Mist Empire’s Rise: Fake Noble to Fog Queen

"My... magic wand?"

"My lady, is this... for me?"

Rosie gazed at the magic wand in her hand with a mixture of joy and disbelief, then cautiously looked up at her mistress.

"Who else would it be for?" Luo Wei beckoned to her. "Come closer."

Rosie approached with quickened breaths, her eyes, dulled by black contact lenses, nonetheless sparkled with unmistakable brilliance.

"Lift your chin. Let me check if that scar is still there."

As Rosie tilted her head back, feeling the warm touch of fingers on her chin, her nose suddenly tingled with suppressed tears.

So her lady hadn't disliked her after all. Her lady had remembered her all along - remembered her facial scar and even prepared a magic wand for her.

"It's healed nicely," Luo Wei said after her inspection. Noticing the tears welling in Rosie's eyes, she softened her tone, "Remember what I told you - once you're strong enough to protect yourself, you can remove your disguise and walk in the sunlight."

"Now you can take out those contact lenses. Wearing them any longer will damage your eyes."

Rosie shook her head. "But, but I'm not strong enough yet. My wanted posters are still on the city walls. I don't want to bring danger to you, my lady."

"It's alright if you're not strong enough - I can protect you," Luo Wei gripped her shoulders and spoke earnestly. "Sometimes we must weigh temporary dangers against permanent risks."

"If your eyes are damaged while avoiding momentary danger, you'll live with that handicap every day thereafter."

How could a mage function without keen eyesight?

Poor vision would make spell-targeting nearly impossible, severely compromising combat effectiveness.

Moreover, Rosie was a pure dark element user - she could only practice highly aggressive black magic. What if she mistook her direction due to impaired vision and struck allies instead of enemies?

Previously, having Rosie maintain her disguise had been necessary - Luo Wei herself had been in grave danger, with no capacity to protect others.

But things were different now. She had a fallback plan - if anything happened, she could retreat to Demon Island where the undead would protect her.

Rosie was a prodigy. With proper nurturing, she could become an invaluable asset. It would be shortsighted to let such talent be stunted in its growth phase.

"Come now, dry those tears," Luo Wei pressed the magic wand into her palm. "Show me what you've learned these past two months."

"Yes, my lady."

Rosie gripped the wand firmly and stepped back, channeling her magical power into the Spiritwood. Instantly, dense dark elements surged toward her.

"Professor Hol taught me three categories of spells with seventeen incantations total. This is the first type, Soul Curse: Nightmare Art..."

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Luo Wei listened intently to the incantations flowing from Rosie's lips, rapidly committing them to memory.

Black magic comprised three major categories: Soul Curses, Control Spells, and Black Witchcraft.

Soul Curses primarily targeted the spirit and psyche, including Memory Erasure, Soul Extraction, and Nightmare Art.

Control Spells could amplify human desires and dominate bodies, such as the Gluttony Curse, Slumber Curse, and Blood Curse.

Black Witchcraft was the most aggressive magic, capable of inflicting unbearable torment, including spells like Visceral Rot, Soul-Piercing Agony, Petrification, and Flaying Magic.

Unfortunately, Rosie was still young with her talent not fully awakened. After casting four black magic spells, her magical power was exhausted.

Luo Wei had her set down the wand and recite all the incantations, while she herself hastily memorized them.

When alone later, she would secretly attempt to replicate these black magic spells.

After finishing the recitation, Rosie looked expectantly at Luo Wei.

"Excellent work. Your talent is remarkable, and your diligence has paid off," Luo Wei encouraged her. "Stay dedicated, and you'll surely become a great black mage. I'll be proud of you."

Rosie's face bloomed with a smile unseen for ages, like withered grass sprouting fresh buds after weathering autumn and winter storms, finding new vitality in muddy soil.

"I will, my lady!"

I will definitely make you proud!

I will never let you regret saving me. I will become your sword, your blade, cutting down all thorns in your path.

Because I am your knight - the female knight you appointed.

...

Around eight in the evening, Luo Wei returned to the academy carrying an oil lamp.

Another night of perimeter patrol duty - it was giving her a headache.

She truly felt the academy's insistence on having her patrol the security line was pointless. After a week of patrolling, she hadn't caught a single person trying to sneak out.

Besides, the intermediate and advanced division apprentices all possessed stronger magical power than her. If they wanted to slip away, they had numerous methods - how could she, a mere junior division apprentice, possibly catch them?

This punishment truly only punished her, serving no broader purpose whatsoever. What was the point?

Luo Wei kicked aside a small stone and sat down on a flower bed outside the plaza, extracting a palm-sized piece of parchment from her waistband.

She had divided Roman's map into nine equal squares, studying only one section at a time to avoid being affected by viewing the entire magical pattern framework.

Roman's map was quite crude, with amateur strokes and crooked lines. She would need to trace and correct it later.

Recognizing the building on the map as the advanced division's chapel, she headed in that direction with her oil lamp.

Tree shadows loomed ominously, with lakeside willows writhing in the night wind as the oil lamp flickered precariously.

Steadying the lamp with both hands, Luo Wei crossed the long stone bridge spanning the academy lake and entered the advanced division's grounds.

The advanced division's chapel stood on the academy's western side, surrounded by dense vegetation. Behind it lay a small grove where students from the magical pattern summoning class reportedly raised their magical beasts.

Luo Wei had avoided this area during previous patrols, but tonight, she decided to tackle the most challenging section first.

After circling the chapel once, she took out the parchment and began filling in details with charcoal.

This section of the map had the most missing content - the dense canopy had obscured many paths and building corners from aerial view, making it impossible to draw complete shapes.

[Luo Wei, what are you drawing?]

"Clang—"

Luo Wei nearly dropped the oil lamp. She quickly crumpled the parchment in her palm and concealed it with her sleeve before turning around.

"Wordsworth?"

The undead, black as charcoal, stood under a tree, his form melding with the darkness save for two eyes burning with blue flame.

"Why are you here?" Luo Wei asked in surprise.

Wordsworth pointed toward the nearby chapel.

[That was... that was my former classroom. I came to see it.]

Luo Wei's mind went blank - how could she have forgotten that Wordsworth was an advanced division magic apprentice?

No, it wasn't her fault. Who would expect an undead to be wandering around the academy in the dead of night?

If other students spotted him, rumors about haunted classrooms would spread through the academy. Within a day, there would be eight hundred versions of ghost stories circulating.

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