[Bo Le]

Ultrasound could cause harm, and it generally affected three areas:

The first was the skin, the second the eyes, and the third the nervous system.

Downs really lived up to his days as a Knight Apprentice. After sleeping for a day, he was already bouncing around the next morning, without a single problem. He might not have been quite as tough as his old companions, but he was certainly close.

By the standards of D&D-style games, Lein estimated that the guy's Constitution couldn't be below 14. For a mage, that was absolutely a talent point put in the wrong place.

Unfortunately, you couldn't apply the standards of ordinary people to a genius monster with such extraordinary Comprehension!

Lein strongly suspected that Comprehension wasn't included in a basic attribute like [Intelligence], but was instead a hidden attribute.

As for how monstrous his disciple's talents were, Lein knew this was only the beginning.

He had gone through the old-era magic books brought by the Cervantes delegation and decided to use them as references.

Though modern people could no longer cast the corresponding spells using the incantations in those books because the Magic Net had collapsed, "Even another mountain's stones may serve to polish jade."

It was fine if he didn't look, but once he did, he discovered that his good disciple had already "learned" Lightning Magic from the School of Evocation, [Lightning and Arrow Protection] from Defense Magic, and [Cloud Mist Technique] from the School of Conjuration.

All told, Downs wasn't just well-rounded; he had also learned magic from three of the eight major schools.

As the saying went, everyone had their own specialty. Even if Lein couldn't teach him spells from the other schools in the future, the three schools Downs had already demonstrated were more than enough to make Lein proud.

If his disciple couldn't learn magic from the other schools, what did that have to do with his master?

Lein figured that by the time he had finished teaching all of middle-school physics, the only school of magic Downs might truly be unable to grasp was [Necromancy].

That couldn't be considered a shortcoming. Downs only needed to learn how to deal with the undead.

At worst, he could just use [physical ghostbusting]?

Over the next three days, Downs was too distracted to study. Almost as soon as class ended, he would scamper off to the pond to look after Sunshine Rainbow Little White Horse.

What pained Lein most was that Downs didn't just search all around for suitable grass to feed the little horse—he shamelessly appropriated the carrots his master had set aside for himself, too.

The latest batch of carrots his master had planted wasn't ready to harvest yet. These were ones they had found in the valley earlier.

Every carrot eaten meant one less.

This left his master with no choice but to tearfully increase the amount of meat in his meals.

Three days later, as he looked at the little white horse, now able to stand and full of energy again,

Lein sat imposingly on a large rock in front of it and spoke solemnly in front of Downs. "Little white horse, I know you can understand human speech. I'll get straight to the point. Since you're going to be my eldest disciple's mount, I'm going to [bestow a name] upon you!"

At once, the little white horse shook its head vigorously and snorted, making its displeasure perfectly clear.

Through the magical beast's telepathic bond, Lein could vaguely sense that the Wind Rider already had a name. Its pronunciation, loosely translated, was probably something like "Bo."

Lein's expression darkened. He said sternly, "I'm the one in charge of this valley. I'm also the one who saved you. Since you won't agree, then I might as well say I never saved you and let you die."

The little white horse immediately assumed a wary, defensive stance. Its front legs stretched forward, lowering its body close to the ground, while its hind legs were bent like compressed springs. It seemed to be considering whether to make a run for it.

Downs panicked. "Master, isn't that a bit much?"

Lein shot his disciple a glare. Downs shrank his neck, at a loss for what to do.

Lein continued, "The Way of Magic is all about equivalent exchange! Downs saved you from the Fire Bat's claws and fangs, and you were willing to become his mount. I saved you, so if you don't give something in return, I can only take your life. Changing your name is already the smallest price you could pay."

The little white horse looked as miserable as a bitter melon. To make matters worse, its injuries hadn't healed completely, so it couldn't fly yet. In this valley, where could it possibly run from an Archmage?

Deeply unwilling, the little white horse finally nodded.

"Don't be so reluctant. Since there's a 'Bo' in your name, from now on, you'll be called Bo Le. Don't think the name is simple. In my world, every fine horse under the sun has to win your approval before it can be called a fine horse. The name won't bring you shame; it'll raise your status."

The Wind Rider had a telepathic bond, and it understood the meaning of Bo Le almost immediately from the surface of Lein's mind.

Thinking that every famous horse in the world would have to win his approval to be considered famous was like letting an ordinary man judge a beauty pageant. Suddenly, the half-grown colt showed a startling lack of dignity.

He trotted over with tiny, pattering steps and affectionately rubbed his horse face against Lein's hand...

Downs stared at the sight in disbelief. "Master, this..."

"It's fine. This won't affect your relationship with Bo Le. Didn't you see that he's happy to change his name? It's settled."

The clueless Downs had no idea what his master was up to, but he didn't think much of it. Only Lein was secretly delighted.

System notification:

[??? Quest progress: 1/2. If the host forces one more high-level magical beast to change its name, the host will receive the master-exclusive talent (Master's Authority)! When the master casts command-type spells requiring a Will check, he gains a 30% bonus to his chance of success.]

Lein had triggered this quest by chance while reading the old-era magic books. One of the books contained a spell called [Command Beast], which essentially forced a beast that didn't belong to the caster to do something.

He hadn't expected the system, which often pretended to be dead, to give him a quest as soon as he read that part.

With the mindset that there was no harm in trying, and success meant free rewards, Lein had bullied the little white horse.

Now it looked like everyone had come out ahead!

After dealing with Bo Le, Downs finally returned to his regular study routine while the lecherous colt recovered and waited to reach adulthood, which might not be far off.

That day, Lein taught the [Second Law of Thermodynamics]: "Heat can spontaneously flow from an object at a higher temperature to one at a lower temperature, but it cannot spontaneously flow in the opposite direction, from a colder object to a hotter one."

Almost as soon as he finished speaking—no, Downs had probably pondered it for five seconds—a cold aura appeared in his right palm.

Downs cried out joyfully, "Master! I've got it!"

Lein: ???

You've got it again?

Though he knew his dear disciple had the ??? Comprehension talent, when the system notification informed Lein that Downs had independently comprehended the Level 3 spell [Ice Blast], his heart still trembled violently.

At this rate, Downs would soon master three Level 3 spells and advance to become a Level 3 mage.

If he kept up this monstrous pace, he'd reach Level 6 or higher and become a High-Level Mage in less than half a year.

Just then, Bo Le came running over unsteadily. It let out a warning whinny and kept glancing up at the sky.

Lein... hadn't actually sensed anything. He was only pretending he had.

He raised his eyelids and spoke in a calm, unruffled tone. "Downs, see things through to the end. Understood?"

Downs abruptly turned to stare at the enormous Fire Bat in the sky and said sternly, "No problem! Please back me up, Master."

"Go on!" Lein waved him off.