Visiting Linley

On the way back to the academy, Arnold had spent only a few hours pushing the Greater Gravity Spell from eightfold gravity to onefold gravity. He had no idea how it had happened.

Previously, Arnold had thought that, as a Seventh-level Mage, he could only raise the Greater Gravity Spell to eightfold gravity. Perhaps gaining a certain understanding of Life Force had greatly increased his inspiration. That was how Arnold explained it to himself.

It took Arnold nearly more than a week to return to Ernst Academy. By then, it was already mid-May.

One morning, when the sun was blazing overhead, Arnold returned. As he walked up to Ernst Academy's gates, he felt a sense of tranquility. Ernst Academy and the outside world felt like two extremes. The world outside was filled with slaughter, while the academy was exceptionally peaceful.

"It's Arnold." The gate guards of Ernst Magic Academy naturally recognized Arnold, one of the academy's famous figures, and did not stop him. However, Arnold's appearance had changed somewhat. He had once still looked a little youthful, but after spending several months outside, he now seemed far more mature.

After signaling to the guards, Arnold entered Ernst Academy directly.

As he walked along the academy streets, quite a few Ernst students who had already gone to class saw Arnold and quietly began discussing him among themselves.

"It's Arnold. Now that Linley and Dixie have both graduated, Arnold is the only one of the academy's three great geniuses left. But during last year's final test, Arnold was only a Fifth-level Mage. Compared to Linley and Dixie, he doesn't deserve the title of genius."

"Exactly. And Arnold applied for half a year of training, yet he came back after only four months. Even his mage robe is so clean..."

Hearing those whispered comments about himself, Arnold did not care much. Just look at Linley—after graduating, he had caused so much trouble and had even suffered several assassination attempts. In any case, Arnold did not care much about empty fame.

Arnold could not even be bothered to return to his own dormitory. He headed straight for Yale and the others' dormitory.

When he arrived, Yale, George, and Renault were all preparing to head out, seemingly to eat.

"Arnold, you're back!" Renault was the first to shout excitedly.

"Perfect. Let's go have breakfast together," Yale said.

Arnold placed some packages in Yale's dormitory, and the four of them went to have breakfast together.

In a private room at Wadeley Hotel, Yale, George, Renault, and Arnold sat casually on either side of a long table. More than a dozen exquisite dishes were arranged in pairs across the table, with plenty of fruit wine and strong liquor set beside them. The four brothers drank fruit wine as they talked about what had happened recently.

Only then did Arnold learn that many things had happened. Linley's father had passed away, and Arnold had not made it back in time to pay his respects. Linley had now been recruited by the Radiant Church and was in the imperial capital of the Fenlai Kingdom. Moreover, the five sculptures Linley had previously made of Alice had sold at auction for an astonishing price of ten thousand gold coins.

"After Linley graduated, Dixie graduated too. Now a lot of people in the academy say that you can't even compare to Dixie. The three of us are all pretty upset about it," Renault said indignantly.

"It's nothing. Just some empty fame," Arnold said calmly.

After leaving the hotel, the four of them walked down a shaded road.

"Speaking of which, when Linley's father passed away, I was too far away to make it to Black Mountain Town for the funeral. Tomorrow, I want to go see Linley," Arnold said.

"Mm. We'll go with you, and visit Linley while we're at it," George agreed.

The next day, Yale, George, Renault, and Arnold took a carriage to Fenlai City. Linley's residence was on Greenleaf Road, not far from the royal palace.

Inside the residence's reception hall, Linley was having lunch when a servant rushed in from outside. "My lord, four young men have arrived outside. They say they are your brothers from Ernst Academy."

Four people? It seemed Arnold had returned! Linley froze for a moment, then immediately headed outside. He wanted to welcome them personally.

Inside the reception hall.

"Linley, I'm sorry I didn't attend your father's funeral. At the time, it would have taken at least more than a week to get back to Black Mountain Town. I was afraid of delaying your affairs, so I simply didn't go," Arnold explained.

"It's all right, Arnold. The thought is what counts," Linley answered sincerely.

"Let's not talk about that. We brothers should have a good chat," Yale said.

They continued talking until evening. After dinner, Arnold proposed speaking with Linley alone. Yale and the other two naturally did not object and temporarily left the reception hall.

"Linley, when I first saw you today, meeting with us brothers clearly made you very happy. But I sensed a restrained killing intent within you. You don't seem at peace. Can you tell me why?" Arnold sincerely stated what he had noticed.

"Wow, Arnold's pretty sharp. He actually guessed that you've got something on your mind, Boss," Bei Bei muttered in Linley's mind.

"There is indeed something I cannot let go of. But this is my own matter. I don't want to drag you, Yale, and the others into it," Linley said solemnly.

"Mm, all right. We all know what kind of person you are, Linley. But if there's ever anything important that requires us, you must speak up."

"Mm."

"Oh, right. I know you've always used the Gravity Spell without interruption to train your **strength. Recently, I obtained an improved Gravity Spell created by someone else. I call it the Greater Gravity Spell. You can take a look." Arnold took a sheet of paper from his trouser pocket and handed it to Linley.

Linley hurriedly accepted it, and the moment he read it, he was stunned.

"This Greater Gravity Spell is truly the work of a genius. I wonder which Grand Magus or Saint Domain Magus created it," old Delin Cowart praised from beside Linley.

The paper Arnold had given him described the magical incantation for the Greater Gravity Spell, along with an explanation of its effects.

The Greater Gravity Spell, when cast by a Fifth-level Mage, could increase gravity to three times normal; when cast by a Sixth-level Mage, it could increase gravity to six times normal; when cast by a Seventh-level Mage, it could increase gravity to eight times normal...

Seeing this passage, even Linley could not help being shocked. With the original version of the Gravity Spell, Linley could currently only raise gravity to four times normal. As for eight times normal, he estimated that only an Eighth-level Mage could cast it.

Holding the sheet of paper, Linley did not know what to say. Nor would he hypocritically refuse it. This Greater Gravity Spell was indeed extremely useful to him. Besides, even if Linley wanted to refuse it, he could not, because he had memorized the contents of the paper the moment he finished reading it. He could not forget it even if he tried.

"Arnold, thank you," Linley said with sincere gratitude.

"You're welcome. The Greater Gravity Spell is extremely effective for **strength training. I haven't cultivated battle-qi, but relying solely on my **strength, I'm already close to the level of a Fourth-level Warrior. Still, Linley, you need to be careful when training with the Greater Gravity Spell. Under eightfold gravity, even the heart, liver, and spleen inside the human body will be affected. You must make thorough preparations before training," Arnold said.

After that, Arnold said goodbye to Yale and the others, leaving Linley's residence and returning to the academy.

After Arnold and the others left, Linley returned to Springwater Garden within the residence. He changed into a set of training clothes, stepped onto the grass, and began silently reciting the magical incantation for the Greater Gravity Spell.

Before long, surging earth elemental essence began gathering around Linley. Vast patches of earthen-yellow light covered a section of ground beneath his feet.

This was precisely the Seventh-level earth-style spell—the Greater Gravity Spell.

Linley immediately felt the eightfold gravity. It was indeed extremely uncomfortable.

Meanwhile, old white-bearded Delin Cowart at his side fell into deep thought. Delin had also read the contents of that sheet of paper. The description of its effects ended at the Seventh-level, and Linley had not noticed anything, but Delin had detected something unusual.

The last time Arnold had gained enlightenment, Delin had suspected that he had been analyzing and researching magic. This time, the description of the Greater Gravity Spell happened to stop at the Seventh-level. That kid had probably already reached the level of a Seventh-level Mage. Perhaps even this Greater Gravity Spell had been researched by Arnold himself!

Delin also liked such hardworking, research-oriented geniuses. Many spells had been developed by people like them. Though not every one of them reached the Saint Domain, Delin had no doubt that they deserved his respect.