Angor decided upon the three conditions after going over careful considerations. The test-fly was not dangerous to Toby, so this was an easy favor. Angor never intended to go overboard.
Still, asking too little would leave Dave an impression that “asking Toby for help is too easy” which in turn encouraged Dave to return with some other strange products to test on Toby again. That was why Angor needed at least one condition which tested Dave’s limits, to warn him not to go overboard with his requests.
With these three conditions, Angor both told Dave when to give up AND earned some profit out of them.
Since Dave already agreed, Angor willingly opened the garden door and invited Dave inside.
Dave looked around the delicate garden in jealousy. He had been in Brute Cavern for five years, and he still did not have enough money to rent a house. Thank heavens that Master Prome was generous enough to allow him to sleep in the underground shop, instead of living inside a narrow cave room.
Dave was curious at how Angor could afford a standalone villa, although he was not surprised by it at all. He already saw the insane amount of balance on Angor’s bone card. Insane, considering that Angor just joined Brute Cavern recently. Maybe Angor had a really rich family?
Dave took a guess that Angor could be the child of a big wizarding family. That was one possible reason why this new recruit possessed a large number of merit points.
“You want to do the test first or should we talk about Sky Tower?” Angor asked.
“Let’s fly first!” Thinking about trying out his new invention, Dave quickly removed all random thoughts and focused on the propeller flyer in his hands.
Aside from several extra wires which were used to control the machine’s direction and flying height, the process was similar to last time. Toby could simply pull the wires with its beak to control the machine.
After affixing the flyer onto Toby, Angor warned Toby right in front of Dave, “When anything goes wrong, throw the machine straight away. I can’t see your condition from the ground, so take care of yourself.”
Dave was a little sad at those words. He went through a lot of troubles fixing the flaws. He even asked Master Prome to check the flyer.
Toby nodded and rubbed against Angor’s hand affectionately. Then it hovered in front of Dave to let him charge the machine.
As the machine received mana, the red light on the stick brightened. Under their gaze, the propeller began to spin, lifting Toby into the air.
With the direction control device, Toby did an easy job keeping itself at a steady altitude this time.
“Do a barrel roll! Do a barrel roll!!” Dave yelled in excitement, “Toby!”
Toby glanced at Dave and slowly pulled on the wire near its beak to perform a spinning flyover, which caused Dave to jump in an overjoyed manner as if he was the one flying in the air.
Angor began to admire Dave a bit. His propeller flyer actually worked!
Considering the device’s structure though, it was more like an alchemy machine. It used some special materials, but in general, it was of little use to wizards.
However, this was still an amazing invention for a new alchemist.
Toby landed safely, declaring that the test-fly was a big success.
Even though Dave had already expected the outcome, when he witnessed his masterpiece doing a perfect job, he still felt great excitement. He always regarded himself as an average alchemist and wanted to give up several times. Now his decision to walk down the path deepened. In fact, it was better than ever.
The successful test presented Dave with great confidence. This was the first time he realized something from his dreams, and there were only more dreams to come. He hopped and laughed with tears of joy spilling all over.
Angor thought about the great scientific products he read from the articles of Earth and was planning to comment on several drawbacks on the machine. However, when he looked at how Dave almost went crazy over his achievement, and how that extreme happiness affected himself as well, Angor decided to give Dave his sincere congratulation instead.
The machine might be flawed and could not be universally distributed, but at least it gave hope to a fresh alchemist. Negative comments would ruin Dave’s confidence, whereas words of praise would encourage him to achieve something better.
The only one who was not satisfied with the flying machine was Toby. Unfortunately, the bird could not do anything to hurt Dave’s confidence since he was unable to speak.
…
They entered the house and sat down at a table.
Dave had not gotten over his excitement. He kept telling Angor about all kinds of experiences he received when making the machine, and Angor willingly listened to him. The experience of a newbie was still experience. Angor was planning to study alchemy too, and anything could help.
Dave kept talking until he felt a sore throat. Then he smiled embarrassingly. “Sorry, I was too carried away. Almost forgot why I came in here.”
“No problem, I understand. And I don’t mind listening, I can learn something from you,” said Angor. He went to the kitchen and got some water for Dave.
When Angor returned, he saw Dave standing in front of his bedroom, admiring the Traveler Under Stars hanging on the room’s wall.
“This oil painting is a masterpiece,” said Dave. He returned to his sofa and exclaimed, “You drew that? It’s beautiful!”
Angor shook his head and replied, “I’m far from that. I received it from… a famous mortal artist.”
Instead of asking the name of the “mortal artist”, Dave was curious about another thing. “You mean, you can paint too?”
“A little bit. I learned some when I was little,” replied Angor. His father, Viscount Padt, bestowed traditional nobleman education to both sons, such as oil painting, calligraphy, instruments, art appreciation, and so on. Angor knew a little of each, but only a little. He would never compare himself to those masters who could inject deep emotions in their works.
“It’s fine, it’ll help you learn alchemy. The final effects of alchemy items are important, but a beautiful look also attracts people,” Dave explained. He continued, “Master Prome once said that true alchemists in ancient times must study arts, or they’d never produce perfect alchemy creations.”
Angor was speechless. An alchemist had to study art? He always believed that they could “naturally” craft perfect stuff, just like the artisans he read about in the novels from Earth.
“Most people don’t pay attention to the appearance of their works as long as the products work as intended. For me, I really hope my creations look good as well,” said Dave as he looked at his flying machine with a bit of disappointment. His first invention was totally a mess of parts mashed together. People could recognize it as a machine, and nothing else. “Too bad I never learned how to do that. If I’m to go farther on the path of alchemy, maybe I should go to a mortal school to learn some art.”
There were lots of artists among wizards too. Combined with their great life experience and longevity, their arts were usually beyond common levels. While there was no way for Dave to receive teachings from someone like them, mortal academies only required a small sum of coins. Besides, after spending their entire lives pursuing art, many mortal artists had reached a great level too.
“You’ll learn about such things once you started to study alchemy,” said Dave before he gulped down some water. “Let’s talk about our deal. About Sky Tower… why do you ask though? Do you want to challenge it? I know every apprentice wants to do that, but you’re not there yet. Isn’t it a little too early for you?”
Angor simply told Dave he was “making early preparations”.
Dave was not really convinced, but he did not ask further. There were many things about which Dave decided not to ask, such as which “wizarding family” Angor came from.
“I already told you about the matches in Sky Tower. What do you want to know? Something about major participants? I’ve gathered some information. If you want, I’ll send it to your communicator once you’ve become an apprentice,” Dave suggested.
Different organizations used different communicators. In Brute Cavern, the device was a crystal ball which could be used to record images and transmit messages. It was only a low-leveled alchemy item crafted using lesser filming stones. The crystal ball had limited functions and controllability, and it only sent messages within really short ranges. Sometimes, people might even need to be near each other for it to work.
Every talent who made it to apprentice could receive one of these in the resource distribution hall. Angor did not have one yet.
“I do want the information, but it’s not urgent, so let’s wait until I get a communicator,” said Angor. He paused and revealed an embarrassing look before he asked, “I want to know if, well, is there an easier way to reach the top level? Without going over too much trouble?”
“Easy way without going over trouble?!” Dave tried to roll his eyes hard, but he resisted the urge. “Oh, please tell me if there’s really a way like that! I want to reach the top level too! They give you lots of magic crystals as a reward! Seriously, who doesn’t want it?!”
Angor lowered his head. “So… no way?”
“Of course not, duh! The Sky Tower tests your strength! Well, unless you’re really rich. But if you’re rich, why are you challenging the tower in the first place?”
“Really rich? What do you mean?” Angor wondered.
“The matches in Sky Tower don’t have any restrictions on how you defeat your opponent. Let’s say, if you can afford a lot of powerful scrolls, you can simply keep dumping them until you reach the top floor. That’s totally not a problem,” said Dave. He sneered, “But those scrolls will cost you way more than the final reward, so there’s no point. Besides, people will get really angry with you. Every match is held in public. Sure, you can use scrolls to deal with certain situations, but only shameless fools will try to beat every floor in that way.”