“But you can still freely control its temperature?”
“Right, and compared to my previous green fire, I can now control it to such a degree that different parts of my flame can have different temperatures.”
Roland could now somewhat understand what Nightingale meant by completely new ability. Compared to her former green and warm fire, her ability at the moment had become completely different; describing it as flame like before wouldn’t be appropriate. When Anna accepted the idea that the universe was built out of microscopic particles, her control of the temperature had also achieved a completely new stage after connecting it with particle motion. It was certain that Anna wasn’t manipulating the particles the same way she had manipulated the flames before…. No matter if it was her original flame, her green flame she got on her day of adulthood, or now her black flame, they were her form of expressing her magic.
Although she converted her magic into heat in both methods, the true effect was very different.
She is truly a genius, Roland couldn’t stop himself from sighing, anything else than genius, he could not think of a more appropriate adjective. In the same evening of learning new knowledge, she was immediately able to fully comprehend it and apply it to create a new ability. Only very talented people could have this absorptive capacity and way of thinking.
Anna’s changes also made him more interested in exploring the true nature of the world.
Unfortunately, I don’t have my own magic, Roland thought, this is definitely my biggest regret after crossing over. After all, within the hearts of most people there is the dream of becoming a superhero, accidentally gaining an incredible power, and walking down a unique path. How much fun would that be?
“I might know why Anna’s ability has changed,” Roland spoke aloud, pushing back his regrets and coming back to reality.
“How has she achieved it?” The crowd asked.
“Through studying.”
“Do you mean something like yesterday’s teaching class?” Scroll unsurely muttered.
“That is exactly what I was talking about,” Roland began to explain his own speculation again, “The understanding of the world can help you improve your ability, or even completely change it.”
“I can… also change?” Mystery Moon timidly asked.
“Of course,” Roland reassuringly patted her shoulder. If there wasn’t a limited number of steam engines, and I hadn’t found the rubber, I would have been unable to produce wires, so her ability to create strong magnets would have become very handy.
The original purpose behind his action of imparting his knowledge to Scroll was to avoid forgetting what he had learned in his ordinary memory. But now, he had accidentally discovered that knowledge played a big role in forming the effect of the witches’ abilities. So, it became necessary that all the witches partake in his evening lessons.
Of course, he also understood, that not everyone had Anna’s outstanding talent. For example, he didn’t have the tiniest piece of hope for Nightingale, who always fell asleep during his lessons. He didn’t know how many of the witches would cross the difficult path of simply remembering something to completely understanding it, then understanding it to actually using it.
“Last night you didn’t get any sleep, so it would be the best if you got some rest now,” Roland said to Anna, “I’ll take another look at your new ability in two days.”
“Alright,” Anna nodded earnestly.
“As for the rest of you,” he looked to the other witches, “from today on, you will all come together in the living room after dinner to start with the basics and learn how to read and write on Mondays to Fridays. Scroll will be your teacher.”
Chapter 132 The Knight of the Elk Family (Part 1)
Prius had already been locked up for five days.
Although it couldn’t be called a cell, after the transformation, there was not much difference between the former house and a cell — the original wooden doors were replaced by wooden railings, all the furniture had been removed from the house, and only a few blankets were left. The only advantage compared to a cell was that the room was clear and that it had neither holes for draught nor rain.
In addition to Prius, there were four other prisoners. Three of them belonged to the house of the former Duke, the other belonged to the Wolf Family, and Prius himself belonged to the Elk Family.
“What the hell, he really wants to lock us up in here!” Shouted one of the Duke’s Knights, who belonged to the oldest people who have taken part in the battle, “The wheat on the fields in my territory haven’t even been sown yet! And my woman doesn’t know how to manage everything.”
“Your territory?” asked the young knight of the Wolf Family with a lot of contempt in his voice, “Do you really believe that the Prince will let you keep your rank as a knight? Even letting you keep your Horse, Armor, and weapons so that you can start your revenge whenever you feel like? Really, as long as he doesn’t send us to the gallows, he can still be considered as a kind person.”
“What did you just say!?” The old knight stared furiously at him.
“To tell you the truth,” the young knight explained further, ”The Duke did indeed plan to start a rebellion against the throne in doing so becoming a first-rate convict, taking all of his elite knights with him, and only letting a few stand by the side of his son. As for us, we would naturally be forced by the Duke to follow him onto the battlefield.”
“I see that you would really like to die now!” Hearing him talk like this the old knight suddenly went over, picking the young knight and lifting him up, while at the same time clenching his right hand into a fist, already going through the motion to hit him, but suddenly his hand was firmly grasped from behind.
“Stay your hand, Halon. Do you want that the guards come over?” the fist was grasped by a young handsome knight, “What he said is right, we were knights under the command of the Duke, so if we are to be convicted we are likely to be sentenced to a heavy punishment. Just look at the Knight of the Elk Family, he is waiting calmly for the result, and now look at how you are acting. Do you think you’re showing the right kind of demeanor?
Prius could immediately recognize this man, he was the star of all of the Longsong Stronghold’s knights, Ferlin Eltek, also nicknamed Morning Light. He had captured the hearts of many aristocratic families’ young ladies. However, after coming around, he finally settled down and married a civilian, creating a lot of heated discussions. After being mentioned, Prius decided that now wasn’t the time to stay quiet, so he said to them: “I don’t know what will happen to your territories, but I’m certain that the Prince won’t kill us.”
“Oh, why’s that?”
“If he had killed us all in the stronghold, he would have achieved a deterrent effect, but after spending so much effort to bring us to Border Town, why should he kill us here? To impress the civilians?” Prius shook his head, “During the battle, we weren’t even able to set one foot inside the town.”
As long no one attacked them, burning down and looting their houses, the town’s people naturally wouldn’t have any extreme hatred against them. Therefore, since the Prince didn’t kill them during their stay in the stronghold, he also wasn’t likely to kill them here in Border Town.
After thinking about this for a moment, the knight called Eltek nodded in confirmation, “What you said makes sense. May I have your name, please, mister…?”
“Prius Dessau.”
“Thank you for your encouraging words, Sir Dessau.” After he expressed his thanks, Ferlin grasped Halon by his arm and took him back to another corner.
The young knight of the Wolf Family also sat back down, and leaning against the wall and began to hum.