Temporary Teammate Ibn

On February 15th, both Iver and Isabel took leave.

Quite a few students asked for leave that day.

Because when school resumes after the Lunar New Year, it will already be the second semester at Royal Law University.

This semester is short and the workload is heavy, lasting less than three months. Starting in mid-April, Royal Law University will have a two-week spring break—after which the third semester, dedicated to internships, experiments, certifications, and exams, will begin on May 1st.

The third semester will run from May 1st to mid-to-late July, followed by summer vacation and the start of the new semester on September 1st.

By the third semester, students with Extraordinary Profession Level will have the privilege of internships, and obtaining certification also requires Extraordinary Profession Level— First Level can definitely find a job, but don't expect much in terms of salary. Apart from a few professions such as priests and botanists, other professions at First Level are basically useless.

An observer might produce a few sparks of electricity while punching, a mage's spells, though powerful, are certainly less potent than a pistol's. An alchemist can't conjure anything, and a bard might add weak positive or negative status effects while singing, but these are only effective against First Level or ordinary people. Most superhumans at First Level are no match for a group of strong, armed ordinary people.

Priests, on the other hand, can provide some healing even at the First Level. Therefore, the graduation requirements for seminaries are much more lenient, and they don't even require mastery of Blessing Art.

One must reach at least the Second Level to be considered a true superhuman. At this level, unless ambushed or sniped, even a large number of ordinary people would find it difficult to harm a superhuman skilled in combat.

The official inspectors of the Bureau of Supervision, as well as the priests of the church, are basically at this level.

For students nearing graduation but still stuck at LV9, the second semester is their last chance to advance to the Second Level. Considering only the Full Moon Ritual, there are only three opportunities for advancement at most—and each advancement carries a one-third chance of elimination.

Iver is a freshman, and almost none of his classmates ask for leave.

Isabel is a year ahead of Iver, and seven or eight students in her class have already asked for leave.

Even after becoming Queen of Avalon, Isabel still attends university classes on time—something that would have been almost impossible before.

For security reasons, every King and Queen of Avalon rarely left the Silver and Tin Palace after ascending to the throne.

If they needed to study, they would usually be invited to the palace to give private lessons.

Isabel's genuine and natural approachability undoubtedly makes her an exception.

Her classmates and teachers were initially worried, nervous, and afraid, but they quickly got used to the young Queen who is now much more cheerful.

They viewed this special case as a distinction between the "Path of Beauty" and the "Path of Authority." After all, before Isabel, all the monarchs of Avalon were "Knight Kings" of the Path of Authority. Only she was the "Art King" of the Path of Beauty.

As a result, the friends that Isabel had longed for but could not have appeared in her life one after another, even after her heart had become whole and she no longer craved them so much...

Now that Iver resides at the Silver and Tin Palace, his status and position are different from before. Naturally, he doesn't need to prepare the Promotion Ritual himself— Osborn and Ibn, the two old ritual masters, prepare the Promotion Ritual for Isabel and Iver respectively.

Isabel went to the safer, underground Ritual Room, while Iver prepared the ceremony directly in his bedroom.

"Thanks, teacher."

Iver sincerely thanked Ibn.

Ibn simply smiled slightly and reached out to touch his white goatee.

Compared to a few months ago, Ibn's curly hair has become even finer, and his oily green pupils have become more cloudy and dull, gradually turning into black jade. Like ink spreading in a green pond.

He was clearly not in a good mental state, and his interest was not very high.

"Have you prepared the Drunken Dream Tincture? You still need the Drunken Dream Tincture to advance to the Fourth Level, otherwise you might be directly awakened by the intense pain... That would be too dangerous and a real waste."

Ibn asked with concern, taking out a small, round box about the size of a balm, tightly wrapped in oil paper from his pocket. "If you don't have one, use mine. Don't worry, I haven't used this one yet. It's intact."

For ordinary people, just one lick of the Drunken Dream Tincture is enough to be effective. Because of this, some low-level superhumans who are short of money will buy secondhand Drunken Dream Tincture has been licked by someone else to solidify their dreams.

However, for those who undergo the Promotion Ritual, a whole box must be used at once.

Iver paused for a moment, then picked up the box of Drunken Dream Tincture. Sure enough, it had a yellow crescent moon pattern with a human face on it, and the production date was marked "1898-06-024".

It's from a batch six months ago, so it's still very new.

Iver looked at his Ritual Studies teacher Ibn, with some surprise. "Teacher, when did you buy this?"

"Just a few months ago, after I met you," Ibn sighed, "I originally intended to use it myself."

"...original?"

"After thinking about it, I'm already this old... I guess I'll just give up. I probably won't get promoted anyway."

Ibn smiled nonchalantly, "There's no point in wasting things, so you might as well take them and use them."

Iver stared into Ibn's eyes.

In the eyes of this old man from a foreign land, Iver saw a faint, flickering flame. The flame was so faint, almost like an illusion... like gazing at the sun and then looking away, the sunlight leaving an indelible mark on the depths of his pupils.

—That was a well-hidden fire of anger.

He suddenly understood why it was only after he got to know himself.

To be precise, it must have been after he revealed the name of the Demon Scholar controlled the Iron Hook Demon and killed his parents... that Ibn, unable to contain his anger and hatred, went to buy a dose of Drunken Dream Tincture.

He was ultimately too weak.

Once his life became stable, he lost the desire to surpass others. From then on, he was unable to advance any further.

Ibn was Ritual Mage, not a "Grand Wizard." This indicates that he was only at the Third Level.

The third to fourth level is the first advancement, and at the Fourth Level, the Extraordinary Ability will undergo a qualitative change.

If Ibn were to return to the Parthian Ancient Kingdom at the Third Level, he would most likely be unable to do anything. He would need to become at least Grand Wizard to be able to do anything.

Having understood what Ibn was thinking, Iver didn't hesitate to push the Drunken Dream Tincture back.

"—I have another one, teacher. Lord Hermes gave it to me as a gift."

Iver showed off the Drunken Dream Tincture on his chest. "With my current status, I have no shortage of such things... not to mention, the Moriarty Family is not short of money to begin with."

He looked at Ibn and whispered a name: "Aziz Ben Abdul... You haven't forgotten this person's name, have you?"

"I think if there's a grudge, it's more satisfying to take revenge myself. That way, there's no need for them to entrust anything to me before they die."

Iver directly predicted Ibn's move.

"... But will you let this old man cross the desert?"

Ibn, somewhat helplessly, honestly admitted, "I've actually thought about it too. After hearing about that guy from you, I thought about it for a long time. But in the end, I still think that I might not be able to cross the desert."

"That's in the past, teacher."

Iver shook his head. "If you really want to go back to the Parthian Ancient Kingdom, I can have a goblin send you there."

"The goblins have always maintained contact with those 'benevolent masters.' The goblins buy slaves such as humans, elves, Half-Elf- elves, and Lizardman, as well as large amounts of gold and treasures, from the benevolent masters, while the benevolent masters regularly buy large numbers of trolls from the goblins. They must have a fixed, secret trading channel."

"The only problem is with yourself—do you have the confidence to advance at your age?"

Iver looked at Ibn, a faint purple flame flickering in his eyes, but his tone was not forceful, but rather gentle. "I will not stop you, no matter how dangerous this advancement may be for you. To transcend one's own lifespan and aging is also a kind of transcendence... But I can assure you that regardless of whether you choose to advance this time, or whether you succeed after advancing, I can arrange for someone to send you back to the Parthian Ancient Kingdom."

"I will also speak to Her Majesty, and she will let you go."

Upon hearing this, Ibn looked at Iver for a long time, his gaze shifting from cloudy to sharp, and then from sharp to soft.

The old man sighed helplessly.

"... You've put it this way, if I back down, how can I be your teacher? I'll lose face."

Ibn's lips curled up slightly as he used his trembling, withered hands to pull the Drunken Dream Tincture back into his arms.

Although he was complaining, a faint purple light shone again in his cloudy, dim eyes.

He patted the Drunken Dream Tincture on his chest and offered, "Want to join me tonight, Iver? I'll go back and hold another ceremony in my own bedroom."

"If you come with us, the difficulty might increase."

Iver warned.

"I know what you're thinking, but don't be afraid. I'm your teacher."

Ibn replied nonchalantly, "As long as there are no completely identical Path of Rejection, the Vacancy Ritual will not be triggered. His Majesty and Sherlock do not necessarily have to cooperate with me... If the two of us separate our Path of Rejection and make sure they are completely different, we can ensure that there will be no absence this time."

"Don't worry, Iver. I can act alone without any problems... I trust the self-preservation abilities of a seventy-year-old ritual master."

"... Okay, that works too."

Iver sighed, somewhat relieved—at least the teacher had perked up. He could just keep an eye on things more.

If Ibn were a transcendent being from another path, Iver would never have allowed him to touch such a dangerous thing.

But the situation is different now.

—After all, Ibn was a Transcender.

If Transcender loses the courage to transcend and dies a mediocre death in a hospital bed, what agonizing self-torture that would be... Although Iver hadn't experienced it, he could guess at the extent of it. Therefore, when Ibn raised this dangerous idea of "revenge," Iver didn't stop him; instead, he offered to help.

For others, this might be controversial—but for the Transcender, the decay of the soul is more painful than the torment of the body. It is a denial of one's entire life so far.

So Iver had Lily fetch a bottle of the finest red wine from the room, opened it, and poured himself a glass.

"This last bottle is for you. Please remember which routes I chose."

Iver laughed and poured all his Drunken Dream Tincture into the liquor.

As a tincture, this is the correct way to consume it.

While waiting for it to melt, Iver picked up the lit vanilla stick and began chanting the incantation for the Full Moon Ritual.

"May the six protect me!"

He spoke loudly, touching the six ritual crystals one by one with a vanilla stick.

"Hourglass, Candle Master, Wei Zhe, Silver Crowned Dragon, Twin Mirrors, Serpent Father..."

"—I worship the way of the candle keeper."

Iver solemnly declared.

Update complete, meow!