Chapter 266 - Change of Plans (1/2)

XXXX Continent, Seraph Kingdom, Arcana Tower.

On one of the floors constituting the Arcana Tower, one would find a certain floor wherein it is filled to the brim with rooms where highly ranked mages reside in. Inside one of these rooms, one would find two mages. The first mage was a man in a red robe, wearing black-rimmed glasses that complimented his face, radiating a composed aura at any given moment. As for the other mage, she was wearing a gray robe while her light green hair was tied into a ponytail. At the moment, her eyes were fixated on an orb of water she had conjured. Then again, so was the other mage.

Of course, these two mages were none other than Erea and Dane. After meeting up with the Ninth Prince that one time, the two went ahead and did their things for around one and a half weeks so far. It was only when Erea felt like she was stuck at a bottleneck did she come to her mentor's room, asking him for advice on which areas she could improve on.

”Hmm…” Currently, Dane was looking at the orb his student had just conjured with a keen eye, making sure to not miss any small detail that would go unnoticed by the untrained eye. Eventually, his vision was focused on Erea's face instead, lightly grinning as he said, ”Your control over the Water element has greatly improved. Right now, the orb you've created can no longer be told apart from natural water.”

Fwoosh!

As Erea dispelled the water orb she made, she could not help but let out a shy chuckle as she responded, ”It's all thanks to Teacher for letting me borrow your copy of {Beryl's Aqua Spells}.”

Just as she mentioned the name of the scripture she borrowed, she realized that the promise she had made with him was not yet fulfilled. She then said not long after in a slightly panicked tone, ”Ah, right! I forgot to return it to you after I ascended to a Rank 3 class!”

”It's fine, it's fine.” In response, Dane let out a light chuckle as he sat down on a nearby chair, scratching his back as he did not mind his student forgetting about her promise at all. In fact, to him, he felt like it would be better for her to keep the scripture, which he only bought for inspiration, since it would allow her control over the elements to improve. With that in mind, he soon told her, ”How about you keep that scripture to yourself for now? I have no use for it, while you still have a lot to learn from it. Don't you think it would be better if it was in your hands?”

Hearing her mentor's words, Erea could not help but want to accept his offer, but she still felt a bit of guilt since she felt like it was unfair for her to take something which she had only borrowed at first. Getting a feel for what was going on inside his student's mind, Dane followed up with another statement, letting out a soft sigh before saying, ”How about this? Think of it as my gift to you after ascending to a Rank 3 class. Would that let you not feel guilt anymore?”

Erea pondered over Dane's words for a bit, eventually nodding as she let out a sigh of her own. Even though her mentor had just said that it was a gift for her, she knew that that was not his original intention. Nevertheless, she decided to not show this emotion to her teacher as she lightly bowed in response before respectfully saying, ”Then I must thank Teacher for giving me the scripture.”

Dane finally let out a light smile as a response to Erea's words, concurrently letting out an inward sigh of relief as well. Soon after, he removed all of the thoughts he had related to the scripture in his mind as his train of thought went back to teaching Erea what she wanted to know. With that, he went ahead and asked her, ”Do you have anything else you want to ask me?”

”Now that Teacher mentions it, I do have one thing to ask from you,” Erea replied not long after. She then continued, ”I would like to ask Teacher some tips on how to improve my control over magic spells.”

”Improving control, huh…” After hearing what Erea wanted to learn from him, Dane went ahead and recalled all of the information he had regarding magic control, eventually organizing those thoughts into a list. He then went ahead and cross-referenced this list with what he knew about Erea, removing things that felt redundant in the chance he taught her those topics. In the end, he was only left with a few things in his mind wherein Erea could improve upon.

Taking in a deep breath, Dane calmly looked at Erea before saying, ”I've compiled all of the things that one could improve upon when it comes to magic control in my mind. I then went ahead and cross-referenced it with what I know about you, removing the things that you have a solid foundation on.”

He then added soon after, ”Surprisingly, the things you could improve upon can be solved by a certain scripture you can buy from the tower.”

”Oh? What scripture might that be, Teacher?” Listening attentively to her mentor's words and finding out that a single scripture could enhance her control over magic by a great degree, Erea asked in a curious and expectant tone.

Dane responded in a solemn tone, ”The name of the scripture is—”

Whirr! Whirr!

Just as Dane was about to mention the name of the scripture, he was unfortunately interrupted by a loud gust of wind. At first, he let the loud gust of wind pass, taking in a deep breath before trying to tell Erea the name of the scripture once more…only to be interrupted by a loud gust of wind again. Wondering where the loud gust of wind came from, he went ahead and utilized an investigative spell that examined everything around a certain radius, eventually finding out where it came from.

”Oh.” Surprisingly, after realizing where it came from, Dane let out an awkward chuckle as he excused himself in front of Erea, leading Erea to ponder as to why her mentor excused himself all of a sudden.

On the other hand, Dane went towards one of the corners of his room, rummaging through the pockets of his robe before bringing out a small crystal. As he sent a bit of his energy into it, the image of a familiar person appeared on the screen as he felt a connection with this person. This image was of a man in his 20s that exuded a great aura of magnanimity. This feeling was further heightened as the man wore clothes that befitted a noble while a small crown was fixated on his head, allowing one to recognize that the man Dane was talking to was part of royalty.

”What made you call me, Your Highness?” Seeing as the man on the crystal was not talking, Dane took the initiative to ask, to which the man replied with a question, ”Remember what I told you back then? Regarding our visit to the Astelia and Arcenon family?”

After rummaging through his memories for a bit, Dane nodded before responding, ”You told me, Your Highness, that in a couple of weeks, the two of us would be visiting the Astelia and Arcenon family. What about it?”

”Change of plans,” the man replied without delay. ”I've received news that one of the people I'm scouting has finally come back to the Arcenon family household, deciding to stay there for a while before heading off onto another trip.”

Obtaining the hidden meaning amidst the statement said by the man, Dane replied to the man with a question, asking, ”So…you're telling me that we're heading to the Arcenon household right now?”

”More or less,” the man responded with a shrug of his shoulders, leading Dane to let out a short inward sigh before composing himself. He then turned his head around for a bit, gazing at Erea, who was looking at him with a slightly curious expression. After that, he focused his vision back onto the crystal as he mulled over the pros and cons, eventually agreeing with the man's proposition by saying, ”Alright, then. I'll accompany you, Your Highness. Should I teleport to your pavilion?”

”No need,” the man hastily replied as the image behind the man slightly changed. He then continued, ”I'll just come and meet up with you outside the palace gates.”

”As you wish, Your Highness,” Dane said in response to those words, eventually cutting off the connection between him and the man.