The Trial by Fire didn’t have a restriction on the number of attempts. So long as one was alive, they could challenge the Trial by Fire as often as they wanted.
In other words, it was just a high-level training ground that offered great danger and rewards.
Vaan naturally wouldn’t charge to the end of the second stage blindly; he planned to test the waters and adapt. Only then would he advance.
Astoria realized Vaan’s intention before she stopped objecting.
Despite knowing Vaan could think and care for himself, she still worried for his safety and objected subconsciously.
It didn’t matter how capable he was; she would still worry.
Vaan was an invaluable asset to humanity—or so she constantly told herself. However, she had to admit that it wasn’t the sole reason for her concern.
Whether she liked it or not, she had feelings for him.
She, who has lived three centuries, was attracted to someone who has only lived two decades. She would be old enough to be his ancestor if they still lived in the old era.
Perhaps she was still single because she had never found anyone young and capable like Vaan. That said, she wasn’t exactly sure if she was truly attracted to younger men or not.
After all, she had never met anyone like Vaan, nor had anyone made her feel a certain way before him.
Nevertheless, she would rather kill herself than admit that she was attracted to younger men.
Although Astoria seemed calm on the surface, her heart was in turmoil and full of turbulent emotions, thanks to Vaan’s proposal-like speech earlier.
She could feel her body’s temperature rising from the quickened heartbeat, which would soon turn her face red.
Her excitement, shyness, and embarrassment would be revealed then.
“Since you have firmly decided, I won’t continue dissuading you from your choice,” Astoria solemnly said before turning away. “It’s getting late, Teacher Raphna. I will retire to my sleeping quarters to rest for the night.”
“Alright, Headmaster Astoria,” Vaan nodded and wished her goodnight, “Rest well. I will see you tomorrow.”
“Mm,” Astoria acknowledged.
In the next moment, she quickly hurried off and left before she exposed her turbulent emotions and pounding heart.
Little did she know, Vaan had already sensed her fast heartbeat with his sharp hearing and understood everything.
‘Looks like my words had some effect on her after all,’ Vaan mused thoughtfully.
Everything he said to her had been the truth. He truly wished to explore the vast world and learn everything there is to learn.
Perhaps he was a slave to his own ability, but he had a strong desire for knowledge.
Or perhaps, working in a black company in his previous life until he died a dog’s death had awakened his desire to live a life that could experience everything the world had to offer.
Either way, the original reason wasn’t important. What’s important was what he wanted; it was his choice, his will.
Shortly after Astoria left, Vaan shifted his attention to Hester, who appeared to be on the other side of the mountain peak.
Although the mana concentration in her location couldn’t compare to Eniwse’s room during their dual-practice session, there was no doubt that mana was concentrating around Hester.
It didn’t take long for Vaan to understand that Hester was attempting to form her third magic circle and ascend to the High Witch rank.
‘Although Hester has long reached the peak of Senior Witch, and her first two magic circles have achieved full saturation, it doesn’t guarantee that she will succeed in her advancement,’ Vaan silently thought.
After all, forming the third magic circle around the heart was a major bottleneck that prevented a majority of witches from progressing further.
Hester still faced a chance of failure if she was ill-prepared.
‘It seems Hester has some dragons watching over her advancement attempt. With them around, I doubt my presence is still necessary. Even so, I should still join them,’ Vaan decided.
He had never seen a Senior Witch ascend to the High Witch rank in person before; Hester’s advancement would provide valuable information and could be used for future references.
A few moments later, Vaan headed over to Hester’s location and joined the small crowd of dragons spectating in the area.
…
Meanwhile, Astoria returned to the guest building and headed straight into a spare room, locking the door right after before burying her face in the bed and listening to her racing heart.
She didn’t pay attention to anyone else in the guest building on her way in.
…
At that moment, Eniwse had an uninvited guest in her room.
Given the concentration of mana that had gathered around the guest building in the past several hours, it wasn’t hard for Aeliana to guess what had been going on.
Thus, right after Vaan left the area, she immediately went in to confront Eniwse.
“What brings you into my room, Lady Aeliana?” Eniwse casually asked as she sat up with her naked body wrapped in a blanket, still filled with Vaan’s scent and their love-making.
Although she was still exhausted from her dual practice with Vaan, she was recovering quickly.
“I just want to remind you that although you’ve known Lord Vaan longer, I was the first Abomination he treated, and my power is stronger than yours. Thus, I am like your senior,” Aeliana stated before saying, “As we are both his people, I hope you can be considerate and not monopolize his affections.”
“Is that all you wanted to ask?” Eniwse asked, shaking her head with an amused smile before saying, “As you said, we are both his people. So if you want his affection, you can have it. I won’t fight with you for it. That’s not important to me.”
“What’s important is what I can do to help Vaan. It just so happens that I’ve figured out what it is that I can do to be useful to him,” Eniwse stated with a confident smile.
Aeliana suddenly felt awkward and inferior after listening to Eniwse.
While she was trying to pick a fight over Vaan’s affection, the person didn’t care about competing with her at all.
“I see…” Aeliana uttered wryly before asking, “And what would that be?”
“Setting up an intelligence network,” Eniwse stated with a sharp look.