News of the Wizard

"Uncle Marshall, I want to learn both of these secret techniques. I have Black Wind, and these two techniques are very practical." Abel naturally understood the importance of a mount; now that he had a top-tier mount, all he needed was matching secret techniques.

Knight Marshall didn't dodge Abel. He pressed a knight biography novel on a bookshelf, and the novel tilted inward. Then, with a grinding sound of mechanisms, the bookshelf split in half, revealing a secret room.

"Come in. You need to know about this too. This is all of Hari Castle's collection," Knight Marshall said with a hint of pride. Everything here was collected by him over the decades. He never let anyone know about this secret room, let alone show it off. For the boastful Knight Marshall, this was a painful experience, but today he finally found someone to share it with.

The secret room was very large, with many weapons hanging on the walls. These weapons were from both orcs and humans. He even saw a bow with a typical elven style. Seeing Abel looking at the weapons on the wall, Knight Marshall couldn't help but say, "These weapons all belong to defeated enemies from over the years."

It was a noble habit to keep an opponent's weapon after defeating them, regardless of whether they killed them. Many noble knights had this habit, and this collection of battle trophies was the most cherished possession of every noble knight.

In the center of the secret room was a long table, on which were placed several large books. Judging by their covers, these books covered geography, agriculture, and some special non-combat secret techniques. For example, Abel saw a book on how to make skin-clearing water.

Abel had heard of skin-clearing water; it was a medicinal lotion often used by ladies for skin care. However, regarding Knight Marshall's collection, Abel rolled his eyes. Seeing Abel's disdain for the skin-clearing water secret technique, Knight Marshall couldn't help but explain, "This isn't just any ordinary skin-clearing water formula. It's an elven noble's recipe. Look how good elven skin is. I spent a lot of gold to get it back then."

Abel really wanted to tell Knight Marshall that elves were naturally beautiful and would be just as lovely even without this recipe. Abel was also helpless about Knight Marshall's taste in collections.

Finally, he saw two books placed at the very edge of the table. These were likely the two secret techniques of the Hari family. But their position was too out of the way. Judging by how they were placed, in Knight Marshall's heart, that skin-clearing water recipe was definitely far more important than these two family secret techniques.

Picking up the two secret technique books, Abel was about to leave the secret room when a square plaque caught his eye. The plaque was engraved with some patterns. These patterns looked familiar to Abel. He was twelve-tenths sure it was a Rune, but he couldn't pinpoint which number Rune it was.

He stepped forward, picked up the square plaque, and looked up at Knight Marshall, asking, "Uncle Marshall, where did you get this?"

"A wizard friend gave it to me. He said that if I encountered danger, I could crush it to repel enemies," Knight Marshall recalled.

"You have a wizard friend?" Abel was a little surprised. He had always heard about wizards but had never heard a detailed description of them.

"Yes, that was when I was still in Bagang City. During a mission, I saved a wizard. He had exhausted his magic and was facing several prairie wolves." Perhaps thinking of the wizard's predicament at the time, Knight Marshall's lips curved into a slight smile. He continued, "Later, this wizard and I became friends. He was still a rookie wizard then. Because I had to go to the battlefield, he paid a considerable price to obtain this Rune plaque for my protection."

"What's the difference between a wizard and a knight?" Abel pressed.

"Difference? As long as wizards have magic, their power is unquestionable. But what they envy most is their lifespan," Knight Marshall said, a hint of envy flashing in his eyes. "The lifespan of a junior official wizard can reach 300 years. Every level increase adds a lot to their lifespan. But we knights, even if we reach the rank of Great Knight, can only increase our lifespan by 50 years."

"300 years!" Abel's eyes burned with intense longing, and he hurriedly asked, "How can I become a wizard?"

"Becoming a wizard isn't easy. First, you need an intermediary. Wizards generally don't have much contact with people in this world. They are aloof and rarely concern themselves with family, country, or race matters. Ordinary people simply cannot approach them, let alone become wizards. Then, you need aptitude. Wizards value aptitude the most. Everyone who wants to become a wizard must pass an assessment. Only those who pass the assessment can become wizards."

Seeing the longing in Abel's eyes, Knight Marshall couldn't help but laugh. "When I learned that official wizards had a lifespan of 300 years, I also begged my wizard friend to help me become a wizard. As a result, I failed the assessment."

Knight Marshall's face showed a hint of sadness, but he quickly smiled and continued, "If you want to take the assessment, you'll have to wait until you're 15. I'll go with you then and ask my friend for help. If you can pass the assessment, your achievements will surpass all knights."

This was the most delightful news Abel had heard in days. If he became a wizard, on the one hand, he would have a long life; on the other hand, there was the Town Portal Tome in the Horadric Cube. To use the Town Portal Tome, one needed magic, and thus, one had to become a wizard first.

"Why do I have to wait until I'm 15 to take the assessment?" Abel asked impatiently.

"I heard it's because people under 15 cannot comprehend the mysteries of magic, nor has their bodies developed enough to absorb magic," Knight Marshall said, seeing through Abel's thoughts. "I'll take you when you're almost 15. The journey will take some time. After arriving in Bagang City, we'll stay for a while and you'll learn some secret techniques from the family. By then, you'll be almost 15."

Listening to Knight Marshall's words, Abel knew the Knight cared for him and loved him, even considering this small amount of time. He was about to put down the Rune plaque in his hand.

"Keep this Rune plaque. I see you're very interested in it. I don't need it anymore. I've kept it here all these years, and it's a waste to just leave it here," Knight Marshall waved his hand, signaling Abel to keep the Rune plaque.

"Thank you, Uncle Marshall," Abel happily put away the Rune plaque. This item would be very helpful for his research on Runes.

"Why be so polite with me!" Knight Marshall affectionately patted Abel's head, and the two left the secret room.

Returning to his room, Abel realized that Knight Marshall's birthday was in ten days. The birthday gift he had prepared had already been given to Knight Marshall in advance, but it wouldn't do to not acknowledge Knight Marshall's birthday. He needed to start preparing a gift for Knight Marshall.

Abel practiced the Knight Breathing Technique in his bedroom for a while and analyzed the day's battles. Orcs in the human world, for the sake of rapid mobility, were lightly armored cavalry without shields, let alone armor. This made the compound bow, also named the Hari Bow by Knight Marshall, a great weapon to showcase its power.

The bow-making technology in this world, unless one could find heaven-defying materials, could not produce a 400-pound bow. The reason was that the long material for the bow body simply couldn't withstand a 400-pound draw weight. The compound bow, however, only used short bow arm materials, with the rest made of steel. The different manufacturing techniques of the two worlds had created the existence of the Hari Bow as a great killer weapon today.

As long as the opponent was unarmored and shieldless, unless their strength was incredibly immense, they would be killed by the Hari Bow. However, the Hari Bow's starting draw weight was too high; Abel, a level 5 Rookie Knight, could barely use it.

Of course, the most important thing was that Abel finally had concrete news about wizards and the possibility of taking the wizard assessment. Although the assessment was still two years away, he decided to train his knight abilities more during these two years. He believed that a strong body was essential, no matter where one was.