Extraordinary Voyage

The warm afternoon sunshine streamed through the window into the room, gilding the two silhouettes, one large and one small, with a golden edge.

"Aiven, I don't know this word either!"

"You should call me teacher, Angie!" Aiven patted his own head, as this slip-up had been corrected multiple times but stubbornly persisted.

At this moment, the two were seated in a study room specially arranged within Cooper Manor. When Elante was young, private tutors were hired for his studies, so all the facilities were already in place, making Aiven and Angie's move effortless.

It was now the day after the conversation at Mog Farm had concluded.

The girl eventually accepted Aiven's kind offer, choosing to wave goodbye to her bitter past and embrace a new life with Aiven.

Though she appeared small and thin, Angie was actually only a year younger than Elante; she was already a twelve-year-old girl.

After bringing her back to Cooper Manor, they had her washed and dressed in new clothes freshly purchased by the servants. Although her frail body and sallow skin couldn't change quickly, she now possessed some youthful vibrancy, making her appear much more pleasant than before.

Being in a new environment and wearing new clothes made Angie laugh more often. Perhaps because Aiven was the only "familiar face" in this beautiful manor, she tended to stick to him closely.

Aiven naturally felt delighted by Angie's transformation; doing a good deed and achieving a positive outcome always lifted one's spirits.

However, Aiven soon realized he was facing a very important issue.

While Angie's wizard aptitude was yet to be determined, the fundamental grammar knowledge posed an unavoidable hurdle. Besides the common language used throughout the Tulip Alliance's six countries, the learning of the extraordinary script "Spiritual Text" also needed to be prioritized.

This inevitably required a lot of time, even for someone to achieve basic reading and writing skills, which could take years for ordinary people.

So, after attempting to teach personally with limited success, Aiven decided it was necessary to find a dedicated private tutor for Angie. It wasn't due to a lack of patience for this foundational teaching but rather because he simply didn't have enough time.

Relying solely on his guidance during holidays might prolong a course originally taking a few years into an endeavor spanning several times longer. Besides, his condensed training period amounted to merely half a year, which would be terribly inefficient.

"Alright, I've generally understood your grammar level now. Let's get to the main topic. Follow me!"

After setting aside the test papers prepared for assessing Angie, Aiven eagerly sought a direct understanding of her aptitude for witchcraft.

The test results would determine whether she could become just an auxiliary researcher or contribute significantly to his ambitions, becoming a fellow traveler on his Extraordinary Path...

Leading the girl all the way to the empty garden, the sea bird scouts maintained constant surveillance there, so Aiven wasn't worried about anyone accidentally intruding.

Although he had obtained a semi-official legitimate wizard status, the image of wizards remained difficult to change in common people's minds.

To avoid discovery, Aiven preferred to keep his identity under wraps as much as possible.

"Angie, have you heard of wizards?"

The two sat facing each other on the stone bench in the garden, as Aiven asked the girl while fixing his gaze on her.

"Aiven... teacher, I have heard of them. When mom was around, she read me the church pamphlets distributed at the farm. They described wizards as mysterious, powerful, and evil, claiming disobedient children would be taken away by wizards?"

"Uh..." Aiven realized that asking such questions to a girl like Angie, raised in the farm, was indeed a bit out of scope.

Though he had previously harbored some suspicions about Angie's mother's identity, with her passing, any secrets were buried in the ground, impossible to probe further.

Clearing his throat, Aiven felt it necessary to give his first student a proper scientific briefing.

"Ahem...

While some extraordinary professions, like the ones I've encountered 'Shipwreck Mourner' and 'Crimson Shooter', are inherently tied to evil from the moment they're born.

Wizards don't belong to that category; they are knowledgeable, obsessed with the world's truths, with the notion of evil being a personal trait. Compared to referring to them as wizards, I prefer to call them scientists or scholars."

Upon hearing this, Angie blushed slightly, realizing she might have misspoken, and hurriedly changed the topic:

"Um, teacher, are you a wizard too?"

Aiven didn't answer directly but instead had a momentary stir in his heart and commanded the hidden Owl Bass nearby.

Whoosh—

Whoosh—

Two small-sized needle-tailed swifts shot down from the sky, landed on Aiven's outstretched hand, and affectionately rubbed their little heads against his palm, much like pets craving caresses.

"Wow, so cute!"

The needle-tailed swifts took flight and perched on Angie's shoulder, gently pecking at her earlobe, which wasn't due to Aiven's deliberate control but rather the girl's innate animal affinity.

Chirp chirp chirp...

"What did you say? Today's lunch is cream mushroom soup and fried sausages? A fierce big black dog has come to the manor?"

"Ah—" Realizing what had just happened, Angie covered her mouth in surprise. Had this little bird just talked to her?

Aiven smiled faintly, offering no explanation.

He poured a glass full of clear water and placed it between them, then took out a bottle of transparent potion from his pouch and added a few drops into the glass.

"Don't be astonished; you possess this unique talent too. Go ahead, hold the glass with both hands, concentrate, and let's see what happens next?"

Feeling slightly nervous, Angie glanced at Aiven, and with his encouraging gaze, she cautiously held the glass, focusing her spirit as instructed by Aiven.

Though it vaguely resembled the witchcraft depicted by the church, Angie felt no resistance, because... it was Aiven's request!

Almost immediately after Angie closed her eyes to concentrate.

Bang—

A large mist of sanctity white light billowed from the cup, quickly spreading around.

Embraced by the mist, Aiven's extraordinary constitution keenly sensed a soothing energy gently permeating his body. He was somewhat surprised, confident that even if he had a minor wound, it would quickly heal in this white mist.

Clip-clop... Clip-clop...

Faintly from within the mist, a sound echoed as if hooves were galloping, with a fleeting dreamlike shadow of a deer.

Angie, curious about the noise, opened her eyes and was immediately stunned by the scene before her.

"Wow—"

The ritual was abruptly disrupted, and all phenomena dissipated with the wind, leaving only a transparent mist that spread, bringing a trace of coolness to the two.

Glancing back at the glass in Angie's hand, it was now completely dry.