Chapter 41 (continued)

"Yes! That's why I never allow my assistants to bring their phones into the lab," I replied. "And once, at a research institute results presentation, they actually let people bring their phones into the venue. That was the only time I ever blew up over a hundred phones at once."

"That's truly remarkable!" Mel exclaimed.

We chatted very comfortably and relaxedly, automatically ignoring Moli's wailing. Before we knew it, the Butler knocked on the door to announce that dinner was ready. Mel and I went downstairs, but the apprentice's seat was still empty. At that moment, I realized that as the tower's owners, we could naturally teleport freely within the tower, but the apprentices couldn't... This tower contained Magic Power that would interfere with the apprentices' spells, so Teleportation Spell was strictly prohibited. This was because if there was any deviation, it could very well result in restricted scenes, such as only half a body crossing space.

That's why we both chose the same book, "Space Magic," at the library!

It took Moli a long time to listlessly climb down the stairs. She sat weakly at the table, her eyes vacant, and greeted me, "Hello, teacher... Not only is there no internet or cell phone signal, but my back and legs are about to break from climbing the stairs."

After saying that, she lay down on the table, half-closing her eyes, even as the Butler brought her various...

Gourmet food

They only made her lift her eyelids slightly.

Hmm... so Mel invented Shadow Dance when he was a teenager to go downstairs to get things for him!

My teacher's tower back then... well, "mage tower" is a fixed term, but in reality, being called a mage tower doesn't necessarily mean it's a huge, tall tower. The most traditional mage tower is, of course, a tower, but it's important to consider that not every mage has the means to build a tall and conspicuous tower. It depends on various complex objective factors. For example, for my second teacher, his "mage tower" was actually a bunker.

I lived in that bunker for seven years. Only during the full moon and the Black Moon each year could I follow my teacher to the surface for a few minutes to assist him in casting spells. However, the bunker had no stairs, and we entered and exited by Flight Spell, so I never learned how to climb stairs. I was better at navigating through dark tunnels.

After I regained my freedom, I walked out of that dark tunnel and saw the sunrise for the first time. I almost knelt down, tears streaming down my face from the sunlight.

I said, "We need to treat restoring the ancient teleportation array as our first major academic challenge."

"Yes," Mel nodded, "Because I don't want to change the structure of the mage tower. If I want to put the floating disc in the center, I'll need to modify the structure. Right now, not every floor of this tower is transparent."

"I don't like floating discs either; they make the mage tower look like a hollow chimney and waste space," I said.

Moli rubbed her calves, continuing to slump listlessly on the table, "Mastering Levitation is my primary goal. I understand why all those ancient great mages in the bard's stories floated away—it wasn't because they were arrogant and didn't want their feet to get muddy, but because they had already broken their legs climbing stairs while they were apprentices!"

She successfully made Mel laugh, and Mel handed Moli a whole large blueberry pudding.

"Good boy, have some sugar."

"Teacher, isn't this a bit much?" Anna nimbly jumped over from the other side. "You shoved your own apprentice into the wall, and now you won't even leave her a piece of her favorite pudding!"

We turned around, and there was the Butler, gesturing wildly—he was really gesticulating wildly, jumping up and down, his ghosts floating in the air, sometimes expanding, sometimes contracting, and pulling out a bunch of tentacle-like lines from the white mist, waving them around haphazardly.

"Mr. Butler, calm down," Mel said.

Hmm...

Anna did indeed jump very skillfully, but... half of her body was still inside the stone! Did she dismantle the mage tower wall and bring it all with her?

"Oh, because the Butler's food smells so good!" Anna said with a grin. She tried to jump to the table, and luckily she managed to free her hands. She grabbed a chicken leg and stuffed it into her mouth.

The Butler was so angry he was pacing back and forth. Mel snapped his fingers, and the stones detached from Anna's body, then lined up and flew back to where they belonged, automatically repairing themselves. After the Butler went around to make sure there wouldn't be a large, elf-shaped hole left in the wall, he calmly and gracefully floated back, another dignified and proper ghost.

"Sit down," Mel commanded.

Anna dusted herself off, sat down next to Moli, leaned in, and asked ingratiatingly, "Can I have half of the blueberry pudding? I'll write something for you tonight!"

Anna lowered her voice when she said a word, but from the sudden brightness in Moli's eyes and the instantaneous contortion on Mel's face beside me, I sensed that the word was definitely not a very good one.

"Here you go!" Moli immediately perked up and offered the pudding with both hands.

"No, no, no, I only want half, you can have the other half! Come on, open your mouth, ah--" Anna said, picking up a piece with her fork and stuffing it into Moli's mouth. Moli puffed out her cheeks, chewing and saying:

"It's so sweet! You should have some too, I'll draw you a picture tonight!"

Mel and I felt despair once again, and I didn't know whether I should be comforted by the harmonious relationship between the two apprentices.

Mel sighed, "It's all my fault. I didn't teach Anna well."

I sighed and said, "No, it's also my fault. Moli's resolve wasn't strong enough."

Living in the Mage Tower was very pleasant. We could study freely during the day, taking turns teaching two students, and lie side by side in bed watching the stars at night. During this time, Lusien visited us, and we were very happy to welcome this knight. He also brought us a set of newly developed enhancement potions from Shield of the New Star as a gift for our study.

"This is an enhancement drug that Warden Angela imported from the Druid Southern Sect. It can be injected into the body at crucial moments to increase muscle strength," Lusien said. "Although mages don't need it, I think you'd like to take a look."

Indeed, this is a very good gift. The potions produced by druids are very natural and have almost no side effects, unlike the potions produced by Magitech, which I heard leave you feeling completely empty after using them.

As instructed by Ms. Angela, Lusien did transfer me to the Shield of the New Star. He had the personal signature of the Marshal of the Magitech Corps, and our old director of the research institute signed it without saying a word... Oh, the old director is back to work again. Well, the Five-Star Old Man is currently in the hospital, and the doctors are discussing whether to send him to a veterinary hospital... Actually, I think a magic materials hospital would be more suitable, but there isn't one.

The top trending topic online right now is a green slime... because it was Reynold, his political rival, who took it away. So when reporters asked, Reynold gave a detailed account, even generously showing off the incredibly elastic slime from every angle. His story even seems a bit embellished. Now the internet is full of "hahaha," with the public seemingly happier than the Speaker being turned into a sheep. They affectionately call the Five-Star Old Man a slime, "Disgustingly cute Dean."

I don't quite understand. How can something disgusting be considered cute? After all, Moli told me that "cute" means adorable.

Lusien said this was probably because the once aloof leader had suddenly become more down-to-earth, so everyone was happy. He also specifically told me that there was no need to worry about the official prestige being damaged, because after doing so, the government's public approval rating had actually increased, and the Prime Minister wanted to express his gratitude to us.

The only remaining problem is that the Five-Star Old Man's Transformation Spell is incredibly long-lasting, and he hasn't transformed back into human form yet.

Since I was only temporarily assigned to the Shield of the New Star, Lusien never asked me to participate in patrol missions. Although I felt bad about it at first, Lusien said that a mage should act as a strategist in the team, not a front-line fighter. So, before Ms. Angela returned from her investigation, I could just stay in the tower with Mel, reading and chatting without any guilt.