Urgent 2

Purple fruits, red vegetables, pale blue marbled meat, more than a dozen kinds of dried fruit, and so on. Anglie missed none of them. Standing in the kitchen, he sampled them one by one, while the Chip faithfully reported the components of every food.

"Enhancing component not detected."

"Enhancing component not detected."

"Enhancing component not detected."

Half an hour later, delight flashed across Anglie's face. The bamboo-shoot-like vegetable in his hand finally no longer produced a "not detected" result.

"Strength-enhancing component detected. Accompanying side effect: diarrhea. Please name it." The Chip's prompt left him caught between laughter and tears. He had finally found something, only for it to come with diarrhea as a side effect.

"Name it Blue Bamboo Shoot." Anglie carefully examined the shoot in his hand.

It was not much different from bamboo shoots on Earth—conical, soft and crisp, giving off a faint fragrance like flowers. Its brown surface also carried a hint of blue.

"Naming complete. Blue Bamboo Shoot. Consume 150 grams thirty consecutive times, three times per day, to complete one strengthening cycle. Maximum strengthening effect exceeds 2 points." The Chip delivered the information mechanically.

Anglie stood where he was as a three-dimensional translucent image of a pale blue Blue Bamboo Shoot continuously rotated before his eyes. Its effects had been marked by intensity, transitioning from white to black.

The tip of the shoot was the most effective.

"The tip?" Anglie raised the Blue Bamboo Shoot in his hand and lightly bit into its pointed end. A bitter yet faintly sweet taste spread through his mouth.

This Blue Bamboo Shoot was commonly used locally as a crude laxative, but no one would likely have imagined that it could also strengthen one's body. However, it had to be consumed thirty times in succession, with each serving exceeding 150 grams.

"Analysis complete. Swordsmanship refinement may begin. By combining everyone's Basic Swordsmanship data, the combat style best suited to my current self can be compiled." Anglie directly issued the task.

The Chip was like an auxiliary computer. It needed him to actively assign a task before it could operate automatically. Otherwise, many of its functions would remain idle.

"What a pity the Chip can only execute one task at a time. Otherwise, it could save a great deal of time." Anglie pondered as he slowly chewed the shoot.

After eating the shoot tip, Anglie tried the remaining foods again, but did not encounter another ingredient capable of enhancing physical attributes. He could only give up.

Leaving the dining hall and returning to his bedroom, Anglie resumed his evasion training. During this time, Maggie and Cilier had both come looking for him, but he had found excuses to turn them away. He had neither the time nor the mood to consider anything else now.

For several days in a row, Anglie strictly lived and trained according to this routine.

Bang!

With one hand, Anglie blocked the swinging iron ball, which struck squarely against his palm. Morning light streamed in through the window, illuminating both him and the entire bedroom. He was alone in the room, and the door had been locked from the inside.

"Has the swordsmanship refinement finished?" Anglie silently asked, panting heavily.

"Refinement was completed three hours ago. Please name it," the Chip replied.

"Basic Swordsmanship." Anglie casually gave it a name.

"Named Basic Swordsmanship. Begin virtual demonstration?"

"Yes."

Hiss...

A faint burst of static passed by.

Anglie's vision blurred, and he saw himself standing alone in darkness with a cross sword in hand. The identical figure flicked his sword. With a sharp hiss, it drew a silver line as it thrust forward. Then came a left slash, a right jab, and a downward chop. In barely one or two seconds, four consecutive strikes landed upon the same point.

Because of the extreme speed, it looked to Anglie as though an illusory silver dot had appeared before the demonstration figure. It was the visual afterimage caused by four strikes concentrating on one area.

Next came blocking stances, pursuit stances, full-force stances, counterattack stances, evasion stances. All kinds of Basic Swordsmanship movements followed, every action concise and swift, carrying an air of clean decisiveness.

When the demonstration ended, the darkness swiftly receded.

Anglie found himself back in his bedroom. He began carefully reliving the demonstration he had just watched.

"Since the Chip refined this swordsmanship, it means this is a set of swordsmanship I can use right now."

He glanced at the cross sword resting on the table beside him, walked over, and gently picked it up.

The cold blade was somewhat rough, its surface uniformly engraved with the Leo Family crest. An eagle within a ring of thorns was about to spread its wings and soar. The sword was silver, reflecting a faint white sheen.

Anglie gently drew the sword, just about to practice the techniques demonstrated by the Chip when a burst of urgent hoofbeats suddenly came from outside the window. He pushed it open and looked out.

On the main road leading beyond the castle, the baron rode a white steed in silver armor, a black greatsword strapped across his back. Its blade was as wide as a human head. Behind him followed a troop of more than ten cavalrymen clad in black metal armor.

All of them formed a line and rode briskly toward the outside.

The mounted troop went farther and farther away, soon disappearing at the end of the road, leaving behind a faint cloud of stirred dust.

Anglie frowned slightly. Only after watching the troop vanish completely did he close the window again.

"Maggie!" he shouted.

Knock, knock, knock. Someone knocked on the door first. Anglie went over and opened it.

The maid Maggie stood at the doorway, wiping her hands as though she had been washing something.

"What is it, Young Master?"

"Where has Father gone?" Anglie asked directly.

"It seems there's some trouble at the silver mine. Lord Baron went to deal with it," Maggie hurriedly said.

"Oh, I see." Anglie nodded. "Go back to your work. Oh, how is Cecilia doing now?"

"I arranged for her to be specifically responsible for cleaning Young Master's room," Maggie respectfully replied.

"Mm."

"Oh, right, Young Master. Lord Audis seems to have returned to the territory early this morning. Also, Lord Ward is recruiting new maids today. A few maids were executed earlier because of theft, so they need replacements. It might get a little noisy later. Lord Ward asked me to let you know," Maggie said.

"I understand." Anglie nodded and closed the door. It was already November, the time for recruiting people and settling the territory's taxes. In Anglie's old memories, this time of year had always been the busiest.

After closing the door, Anglie called up his physical attribute data again.

His strength, which had originally been only 0.8, had risen to 1.4. The Blue Bamboo Shoot's effect was very obvious.

"Soon. In another three or four days, preparations should be completely finished." Anglie looked at the iron ball hanging in the room, a ruthless glint flashing through his eyes. "Now, there is only the final target left."

In the forest outside the castle.

Dis, dressed in a black cloak, crouched on a tree branch and gazed at the castle in the distance.

"Anglie Leo, hehe. I'll settle you, you little bastard, first. Completing the mission afterward won't be too late. You made me suffer such a huge loss last time. This time, let's see where you can run!" Dis sneered.

After returning last time, Dis had carefully gathered all the information on the personnel within Leo Territory Castle. He had also learned the name and identity of the youngster he had encountered earlier. Finding out that he had returned empty-handed because of a worthless playboy made Dis feel that his reputation had suffered an enormous insult.

Only after making full preparations did he come alone once more to carry out the mission. This time, everything was foolproof.

The baron had conveniently left as well. He would first enter the castle and deal with Anglie, then intercept and kill the baron on his return journey. That was Dis's plan.

He crouched on the branch, quietly watching the castle gate and waiting for the drawbridge to lower.

Suddenly, amid a creaking sound, the castle gate was slowly lowered.

A pale-skinned, ordinary-looking youth slowly walked out, followed by two guards. The three headed together toward this forest.

The moment Dis saw the youth's face, a surge of fury rose within him.

"It's him! This damned fellow actually dared to come out again! Excellent..." Dis gave a savage grin, silently slid down from the branch, and melted into the forest.

A cross iron sword and a quiver hung at Anglie's waist, while a longbow was slung across his back. He wore a black archery ring on his hand as he walked alone toward the forest.

Two guards had originally followed behind him, but he had persuaded them to return. They were also used to Anglie going hunting whenever he left, and did not think it particularly dangerous, so they did not insist on following him.

Anglie had persuaded them to leave because what he was about to do could not be known to outsiders. Otherwise, he would have no way to explain it.

Crossing a large clearing used for morning drills, Anglie strode across the grass and entered the forest.

He had barely taken a few steps when the Chip's alert suddenly sounded.

"Unknown lifeform detected. Target is in a pre-attack state."

Anglie's entire body jolted. The same chilling sensation from last time swept over him again. Without time to think, he rolled forward.

With a hiss, a silver throwing knife buried itself precisely where he had been standing. Had he been even slightly slower, the knife would have pierced his chest without fail.

"You again!!" Feeling that familiar sense of danger, Anglie suddenly recalled his miserable escape last time. An unbearably stifled fury rose in his heart.

"Indicate the direction of the opponent's attack," he silently commanded. He quickly scrambled up and ducked behind a tree. Then, as if he had trained for it beforehand, Anglie removed the longbow from his back and drew a white-feathered arrow with his backhand, nocking it to the string.

Creak...

The bowstring tightened with a sound. The black metal surface of the white-feathered arrowhead reflected a faint blue-purple sheen. It had clearly been coated in deadly poison.

"This time, it isn't merely One-Eyed Snake venom..." Anglie's whole body tensed as he carefully listened to the movements around him.

"Die!!" He swiftly exposed himself, released the bowstring with a hiss, then quickly ducked back behind cover.

The white-feathered arrow turned into a white streak and instantly plunged into a clump of bushes nearby. A faint sound of something being blocked came from within. It had clearly hit, but the opponent had stopped it.

Without realizing it, flickers of fire rose in Anglie's eyes. The sensation of having his life in danger at any moment made every nerve in his body stir with excitement.

The sound of chains rang out again.

Without pausing, Anglie nocked another arrow and sprinted forward, weaving along an S-shaped path.

Urgent footsteps immediately sounded behind him. His opponent was quickly catching up.

With a hiss, Anglie fired another arrow behind him, then lowered his body and leaped sideways into a downward slope.

He rolled down the slope several times. Tossing aside his quiver and longbow, Anglie drew his sword with his backhand.

Amid the scrape of metal, his face—streaked with grass clippings and dirt—was icy cold.

"Though it's a little early, I can still fight now." Anglie gripped the hilt with both hands. The silver blade reflected the blue-purple coating upon it.

The footsteps above rapidly drew closer.

Anglie took a deep breath, every ounce of strength in his body taut as a hidden venomous snake, his gaze fixed upon the slope above.