Mongna Ant Land Cottage.
As soon as Ivan returned to the Twin Towers, a beautiful figure dashed towards him with the fragrance of the wind, nestling into his arms as softly as jade. After years of growth, Justine’s physique had become no less striking than that of her mother, Madam Selina, and perhaps had even surpassed her.
“Ivan, you’re back.”
“Did someone bully you?”
Seeing Justine’s agitated demeanor, Ivan thought she might have been bullied and patted her back to offer comfort.
Justine muttered some unintelligible words and shook her head slightly, unwilling to let go of her hold on him.
“If someone did bully you, just tell me. I want to see who would dare not to give me face,” Ivan said gravely, considering his relationship with the Three Great Families. Normally, disputes among sorcerers wouldn’t affect apprentices, but he couldn’t rule out the possibility of someone intentionally causing trouble.
“No, really.”
“Are you sure?”
“I just missed you so much, and I was a bit bored. Also, since Gina became an official sorcerer, it doesn’t feel right to keep bothering her with small talk,” Justine said somewhat bashfully.
Ivan understood; she was eager to advance to sorcerer herself.
Under his generous patronage, Justine’s strength had been steadily increasing, and she had reached the limit of a 3rd Class apprentice and a Junior Knight. However, much of Justine’s strength was not yet solidified into combat prowess, let alone sufficient for becoming a sorcerer.
“Do you want to become an official sorcerer soon?”
“Is it possible?”
Justine looked at him full of hope, only to see Ivan shake his head.
“You have to remember, you only have 2nd Class talent, and only one chance to become a sorcerer. You must be very cautious. You still have a long way to go,” he cautioned.
“Alright then.”
“Do you remember what class of talent Pearney has?”
“4th Class.”
“She swore confidently that her advancement was almost certain, but what happened? She still failed, didn’t she?”
“Ah! She wasn’t hurt, was she? Did you go to comfort her? How could she fail? After all, she has 4th Class talent, one class higher than you.”
Alarmed by what he said, Justine’s face showed her panic. If Pearney, with far better talent, had failed to advance, what chance did she herself have?
“You ask too many questions; how can I answer them all?” The factors contributing to a sorcerer’s advancement are too many. Ivan also didn’t know why Pearney had failed. “Pearney has different conditions than you or I. She has a second chance for advancement, and I will help her when the time comes, as I will do my utmost to help you.”
“Mm-hmm, I’ll follow your arrangements.”
With this dose of reality, Justine quelled the tumult of thoughts in her mind.
Her haste to become a sorcerer was mainly influenced by Gina. With her friend suddenly a step ahead in status as a sorcerer, Justine struggled to maintain her equilibrium and couldn’t help but dream of more.
“If you’re bored, you could occasionally take on academy missions, take a look around the vicinity of the academy. With your current strength, it wouldn’t be a problem to venture out,” Ivan suggested.
“Can I—can I not go?” Justine grimaced; the thought of academy missions didn’t excite her in the slightest.
“I’ll have Scented Butterfly accompany you. It’s settled then,” Ivan decided, feeling more convinced that Justine needed to get out and gain practical experience, which would enhance her combat abilities, broaden her horizons, and positively impact her path to becoming a sorcerer.
Otherwise, no matter how well prepared in advance, if her resolve wasn’t strong enough, becoming an official sorcerer would likely be out of her reach.
It’s worth noting that Justine had little talent in Enchantment Skill, but in terms of apothecary, she could be considered a remarkable talent. Apothecary was always a profitable profession, and as a 2nd Class apprentice, she wasn’t entirely reliant on Ivan’s cultivation.
The next day, before Ivan could visit to congratulate Gina, he received an invitation from his mentor, asking him to get together for a small gathering.
At the three-story round tower, Ivan arrived on time, and soon Gina appeared as well.
“Gina, congratulations.”
“Then I won’t be shy, Senior Ivan.”
Gina accepted his congratulatory gift, a simple-looking bracelet that was actually a mid-level magicalized item—the Green Tree Star Shield.
The Green Tree Star was originally a low-level magicalized item. After Ivan became a sorcerer, he derived it into a mid-level magicalized item, containing 7 runes bundles. Its quality was not particularly outstanding among mid-level magicalized items.
Witnessing the scene, Sorcerer Randall couldn’t help but laugh.
He now had two sorcerers among his students, reversing the downwards trend of the past few decades. He had long awaited this moment, and his mood was exceptionally good.
“Mentor, now that I am a sorcerer, do I need to raise a second type of insect?” Gina couldn’t help but ask a question that had been on her mind. The magic Blackbeard Crown allowed for the raising of multiple insects, now up to three types, but she noticed that both her mentor and senior brother only had one type each.
“Ivan, what do you say?”
“You could raise another or not. The rapid wood silkworm is quite good, and I currently have no plans to raise a second type,” Ivan looked at the Silkworm Queen on his shoulder and said truthfully.
The Silkworm Queen was nervously watching him, and when she heard his words, the heart that had risen to her throat returned to her stomach.
After becoming an intelligent creature, the Silkworm Queen firmly remembered the instructions of her own sorcerer. When others were around, she barely spoke.
“He has spent far more time and energy on Enchantment than on insect rearing. As for you, Justine, it depends on what path you want to take in the future. Sorcerers are indeed good at research, but they have limited energy and can’t cover every aspect.
If you don’t plan to make insects your main approach, just raising one that you like is enough.”
Sorcerer Randall never interfered with his disciples’ choices. Even if he had a special fondness for insect breeding, he didn’t care if his disciples followed the same path as he did after becoming sorcerers.
“Then I’ll have to consider carefully,” Justine nodded, her mentor’s words undoubtedly dispelling her worries. “Sorcerer Ivan, I owe you a lot for my successful advancement to sorcerer, thanks to your Insect Breathing Method and the array dais of the Black Magic Wind Bundle Array, I’ll always remember your help.”
“We are fellow disciples, and besides, you have paid with magic stones, there’s no need for all this thanks,” Ivan replied with a smile. He had given Justine the initial version of the Insect Breathing Method quite early on, for which she had put in a lot of effort to research and adapt it to her venomous fire ants.
Justine then formally thanked her mentor, Sorcerer Randall. She was crystal clear in her heart; without their help, she didn’t know how much longer she would have to struggle to become a sorcerer, or even if there was a significant chance of failure to advance.
What might have been a minor effort for the two of them was a lifetime matter for her.
“Speaking of which, Ivan, you’ve really done something big this time. The events of this occurrence have given you a name on Moon Pincer Peninsula. It seems the title of the first Insect Control Master of Mongna Ant Land Cottage belongs to you now,” Randolph changed the subject.
“It’s not that I wanted to cause trouble for others. Those people have been pestering me repeatedly; I could only fight back,” Ivan said.
“What happened? How did Brother become the number one Insect Control Master?” Justine asked in surprise, she had always been an apprentice and was naturally unaware of the matters among sorcerers.
Seeing that Ivan did not speak, Randall narrated the events that had occurred at Floating Clouds Square.
Justine was struck dumb with amazement—facing off against four alone and leaving not a single one of the enemies alive, what a heroic deed. It also fully demonstrated Brother Ivan’s strength, which was likely already at the stage of elementalization.
Justine’s gaze fell on the inconspicuous green silkworm on his shoulder. This little fellow had played an extremely important role in the battle. Upon a closer look, the green silkworm indeed had an extraordinary appearance.
“Silkworm Queen, say hello to Mentor and Sorceress Justine.”
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“Sorcerer Randall, the Silkworm Queen sends her sincerest greetings.” Only after hearing her sorcerer speak did the normally silent Silkworm Queen talk: “Sorceress Justine, hello.”
“Wow, your voice is so nice, Silkworm Queen,” Justine said, her eyes sparkling with admiration. She already envisioned the scene when one of her venomous fire ants would become an intelligent creature.
Being an Insect Control Master certainly has its prospects.
“Sorceress Justine, Sorcerer Ivan, the Golden Beetle General sends its regards to both of you,” said Randall’s golden beetle, not to be outdone, and also joined the conversation.
In the Red Cloud Realm not long ago, Randall gained a lot, nurturing his already on-the-threshold golden beetle into a Level 2 intelligent creature.
“Golden Armor, you rascal, you can speak at last. You can’t sneak attack me with stones anymore. As an intelligent creature, you shouldn’t get angry so easily like before. It makes you seem very childish,” Justine said with a giggly smile.
“No way,” replied the golden beetle.
In front of the Silkworm Queen, the golden beetle’s pride seemed a bit bruised, opting to deny everything.
The trio burst into laughter at this.
Now the Golden Beetle General’s pride was hurt even more, and, tired of dealing with the group, it darted into the ground and out of sight.
“There will soon be new apprentices joining the academy. Do you two want to take on any disciples?” Randall asked his two disciples.
“I’ve just left the apprentice phase, and I’m still not quite used to life as a sorcerer, so I can’t take on disciples,” Justine quickly shook her head.
“What about you, Ivan?”
“I don’t mind. I’ll see when the time comes, and see if there’s anyone suitable,” Ivan pondered and replied. With the support of another, according to the sorcerer’s way of nurturing, taking on a disciple didn’t need much effort.
Some sorcerers even take on new disciples during every enrollment, collecting them like some kind of consumable material. Such sorcerers were the minority; most sorcerers cultivated disciples in a more traditional manner.
“However, Mentor, you have to allow me to pass on the Blackbeard Crown to my disciples.”
“Of course, it’s our signature spell. I allow you to teach it to any disciple or to the disciple’s disciple,” Randall said.
“That works out for me. I’ll do the same with my foundational Breathing Method. It can be passed down to my disciples as well,” Ivan replied.
With the mentor being so generous, Ivan wasn’t stingy either. He made the pledge on the spot, allowing the initial version of the Insect Breathing Method to be passed down, another hallmark of their lineage.
In terms of advancing to sorcerer, the Blackbeard Crown and the Insect Breathing Method complement each other. With these two signature spells, it was foreseeable that their lineage would have an even brighter future.
“I discovered something strange on a recent trip out. It seemed like I encountered someone who also practiced the Black Beard Chapter Meditation Method. His aura was too familiar to me,” Randall brought up another matter.
“An academy sorcerer, or a wandering sorcerer?”
“Probably a wandering sorcerer, or maybe a foreign sorcerer. I didn’t dare to just go up and ask, but I remember the person. You might want to keep an eye out if you have the chance.”
Randall shared the appearance of the sorcerer he had seen—indeed, a stranger they had not met before.
The origins of the meditation method were complex. It’s not inconceivable that the Black Beard Chapter could be from elsewhere, possibly outside of the Moon Pincer Peninsula, from some power or relic. The academy’s Black Beard Chapter only had the first three layers; the fourth layer had to be found by oneself.
This sorcerer was a clue worth noting.