—Seeking Sanjiang votes—
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After closing the door to Smale's room, Lucian focused his spiritual power and altered the structure and frequency of the weak Spiritual Mark on the owl Doro, causing it to vanish entirely. Once he left, Smale would certainly inspect Doro carefully to find the reason it had been tracked, and Lucian had no intention of letting his unique spiritual power techniques be discovered and deciphered so quickly.
Moving with the same caution as before, Lucian made his way to the back door, once again casting Silent Portal and the Switch Spell. He slipped out of the Copper Crown Tavern without a sound, then took a wide, circuitous route before returning to his small cottage.
Lying on his bed, Lucian actually felt a faint sense of relief. In Altor, where the Church's power was overwhelming, encountering fellow Magic Apprentices felt like finding someone to face the storm with, rather than trudging on alone: "They're all Magic Apprentices too. I wonder how many reclusive mages are left in Altor?"
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Over the following days, Lucian settled into an extraordinarily regular routine. He rose at dawn, spent an hour exercising his body and practicing swordsmanship, then went to the library for work. Sometimes he read religious texts and travelogues, other times he studied music theory, memorized fingering patterns, and practiced sight-reading, while at other moments he would be inside the Soul Library, analyzing spells, the structure of Magic Circles, and more.
Piero might be quite lecherous, but whenever he was immersed in the world of music, he became a perfectly quiet young man who never disturbed Lucian's studies. Wolf had been invited to perform at some earl's estate during this period and hadn't come to the library. The other musicians and Victor weren't exactly friends, but they weren't enemies either—they had no reason to trouble Lucian. As a result, Lucian's days passed in leisurely comfort.
His only minor regret was not having seen the lady known as the "Musical Lily"—Sylvia, an unmarried musician of twenty-four. Piero had been effusive in his praise of her appearance, describing her as though she were an elegant, refined goddess of unmatched beauty. Lucian harbored no intentions of his own; he was simply drawn in by Piero's feverish enthusiasm and felt curious. Unfortunately, Sylvia specialized in the clavichord, frequented the music rooms of noble young ladies and their mothers, and rarely came to the Musicians' Association.
In the afternoons, since his learning efficiency had improved greatly, Lucian had compressed his text-based study to just one hour, after which he would join Lot and Phyllis in sight-reading and studying music theory. When four o'clock came, he would begin two solid hours of piano practice—over and over and over again. The tenacity and stubbornness that Lucian kept buried in his heart were expressed to the fullest in this endeavor; he would never stop until he was satisfied with his performance. Only after finishing practice would he lament that playing the piano was genuinely exhausting physical labor—it left him drenched in sweat, his arms and fingers aching terribly.
Evenings were reserved for studying Arcane Magic and conducting magical research, free from any distraction.
On Friday evening, when he went to Aunt Elisa's for dinner, Lucian noticed that someone had scrawled several simple symbols in an inconspicuous spot near the corner of the neighboring wall, as carelessly as a child scribbling.
"Saturday night, ten o'clock. The sixth abandoned house on the far eastern edge of Adrang District. Wait for me there. Owl."
"Owl" was Smale's code name.
Lucian glanced at it casually, decoded the message without any change in expression, and walked into Aunt Elisa's house with the same steady pace as always.
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The next evening at nine-thirty, the gentle silver moon and the brilliant stars had all been veiled by dark clouds. The night was deep and oppressive.
Lucian dressed in a black hooded robe, checked the positions and quantities of his magical materials, slipped the Ice Avenger ring onto the index finger of his left hand, and then carefully probed his surroundings before cautiously stepping outside and melting into the pitch-black darkness.
Under the damp, oppressive warmth of the wind, Lucian took twenty minutes to reach the far eastern edge of Adrang District and found the abandoned house.
A hooting owl call reached his ears, and Lucian quickly looked toward the tall willow tree beside the house. There stood Smale, likewise clad in a black robe, positioned in the tree's shadow—though he had pushed back his hood so Lucian could recognize him. The owl Doro perched leisurely on the willow, surveying the surroundings and standing guard over the gathering inside.
"Professor, it is our honor that you could attend our gathering." Smale pulled his hood back up to conceal his face, his tone brimming with excitement. "I've already told the others about you. They're delighted and hope to consult you on some arcane problems. Of course, we will pay for such guidance."
"Arcane problems? Heh—sounds like they're still not entirely convinced I'm a proper mage." Lucian found it amusing, though since the Witch had only translated a single formal spell, he couldn't gauge exactly how wide the knowledge gap was between himself and a formal mage. Still, he was certain that in this area he surpassed the vast majority of Magic Apprentices—decoding the Ice Avenger ring alone proved that. "Very well. But I specialize in astrology and elemental magic. If the questions fall within those two fields, I should be able to help you."
Hearing Lucian speak with such confidence, Smale became even more certain of his status as a formal mage. "Professor, please follow me."
Black robes were nearly impossible to distinguish in the darkness of night, but the abandoned house was only a dozen paces away, and Lucian easily followed Smale to the door.
Knock knock, knock-knock-knock, knock, knock… Smale tapped the wooden door in a peculiar rhythm, then imitated an owl's call twice.
After a five-second wait, the door slowly swung open. Inside the decrepit house stood another figure in a black robe. "Owl—is this the Professor?"