Chapter 40: Tempering

Chapter 40: Tempering

After the morning's first practical magic lesson, Suye had reached his limits in terms of both body and mind, as well as his Magic Tree, feeling even more exhausted than yesterday.

Generally speaking, deep meditation is not suitable when overly fatigued, as it requires concentration, and one might easily fall asleep during the process, a common occurrence for beginners.

Therefore, Suye prepared to engage in shallow meditation, which has effects similar to light sleep but with distinct differences.

After meditating, Suye entered the Magic Tower and noticed that while nothing else had changed, the leaves of his Magic Tree had turned from black to yellowish.

This was a sign of depleted mana.

To Suye's delight, at the end of the same branch, new young leaves were sprouting. It seemed they would soon grow into full leaves and eventually form complete Magic Leaves, ready for carving new magic arrays.

During the morning class, Teacher Niedern mentioned that Magic Leaves grow in three basic ways: with the increase of mana, with the mastery of spells, and with the growth of magical knowledge. Someone like Rick, who possesses extensive magical knowledge, would likely produce at least five leaves upon advancing to become a magic apprentice.

Filled with joy, Suye entered the divine light to meditate.

In less than ten minutes, Suye's physical strength, mental energy, and mana were completely restored.

A little while later, Suye felt he had absorbed enough divine power and did not linger in the pleasant sensation, returning directly to the Magic Tower.

Suye carefully examined the Magic Leaves and was pleasantly surprised to find that not only had they returned to their black crystal-like state, but the magic arrays on them were also more refined than before.

"Indeed, the power of magic does not lie in talent but in continuous effort, the right kind of effort, and the correct method of effort!"

"However, my meditation speed seems a bit fast. Normally, it takes an hour to fully restore mana through meditation. This must be due to my years of practice."

While Suye was meditating, Niedern rushed into the vice-dean's office.

"Out! Knock!" a stern voice roared like a lion's.

Niedern's excited expression instantly fell, and he obediently stepped out, knocked three times, and then opened the door.

"Haven't eaten yet? Let's order together and talk while we eat."

Behind a large desk sat an elderly man in a purple robe, engrossed in a magic book. He had thick, curly black hair, and his beard was even denser, resembling an inverted canopy of a banyan tree hanging from his chin.

"Yes, Teacher."

Niedern obediently opened the magic book to place an order.

Thucydides slowly lifted his head.

The moment he saw Thucydides' eyes, Niedern's heart trembled.

Those eyes contained shifting storms, earthquakes, and tsunamis, as if they held all the disasters of the world.

Thucydides blinked, and his eyes returned to calm. His brown eyes seemed to possess the power to quell chaos and soothe the earth, quickly calming Niedern down.

"There are few things worth your excitement." Thucydides straightened his posture, placed his hands on the table, and looked at Niedern.

Behind Thucydides was a large transparent crystal window, with sunlight streaming in, revealing a clear sky. To Niedern, his teacher appeared like a pillar holding up the heavens.

At that moment, Niedern, like a piglet encountering a lion, nodded cautiously and said, "I've discovered a magic genius and a combat genius." He then handed over the magic book.

Thucydides took Niedern's magic book and swept his hand, playing back Suye's learning process at ten times the speed.

He moved his finger again, increasing the playback speed to a hundred times.

"Very good," Thucydides' deep voice echoed in the office.

Niedern struggled to conceal his excitement. For Thucydides to say "very good" meant Suye had immense potential, perhaps even surpassing himself.

Thucydides moved his finger once more, transferring the content from the magic book to his own.

Niedern added, "After discovering Suye's advancement to magic apprentice, I sent someone to investigate and have already forwarded the report to you. I assume you've read it. What about Lawrence? Should I take care of him?"

Thucydides did not look at Niedern, instead turning his chair to gaze out the window, tapping his index finger lightly on the cover of the magic book.

After a while, Thucydides said, "No need."

"What if Lawrence kills Suye?"

"Burial, including his band and the nobles behind him." Thucydides' voice was utterly calm.

"Yes." Niedern shuddered inwardly, confirming that his teacher never showed mercy to enemies.

Niedern continued, "According to tradition, tomorrow's low-tier magic competition will proceed as scheduled. The Athens Academy of Nobles has already submitted the official parchment. The bronze and iron-ranked participants have been confirmed, but the magic apprentices are not ideal. Could we send Suye? Those fools combined are no match for Suye against a cheetah. I have high hopes for him and want to temper him."

"Fine." This time, Thucydides responded quickly.

"He's currently too smart and just mastered magic, so he probably doesn't want to get hurt or embarrassed. I'll try to convince... trick him." Niedern said.

Thucydides nodded naturally.

A short while later, two bear goblins slightly shorter than humans knocked and entered, delivering lunch.

After eating, Niedern was about to leave when he suddenly stopped, cleared his throat, and asked, "Teacher, may I ask you a question? You must answer within three seconds, or you'll lose... cough cough, your student Niedern. If you're on a boat with a tiger, an eagle, a sheep, and a rabbit, and encounter a storm, with your mana depleted and all four animals injured, and you can only bring one animal to a nearby island, which one would you choose? One... two... two... two... three!"

After Niedern slowly counted to three, a few seconds passed before Thucydides slowly gave his answer.

Niedern stood there, stunned for a moment.

"Teacher, do you really not care about losing me?" Niedern sighed deeply, rolled his eyes, and covered his left chest as he walked out.

Thucydides quietly pondered for a moment, then reopened the magic book...

After finishing his meal, Suye did not waste any time. He first previewed the afternoon's lessons and then reviewed the morning's lessons.

In the first class of the afternoon, Suye finally returned to the familiar routine and listened attentively.

While listening, Suye continuously compared the teacher's content with the textbook, noting down any questions or points he couldn’t understand without spending time pondering them.

Suye still adhered to the principle of exercising his brain, taking minimal notes and only jotting down key words or questions.

After each class, Suye would stand up to relieve the fatigue from sitting for long periods, then hold the magic book and quickly draw a simplified mind map of the previous lesson to aid his memory.

By the end of several consecutive classes in the afternoon, Suye felt quite good and decided to continue following his original plan: previewing, attending, reviewing, and doing homework for all classes, while using other available time to study the selected focus subjects.

During the noisy breaks between classes, Suye finished his mind map from the previous lesson and began contemplating what to study during the last self-study period.