Autumn deepened, and withered yellow leaves drifted down across the mountains. The distant hills had turned half green and half gold.
Iona walked through the leaf-strewn woods, each step crunching beneath her feet.
She came to a massive banyan tree outside Scorched Stone City. The towering tree stood out conspicuously in the forest.
After she had waited for a while, someone else entered the woods. The newcomer wore a black cloak and had a cloth covering his face.
When he saw Iona, he stopped and removed the cloth, revealing a somewhat aged face.
"Lady Iona." He pressed one hand to his shoulder and bowed.
"Mm." The blonde girl turned around and gave a slight nod, her expression unreadable.
"These are the things you asked me to prepare in your letter." He set down the long wooden chest he had been carrying on the leaf-covered grass.
He undid the clasps and opened the chest. Inside were two custom-made Black Steel longswords, a small bag of black stones, a velvet jewelry box, a row of crimson potions, a yellowed book, and a small bag of flower petals and leaves sealed in a silk sachet.
"Everything is ready." After speaking, he studied the girl for a long time with his sunken eyes.
"What is it?" Iona looked up after checking the contents.
"Miss, you should know that there isn't much left of the things Lord Callen left behind."
Iona fell silent for a moment, then nodded.
"This is the last time I'll be able to bring you anything. I hope you understand."
"I served two generations of Viscount Callens, and once thought I'd spend my whole life at the viscount's estate. Unfortunately..." He slowly shook his head.
"Please forgive me, but I won't be able to see you again. I also hope you succeed in entering the Secret Forest. It holds extraordinary knowledge and power beyond the reach of ordinary nobles."
"If you can complete your transformation there and distinguish yourself, restoring the Callen estate shouldn't be difficult. It's just that by then, I probably won't be around to see it."
"I have two grandsons. One is currently with a regiment at Watchtower Fortress, and the other is studying in Grey Leaf City. If you need them, they'll become loyal allies."
After saying all this, the old man thought for a moment, but in the end he said nothing more. He only looked at the blonde girl with tired, aged eyes.
"I understand." Iona closed the chest and picked it up.
She turned and walked toward the foot of the mountain, growing farther away. But midway, she stopped and said,
"Thank you, Steward Ethan." Then she disappeared around a bend in the woods.
In the grassy Courtyard of Scholar Heide's residence.
As usual, white-bearded Scholar Heide tapped the blackboard with his wooden pointer. Today's lesson was written on it.
"It's already November. In an ordinary year, the weather would have grown cold by now. But because we're in the Rising Wind Season, summer and autumn last longer, so winter won't begin until December. It will end in January next year, when spring arrives."
"These differences also affect farming and trade. The Rising Wind Season usually brings plentiful crops and low prices, while the Season of Sinking Fog is the opposite."
"That's all for today's lesson. I'd also like to remind you that next week, you'll be tested on your knowledge of secret history." The old man raised a finger.
"I'll give prizes to the top three. They won't be as extravagant as Viscount Xuefeng's, of course, but they'll still be of considerable help to you. Look forward to it."
"Yes, teacher," everyone replied with some anticipation before dispersing.
They left Scholar Heide's backyard in small groups, discussing the upcoming examination.
"It sounds like there won't be any combat this time, just a test of knowledge."
"Ugh, then I won't get to show what I can do at all."
"Can't be helped. Lord Xuefeng won't be visiting every time. The teacher's a scholar, so of course he cares more about academic achievement."
"It's a secret history exam, so doesn't that mean Iona and Tia will take first place?"
"Probably. The two of them are evenly matched, though Tia might be a little stronger. I've seen her tutoring several students who are struggling lately."
"Can a wild kid like Mick and a big oaf like Ray really learn anything?" someone asked skeptically.
"Who knows? But Tia seems to take her teaching seriously. I've passed by a few times and wanted to listen in."
"Hey, your secret history grades aren't bad. Why are you taking extra lessons?"
"I can't explain it to you. Let's just say there's always a taller mountain beyond the one you've climbed." The other person shrugged helplessly.
"Still, I haven't seen Miss Iona much lately. She often skips training, and sometimes she misses Scholar Heide's lessons too. I wonder what she's doing."
Their voices faded as they walked away. The next time they would meet would be at the Training Ground that afternoon.
"The exam's coming up. Are you all ready?" Sylutia sat on a wooden chair, looking at the students she had been tutoring.
"Ha, of course I am." Mick pretended to be at ease and scratched his head.
"I'll do my best." Karen nodded.
"What about you, Ray?" The girl tilted her head and looked at the much taller young man.
"I-I'll do well on the exam," Ray answered in a muffled voice, lacking confidence.
He was clearly the most muscular of them all, yet he was the shyest in Sylutia's little class.
Sylutia couldn't help but rub her forehead and shake her head at the big oaf.
None of the three had a strong foundation, but Mick and Karen weren't stupid. They had simply lacked a good education before. Only Ray left Sylutia feeling discouraged. He was genuinely difficult to teach.
There was nothing she could do. Even she couldn't change someone's natural aptitude or intelligence. She could only do her best to help him keep up so he wouldn't fall too far behind.
She had also developed a few methods for teaching slow students like Ray.
Unlike ordinary students or geniuses, the exceptionally slow couldn't be taught using conventional frameworks of knowledge. They couldn't understand anything so complex and vast, so the framework had to be simplified even further to make learning easier.
Of course, such simplification came at the cost of its original effectiveness and made further progress difficult. It couldn't serve as the foundation for advanced courses. But compared with a fragmented framework they couldn't understand at all, it was easier for slow students to accept and apply, and it helped them solve common problems.
A crude framework of knowledge was better than nothing. It was an unavoidable compromise.
"All right, I'm sure you want to prove yourselves and won't take this exam lightly." Sylutia stood up.
"Let's review today. Also... could you show me how your combat training has been going lately?" Her question surprised them.
"Tia wants to see us training?" Ray rubbed his fists, eager to get started.
"Of course. That's easy enough," Karen said, as if there were no need to ask.
"Tia, will you even understand what you're looking at?" Mick asked. He knew the girl was far ahead of him in her studies, and he often felt she was much smarter than he was.
But combat, swordsmanship—would she really understand those? She probably hadn't even held a sword before.
"Is that what you think?"
The black-haired girl lifted her teacup and took a small sip. Her calm expression immediately made Mick feel less certain of himself.
The more time he spent with the black-haired, blue-eyed girl, the more he realized how sharp her mind and perception were beneath her ordinary appearance.
He rarely admired anyone. One was Jero, the adventurer who was his senior. The other was this girl, who seemed to be his age but far surpassed him in experience and thought.
"Maybe. But since you asked, I'll show you during our sparring." He turned away, unwilling to look at the girl's face and eyes, which were gradually making his heart waver.
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