Chapter 144: Breakthroughs
Could someone who only knew basic mathematics work on differential geometry in only one go?
Of course not. It would probably take him hundreds of times… trying to take the first step.
This was why when Angor planned to “do it in one go”, he ended up lying on the floor with his eyes spinning.
To use his spirit power to make the third slice and create the third surface in his mind space proved to be way harder than he thought.
Most talents would not have much problem doing the first slice, and it would take some time and effort for them to do the second. From the third and on, however, they needed talent and knowledge as well as more time and training.
In his current condition, Angor would need a long time on the third slice.
Days and nights passed. Angor spent all his time in a loop between two conditions: brain exhaustion and lying unconsciously.
When he looked into his mirror, he thought he was looking at someone else. One day, Toby even picked out a string of white hair from the back of his head, which further proved that Angor stressed his brain too much.
However, Angor did not want to stop his extreme way of training. He could feel that he was making progress every day. Stopping here meant giving up his hard-earned momentum which could possibly slow down his further training.
The training did a lot of damage to his health, true. But it was not all about bad things. Apart from making progress, Angor sensed that his logical thinking and mental arithmetic abilities had developed to an amazing level. For many complicated calculations which required time to work out before, now he only needed to glance at them briefly to instantly figure out the answer in his brain.
Not many people in this world could work out calculations at such a speed. If Jon was here, he would also be shocked at how much Angor had grown.
The Month of Looming Frost had entered its second half. The first day, the second… and now, the fifth.
The calendar had turned to a new page, declaring the arrival of the Month of Freezing Earth.
When it was the second half of the Month of Freezing Earth, Angor received a message from Sailum that the boy was now successful in controlling his spirit power. Nausica also found her spirit power and began her second step on the way toward being supernatural.
Good news from his friends gave Angor both joy and the enthusiasm to work hard.
Half a month ago, Angor could only keep his “mind overdrive” status up for five minutes before falling unconscious on the ground. Now, he could do it for half an hour while maintaining his top condition.
The third surface had to intersect with the previous two, thus calling for several times more calculations than before. Angor had to be extremely careful when choosing the three coordinates for this surface.
He worked out a vague location for the first coordinate on the tenth day of the first half of the Month of Freezing Earth, and still needed more time to work out the exact numbers.
The world welcomed the Month of Frost.
Following Orlando, Sailum was the second one who successfully generated mana pool in his body and declared himself a supernatural, officially becoming an apprentice wizard.
Next, Nausica joined them as another Level-1 Apprentice thanks to her great effort. On that day, she and Sailum came to the apprentice town to tell Angor about the good news and to reunite with their friend.
When they heard that Angor still did not become an apprentice yet, Sailum felt a bit worried.
When leaving Angor’s house, Sailum mumbled in a small voice, “When my professor taught me about the Slow spell, Mister Ness came and talked about Hookdick with Kaylar. Mister Ness was very satisfied with Hookdick’s progress, and he would take Hookdick to accept baptism at somewhere called ‘Soul Soil’. I guess Hookdick is now an apprentice too.
“Considering that man, if he heard about how Angor hasn’t broken through yet… I’m afraid he’ll do something stupid.”
Sailum was worried. With Sunders behind Angor’s back, Hookdick did not dare to attack Angor openly, but he could order someone else to do it. Angor was a mortal now, without spells to protect him or fend off attackers. Even someone with raw muscle strength could harm Angor easily.
Nausica heard him and put a hand on the dueling sword on her waist. She said, “I’ll try to come here often and look after the place. I can accept some quests from the quest hall along the way, so I can protect Angor while earning merit points. Beside… I sure need some battle experience.”
After Sailum and Nausica left, Balba appeared under a tree not far away. The man was leaning against the tree with the copy of Circular Cut Channeling in his hand. He was not reading the book. His eyes were glimmering with intelligence. Instead of returning to the caves, he walked into the depth of apprentice town.
Angor did not know any of these while he was in his villa. He had been focusing on his work on determining the first coordinate for the third surface.
After going over sleepless effort for two months, the first coordinate was just around the corner of his mind.
In the middle of a dark night, someone let out an overjoyed yell inside Angor’s house, which caused a shadowy figure beside the river to look up. However, the figure quickly returned to reading his book again, using an oil lamp nearby.
Naturally, it was Angor who just yelled in his house.
On the last day of the first half of the Month of Freezing Earth, Angor finally found out the first coordinate of the third surface. Further calculations proved that the answer was correct. This meant he was one step closer to his final result.
Angor enjoyed one night of good sleep, which he missed for a long time.
His good mood persisted onto the second day. The sound of a bird chirping came from his attic in the early morning. And it was a duet too. Toby was probably playing with the Echo Flower again.
Thinking about how he had been disregarding Toby for two months now, Angor felt a bit ashamed. He promised Toby deep-sea fish slices before, and he had not fulfilled his words.
Well, with another achievement done, Angor decided to give himself a day off and took Toby to the marketplace. He needed to get some cooked food as well. Any more fast food and he would throw up.
Angor aimed for the ordinary market run by common folks. The underground market asked for merit points and magic crystals, and Angor did not have much of those. He had to save up.
Toby chose to wear a fisherman costume which came with a bamboo hat with a wide brim. It looked both funny and adorable on the bird.
Angor’s steps sprung because of his good mood. He still had a lot of gold coins on him. This place was far from the sea, so the deep-sea fish product was very expensive. Angor did not mind the price though. He paid two large pouches of coins without much thought. Seeing its new snacks, Toby hopped on Angor’s shoulder anxiously to urge Angor to hurry up, so that it could get back sooner and enjoy the delicious fish.
Angor paid a young man two copper pieces to help him carry the food sack back. Then he went to Sweet Milk again to buy some milk pastries as a reward for himself.
After having enough at the market, Angor slowly strolled toward his villa.
Angor saw the young man earlier in front of his door waiting for him while carrying the fish sack. The runes on the fences would not allow strangers to go inside without the owner’s permission.
Angor quickly stepped up so that the young man did not have to wait for too long.
The man only gave Angor a bright smile in return. While exchanging courtesy, Angor turned around to unlock the entrance.
As Angor turned his back, the young man suddenly changed his expression into a cold sneer mixed with complicated emotions.
When Angor was not looking, he revealed a cruel grin.
Talent, huh? So what, you still gonna get killed!
With a swish, the young man took out a dagger hidden on his waist.
The weapon shined with a silver glimmer like a clean mirror, suggesting its extreme sharpness.
Without hesitating, the young man stabbed at Angor’s back.
As a monster, Toby was a lot more cautious to its surroundings compared to Angor. When the young man revealed his weapon, the metal noise and a faint smell of blood on the blade both warned Toby of approaching danger.
Toby turned around and quickly saw the dagger going for Angor’s heart. He did not have the time to warn his master now. Toby launched itself from Angor’s shoulder and dashed out like a flying arrow, talons revealed.
Common people could not catch Toby’s speed when the bird decided to go all-out. The bird did not go for the young man’s vital spot because killing him would not guarantee that his dagger could be stopped. Toby’s target was the man’s hand.
Sharp talons slashed through the young man’s wrist like knives.
He screamed in pain. However, it seemed that he was trained to bear such experience and he quickly maintained his focus. Instead of stopping, the young man’s dagger-wielding hand went for Angor’s back even faster.
Toby’s heart was on edge. If he did not do something quickly, Angor would be injured badly, or worse!
But as a small bird, there was not much he could do now.
Suddenly, a bulky figure dashed between Angor and the young man. The figure grabbed the dagger in a blink of an eye.
Blood came spilling out from the figure’s palm.
The attacker tried to look at the intruder. Before he could get a good look, a hairy knee hit his face and sent him flying.
The mighty force threw him away in a perfect curve in the air. He landed on the ground several meters away and coughed up blood. Next, a dueling sword created a silver trace in the air and pointed against his neck.
Angor found himself pushed aside forcefully by someone. He struggled a little to maintain balance. When he realized the snack sack in his hand was safe, he sighed in relief and turned around to check out what just happened, only to find two more people in front of him.
Balba was standing beside him with a cold expression. The man’s palm was bleeding.
Nausica, in her soft and elegant armor, pointed her dueling sword against the delivery man’s throat. She was also showing a violent look.
Meanwhile, Toby was circling in the air with blood dripping down his talons.
*What the… *
Angor was completely puzzled. What was going on? He was just trying to unlock the door. One second later, some kind of big crisis came about?
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