"She did this before too, not coming back for a couple of days." It must be said, the dragon caught at this place showed it knew Teacher Morgan's habits well.
"Two days?"
Ian sighed.
"But I can only stay in the Illusion Realm for half a day at most. I can't wait until she returns." He still had a bit of desire to rely on the teacher, but now it was clearly impossible.
The dragon blinked: "So what are you going to do?"
"Forget it, I'll find the answer myself, see if I can find a way back to Hogwarts." Ian lowered his head and glanced at the nearby massive Big Ben.
The time above ticked away the passage of the real world.
"A little while longer."
Ian had a brainstorm and didn't want to just sit here chatting with the dragon, "The teacher didn't say I couldn't go to her bedroom, so... might as well roam around the castle."
Seeing there was still some time before returning, Ian also started his aimless exploration of the castle, after all, the teacher didn't say he couldn't go to other places — actually, despite entering this world every seven days to follow Teacher Morgan studying magic, he still knew too little about this ancient castle.
Upon hearing, the Ancient Giant Dragon suddenly perked up, its massive body twisting like a puppy, getting close: "Take me, take me! I know what she has hidden in her study's secret compartment!"
"Do you want me to be turned into a toad?"
Ian stepped back two paces.
"Besides, with your size, can you get inside the castle?" His statement was indeed justified, after all, the dragon's enormous body looked almost as big as the entire ancient castle.
Upon hearing, the dragon suddenly wilted, lying back on the ground feeling wronged.
"Well... well, share half of the good stuff you find with me..." Apparently, even after being among humans for years, the dragon's habit of collecting and finding treasures still persisted.
"If you take Teacher Morgan's things, you'll definitely be harshly tormented by Teacher Morgan." Ian shook his head with a smile, turned around, and pushed the heavy door of the ancient castle open again. With a creaking sound, the dusty air rushed toward him, still mixed with the scent of magic potion, parchment, and an indescribable ancient magic aura.
The hall was a place Ian often stayed, while many other places were unknown, so in this mysterious and magical ancient castle, Ian began his "street wanderer's" journey.
"When I traveled through time before, I saw the castle where Teacher Morgan's father lived, it was similar, but many places had modifications." Ian muttered softly, his fingertips tracing the mottled stone walls.
He first came to the armory on the east side. Here, all sorts of magic weapons should have been displayed, but now it turned into a bizarre "living exhibition hall."
The walls were hung with armors of various styles, some looked like heavy armor worn by knights, others like some sort of ceremonial magical artifacts. The most striking was a corner with an obsidian-like armor, engraved with intricate runes, faintly emitting a chill.
"Could this be the Cursed Armor left by a fallen knight?" Ian leaned in to observe, but was driven back a few steps by a chilling wind.
Suddenly, the armor's eyes lit up with a red glow, as if it had gained consciousness.
"Kiss me~"
said the armor.
Ian was startled.
Frightened out of his wits.
Immediately turned around and ran.
Only once certain that no monsters were chasing from behind.
Did he stop to catch his breath.
"What a bizarre fetish, this place is really not suited for wandering around alone."
He said with lingering fear.
Just at that moment.
"Indeed indeed, this place is filled with Miss Morgan's memories of fairy tales."
An armored knight suit that could dance by itself immediately halted its movements upon seeing Ian, its helmet clattering as it rotated one hundred and eighty degrees, "staring" at him with empty eye sockets.
"Good evening, sir." The armor courteously bowed, but its waist joint suddenly jammed, causing its upper body to crash to the floor with a bang, apparently one of the initial failed attempts placed here.
Ian resisted a laugh while helping to reassemble it, and as soon as he let go, the armor screamed and jumped away, seemingly fearing Ian would charge it a fee.
"Merlin's beard! Your hand is colder than ice!"
Clearly just finding any excuse.
The sly armory said that and quickly scampered into a storage cabinet.
"It really became sentient."
Ian was still ruminating over the armor's mention of traces of fairy tales everywhere.
So.
He chose to explore the garden behind the castle.
Knowing there's a garden here.
Was because he had once traveled through time to visit the real-life prototype of the castle.
Indeed.
The garden at the back of the castle was surrounded by a circle of thorny vines, accessible only through a specific spell. Ian recited the original spell, and the vines slowly parted.
Revealing a path leading to a sea of flowers.
Unlike the garden Morgan's mother had tinkered with.
The plants in this Misty Illusion Realm's garden now were bizarre and varied.
Singing roses, mushrooms that sprayed rainbow mist, and stone statues curled up under trees like cats. Most magical was a huge apple tree.
The fruits would float into the air when ripe, waiting to be picked.
"There's indeed a touch of fairy tale here." Ian picked an apple, took a bite, and immediately felt enveloped by a warm light, as if bathed in spring sunshine.
"This apple... has a bit of a Golden Apple taste, perhaps it's a counterfeit cultivated by the teacher, but unfortunately doesn't increase magic power." He muttered, continuing to stroll in this wondrous garden.