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.