50: A breakthrough

Three months later.

Early April, Year 14 of the wizard's path.

In Mentor Jordan's training ground.

Two valiant figures in armor were fiercely clashing swords, sparks flying from the impact of their steel greatswords.

The entire training ground was covered in heavy, pockmarked footprints and sword marks...

"Bang..."

After a full-power clash.

One of the figures, lacking strength, was violently repelled, his feet dragging across the ground, leaving a long scorch mark...

This Hell Knight, clad in full armor, revealed only a pair of eyes filled with burning fighting spirit and an inexplicable fanaticism. His armor was battered and covered in various sword marks, and his greatsword also had numerous nicks and chips.

The body beneath the Hell Knight's armor was trembling violently, a sign of reaching its limit.

But he ignored it, raising his greatsword to block an incoming giant sword, and continued to fight...

Beside the training ground.

Stood a broad-shouldered, tall, and imposing unarmored knight, leaning on a double-edged, broad-hilted greatsword, silently watching the fierce battle.

At a certain moment...

The unarmored knight seemed to discover something.

Suddenly.

The unarmored knight let out a roar, his form rapidly changing.

In a short while, the unarmored knight disappeared...

In his place appeared a giant ape-like creature, three and a half meters tall, covered in black fur, incredibly ugly, with exposed fangs.

It glared with glowing red eyes, like burning balls of fire, gripping its broad-hilted greatsword with both hands in an attacking stance, while continuously letting out roars...

At the same time.

The Hell Knight's opponent also roared, accelerating his attack rhythm.

At this moment, the Hell Knight was like a delicate sapling, enduring the torment of a storm, with large raindrops constantly striking its body, making the sapling appear increasingly small and weak, as if it would be swallowed by the storm in the next second.

His body continuously groaned under the unbearable strain, and his mind constantly issued piercing alarms, warning the Hell Knight—that a terrifying enemy was still lurking nearby.

The pressure on the Hell Knight grew greater and greater, his mind and body both operating under high load, but he dared not stop.

He didn't even dare to be distracted in the slightest, his movements were also an all-out effort to resist.

Because the crisis of death constantly loomed around him.

In such a high-Intensity, high-Intensity, rapidly changing battlefield, any tiny mistake could cost him his life.

The Hell Knight's armor became increasingly tattered, having been struck by several swords, one of which had sliced off more than half of his left shoulder guard, leaving a terrible wound on the Hell Knight's body, exposing raw white bone fragments...

The stimulation of blood drove the Hell Knight into a frenzy, his eyes growing brighter, with only one will in his gaze:

I want to live!

Block it!

If I can't block it, I'll die!

I want to live!

...At a certain moment.

"Boom..."

The Hell Knight's Spiritual Power surged to a certain limit...

The increasingly intense death crisis prompted it to break through this limit directly.

Then... an unprecedented change occurred in the Hell Knight's mind.

The Hell Knight felt that his will had undergone sublimation, constantly transforming, his Spiritual Power becoming incredibly resilient. The death crisis, which had been like a storm before, also continuously diminished, finally becoming like a gentle breeze sweeping across the water's surface.

The Hell Knight's body also seemed to have opened some kind of limit, an endless surge of power continuously emerging for him to wield.

The Hell Knight's counter-attack strength and accuracy were constantly improving; a delicate sapling was transforming into a deeply rooted, sprawling tree.

The Hell Knight's eyes turned red, and his fighting spirit grew higher and higher...

Just then.

The giant ape, lurking nearby, unleashed a jumping slash that directly sent the Hell Knight flying five meters away.

Separating the two figures who had been fighting inextricably.

"Stop!"

At this moment, the Hell Knight, like a gambler who had lost everything, his eyes bloodshot, again charged forward with his greatsword.

The giant ape, without ceremony, repeatedly repelled the Hell Knight several times, finally cleaving the Hell Knight's greatsword in two.

Gripping the broken half of his knight's greatsword, the Hell Knight finally stopped...

"Green..."

"Green..."

Adler activated a heart-shaped pendant, and a gentle green breeze wafted onto the Hell Knight's eyes, gradually fading the abnormal red color...

The heart-shaped pendant was a precious Advanced Wizardry enchanted item, with a fixed 0-ring Advanced Wizardry—Wind of Tranquility, capable of soothing restless and distorted minds, bringing people back to reason. This was borrowed from Mentor Serena.

Under the caress of the Wind of Tranquility, the Hell Knight gradually regained his reason, the frantic red in his eyes completely faded, and his wise, clear black-and-white gaze returned.

The Hell Knight removed his battle armor's visor, revealing his true face—it was Green...

At this moment.

The raging giant ape also transformed back into the unarmored knight from before, who was none other than Mentor Jordan.

"Green, it's excellent that you successfully broke through."

"Now, quickly drink the two life-saving potions you prepared. Don't leave any after-effects."

"Yes, Teacher."

Green's voice was a bit hoarse, yet filled with a certain inexplicable magnetism.

These three months had greatly changed Green...

Green dared not delay, taking hurried steps to the hall, where he retrieved the potions stored in an iron box.

One vial of Advanced Life Recovery Potion and one vial of Advanced Spiritual Power Repair Potion.

Green first uncorked the vial of Advanced Spiritual Power Repair Potion and gulped it down.

The other vial of Advanced Life Recovery Potion had been modified by Green into an injectable form.

With Mentor Jordan's help, Green took off his entire suit of armor in less than thirty seconds.

The armor was simply too badly damaged.

"Hiss..."

Without batting an eye, Green plunged the fine, long needle of the thirty-centimeter-long, five-centimeter-diameter thick syringe into his femoral artery, slowly pushing the entire vial of potion into the artery...

He endured the entire treatment process.

Green then collapsed to the ground with a "thud" and lost consciousness.

Seeing this, Mentor Jordan quickly stepped forward to check on him.

After a while, finding that it was merely excessive mental exhaustion, and that both his body and mind were rapidly recovering under the effect of the potions, he said to Adler:

"Green is fine, no need to worry."

"Adler, help Green bandage his left shoulder wound, then take him back."

"When he wakes up, tell him that he has exhausted his mind and his spirit is somewhat damaged, so he needs at least a month's rest to prevent any lasting mental after-effects."

"Tell him to come back to me after a month."

"Yes, Teacher."

Adler replied with a chuckle, truly happy for Green, who had successfully broken through in one go and wouldn't have to suffer anymore.

The hardship Green endured these past three months made Adler's heart tremble just watching; Green was a ruthless individual, even more enduring than he had been back then.

In these three months, Green used more than twice the amount of specially formulated numbing potion than Adler did, but Green was unaware of this truth...

After Adler finished bandaging Green, he carried Green on his back and opened the door.

Outside, Oakes, Allie, and Bigg gathered around, asking in a flurry of voices:

"Adler, how is Green?"

"What happened to Green?"

"Green is injured, is it serious?"

..."Alright, alright..."

"Green is fine, Mentor Jordan said he just overexerted himself mentally."

"He has already taken recovery and healing potions, he'll be fine after a good night's sleep."

Adler explained repeatedly.

"Oh, Allie, here's the Heart of Tranquility back to you. Green has successfully broken through to Grand Knight."

"For the specifics, wait until Green wakes up and ask him yourself."

"Right now, Green needs quiet rest."

..."Alright then, let's go, let's take him back to the dorm."

"Mhm, mhm, it's good that Green is okay, Adler, hurry up, let's get back quickly."

"I'll help support Green..."

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing that Green was fine.

They didn't dare to delay and escorted Green all the way back to the dorm...