Flowers and grasses of every size and shape kept sprouting, blooming, and unfurling their leaves and branches, like a painting slowly unrolling across the earth.
A faint floral fragrance began to spread. His companions exclaimed in wonder, and Aisijin even closed her eyes to breathe it in.
The delicate fragrance soothed their minds, and everyone immersed themselves in it.
As though sensing the subtle shift in Ruger's mood, his teacher Immanuel turned to look at him with a faint smile.
Seeing his teacher look over, Ruger moved his long muzzle slightly, managing a little of his usual smile.
But that subtle change, that departure from a familiar person's usual manner, could hardly escape a High-Rank Wizard's perception, especially with Ruger standing right beside him. A hint of puzzlement entered Immanuel's eyes. Still, Ruger had always enjoyed his antics, and his thinking differed from most people's, so despite his puzzlement, Immanuel did not press him.
His teacher's faint smile and understanding did nothing to soothe Ruger. Instead, the look in Ruger's eyes changed again.
There was a trace of pity, a trace of reluctance, and a trace of irritation.
This time, however, Ruger turned to look at the Garden, surveying what was blooming and what was about to bloom. After its seeds had been watered with his mental power, only the flowers, grasses, and trees involving knowledge around the third ring could grow and blossom, with the fourth ring as the upper limit. But that was already plenty. It covered a vast expanse, a feast in its own right.
This Old Wizard's Garden did not divide its books and knowledge into categories for Apprentices, One-Ring Wizards, and Two-Ring Wizards. Instead, it unfolded according to the upper limit its user could bear.
Some high-level knowledge that was not immediately useful, but did