My health recovery is incredibly fast.

"Mmm~" Anru smiled sweetly, picked up a piece of meat with a fork and brought it to her boyfriend's mouth.

The two continued to enjoy their sumptuous lunch.

White clouds drift lazily by, the sunlight obscured by the clouds, casting silhouettes over the castle, meadows, and lake of the Starry Night Academy.

Chapter 29 The Real and Fake Dim

Three months later.

Today is Sunday.

As the sun sets and night falls, darkness descends.

Xia Zuo and An Ru'er walked out of the hotel, exchanging a smile filled with contentment and joy.

They strolled through the market area, entered the Starry Night Academy, and bid farewell in the castle hall.

Xia Zuo watched An Ru'er, who kept looking back, enter the corridor of the girls' dormitory. She would be making elemental bottles in the dormitory starting tomorrow, and it would be at least two months before she came out.

Xia Zuo once asked Beatrice how long it would take to make the Elemental Bottle.

Beatrice said: The longer the duration of the first Elemental Bottle you make, the better the effect.

One of the raw materials for making the element bottle is the maker's own spiritual ocean.

Beatrice's original words were: It's best to completely drain your mental ocean before leaving the dormitory.

Squeeze it dry completely...

Xia Zuo's understanding of these four words is that they reduce the existing spirit attribute value to 1 point, or even 0 points. In this way, the elemental bottle will store more than 14 points of spirit attribute value.

Before practicing meditation, a normal mage servant's spirit attribute value will not exceed 15 points.

Crafting elemental vials to drain the ocean of the spirit, then expanding it anew through reading books and alchemy.

This is equivalent to indirectly breaking the restriction that the spirit attribute value cannot exceed 15 points.

The representation of elements is truly a peculiar form of alchemy.

Xia Zuo stared at An Ru'er's departing figure, silently praying that she could stay in the dormitory for a few more days, until the door to the girls' dormitory closed before he came back to his senses.

He took out his pocket watch, checked the time, and then walked towards the opposite wall.

A short while later, Xia Zuo walked into his dormitory, locked the door from the inside, and drew the curtains.

He went to the mirror, took off his Starry Night Robe, and carefully examined the many props on his body.

She wore a silver pendant around her neck, silver wristbands on both wrists, and two ankle braces of the same color on her ankles.

These five items together form a thing called the [Temporary Anti-Detection Barrier], which can block detection spells and obscure the light of spells in the form of clouds.

Beatrice brought this to him a month ago, and she told Xia Zuo to wear it at all times to get used to it as soon as possible.

The primary life alchemy stone was placed in a leather case, which was then hung under the right armpit.

A pouch for alchemy was strapped to his left waist. It had a storage space of 2 cubic meters and contained regular potions, healing potions, tonics, and other items needed for the journey. It was easy to access items; he could simply reach under his robe with his right hand.

There are two brooches on the left front of the shirt. One is the old friend's Cyclone Brooch, and the other is a temporary one from Beatrice, called the Fire Pattern Brooch, which can increase fire power by 20 points.

Xia Zuo looked calmly at himself in the mirror, recalling the character template in his mind.

..

[Level] LV24+2→LV.26

[Experience] 1600/7200

[Health Points] 210/210 (Slight Poisoning)

[Base Health Regeneration Speed]

45 points/hour

[Resistance]

【Four-elemental resistance】9.5%

[Strength] 4

[Agile] 4

[Endurance] 5

[Vitality] 58

[Perception] 10

[Willpower] 12

【Charm】7

[Mental State] 22.6

【Spirit Gauge】6.5/88

[Free Attribute Points] 20+5+5→30

[Elemental Traits] Drift x1, Shape x1, Burn x1

[Mage Guild Points] 12380 points

(Data changes are derived from physical growth, [magical training], reading books, and concocting poisons, etc.)

..

For the past three months, I have been undergoing intensive spell training every night.

Beatrice added extra intensity to the training, setting up many humanoid silver sands that could launch projectiles or chase targets.

Xia Zuo fully understood the importance of vitality.

As long as his [real-time health regeneration rate] is positive, he will not be interrupted from casting spells due to attacks.

All attacks that cannot turn the [real-time health regeneration rate] into a negative number will not cause pain; instead, they will become an exciting combat experience.

The thrill of combat arises from within, causing spellcasting speed to increase unconsciously and prompting the caster to attempt more difficult spellcasting maneuvers.

Without relying on [Spellcasting Instinct], Xia Zuo was able to smoothly use all the spells he had learned while walking at a steady pace.

Predicting and casting fireballs on moving targets is also a breeze for them.

If you use [Spellcasting Instinct]...

Xia Zuo tried it when his mentor was not in the training room.

When using [Spellcasting Instinct] to cast Fireball, there are almost no restrictions such as casting animation, recovery animation, or cooldown time. You can just raise your hand and fire a fireball. As long as you have enough energy, it's not a problem to continuously fire fireballs in a row and send out a long string of fireballs.

This is somewhat eye-catching.

Xia Zuo planned to use it only in critical situations and also to ensure that it would not be leaked.

The night is dark.

He took a shower, changed into his pajamas, lay on the bed, drank a diluted calming potion, and entered a deep meditative state.

...

The next morning.

For the first time in several years since entering the university, Xia Zuo ate breakfast alone.

The emptiness beside him made him feel very uncomfortable and he was a little depressed. He finished his milk, eggs and bread in a few bites and then went to visit his mentor.

A few days ago, the permit to investigate the fourth type of mage arrived at the academy. Beatrice immediately notified Xia Zuo, and they agreed to officially set off seven days later.

Today I will be leaving the university.

Inside Beatrice's study.

Xia Zuo received the secret communication ring from his mentor, skillfully slipped it onto his left thumb, and aligned the only raised vertical line on the ring with his fingernail.

"Professor, I'm off then."

Beatrice stood in front of the desk with her arms crossed and her buttocks leaning against the edge of the desk. "Check if all the props are brought."

Xia Zuo ran his hands over his body from top to bottom, then reached into his alchemy pouch and rummaged around for a while before nodding and saying, "I've got everything."

“Hmm.” Beatrice nodded slightly, a smile appearing on her pretty face. “Go, follow the ring’s guidance to find Dim. I’ll be waiting for your good news.”

Xia Zuo bowed in greeting, then turned and left the study.

At this time, the students at the academy were in class.

The castle hall and square were deserted.

Xia Zuo pulled a black cloak from his pocket to conceal his figure.

He put on his cloak, pulled up his hood, and walked briskly, the hem of the cloak billowing in the wind.

He traveled all the way to the edge of the academy's city wall, transformed into a cloud of energy, floated through the gate, and headed towards the city gate of Starry Night City.

...

In Xia Zuo's memory, the castle manager, Dim, was elusive and unpredictable.

Under normal circumstances, he would not appear in the students' sight.

But if someone makes a mistake, he will pop out from some corner and, in a deep voice, list the rules the student violated and the punishments.

The impression given is that Dim was always in the castle, keeping an eye on the students, and never left the school grounds.

On the bank of a stream outside the city, when Xia Zuo saw the travel-worn Dim, a strange feeling welled up in his heart.

The tall man in front of me had a full beard and muscular arms.

He wore dark brown leather armor inlaid with matte metal plates, and carried an ancient-style longsword on his back. Two potion belts hung from his shoulders, each attached with a different colored potion bottle.

A carriage stopped beside Dim. The metal carriage, like a hard iron can, had chisel marks from sharp objects and dents from blunt force or impacts on its surface.

Two buckets filled with clean water leaned against the wheels. The wheels were still covered with turf and mud.

When Xia Zuo arrived, Dim was brushing the mane of the packhorse with a brush, feeding it with a few fresh carrots in his other hand, and whispering in the packhorse's ear.

The breeze stopped beside the carriage, and Xia Zuo appeared in a swirling, invisible current, bowing respectfully as he greeted them: