Lucian judged from the owl's grammar that it wasn't a mage who had transformed, but rather a Familiar — one that every Magic Apprentice could summon and bind with a magic contract once they began studying Arcane Magic, provided they had the proper spellcasting materials.
Different spellcasting materials yielded different Familiars: ordinary creatures like owls, cats, and crows, or magical creatures such as fairies and "dragons." Once the magic contract was established, each Familiar and its master would form a close, mysterious connection, allowing the master to gain some of the Familiar's abilities while the Familiar could borrow certain of the master's spells that suited its nature.
For instance, if one summoned a cat as a Familiar, the Magic Apprentice's agility would be enhanced to the level of a High-level Knight Squire, and they would gain night vision as well. The cat, in turn, could borrow apprentice-level spells similar to "Light Suppression" and "Organ Preservation," as well as necromantic magic. It would also gain the ability to speak and perform simple reasoning.
However, the number and frequency of spells a Familiar could borrow depended on how many spells its master's spiritual power could cast in succession. When the spiritual power was insufficient to cast two spells consecutively, the Familiar could no longer borrow any. Moreover, the abilities gained from the Familiar would not increase as the Familiar's level rose. If the Familiar died or the magic contract was dissolved, those abilities would disappear entirely — and might even drop somewhat, though they could eventually be restored.
This was why Lucian had never committed to summoning a Familiar. In the long run, it amounted to having an extra double, and in the short term it could boost his strength. But his situation was unique — forming such a mysterious connection could very well expose his greatest secret.
Looking at the strange owl Doro, Lucian pretended to be terrified as he replied, "No — no mage has ever come looking for the Witch. At least, I've never seen one."
The owl flapped its wings. "Very good. You didn't lie. According to Lord Doro's observations, no other gentleman mage has indeed come to visit the Witch. Now then — second question. When you went down with the church guard to search the Witch's laboratory, what did you see, and what happened?"
"An owl that knows to lead with questions it already has the answers to, just to trip someone up..." Lucian cursed silently, then recounted everything that had happened below — except he changed his own soul breaking through its boundary to Gary accidentally triggering the Emblem of Truth. As for how the Soul Library had recorded the magic books and notes at the very moment they were destroyed, he simply didn't mention it. Without being told, no one would ever think of that.
"What a tragedy!" Owl Doro sighed with intense emotion, then flapped its wings twice. "Very good. Lord Doro is satisfied with your answers. Good evening, young man."
Then it quickly flew out through the open wooden window.
Watching the owl leave, the fear and panic on Lucian's face vanished instantly. He blew out the candle, swiftly changed into the black linen robe with a hood that he had only recently finished sewing, and soundlessly opened the door, slipped out, and closed it behind him.
Outside, the night was pitch black. Adrang, this slum district, had long since gone dark. Lucian extended his spiritual power outward and quickly detected the faint, nearly undetectable Spiritual Mark he had secretly planted on Owl Doro.
This was a modified application of the Spiritual Mark that Lucian had developed during his recent inability to practice spellcasting, drawing on his prior knowledge of frequencies, wave patterns, and radar principles. It would be useless against a proper mage, but as long as a Magic Apprentice or a Familiar was even slightly inattentive, they would have great difficulty noticing that a Spiritual Mark had been placed on them.
"Good — that owl isn't flying particularly fast. It's still within my spiritual power's detection range. From its level, its master should still be a Magic Apprentice." Lucian relaxed slightly and ran quickly through the darkness. Once the distance exceeded five hundred meters, his spiritual power would no longer be able to sense the Spiritual Mark pulsing at its distinctive frequency.
Even though the owl's master was merely a Magic Apprentice, following blindly still carried real danger. He had no idea what the situation on the other end might be, or whether there might be other Magic Apprentices or even full mages present.
Still, this degree of risk was worth taking for Lucian, who was eager to make contact with the mage community and find a place where he could study Arcane Magic openly. He would observe carefully before deciding on his next move — and besides, he still had the "Ice Avenger," his second-tier magic ring.
Owl Doro had no idea that Lucian had placed a Spiritual Mark on it. It wasn't flying at full speed — in fact, to avoid drawing attention in Altor, which was under Church control, it was flying cautiously and stealthily.
But even so, its flight speed still outpaced what Lucian dared to run at.
After ten minutes of tracking, Lucian had already fallen nearly four hundred meters behind Owl Doro — and that was only because it occasionally paused to hide or flew in the manner of a common owl.
Just then, Owl Doro folded its wings and slipped silently through a window in the darkness.
Lucian slowed down as he approached, quietly circling to the side of the building — and was stunned to see the sign:
"Copper Crown Tavern"!
"Could there be Magic Apprentices among the mercenaries and adventurers?" Lucian wondered, noting that the window belonged to the leftmost room on the second floor of the Copper Crown Tavern — a very convenient position for a quick escape.
After placing the Ice Avenger on his left index finger, Lucian made his way to the back entrance of the Copper Crown Tavern and whispered a series of awkward, peculiar monosyllables. Without using any spellcasting materials, he left a faint Shadow on the door.
"Silent Portal" — an illusionist apprentice-level spell that muffled the sound of opening and closing doors. Its duration lasted up to one hour, but could be dismissed at Lucian's will at any point during that hour.