Super Righteous Player
Chapter 1033 - 91 Damastes Roaring Fang

Chapter 1033: Chapter 91 Damastes Roaring Fang

There were no plot twists or special descriptions.

Yet, Annan discerned, from Isaac’s flat narration, the desperation of the then young Isaac.

At the height of his thirst for knowledge, the door to learning was brutally shut on him.

"And what happened after that?"

Annan couldn’t help but ask.

"Well..."

Isaac paused in his steps.

He lifted his head to look at the sky.

The sky of Dennisiowa was as blue as it ever was.

Just as it had been when he was locked in the dark room, looking out through the window.

"At that time, my heart... was even full of hatred."

Isaac said softly, "I thought about dying at one point—crashing my head against the corner of a table so that they couldn’t make money off me anymore. Maybe my uncle would avenge me... but I was afraid of pain, so I didn’t do it.

"Then I had another thought... Even if I were to die, I should not let them off. Because, after all, I owed them nothing; it was they who owed me.

"—My mother who coaxed the money out of me; my stepfather who took all the money; my brothers and sisters who mocked me as a ’bookworm’; my grandmother who locked me up for fear of not getting their money if something happened to me... I even thought of setting fire to my room, burning myself and all of them to death.

"Perhaps in some alternate future, I had already done it. After all, that hatred was too intense and real, like the nauseating stench of overflowing viscera from a slit belly.

"At that time, I even began to doubt... doubt whether I had killed them and was imprisoned. And in my madness, I hallucinated, thinking I hadn’t done it yet...

"But in the end, I calmed down. Because I saw those books in my room.

"—I thought, if I burned down this room, they would be destroyed too. I still had the opportunity to read books, and perhaps somewhere, there was a child who, like me, thirsted for knowledge but couldn’t even afford books.

"So I thought, if I really couldn’t go to school... I’d teach myself."

Isaac’s voice was resolute: "Among the books I bought, there was much knowledge we hadn’t learned or encountered yet. I bought those books partly because I could not wait, and partly to show off my abilities to my classmates—look, I can even understand such profound books.

"Of course, I didn’t actually understand those books. Even if I could understand some of it, it was only superficial.

"But since I couldn’t leave the house, I concentrated on mathematics, and a month passed like that... My uncle still didn’t send any money."

At this point, Isaac’s voice gradually became ethereal: "So, my books were sold off by them, not a single one was left.

"The money from the sales went partly to pay off the orchard’s debt. The rest was used for my sister’s birthday celebration—I got a chicken leg and a bowl of ham soup as a reward for my ’contribution.’ But I couldn’t stomach it, I even felt sick.

"So I dumped it on my sister’s head. And that was the first time I ever got beaten—but watching her cry, I just wanted to laugh. So, I laughed out loud as I took the beating.

"Perhaps my laugh sounded too hideous. My stepfather grew fearful of me and dared not beat me again. I was just locked in the dark room—this time with only half the food, no whale oil lamp, not to mention paper for drafting that could be used only if there was light.

"But I had foreseen this."

Isaac said, a smile actually appearing on his face: "I guessed they would sell my books sooner or later. In that one month, I had nearly memorized them.

"Even without books, without a pen, without light, they couldn’t stop me from continuing to learn—at least until I had fully digested that knowledge."

"So, in the dark room, with no light, I closed my eyes and constructed formulas with my imagination. I imagined that light formed letters that floated before me... My imagination was good; the numbers changed swiftly and never collapsed.

"Until one day, when I instinctively reached out my hand and wrote the ’numbers’ in the void as usual, as if there was a pen.

"—The green light reflected from those ’numbers’ illuminated my fingers in the dark night."

That was a talent belonging to a "Wizard."

Annan immediately discerned it.

It was because of his extreme longing and clear yearning that the young Isaac had become a "wizard apprentice" without a teacher.

According to Isaac’s account, his stepfather clearly was the kind to not take action until he saw the benefits. If he couldn’t suppress Isaac, he simply wouldn’t care about a "child from his wife’s former husband" who didn’t even share his surname.

Isaac’s mother and Isaac’s stepfather were childhood sweethearts, and she was supposed to marry him. But she ended up marrying "Flamell," a man with better talent, a more handsome appearance, and a more noble bloodline.

Annan could even imagine Isaac’s stepfather hurling insults at him like "elf bastard" or something.

After all, Isaac’s mere existence proved his failure—he wasn’t the victor who had won Isaac’s mother’s heart but merely a spare tire.

Even though Isaac’s biological father had died many years ago, he had still never received all of Isaac’s mother’s love.

And now, he even needed the money given by Isaac’s uncle just to make a living.

His self-esteem was completely out of balance, and it seemed likely that he might do something even more outrageous...

"A month passed after that. My stepfather finally learned of my uncle’s death... I believe he must have been in despair at that time."

Because the money he had borrowed was now certain to be unpayable.

Once it became known, even if he tried to sell the orchard again, people would deliberately underbid him. In the end, no matter what, he would end up buried in debt.

"So, he sent me to the gambling den. Using the ’Flamell’ bloodline as bait, he hoped to use me to settle his debts. The reason was ’someone sends a sum of money every month for his sake.’ But I believe, he simply thought I was useless and wanted to get rid of me while he had the chance."

A slight smile appeared on Isaac’s lips, a sneer on his face: "But gambling dens don’t offer such good fortune. Gambling dens are places that devour people without spitting out bones, and a real pawnshop wouldn’t accept a living person like me.

"So the gambling den turned me into chips for him to gamble with. Needless to say, the result—he not only lost everything but even staked his own life. The Tower of Black Radiance always needs that kind of ’teaching tool’—one that won’t be missed when it’s dead.

"He had always been a debtor and naturally wouldn’t accept his losses willingly. So he found a chance and slipped away... just like that person did.

"Clearly, the owner of the gambling den didn’t lack such a living person. So the enforcers who gave chase didn’t show any mercy—they beat him to death right there in the street, ran a fish hook through his belly and hung him on a post. It served as a warning to other slaves not to think about escaping.

"But I was worth much more than he was. The proprietor put his hand on my shoulder and made me watch him be beaten to death, blow by blow. The proprietor told me children are worth more than adults. He wouldn’t sell me to the Tower of Black Radiance.

"Then he asked me, ’Do you have anything to say? Are you good at anything? Do you have any special value? Speak now, or it may be too late.’

"So I told him calmly, ’That man sold me cheap.’ Then I demonstrated the spell I had mastered in front of him.

"He was very pleased at that time. He told me he could sponsor me to study at the Wizard’s Tower, on condition that I sign a contract to serve him for sixty years after my graduation. He asked me which one I preferred."

"...Did you say at the time that you wanted to go to the Jade Tower?"

Annan inquired.

Isaac chuckled lightly: "Of course not.

"I told him I wanted to sell myself again. The price would be the difference in value between a ’Flamell’ and a ’Flamell’ who can cast spells.

"—And with that gamble, I won myself back at his gambling den and even won a tuition fee. Of course, I wouldn’t want to return to Dennisiowa Theological Seminary... If I couldn’t become Yawen’s bishop, then I wouldn’t have any power. I would continue to be hurt, just as before. And a mathematician can’t change anything at all.

"I wanted to obtain real power—I wanted to become a wizard.

"The proprietor lost money, but didn’t make things difficult for me. Instead, he seriously explained to me the recently concluded ’Wizard War,’ detailed the different schools, and helped me select the right one. He even gave me some travel expenses and sent an escort to accompany me out of the city... all the way to the front of the Jade Tower.

"He told me, ’You must make this damn world better. This promise is what you’re selling to me.’"

In Isaac’s emerald green pupils, there seemed to be flames burning: "I’ve always remembered that promise, as well as his name.

"His name was Damastes Roaring Fang. A ’Roaring Fang’ who was a loser. Once full of zeal to strive to change the world, but in the end, chose to wallow with the muck... a criminal.

"He committed many illegal acts, but Dennisiowa’s laws never punished him—because not many years after he sent me away, he was killed by a vendetta. His entire house was extinguished."

"...And what happened after that?"

"After that..."

Isaac’s deep lake-green pupils gazed outside: "I might have succeeded, I might have failed. I indeed made the world a better place... but maybe it’s not much better, maybe it was once worse than what I have seen.

"But I have already done everything that I could—I tried. I failed. I am not a deity. I gave my all, but could only go so far..."

As Isaac spoke, he looked at Annan with a mixture of expectation and bewilderment: "But I think, you might be different... Your Majesty. Probably different."

Annan remained silent, his grip slightly tightening on his cane.

As he reflected, a faint light kindled in the depths of Annan’s eyes. Then, almost immediately, it was absorbed by his ring.

He remained quiet for a long time, then suddenly spoke.

"Do you still remember where that gambling den is?

"If you do... take me there to see."