=====
<<Physical Attribute>>
[150 Defense] [Mid-level Rank 2]
[29 Strength] [Low-level Rank 1]
[34 Speed] [Low-level Rank 1]
=====
On the way to Redpine Academy, Vaan checked his status.
“Teacher, did you really spend the night with Lady Hester last night?” Cyrena Ashenborn inquired while they were taking the main road to the academy, still bothered by the matter.
“Yes, that’s correct,” Vaan calmly admitted before adding, “Lady Hester volunteered to be my dual practice partner for the night.”
“Teacher, if you needed a dual practice partner, even I—” Cyrena Ashenborn suddenly paused, unable to say the following words.
Although Cyrena Ashenborn’s body was full of antimagic spores, which had soaked up all her mana like sponges and water and couldn’t absorb any more mana, she could still draw mana into the area under the stimulation.
However, such unrefined mana was generally usable to men as they could not control mana directly.
Even if men try to grab mana with their bare hands, it would just make the mana scatter the same way they try to catch air.
Mana had to be injected into their body, or they could swallow mana with forceful inhalation.
Nevertheless, Cyrena Ashenborn’s biggest concern, which made her stop speaking, was the risk of spreading the antimagic spores to her teacher.
“I understand what you are thinking, but I will just accept the thought, Cyrena. You’re not ready for dual practice yet; wait until you’ve awakened your specialized magic, formed your first magic circle, and become a True Witch,” Vaan stated.
“But I can’t even use magic,” Cyrena Ashenborn weakly complained.
“Are you losing faith in your teacher’s ability to resolve your problem already? Is that what I’m hearing, hm?” Vaan slightly teased, making Cyrena Ashenborn panic.
“Not at all, Teacher! Of course, I do have faith in you!” Cyrena Ashenborn quickly denied the accusation.
“Then that’s that. Wait until you can use magic. I won’t turn you down then,” Vaan stated before looking into her progress, “How did you go with your self-study time? Did you cover a lot?”
“I did, but I still need more time to catch up, Teacher,” Cyrena Ashenborn replied.
“Fair enough. Make sure to pay attention in class from now on. I won’t teach you anything that your academy teachers can teach; I will only teach you advanced knowledge outside of your classes,” Vaan instructed.
“Yes, Teacher.”
As Vaan and Cyrena Ashenborn continued on their trip to Redpine Academy with their company of True Witches and Aura Masters, passing numerous buildings and street stalls, Vaan thought about Cyrena Ashenborn’s situation.
He was never worried about catching the antimagic spores from her.
After all, Vaan was protected by Topaz and the system. As such, he only saw the antimagic spores as sponges of pure mana, which could be used to expand his Heaven-Swallowing Space.
The incident with granting Topaz a True Name had shrunk Vaan’s Heaven-Swallowing Space—not by a great deal, but enough to make him careful with Name Bestowal’s future uses.
Nevertheless, collecting the primal essence of an awakened True Witch with a Specialized Magic was better than an unawakened Apprentice Witch without one.
Cyrena Ashenborn was like an aged fine wine he could only enjoy slowly.
…
Sometime later, Vaan and Cyrena Ashenborn arrived at the stone gates of Redpine Academy after trekking up the hill on the western side of the city with their company.
The western-style stone castle with several interconnecting cone-tip towers could be seen just over the stone wall.
Although it wasn’t as impressive as Helia’s Castle, which had a large mana-gathering spell, it was filled with positive energy.
It was a place where intellect was respected, not power and authority.
‘So this is Redpine Academy,’ Vaan inspected the academy as Cyrena Ashenborn settled the identifications for entry at the gate.
Shortly after Cyrena Ashenborn and Vaan were granted entry, the True Witches and Aura Masters that escorted them bid farewell and returned to Helia’s Castle.
Meanwhile, Vaan and Cyrena Ashenborn had to split as they had different destinations.
“Attend your classes, and pay attention; not just potioneering, Cyrena. You know where to find me after class for extra lessons.”
“Yes, Teacher.”
After Vaan and Cyrena Ashenborn separated, Vaan was greeted by a third-year True Witch after being informed of his arrival.
“Hello, Sir Vahn. You can call me Emlyn. Headmaster Tabitha had been expecting your arrival and informed me to guide you to our library. Please follow me,” the True Witch instructed after a brief introduction.
Emlyn had long black hair, reddish eyes, a fair complexion, and wore the standard black academy uniform dress.
“Then, I’ll be troubling you, Emlyn,” Vaan said courteously.
“Not at all, Sir Vahn.”
Shortly after, Emlyn guided Vaan through the main castle entrance before passing a few hallways and ascending two flights of stairs.
Before long, Vaan arrived at the academy’s library on the third floor of the main castle building. Emlyn left to attend to her other matters shortly after, leaving Vaan to enter the library alone.
Along the way, Vaan encountered very few witches from a distance.
Most of the witches were in the middle of their classes, and the few that saw him from afar didn’t find him out of the ordinary as he followed Emlyn.
Just like Blackmoon Academy, it was normal for male servants to be found within academy grounds.
Creak…
Nevertheless, after Vaan pushed open the large double doors made of quality timber and entered the library, a bespectacled beauty with light brown hair, grey eyes, and a very fair complexion rushed over to him with squinted eyes.
Vaan slightly backed a step as the bespectacled beauty shoved herself at him, meeting his eyes at finger length apart, where he could feel her breathing on his face.
After sniffing Vaan a few times, the bespectacled beauty asked, “You’re not from around here, are you? Are you the new assistant Headmaster Tabitha arranged for me?”
“Yeah—”
“Great!” the bespectacled lady in her vintage dark academia dress exclaimed before dragging Vaan into the library before he could even finish speaking. “You can call me Librarian Payne, Senior Payne, Lady Dahlia, or whatever you want.”
“Just help me sort out all these few books. I accidentally bumped the shelf earlier,” Dahlia Payne directed Vaan’s gaze to a mountain of books created by three large bookshelves that collapsed.
“This is a few?” Vaan raised an eyebrow.
The mountain of books before him numbered in the thousands at the very least.