeit how minuscule the difference was. Zero had formulated the plan based on Angele's mentality. It would be a farfetched idea for someone to obtain similar results as him. Only Angele could use a particular method in synthesizing substitute materials.

'Zero, begin the simulation.' Angele held the beaker in his hand and looked at the slimy, yellow liquid while smiling.

'Initializing simulation… Time required: 15 minutes.'

'Also, show me my body model.'

A blue hologram appeared in front of Angele's vision right away. The simulated model of his body was rotating horizontally, bits of information shown beside it. The information contained Angele's heart rate, brain activity, and all his attributes. Some of his body statistics were interminably changing, but most remained within a certain numerical range.

'4.0 Mentality already?' Angele looked at his attributes bar, 4.0 showing beside Mentality. The values after the decimal point were ever-changing but still relatively stable.

'My body is stronger than before, my genes are improving, and even the chip has become more accurate with its calculations. Initially, it could only monitor up to the hundredths. Now, it could now calculate values up to the billionth,' Angele thought.

However, my mentality didn't increase significantly. I'll need to concoct an Awakening Potion. I'm 16 years old already, so if I can't reach stage 3, I'll never become a wizard in the future. I must hurry.' Using the Awakening Potion was his best chance.

Ten minutes later.

'Simulation finished. The success rate of concocting the Awakening Potion is 23.15%.' Angele became relieved upon hearing Zero's report.

'The rate is decent. I'll at least succeed once every five tries... Okay... Zero, show me the procedures.' Angele's expression changed, turning that of solemnness.

'Step 1…'

**************************

Half an hour later…

Angele walked out of his room and entered the backyard. He took a deep breath and smiled. He raised his arm and there was a small silver bottle in his right hand.

"Finally, the first Awakening Potion! The amount I used was enough to be used for four attempts, yet I only succeeded once. I need to get my hands on more Night Honeycombs," Angele spoke in a solemn tone.

'Now, let me give this a try.' Angele locked all the doors and windows. He didn't want anyone to interrupt him.

He returned to his room and sat on his bed with his legs crossed. Angele pulled the glass cork out of the bottle carefully. The dark, slimy liquid suffused a chocolate-like fragrance from its container throughout the room.

'Well, it smells like chocolate. I hope it tastes like an actual one, too.' Angele shook his head before pouring everything into his mouth.

*Clang*

Angele dropped the small bottle, causing it to hit the wall. He had a pained expression on his face.

The potion tasted nothing like chocolate. It was salty and spicy, and it tasted like a hot seafood soup with a strange aftertaste. It was the most pungent liquid Angele ever drank. Sweat was rolling down his face, and his clothes were completely soaked.

Angele's face turned red caused by the burning sensation he was feeling in his throat and stomach.

'Show me my Mentality, Zero.' Angele tried his best not to throw up.

'Monitoring the Mentality…

Your Mentality is increasing.

4.1

…

4.15

…'

…

Angele had no idea how much time passed, but he finally began feeling better soon after. His clothes and bed, however, were wet.

'Zero, what's the new value of my Mentality?' Angele got out of his bed and stood up with a tired face.

'Your Mentality attribute is 4.2 units.' Angele inhaled once. He felt a bit relieved after hearing the result.

'One Awakening Potion increased my Mentality by 0.2 units, yet this one that I concocted only had half the effect of the original formula. To enhance my Mentality to 6 units and reach the next rank, I need ten potions. I need to keep looking for substitute materials and concoct more potions to drink.' Angele looked at his wet clothes.

'But it tasted extremely awful…' Angele still felt a lingering fear toward it.

'Wait… I haven't used the Black Lead Potion yet…' The Awakening Potion was the first potion Angele tried, but at this moment, he didn't want to even think about potions.

The potion was extremely spicy. Angele's throat and stomach were still aching. He could tolerate the pain but not the feeling of nausea. Angele didn't have any other choice, so he had to stick with potions.

Chapter 76: Promotion (1)

Translator: Leo Editor: DarkGem/Frappe

"Sold out?" Angele stood beside the counter with his brows furrowed.

"Yes, sorry, the ones you purchased last time was all we had," the lady at the counter tactfully answered.

"I apologize once again." She bowed.

Angele stood in front of a counter in a large herb store. The rays of the sun at noon came right through the entrance, causing his boots to shine.

There were eight clerks taking orders of the customers, and Angele was talking to one of them.

"I heard Grace Herb Store is the best in the city. Can you double-check with other branches to see if they still have stock?" Angele didn't want to give up.

"I am afraid they don't. The one you bought last time was the last Night Honeycomb we had. I am sorry to disappoint you, but we don't have anything in stock right now." The clerk apologized again.

"Can you tell me where you get the Night Honeycombs from?" Angele already spent the whole trying to buy the Night Honeycombs, and this one was his last hope.

"We buy them from the people living around here. If you truly need it now, I'd suggest you check the forest around the city. If you are lucky, you'll find the Night Bees. We don't have people who can collect them, so we can only purchase them from others," the clerk explained.

"Fine." Angele nodded.

Angele left the store and began to head back to his shop. He was still contemplating to figure out a way to obtain more Night Honeycombs. Angele had successfully concocted his first Awakening Potion last month and spent the rest of the month trying to buy Night Honeycombs from the herb stores in the city. However, he was only able to buy two, and none of the stores had the channels to purchase more for him.

Angele's luck was good as he was able to concoct three potions out of the two Night Honeycombs. His Mentality reached 4.9 units within one month after drinking the two potions and meditating every day. If he could get five or six more Night Honeycombs, it would be enough for him to reach the next rank. However, there was no more stock left in the city. It was quite likely that he had to go to the forest and obtain them by himself.

The problem lied in the Night Bees. With their needles coated with deadly venom, no one would be able to take the honeycombs if they were present in the vicinity. Night Bees were nocturnal creatures, and their dark outer shells made it difficult to detect them in the hours of darkness. Night Bees took several lives every year: they were dangerous since they attacked anyone who wandered in their territories.

Additionally, the Night Bees' honeycombs were small, and they would carry their honeycombs with them while moving to other areas.

Angele returned to his shop only to find a carriage parked right in front of the entrance. Engraved on the body of the carriage was an insignia depicting a sunflower and a white bird. It was from the lord's castle.

A group of full-armored guards stood beside the carriage, and among them were several people who seemed like officers. The alley was much cleaner than it was before, and the awful stench that reeked was gone. Tia was standing outside the door, looking at the carriage curiously. She was here to deliver food.

The officers walked toward Angele right after they saw him.

"Master Angele, you're back. Mr. Harland is waiting for you. We've arrived here since an hour ago," one of the officers spoke in a respectful tone. They were in-charge of the area, and they didn't want to mistreat Harland's guest.

The guards knew that the young man in front of them was someone invited to banquets in the Lord's castle. Thus, they realized that Angele was a person they couldn't afford to offend. They once visited the shop before, and Angele told them that he disliked being disturbed, so they decided to improve the environment around the alley instead.

"Mr. Harland?" Angele was confused for a second, and then he looked at the carriage.

"Angele, I hear you've been looking for Night Honeycombs. You should've just asked me instead. We're friends, right?" Harland got off the carriage with a smile. He was wearing a white cape.

"Of course, we are." Angele smiled.

"It wasn't an urgent matter, so I decided to check the herb stores first."

"Well, I hope you still need more." As Harland waved his right hand, a guard stepped forward holding a black wooden box.

Harland took it and handed it over to Angele.

"There are several Night Honeycombs inside. You can take it if you want." Harland had an honest smile on his face.

Angele opened the box and saw eight Night Honeycombs inside, each wrapped in black clothes. The way it was packed looked great.

"I do need them. Thanks." Angele looked happy. He slowly nodded as he closed the box.

"Glad I could help." Harland nodded.

"I have to go now. I still got some work to do."

"Sure." Angele stood there watching them depart.

After they had left the alley, Angele reopened the box. He looked at the Night Honeycombs; seven of them seemed to be aged, probably sitting inside the storage for years. However, one of them looked fresh — its color was bright. He saw some blood stains on its surface.

Angele furrowed his brows. He grabbed the honeycomb and sniffed it.

"It is blood. A weighty gift," Angele murmured.

He wondered why Harland decided to collect a fresh one aside from the seven old ones. Doing so most likely resulted in Harland losing several people. Though Harland tried to erase the traces of bloodstain, Angele had stronger and keener senses than average people, so he detected the blood on it with ease.

Based on the information he obtained from the clerks of herb stores, Night Bees had twice the speed of an adult male, and only knight-level warriors were capable of dodging some of their attacks. Furthermore, they were tiny, and their needles could easily penetrate leather armor. If they had decided to don heavy armor, they wouldn't be able to catch up with the bees' speed.

The Night Bees were nocturnal, which made them even harder for people to capture. A knight-level warrior probably left the bloodstain on it wherein causing Angele to think of it as a weighty gift.

'Though they obtained Night Honeycombs, Harland most likely didn't find the other materials I requested. I can't go to Rifts, and those materials are too difficult to obtain.' Angele shook his head and entered the shop with the box in his hands.

Angele told Tia to train in the backyard. Afterward, he sat by the table and took the Night Honeycombs out of the box. He placed those honeycombs inside a large glass bottle filled with clear liquid.

Angele had obtained the materials he needed, so he wanted to pay attention to the concoction of potions. Eight Night Honeycombs were enough to concoct eight Awakening Potions. With these potions and the supplement of meditation, he could easily grow his Mentality to 6 units.

************************************************

Time flew.

A week later.

Angele sat on his bed with his legs crossed, his expression calm. He had been unlucky these days. He only successfully concocted seven Awakening Potions, though he still managed to increase his Mentality to 6.2 units. Angele had initially expected to attain a 6.3 Mentality. However, his body seemingly began to resist the potion's effects.

'Well, at least I met the requirements.' Angele was relieved.

Angele asked Tia to take two days off. He didn't want anyone to interrupt him during the process.

Angele looked at the crystal clock on the table. It was 2:10 p.m. Angele got off the bed and took out the Black Lead Potion from the bag.

The bottle was the length of a palm and made from some silver metal. The rim of the bottle was sealed using a brown stopper. Angele placed the Black Lead Potion on the table before he took the tinderbox out of the drawer and struck the flint to light up the oil lamp. The oil lamp used a different type of fuel — one that looked like solid, white fat.

Angele set a beaker onto the metal holder over the flame and poured some light red liquid into it. He then grabbed a test tube that had yellow powder contained inside.

Angele sprinkled some yellow powder into the beaker, causing the red liquid inside to turn blue and cloudy within a second. He heated the beaker right after.

Ten minutes later.

The blue liquid inside the beaker was no longer boiling as it was before, but its color turned darker into something nearly black. When Angele began to smell a fragrance of flowers in the room, he thought that everything was prepared accordingly and nodded his head. He then grabbed the Black Lead Potion.