But it didn't turn out as he had hoped, no breakthrough to become a Second Rank Knight—although being a Second Rank Knight would be nice, even a First Rank Knight would do, these were merely titles Colin had given to himself.
If he wanted, as the one who had opened a new path for Knights, he could have called the realm he reached after his breakthrough a Second Rank Knight.
But Colin didn't want to, at least not this time. The degree of improvement he felt did not reach a qualitative change.
If it had to be said, it would be more appropriate to say that he had gone from a Basic Level First Rank Knight to a First Rank Intermediate Knight.
Colin put away the Golden Paper and carefully felt the changes within himself.
The strength of his Knight Aura had increased by about thirty to forty percent, and the Fighting Aura Vortex within his body had become much larger.
The 'Fighting Aura Core,' the Extraordinary Organ located in the lower abdomen, had also undergone some special changes—it had become more spherical and its volume had slightly expanded.
Compared to the path of the Wizard, a clear and wide avenue trodden by countless people, the path of a Knight was still an unknown small trail hidden in a dark, dense forest.
On this road, no one could help him, nor could he refer to any existing material or records.
'Maybe I should find a few more Breathing Skills for Knights to learn?' Colin thought to himself.
Previously, after the Limit Breaking breakthrough of the Yi Guang Breathing Method, a special Guiding Skill had appeared, which was why he had successfully progressed as a First Rank Knight, although that time he had also been influenced by the special Ancient Tree Heart.
This time, his Limit Breaking breakthrough was achieved, as before, by continually compressing and increasing the Energy within his body—or in other words, the Fighting Aura.
This method had been very effective so far, but it was foreseeable that in the not-too-distant future, perhaps the next time he tried to advance his Knight Level, he would encounter a situation like the former Great Knight's limitation, where he could no longer progress.
When that time came, to make further progress on the path of a Knight, he would still need to rely on Golden Paper Limit Breaking.
And for Golden Paper Limit Breaking, it naturally followed that the more Breathing Skills he had, the better, so as not to turn the Breathing Skills golden and temporarily be unable to break through after one or two attempts.
'Let's head back to the city,' Colin thought as he scanned his surroundings and collected his thoughts.
After erasing any traces of his presence, he began his journey home.
It was now the sixth of May. He would get accustomed to the newly enhanced strength of a Knight, and then he could attend the auction tomorrow.
About two hours later.
Colin arrived at a slightly smaller Wizard City—Alfred.
This time he didn't choose to seclude himself far away from Neustadt City as he had previously.
Certainly, Alfred wasn't exactly close to Neustadt City, but compared to other Wizard Cities with Transmission Arrays, it was still much closer and required significantly less in terms of transmission fees.
Colin paid the fee and stepped onto the Transmission Array.
Whoosh!
The light from the Transmission Array flashed, and in the next second, Colin was back in the familiar Neustadt City.
It was now only early evening, the clouds on the distant horizon were resplendent, and the sunset was like fire.
However, seeing this beautiful sight, Colin, who had just stepped out of the Transmission General Bureau, furrowed his brows and took out his constantly flickering School Badge.
"Colin Leonard, upon receiving this message, please proceed to the General Affairs Castle immediately to receive your new mandatory task."
'Another new mandatory task?' Colin was slightly startled, but he no longer resisted as he had at the beginning.
After all, even if the School hadn't issued a mandatory task, in some time, at most until the research on Combined Witchcraft was complete, he would need to undertake some School tasks to earn contribution points.
As for any possible stumbling blocks laid secretly by the Pureblood Families... As a Wizard who was officially a Second Rank Basic Level but whose actual combat strength was at Second Rank Advanced, Colin wasn't overly concerned.
Putting away the School Badge, Colin made his way to the Tin Saint School's General Affairs Castle without delay.
The Wizard on duty took the School Badge and placed it into a Witch Tools for inquiry:
"Respected Mr. Leonard, your mandatory task this time... um, there seems to be an error in the crystal's feedback. Let me check again, please wait."
Colin raised his eyebrows.
The duty Wizard fiddled for a good while, then scratched his head and said, "The crystal indicates that your task was to transport a batch of goods to the front lines, but it has now been canceled."
"Canceled? What does that mean?" Colin asked in confusion.
"Did you just receive the School Badge notification today?" asked the duty Wizard, as he stroked the Witch Tools crystal and continued, "The crystal shows that the School issued you this mandatory task four days ago."
"A few days ago, I had some business that took me away from Neustadt City," Colin replied.
"No wonder, that might have been why the compulsory task was so urgent, and after you didn't respond, it was assigned to someone else," the duty Wizard explained. "Such cases are rare, but they have happened before."
"Do I still need to do a compulsory task now?" Colin thought for a moment before asking.
"Yes, you still need to, just not that one," the duty Wizard nodded, then suggested,
"You'd best stay in Neustadt City for the time being. Based on past experience, the School will assign you a new compulsory task within at most half a month."
Colin was somewhat speechless, nodding his head emotionlessly.
"...I understand."
...
Yanan Calendar, May 7th, afternoon.
Wate Auction House.
Colin walked out of the auction house's main entrance without showing any emotion, his handsome face expressionless.
But if one observed carefully, they could still see the surprise hidden deep within his blue eyes.
Perhaps the law of conservation of luck had come into play, the bad news of the compulsory task from the School yesterday, but the success of today's auction.
Indeed, the Coldthorn Flower turned out to be a treasure that could trigger a response from his Frost Talent.
And there weren't many people in this auction competing with him for that treasure; in the end, he successfully won it with a bid of 100,000 Magic Stones.
Without going home, he hurried to the True Knowledge Society laboratory, and Colin swallowed the Coldthorn Flower with his eyes closed.
Traces of cold air seeped out from his mouth and nose, causing his eyebrows and temples to involuntarily frost over.
About ten minutes later, Colin's mind willed it, and he summoned the Golden Paper.
His gaze immediately found the Frost Talent column – as expected, the progress behind it had reached 100 out of 100!
Without hesitation, Colin took out Magic Stones and began the Limit Breaking process.
One hundred thousand... Two hundred thousand... Three hundred thousand... The numbers behind the Limit Breaking Point soared, right up until it reached three hundred thousand when the ↑ symbol finally lit up behind his Frost Talent.
Colin winced somewhat at the loss of the remaining Magic Stones.
Magic Power is earned quickly but spent even faster.
But on second thought, such an expenditure is normal.
After all, his current Frost Talent is one that allows him to effortlessly unleash an attack comparable to a First Rank Wizard's standard assault; it would be strange if Limit Breaking were cheap.
Moreover, the more Magic Stones consumed in Limit Breaking, the more powerful the Frost Talent indicated... with that in mind, Colin felt much better.
The Magic Stones were not really gone; they had merely remained with him in a different way!
Taking a deep breath, Colin focused his spirit and pressed firmly on the ↑ symbol.
Bang!
A ripple of pale blue cold air suddenly spread out from Colin, who was sitting cross-legged, like a tide washing outwards.
At the same time, his temples and eyebrows, which had only just melted not long ago, were once again covered with fresh frost.
It was unclear how much time had passed when Colin opened his eyes, a flash of frosty white and joy passing through the deep blue pupils.
Frost Talent, successfully Limit Broken!
Colin slowly stood up, the frost on his eyebrows and temples disappearing as if upon command. He waved his hand lightly, and a deep blue chill swept forward...
'Not bad.' After feeling the effects of his Talent post-Limit Breaking, Colin allowed himself a slight smile.
As if thinking of something, he rested for a moment before waving his hand again, calling forth an Ice Element.
Now that his Frost Talent had been successfully Limit Broken, it was time to continue his prior research and see if, as he suspected, he could make new advancements in Combined Witchcraft studies!