As more time elapsed and even though the aroma of purification had stopped coming, Angor was still maintaining his “painful expression”.
“Ohh, check this out! I think I drew in ten units of purification aroma!” Angor heard an apprentice inside the golden zone boasting about his achievement.
This man successfully attracted a lot of envious attention.
“I got two... well, bad place.” Another apprentice who was standing inside the white zone shook his head.
Angor heard more of such discussion and noticed that whoever stayed in the golden zone received at least five units of aroma, while those standing farther away from the tree received fewer. Also, Soul Manipulators obtained less aroma because their souls were already pure.
Every apprentice seemed overjoyed about the great experience even though they still carried filth and stench all over their bodies.
Angor looked at himself again. He felt his skin to be a little oily and dirtier than earlier, but that was about it.
It would be fine if he experienced no change at all while standing in the outer areas. However, he felt exceptionally uncomfortable because everyone was paying great attention to the few apprentices who occupied the golden zone. When compared to the rest of the apprentices in the golden zone, he looked so out of place.
Keely also opened her eyes and looked his way.
Telling from her twinkling eyes, which were full of energy and vigor, Angor could tell that Keely benefited greatly from the purification. In fact, Keely looked so happy that it somewhat replaced her cold and distant character.
“So, how many units did you draw?” Angor asked her.
Keely tossed a Cleanse on herself. “Sixteen.”
While speaking, Keely glanced at Jebra.
Jebra was now hidden inside a blue bubble. It was left by the horned whale. Upon realizing that Jebra’s own barrier failed, his pet gave Jebra the bubble to protect his handsome image.
And since she couldn’t see Jebra across the bubble, Keely looked back at Angor again. “What about you?”
She looked up and down and saw no noticeable changes on or in Angor. Almost everyone in sight had taken on their brand new looks as if they just gained a new life, yet Angor did not.
Is he perhaps hiding it? Keely thought.
“A little less than you,” Angor replied. He decided to give a vague answer.
He couldn’t possibly tell people that there were over 200 units of aroma entering his body, while he successfully digested zero of them.
Every last bit of purification aroma that reached his soul sank inside the strange scar without leaving ANY effect on Angor’s soul at all.
He didn’t know who could tell him why the purification process failed to work on him.
This was why he couldn’t find a proper answer to Keely’s question.
Keely raised an eyebrow upon seeing Angor’s strange reaction.
Did he not want to get embarrassed for absorbing too little aroma?
She wouldn’t care about anyone else in such a situation, but since Angor just saved her life not long ago, she would at least say something to comfort him.
“Someone with high soul quality will not draw much purification aroma. See those Soul Manipulators who were in the same condition as you? I think that’s what happened.”
Angor tilted his head in confusion.
Keely frowned. Oh, gods. Do I really need to make it clearer? Fine.
“Ahem. What I’m saying is, it doesn’t matter if you received too little aroma. This means your soul is already better than others, and it’s a good thing. Well, I kind of expected this to happen since you’re able to eject your soul often. You have a way to train your soul, right?”
Angor finally realized that Keely was actually trying to cheer him up.
Well, she knows how to care for others now, so I guess it’s good?
Truth was, Angor wasn’t really disappointed about the failed purification since he already gained a lot of merits from the garden challenge.
Previously, he came to the garden in order to get a better chance at becoming a wizard, even if just a little. While at it, he received a lot of unexpected surprises.
For example, Freud promised to give him a Mystery item as a gift. Well... his promise wasn’t truly reliable at the moment.
Then it was combat experience. A lot of it.
And not to mention, the great mirage legacy left by Erdus...
The last one was undeniably a priceless gift. Angor believed that, whereas one’s body, soul, and spirit could be improved, such amazing knowledge wasn’t something he could find with money or effort.
He was sure Erdus’ legacy would become a powerful tool in forging his path toward wizardry.
And when thinking about this, not being able to gain anything from the soul purification did not look so depressing. He already earned some improvement from the first two phases anyway.
There was no reason to complain now.
Angor smiled at Keely and played along by pretending that he really appreciated her advice, while Keely put up a “your little secret is safe with me!” expression. “Glad you understand me.”
A gigantic aura suddenly emerged from somewhere and interrupted everyone’s discussion.
“Someone is breaking through?!”
Angor looked up and saw the source of energy being Jebra, who had created a giant energy vortex above him that attracted people’s attention.
No one expected that someone would break through in such a situation.
It didn’t take very long. The energy surge was gone in three minutes. Yet people couldn’t see Jebra’s condition since he was always enclosed in that opaque blue bubble.
Those who were bragging about their achievements earlier all quieted down—what they did was nothing compared to Jebra’s accomplishment.
The altar area was basically a stage for the apprentices to compete against one another, and they all felt hopeless when someone was born with unsurpassable strength from the beginning.
Angor looked at Keely and saw the girl showing a similarly grim look. However, she didn’t seem to feel defeated. Rather, she appeared as if she would like to fight Jebra again as soon as possible.
Angor thought about convincing Keely into giving up since her hatred against Jebra was probably illogical, but he decided not to after noticing Keely’s determined look.
The giant tree in the center was still growing by giving out more branches. They reached all the way outside the protective barrier and absorbed energy from the garden world, after which the tree kept getting thicker.
The speed of growth lasted for another hour. It then slowed down when a single glowing fruit popped up from the center of the white flower.
“That’s... Fruit of Purification!” someone yelled in surprise while not hiding his greedy gaze.
Most people did the same by glaring at the fruit with their own greedy expressions even though they all knew that it wasn’t something they could reach for.
At the same time, Lawson addressed all the other wizards that were watching the monitor, “Now, good luck to you all.”
The wizards were getting restless when such a great treasure was presented in front of their eyes, but Lawson was confident that no one would do anything stupid in the center of Floating Mech City. Besides, all wizards who came today had signed a contract that prevented them from harming the city.
Lawson nodded to Muse and teleported into the purification garden. The arrival of one of the city masters silenced all the apprentices.
Lawson spoke to them while floating beside the fruit, “Being alive already proved your luck and strength. The purification you just went through is not the only merit you’ll gain today. There’s still something that will help you become the champion among all. However... you’ll need to fight for it.”
Lawson said something to allure the apprentices but without telling them the terrible difficulty of it.
Next, Lawson took out a silver walking cane and tapped at the purification fruit.
A green magic array began to expand starting from the tip of his cane, which slowly engulfed the entire tree until it turned into the green, pulsing cocoon.
He would now prepare for the garden’s evolution.
Lawson then reached out both hands. There was a blood-red glowing sphere in his left hand that displayed the illusions of the fish-infested world inside, while his right hand had a deep-blue sphere that showed the Sea of Purification.
Cautiously, Lawson pressed both spheres inside the cocoon.
Judging from the beads of sweat on Lawson’s forehead, one could tell that the job was not easy even for this truth-finder wizard.
Once the spheres fully sank into the cocoon, the array outside slowly crumbled away, and another overwhelming power descended from the sky.
The world’s consciousness had arrived.
...
The arrival of the world’s consciousness officially suggested the beginning of the evolution of the garden.
When this happened, the purification power would start leaking from the center and travel outward, while everyone who stood in its way had a chance to comprehend the law of purification.
The wizards waiting outside the garden all carefully observed the ongoing evolution while preparing their own means of accepting the power, either by theoretically calculating the routes of power or practically simulating the course of the flows.
But in the end, they all needed luck and destiny to succeed.
Compared to the wizards, the apprentices around the altar could only try their best to stare into the power, which was already hard enough.
Angor recalled Sunders’ words about how he “partially” comprehended the law of gravity by entering a strange condition called “tranquility of the soul”. He was hoping to comprehend the sequence of purification in the same way, but that amazing state wasn’t something he could ask for.
The evolution of the garden proceeded smoothly and gave birth to another brand new world, yet Angor did not sense anything.
He sighed and accepted the fact that he wasn’t favored by fortune this day.
When the exit of the garden was opened, the barriers that separated the different sections disappeared, thus allowing the apprentices to leave. Everyone looked disappointed, and nobody could tell if someone actually comprehended the sequence of purification without showing it to others.
Angor followed the crowd and walked toward the exit.
But as soon as he started walking, he felt an itch behind his shoulder that worsened rapidly.