Lesson 25: Tre and Sera

"Planning to run?" The two spoke in the Marcono dialect and were acting so furtively near the Finor Academy. Lin Yuan wasn't about to let them get away so easily. As soon as the male mage began to levitate, he noticed the sudden darkness above his head. Looking up, he saw a massive earthen wall pressing down on him. He was taken aback. When he saw Lin Yuan cast a wind shield earlier, he had assumed that Lin Yuan was a wind mage. But now it seemed that he was proficient in both wind and earth magic.

Fortunately, the mage reacted swiftly. He manipulated the magic within him, and the wind that enveloped his body carried him to the side, narrowly avoiding the descending earthen wall. However, Lin Yuan just chuckled, moved his right hand, and the earthen wall abruptly changed direction in mid-air, continuing to press down on the mage.

This was a spell he had just come up with on the spot. He first summoned a wind shield at a specific point in the air, mixed it with earth elements, and turned it into an earthen wall that he could control at will. It worked quite well when he used it.

The male mage didn't have time to express his inner shock. After being a mage for so many years, he had seen many earth mages, but none who could use an earthen wall in such a way. As if that wasn't enough, Lin Yuan summoned another earthen wall. With two walls chasing him, the mage was left with nowhere to hide.

"Humph!" Just as he was about to be crushed between the two walls, the mage let out a cold snort, drew several lines in the air with his hands, and quickly gathered wind magic elements in his palms. In a moment, a small tornado formed. With a push of his hands, the tornado contracted sharply and then exploded, turning into countless high-speed wind blades. These blades not only shattered the two earthen walls into a shower of mud but also devastated the surrounding forest.

The moment the mage began to gather wind magic elements, Lin Yuan sensed something was wrong. But the mage's spell was too fast. He only had time to raise a combined wind and earth defense shield. However, the shield couldn't block everything. Two wind blades still penetrated it, leaving wounds on his left thigh and left arm.

Lin Yuan's face darkened, and his gaze towards the mage was filled with anger. He had been in this world for several months and had never suffered such a defeat.

Seeing the mage about to launch another attack, Lin Yuan let out a cold snort and summoned another earthen wall to smash at him. The mage couldn't help but sneer. He didn't even bother to dodge this time, instead, he flicked several wind blades with his right hand. He had realized from the previous attack that dodging the earthen wall was futile; it was better to just destroy it.

The wind blades struck the earthen wall and sliced it into several pieces. But before the mage could feel triumphant, several strange balls of light, flickering with red and blue, flew out from behind the wall.

"Be careful!"

Heeding the woman's warning below, the mage quickly raised a wind shield. A series of violent explosions rang out in the forest.

The mage never expected that these strange light balls would have such immense power, nearly shattering his wind shield. If he hadn't reacted quickly and added another shield in front of him, he would have been killed instantly.

Watching the mage's body fly towards the river like a broken kite, Lin Yuan was about to chase after him and finish him off with more ice fireballs when a pale blue light barrier blocked his way.

It turned out that the woman had finally intervened. Lin Yuan hadn't paid attention to her earlier since she seemed inactive, but he was surprised to find that she was also a mage, and a high-level one at that. The timing and placement of her water shield were perfect, proving her proficiency in water magic.

Lin Yuan's magic had been drained by summoning and controlling several earthen walls and launching numerous ice fireballs, so he couldn't immediately break through the water shield. He could only watch helplessly as the woman caught the mage's falling body and jumped into the river with him.

By the time Lin Yuan broke through the barrier and reached the riverbank, he was astonished to find that the entire visible surface of the river had been frozen over with a thick layer of ice, making it impossible for him to track their departure.

---

The next morning, Lin Yuan didn't have any classes, but he was dragged by Vice Dean Kapachi to attend a teaching observation session. This was something Lin Yuan was very familiar with. In his previous world, it was common to sit in on other classes, but it wasn't usually done with such a large group as at Finor Academy.

Listening to other teachers' lessons was beneficial for Lin Yuan. Although he had learned low-level magic from Hawk for two months and was quite familiar with it, his learning period was still too short, and there were inevitably some gaps. Observing other teachers could help him understand more about the academy's teaching methods and deepen his knowledge of magic theory.

However, most teachers here taught in a rigid and unimaginative way, purely following the old-fashioned apprentice-master model rather than a modern student-centered approach. Lin Yuan only paid attention to the parts that were useful to him and let his mind wander during the rest of the time.

After his mysterious fight with those two people yesterday, he had wanted to ask the old man Hawk about it, but he was told that the dean was conducting important magical research and should not be disturbed unless it was something urgent. Lin Yuan decided to let it go for now.

However, Lin Yuan tilted his head and carefully observed Katusha sitting beside him, comparing her in his mind to the woman he had seen yesterday. It had been the third month of Ellis, and the moonlight was bright, allowing Lin Yuan to see clearly. Compared to that woman, Katusha's face was slightly rounder, her lips were fuller, and more importantly, her skin was not as good. Her facial features were not perfectly matched, making her appearance rather ordinary. The woman, on the other hand, was clearly a beauty, even though he had only caught a few glimpses of her.

"What are you looking at?" Katusha whispered, noticing Lin Yuan's observation.

"I was thinking about what tomorrow's observation class with Tre will be like."

Katusha smiled faintly and was about to continue speaking when Vice Dean Kapachi coughed lightly. She could only give Lin Yuan a meaningful look and concentrate on the lesson again.

---

Tre, however, was not as focused on preparing for the next day's teaching observation as Lin Yuan had imagined. At that moment, he was in a private room of the most luxurious restaurant in Windnor City, enjoying the fine dining there.

"What exquisite wine! This bottle of Blue Rose must have been aged for at least three hundred years. It's truly top-notch," Tre said contentedly, exhaling a long breath and addressing the person sitting opposite him. "With this bottle of wine alone, Lady Sera, you can ask for anything you want. As long as it's within my power, I'll certainly help."

If Lin Yuan had been there, he would have been very surprised. This Sera was the male mage he had encountered the night before. Why was he with Tre, and why did they seem so familiar with each other?

"It's not a big deal. I just want you to investigate someone for me," Sera said.

"Investigate someone?" Tre was taken aback. "Lady Sera, you have so many subordinates. Do you really need my help for this?"

"This person is a teacher at your Finor Academy. I can't infiltrate it, so I have to rely on you."

"A teacher?" Tre's heart skipped a beat. "Who is this person you want to investigate?"

"A man named Lin Yuan. I don't know if you know him."

Tre let out a cold laugh. "I know him, of course. This guy has been making quite a name for himself in the academy lately. I'm not the only one who knows him; probably everyone in the academy is aware of him."

Sera looked at him curiously but wisely didn't ask further.

"Alright, I want to know everything about him. The more information, the better."

Tre was puzzled as well. Why was Sera so interested in Lin Yuan? Logically, they had no connection at all. But he didn't ask any more questions.

After chatting for a while, Tre suddenly asked, "Lady Sera, I wonder what Pamil's intentions are..."

Sera smiled faintly. "Don't worry about that. Don't forget, you are a mid-level mage. They would welcome you with open arms. Moreover, you are only 40 years old—a genius among geniuses. If nothing unexpected happens, becoming a grand mage is not out of the question. Tell me, would they not welcome someone like you?"

Hearing the word "genius," Tre couldn't help but let out a cold snort through his nose. During Lin Yuan's teaching observation class that day, although he had deliberately found fault, he was genuinely shocked inside. Lin Yuan's magical power was nothing to a mid-level mage like him, but his understanding and innovation in magic were something he could only admire. Not to mention other things, just the way Lin Yuan used a micro fireball to heat milk was something he had never thought of. Even if he had, he doubted he could control his magic with such precision.

If anyone deserved the title of genius, it was probably Lin Yuan. No wonder the old man Hawk valued him so highly. Thinking of this, Tre couldn't help but snort again and tilted his head back to pour himself a glass of wine.

Seeing this, Sera seemed to understand. The young man he had fought with yesterday had been identified through the woman. But knowing his identity only made Sera more astonished. He himself was a Level 9 mage, on the verge of becoming a mage master, yet he had been defeated by someone who had only studied magic for two months. This was not only humiliating but also piqued his intense curiosity about Lin Yuan, which was why he had asked Tre to investigate him.

The moment Lin Yuan was mentioned, the atmosphere at the table seemed to cool instantly. The two men lost interest in further conversation, took a few more bites, and then bid each other farewell.

Only after Tre left did Sera clap his hands to summon someone, and he whispered, "Keep a closer eye on Katusha in the future..."