Changes in the Luo Luo Beast

"...It was a very deep cave. Of course, perhaps it was not that deep; Fiona simply descended too slowly."

"So she had plenty of time to look around and guess what might be below."

"She first looked down, but could not see anything, so she looked at the surrounding cave walls. In the light of the illumination spell, she was astonished to see..."

"And then? What did she see?"

Curiosity finally got the better of her, and Fiona asked softly.

"And then... today's story is over, dear Fi. It is time to continue studying inscription theory."

Anvis merely smiled mysteriously and winked at Fiona. Then he stopped his tale, rose, and returned to the desk. The illusion in midair quietly vanished as well.

"Ugh—I refuse!"

Having the story cut off right at its most crucial point made Fiona feel as though she had drawn half a breath and suddenly choked on it. Her little face instantly puffed up like a bun.

But while she was still sulking, a heavy book suddenly flew before her.

The girl instinctively reached out to catch it, but the instant she did, her hands grew heavier again. A second book, then a third, landed directly atop it.

Beside her, Anvis controlled Mage Hand to pull Elementary Inscription Drawing and Meaning of Inscription Arrays from the shelf, tossing them all into the girl's arms in one go.

???

The girl stared blankly at the several massive volumes stacked in her arms, nearly as tall as her head, and felt her state of mind on the verge of collapse.

"Whether you read them is up to you, dear Fi. But whether I continue this story tomorrow is also up to me."

Faced with Fiona's resentment that was nearly enough to break through the Library's vaulted ceiling, Anvis flipped through his book and responded with an elegant smile.

"After all, I cannot let my adorable little sister be punished by Father again because of me—"

In the girl's eyes, that smile was no different from a demon's grin.

"Brother... could you tell just a little more? Just a tiny bit, and then I'll go read obediently..."

Fiona put on a pitiful expression, her large eyes shimmering with tears as she pleaded with the pale youth seated by the desk, like a little animal that had been heartlessly abandoned.

But in Anvis's eyes, familiar as he was with all sorts of acting and tricks, the girl's performance was full of holes.

"Pretending to be pitiful will not work either, my dear sister."

Anvis answered without looking away from the book in his hands.

"And please do not merely go through the motions while reading, because afterward, I will randomly ask you a few questions. If you cannot answer them, there will be no story tomorrow either..."

As Anvis spoke, the girl's pitiful gaze gradually went blank before turning into a dangerous glare once more.

"Oh, please do not look at me like that. This is merely to give you a little motivation."

But this time, Anvis had come prepared. He had added a layer of Mind Barrier around himself in advance, blocking the girl's indignant gaze and Spiritual Power alike.

With all her methods rendered useless, the girl looked at Anvis's hateful smile and wished she could pounce on him and take a bite.

She angrily opened the book in her hands and forced herself to patiently continue reading. Though she found it unbearably boring, her formidable talent allowed her to remember everything at a glance.

She actually understood Anvis's reasoning. After all, it was Father's demand, so she did not merely muddle through it.

But that was one thing and this was another. Although she knew Anvis did not want her to be punished by Father, the resentment she felt toward him did not lessen in the slightest.

Over the next half month, the girl's afternoons passed in a cycle of boring reading—excitedly listening to stories—irritably reading.

Incidentally, because the resentment mixed with the girl's Spiritual Power somewhat interfered with his reading, Anvis specially made a containment crystal ball to collect her resentment.

This resentment could serve as a special material for refining certain unique alchemical items.

After Fiona learned what the crystal ball was for, the intensity of her resentment directly reached a new level, allowing Anvis to gather quite a lot more negative emotion. His smile was especially bright.

Half a month later, the Duke held another practical class for the two of them.

During this lesson, the Duke brought in several Low-Rank mages from the family mage corps and had them spar with one another, demonstrating genuine battles between mages for the two children.

In order to leave an impression on the Duke, these Low-Rank mages all brought out their best techniques and spells, greatly broadening Fiona and Anvis's horizons.

Of course, Fiona's horizons were truly broadened. As for how Anvis actually felt, there was no need to mention it.

After every battle, the Duke set aside some time for the two of them to ask questions, explaining the parts they did not understand.

Occasionally, after they had finished asking questions, the Duke would also pose some related questions for them to answer.

If neither could answer, the Duke would tell them directly. But if he asked similar questions next time and they still could not answer, the Duke would punish them as he saw fit.

At the end of the lesson, the Duke asked them a question: "What do you think is the way nobles fight?" Fiona thought for a moment and gave an ambiguous answer, while Anvis recited an answer based on memories from his previous life.

After hearing them, the Duke did not comment on either answer. He merely smiled, then announced that their confinement was over, delighting Fiona immensely.

On the afternoon of a new day, Anvis arrived at the Spell Testing Ground.

A month had passed since the previous spell test, and he had come to inspect the Luo Luo Beast's subsequent changes.

The manager of the testing ground was an elderly Sixth Rank mage. Upon learning why Anvis had come, the Old Mage immediately brought out that Luo Luo Beast.

Thanks to Anvis, the Luo Luo Beast had been kept separately and received excellent care. When Anvis saw it again, he found that it had grown a full size fatter than it had been a month ago.

"Snort, snort—"

Seeing Anvis arrive, the Luo Luo Beast snorted and changed from lying down to standing, swaying the heart-shaped white marking on its back twice at Anvis.

Anvis directly cast a sleep spell at it, and the Luo Luo Beast, which had just stood up, lay back down again.

Walking forward, the youth extended his hand, clad in a pure white glove, through the gaps of the cage and pressed it into the heart shape on the Luo Luo Beast's back, carefully sensing the life force of the flesh beneath.

Anvis was very cautious with the spells attached to the Old Days Secret Scripture, because he was unfamiliar with them.

The descriptions included in the Old Days Secret Scripture alone were not enough. Only by testing their specific effects through experiments could he truly determine the situations in which they should be used.