Liurnia of the Lakes, east bank, late night. There was no moon tonight, only the dim light brought by the Erdtree illuminated the scene. A small boat drifted silently with the waves and quickly slipped into the dense reeds on the lakeshore.
A blurry figure jumped onto the shore quickly, observed the surroundings, and finally walked out of the reed bed. "We've arrived."
The tall wolf-man gestured with his snout toward the side, where a straight, wide road ran north-south around the large lake.
The two had climbed down from the cliffs of Caria Manor at dusk, boarded a pre-prepared boat, and passed through several blockade lines to finally reach the east side of Liurnia of the Lakes without alerting a single person, or even a wild beast.
Thorne also jumped onto the shore; for him, this was an unfamiliar area.
To the northwest was Raya Lucaria Academy. Looking further southeast, the land tightened abruptly, and a massive, sturdy fortress sat on the high ground—this was Stormveil, an important transportation hub in The Lands Between.
This city was occupied by another feudal lord; passing through there would lead to the wealthy Limgrave, the place where the Tarnished's dream began.
"Are you nervous?" Blaidd asked teasingly, seeing the look on his face.
"No, I just think Liurnia is really too small. The Lands Between is so vast, I should go see everything. Maybe by some chance, I could become the Elden Lord."
"Bragging!" Blaidd snorted dismissively, too lazy to talk nonsense with him, and placed the bundle on his back onto the ground to open it. Inside was a sorcerer's robe, a glintstone crown, and some letters and papers.
The eyes of the crown were covered with red cloth; it was the Alothas glintstone crown specially issued by the academy to traveling sorcerers. He stuffed the things into Thorne's hands and urged: "This is a sorcerer I took care of while on duty, his name is Roland Heinberg. I've investigated; he had an introverted personality and low strength. He applied to leave the academy many years ago, which makes him perfect for you to impersonate. These are his identity documents, don't mess this up."
Thorne rolled his eyes.
The wolf-man seized every opportunity to retaliate, but to deal with it properly, he still asked: "Did he not have any friends?"
"He had two, I slaughtered them too."
"Well, he must have had a mentor, at least."
The wolf-man grinned, revealing a cruel smile: "I killed him too."
Fine, very strong. Thorne had nothing to say. A transparent character like this was indeed very suitable for him. More importantly, there weren't many people who could become sorcerers, so who would think of impersonating one?
The wolf-man seized every opportunity to retaliate, but to deal with it properly, he still asked...
Not to mention, the counter-intelligence in The Lands Between was too pathetic to investigate anything. He took off his ronin armor, pulled on the light sorcerer's robe, and affixed the ugly crown. He felt a surge of intelligence. The glintstone crown wasn't just about aesthetics; it was a magical artifact. Though, it blocked vision and was top-heavy, which was hardly ideal for a swordsman. "Looks pretty good."
Blaidd hummed, watching Thorne bob his head. The man was just over five-and-a-half feet tall, with a refined air about him. If it were him, he'd probably only be able to impersonate a tough guy from the Haima Classroom.
"Don't discourage me." Thorne removed the longsword at his waist, the curved sword from his back, and a pile of throwing knives and crossbows. "Help me send these things back. Let's be clear, if you lose them, you pay."
"Are you afraid I'll throw them into the lake?"
"What else?" The wolf-man's mouth twitched, itching to smash this bastard's plaster head with a punch, but he didn't take the equipment. Instead, he begrudgingly pulled a ring from his chest.
The ring was golden, without any gemstone embellishments, looking quite plain. "This is?"
"A spirit-calling ring, bestowed upon you by Lady Ranni. It can turn inorganic matter into spirits for storage. The capacity is roughly equivalent to a chest." Thorne was stunned and reached out to take it, but Blaidd pulled it back and echoed his words: "This is Ranni's personal belonging. If you lose it, you have to pay!"
"Fine, fine, fine." Thorne readily agreed. The gadget reminded him of a certain Spirit Steed; the appearance was similar too. He put it on his left index finger, picked up the star-frost, and tapped it on the ring. The three-foot-long sword instantly dissipated into blue particles. Such a magical scene widened his eyes.
"How do I take it out?"
Perhaps because Thorne wore it on the correct finger, Blaidd immediately answered: "Touch the ring, then pull it out." Thorne immediately followed suit, gripped his index finger with his right palm, and pulled outward. The particles reappeared and reassembled into the silver-white longsword. An artifact, definitely an artifact.
This thing was more useful to him than the Spirit Calling Bell. Using a staff as a sword lasted too short a time, and as a spy, he couldn't carry a longsword around the academy every day. So, he spirit-called all those miscellaneous items, filling up more than half of the ring's space. Only then did he lift his staff, stand up, and extend his right hand.
"Then I'm off," Thorne said.
"Go." The two men's hands gripped tightly, then let go. Thorne was a straightforward person and didn't want to act pretentiously at parting. As soon as he let go, he turned and left.
"One more thing."
Thorne turned his head, confused. He saw only a flash of pale fangs in the shadows. "Ranni is waiting for your good news. Don't die; I'm waiting for you to return, too."
The wolf-man vanished into the reed bed like a gust of wind.
Thorne stood frozen for a few seconds. The corner of his mouth hooked up. Why were they both so… tsundere?
The sun rose again. A travel-worn sorcerer apprentice carrying a suitcase stepped into the sunlight. The wide Bellum Highway was bustling with people.
Caravans and commoners gave the sorcerers a wide berth. Sorcerers were powerful and mysterious, and now they were effectively the lords of Liurnia; commoners didn't dare provoke them.
"So lively." Thorne stood in the middle of the road and looked around. Carriages drove past, loaded with grain from Limgrave, seemingly preparing to be sold in the capital. Villagers dressed in coarse linen held various specialties and hawked them along the street. "Buy some pickled goat meat! One hundred runes and you'll be full!" "Black bat tear glands, men can eat them and never feel tired!"
"Sir, do you want to buy a cloak? I sewed it myself."
Caria was sparsely populated, with only about a thousand people living in such a large territory. Very few commoners lived there. But arriving here, Thorne finally understood what a scene of thriving vitality meant. This was vastly different from the desolate, broken, and numb Lands Between in his memory. Honestly, war shouldn't cause that kind of scene. As long as people were still there, ruins would be rebuilt, and villages would revive.
Unless even the people had problems, that would present a doomsday tragedy. "This kind of scene is still more comfortable," Thorne thought. He followed the crowd onto the bridge.
This bridge was very wide, enough for four carriages to travel side by side. Looking to the right, there was a small town. The houses were made of stone and looked quite prosperous. Some Cuckoo Soldiers were patrolling back and forth, as if guarding against something suddenly emerging from the water.
The royal family's allies—Albinaurics and demi-humans—occasionally came to harass, but other than disgusting people, they couldn't achieve any results. There was a ramp on the bridge leading directly to the town, and those caravans and commoners were diverted downward. The bridge actually had a turn in the middle of the lake, which could lead directly to the north, but that was Raya Lucaria Academy, and ordinary people weren't qualified to pass.
To go to the Altus Plateau, one had to take a ferry from the town to the north bank of Liurnia of the Lakes.
Inevitably, one would be skinned by the Cuckoo in the town.
This was also an important source of financial revenue for the Cuckoo Knights.
The aloof sorcerers didn't want to manage these matters. As long as the Cuckoo Knights handed over a portion of the proceeds on time, they had made a fortune by relying on their geographical advantage.
Thorne could no longer see ordinary people around the ramp. Only some vacationing sorcerers passed by, looking at him curiously.
At the end of the bridge, a huge gatehouse was guarded by a team of sorcerers. Several people were chatting, but when they saw Thorne walking over, they stopped talking.
A sorcerer wearing a black pointed hood walked up to him. "Halt, report your name, direct mentor, and relevant identity."
There had been dozens of traveling sorcerers recalled recently, and he was already skilled at this.
"Roland Heinberg, direct mentor is Joseph Slaylin of the Olivinus Classroom, from Castle Morne on the Weeping Peninsula. My family is a baron granted by King Godfrey."
Thorne had long ago memorized the information by heart.
The pointed-hood sorcerer looked behind him, where several companions were constantly flipping through files on the table. They indeed found Roland's information and nodded to indicate there was no problem.
It didn't end there; the sorcerer pointed to several wooden targets on the bridge: "Shatter it with at least two types of magic."
Thorne did as told, directly using Glintstone Pebble and Glintstone Arc to blast them to pieces.
As the magic light dissipated, the tense atmosphere immediately dissipated a little.
Identities could be faked, but magic couldn't be replaced by stunts. Thorne thought this was about enough, so he picked up his suitcase and prepared to pass, but was called back again.
"Talk about your understanding of the academy."
Is it necessary to be this cautious? Are these sorcerers all cowards?
Thorne rolled his eyes. Fortunately, the hood covered his expression, so others couldn't see it.
He pondered for a moment and said:
"I have been away from the academy for many years, but if nothing has changed, the academy should have five major classrooms: Karolos Conspectus, which studies comet-type magic; Olivinus Classroom, which studies meteor-type magic; the Twinsage, which studies both; Haima Classroom, which focuses on sanction and war magic; and the Lazuli, which focuses on Carian magic." "Every trainee apprentice draws lots to be assigned to each classroom to become an official apprentice and is gifted a glintstone crown. Above them are lecturers and associate professors.
"Each classroom has only one true professor, who is the director. The five directors and the dean decide the various affairs of the academy."
The words were logical, the content detailed. It wasn't just the academy that knew magic. The other houses didn't understand such a complex structure and remained in the primitive master-apprentice model.
Of course, there was one exception, such as the Lazuli people who secretly returned, but those few defectors were too familiar.
"Take off your hood."
"Okay." Thorne still followed suit.
He had put on some makeup, dyeing his hair blonde and making his face look more mature. Anyway, there were no photos in The Lands Between, and those who knew Roland Heinberg had long since passed away. As for Thorne Wright, that was just a trainee apprentice, not even qualified to be remembered by anyone. In fact, no one cared about an ordinary traveling sorcerer.
The person from the Morne Classroom took a look, confirmed that he was not a defector from the Lazuli Classroom, and strode up. "Sorry, it's wartime, the academy must be cautious."
He took the initiative to extend his right hand in a gesture of goodwill and said in a deep voice, "Welcome back, Senior Roland."
Thorne wiped his hair, slowly put the hood back on, shook hands with him, and looked meaningfully at the huge building in front of him. A complex of off-white buildings wound up the mountain, and the bell tower at its top seemed to pierce the firmament. It was simply a miracle in architectural history. "Well, it was hard to come back. I'm looking forward to what will happen next."
Chapter 23: Lecturer Sellen
A butterfly flapping its wings stirred up a small storm in The Lands Between, just as the saying goes.
Many major events are changed because of a small screw. Without Thorne's bravery, the manor would inevitably have fallen. The two Carian Knights would have either died in battle or been thrown into prison by the Cuckoo. Then the complacent Cuckoo would have broken their heads against Caria Manor, and Caria would have lost its ability to counterattack.
At that time, Raya Lucaria Academy would only need to close its doors and let the two vicious dogs tear at each other outside. But now it was different. The royal family still possessed strength, and the magic academy actually needed the Cuckoo Knights, fearing they would just up and leave. But since they needed to use them while also guarding against them, they summoned all the previously traveling sorcerers back.
Thorne took the opportunity to revisit the old place. When he left, he was still an unknown trainee apprentice; this time he returned stained with blood, not to mention his soul had become a sword ghost who had killed thousands. "So, the destiny of a person depends on the historical process, but also on one's own efforts." Thorne carried his suitcase and followed a sorcerer, looking around.
It was indeed a hall of knowledge. Everywhere here presented a feeling of low-key luxury. Sorcerers wearing various crowns were scattered everywhere, most of them reading books while basking in the sun. It felt like a university. Having traveled through blood and fire, this feeling made him nostalgic, and then he discovered the importance and hypocrisy of the academy. They satisfied all life requirements and gave runes upon arrival, but they wouldn't let people take off the Alothas crown, clearly not intending to let these traveling sorcerers stay for a long time.
Once the war was favorable, they would let people get lost. The Karolos Conspectus apprentice leading the way kept chatting with him. Thorne dealt with it one by one. When the apprentice heard that he had only traveled in Limgrave and that his achievements were only some bats, wild boars, and the like, he was obviously less enthusiastic. Noobs had no human rights wherever they went, and Thorne was happy with that. After passing through the majestic Cuckoo Church, the two went to the second floor of the academy via a huge waterwheel. There were significantly more sorcerers here, all holding books and walking in a hurry.
"Just finished class?"
"There is a seminar between the Karolos Conspectus and the Lazuli Classroom this afternoon. You know, the relationship between the two sides has never been very good." The apprentice named Yora shrugged. Thorne nodded. Raya Lucaria Academy wore its factional strife on its face. If it weren't for the enemy of the Carian Royal Family, they would probably have started fighting long ago. 'Compared to fantasy novels, it's more like the Clock Tower inside the Moon. The five classrooms have different research directions; it would be strange if there were no contradictions.'
He complained slightly, then saw Yora push open a wooden door. Inside was a long table with five or six sorcerers sitting around it, all wearing the same crown as Thorne. These people didn't have much scholarly air; a bloody smell rushed toward him. Some were still playing with short swords on the table, and some even wore armor outside their magic robes. "Senior Roland, these are the sorcerers who returned at the same time as you. Please wait a moment."
"Director Oritis will hold a lottery ceremony later."
"Lottery ceremony? Do we still need to enroll?"
"No, no, no, it's just to assign a lecturer to help you reintegrate into academy life. I have something to do, so I'll take my leave first."
After throwing down these words, Yora ran away.
He felt uncomfortable staying with these savages. Reintegrate into academy life? Just call it surveillance.
Thorne sneered, found an empty seat, and sat down. Several gazes fell on him and then retracted. A feeling of discomfort permeated the room. Sorcerers who had seen blood were taciturn.
Only after leaving this comfort zone did they know how cruel The Lands Between was. All the knowledge in the books was bullshit. Who the hell would stand still and wait for you to cast magic?
The people here all had a trick: galloping on horseback while holding a great shield, wildly unleashing Glintstone Sorcery. This kind of rogue tactic could directly crush an infantry squad.
No one spoke, and Thorne was happy to close his eyes and pretend to sleep, thinking about the road ahead. He didn't come to the magic academy for a vacation; there were four fundamental goals.
First, hide his tracks to escape the pursuit of the Black Knives.
Second, he wanted to use the endless knowledge here as cover to speak out the secrets in his mind so that Ranni wouldn't be suspicious.
Third, mess up the academy and kill some sorcerers to improve his intelligence, thereby melting magic into his sword.
Fourth, acquire knowledge itself and understand some secrets he didn't know.