I, the wizard, the foolish Buddha

Roland moved the cabinet in front of the door ahead of time, then stood respectfully at the doorway to welcome his mentor's arrival.

As soon as the mentor entered, Roland gave a slight bow and followed her to the desk inside the hut. During this process, Roland didn't offer any explanation for what had happened last night.

The female mentor didn't seem to ask about last night's situation either; she stared blankly at the withered herb on the desk for a long time.

Afterward, she stared at the broken door of the hut with a gloomy expression for a long while, seemingly in a very bad mood.

It was unknown whether she was angry because Anna had barged in, or troubled by what he had done secretly last night, or perhaps both.

Looking at the mentor's gloomy profile, Roland's heart tightened: "The mentor didn't ask about what happened last night… She must have used some means to check what happened here."

In fact, Roland had considered this possibility during the process of forcing the growth of the Mandragora herb last night—for example, that the mentor had other means to monitor the hut.

However, Roland was very clear that whether the mentor had monitoring methods or not, he had to force the growth of the Mandragora herb.

"I don't know when the mentor started paying attention to the hut, nor how much she actually saw."

Roland recalled the entire process of forcing the herb's growth last night.

After reviewing it, he revealed a somewhat strange expression.

When Roland used the Transformation spell last night, he didn't chant any incantations. Moreover, even though he turned the wine glass into a Holy Grail, the appearance of the wine glass didn't change at all.

The whole process looked like Roland poured a glass of wine on the herb.

Then, mermaids grew out of the herb!

If viewed through monitoring means... it would be impossible to tell that those mermaids were elemental spirits.

Therefore, everything validated what Roland had said to the mentor during the day: "The reason why the Mandragora herb can't grow mermaids is because it's thirsty. And mermaids like wine, so you have to pour wine. As long as you pour wine, mermaids will grow out of the herb!"

It was unknown what the mentor's mood was now, but her eye sockets were sunken, and her eyes were full of bloodshot, obviously she hadn't slept well all night.

'Did I drive the mentor crazy?'

At this moment, the mentor suddenly looked at Roland with bloodshot eyes.

Roland, who was scrutinizing the dark circles under the mentor's eyes, hurriedly lowered his head and stared at his toes.

"Didn't you say that mermaids would grow out after watering the Mandragora herb with wine?" the mentor asked through gritted teeth, "Did you see the mermaids last night?"

Roland revealed a strange expression.

This was his reply: "Mentor, I was the one who was crazy yesterday. Watering with wine will only make it rot, it won't grow mermaids."

Hearing this, the mentor was suddenly stunned in place: "No, you didn't see the mermaids? No mermaids grew out of the herb?"

Roland said: "Mentor, how could mermaids grow out of the herb?"

The mentor's body suddenly swayed, almost falling into Roland's arms. She reached out to support herself on the table, dejectedly rubbing her forehead.

Yeah, how could mermaids grow out of the herb?

So, she must be crazy!

That's right, she and Hall had gone to the Brown Bracken Forest to investigate some time ago, and her mind had suffered a considerable impact. It seemed that she hadn't recovered yet. No, something wasn't right!

Catherine vaguely felt that something was strange about this matter. The mermaid issue was definitely not that simple; she couldn't have seen it wrong!

However, now was not the time to make a move rashly. She should appease him for now.

The mentor thought to herself: 'Let's put this matter aside for now. Once the Bracken Forest issue is resolved, I will definitely settle today's matter with him. By then, the mermaid issue will be clear.'

After Catherine regained her senses, she directly threw out two books.

Roland took a closer look and found two books placed on the table: one was titled "A Brief Discussion on Mind Magic", and the other was "Arcane: A Second and Third Analysis of Chain Lightning".

The mentor taking out "Arcane: A Second and Third Analysis of Chain Lightning" indicated that she accepted Roland's advancement.

And taking out "A Brief Discussion on Mind Magic" indicated that she recognized Roland's comprehension of Mind Blast after advancing, and hoped that he would focus on studying this magic to deal with Miss Anna, who often harassed him—obviously, mind-type magic was very effective against Anna.

Upon discovering that Catherine had actually let him off so easily and didn't ask about other matters, Roland revealed a strange expression.

Could it be that he was being too cautious? Could it be that he was thinking too badly of others?

So, the mentor really intended to fulfill her promise? Now that he had advanced to a Low Apprentice, she would no longer turn him into a human elixir?

He still couldn't trust Catherine just like that, but he didn't say much, pretending to be a simple and obedient disciple.

"The academy I'm going to take you to next is called 'Alexandra Arcane Academy'. Because it's located in the 'Black Abyss Land' in the southeastern territory, it's also commonly known as Black Abyss Academy."

"Reaching this level from scratch in three months, you've broken the record of Black Abyss Academy." Catherine said with a bit of emotion, as if lost in distant memories.

Roland had always thought that the mentor was the most outstanding talent in the academy, perhaps even the most talented wizard in history. However, judging from the mentor's tone just now, the creator of the historical record seemed to be someone else.

Roland couldn't help but ask curiously: "Mentor, who was the last person to break the record?"

"My first student." Catherine shook her head and said, "If he were still alive, he should have started advancing to a Third-Order wizard by now…"

Roland rolled his eyes fiercely. He thought to himself: "Keep bragging! High, Level, Apprentice, Catherine!"

Roland was very certain about whether Catherine's realm was a High Apprentice or not.

Because he had secretly flipped through the mentor's books—the meditation method she was currently using was the meditation method used by High Apprentices!

As for why Nal respected Catherine so much, and why Anna was so afraid of Catherine, there were other reasons for that.

"Roland." Catherine picked up the 'Aleya Manuscript' on the table and said to Roland, "This manuscript from your family did bring great benefits in the apprentice entry stage. But it also has great drawbacks. After returning to the academy, I will find a book that is more in line with your visualization for you."

Mentor Catherine picked up "A Brief Discussion on Mind Magic" again and said, "Mind magic is a double-edged sword, and black magic within mind magic is even more of a soul-devouring magic sword. Few people can truly control them, so it's best not to study them too deeply."

Mentor Catherine then looked at the book "Arcane: A Second and Third Analysis of Chain Lightning" and said, "In comparison, arcane is different. Moreover, in the entire Eastern Territory, no one has researched lightning magic more deeply than me. If you follow me, you can at least learn something."

Roland knew that the mentor was very, very concerned about face, so he didn't dare to show any expression on his face.

He thought to himself—Ah, yes, yes, yes, you are the strongest in the entire Eastern Territory, you are number one in the world!

The mentor was not bragging, and Roland had not guessed the mentor's realm wrong.

If Roland returned to the academy and flipped through the school's history, he would find that the portrait of the Black Abyss Academy's initial founder's mentor was very similar to Catherine.

Three hundred years ago, a witch named 'Alexandra' once ruled the entire Eastern Territory. She was like a supernova, once overshadowing the sun's brilliance. And like a supernova, she flashed and disappeared.

Two hundred years ago, the witch fell. Some people believed that she had not really died, but had fallen into hell.

Twenty years ago, an infant named Catherine was born into the Alexandra family. She was exceptionally talented, with almost no bottlenecks in her cultivation. At the age of 19, she advanced to a High Apprentice.

Catherine was that former witch. She had crawled out of hell and started over.

The mentor continued: "You should study arcane. Black Abyss Academy is famous for arcane, so even if I don't have much time to teach you personally in the future, the things taught by the professors will be enough for you to study for a while."

If wizards from other academies heard the sentence "Black Abyss Academy is famous for arcane", they would definitely spit fiercely—Black Abyss Academy is notorious. They are indeed good at arcane, but even better at black magic.

Catherine said again: "Roland, you are very talented, but you need some pressure to go further on the path of a wizard. If you follow me, you will have unimaginable opportunities. Similarly, you will also face tremendous pressure."

Roland revealed a strange expression. It sounded like Catherine had never intended to turn Roland into a human elixir to feed Anna. Saying these things seemed to be just to put pressure on him.

In fact, that was indeed the case.

But once someone has threatened your life, it is very difficult to make people trust her again. Therefore, Catherine's behavior was a big minus in Roland's heart, causing him to still have a deep sense of vigilance towards Catherine.

Catherine said: "Black Abyss Academy advocates survival of the fittest, winner takes all. But the path of a wizard is even more cruel than this. Once you advance to a formal wizard and leave the academy, you will understand."

Roland took the book from the mentor's hand.

Roland originally thought that Catherine couldn't handle Anna, so in order to avoid being eaten by Anna when she went crazy, she would definitely turn him into a human elixir—when two people encounter a bear, as long as the bear eats one of them, the other won't die, right?

But he now discovered that Catherine was not afraid of Anna at all. Even if Anna went crazy, Catherine and Nal could easily subdue Anna. So, the crisis of the bear did not exist.

Therefore, Roland was already convinced that Catherine wouldn't use him as a 'human medicine'. Being by Catherine's side meant he was no longer at risk of death.

So, if that's the case, should he still run?

Roland couldn't help but ponder a question: 'Should I return to the academy, or run off and become a wild wizard?'

As a wizard apprentice who came from the secular world, Roland knew the value of magical resources and understood how much wild wizards envied the resources that academy wizards could obtain.

To say nothing else, just consider the two books in front of him.

In the secular world, magic books were worth their weight in gold. Either of these two books, if thrown into the secular world, would cause a bloody storm among wild wizards!

But for a wizard like Catherine, who came from a proper magical background, these two books were just books.

Frankly speaking, wizards like Catherine, who came from the wizarding world, were the real wizards.

And what about the wild wizards in the secular world? They were just a bunch of Muggles!

If Roland didn't go to the academy, he would have to hang out with wild wizards in the future, and he would become a Muggle.

So, if Roland really ran away, he might never be able to come into contact with the real wizarding world again in his life.

After a brief struggle of two or three seconds, Roland made up his mind.

'I must run away!'

'I have so many secrets on me, I absolutely can't stay by her side!'

'Because my mentor not only has a strong curiosity but is also a peeping tom!'

'And there's also a pervert by her side who's always thinking about sneaking into my room!'

Anna thought about Roland every day. If she could rush in while Roland was taking a shower today, tomorrow, she could sneak into his bed while he was sleeping and ask him to play!

The thought of this made Roland feel unwell.

Roland firmly believed that if he continued to stay with his mentor, future events would be even more 'exciting' than last night's!

Staying with his mentor would lead to major troubles, and the future would definitely be full of problems. If there was a chance, it would be better to leave her.

While Roland was distracted, the mentor had already walked out of the cabin.

Her voice came from outside the door: "Pack your luggage, everyone is waiting."

"Go where?" Roland asked subconsciously.

"Back to the academy," the female mentor said without turning her head, a beautiful arc secretly curving at the corner of her mouth.

'I didn't lie to my student.' Mentor Catherine thought to herself, 'I will indeed take him back to the academy. It's just that the team will go to the Brown Bracken Forest first.'