Upon hearing this, Celephais’s eyes flickered, and he instantly guessed the identity of the person he was dealing with.
He remembered the monster horde that had erupted in Riverfall City; he had been there too and was well aware of the events that had unfolded. However, he had not expected that this woman would specifically come to find him. Celephais narrowed his eyes slightly.
Yet, collaborating with an NPC was indeed a good strategy. Although he couldn’t deal with Luca directly, he certainly had money to spend! And someone like Lina, as an NPC, would undoubtedly have a wide network of connections.
“I accept!” With such a great opportunity presented to him, Celephais had no reason to refuse. A cold smile crept across his face. This time, he vowed not to rest until he brought Luca back down to level zero!
—
Meanwhile, Luca was still unaware of the alliance he had inadvertently formed between the two people he had offended. Yet, even if he were to find out, it wouldn’t concern him too much. With his current strength, there weren’t many people in Southwind City who could pose a threat to him.
After entering Red Maple Academy, he headed toward his small loft. Although he hadn’t received any news about Pandora yet, he was certain that this matter wouldn’t just end here. Coincidentally, he had just come into a significant amount of money, so he could take this opportunity to craft a batch of high-level magic runes. It was always better to be prepared in advance.
As he walked through the campus and returned to the residential area, he had not yet reached his place when he spotted a slender figure sitting on a bench by the roadside. She was dressed in a jewel-green gown, holding a delicate piece of fruit and nibbling on it. The sunlight filtered through the leaves, casting a warm glow on her, making her fair, dewy skin shine like jade.
It was Fratis.
However, she seemed somewhat distracted, and Luca approached without her noticing.
“What are you doing here? Aren’t you supposed to be in class?” Luca asked in surprise.
Fratis, lost in thought, jumped at his sudden question, nearly choking on her fruit. She quickly patted her rather prominent chest, finally managing to catch her breath.
Seeing that it was Luca, Fratis stood up in a bit of a fluster and said, “I… I didn’t have classes these past few days, so I came to find you, but I realized you weren’t home…”
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Actually, third-year students had an even heavier academic load, but that was the case for ordinary students. Fratis’s talent should have made her studies easier. Luca wondered how long she had been waiting here…
“I was out on a mission and just got back,” Luca invited. “If you don’t mind, come in and sit for a while.”
“Sure!” A smile broke out on Fratis’s face.
Luca opened the door, and the two of them entered the loft together. Fratis seemed quite curious about the place and looked around, saying, “So this is where the instructor lives? It’s so big…”
Fratis had a special identity; as the sixth princess of the empire, she had her own residence outside the city. However, she preferred to stay in the academy dormitory most of the time, even though that room was not very big.
Luca prepared a cup of coffee for her and said, “Ordinary instructors’ residences should be smaller than this. If you like, I can ask my teacher if there are any similar places available.”
“That would be great, thank you!” Fratis said cheerfully, then suddenly remembered something. She took out a beautifully crafted box from her storage ring and handed it over with both hands, her eyes sparkling. “I found a new cake shop in the Inner District, and their fruit cakes are delicious. I brought you a piece!”
“…Thank you.” Luca felt it was impolite to refuse her generous offering, so he accepted it.
Under Fratis’s eager gaze, he opened the box to discover several delicately crafted blue fruit cakes inside. The flavors were mixed, and he could smell a faint blend of cream and fruit.
Luca took a piece and tasted it. It was sweet and soft, not cloyingly so. It was particularly to his liking, and he could feel a refreshing sensation flowing through his body.
[Ding! You have consumed a mid-tier food item “Spirit Fruit Cake.” Spirit attribute increased by 12 points!]
Seeing the game notification in front of him, Luca was not surprised. The Eternal Game had a wide range of professions, and among the life skills, there were many capable of producing Transcendent food. Some could even permanently enhance one’s abilities, with effects similar to potions. Given Fratis’s status, any food she deemed good must be exceptional.
After Luca finished the cake, Fratis’s earlier gloom vanished, and she happily invited him, “Wasn’t it delicious? That shop has many kinds of cakes. We should go together sometime.”
Luca realized that this princess had come over mainly to invite him to that cake shop. As someone who enjoyed good food, sharing the joy of eating with others was one of their hobbies. However, he knew he wouldn’t be able to go, so he politely declined, “I’m sorry, Your Highness. I have classes tomorrow and need to prepare today. If I have time later, I’ll accompany you to check it out then.”
Fratis’s face showed a hint of disappointment, but it quickly faded. She blinked her eyes and asked, “Tomorrow is your first day of classes. Can I come along to see?”
Luca smiled and nodded, “Of course. If the other students find out that Her Highness will be there, they’ll surely be very excited.”
Hearing Luca’s agreement, Fratis’s eyes lit up with joy.
The two continued chatting for a while, and they soon touched upon her worries. Luca learned that her fiancé, Finn, the son of Duke Lyon, was going to arrive in Southwind City in the next few days.
No wonder she wore such a troubled expression. Luca felt he had little to offer in terms of comfort regarding her situation.
The marriage between royalty and dukes would not be altered by personal will. So, Luca decided to change the topic, sharing humorous stories to help this girl, whose fate had been predetermined since birth, to cast aside her troubles and wear a smile.
The soft, melodious laughter of the young girl echoed through the loft from time to time. As darkness began to fall, Fratis waved goodbye, satisfied, and left.
Luca watched her figure disappear around a distant corner. Slowly, the smile on his face faded. Although he had yet to meet him, the domineering style of the duke’s son had left a deep impression on Luca. He could only hope that the man wouldn’t come looking for trouble. As a friend, he didn’t want Fratis to become a widow. But he wouldn’t mind doing something about it…
Glancing at the dimming sky, Luca stretched lazily and began preparing for the day’s main task: crafting high-level magic runes!
The number of high-level magic runes was significantly less than that of mid-tier magic runes. After some deliberation, Luca chose three types to refine.
The first was “Daylight Wind Shadows,” which could greatly enhance speed. Using this magic rune would allow him to double his speed for a short time. The skill level of “Wind Walk” was too low, so “Daylight Wind Shadows” was a perfect replacement.
The second was the area-of-effect attack skill “Meteoric Fire.” This rune could summon celestial fire meteors to strike enemies, making it the highest damage area magic rune among high-level options. It was ideal for farming monsters and causing destruction.
The third was “Steel Rock Iron Wall,” which could enhance both defense and strength. This rune would strengthen his body and weapons, enough to withstand typical high-level damage skills. Its defensive capabilities would astonish many professionals.
Finally, there was “Shadow Judgment,” the magic rune with the strongest single-target damage among high-level options. This dark magic rune had an outrageous advantage: it could ignore defenses and inflict terrifying dark magic damage, along with a curse effect that limited the target’s recovery ability. The downside, however, was its slow casting speed and low hit rate.
Once he reached high levels, nearly all classes had quick movement skills, meaning “Shadow Judgment” could only be used when the enemy was restricted in movement.
Luca chose to craft this magic rune mainly to deal with heavy monsters, like the Skeletal Dragon. As levels increased, monsters’ defenses would become stronger, and with “Shadow Judgment,” he at least wouldn’t be completely helpless against those tough-skinned foes.
While superclass magic runes were powerful, they took too long to cast and could only be used as trump cards…
The purple magical energy bathed the entire loft in a dreamlike hue.
Luca sat cross-legged, with a series of high-level materials hovering in the air around him. The magical energy was rapidly extracted, sketching out intricate and obscure magic runes across the sky. Time passed slowly.
As the stars shifted in the heavens, the eastern horizon gradually brightened. By the time Luca finished crafting the magic runes in his hands, dawn had already broken.
The last magic rune slowly settled into his palm before vanishing in an instant.
[Ding! Congratulations! You have successfully crafted the high-level magic rune “Daylight Wind Shadows”!]
[Your skill in magic rune drawing has reached max level, earning you 500 points of free proficiency!]
Luca let out a long sigh of relief, stretching his muscles as his joints cracked and popped. Over the course of the night, he had crafted a total of six high-level magic runes. Although that number wasn’t large, it was primarily due to a lack of materials. Each high-level magic rune cost tens of thousands of gold coins to produce.
If it weren’t for the considerable gains he had made in Pure River Town, he wouldn’t have been able to create even these six runes.
Glancing out the window, he noticed that it was already bright outside. After washing up, Luca put on his instructor’s robe and prepared to head to the teaching building. Today, he would be teaching the newcomers their first practical combat class, and he hoped that this group of sheltered kids could handle it…
Just as he was lost in thought, a sudden knocking sounded at the door. At the same time, he heard Fratis’s soft and sweet voice call out, “Professor Luca, are you awake?”
With a creak, he opened the wooden door to the loft. To his surprise, along with Fratis stood Melissa and Fred. freeweɓnovel.cѳm
“It’s only six-thirty; class doesn’t start for another hour…” Luca said, feeling a bit helpless as he looked at the trio. How was it that these guys seemed more anxious than he was about the class he was supposed to teach?