Chapter 62 (continued)

Then Moli covered her mouth and started sobbing, which startled me. Moli had cried several times today. I'd scolded her so much before, but she'd never shown any negative emotions...

Yes, this time is different. This time she was just kidnapped. You know, being kidnapped isn't a vacation. The food and sleep are terrible; she's crammed into a tiny cage. I'm still a young apprentice, and this fright only made things worse... I had to quickly pull her into my arms and pat her head to comfort her. Unfortunately, Moli was still sobbing uncontrollably, burying her face in my chest, saying:

"Waaaaah... Teacher... I'm so embarrassed! Are you going to start disliking me? Waaaaah..."

Although... it was indeed a bit much to finally throw out an Ice Needle after putting in all that effort...

"Waaaaah... I'm so unworthy of such an amazing teacher as 'Flame of Fury'... Waaaaah, you'll be angry and throw me away... I finally managed to get you to agree to take me in..."

Wait... Moli, how did you know?!

I was so shocked I almost jumped up. This child... when did she find out? I only just found out I have such a cheesy name, the Dark Mage. When did Moli start knowing things I didn't even know?

"Waaah... because on my first day in the teacher's office, I found you cleaning the trash can with Hellfire..." Moli clung tightly to my waist, saying, "Teacher! I'll try my best, I'll try my best! Please don't abandon me... even though my Ice Arrow attack was so clumsy just now..."

I almost burst out laughing.

So... this child has such keen observation skills! And... she's never been afraid of me, and she even enjoys arguing with me. For example, she says I'm a "time traveler from a legendary era," and she complains about me every day, saying that I actually believe some rumors that are no longer shared on social media.

"What kind of teacher abandons their apprentice?" I scolded her. "Do you think of me as that kind of irresponsible, scoundrel of a mage?"

I softened my voice, gently put my arm around her trembling shoulders, and teased her, "Alright, alright, what kind of behavior is this? Look at all those tears you're shedding! Mr. Madsen will think your teacher fell into a puddle!"

Moli chuckled, then replied somewhat reluctantly, "Then he'll be even happier. He'll be so happy taking off the teacher's clothes one by one..."

"You're being silly again!" I slapped her.

The commotion alerted Mel, who flew back in the opposite direction to find us. Seeing Moli crying so sadly, he couldn't help but come over and hug her. Mel, even more astutely, said, "The more you think about not being able to use fire element and having to use other types of magic, the more pressure you'll feel, which will backfire... Well, you've known your teacher's personality for a long time; he won't really tear up all your manuscripts."

Moli stopped crying and nestled in my arms. I saw that the tips of her ears, peeking out from her black hair, were almost as red as Anna's eyes.

"Alright, stop crying. Remember, even a dead apprentice is still the teacher's property, so there's no way the teacher will suddenly abandon you, no matter how stupid the magic you cast..." I wiped her face. "When we get home, I'll install Wi-Fi for you, okay?"

"Wow!"

They gasped at the same time, and then Moli jumped up, waving her arms and legs (and her makeup was still perfectly intact). They pounced on us simultaneously, each grabbing one of Mel around the waist, and Anna even kissed one of us on the cheek.

Mel and I were absolutely furious. These two apprentices were simply outrageous and lawless! They got so excited about going online that they forgot everything else!

But then, Moli jumped up happily and did something that surprised me—

She threw out a fireball of Hellfire!

Moli herself was startled, covering her mouth and staring with wide eyes. Hellfire quickly engulfed the two ferocious cyborgs in front of her, the pitch-black flames churning with a unique chill. But the apprentices beside me shouted and even raised their hands in celebration.

Anna was still shouting, "Wow! Moli is awesome!"

"You learned it so quickly?" Even Mel was amazed. "Xipei, you truly are worthy of being your apprentice."

I watched them cheer and jump for joy because of a... a Hellfire of such a small size, and I couldn't help but want to laugh along—heaven knows that the Hellfire was as weak as Flame Explosion Spell; it didn't even kill the second cyborg, because the second cyborg nimbly escaped. Hellfire is indeed difficult to extinguish once it touches you, but Moli's speed in igniting it was simply not fast enough, so the second person was able to run away from the fire.

But Moli still turned her head and looked at me expectantly, which made it impossible for me to say anything harsh. I nodded and said to her, "A good start. Remember to try to turn it off."

"Yay!!!" Moli shouted again, and threw a new ball of Hellfire at the second person.

As I watched the girl regain her joy, a smile involuntarily crept onto my face.

She reminds me of my past self...

When I first ignited Hellfire, I probably cheered just as much, because the first Hellfire I lit burned my teacher to death, burned all my fellow disciples, and destroyed the entire gloomy bunker. Through the still-burning flames, I saw the first ray of sunlight in seven years. It made my face wet with tears. Then, I was shoved into an ambulance by the roaring Magitech Corps and thrown into a medical device. Touching that thing, I almost thought it was some kind of new coffin.

Well, speaking of which, although the magical healing device is cheap and practical, it can't compare to a priest's healing spells at all. If a priest were healing me, there would be no way they wouldn't notice that I still have thirteen curses on me. In that case, my "Flame of Fury" would have been exposed long ago.

Um... I understand how Mel felt now. These nicknames given by netizens really give me goosebumps!

Suddenly, the warmth of my lips pulled me back to reality. Mel was holding me, while the two apprentices were shouting and setting fires in front of us. Mel, however, was pressing me against the wall, intently and focused on tasting my tongue. He stared at my face with wide eyes, and because we were so close, if I didn't close my eyes quickly, we would both become cross-eyed.

Hmm...

... Mel, stop sucking... I'm almost drained... Ugh...

"What are you thinking about?" Mel released my lips, his forehead pressed against mine, and asked in a low voice, his breath brushing against my wet lips. I couldn't help but tremble, raising my arms to hug him, and couldn't resist licking his lips. Mel stuck out his tongue and licked me back, and so we lingered for a long time before I was able to continue answering the question from before.

"I wasn't thinking about anything..." I took a breath and said, "Just thinking about a long time ago..."

"Moli isn't you," Mel suddenly said. I looked up and our eyes met. Surprisingly, being this close didn't make me cross-eyed; it just meant my vision was filled with Mel's eyes.

His eyes are such a beautiful blue.

"Xipei, you are the gentlest dark mage in the world, and your apprentice will be the best apprentice in the world," Mel said. "Don't worry, I know you'll never become the Great Demon King, and countries will only compete to have you give lectures; no one will put you on the wanted list."

... Having this point suddenly exposed, my face flushed, and I couldn't help but turn my head away—how could Mel know that I'd been worried about this all along!

"Haha..." Mel laughed, lowering his head to kiss my face repeatedly. The places he kissed felt even hotter. I tried to dodge, but I found myself pinned against the wall. Unless I crawled into the wall behind me, I might as well just let him kiss me; there was no way to avoid it anyway.

And I love it when Mel kisses me; it feels so good that I just want to close my eyes and enjoy it.

Mel said matter-of-factly, "How could I not know, Xipei? I guessed, but I didn't know how to bring it up... Now you should know for yourself that the people you killed in the past were the truly evil ones, and killing them will never be your fault, it's even your 'heroic deed.' Haven't you seen how highly you've been praised online? Oh, haha, you don't know how to use the internet..."