The task my mentor asked me to do might be related to what Yao and the others are pursuing?
Confusion arose in my mind, but then vanished like smoke.
It's not surprising, after all, she's the mentor known as the "Omniscient Witch." Whatever she saw or what her ultimate goal was, even if it deviates from common sense, it's not really outlandish.
Of course, the more troublesome thing is that she really enjoys being a riddle teller.
Cut off the beginning and end of everything, delete the middle part, describe it with some ambiguous metaphors and examples, or simply use a mysterious smile to evade the issue, let things develop like a runaway horse, and then happily come out to clean up the mess at the end—in short, it is an extremely effective way to treat low blood pressure.
It's hardened; its fists have hardened.
But he couldn't beat her, nor could he force her to speak. What else could he do but endure it for now?
A gentleman takes revenge, even after ten years, no, even after a hundred years, it is not too late.
In short, after lunch I tried to go to my mentor's workshop again, but before I could even take a few steps inside, Teacher Gulu caught up with me halfway there.
"Are you going to see your advisor, Yumi?"
Gulu beckoned me closer, then pulled a roll of parchment bound with a ribbon from the depths of his chest: "Then you might be late. Miss [Witch] just left school yesterday, saying she had something to discuss with her friend, and she's expected to be back in at least half a month."
"Here, this is something she left for me to give you because she guessed you might come looking for her. It seems to be a catalog of spells that you will need to learn later."
I reached out and took it, then felt incredulous: "How could she be thinking of assigning me homework while she was out having fun with her friends?"
"I don't know about that," Gulu said, crossing his arms as if it were none of his business. "But I've glanced at it, and the spells described seem to be quite practical. For example, Demon Slash, Mind Fire, Chain Magic Bullet, Creation from Nothing, Celestial Shift, Demon Flame Spell..."
"Wait a minute!" I immediately interrupted Gulu's detailed explanation. "Where did all these skill slots come from? Do I need to prepare a set of class-specific gear to cast spells or something? How am I supposed to switch classes when the job change quest isn't even open yet?"
Gulu stared at me with wide eyes, its head almost spinning counterclockwise before it started blinking, clearly not understanding what I was saying—well, this simple-minded gargoyle was simply tricked by my mentor, who is known for ripping off his disciples, and somehow managed to pull out a game skill bar full of personal biases.
While it's not impossible to replicate in reality, even starting with similar techniques would be troublesome.
However, since my mentor asked Gulu to give this to me, there must be some reason behind it, right? I'll put it away for now and study it later. Perhaps I'll find a skill manual in some corner of the library that my mentor deliberately placed there, one that allows me to immediately learn the corresponding spell just by looking at it?
"So... what can you do?" Gulu paused for a moment, then decided to focus on the present, skipping the topic that made it feel like it had a stone brain, and counted on its fingers, "I remember you're in the research department, Yumi, right? You can't just do indoor jobs, can you?"
"What are you saying?" I retorted, half annoyed. "The research department isn't completely defenseless. Look at those guys at the test range, they blow up the field every other day. Don't you think that's powerful?"
"So what can you do? A super fireball? The kind with an explosion radius greater than the casting radius?"
"What's the point of having someone who can fight in the research department!"
"Then what are you good at? Isn't the best research method to defeat everyone and study them one by one?" Gulu pressed on relentlessly.
This damn rock is really annoying.
"..." I was silent for a few seconds, rolled my eyes, and put on a serious face. "Usually, there are three moves. Flash blindness, staff light strike, strategic retreat."
Then I heard a sharp, distorted laugh coming from the other side.
But the laughter suddenly stopped, and Gulu, unusually serious, lowered his voice: "I heard from Miss [Witch] that you need to go on a long trip recently, probably to deal with some troublesome matters, right? But as is customary, I still need to confirm with you whether you can protect yourself if you encounter danger."
Unlike his usual nonchalance, I could clearly sense the concern and seriousness hidden deep within his words.
A quiet sadness flowed from it, enveloping and entwining me in my senses.
I understand.
As the gatekeeper of this academy from its very beginning, Gulu has witnessed far too many people come and go. Many students and teachers who were supposedly only going out briefly have perished there, and there must have been many friends who, after finishing their studies and teaching here, promised to meet again another day, never heard from again.
It is a gargoyle, originally a prisoner sealed here, and now, perhaps, it is nothing more than a guardian waiting here for those who can never return.
“I will come back.” I answered with the same serious expression. “Even if it’s just for my credits and my unfinished dream, I will come back.”
Well, without a record of graduating from this academy, it's like missing a very important document in your employment resume, and you might even miss out on the special research subsidy that the academy provides to every mage who successfully graduates from it each month.
That was a huge sum of cash for me, enough to cover my daily expenses for a life of leisure. Giving it up like that would be a sin against heaven!
Of course, I wouldn't tell anyone about this; I'd rather keep it to myself.
If some silly kid is willing to join in, that's fine too. It's just one more mouth to feed, so it's not much of a burden.
After exchanging a few more pleasantries with Gulu, who was suddenly overcome with emotion, and being repeatedly reminded by old-fashioned advice such as "be careful when you're out and about" and "don't go with strangers or eat food they give you," I returned to the miniature garden.
Then I saw several people standing in a row in the center of the hall.
"Why are you all out here?"
I walked over with a bit of curiosity, pulled out a chair and sat down. Hikari cheerfully came over and placed a freshly brewed cup of black tea beside me.
"I just wanted to confirm your departure time and the specific route," Yao said, unfolding a prepared continental map. "We know you've mastered Void Walk, and our current location in this miniature garden is roughly in the shallow void near the Academy City. Based on this premise..."
"Then, Master of the Garden, please allow me to confirm whether, apart from Academy City and Pis City, there are any other cities or large city-states that are closer to the Sacred Tree Barrier among the cities you have visited recently? This will be very helpful for our route planning later."
I gazed at the simplified maps of the cities on the blueprints, depicting them as clusters and scattered clusters, and then at the gray area in the very center. I took a sip of warm black tea and fell into deep thought as the sweet aroma spread across my tongue.
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