Anyone who saw Karin Sunfury at that moment would have marveled at the changes in him.
Compared with just over two weeks ago, he had grown considerably thinner, and his face looked a little more weary... but his eyes now held something they never had before: wisdom!
In the familiar grove, a layer of Frost Armor enveloped Karin. Compared with its flimsy appearance a week earlier, it was now much thicker.
"Enough to withstand an impact of 70 horsepower!" the All-Knowing Eye assessed. "Even against a Fireball cast at full strength by a second-ring mage, the host can protect himself from being killed outright in a single hit!"
"So all that extra practice lately has paid off?" A pleased smile appeared on Karin's lips.
"It must be said that the host's level of dedication is quite rare even in Feyrun! The All-Knowing Eye estimates that over 99 percent of mage apprentices in Feyrun could not devote as much energy to studying magic as the host does!"
"Really?" Karin shook his head gently. "But I feel like I'm still working a little less hard than I did before my college entrance exams and graduate school entrance exams!"
"College entrance exams? Graduate school entrance exams?" the All-Knowing Eye asked in confusion. "Unfamiliar, incomprehensible terms detected. Should new entries be created?"
"No need!" Karin stood up and dismissed the layer of Frost Armor around him.
Then he took a dart from his pocket, ready to practice another spell he had learned: Melf's Acid Arrow!
Conjuration spells were considerably more complicated than abjuration and evocation spells! In essence, Melf's Acid Arrow teleported a highly acidic venom made from rhubarb leaves and viper stomachs onto a dart, then used a Teleportation Spell to launch the resulting arrow at its target!
As the All-Knowing Eye had said, this was a very obscure, strange, and not particularly useful low-level spell.
But Karin had another reason for specifically requesting to learn it.
An emerald-green arrow shot forward from Karin's hand, but before it had traveled even ten meters, it slowly dropped and struck a nearby tree... green venom instantly covered the trunk, and the bark began peeling away bit by bit!
Melf's Acid Arrow carried a powerful corrosive effect, and that corrosion was very difficult to reverse.
But Karin frowned, clearly dissatisfied with his casting... his control over teleportation was still lacking. In fact, his intended target had been another tree more than thirty meters away!
"Aw... aw..." Several faint cries came from inside the trunk of the tree Karin had struck.
Karin's brow immediately furrowed... those were animal cries! And they seemed to belong to young animals-more than one!
Another Melf's Acid Arrow began teleporting into Karin's hand. He was ready to attack the moment the animals showed themselves.
"Wait, Mr. Mage!" An urgent voice came from behind Karin.
Karin hurriedly dismissed Melf's Acid Arrow, lest he lose control and injure whoever had spoken!
A figure dressed in pure white rushed over, and Karin recognized her.
She was the young elven priest he had often encountered over the past few days, so Karin nodded to her.
"Thank you!" The priest gave Karin a grateful look, then ran over to the tree he had struck.
A faint light appeared in the priest's hands, then enveloped the tree trunk.
But a few seconds later, the priest frowned. "How strange. Your venom is very potent. My Cleanse can only temporarily contain its corrosion, not purify it!"
Karin shrugged. "Really? It's a venom I happened to concoct myself. I'm very sorry..."
Melf's Acid Arrow had never been recorded in Azeroth before, so Karin could reasonably call himself its inventor!
"Then you're quite remarkable!" the priest said sincerely. "Among the mages I know, you're already one of the most hardworking and dedicated!"
Whenever she had visited the grove lately, she had often encountered Karin meditating or studying, so she knew a little about his daily routine.
Karin asked jokingly, "Then what about the most hardworking and dedicated mage you've ever met? Could you introduce me?"
"She's the person I respect most!" the priest answered earnestly, then playfully stuck out her tongue. "But I'm very sorry. I'm afraid she wouldn't allow me to casually tell people her name!"
"Aw... aw..." The cries they had heard earlier sounded from inside the trunk again.
"Oh, heavens!" The priest covered her mouth and hurriedly turned back.
A minute later, she carried two animals that looked very much like kittens out of the trunk.
"Thank goodness, only a little venom got onto their fur!" the priest said with relief, then began using holy light to remove that tiny bit of venom.
"I'm very sorry. Did I hurt your pets?" Karin asked apologetically.
"No... they're not my pets..." The priest shook her head, her voice growing quieter. "Mr. Vondelor doesn't like these furry little creatures, and I shouldn't cause him any more trouble..."
"Then what are they?" Karin immediately grew curious.
"Two little lynxes!" the priest answered. "When I first encountered them a month ago, they had only just been born. Their mother had been bitten by a raptor... my holy light couldn't save her, but I couldn't abandon them. Without their mother, they would have starved... so I had no choice but to bring them here!"
Lynxes were common beasts in Quel'Thalas, but they were relatively mild-tempered and did not attack elves without cause, so they generally got along quite well with them.
The priest tossed two pieces of dried meat in front of her, and the little lynxes immediately pounced on them and began gobbling them down... she smiled and said, "A month ago, they could only drink milk, but now they can eat meat!"
Watching the earnest priest, Karin couldn't help saying, "What you're doing won't help!"
"Ah!" The priest looked up, flustered!
"If you can't keep them as pets, doing this will only harm them!" Karin said. "After all, you can't come feed them every day. You might forget, or something might come up... but they have no ability to hunt. If you don't come for a few days, all that awaits them is starvation!"
"Is that so..." After hearing Karin's words, the priest sounded noticeably dejected. "Thank you for the warning, Mr. Mage!"
After saying those words to the priest, Karin left the grove!
"A nice girl!" The All-Knowing Eye's voice sounded in Karin's mind. "Don't mind that. It's only what you're thinking!"
"Yes!" Karin answered calmly, without denying it.
"Because she's beautiful?"
"That's part of it, but not the whole reason!"