Spending time with a legendary witch was always rewarding, but it also required Ian to remain cautious. After all, the thoughts of a bad woman who had lived for thousands of years could change at any moment.
For example, right now.
The witch had clearly fulfilled Ian's wish to ride the Great Bone Dragon just moments ago, and Ian had promptly showered her with compliments. Yet the very next moment, she began sternly assessing his progress in alchemy.
Although Ian had successfully repaired the iron lumps by the gate, upgraded some of their equipment, and even replicated part of the functionality of Death's Deathly Hallows, Lady Morgan, the legendary witch, still seemed dissatisfied with his progress in alchemy.
"At your incredibly slow learning pace, it will probably take you at least three full years to thoroughly understand everything I've taught you."
Morgan was probably the first witch to be dissatisfied with Ian's learning speed. It was not that she thought he lacked talent; she was using it as an excuse to criticize him for spending too much time sleeping.
"If I'd had a learning environment as excellent as yours back then, I would have slept only once a month. Wizards have many ways to avoid the consequences of fatigue." Perhaps by Morgan's entrepreneur-style standards, Ian's habit of studying only during the day truly did not count as particularly hardworking.
However.
Ian, who was rather obsessed with growing to at least one meter eighty-eight, could only avoid the issue through self-criticism. He did not want a lack of sleep to cause flaws in his physical development.
Pulling an occasional all-nighter was one thing.
But if he stayed up every night... he would probably have to drink potions to grow taller. That method was far too artificial, no fundamentally different from going