Mara never showed up in the following days. Aleen and Alan began learning the Triangle Channeling, while Angor immersed himself in Jon’s puzzles.
As Mara said, knowledge was the most important thing to wizards. Angor did not know if what Jon taught him was useful, but he did know that this knowledge could enlighten him and broaden his view, so he would not be trapped by what he could only see.
Angor did not care if the knowledge was useful or not.
His quill flowed swiftly on the paper. Sheets filled with formulas and numbers soon became yesterday’s draft. Angor would find new ways to solve the puzzles every day. He could think about molecular, atoms, magnetic field… different angles of view always brought him new surprises.
As time passed, Angor could feel that he was getting closer to the correct answer.
One day, Angor put down his quill and rubbed his temples. His brain had been running at full capacity for nearly half a month. With more puzzles solved, the final answer approached. There were only ten more puzzles left. However, his head toiled too much under the constant concentration. He even felt ringing ears and blackened sight this morning. He knew his body was sending himself a warning.
Angor was anxious about finding the answer, but he still stopped. He was only 14, a teenager. He would not want something bad to happen to his body during this most important growing stage only to live with regret for the rest of his life.
Jon mentioned that he went seriously ill one time during his youth because of his bad habit. That was why Jon never grew taller than 165 centimeters. Angor was not sure if Jon was telling the truth or just finding an excuse. But… better to believe the worst, right?
Angor yawned. He stretched his arms and straightened his legs. Then he checked the clock on the wall. Two o’clock in the afternoon.
Clocks were rare on the Marginalized Island or the Old Earth. Even the Padt Manor still used hourglasses. However, clocks had already joined everyone’s life on the Fey Continent.
Angor flipped open a porthole on the wooden wall. The salty smell of sea instantly came in.
The porthole was a window of the ship. The cabins on the middle level of The Redbud all had these windows to let fresh air in. The ones at the bottom did not have such luxury though.
The sun was strong. The sunlight reflected on the sea’s surface dazzled his eyes. Air exchanged between the outside and the narrow room. Angor was fine with the smell. He simply closed his eyes and let his imagination fly wild while enjoying the warm sea breeze.
He recalled his sweet childhood, his loving parents, his kind brother, Teacher’s guidance, and himself—a young man roaming in the sea of knowledge day and night. Those memories could always bring a smile to his face. He did not take anything from the Padt Manor since only these memories could accompany him forever.
Saving his teacher was not the only reason why Angor decided to follow Mara to the Fey Continent and become a wizard. He also had a secret intention to help his family rise. On the Old Earth, even apprentice wizards could receive treatment better than any nobles.
Mara said that a formal wizard could live at least 500 years and someone who broke through further could go for thousands. Angor never expected to protect his family for that long, however. Allowing his family to stay prosperous for a hundred years, within three generations, was enough for him.
The weather was calm outside, which also calmed Angor’s mood greatly. He took out a teabag from his luggage.
It contained the Morning Dew. Back at the manor, Angor divided the manor’s stock of Morning Dew into two. He brought a portion with him and gave the rest to Mara.
Angor did not really enjoy the bitter taste, but he remembered Mara’s words, that the Morning Dew was a lesser magic plant. Since he was about to step into the mysterious wizard world, drinking the tea might help him, right?
Angor sipped the tea with raised eyebrows and his lips curled up. There was no one around, yet his postures, every detail, and his straightened back all showed elegance. The nobleman’s quality was already carved deep into his bones. Jon also taught him poetry and virtue over the years, with that, Angor’s temperament also carried a sense of gentleness and grace. Together, they granted Angor an attractive charisma.
“Hmm… Some age lines and an adult face would make me better,” Angor mumbled to himself as he looked at the mirror.
The cup of tea was finished. As usual, the Morning Dew only presented him with a taste of bitterness and grass. It was not awful, but it was not enjoyable either.
As for the effect of magic plants Mara mentioned… that basically had nothing to do with Angor.
Tweet, tweet—
As Angor savored the taste of tea, a bird’s cry came from the window, followed by the sound of flapping wings.
Angor looked up and saw a strange seabird perched on the windowsill.
The bird was about double the size of his palm. Brown and gray feathers, red, sharp talons, orange, pointy beak, and dark green eyes. Those features still belonged to an ordinary seabird, but Angor knew something was strange because the bird was wearing something.
It had a tall, white hat on its head and a small bib in blue and white stripes around its neck. There was a pattern on the bib which was shining under the sunlight. Also, Angor was most attracted by the little blue pouch hanging on one side of the bird. It made the bird look like a mail pigeon in fairytales.
The bird chirped while staring at Angor with its green eyes as if trying to talk to him.
Angor chuckled. When he remembered that he was alone with the bird, his childish curiosity took the best of him again, so he imitated a duck’s beak and “spoke” to the seabird.
“Tweet,” said the bird.
Angor smiled, “So your name is ‘Tweet’? Interesting. Who’s your master? He made you look so cool.”
The bird half-closed its eyes and made another tweet in disdain.
Angor reached out a slim finger and gave the bird a tap on its tiny head, “Come on, I said you look cool, and you’re feeling proud already?”
The bird looked away and prepared to leave. It then hesitated and in the end, it stayed and still chirped away as if it was asking for something.
Angor did not notice its intention. He still played around with the bird happily even though he saw a pattern on the seabird’s satchel which was the same as the one on its bib.
It looked like an emblem. The center was an extremely fat woman with violet, curly hair. She was so fat that the skin on her face hanged in several places. The woman had a pair of bright red lips, a tiny nose, coquettish eye makeup and a beauty mark on her jaw. She… could have been a pretty lady if not for all that extra flesh. As they said, fair skin could hide all blemishes while all beauties were easily ruined by being fat.
A knife and fork were beside the picture, crossed.
The emblem looked weird. What did it mean? A family emblem? Then Angor laughed at himself.
What kind of family would use this as their emblem?
But then what? Angor could not understand. He did not intend to figure it out either. The question was soon forgotten.
He knew that curiosity was the foremost virtue for every learner, but he would rather spend his curiosity on pursuing useful truth.
Angor noticed that the bird’s tiny satchel looked filled up. There must be a lot of stuff in there. He did not reach for it though. He would not allow himself to take something without asking for its owner’s permission, even if the owner was a seabird.
The bird was still chirping, while Angor could only respond to no avail. It looked frustrated too and began to pace around the windowsill restlessly.
“Hey, Tweet, what do you need from me? Are you hungry? Thirsty?”
When hearing “Tweet”, the bird tried rolling its eyes at Angor. However, upon hearing the rest of the question, it got an idea and nodded rapidly.
“You’re hungry? Clever. You know how to ask for food,” said Angor. He took out a pack of bread from his drawer and bit it apart while muttering, “Who’s your master? How did he train you? You can even answer people’s questions.”
Angor looked towards the outside. There was only the borderless ocean.
“There’s no island around… Maybe a power wielder from the upper level of The Redbud is your owner?”