"Ugh..."
In the early morning, Andre awoke from his sleep. The slightest movement sent pain shooting through his entire body.
’HISS... The toll of a Demonic Energy Frenzy is just too much for the body.’
Andre sat up, downed a Recovery Potion, and walked out of the cave.
The sun had just risen, and the calls of animals echoed through the forest from time to time.
’Time to head back to the academy!’
Andre squeezed his shoulders and pounded his legs, massaging the sore spots. He began tracing a Witchcraft Curse Seal with both hands.
In the blink of an eye, streams of cyan light gathered behind Andre, forming the Multiple Wings of the Wind.
’It took two days to fly out here to find the Earth Barbarian Bull. The return trip should only take about a day.’
Andre took out another Recovery Potion, uncorked it, and held the bottle in his teeth. Then, he retrieved two Medium Magic Stones and placed them in his palm.
’Let’s see if I can make it back in one go.’
Just as Andre was about to take off, he froze. The sound of voices drifted over from a short distance away.
"Teacher, are the Magic Plants you mentioned here?"
A clear, feminine voice reached Andre’s ears.
"Of course. Hurry up!"
After the female voice faded, a gruff, elderly male voice spoke.
’That voice... it sounds a little familiar.’
Listening to the girl’s voice, Andre felt like he had heard it somewhere before. But to avoid any trouble, he decided to wait for the two of them to pass before flying back to the academy.
Unfortunately, things didn’t go as planned. Andre had only taken a few steps back into the cave when the old man’s voice called out.
"Someone’s over there. Who is it?"
Seeing that he had been discovered, Andre had no choice but to walk out of the cave. He corked the potion vial and put it away in his Storage Ring.
"Who are you?" Andre asked bluntly, not bothering with pleasantries.
This place was very close to the academy. If he pushed himself, he could fly back in just a few hours.
After Andre questioned them, the sounds in the forest grew closer.
Soon, the two individuals arrived in front of Andre.
"Andre?" "Vivian?"
Andre frowned as he looked at Vivian, who had just appeared before him.
"You two know each other?"
The old man beside Vivian saw the reaction between her and Andre and slowly lowered his hands, though the vigilance in his heart did not fade.
"He and I are part of the new batch of Wizards. We come from the same Subcontinent."
Vivian nodded and introduced Andre to the old man.
"Is this your teacher?"
Andre’s brow furrowed as he directed the question to the old man.
"Did your teacher not teach you any manners?"
Seeing Andre looking him up and down, the old man’s expression instantly turned cold.
"Andre, disciple of Krell, from the White Sea Wizard Academy."
When Andre saw the old man trying to probe his background, he directly dropped his master’s name.
"Krell... the Shadow of Cyan Thunder... Krell!"
The old man’s body swayed uncontrollably upon hearing Krell’s name.
A man is known by his name, a tree by its shadow. Krell’s title was one he had carved out for himself through sheer slaughter with his Thunder Element Witchcraft.
’This kid is actually Krell’s disciple? Hasn’t Krell gone more than a decade without taking a new disciple?’
The old man sized Andre up and down, as if trying to see what was so special about him that would make Krell take him as a disciple after more than ten years.
"And you are?" Andre asked, his expression growing cold as he watched the old man scrutinize him.
"Windel!" the old man stated his name.
After hearing the old man’s name, Andre blinked, trying to match the name against the famous Wizards in his memory, but he found no record of it.
"You can stop guessing. I’m no match for that teacher of yours."
Windel saw the change in Andre’s expression and knew exactly what he was doing. His own demeanor relaxed.
"Andre, what are you doing here all by yourself?"
Vivian looked at Andre curiously. ’How long has he been at the Wizard Academy? And he’s already operating on his own?’
"I took on a mission to hunt a Magical Beast."
"As I recall, the academy you joined is quite far from here, isn’t it?"
Andre explained why he was there, but he also turned the question back on Vivian and her teacher, asking why they were there.
If he remembered correctly, the Storm Wizard Academy that Vivian had joined was a full three thousand kilometers away from the White Sea Wizard Academy.
’Traveling such a vast distance just to gather Magic Plants? That’s a lie not even a ghost would believe!’
Andre’s gaze fell upon Windel.
The only one who could have brought Vivian across such a great distance, into the territory of the White Sea Wizard Academy, was the man standing before him, Windel.
’The expedition is in a few years, and the White Sea Wizard Academy is the number one power in the White Sea Wizard World Group. Could it be... Windel is trying to steal the academy’s expedition plans?’
An outrageous idea popped into Andre’s head, but at that moment, it was the only plausible explanation.
’After all, traveling thousands of kilometers just to gather a single Magic Plant, and bringing his disciple along... no matter how you look at it, it’s strange.’
Windel watched Andre stare intently at him, and the corner of his mouth twitched. ’This kid has clearly locked onto me.’
However, he had expected that Andre would be suspicious of him.
After all, bringing Vivian across such a great distance just to pick Magic Plants here was indeed easy to misunderstand.
"My teacher brought me here to pick a Cyan Sky Grass!"
Seeing the standoff between Andre and her teacher, Vivian quickly explained why her teacher had brought her here.
’Cyan Sky Grass... That Magic Plant doesn’t seem particularly rare. Is it really necessary to travel such a long way for it?’
As Andre listened to Vivian, he simultaneously moved his hands behind his back and began tracing a Witchcraft Curse Seal.
"If it were an ordinary Cyan Sky Grass, of course we wouldn’t have to come this far. But what if it’s a Cyan Sky Grass on the verge of transforming into a Void Tree!"
Windel noticed Andre moving his hands behind his back and knew what he was up to, so he offered an explanation.
"A Void Tree? That Magic Plant does indeed evolve from a Cyan Sky Grass, but not even one in ten thousand Cyan Sky Grasses will be able to transform. Isn’t your luck a little too good?"
Hearing Windel’s explanation, the movement of Andre’s hands began to slow.
"You think I wanted to come all this way? This Cyan Sky Grass is about to evolve. During its evolution, it gained rudimentary intelligence and started to flee constantly to avoid being consumed. I’ve been tracking it all the way from the Storm Wizard Academy!"
A troubled look flashed across Windel’s face.