I, the wizard, the foolish Buddha

The Baron had specially sent a large carriage and a team of knights to wait at the foot of the mountain.

Underneath a towering ancient tree not far from the carriage, sat a giant clad in full-body silver armor.

Those with a discerning eye could tell that the armor was crafted by elves, and high elves at that.

But high elves would never forge armor for outsiders, especially not for the trolls they despised!

Moreover, this 'troll' was over three meters tall, significantly taller than a normal troll!

The silver giant sat on the massive roots of the ancient tree. The roots were taller than a person, yet the giant's feet could still touch the ground... No matter what armor he wore, it would be difficult to associate him with elves.

He emanated a strong bloody scent, and in his hand, he wiped a bloodstained longsword.

Even with blinders on, preventing them from seeing the giant, the horses appeared restless and uneasy.

The twelve knights clearly weren't wearing blinders; they could undoubtedly see the silver-armored giant.

Yet, they remained exceptionally calm and engaged in casual conversation with this 'troll' using a very ancient and sacred ceremony.

If someone from the ancient elven sanctum or the human Holy See were present, they would recognize the identities of the 'troll' and the knights from that ceremony.

These twelve knights not only understood the 'Sanctuary Knight' etiquette but also knew the 'troll's' ancient language.

Their communication was very smooth.

From their conversation, one could gather that the troll had gone to Witch City with Miss Catherine last night, but they had parted ways on the return journey—this 'troll' was none other than Nar。

Instead of returning with Catherine, he had gone to another place along the way and killed a cyclops.

The giant's head had already been sent to Valeria Castle by Nar.

After receiving the cyclops's head, the Baron had specifically ordered it to be hung on the high walls of the castle.

He had also instructed people to post a notice in the town, explaining that the recent disappearances were due to the cyclops, and the cleanup soldiers had found many remains and belongings of the deceased in the giant's lair.

This matter served to clear the 'Cat Witch' of suspicion.

It seemed that neither Anna nor Nar had eaten anyone. However, the townspeople would not believe it.

Roland certainly wouldn't believe it—after all, Anna had come to him last night.

Soon, Catherine brought Roland to the group.

There were as many rumors about this wizard as there were about the troll, and recently, wandering bards in the town had even composed a song about the 'Cat Witch,' filled with veiled allusions, which had spread widely.

Despite this, the knights did not show fear towards the witch, but people still maintained a certain distance. This distance seemed innate—they naturally felt close to Nar but naturally repelled the witch.

Even though they all knew that Catherine was their next teammate, they were still repulsed by witches like Catherine.

Catherine whispered to Roland, "Roland, do you recognize these knights?"

Roland shook his head, looking puzzled.

Having grown up in Valeria Castle, Roland knew everyone in the castle, but he was completely unfamiliar with these knights.

Catherine nodded, confirming her guess. She thought to herself, 'It seems they are indeed that group.'

"Teacher, aren't they the Baron's men?"

Since cultivating the Dawnfire, Roland had been very sensitive to holy auras, and he vaguely felt a faint holy aura on these knights. Thinking about it, Nar also seemed to have a similar aura.

Teacher Catherine said, "They are Baron Hall's future comrades—let's get in the carriage."

"Future comrades?"

That was a strange statement. What did 'future comrades' mean?

Roland frowned, wondering if he had misheard.

He thought to himself, 'Perhaps the teacher meant former comrades. The Baron did go to the battlefield before.'

Roland temporarily put the matter aside and followed his teacher into the carriage.

"Teacher, are we going to the castle now?"

Their destination was the Russet Fern Forest, so they naturally wouldn't be going to the castle. However, Catherine knew that if she told Roland now, he would probably jump out of the window and run away.

So she remained silent, deliberately ignoring Roland's words, and quietly flipped through her magic book.

Roland had a bunch of question marks above his head. Seeing that his teacher didn't want to talk to him, he simply took out the two new books his teacher had given him.

'If you don't want to say, then don't. I'll know soon enough anyway.'

'I feel a little uneasy. I'll look at the magic books and improve my proficiency in magic.'

Roland first opened "A Brief Discussion on Mind Magic."

The book explained in detail how to deconstruct mind magic and how to reconstruct these models in the mental world. Through continuous deconstruction and reconstruction, the caster could improve their understanding and mastery of magic.

In other words, if Roland calmed down and studied "Mind Blast" according to the methods in the book, he could increase his proficiency in Mind Blast.

Roland tried to deconstruct "Mind Blast" and reconstructed the model a few times.

[Mind Blast Proficiency +1]

[Current: Mind Blast I (2/100)]

After careful consideration, Roland sighed inwardly, "This book can indeed improve my understanding of 'Mind Blast.'"

This book not only recorded how to cultivate mind magic but also taught how to strengthen one's mental power.

The teacher once said that mind magic was a double-edged sword because the caster would suffer some damage when studying or frequently using mind magic such as fear and mind control. However, the content in this book could reduce this impact and even improve Roland's resistance to mental attacks.

Roland's mental resistance was already very high, giving him good resistance to mental attacks. If he could cultivate the content of the book to a certain extent, he would be able to use his abilities even better.

After reading it, Roland praised inwardly, "The author must be a master of mind magic... and also a master of black magic."

The book mentioned hell many times, and the author seemed to have a very deep understanding of hell.

'This is really a good book!'

Roland suspected that the author might be the dean of the academy, or even a higher-level grand wizard.

However, he did not find the author's name in the book because it was not a printed book but a hand-copied one.

And... the handwriting looked like his teacher's.

He secretly speculated, "Could this book have been copied by the teacher from her family's collection?"

Roland secretly glanced at Teacher Catherine, who was sitting opposite him reading a book, and thought to himself, 'Could she have written it?'

Regardless of who the author of this book was, this person must be a genius.

Moreover, 'Mind Blast' came from the lower planes, and its logic and model were completely different from normal magic.

But the concept of this book could still be applied to Mind Blast! This meant that the author had reached a very high level in terms of realm, and had a complete and unified concept of the surface world and the lower planes!

According to rumors, the Alexandra family had an incredible ancestor. Before her appearance, this family was just an ordinary noble wizard family.

But after her appearance, the family joined the ranks of great aristocratic families, and the entire family changed its surname to the name of this wizard.

Her name was 'Alexandra.'

'The Witch of Alexandra,' 'The Witch of the Black Abyss,' 'The Black Queen of the Eastern Border,' 'The Countess of Hell'... Three hundred years ago, she left one legend after another in the world like a supernova.

But like a supernova, she flashed and disappeared.

She had fallen two hundred years ago. Rumor has it that her soul fell into hell. Unless she crawled out of hell and was reborn, there would be no such wizard in the Eastern Border again.

Roland believed that this book should have come from her hand. This book might be something this witch wrote when she was young.

"Amazing, amazing." Roland couldn't help but praise the author of "A Brief Discussion on Mind Magic." He couldn't help but mutter, "As expected of the ancestor of the Alexandra family, so amazing when she was young."

The words 'ancestor' and 'when she was young' made Catherine frown fiercely.

She subconsciously touched her smooth and jade-like face, and felt very unhappy.

That witch of Alexandra was born five hundred years ago and fell more than two hundred years ago, a total of more than two hundred years old.

Reaching this level at the age of two hundred... That's really, really young.

So, the witch was a very young witch, and even when she fell, she looked like a thirty-year-old woman.

A thirty-year-old woman is actually very good, but women are very sensitive to their age.

If a certain young lady lived again, and was only twenty years old now, then she would hate words like 'ancestor' and 'when she was young' very much.

What do you mean when she was young? Am I old?

Whether it's my past or my present, I'm very young!

"Read another book. You won't be able to make a breakthrough in mind magic in a short time." Teacher Catherine said without raising her head. She made a very strict request: "Study that arcane book carefully. If you still can't master Chain Lightning before we reach our next destination... Hehe."

Teacher's words made Roland feel a little uneasy.

Roland didn't know why the teacher had inexplicably developed a serious dissatisfaction with him.

He didn't know what the consequences would be if he failed to meet the requirements, but he still earnestly began to read through "Arcane: A Second and Third Explanation of Chain Lightning."

If the other apprentices saw this scene, they would surely wear strange expressions.

Because 'Chain Lightning' was a formal spell, not a cantrip like 'Luminescence'.

An average low-level apprentice would need a week of lessons just to learn a cantrip. To think that one could learn Chain Lightning just by reading a book? What utter nonsense!

It would be impossible for anyone to master such a spell in less than two or three months!

The distance to the Tawny Bracken Forest was only about two hours, which was why the instructor only gave him two hours.

Therefore, if any other apprentice knew of Instructor Catherine's demand just now, they would surely mourn for Roland for a few minutes—this was definitely deliberate torment!

What was even more ridiculous was that Roland was actually seriously reading the book, and after a short while, he even revealed a look of sudden understanding—how laughable!

Catherine sneered inwardly. She didn't believe that this kid could comprehend anything in such a short time.

Such an ignorant brat. Even I took two hours to learn this spell back then.

But I'm not being overly demanding of you. I took two hours back then, so I'm giving you two hours now.

In two hours, we will arrive at the Tawny Bracken Forest. If you fail to complete it by then, see how I deal with you!

"Roland, how about we make a bet?" Catherine said with a half-smile. "Don't you really dislike that wallet? If you can learn the spell in the book before we reach the next destination, I will take the wallet away."

Roland raised his head and said, "Then what's your stake?"

Catherine was slightly stunned, not expecting this kid to dare to ask her for a stake. She frowned and fell into contemplation.

What bargaining chip should I use to bet with him?