“Master! I’ve reached the first tier!”
Little Elvie felt the magical power surging within her and excitedly waved her small fists at Li Ang.
But she quickly noticed Li Ang’s pale expression, and the little girl immediately panicked.
“Ma…Master, what’s wrong with you?”
“It’s nothing.”
Li Ang waved his hand.
“Just rest a bit, then try the breathing method again and see if you feel any different.”
He sat down on the nearby recliner, watching Elvie’s breathing flow much more smoothly than before as he pondered.
If he wanted to rapidly increase Elvie’s strength, the Life Drain Ritual was undoubtedly the best method.
Now that the magical array within her body was fully inscribed,
he just needed to activate it regularly to transmit his life force and mana into Elvie’s body.
With his sixth-tier power, he should be able to push Elvie to about the fifth tier.
Moreover, it seemed this ritual wasn’t limited to just life force and mana—it even included magical aptitude.
In other words, this ritual could sacrifice everything from one person to another.
No wonder this thing was sealed as a forbidden book…
In the following months, with Li Ang’s help, Elvie’s progress accelerated rapidly.
She became more and more proficient in mana control and successfully advanced to the second tier.
Compared to other classes, knights need to use mana to strengthen their bodies, requiring a lot of nutrition.
This caused Elvie’s originally petite frame to grow especially fast.
Though only about fifteen or sixteen years old, she was already nearly as tall as Li Ang, fully embodying the image of a young maiden.
Li Ang felt quite gratified seeing this.
It was like watching a daughter grow up.
Seeing Elvie transform from wary and uneasy to confident and lively gave him a strong sense of accomplishment.
Compared to Vesilia’s harsh training when he was younger, he was very gentle with Elvie, strictly controlling the amount of her training.
Yet this girl still secretly trained late at night, giving him quite a headache.
Every time he caught her, she refused to change.
Like this morning, Li Ang looked at Elvie’s dark-circled eyes and sighed helplessly.
“Did you secretly train again last night? I told you, you need to balance work and rest…”
“Hehe…”
Elvie stuck out her little tongue and tugged on Li Ang’s clothes, pouting.
“Master~ I just want to get stronger quickly, plus the Ashen Knight Order’s recruitment is about to start!”
After these months together, the girl’s personality had grown brighter, though she always liked sticking close to Li Ang.
“You’re already second tier. At your age, a second-tier knight would be a top contender even in the capital.”
“Hmph, that’s all thanks to Master.”
Elvie shook her little fists, her golden eyes filled with determination.
“Your talent was already good. Even without me, you’d still become strong.”
Li Ang stretched out his hand.
Elvie obediently bent down, pressing her head close like a docile kitten.
“Master.”
“Hm?”
“I’ll definitely come back first place!”
“All right.”
After absorbing the energy from her master, Elvie happily went off to train her mana control nearby.
Li Ang quietly returned to his room.
The moment he closed the door, the magic inside him surged uncontrollably.
“Cough, cough, cough…”
Outside in the courtyard, Elvie paused her training briefly, then pushed herself even harder.
Inside the room.
Feeling the bloody taste rising in his throat, Li Ang’s face turned pale.
The ritual took a severe toll on the sacrifice’s body.
Now, whenever his body failed to control the mana, he was frequently harmed by mana backlash.
The wind element that had once been docile within him now raged wildly.
Li Ang knew clearly that his time was running out.
At this rate, he’d die before the final sacrifice could be made.
After all, this was just a simulation, so Li Ang wasn’t too worried about death. But if Elvie’s body received all his mana at once, she’d probably burst!
He still had to improve the simulation’s score as much as possible, so he could bring this ritual into reality.
Li Ang gradually adjusted his breathing and sat on the bed.
Flipping to the last page of the forbidden book, he frowned slightly at the contents.
The final step of the ritual required personally killing the sacrifice.
The problem was—how could he get Elvie to kill him?
***
A few mornings later, Elvie looked excited.
Today was the official assessment for the knight order.
Though Ashen City was just a small frontier town, passing the test meant she could become a true knight!
Li Ang had prepared food for her and noticed her tightly clenched fists.
He realized she wasn’t as confident as she appeared.
After all, just a few months ago, she was a starving little beggar.
Seeing this, he stepped forward and ruffled the girl’s golden soft hair teasingly.
“What’s this? My closed-door disciple doesn’t seem very confident.”
“N-No, I do!”
Elvie puffed out her cheeks, feeling her master’s warm hand, and much of her nervousness melted away as she declared loudly, “I’ll definitely succeed!”
“That’s the Elvie I know.”
Li Ang smiled and then pushed her out the door, waving.
“Good luck! I’ll be waiting for your good news, future knight lady.”
“I’m off! Master, remember to eat lunch on time!”
“Mm.”
Watching her retreating figure, Li Ang felt a bit dazed, like a father sending his daughter off to school.
Even though it was just a simulation, it felt like several months had really passed.
Only when that golden figure disappeared from sight did Li Ang shake his head and return to his books.
He looked less like a knight now and more like a scholar.
***
By the time Li Ang felt the hunger pangs in his stomach, it was already afternoon.
“I forgot to eat again. If little Elvie finds out, she’ll scold me once more.”
Li Ang muttered, getting up to buy some bread on the street.
He didn’t know how Elvie’s assessment was going—whether she was succeeding or not.
Walking along, he planned to buy the dessert Elvie had been craving for a long time.
Normally, she always talked about saving money and refused to buy it, so now that she wasn’t around, he’d give her a surprise.
Thinking this, the corner of his mouth twitched into a small smile, and his pace quickened, eager to see Elvie’s reaction when she returned.
After packing the dessert, Li Ang was about to leave when he overheard some customers in the shop talking about the knight assessment.
He stopped in his tracks.
“Hey, did you hear? The Ashen Knight Order caught a cult brat!”
“I heard she actually turned herself in. A cult beast trying to sneak into the knight order? Good thing someone recognized her.”
“Her dad’s that cult leader who’s been causing a stir recently. As expected, a cult beast’s kid is a little beast too!”
“They’re going to have a public trial soon. Let’s go and join the crowd, have a few laughs.”
Listening to them, Li Ang’s expression remained cold.
He stepped forward and asked, “Where is the Ashen Knight Order?”
“Huh? Brother, you wanna watch the show?”
The man looked up with interest.
“Where’s the Ashen Knight Order?”
Li Ang didn’t answer.
Instead, he coldly stared into the man’s eyes and repeated the question without emotion.
Feeling the icy gaze and the overwhelming wind element radiating from Li Ang, the man immediately realized this wasn’t someone to provoke.
Hastily, he pointed a direction.
“It’s… to the north, next to the church bell tower…”
Before he finished, a sudden violent gust swirled through the shop, accompanied by muffled screams from a few men.
Li Ang’s figure had long vanished from the spot.