Why is it happening again? Because of that strange aroma?
Angor didn’t have more time to think about that question as the itchiness was getting unbearable. First, it was his skin. Then his bones and his entire soul started to feel uncomfortable as well.
When he realized that the situation was more severe than he thought, he struggled a little and took out Toby from his chest pocket.
“Toby, use your speed and take me to the professor, quickly!”
Toby failed to understand Angor at first, and he almost fell asleep again. However, he quickly noticed Angor’s anxious expression and Angor’s face, which did not seem very healthy. Without waiting, Toby turned into his griffin form and allowed Angor to climb on.
“Angor?” Keely was wondering what Angor was up to when Toby spread his wings and bolted toward the exit.
Toby knew something serious was going on, so he moved as fast as he could. Anyone who was in the way was knocked aside by Toby’s gravity wave.
Falca was also inside the portal. Before he could step out, an unexpected force pushed him to somewhere far away where he hurt his back badly.
He stood up and opened his mouth to curse whoever was being a nuisance, but he swallowed his words back when he looked at the griffin that he saw earlier.
There was more than one apprentice who was forced away by the creature. Yet no one protested since they all chose to reevaluate Angor’s true strength, and these people included those who did not believe in the rumors before.
In a matter of seconds, Toby dashed out of the purification garden and entered the valley where all the wizards were waiting.
Mithra moved ahead to ask some questions about the strange griffin. However, he never had a chance because Toby left the valley at lightning speed without looking back.
Even some of the most powerful wizards on the spot would admit that they would never be able to move so fast.
“Sequence of gravity??” Shocked, several wizards looked at the sound wave that was left behind by the monster.
Compared to them, Mithra was more concerned about Angor’s unusually pale face.
“He’s wounded? But he looked fine just a second ago...”
Meanwhile, Nausica, Shan, and Shiliew also left through the portal and noticed a tiny spot in the distance. It was Toby.
“What’s the hurry? Aren’t we going to get a drink together at Timber Pub?” Shan looked pretty disappointed.
“Maybe he has an emergency?” Shiliew said.
“What kind of emergency immediately follows behind the god-damned garden challenge? I want to know how he got out of Erdus’ illusions. And what was that castle? Was that really an illusion??” Shan saw Angor’s toy soldiers, teacup musicians, and a glowing dragonfly in that Nightmare Domain, and there was so much more that she wanted to know.
“We can always meet again—”
Shiliew’s head tilted to one side as she fell asleep.
Shan quickly asked Gank to pick Shiliew up and place her on the shoulder.
“Okay, you,” Shan looked at Nausica next and asked, “do you know what that is? I was able to sense Erdus’ illusion nodes, but not Angor’s. Everything in there looked so real!”
“It was an illusion... I guess?” Nausica shook her head. “Maybe something more powerful, we just don’t know.”
...
Angor had collapsed on Toby’s back while he tried his best to tell Toby the correct direction.
There were occasionally Rune Monitors that tried to tell them to stop since the sky around the purification garden was off-limit to common apprentices.
Angor knew about the city rules, but he couldn’t follow their orders at this moment because he had to get to Sunders as soon as possible.
Besides, the Rune Monitors couldn’t catch up with Toby’s speed anyway.
For some reason, the subsequent Rune Monitors they encountered never troubled them again. They soon reached Sunders’ garden mansion, where Number One greeted them.
“Take me to my professor—”
Angor felt his soul shaking madly, and before he could do anything else, he lost his consciousness.
...
Angor found himself sleeping in darkness.
He heard people whispering around him, a lot of people. He felt as if he was thrown in the middle of some busy street, but everyone was whispering right beside his ears, which made him uncomfortable.
He opened his eyes only to see the same darkness obstructing everything. Yet he could still hear the noises that consisted of both human voices and unknown animals.
He couldn’t understand any of the chaotic speeches.
Defeated, he gave up on listening and slowly stood up. There was a faint light in the distance, and he decided to head there.
Where am I? Who’s there?
He reached the light and noticed that it was a large door. Behind the door was a beautifully decorated room, which he quickly recognized.
A simple round wooden table with several teacups on top. A bright bed cover with the picture of a canary sewn on it. Several wash paintings on the wall that showed nature and kanji characters...
This was his home. His old home back at Padt Manor.
He saw piles of papers on his bookshelf. It was all the homework as well as the treasured gift he received from Jon throughout his entire childhood.
Why am I home?
Is this all a dream?
He walked around the small room with a longing look, and finally went to the bed on which he spent so many years.
The bed was fully covered, yet something told him that someone was lying there. Also, the strange whispers beside his ears slowly changed and urged him to lift the cover.
He hesitated for a second and decided to comply.
Under the cover was a coffin made of ice, and beyond the opened lid, it was completely dark. Therefore, Angor couldn’t see if someone was inside.
Is it... Jon?
Angor reached for the coffin.
The whispers suddenly became eerie giggles. Among all the incomprehensible noises, Angor managed to recognize one phrase— “Welcome back, Your Highness!”
Whoever was inside the coffin fully pushed the lid away. A pair of pale-white hands lashed out and dragged Angor inside.
Angor felt his body shaking madly as he was assaulted by bone-piecing coldness.
Then he sat up with a start.
“Are you feeling better, Mister Padt?” someone asked in a robotic voice.
Angor looked around in confusion and saw a Rune Monitor wearing a top hat floating nearby. It was Number One.
Wait... the Altar of Demise, something on my shoulder, Toby brought me back...
Out of instinct, he scratched his shoulder and didn’t find anything wrong. The strange itch was gone.
Was that really a dream just now?
He shook his head and felt that his brain was throbbing.
That looked too real to be a dream.
“Mister Padt, should Number One prepare some food for you?”
“Where am I—” Angor saw Sunders’ decoration style and quickly amended his question, “How long was I out?”
“Exactly seventy hours, Mister Padt.”
Three days?! That’s pretty long...
Angor wanted to get out of bed, but his arms quickly gave out as he collapsed again.
He tried to move and realized most of his limbs weren’t working properly. He couldn’t even clench his fists fully.
What’s happening to me?!
“Mister Padt, according to a test earlier, you should be experiencing the major side-effects caused by the Potion of Impedance right now,” Number One explained when he saw Angor’s concern. “But the effect won’t be as serious since both the purification garden and your breakthrough had removed most of your injuries. The lethargy should go away in a few days.”
“Oh, that potion...” Angor remembered how he accepted the potion provided by Keely. He then frowned in surprise. “Wait, what did you just way?”
“Mister Padt, because of the aftereffects of the Potion of Impedance...”
“The next part!”
“The potion causes strong side effects, but your breakthrough—”
“Breakthrough? What breakthrough?”
Number One maintained its emotionless and neutral tone while speaking, “It happened on the first day when you were brought back. Congratulations, Mister Padt, you are now a level-3 apprentice.”
Angor quickly closed his eyes to check his mind space.
Just as Number One said, the energy in his mind space was more active than ever despite his physical condition. His mana pool was almost twice as large now, and it could absorb primal mana faster.
Number One was right. He was really level-3 apprentice now.
Although he wasn’t really happy about this.
He already knew that Singularity Dispersive Meditation could help him reach the wizard level without meeting any major obstacles. He already reached the bottleneck before hitting level-3, yet he never attempted to break through because he still lacked fundamental training, which included physical strength and knowledge.
Initially, he planned to work on these while perfecting all the level-1 and level-2 cantrips that he could learn, and only after that would he attempt to go for level-3.
How did this happen without me knowing?!