Abe the Wizard - Chapter 55

Chapter 55

The Knight of Marshall secretly rubbed his back with his hand, “Very strong . Abel . That was about 200 pounds of force right there . ”

After a long period of body transformation, all of Abel’s skin, muscles and bones were now thicker and tighter than ever before . While 200 pound of force might not be a lot, it would hurt a lot more if it was released from an iron rod than if it was from a wooden stick .

And that’s why the Knight of Marshall felt pain back there . Apart from the physical force that Abel used to hit him with, it had something to do with how tough Abel’s body was .

“You monster,” the Knight of Marshall murmured behind Abel’s back, “That was just as strong as those giant beasts from the Orc Empire . ”

“Hit me once more with your combat qi,” the Knight of Marshall ordered . Then, as Abel stared at him with a dropped jaw, he grabbed a shield from the corner and placed it in front of him .

As the golden combat qi started pouring out, Abel’s punch landed right in the center of the shield . This time, the Knight of Marshall stood right where he was at . His body flinched for a bit, but that was about it .

Something was different, though . The Knight of Marshall was sure of that . The impact might’ve looked the same as the first punch, but something was different .

The difference was with the shield . The first punch was blocked with Marshall’s bare hands, and no knights would fight with their bare hands . While the second punch didn’t send the Knight of Marshall flying, it did manage to make him budge behind a standard knight’s shield .

“700 pounds!” the Knight of Marshall said with certainty, “You just increased your power by three-and-a-half times . ”

The Knight of Marshall continued with a slightly admiring voice, “You’ve got muscles and you’ve got your combat qi . All that’s missing is just a nice set of armor . If you’ve got yourself one, I don’t know what can stop you . ”

“Wait?” Abel felt so content to hear that . For once, he’s felt safe to be in this world .

“Too soon, my boy,” the Knight of Marshall called Abel off, “I was comparing you with ordinary people . If you are facing a wizard right now, you’d wish that he’s too exhausted to cast any spells on you . ”

Abel asserted as he looked at the Knight of Marshall in the eyes, “I’m going to become one, Uncle Marshall . I’m going to become a wizard . ”

Without interfering with Marshall to pick up his paperwork off the ground, Abel quickly left the study after saying goodbye . He went back to his bedroom and was quickly accompanied by the little Black Wind .

Poor Black Wind . It was worried sick because it hadn’t seen Abel for the last few days . As Abel picked it up from the ground, it quickly licked his face as a puppy would to its parent .

Come to think of it, Abel was already a Beginner Knight . Since he could use the mount enhancement technique now, he could help Black Wind get stronger while it was still little .

Abel held Black Wind to the ground with its belly up . As it was wiggling its tiny body, Abel chanted out a spell that made him aware of everything about its physical condition . He then injected his golden combat qi into his hand, then started rubbing Black Wind’s body with it . Black Wind closed its eyes as it enjoyed being massaged like this .

Combat qi was a very volatile substance . Because of how erosive and destructive it was, it was not advised to be injected into any living creature other than its creator . That being said, the negative effects of combat qi could be neutralized when the orcs prayed to their gods . How such methods worked was quite complicated in itself, but generally speaking, what the mount enhancement technique could do was to synchronize a mount with its rider . This would make it harder for the combat qi to have much of a rejecting effect on its intended target . While the effect of such a method was not effective in the short, the long-term effect would be irreversible for the mount itself .

The Knight of Marshall waved at Abel as he went to the dining room, “I forgot to tell you something . The Edmund’s Boutique Shop just sold off all the weapons you’ve put up on auction . When you have the time, go collect the gold that you’re supposed to receive . ”

“Yes, Uncle Marshall . ”

“Another thing . Viscount Dickens just asked us to visit his house . The intel we sent him was, well, it was very, very useful for us,” the Knight of Marshall continued with a laugh, “I think he’s inviting us over to talk about our rewards . ”

Abel asked in a worried tone, “Would that map be good enough to, say, be granted a Lord?”

In this world, if someone’s war glory was falsely claimed by another, the act itself would be looked down upon and be punished by the state’s law . Because of this, Abel’s act of finding the parchment map was very clearly ruled out from the Knight of Marshall’s war achievements . That being said, everything that happened after the discovery of the map was up to negotiation .

And that’s what’s so special about Abel . If he wasn’t a Master Blacksmith, Viscount Dickens wouldn’t have asked for his input on this matter . The Knight of Marshall would’ve been to collect all the rewards . The Knight of Marshall knew this, of course, and understood that Dickens was trying to avoid offending a prodigy like his foster son .

“It’s okay, Abel,” the Knight of Marshall said in a reassuring tone, “Viscount Dickens is a fair man . I’m sure that you will get the reward that you deserve . ”

“Let’s go tomorrow, then . We’ll go to Edmund’s Boutique Shop on our way . ”

Speaking of the Edmund’s Boutique Shop, Abel remembered that he needed some supplementary potions for his official knight’s training . If drinking supplements could help him get through his novice knight’s training a lot faster, the same method could be applied to helping him get through his current training .

Abel ate a lot that night . While he missed the diet inside Harry Castle, the Knight of Marshall was looking to change the family’s menu . Now that Abel was a Beginner Knight, regular meat wasn’t quite enough to help him advance to the next state .

Fortunately enough for them, Harry Castle had a lot of income from the weapon store and the blacksmith shop . Feeding two knights wasn’t an issue here .

The biggest expenses for a knight were the weapons and equipment . Since Abel was a Master Blacksmith himself, he could pretty much make whatever that he wanted to use . As for armor, that was even less of a problem for him . Since he was still growing, a new armor would just be unwearable after a few months . Luckily for him, it was a relatively peaceful time now . He could wait until he couldn’t grow any taller .

The Knight of Marshall thought about his weapon collection and started laughing out loud . Despite how much income Harry Castle was making, he didn’t have to spend a cent to make his weapons . Technically speaking, he didn’t even pay for his two magic weapons . Once Abel came back, he could even have him make a new set of magic armor for him . As for the Blazing Sun Armour, he didn’t care if those old men in Bakong City kept it for themselves .

If Viscount Dicken gave Abel the title of a knight, Marshall would’ve loved it Abel was also granted his territory . The more successful Abel was, the further the Harry Family’s influence would stretch .

Just thinking about it made the Knight of Marshall want to sing a song . Meanwhile, Abel had no idea what his foster father was thinking about . He just thought that Marshall was getting overly-excited for no apparent reasons . Maybe Uncle was still recovering from that hit in the study, or so he thought .

The two didn’t say much during dinner . Instead, they just sort of drowned in their thoughts as they chewed on their food .

As Abel came back to his bedroom, he saw that the black armor that was on the war horse was delivered to him . He practiced his knight’s breathing techniques for a bit, but the qi that he gained was not quite in the amount he was looking for .

Such progress was not uncommon amongst official knights . Once the rank of Beginner Knight was attained, it would take years and years of effort for one to move onto the next stage . It was like grinding a pin from a piece of rock, to put it simply .

While it was getting kind of hot the next morning, the Knight of Marshall and Abel decided to ride off a lot earlier than they normally would . They were right to do this, as the sun was starting to get hot when they had reached the Harry Castle’s dacha inside Harvest City .

The Knight of Marshall decided to stop for some clean-up . As he took Viscount Dicken’s invitation very seriously . He had already asked the butler Robin to prepare a bath for him . After he and Abel took a bath and changed into their suits, they then left off to the City Lord’s estate .