Grinding

That morning, after experiencing his first practical magic lesson, Suye had reached his limit—physically, mentally, and in terms of his Magic Power Tree—and was even more exhausted than the day before.

Generally speaking, excessive fatigue is not suitable for deep meditation, because deep meditation requires focused concentration. When overly tired, it is easy to fall asleep during meditation, a common occurrence for beginners.

So Suye prepared to engage in shallow meditation, which is similar in effect to light sleep but still different.

After meditating, Suye entered the Magic Tower and saw that nothing else in the tower had changed, but the leaves of the Magic Power Tree had turned from black to yellow.

This was a sign of depleted magic power.

What made Suye happy was that at the tip of the same branch, new young leaves had sprouted. It seemed it wouldn't be long before they grew into full leaves, eventually forming complete Magic Leaves that could be carved with new Magic Array Diagrams.

During the morning lesson, Teacher Niedern had said that the growth of Magic Tree Leaves follows three basic methods: first, growth with the increase of magic power; second, growth with the mastery of spells; third, growth with the expansion of magical knowledge. Someone like Lake, who possessed a vast amount of magical knowledge, would produce at least five leaves upon advancing to Magic Apprentice.

Filled with joy, Suye entered the Divine Light to meditate.

In less than ten minutes, Suye's physical strength, energy, and magic power were completely restored.

After a little while longer, Suye felt that his body had absorbed enough Divine Light power. Without indulging in that pleasurable sensation, he directly returned to the Magic Tower.

Suye took a careful look at the Magic Tree Leaves and was pleasantly surprised to find that not only had the leaves returned to their Black Crystal-like state, but the Magic Array Diagrams on them were also noticeably more refined than before.

"Indeed, the strength of magic lies not in talent, but in continuous effort—correct effort, effort with the right methods!"

"However, my meditation speed is a bit fast. Normally, a person needs to meditate for an hour to fully recover their magic power. It must be related to my years of practicing meditation."

While Suye was meditating, Niedern rushed into the vice principal's office.

"Get out! Knock!" A stern voice roared like a lion.

The excited expression on Niedern's face instantly collapsed. He obediently retreated, knocked three times on the door, and then pushed it open.

"Haven't eaten yet? Order together, talk while we eat."

Behind the wide desk, an old man in a purple robe was reading a Magic Book without looking up. He had a head of black curly hair, and his beard was even thicker than his hair, like a dense banyan tree canopy hanging upside down from his chin.

"Yes, Teacher."

Niedern obediently opened his Magic Book to order food.

Thucydides slowly raised his head.

The moment he saw Thucydides' eyes, Niedern's heart trembled.

In those eyes, wind and cloud shifted, sometimes the earth quaked, sometimes tsunamis swept through, as if they contained all the disasters under heaven.

Thucydides blinked, and his eyes returned to calm. His brown pupils seemed to possess the Great Power to settle chaos and pacify heaven and earth, quickly calming Niedern down.

"Few things make you happy." Thucydides straightened his body, placed his hands on the table, and looked at Niedern.

Behind Thucydides was a wide, transparent crystal window. Sunlight streamed in, revealing a Clear Sky, but in Niedern's eyes, his teacher seemed like a divine pillar holding up the sky.

At this moment, Niedern felt like a piglet encountering a lion. He nodded cautiously and said, "I've discovered a magic genius and combat genius." Then he handed over his Magic Book with both hands.

Thucydides took Niedern's Magic Book, swept his right hand across it, and played the process of Suye learning magic at ten times speed.

He moved his finger again, increasing the playback speed to a hundred times.

"Good." Thucydides' deep voice echoed in the office.

Niedern struggled to hide the surprise in his heart. For Thucydides to say "good" meant that Suye definitely had enormous potential, even surpassing himself.

Thucydides moved his finger again, transferring the contents of the Magic Book into his own book.

Niedern said, "After discovering that Suye had advanced to Magic Apprentice, I sent people to investigate and have already sent the report to you. You must have seen it by now. That Lawrence—should I take care of him?"

Thucydides did not look at Niedern. He turned his chair, gazed out the window, and tapped the cover of his Magic Book with his Index Finger.

After a moment, Thucydides said, "No need."

"And if Lawrence kills Suye?"

"He will be buried with him—including his Bandit Group and the nobles behind him." Thucydides' voice was utterly flat.

"Yes." Niedern's heart trembled. As expected, his teacher never showed mercy to enemies.

Niedern continued, "According to tradition, tomorrow's Low Rank Magic Tournament will be held as scheduled. The Athenian Noble Academy has already submitted a formal parchment letter. The Bronze Rank and Iron Rank participants from the academy have been confirmed. As for Magic Apprentices, none are ideal. Can we send Suye? Those Fools, when facing a Cheetah, don't even add up to Suye. I think highly of him and want to temper him."

"Agreed." This time, Thucydides answered quickly.

"He's too clever right now, and having just mastered magic, he probably doesn't want to get hurt or lose face. I'll find a way to trick... persuade him." Niedern said.

Thucydides nodded very naturally.

Soon, two Bear Goblins, only slightly shorter than ordinary humans, knocked and entered, bringing lunch.

After finishing the meal, Niedern was about to leave when he suddenly stopped, cleared his throat, and asked, "Teacher, let me ask you a question. You must answer within three seconds. If you can't answer, you'll be expelled from... ahem, you'll lose your student Niedern. You're on a boat with a Tiger, an eagle, a sheep, and a rabbit. A storm hits, your magic power runs out, and all four animals are injured. A small island appears ahead, and you can only take one animal ashore. Which one do you choose? One... two... two... two... three!"

After Niedern slowly counted to three, a few more seconds passed before Thucydides slowly gave his answer.

Niedern was stunned for a long time.

"Does Teacher care so little about losing me?" Niedern sighed, rolled his eyes, and walked out clutching his Left Chest.

Thucydides pondered quietly. After a moment, he reopened his Magic Book...

After eating, Suye did not waste time. He first previewed the afternoon lesson, then reviewed the morning lesson.

In the first class of the afternoon, Suye finally returned to familiar times and listened attentively.

During the lecture, Suye continuously cross-referenced the teacher's explanations with the textbook content. Whenever he encountered doubts or points he couldn't work through, he immediately jotted them down without spending time pondering.

Still adhering to the principle of training his brain, Suye took minimal notes, recording only a few key terms or questions.

After each class ended, Suye stood up to relieve the fatigue of sitting for long periods, then quickly sketched a simplified Mind Map of the previous lesson in his Magic Book to aid memory.

After several consecutive afternoon classes, Suye felt things were going well and decided to stick with his original study plan: normal preview, lecture attendance, review, and homework for all courses, while using all other available time to focus on the key subjects he had previously selected.

The break between classes was noisy and chaotic. After finishing the Mind Map for the previous lesson, Suye began thinking about what to study during the last Self-Study Class.