Chapter : 20

 Darkness and Light

'Dead ... dead?' Carly froze, and the Witch's Little Scholar she was holding in her hand fell to the ground at once.

Carly squeezed out a smile as she looked at the other four with some bewilderment, 'You ... guys are joking, right? Where's Tina? Tell her to stop hiding and come out!'

Carly's voice trembled a little as her mind couldn't help but recall some of her experiences with Tina.

She was a cheerful and somewhat heroic young girl who was even a trainee knight. Along the way, she also took very good care of Carly...

'My mentor is very supportive and takes good care of me. I am allowed to observe the books in his lab. Carly closed her eyes, and it felt like she could still hear Tina's cheerful voice and see her smiling face from their last gathering.

She slowly opened her eyes and watched as all four of them, including Verne, bowed their heads in silence, and Carly's heart slowly sank to the bottom.

The female knight who seemed to walk with the wind and appeared full of vigor seemed to have left them.

'How ... dead?' Carly's voice was low at this point.

'Experiment.' Vine's voice was low, and in addition to the grief in his eyes, there was also a hint of rabbit-like vigilance. 'You should know that wizards practice the principle of quid pro quo amongst themselves.'

'When our mentors signed the contract, besides promising to teach us knowledge, they would also ask us to fulfill some treaties. Among them, it includes asking us to co-operate with them in conducting some experiments.'

Vien's eyes reddened as he looked at Carly, 'Those experiments that were not marked in the contract that they would not result in the death of the apprentice are naturally ones that carry a risk of death!'

The other three also looked a bit pale at that moment. After all, the contracts they had signed with their mentors included clauses about cooperating with experiments. What happened to Tina today might happen to them tomorrow.

Carly froze, she couldn't help but blink her eyes.

'Contracts?' Carly couldn't help but recall in her mind what Mentor Lucian had asked of her in the contract.

It seemed to be ... to honor her mentor?

'But ... but Tina also said before that her mentor is very nice ...' Carly still somewhat refused to believe it.

'Sorcerers, only talk about the contract, what they say, what they do, maybe a layer of holding a special purpose of language traps.' Verne seemed to be growling lowly, 'Would you hardly think that they would selflessly nurture us without any purpose?!'

'Equivalent exchange, that's the most direct law between wizards! When you harvest something from your mentor, you also need to figure out what he got, and if he didn't get anything, then does he still have a deeper purpose? Like Tina ...'

Carly listened to this venting low roar of Vine, but in her heart, she could not help but feel a little lost.

Lucien mentor ... Carly's hand slowly clenched, and the whole person became a little muddled.

...

'Didn't rest well last night?' Lucien looked at Carly, who was not in the state at this time and frowned slightly.

'No ... it's fine.' Carly avoided Lucien's gaze in a bit of a panic, but her heart was in a bit of a mess.

Even though she told herself that it was best not to think too much when she thought that Mentor Lucian was now in a state of serious injury, he still spared no effort to help himself, so wasn't he also ...

When Carrie thought of this, she felt as if she had stepped on air all of a sudden, and her entire being suddenly became at a loss, as if she had lost her leverage all of a sudden.

'Take a rest first.' Lucien looked at CarLY, whose condition was getting worse and worse, and finally waved his hand, sat down, and started drinking water, letting Carly adjust herself first.

Carrie looked at Lucien who was in the middle of drinking water at that moment, her mouth opened, but she felt that it was too abrupt for her to open her mouth, after hesitating for half a day, she finally lowered her head silently.

'Something wrong?' Lucien put down his glass of water and looked towards Carrie.

'Ah! No ...'

'I have long felt that you are not right today, say it.' Lucien looked at Carly, somewhat helpless.

Doesn't this little one know that her expression can't hide anything at all?

Carrie's mouth opened, wanting to pull some kind of excuse to hide this matter away, but when she looked at Lucien's calm eyes, she felt as if she couldn't lie at all.

'I ... heard others say that the principle of equal exchange is practiced between wizards, but ...' Carly stammered a little, and when she opened her mouth at this time, she couldn't help but feel a little ashamed in her heart.

Lucien was silently listening at this time, but his expression did not change much.

After all, he is not unselfish, only the 'price' that Carrie needs to pay, by his system to bear it.

However, looking at Carrie's current appearance, it was clear that she was troubled by this, and even had a slight suspicion of herself, which would have a considerable impact on his teaching afterward.

Lucien pondered slightly, then looked towards Carrie who had her head lowered at the moment, seemingly somewhat afraid to look at him, and thought for a moment before saying.

'This is one of my attempts.'

'Ugh?' Carly raised her head in some confusion, but it was clear what Lucian meant by the attempt in his mouth.

'To put it simply, it's an attempt to balance the relationship between mentor and student in another way.' Lucien smiled, looking at Carly who was a bit confused at this moment, and extended his hand with a smile, 'You can understand it as I'm investing in your future.'

'Future?' Carly looked at Lucien with some bewilderment.

'Yes, the future.' Lucien stroked her little head, 'For example, in the future, if you grow up to be a full-fledged sorcerer, then I will have a full-fledged sorcerer as my helper.'

'And it's different from the way between other sorcerers and students who rely on contracts, rely on benefits and watch out for each other and use each other.' Lucian looked over at Carly, feeling that this was a good time to draw a pie with the little one.

'I'm not a big fan of the cold, dark, lack of emotional constraints of the kind of rules between other wizards, so if I get the chance in the future, I want to revamp it in my way, like the way we learned the knowledge and then pried the rules apart.'

'Of course, right now, I'm too weak to change others, so let's start by changing myself.' Lucien paused when he said this and looked towards Carly, 'I hope that one day, when the children of the wizarding world can enter the wizard academy to study, they can do so without having to worry about their safety, and I hope that the relationship between teachers and students at that time can become harmonious and beautiful ... '

Carly listened to Lucien's narration and could envision that sunny, flower-filled corner of the future. A trace of yearning appeared in her eyes as she looked at Lucien, whose face was illuminated by a hint of a smile. At that moment, her eyes sparkled, and she felt that Lucien's presence had become magnificent.

'Mentor ... me, I want to follow you to realize this dream together!' Carly raised her small head, but her voice seemed very firm.