Bear School Astartes

At noon the next day, Lann sat on the bed with a vacant expression.

A soft, expensive animal skin blanket covered his waist down, revealing only the well-defined upper body.

Opposite the bed stood the luxurious dressing table that Margaret had moved from Airetusa.

The female warlock, with her bare back facing Lann, sat on the soft stool.

From Lann's angle, her lower body looked like a plump, ripe peach placed on a cashmere stool.

In the mirror, the female warlock's eyes met those of the demon hunter.

"You're awake? How do you feel?"

The mature alluring voice carried a clear tone of teasing.

Lann tried to make his expression more composed.

This wasn't a matter of power, but rather the superficial pride of a young man who had just graduated physically.

The Mentos in his mind offered such an assessment, only to be promptly dismissed by Lann.

"Last night was unfair, you used magic!"

"Hey! I'm a female warlock, of course, I can use magic in bed."

In the mirror, Margaret's teasing smile became even more pronounced.

"Or perhaps... you think an enchanting demon could do better?"

Lann pursed his lips.

...Damn! The consequence of trying to act cool! He actually let her remember the 'enchanting demon'!

All together last night, Margaret used magic to surpass the level of an 'enchanting demon', no wonder he felt a bit exhausted now!

Female warlocks, just in terms of stamina, are much more terrifying than any [Demon Mountain].

After their playful banter, Margaret applied makeup while enjoying the embarrassment of this killer god who had just startled the administrative center of Temeria.

Lann shook his head, not wanting to linger on this topic any longer.

Once he completed the procedure with the interstellar warriors, it wouldn't matter if she used magic freely!

"Rita, how is the research progress on your project to cultivate human tissue on crystals?"

"You're interested in that?" Margaret raised an alluring eyebrow, slightly surprised.

"Oh, right. Belengar has mentioned your talent in alchemy to me more than once these past few days. So, now do you want to see the real cutting-edge of alchemy?"

As Lann got dressed and got off the bed, he responded.

"That's right, I want to see to what extent magic alchemy can achieve."

In fact, his goal certainly wouldn't stop at just 'seeing'. He wanted to do his best.

——He wanted to lead this project!

This project was key to his independent development of organ enhancers for the interstellar warrior surgeries. If he couldn't lead this project to great strides, then it was best to wash up and go to bed early for the subsequent plans.

"It's only been a month since you left Airetusa, and the progress in crystal cultivation technology is minimal. This project is specifically led by my mentor—Tishaya, and my field of research isn't alchemy, so I don't know much. But..."

From the dressing table's soft stool, Margaret slightly turned her body to look at Lann behind her.

And even when the young man stood behind Margaret, he could vaguely see the alluring curves protruding in the front.

"Conducting such alchemy requires magic power, and the demon hunter's magic reserves are... not very reliable."

Margaret tried to put her words as delicately as possible.

To a warlock, the demon hunter's magic reserves are not just 'not reliable', it's practically 'nonexistent'.

For a newly initiated warlock, they might not survive half a second in front of a demon hunter, but in terms of sheer magic power, even draining three or four ordinary demon hunters isn't enough to compare.

And to participate in research projects led by a former dean, the renowned Tishaya de Veris, one must at least be at an outstanding student level.

Lann picked up the scattered dress from the floor and draped it over Margaret's back.

"My magic power is probably a bit different among the demon hunters."

"Oh?"

Margaret curiously lifted her hand to press on Lann's hand placed on her shoulder.

The bear-head necklace on the demon hunter's neck trembled slightly, then calmed.

"Ooh, that's indeed quite a bit... You could probably perform demon hunter spells three or four times in a row now? That's already close to an apprentice who just sensed chaos magic power. Can you demon hunters continuously grow your magic power? This is truly intriguing!"

Facing Margaret's amazement, Lann appeared very calm.

"I estimate my current magic power can get me started, but the most important things in research are knowledge and talent, right? I am very confident in both my pace of knowledge accumulation and talent."

"I believe that." Margaret gently nodded.

"I'll introduce you to the research project, I don't think Tishaya would reject you either. Or rather... as long as you don't have too outrageous of demands, Tishaya would probably want you to ask more. She wants to bind you with Airetusa, you can feel that, right?"

Everyone's an adult, and the interweaving of desires, emotions, and interests in interpersonal relationships is normal.

Lann and Margaret remained candid and calm while discussing these topics.

"I feel it strongly, after all, she entrusted her best student to me."

"Hey!"

Margaret irritatingly patted Lann's hand on her shoulder.

-----------------

When Lann and Margaret emerged from the room, it was already afternoon.

As usual, Belengar was sitting in the tavern sipping on a small drink.

Seeing them come out, he clicked his tongue.

"Tut-tut-tut, you guys really stayed inside the whole day!"

"A glass of rye vodka for this esteemed gentleman, on me!"

Belengar signaled to the bartender, looking at Lann with a 'respectful warrior' gaze.

For a demon hunter like him who longs for a normal life, he probably wouldn't dare nor wish to be entangled with a female warlock for a lifetime.

Lann and Margaret naturally sat down at a table.

Each ordered food from the bartender to satiate their whole day of empty stomachs.

"Belengar, I need to go to Airetusa with Rita to handle some affairs. I'll leave this dagger with you as a research sample."

Lann placed the luxurious dragonbone dagger on the table, which Belengar promptly tucked into his bosom.

"Airetusa... Tsk, that muddy pit in Velen. Alright, I'll wait for you to return here."

Lann mentioned yesterday that his agreement with the Lady of the Lake would continue, and that he would enter many other worlds in the future.

Margaret's plan to bring him back to Airetusa, apart from the research project on crystal cultivation, was also to verify the credibility of the deity known as the [Lady of the Lake] from the academy's knowledge repository.

Although Lann already trusted that Lady of the Lake, Margaret felt she still needed to maintain a basic sense of caution.

And another motive was... to swiftly distance from Merigold!

Margaret knew that the information about Lann's reappearance at Sunken Waters was probably being analyzed on the Temerian intelligence department's desk throughout the entire day.

Veltrest saw through her desire for Lann, so he sought her to break off Merigold's teleportation beacon.

But he certainly didn't want Merigold to be the only woman capable of influencing Lann.

So now Merigold might be on a ship from Vizima heading over.