Chapter 111: News

Hughes nibbled quietly at the food on his plate, paying no mind to the strange look in Ronny’s eyes.

“Um... could you... teach me how you kill people during the day?” Ronny lowered his head and whispered softly.

Hearing this, Hughes paused briefly, his fork halting midair. “Afraid of dying? If you’re not afraid, I can teach you.” Rather than answering directly, Hughes asked if Ronny feared death.

“I...” Ronny found himself at a loss once again. He wanted Hughes to teach him so he could survive better in the future. But now, Hughes was warning him that learning this might lead to death. This was not what he had expected.

“Then think it over before you decide,” Hughes said, handing back the empty plate.

Ronny took the plate without a word and left the room.

That night, Ronny lay alone in bed, tossing and turning, unable to sleep. The words “Afraid of dying?” echoed endlessly in his mind.

“Ronny, when did you become so cowardly?” Unable to sleep, Ronny sat up and punched the wall, mocking himself bitterly.

“Oh! Ronny, you know? You should be sleeping at this hour!” came Daibei’s voice from the next room.

“Alright, Father!” Hearing his father’s words, Ronny deflated like a punctured balloon and flopped back onto his bed.

But just as he lay down, the memory of his sister being bullied earlier that day, with him powerless to intervene, flooded back.

After much hesitation, Ronny quietly approached Hughes’s door, conflicted about whether he should enter.

Unbeknownst to him, Hughes had been waiting. He knew Ronny would come looking for him. Though Ronny hadn’t answered when asked earlier, Hughes saw the unwillingness in his eyes and realized this night would be difficult for him.

“You... did you know I was coming?” Ronny finally pushed open Hughes’s door. Seeing Hughes still seated inside, Ronny knew he was expected.

“Have you made up your mind?” Hughes held a vial of concentration elixir, eyes fixed on Ronny standing at the threshold.

“I... I have!” Ronny bit his lip, resolute. He no longer wanted to be trampled upon.

“Good. Drink this.” Hughes stepped over and handed Ronny the vial.

Without hesitation, Ronny took it and gulped it down. Having made his decision, he felt no fear.

After drinking, Ronny stared wide-eyed at Hughes, as if to say, “What’s next?” Hughes said nothing more, sitting down and waiting for Ronny’s body to react.

“That’s it?” Ronny asked, puzzled by Hughes’s lack of further action.

No sooner had he spoken, the concentration elixir began to take effect.

“Ah!” A sudden, sharp pain exploded in Ronny’s mind, forcing an involuntary cry.

“If you want to call others over, you can just shout!” Hughes snapped his fingers, conjuring a small flame that illuminated Ronny’s face.

Seeing the fire in Hughes’s hand, Ronny recalled the rumors from their town and the mysterious deaths of those two men earlier. Now he understood—the young man before him, not much older than himself, was the legendary sorcerer. Only a sorcerer could wield such power and means.

“If you can endure it, you can become one too,” Hughes whispered enticingly into Ronny’s ear.

“I—I can? I can become a sorcerer too!” Ronny’s heart surged at the very mention of the word. Becoming a sorcerer meant never living such a miserable life again.

Writhing in unbearable pain, Ronny collapsed onto the floor, his clothes soaked through with sweat, stifled groans escaping his throat.

At last, unable to bear the torment in his mind, Ronny fainted.

“Is this really just a coincidence?” Hughes eyed Ronny’s weakening breath, doubting his own theory might be mere chance.

He hadn’t intended to keep Ronny long. When an ordinary person drinks the concentration elixir, it typically destroys their neural pathways; the effects are irreversible. Hughes had only been testing, hoping to see if Ronny’s eyes bore some unexplained power.

“Beep! Unknown energy detected in the subject. Scanning...” came the voice of the chip embedded in Hughes’s wrist.

“Beep! Preliminary analysis: Subject’s unknown energy matches host’s energy signature!”

“Could it really be the same?” Hughes, who had been ready to collect Ronny’s body, was startled by the chip’s report. His own awakening of spiritual power had been tied to his eyes. Now Ronny’s eyes were identical. Was there a connection?

“Beep! Subject’s spiritual power increasing rapidly!”

Hughes sat beside Ronny, eager to witness the changes.

Under Hughes’s gaze, Ronny’s body began to emit a faint glow. His features shifted visibly: his ears grew pointed, and a leaf-shaped mark emerged on his forehead.

“Chip! What state is the subject currently in?” Hughes frowned, noting these changes were unfamiliar to him.

“Beep! Subject unconscious. Spiritual power surging. Level reached: 2.0!”

“Looks like we’ll have to wait for him to wake up,” Hughes said, his expression complex as he marveled at Ronny’s growth.

“Beep! Spiritual power increase halted.”

“Beep! Ronny: Strength 1.12, Agility 1.24, Constitution 2.31, Spiritual Power 3.47. Status: Comatose.”

As the chip reported, Ronny’s transformations slowly faded, returning him to his previous human form—save for his eyes.

“His spiritual power has reached the standards of a second-level apprentice!” Hughes said in amazement, staring at Ronny’s 3.47 score.

Though only slightly higher than a first-level apprentice, Ronny had truly surpassed the 3.0 threshold to become a second-level apprentice.

“When did the concentration elixir get this potent?” Hughes marveled. With just one vial, Ronny had advanced to second-level apprentice. If he learned to inscribe spiritual runes, he could become a second-level sorcerer apprentice.

“Chip! Rescan Ronny’s bloodline.”

Recalling Ronny’s transformations, Hughes suspected the elixir had awakened energy in Ronny’s eyes, which in turn activated his elven bloodline.

“Beep! Subject’s blood composition: Human 21%, Elven 74%, Unknown 5%.”

“That ratio seems off,” Hughes mused. Ronny’s elven blood comprised nearly three-quarters, yet he showed no elven traits like his sister. What was that 5% unknown bloodline? Why did Ronny possess it?

“Could it be...?”

“Chip! Rescan my own bloodline!” Hughes wondered if the mysterious 5% was linked to the eyes. Did he have it too?

“Beep! Hughes Bruch: Human bloodline 100%.”

The chip’s response left Hughes utterly perplexed.

“I... I’m not dead?” Ronny woke, feeling the cold floor beneath him as he slowly sat up.

“What do you think?” Hughes stared intently at him.

“Uh, sorry!” Ronny suddenly realized how foolish his question sounded.

“You’re... quite impressive,” Hughes said, a rare compliment.

“Then... can you teach me now?” Ronny’s face shone with hope. He had believed the earlier pain was some kind of test.

“Don’t you feel anything?” Hughes asked, recalling Ronny’s sudden stat surge.

“Feel?” Ronny was puzzled, then moved his body. At that moment, he realized what Hughes meant.

“I... I feel much stronger than before!” Though Ronny’s new abilities were insignificant compared to Hughes’s, for someone who had just been ordinary, this newfound strength was unmistakable.