A brave man may not live, but he cannot die

Chapter 134 Testing
In the silent office, Wangcai's barking could be heard.

Its call lacked any of the majestic power of the ancient dragon; it sounded more like a silly duck.

Quinn got up and said, "You're overthinking it," before going to feed Wangcai.

Watching the back of the man squatting in front of Wangcai's food bowl, busy at work, Amamiya Nene's gaze was calm and deep.

After he returned from the abyss, something seemed to have changed about him.

Amamiya Nene is slightly older than Quinn. When I first met him, I felt like I was teasing a younger brother. But after he changed his hair to long, he suddenly became more mature. At this moment, the sense of age on him has disappeared.

This left her somewhat at a loss.

This is a lot like my dad. Although he always seems like a child when he speaks, when he's silent, he looks like he's standing in the shadow of time, with a cold and detached attitude towards the world.

"Is the Abyss your world, Dad, and the world of all the heroes throughout history?"

She could guess it, which wasn't surprising; Quinn's behavior in the abyss had been quite obvious.

Despite it being his first time entering the third level of the abyss, he adapted to the environment very well, could drive that strange steel tool, knew the roads, and could recognize road signs.
"Probably not."

Quinn mixed the finest ground beef and chopped nuts, then added honey to create a flavor that Wangcai would love.

"But you can think of it as my world. If it hadn't been destroyed, and there were plenty of people around, your father's hometown would probably look something like that."

After careful consideration, Quinn also leaned towards Ankuya's judgment that the Abyss was not Earth.

That "Jianghai City" is full of too many strange things.

Humans seemed to have vanished into thin air. I wandered around the city center, which should have been bustling with people, for so long, but I couldn't even find a single corpse.

The city is full of oddities, or rather, bugs: broken traffic lights are still working; horns that are practically scrap metal are still making sounds; and light bulbs and many electrical appliances with damaged circuits are still functioning.
The strangest thing is time.

The timeline in the Abyss should be Quinn's senior year of high school, but there is Mi Yutong's grave, and the Xiaomi tram that will appear ten years later. There is no night, and the sun rises again every two hours.
Everything was bizarre and fantastical, like a dream core; describing it as "the dream of the world" is truly apt.

Quinn was also very curious about what the true depths of the abyss, the limit that humans could reach, the "Dark Abyss Layer," looked like.

However, he didn't want to see Mi Yutong anymore.

Amamiya Nene sat back in the sofa chair, lowered the backrest, and stared intently at the oil painting of a sage of divination on the wall, sketching out the appearance of her father's hometown in her mind according to Quinn's description.

"It's quite bustling."

"Yes."

"So who exactly is the person Celia is playing? Your mother? Your wife? Your crush?"

Quinn sighed.

"Dear Professor Cavendish, we're colleagues, can't we maintain a little distance?"

"I've already touched your legs, and now you're talking about distance?"

"That's a massage, it's normal."

"It's normal for your pants to bulge when you're being massaged?" Amamiya Nene's tone was full of disdain. "My dad helps you so much, and you still have the nerve to do this to your fellow villager's daughter—"

"Cough!" Quinn's cough was so loud that it startled Wangcai, who was eating with his head down.

"Who Celia is impersonating is unimportant, and has nothing to do with your father. I know you want to find him, but going down into the abyss is too risky. How about this... wait until I reach Sequence Seven and have the ability to protect myself, then I'll take you down to find clues, okay?"

Amamiya Nene stared wide-eyed.

"Please, you're only Sequence Nine. It's not even certain you'll survive to Sequence Eight—"

“It’s already Sequence 8,” Quinn said calmly. “You know, heroes are like protagonists in novels; they level up very quickly.”

"You're already Sequence Eight?" Amamiya Nene was slightly taken aback. "Yesterday, the school clinic found the thief's Sequence Nine extraordinary characteristics in your body. You didn't report it, and according to the rules, you should have been punished, but the school administration didn't even bother you."

"Because I am not at risk of losing control."

Quinn didn't take it seriously, thinking that Aqua must have taken care of it.

"When will you reach Sequence Seven?"

Quinn replied decisively, "Within six months."

Just postpone it, anyway, we don't know if we'll be alive or dead in six months.

Amamiya Nene thought about it for a while, feeling sullen, and realized that it made sense.

As a diviner, she is not good at fighting, and her combat experience is even less than Quinn's.

Especially in the environment of the Abyss, most arcane spells are ineffective unless the user is a combat-specialized mage like Fufumark or Hermes. Otherwise, encountering an Abyss superhuman would be dangerous.

Because of the church's patrols, Abyss Transcendents never venture to the third level. The four they encountered this time were only relatively weak Sequence Nines. If they were to encounter those unpredictable mid-sequence or even high-sequence beings, Quinn's current combat strength would be truly insufficient.

It is important to understand that the deeper you go into the abyss, the stronger the binding force of the abyss's rules becomes.

The Abyss Layer is where Abyss Transcendent beings "enter their dreams," and the probability of encountering them is far greater than in reality. Quinn's idea is quite prudent.

After a long while, she finally nodded.

"Then you have to do it within six months."

"Just do your best."

"Tsk tsk." Amamiya Nene suddenly hummed twice, looking at him with amusement: "I didn't expect you to like that type."

"Ah."

Quinn remained noncommittal.

"Indeed, you're not the type. Now that your dad has a lead, stop trying to tempt me all the time. It's unnecessary."

"Tch, do you think I want this?" Amamiya Nene said unhappily, "I won't be able to touch your legs anymore."

"I have a question."

Quinn glanced at her: "You're acting quite well. I can't tell if you have any feelings for me, right?"

"Wow——"

The little witch covered her mouth, looking incredulous.

"So narcissistic"

"Seriously, answer me."

"of course not."

"That's good. Let's not have that again in the future." Quinn chuckled. "Keep a sense of propriety. It's been a pleasure working together."

"Don't worry, don't worry, I don't like your lifeless attitude. I like optimistic men like my dad, and older than me."

Amamiya Nene walked over to Quinn's side, and the two squatted down side by side. She stroked the soft white feathers on the back of Wangcai's head, which made Quinn a little envious.

Once you get to know Wangcai, the little silver dragon, you'll find him quite adorable, especially the fluffy, soft fur around his neck—it looks so cute and cuddly. But contrary to his憨憨 (simple and honest) appearance, even after feeding him for over half a month, Wangcai won't allow Quinn to touch him; he only acts like a servant.

Its relationship with Amamiya Nene is not like that of a pet or a familiar, but rather like that of sisters who grew up together, with a mysterious kind of affection.

"Although I won't like you, we can still be friends." Amamiya Nene said seriously, "After all, you are a hero, and a nice person. I, this lady, will bestow upon you friendship."

"A friendship card, huh?" "Pfft, my dad always makes that joke. He says my mom used to give friendship cards to every noble young master in Ron when she was young."

The sound of an owl flapping its wings came from outside the window.

With its black feathers and bright yellow eyes, it was the same one Quinn had seen during his interview.

This owl isn't a living creature, but rather an arcane artifact belonging to Amamiya Nene, which allows her to project her perspective and control it at will. The owl's remarkable feature is that it can automatically run errands even without human intervention, understanding simple commands and handling miscellaneous tasks like running errands and fetching packages for her.

On Earth, items used for this purpose are generally called drones.

But owls are much more expensive than drones. Among the five levels of artificial arcane devices classified by the Clock Tower, this little gadget, whose internal structure is controlled by a mechanical and arcane matrix, belongs to the third tier—the gold level, and can fetch a high price of four or five thousand gold pounds at auction.

It wasn't until I arrived that I realized the trash scattered all over Amamiya Nene's office was actually valuable stuff. Anything I picked up and sold could be worth ten of his risky smuggling trips of Star Flowers.

The owl had a scroll in its talons, which it dropped to the ground; it was a letter from the school clinic.

Amamiya Nene's eyes flickered.

"Celia is awake."

Grindelwald's infirmary is the most easily accessible place within the castle.

Once you reach the spiral staircase, simply descend it. You don't need to follow any particular pattern to find random doors or manipulate the stairs. Just walk to the bottom, and you'll see a square door.

Quinn had already visited yesterday, but today, he still felt uneasy about the Chinese-style gate standing alone in the magical castle.

With its flying eaves and brackets, vermilion lacquer and green tiles, a plaque with the words "Tongrentang" written in terrible calligraphy hangs on the side, flanked by a couplet: "I'd rather have medicine gathering dust on the shelves than go to work all day."

Quinn was at a loss for words. The movable oil paintings on both sides even featured Bian Que and Nightingale—the paintings weren't very good. Bian Que was depicted as a burly man resembling Confucius, dressed in a wizard's black robe, performing craniotomy on a skull in the painting, which was extremely eerie.

There was also a sign written in Temürgrande at the entrance: 'Feet hurt? Chop off your feet. Headache? Cut off your head. Don't know where the pain is? Amputate below the neck. Don't bother me with problems that can be solved by suicide.'

Amamiya Nene was the first to push open the door and enter, followed by Quinn.

The interior doesn't look very Chinese, nor does it have the cold, laboratory-like atmosphere of the Arcane Workshop. Instead, it's very stylish, like a medieval European-style café. The most eye-catching feature is a huge oil painting—a dark-eyed young man wearing a wizard's hat stands at the entrance of the newly built school clinic, making a peace sign with one hand.

Like the paintings in the Great Hall, this painting is static; it's just an ordinary painting at first glance. But the wise and gentle man in the painting is none other than Merlin, and unlike the elderly figure in the Great Hall, the hero in the painting is in his prime.

The Academy's adoration for Merlin is undeniable, but strangely, not many paintings of him have survived—one in the Great Hall, one here, and Quinn has never seen any others.

There were already quite a few people waiting in the school clinic, including Jacob from the Dean's Office, three students from the Divination Class, and, to Quinn's surprise, Vice Dean Hermes.

An old man in a tuxedo sat on the sofa with his back ramrod straight. A black snake was coiled around his collar. As he sat, everyone else dared to stand far away.

The door to the school doctor's office was tightly closed, with an oil lamp placed on the doorway. The flame seemed to burn like an illusory curtain at the entrance, indicating that the school doctor was working. Quinn guessed that the flame at the doorway might be a disinfection measure.

"Quinn—" "Quinn!" "Teacher!"

Upon seeing Quinn, the three students immediately surrounded him. Seven was the first to thank him, patting him on the shoulder in a casual manner and saying he wanted to treat him to a meal. However, the winking and smirking expression he made when mentioning "meal" was rather lewd, suggesting it might not be a proper meal.

Next was Megan, who awkwardly bowed to Quinn and stammered, "Teacher, thank you for saving me."

Quinn accepted it calmly. The other two were alright, but Megan was really unlucky and tragically played the role of Lomin. If she were allowed to jump off a building and die, she would probably be truly corrupted by the abyss.

His guess was correct. If the actor died on the third level, he would be directly corrupted by the abyss, and his soul would fall into the abyss layer to become nourishment for the abyss.

"Megan, do you remember what happened in the abyss?"

Quinn asked cautiously.

Apart from Celia, she was the only one whose emotions fluctuated most intensely in the abyss.

But Megan just shook her head blankly.

"I don't remember anything. It's like I slept for a very long time. The last thing I remember is being in the cage with everyone. But teacher, look—"

Megan raised her hand, rolled up her sleeve to reveal her wrist, and several pale white, exquisite lines faintly emerged from beneath her skin.

Quinn's eyes flickered; this was an arcane circuit.
Megan's specialty is "tuning," a branch of arcane arts similar to adjusting the pitch of an instrument, specifically the study of circuits. Mastering this arcane art allows one to correct circuits and even maintain and elevate them. Very few people are truly proficient in this art, making it one of the most lucrative skills in all arcane disciplines. An experienced tuner can easily find a high-paying job at any arcane institution.

Megan's ability to briefly activate a portion of a circuit, and even manifest it externally, is already at the entry-level skill level for a trainer. Even with her talent and Grindelwald's training progress, she should only be able to achieve this in her second year.

"Teacher, I don't know why, but my mental strength seems to have increased. About that much."

She gestured with her hand, indicating a distance she didn't quite understand.

Seven added from the side, "It's almost doubled, my god. The Forbidden Forest is an aphrodisiac; you can gain a whole year's worth of training points in the blink of an eye."

Quinn turned around in surprise to look at Amamiya Nene, his eyes full of doubt. Was the effect really that strong?

She wasn't surprised; the three of them already knew when they woke up yesterday.

“They went into the third floor and stayed there for so long. The risks and rewards were both there. Even the students in other classes who benefited the most did not benefit as much as one-tenth of them.”

Quinn frowned. "Then why don't I feel that my mental strength has improved?"

Amamiya Nene didn't seem to feel anything.

Adolf, who had never given Quinn a kind look, surprisingly lowered his head. This extraordinary, lame young man expressed his gratitude in his own way: "Quinn, when I go to kill the Emperor, I'll let you be the first one there. If it succeeds, I'll make you Prime Minister—"

"Thank you, but no need," Quinn immediately refused, demonstrating his ingratitude.

"Hey, I helped too, okay?!" Amamiya Nene exclaimed, hands on her hips, glaring at her. "Why isn't anyone thanking me—"

So the three of them immediately switched sides and started showering each other with compliments, calling her "Teacher Ningning" in a very sweet voice.

After the students finished exchanging pleasantries, He Mo finally stood up. When the students saw him approaching, they immediately hissed and dared not speak.

“You, come with me.” The little snake on his neck raised its head at Quinn.

Amamiya Nene wanted to follow, but Jacob stopped her, gently shaking his head to indicate that the two should be alone.

He came specifically to see Quinn, not to visit the girl who was unconscious in the abyss.

After leaving the school clinic, the door automatically closed, blocking out the sound.

"Hello, Dean."

Quinn nodded and bowed obsequiously, and was the first to greet him.

Hermes' calm gaze from behind his glasses fell on him for a while before he said, "I've read the report. Your Sequence Nine extraordinary characteristics should have been fully digested."

Quinn immediately chuckled awkwardly and said, "Dean, please let me explain. It wasn't intentional that I didn't report it. I only became a superhuman after the start of the semester due to an accident. I was just about to submit a report when this happened."

"Heh." Hermes gave a forced smile: "You mean, you accidentally collected all the potion ingredients, accidentally concocted the potion according to the correct procedure, accidentally drank the potion within its short shelf life, accidentally survived, and finally accidentally fused the Sequence Nine characteristics within a month, is that what you mean?"

"Yes."

He Mo actually nodded. "Since it was an accident, the academy will not pursue the matter of your cover-up."

"Huh?" Quinn was taken aback. What was going on now?
"To recognize your contribution this time, the academy can reward you with a Sequence 8 [Thief] potion. When you are ready to be promoted, submit a report to the Academic Affairs Office, and the potion will be delivered to you."

Before Quinn could react, Hermes continued, “The academy has recipes for the lower and middle sequences of each Destiny. The lower sequence recipes are in the restricted area of ​​the library. You are now a senior teaching assistant, so you can browse them freely. You can ask me about the middle sequence recipes, but the potion recipes and rituals for the high sequence are ancient and forbidden. The academy does not have recipes for the Destiny; you will have to find them yourself.”

"However, the academy can help you."

Quinn looked into the old man's eyes and vaguely guessed what was going on.

“Mr. Quinn, would you be interested in having a frank conversation with the Academy?” Hermes looked at him calmly: “For example, about your true identity.”

(End of this chapter)