“It’s been a while, dear Carmel,”
“Wayne Steele, please address me by my full name.”
The two faced each other from a distance, with the other party greeting warmly, while Carmel displayed disapproval from within and without.
It occurred to Ivan that Wayne was indeed the only apprentice with a 5th Class talent in their batch, rumored to have joined the Talent Nurturing Team, which was controlled by a faction of the Dean, but the surname ‘Steele’ seemed to belong to the vice dean of the Apothecary Skill group.
What could be the conflict between these two from sorcerer families?
“You’re breaking my heart, Carmel,” Wayne said as he approached, his apprentice robe adorned with intricate patterns and exuding a faint fragrance—an indication of his meticulous nature.
“I don’t mind,” Carmel replied coldly.
“Well, aren’t you going to introduce your friend?” Wayne switched topics, unfazed.
Read exclusive content at empire
“This is Ivan,” Carmel said coldly, turning to Ivan with praise, “A genius with talents in both Apothecary Skill and Enchantment Skill, and an Insect Control Master too, apprenticed to the most formidable insect-control sorcerer in the academy.”
Ivan nodded slightly in acknowledgment.
“Is that so?” Wayne glanced at him scrutinizingly a few times, his gaze softening when he looked back at Carmel. “Then, farewell, Ivan.”
Watching Wayne’s retreating figure, Carmel still showed disapproval: “You don’t know him; he’s just a very annoying person, and you’d do well to stay away from him too.”
“I always keep a safe distance from strangers,”
In Ivan’s eyes, Carmel was a kind-hearted young man, and for him to be provoked like this, Wayne must also be quite capable. Perhaps he was pursuing the sister Carmel often mentioned—Carmel turned out to be somewhat overprotective of his sister.
After parting with Carmel, Ivan returned to his dormitory but wasn’t idle, engaging in meditation, potion-making, new spells, and enchantments, keeping busy until late into the night.
The next day, they arrived on time at the enchantment workshop and started their day’s enchantment work.
The rune scrolls in the workshop were pre-processed, only needing the corresponding runes to be inscribed according to the material, which was a simple task for both.
During the enchantment work, Carmel kept an eye on the surroundings and suddenly stopped.
“Isn’t that a bit exaggerated? It’s only been a day, how could Ivan have improved so much?”
His movements had become much smoother, and his speed had increased, an improvement Carmel could evidently see.
He couldn’t afford to slack.
With that thought, Carmel focused even more and returned to his enchantment tasks.
As evening approached,
“67 sheets.”
“49 sheets.”
Both had made some progress.
Besides the apparent improvement, Ivan had also enhanced the completion level of rune lines to 67%, and could now exhibit the power of 3D runes at 67%, while his Runes Skill jumped to Level 4, another Level 4 subject following Apothecary Skill and Knight Breathing Skill.
After reaching Runes Skill Level 4, the experience points awarded for crafting disposable runes significantly decreased.
[Runes Skill: Lv4 (4/1000)]
[Enchantment Skill: lv3 (201/300)]
Unless something unexpected happened, his Enchantment Skill would also rise to Level 4 the next day, a thought that made him somewhat emotional.
Another day passed without incident, and his Enchantment Skill naturally progressed to Level 4.
[Enchantment Skill Experience Point +1]
[Enchantment Skill: lv4 (33/1000)]
After reaching level 4 in Enchantment Skill, the experience points for each production of a one-time rune product were only 1 point, which was a bit better than he had anticipated.
On this day, Carmel and Ivan produced a total of 68 and 56 final products respectively.
On the fourth day of the task, Carmel reported his figures first, “I have 67, how about you, Ivan?”
“65.”
Rune lines with a maximum completion of 72%, Ivan added in his mind.
Having undergone the baptism of two Small Lights of Wisdom, he didn’t know by how much his enchantment skills had improved or how much time he had saved, but by now, he had caught up to Carmel, standing on the same level.
Carmel couldn’t contain himself and asked somewhat impolitely, “I wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes. How did you make such great progress, Ivan?”
Ivan said, “I’ve mentioned it before.”
“What?”
“I have some talent in learning.”
“That’s just some talent? Ivan, you’re being too modest.”
Carmel, witnessing the progress right before his eyes, although somewhat puzzled, didn’t let it hinder his acceptance of the fact. Born into a sorcerer family, he was well-versed and understood that talent doesn’t really explain itself to anyone.
Just like Wayne Steele, who is so detestable, yet possesses a 5th Class talent, while he himself only has a 4th Class, always remaining beneath him—something that can’t be changed in this lifetime. The thought of it felt so unreasonable to him; however, Ivan’s learning talent was much easier to accept.
“Ivan, I’m not giving up that easily.”
“Neither am I.”
The two exchanged glances, each seeing the determination in the other’s eyes.
Leaving the enchantment workshop, Carmel hurried back to the Lidia family’s castle.
Carmel crossed the castle garden’s corridor and rushed deep into the castle, shouting into a room, “Heidi, my dear sister, you must help me—I—”
A tall figure flashed in front of him, examining her brother from top to bottom, “Who’s bullying you?”
“Ivan—no, Ivan didn’t bully me, let me finish,” Carmel said instinctively, then quickly realized the implications and gave a quick summary of their competition, “Hurry and teach me; there’s no time to waste, or Ivan might surpass me tomorrow.”
“Using magicalized item designs as a bet, you sure know how to do it,” Heidi complained a bit but tapped his head with her slim fingers.
“Are you going to help or not?” Carmel grabbed her hand, not letting go as if he wouldn’t release it until she agreed.
“Help, help; who else do I have but my only brother,” Heidi said with a doting look in her eyes, treating it as a small matter, “You see, I told you to study more earnestly before, or else how could you not surpass even a new apprentice.”
“Ivan is different from the others.”
“Alright, I want to see how different he is.”
No matter the reason, her brother wanting to improve was a good thing in Heidi’s eyes.
Soon, Carmel came to a reluctant realization that Ivan’s skills were no less than his own; thankfully, the pace of improvement had slowed. Although it wasn’t very gracious to feel so, this was undoubtedly uplifting news.
Working in the same workshop, Carmel kept an eye on Ivan, who in turn observed him, learning several useful techniques in the process.
Ivan could sense that Carmel was improving bit by bit, guessing that he must have worked hard upon returning home. He was a formidable opponent not to be underestimated.
In the following days, both were full of drive, setting aside the matter of credits and focusing all their efforts on producing more one-time runes.
The friendly competition between them turned into a fierce clash of dragons and tigers.