Published at 7th of January 2026 7:53 am

Chapter 2440: A Sudden Decision

This chapter is updated by JustRead.pl

As Nis’s hand just touched Renko’s skin, Renko suddenly trembled violently, letting out a scream unconsciously.

At the same time, a bright red mark was left on Renko’s skin.

Nausicaa looked a bit dazedly at the scene before her, wasn’t Nis just lightly touching him? How could there be such a big red mark, and why is Renko still screaming?

Nausicaa looked at Nis: "Master, what is his condition now?"

Nis didn’t answer immediately, his eyebrows tightly knit as he observed Renko. However, he no longer directly touched him but rather examined Renko’s condition through the perspective of energy.

After a moment, Nis slowly said, "I initially thought the ’forging’ phase of the forging water was over, but unexpectedly, it’s not finished."

"What do you mean?"

"The effect of forging water is just like its name, it hammers out the potential of humans bit by bit. Each hammer strike can lead to physical collapse and mental breakdown," Nis said. "You should still remember the shrill scream this guy let out before we left, right?"

Nausicaa nodded in agreement. The actual sound of the scream at the time made everyone on the Moonlight Bird feel uneasy.

Humans indeed find it hard to empathize, but the deeply ingrained sound of the scream still sent chills down their spines.

From this, one could tell how terrible the pain Renko was in at the time.

Nis: "Actually, Renko’s state now is just like it was before we left... Well, not completely the same; the toxins in his body have long been hammered out. Now Renko is still activating his potential."

Nausicaa was dumbfounded: "Master, are you saying he is still in the forging phase of the forging water, enduring immense agony?"

Nis nodded, his gaze at Renko showing admiration for the first time.

"This guy’s endurance is excellent; the hammering hasn’t ended, but he has already started to adapt to the pain brought about by it." The earlier scream from Renko was actually the result of Nis’s wrong judgment, as he thought the forging water was exhausted. When the cycle that could originally be endured encountered an external factor—Nis’s touch, it was like a camel already at its limit suddenly having a straw added onto it. Even if the weight of the straw was negligible to others, the camel’s experience was real, and adding any external factor could lead to the camel’s collapse.

However, Renko is ultimately not a camel; a camel cannot withstand the weight of the straw, but Renko can. Even though Nis’s mistake caused Renko to experience even more painful suffering, he still managed to endure.

At this moment, Nausicaa also understood what Renko had been through. Clearly, Nis’s operation earlier was a bit reckless, but not entirely to blame. If it were her, she might have also thought Renko had passed the "hammering" phase since he looked so calm.

Fortunately, Renko’s resilience is strong; otherwise, all would have been in vain.

Now, Renko has once again entered the "forging" state, with his spirit and body not having collapsed.

However, the red mark on his skin is difficult to disappear.

"Can he succeed?" Nausicaa asked after a few minutes of silence.

"I don’t know," Nis replied. "But if Renko succeeds, he should be quite promising... What should I do? I’m starting to fancy him."

When they left, Renko was already enduring the "forging." Now that they’ve returned, the "forging" still hasn’t ended. Nis knew exactly what this meant.

Renko’s potential must be very strong, or the forging water wouldn’t sustain this long.

Of course, strong potential isn’t the main reason for Nis’s interest in Renko.

Many talented ones have strong potential, with some even manifesting strong abilities, like Nausicaa’s friend—Xiliu. Her ability of water transmutation is a manifestation of her potential, strong enough to rank in the Barbarian Cave.

But in Nis’s view, Xiliu is just so-so. Not because of her "drowsiness" problem, but because potential cannot be regarded as the absolute value of the wizard’s path. Compared to potential, he is more interested in decisive courage and tenacious perseverance.

And Renko possesses both.

Back then, when Renko chose between "conventional treatment" and "forging water," all other crew members leaned towards conventional treatment, but Renko decisively chose the forging water. This illustrates a kind of courage to challenge oneself.

During the forging water’s effect, the grueling pain was acknowledged by all wizards, even causing some high-order apprentices to undergo physical and mental collapse in the painful forging, leading to this Vanderval school potion gradually fading out.

Yet Renko, an ordinary person, endured it all. Endured for two whole days, showcasing Renko as someone with strong survival instincts and tenacious perseverance.

If such a person can embark on the wizard’s path, his future achievements might not be inferior to the gifted types.

"I hope Renko has soul talent," Nis murmured.

Nausicaa was taken aback, then her tightened lips lifted into a slight smile. Although Nis said he didn’t know whether Renko could succeed, from his self-talk, it was actually apparent that Nis estimated Renko’s success rate to be high.

More so, Nis began to hope that Renko has a soul talent, so it would naturally be justified for him to take Renko as an apprentice.

"Isn’t having little Same as your disciple enough for you, Wizard Nis?"

Just then, a voice sounded from the clinic’s doorway.

When they turned to look, it was Angel coming in. Behind Angel were Sanders, Ferro, and Kanter, along with Reynaud following along.

"Weren’t you all uninterested in Renko? Why did you come?" Nis asked, looking at Sanders and the others.

Sanders didn’t speak, walking straight over to sit down upon entering. Ferro gently pointed at Angel, "He said he had something to discuss with us, so we came."

Nis looked at Angel: "Little Same is one matter, Renko is another. If Renko is a soul talent in the mysterious side, it’s only logical for me to take him."

Angel chuckled, not continuing the debate. In truth, he only made a casual jest. If Renko indeed had soul talent, he would also recommend Renko to Nis. Although Nis is unreliable as a person, his soul abilities are among the top in the Barbarian Cave.

"Angel, do you have something to say?" Sanders asked.

Previously, Sanders was outside studying Reynaud when Angel communicated through the mind ribbon, saying there was something to discuss. So he came over.

Upon seeing Angel, Sanders inexplicably felt a slight irregularity in his heartbeat, as if something was about to happen.

Good or bad, Sanders could not predict, but it definitely related to why Angel called them over.

"I came here to check on Renko. Since Renko is fine, that means the forging water’s duration isn’t over yet," Angel said with a smile.

Everyone: "..." So you don’t know whether it’s over or not?

After a brief pause, Angel continued, "Besides that, there is something else that I want to discuss with everyone."

Everyone’s gaze focused simultaneously on Angel.

"I want to..."

"I want to go back to the center of the Mist Belt and have a look." Angel finally blurted out after a moment of hesitation.

After the words fell, everyone’s brows all furrowed.

Nis and Ferro, almost in the same reaction, immediately spoke to dissuade Angel.

For a moment, the narrow medical room suddenly became lively.

Angel paid no attention to Nis and Ferro’s dissuasion, turning his head instead to the bed where Renko lay and cast an auditory illusion, isolating external sounds to prevent the noise from burdening Renko further.

After completing all this, Angel turned around, his gaze fixed on Sanders.

Sanders did not protest, his expression unchanged, as though listening to a very ordinary decision.

"Is this your decision?" Sanders spoke, and everyone else fell silent.

Angel nodded solemnly.

Sanders remained silent for a moment before slowly speaking: "Then go ahead."

Upon hearing Sanders’s response, Nis immediately wanted to say something, but was stopped by a glance from Kanter: Even Sanders agreed, so why interfere?

"I just want to say, you all leave here first, I’ll return alone to the center of the Mist Belt later."

Kanter: "Actually, I can accompany you. It’s a good chance for us to have a private chat."

Angel shook his head: "No need. I want to go alone."

Kanter said nothing more, but looked at Sanders. Sanders gave Angel a deep look: "Alright, but you’d better come back alive."

Angel chuckled, merely nodded without speaking. Because... he feared jinxing himself.

"Mentor, don’t you want to ask me why I want to go back?" Angel asked curiously when he saw Sanders seemed to lose interest in chatting.

Sanders: "Any action you take, I believe has a reason."

Moreover, Angel proposed this precisely at this moment, indicating that his reason for returning belongs to a more urgent matter. Before this, Angel had shown no signs of wanting to go back.

To have turned his thoughts in just a few minutes clearly suggests some mysterious other reason.

And such an urgent mysterious "other reason" usually involves personal secrecy.

Thus, Sanders did not ask. He also knew that if Angel wished to share, he would do so himself, just like now.

Nis: "Your mentor isn’t interested, but I am. Why don’t you tell us why you must return to the Mist Belt?"

"Witnessing the birth of a disordered object should be quite helpful to me," Angel gave a reason.

Everyone furrowed their brows slightly, seemingly understanding Angel’s choice a little. Angel is an alchemist, currently the only one in the Southern Domain, and the closest to the mystery class alchemist, isn’t it quite normal for him to be interested in the birth of a mysterious object?

This world has no shortage of stories depicting people who pursue their passions at any cost.

Angel seems to be planning to do just that.

The reason sounds quite legitimate for pursuing the mystery class breakthrough.

Whether this reason is genuine, Sanders thought it probably... isn’t. Does Angel love alchemy? Yes, but Sanders knows Angel’s attitude towards alchemy is more pragmatic than fanciful.

Angel is self-aware; he won’t daydream about things currently beyond reach, like the mystery class.

He may have once come infinitely close to the mystery class, but that was a happenstance of time and place. Angel wouldn’t greedily think he truly belongs to the half-step mystery alchemist.

He still has plenty of alchemy knowledge to learn.

In this situation, coveting the mystery class is delusion.

So, chasing the path of mystery class for an ephemeral "birth of a disordered object" certainly doesn’t align with Angel’s ideology.

Of course, this is merely Sanders’s perspective; he understands Angel, so he knows how flawed Angel’s reasoning is.

But others aren’t the same; they perceive Angel superficially, thus finding his reasoning quite compelling.

For instance, at the moment, including Kanter, Nis, and Ferro find Angel’s reasoning quite convincing and sincere.

Conversely, Nausicaa feels this decision is somewhat unlike what Angel would make. But now, even Sanders agrees with Angel’s decision, so Nausicaa can’t oppose him. Moreover, Nausicaa actually believes in "risk and opportunity coexist," which is why she rashly followed Reynaud to venture into the lab this time.

"Well then... alright, when are you leaving?" Nis asked.

"In a quarter of an hour."

...

The reason for leaving a quarter of an hour is because Angel plans to make a trip to the Wilderness of Dreams.

He intends to place the books he has replicated in the lab within the Wilderness of Dreams using illusion techniques.

This is not a difficult task and was quickly accomplished.

After finishing everything, Angel bade farewell through the Mind Ribbon and jumped out of the Moonlight Bird ship, flying into the sky.

In the clear nightfall, Angel looked towards the direction of the lab... A calm appearance, but was it truly calm? Only by going over can one know.

Just as Angel was about to leave, a subtle ripple appeared around him.

Turning back, a black gentleman’s silhouette appeared beside him.

"Mentor?" Angel instinctively identified the figure, quickly adding, "No, it’s an illusion?"

"My true body is still on the island; I’m using an illusion avatar to accompany you for a while," Sanders said indifferently.

An illusion avatar is much like an avatar, except it doesn’t require splitting consciousness and instead uses illusion to carry some awareness.

Anything encountered by the illusion avatar is instantly transmitted to the main consciousness.

The effect is somewhat similar to the Wizard’s Eye, but offers more operability.

However, illusion avatars have a major flaw; since they don’t split consciousness, they have distance limitations. With Angel’s current capability, illusion avatars can be numerous but can only reach at most a few kilometers before disappearing.

Sanders’s illusion avatar is evidently more advanced than Angel’s; he said he could accompany Angel for a while, which surely isn’t a short-lived few kilometers avatar.

Angel nodded; he was hoping to have some alone time to talk with Sanders.

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