Asura in Arknights

The situation reached a stalemate.

In fact, Li Ang still has one path left to take—to become a mercenary or a bounty hunter.

The requirements for this type of job are low enough that you don't have to be afraid of death, and you can make money very quickly. Getting rich overnight is often not a fantasy.

However, once you choose this path, it means you will never have a peaceful life. If it weren't for the pressure of life, who would be willing to live such a life of danger?

Li Ang hasn't been forced to that point yet.

Since he couldn't find a job for the time being, all Li Ang could do was study, as he was very interested in Originium Arts.

During the time he wasn't interviewing, Li Ang would wander around the Originium Arts Academy at William University, auditing courses that interested him. As for the textbooks, that was easy to solve; he could just use Adele's old textbooks.

Li Ang, after all, went through numerous selection processes to finally get into university, so there's definitely no problem with his learning ability.

Moreover, Originium Arts is a skill that values ​​practical application more than theory. Fortunately, Li Ang is better than most people in this regard. Originium particles are almost an extension of his will, and he can control them without any difficulty.

Compared to other students at William University, Li Ang only lacked some basic knowledge.

Even if a teacher occasionally discovers that Li Ang is not a student of William University, they all turn a blind eye to the problem, and no teacher would dislike a student like him.

If this trend continues, Li Ang might even manage to get a diploma from William University in four years.

During his time at William University, Li Ang learned new knowledge every day, which he could then transform into useful tools to benefit himself. This feeling of becoming stronger every day was incredibly captivating to him.

Li Ang was even considering whether he should work as a mercenary for a while, pull off a big heist to save up some money, and then settle down to study at William University.

Even a graduation certificate from William University can make it infinitely easier for Li Ang to find a job.

Besides auditing classes, Li Ang also obtained a library card for William University through Adele's connections. Although he could only borrow a few books, being able to enter the library openly was enough to satisfy Li Ang.

In Letania, besides the Twin Queens' Tower, the library of William University has the richest collection of books, which preserves almost all the books circulating in the market, and even a large number of handwritten copies of unknown authors.

Every year, some sorcerers try every means to enter the William University Library in order to ensure that their 'works' are passed down forever, and this phenomenon is difficult to eradicate.

Therefore, apart from the registered books, even the library director doesn't know exactly how many books there are. You might find this type of handwritten copy by searching in the gaps between bookshelves.

Li Ang has always kept his distance from this type of handwritten manuscript.

With so many people coming and going in the library every day, don't even think about finding some secret manuals; you're more likely to just waste several hours.

Where in this world do so many frustrated researchers come from? If those sorcerers' research results were truly useful, they would have been included in William University's database long ago. Why would they need to secretly hide them in the library?

Li Ang has always had a clear understanding of this kind of windfall.

Through this period of auditing classes, Li Ang has learned many practical spells. With the help of the academy's instructors, he has even developed a spell of his own based on his Originium Arts.

By controlling the reaction between Originium particles and the ink on the book, Li Ang is able to 'see' the words on the book in a special way.

Although this minor spell has many limitations—only Li Ang can use it, and he must adjust the spell unit accordingly if the ink used is different—it does solve Li Ang's current predicament.

As for how to read non-ink text, such as electronic products... well, we'll see when we encounter them. At least there aren't many of these products in Letania, and they're mostly imported from other countries.

After solving the problem of not being able to read, Li Ang completely forgot about finding a job and spent all his time in the library, greedily absorbing all kinds of knowledge.

He has already put the plan to become a bounty hunter and pull off a big heist on his agenda.

Li Ang had always felt a faint sense of crisis, and even now that he had come to Letania and was far away from the Iberian territory, this sense of crisis had not subsided.

Li Ang still doesn't understand what the cane Dr. Kent gave him really represents.

According to Li Ang's tests, the cane should contain a synthetic metal called D32 steel, which is the hardest known substance and can only be produced in a very few places in the world.

If sold, it could buy a house in a less developed area of ​​Brandenburg. Dr. Kent certainly didn't just give Leon a cane because he thought he was blind.

Li Ang had absolutely no idea what the future held.

All he can do now is to increase his strength as much as possible.

Chapter Twenty-Eight: Roots

The simplest way to increase your strength is to start with your Originium Arts.

The power of the Blazing Wave Sword surpasses that of most spells of the same type. Those less talented sorcerers might never be able to create an Originium Art of this level in their entire lives, but Leon was still not satisfied.

The battle with the tall hat sorcerer had already shown Li Ang the world's top combat power... Perhaps the opponent was not even considered top combat power, but even so, Li Ang had a hard time winning that battle.

If there were only one such enemy, Li Ang could barely handle it, but if there were several, he would have no choice but to surrender.

Given Li Ang's current level of knowledge, the power of the Blazing Wave Sword has reached its limit. He should shift his research focus to other attribute conversion units.

Leon's awakened Originium Arts have great potential; simply adding an attribute conversion unit can multiply the power of the Wave Sword.

Aside from fire, the most powerful spell in regular Originium Arts is lightning.

However... none of the Originium Arts related to lightning that Li Ang found at William University met his requirements.

Although these Originium Arts are called 'lightning' spells, they are essentially just ways to indirectly create 'lightning' by controlling specially designed spellcasting units to trigger corresponding physical phenomena.

What Li Ang needs is a spell that directly controls and triggers the lightning itself; it is said that only the Yan Kingdom possesses this type of spell tradition.

What Li Ang is holding now is a travelogue-type book, which contains some information about this kind of magic.

In Yan Kingdom, this Originium Arts is called 'Thunder Magic', and this magic has a very special status; outsiders simply cannot master it.

Left with no other choice, Li Ang turned his attention to another type of Originium Arts.

“Ice, huh…” Li Ang murmured.

If the wave swords of ice and fire attributes are used alternately, the power should be stronger than using only one. Even if Li Ang guesses wrong, it doesn't matter. Mastering another attribute conversion will not do him any harm. Not all places are suitable for using the Explosive Flame Wave Sword.

Just as Li Ang was considering what to do next, a commotion suddenly interrupted his thoughts.

I don't know when it started, but a large group of students had gathered in the direction of the library restrooms, and the commotion just now came from there.

what happened there?

With some doubts in his mind, Li Ang picked up the travelogue in his hand after a moment's thought and walked towards the direction where the crowd was gathering.

After Li Ang approached the crowd, he randomly grabbed someone next to him and asked, "Excuse me, do you know what happened up ahead?"

The student who was caught said without turning his head, "I'm not sure. It seems like something blocked the toilet pipe, and the people in front are trying to get it out."

The water pipes...are clogged? And someone is trying to fix them?

How could something like this attract such a large crowd? Upon learning the truth, Li Ang was both amused and exasperated, not even afraid that the administrators would arrest these guys and give them a demerit.

Shaking his head, Li Ang prepared to put the travelogue back in its place and then look for books related to ice-attribute Originium Arts.

Just as Li Ang was about to leave, the students in front of him erupted in an uproar. Someone shouted from the crowd, "It's out! It's out! The thing's been taken out... Holy crap, what the hell is this?"

Admittedly, Li Ang's curiosity was piqued by the sound, and he couldn't help but extend his senses forward to see what was happening there.

Outside the men's and women's restrooms, at the public handwashing stations, several boys had removed the faucets from the sinks. Not a drop of water flowed from the pipes; instead, soft, delicate roots swayed gently in the air.

"What is this? It looks disgusting..."

"It looks a bit like plant roots? But why would there be something like this in a water pipe?"

One of the bolder ones even tentatively reached out to the swaying roots, which seemed to sense his presence and instantly wrapped around him.

The tips of the roots even tried to pierce his skin and drill into his body, which frightened the boy so much that he quickly shook off the roots and pulled his hand back.

This scene was witnessed by many people nearby, and some of them turned pale and bent over to retch.

This thing... gives me a bad feeling.

Even worse, in Li Ang's perception, the roots seemed to have found their target and were surging towards the pool. The fragile water pipes simply could not withstand such pressure, and their surfaces were already covered with fine cracks, looking like they were about to explode at any moment.

Realizing this, Li Ang quickly shouted a warning, "Get out of the way! The water pipe is about to burst!"

However, his reminder came too late. Before he could finish speaking, a crisp cracking sound echoed throughout the entire library.

"boom--!"

The water pipe on the wall burst open.

Screams and angry shouts filled everyone's ears, and the entire library was thrown into chaos.

……

Ten minutes later, everyone in the library was kicked out.

Looking at the travelogue he hadn't yet put back in his hand, Li Ang couldn't help but give a wry smile. "What kind of mess is this..."

After the water pipe burst, water mixed with countless disgusting roots gushed out, and nearby students scattered in chaos as they tried to avoid them.

Moreover, the explosion of the water pipe caused a chain reaction, and the sewer pipes were also damaged to some extent, and the damaged part happened to be the toilet... In short, the scene at the time was a terrible sight.

Although the librarian arrived in time and used Originium Arts to bring the situation under control, the library was clearly no longer a place for anyone to stay.

Everyone was kicked out, and the library will be closed for maintenance for a period of time. We will announce when it will reopen.

"...I'll have to return the book later."

Li Ang put the travelogue back into his backpack, feeling somewhat helpless.

Unable to go to the library for a while, Li Ang suddenly felt as if a huge void had been left in his life... all because of those damned roots.

"Speaking of which, what is this thing?"

With a thought, Li Ang summoned a small piece of Originium microparticle, which carried a section of root, and it floated to his eyes.

In the chaos just now, Li Ang also managed to grab a small sample. Even though it had been separated from the main body, this small piece of root still maintained amazing activity. Once Li Ang let go of the control, this piece of root would keep wriggling.

However, aside from being a bit disgusting, this tentacle doesn't pose much of a threat.

After recalling his memories, he realized that the book did not mention any similar plants, which could also be due to Li Ang's limited knowledge.

Anyway, let's go back first and talk about it later.

If this root is not burned, it should be properly stored in a container.

With a slight exhale, Li Ang walked towards the direction of Nauman's villa.

Chapter Twenty-Nine: Compressing Originium

From this small section of root, Li Ang sensed a very small amount of Originium energy. However, this did not mean anything. Almost all matter in the Terra world was contaminated by Originium, so it was quite difficult to find something completely free of Originium.

Based on the clues currently available, the most likely explanation is that a water plant in the city was contaminated, and this plant mixed into the reservoir and then grew all the way to William University along the water pipes.

But... is it really that simple?

Li Ang had a vague feeling that something was wrong, but he couldn't quite put his finger on where that feeling came from.

Li Ang hurried back to Nauman's villa. As soon as he stepped into the house, he heard a muffled thud from upstairs. He instinctively looked in the direction of the sound.

What is Adele doing upstairs?

As Li Ang climbed to the second floor with a hint of curiosity, what he perceived only made him more puzzled.

Adele, holding a small hammer, was slumped in a chair, panting heavily, looking utterly exhausted.

He knocked on the door, drawing Adele's attention, and asked, somewhat puzzled, "Hey Adele... what are you doing?"

Adele looked surprised to see Li Ang standing at the door. "Li Ang? Why are you back so soon?"

Adele had gotten used to it by now. Usually at this time, Li Ang was either in the classroom listening to lectures or studying in the library, and he was rarely seen anywhere else.

“There was a little incident at the library, and everyone was kicked out,” Li Ang replied. “By the way, the library will probably be closed for a while. Adele, is your thesis okay?”

It was only then that Li Ang realized that the closure of the library affected more than just him. Adele's thesis also relied on the materials in the library. In Letania, where there was no internet, the library was the only place where one could obtain a large amount of information.

"It's okay, I've already finished writing my thesis, I'm just preparing for the final defense."

"Oh, that's good."

Adele's answer reassured Li Ang a lot. It seemed that the closure of the library had not had a significant impact on them; it just meant they wouldn't be able to go in and read for a while.

"By the way, Adele, what are you doing with that hammer? Are you trying to smash that sample?" Li Ang asked, pointing to the hammer in her hand and the Originium ore sample on the table.

“Hmm…” Adele nodded, then said somewhat aggrievedly, “But I didn’t expect it to be so hard…”

Originium veins are basically monopolized by various large forces. Although this stuff isn't exactly rare, it's still quite difficult for ordinary people to obtain it. This was the first time Adele had ever seen raw Originium ore in person.

However, the hardness of this ore exceeded her expectations. This kind of obscure knowledge was not mentioned in the books. Adele took a small hammer and tapped at it for a long time, but only managed to knock off a few fragments.

Adele could have melted the ore with fire, but doing so would have destroyed the ore's structure, rendering the sample she had worked so hard to obtain useless.

"Then let me give it a try."

Taking the hammer from Adele, Li Ang aimed at the sample on the table and smashed it down hard.

"clang--"

The impact of this blow was many times greater than before, leaving Adele somewhat dizzy from the shock.

"Hiss—this thing is so hard." Li Ang gasped.