After that, the conversation became more harmonious. Locke was a good person. The old lady had lived for hundreds of years and was knowledgeable. She was already a high-rank Knecht at her age, so she had a bright future ahead of her.
After a while, three plates were placed on the dining table in the living room. No matter how slow-witted Locke was, he knew that the grandmeisterin had acknowledged him for the time being.
The dishes on the table were things that Locke had never seen before. There were pink seashells, fluorescent vegetable leaves and roasted legs of some major monster.
The grandmeisterin's cooking was very good. Although the pots and pans were moving on their own, it wasn't because of magic. The old lady had attached a trace of mental power to the utensils.
A Magister's mental power was strong enough to manipulate objects into shape and motion.
"Thank you for your hospitality, Grandmeisterin!" Locke thanked her before starting to eat.
He picked up one of the pink seashells and was about to pry it open to eat. "Ah!" A child screamed, startling Locke. The sound came from the seashells in his hands.
On the inside of the pink shell, in the soft, fleshy area, there was an organ that looked like a mouth, and the sound was produced from it.
Angelina chuckled at the strange sight. "This is a wailing clam from Lake Baikal in the east. It's Granny Parlina's treasure!"
The old lady did not react to Angelina's flattery. She calmly opened a pink shell, put her mouth close to the edge of the shell, and sucked all the soft flesh of the shell into her stomach. The scream gradually disappeared from her stomach.
Angelina followed suit. She often stayed at the old lady's place and had tasted the howling clam several times, so she was no stranger to it.
Locke stared blankly at the old lady's smooth operation. In the end, he imitated them and sucked the soft flesh of the wailing clam into his stomach.
It took Locke a long time to get used to the strange feeling of the child's screams disappearing into his stomach.
He had eaten many strange things in the past, such as centipedes, spiders, and lizards. For someone who used to be a soldier and had spent a lot of time in the forest, these things were a piece of cake. However, this was the first time he had seen such magical food.
"This is the only good thing in Aomar that can attract us," said the old lady as she wiped her mouth reservedly.
Although she didn't say it explicitly, Locke knew that she was referring to a Magister like her.
"This is a precious ingredient that can increase one's resistance to fire," explained Angelina.
Among all the spells he had seen so far, the most lethal one was fire magic. Without further ado, he grabbed the second Wailing Clam.
Apart from the wailing clams, the other ingredients were equally valuable. Apart from their unique taste, they also had their own uses.
For example, the glowing vegetable could detoxify several types of toxins and would also increase the consumer's resistance to poison.
Locke enjoyed the meal to his heart 'of it. Knights were famous for having big appetites, so the old lady specially made more dishes. The end of the meal was that there was a large portion left.
Locke enjoyed the meal to his heart's content. Knights were famous for their big appetites, so the old lady specially made more dishes. In the end, a large portion of the food was leftover.
Locke watched as the old lady packed up the leftovers and threw them away. Grandmeisterin was probably someone who had a high standard of living as she never ate leftovers.
After lunch, the old lady asked Angelina to show him around before she went back upstairs. She probably went to do some experiments. Locke noticed that the old lady's glasses were still on.
Of course, they couldn't really just walk around casually. Angelina didn't bring him to several sensitive and private places, such as the storeroom, the alchemy table, the elemental pool and the control room.
Sure enough, the magic tower was much more advanced than the one Locke had been to before. It had six floors and not only was the interior spacious, it also had a lot more functions.
Angelina also told him that there was a tower genie in the tower that was as intelligent as an ordinary person. However, Locke wouldn't have the chance to meet it because he wasn't qualified to go to the control room on the sixth floor.
Angelina's alchemy lab was also in the tower. He couldn't go to the other alchemy labs, but he could go to Angelina's alchemy lab. Plus, there were things that she wanted to take with her anyway.
The walls were snow-white and the equipment on the alchemy rack was much more luxurious than the alchemy table at home. Test tubes filled with mysterious colourful liquids were placed on the rack and a yellow spirit lamp was heating up a crucible.
The furnishing of the alchemy room cost at least ten thousand gold moores. Although alchemists earned a lot of money, they also spent a lot of money. Before becoming a master alchemist, every caster had to be prepared to go bankrupt.
"I'll buy a new alchemy table after I study for a while longer," said Angelina as she tidied up her things in the alchemy room.
"Up to you." Locke nodded. All he could do was stand aside and watch. The precious test tubes and equipment were Grandmeisterin's personal belongings. If he damaged any of them, he'd have to eat dirt for a month.
Speaking of which, Angelina was a mid-rank Lehrling and the simple alchemy table at home couldn't be used anymore. "Should I ask Billie?" asked Locke. Whenever he needed to buy something, the first person he thought of was Billie. In his eyes, she was an omnipotent merchant.
"Don't bother her!" said Angelina. "You can just buy one from Grandma Parlina."
Between casters, everything was valued based on value. Even family was no exception. Even though Angelina called her Grandmeisterin, she still had to spend her money. At most, she'd give her a discount.
Worldly possessions weren't that important. Knowledge was the most valuable asset a caster possessed. Knowledge was priceless.
Why did Angelina want to study in the Sanctum? It was because there was more knowledge stored there.
The interior of the black bead was spacious enough to store all of Angelina's belongings. After she was done packing, she cast a spell at the walls of the tower and a water ball seeped out.
"Grandma, we'll be on our way then," said Angelina respectfully.
After a while, the old lady's voice came from the water ball. As expected, the Magister was conducting an experiment. She didn't personally send them off. Instead, she hummed in response.
"Don't forget that I'll be here in a month." The old lady's voice came from the water ball. Angelina would be leaving for the Sanctum in a month's time.
"Alright," replied Angelina.
The water ball didn't disappear immediately after she finished speaking. The old lady seemed to hesitate for a moment before continuing. "I heard that you're going to the Sanctum to send Angelina off too?"
"Yes," said Locke. He planned to go to the Sanctum in a month's time through the Hall of Knights. It didn't matter if it was a long journey, he could just treat it as a holiday. He'd be back after settling Angelina down. It was just that it would take a little longer and he'd have to inform the women at home first.
"You can come along then. There's no need to go through so much trouble," said the old lady. She intended to bring Locke along.
"Thank you, Grandmeisterin!" Locke thanked her. Going to the Sanctum through the Hall of Knights would take a long time and cost him a lot of money. It was best if he could hitch a ride.
After saying this, the water ball shattered with a pop, turning into sparkling crystals that melted into the tower.
Grandmeisterin Parlina was a Magister who specialized in water magic. Sending messages through a water ball was a piece of cake for her, but Angelina couldn't help but feel envious.
Angelina pursued the path of elemental magic and alchemy at the same time. Elemental magic leaned towards fire, which was more powerful in combat. So, when it came to magic communication, she could only use the lowest level of flame communication, the kind that could only transmit text.
In order to achieve the level of transmission of sound and image at the same time, she had enough magic power reserve in a short distance. What she lacked was theoretical knowledge. She had not started to learn more advanced magic.
Compared to the more dazzling and damaging advanced spells, Angelina was more focused on the accumulation of basic knowledge.
Locke let out a long sigh of relief after leaving the grandmeisterin's tower.
A Magister was much more powerful than a Ritter. Locke was under a lot of pressure, afraid that he'd upset the grandmeisterin.
Fortunately, it turned out well. Not only did he successfully accompany Angelina to meet the grandmeisterin, but he also got the grandmeisterin's promise to bring Locke along.
As they walked out of the academy's gate, a carriage that had been waiting by the side approached. The coachman was a mid-rank Knecht, the squad jarl of the shadow guards.
"You can go back first. I have some matters to attend to at the Hall of Knights," said Locke after sending Angelina to the carriage.
"Okay, come back soon." Angelina didn't ask what he was going to do and only told him to go home early.
"Don't worry." Locke nodded.
After the shadow guard's carriage left, Locke waved to the side of the road and a carriage came to a stop.
The carriages here didn't just belong to the academy's students, there were also many commoners who made a living here.
"Go to Constantine Avenue in the northeast!" Locke shouted at the coachman.
"Yes, Master. How about forty silver moores?" The coachman was a middle-aged man in his thirties. Locke had encountered it too many times over the years to be called Master by someone older than him, so he was used to it.
Princeton was a big city, so forty silver moores to go from the south to the northeast was a reasonable price. Locke raised an eyebrow. He wasn't in the mood to haggle with the coachman and said, "No problem. I'll add another ten silver moores if we get there quickly!"
"Okay!" replied the coachman. He whipped the horse and the carriage sped forward.
A group of coachmen gathered outside the academy. Most of them were first-class citizens of the empire. Being a coachman wasn't a respectable job, but it was an exception outside the academy because the nobles in the academy rarely haggled with commoners.
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