After a night of arduous travel, everyone present was utterly exhausted. Once Jonny finished speaking, they each retired to rest.
Lynn was no exception. He chose a room that seemed relatively decent, pushed the broken door shut, and, without minding the dust covering the wooden bed, lay down directly.
In the week since his arrival, Lynn's nerves had been constantly on edge, even sleeping with one eye open, fearing that at any moment, guards might burst in and kill him. But now, he finally felt he could relax a little.
"Grinreir..."
Lynn murmured the name of the land of wizards that Jonny had mentioned. Unlike Will and the others, who were skeptical, Lynn didn't find it strange at all that a group of mages would unite to claim a territory and immerse themselves in the study of magic.
In fact, to him, this seemed perfectly natural. On the contrary, the Church's theological pursuits appeared more peculiar by comparison.
For Lynn, heading to the land of wizards was undoubtedly an excellent choice. In a place that revered magic and knowledge, his talents could truly shine, and he wouldn't have to worry about being captured one day.
In the territory controlled by the Sekas Empire, where the Church held sway, he doubted he could even find a peaceful place to cultivate or advance technology.
If the Church really did invoke divine intervention, who could argue with that? Even if he managed to develop an antimatter weapon, it might not be enough to counteract it...
After weighing the pros and cons, Lynn temporarily abandoned his plans to go it alone, though a lingering unease continued to cloud his mind.
He didn't believe that the sense of impending danger he'd felt in the forest earlier was merely an illusion.
Jonny, White Dove, Will, Buck, Barton... One by one, their figures flashed through Lynn's mind.
In the half-year since he became a wizard apprentice, his relationships with these people had been shallow, and there were no personal grudges between them, so the possibility of a private vendetta seemed unlikely.
As for who might have made a move against him?
Lynn thought for a moment and first ruled out Jonny.
This wasn't because of any lingering fondness from the original owner of his body, but rather because her motives seemed the least suspicious.
As the current leader of the apprentices and the one who proposed the escape plan, if Jonny were to betray them, he might as well flee as quickly as possible.
Next, he considered White Dove. Her ability to control animals was crucial, essentially serving as the eyes and ears of the group. If someone like her switched sides, it would be a nightmare.
The parchment that had warned him earlier was written by Jonny and delivered by the gray crow under White Dove's control. If either of them had been compromised, Karl might have been dead before Lynn even arrived in this world.
Lynn was more uncertain about the remaining three. Buck and Barton were twin brothers who could easily cover for each other without Jonny and the others noticing.
As for Will, who was taciturn and enigmatic, Lynn knew even less about him, only that he was the son of a nobleman in the Sekas Empire.
Closing his eyes, Lynn replayed every interaction he'd had with the wizard apprentices, recalling the secret passage in the Drunkard's Tavern, old York, the land of wizards, and Lame Laud...
Suddenly, a suspicion flashed through his mind. Lynn's eyes snapped open as he sat up, an inexplicable chill creeping into his heart.
Creak~
At that very moment, the sound of a turning hinge echoed, and the half-closed door was gently pushed open.
Already on alert, Lynn instinctively drew the long sword at his waist and slashed toward the door.
But when he saw who it was, Lynn abruptly halted his swing, the sharp blade freezing inches from the girl's face.
"Jonny?" Lynn was somewhat surprised.
The silver-haired witch raised her right hand to block the sword, and it was only then that Lynn noticed she was wearing a pure black leather glove on that hand, etched with numerous intricate and mysterious runes.
It looked like some kind of alchemical artifact.
"Did you have a nightmare?" The silver-haired witch furrowed her brows slightly, puzzled by Lynn's sudden reaction. After a moment's pause, she explained further, "I knocked on the door just now, but you didn't respond."
Lynn nodded and sheathed his sword, then asked with curiosity, "Why are you here so late?"
"My teacher told me earlier that once you master the first-ring spell [Ice Blade], I should give this to you," Jonny said somberly, pulling a two-finger-thick book from her cloak and handing it to Lynn. The cover bore the hastily scrawled title "Basic Magic Compendium" in the common tongue.
Lynn took it with curiosity. The entire book was made of rough papyrus. Flipping to the first page, the first spell recorded was—[Magic Missile].
Like [Beginner's Material Decomposition], [Magic Missile] was also a special category of zero-ring spells. Its power was weaker than [Ice Blade] and [Fireball], but its advantage lay in being a pure construct of magical energy, requiring no pre-prepared materials and having no limit on the number of projectiles.
Theoretically, as long as one's magic power was sufficient, it was possible to create hundreds of [Magic Missiles] at once.
Of course, sheer quantity wasn't enough. Every wizard's mental energy was finite, and a wizard apprentice capable of creating and controlling two or three missiles simultaneously would already be at their limit. Any more would risk distraction during battle.
But there was a way around that.
As Lynn turned the pages, he noticed the second page of the "Basic Magic Compendium" was filled with curves and numerous Helleram formulas that looked like scribbles.
After some study, Lynn roughly understood the concept being conveyed.
To surpass the control limit of [Magic Missile], one had to establish a three-dimensional coordinate system in the mind, with oneself at the center, and pre-set the missiles' flight paths.
The flight paths could be not only straight lines but also curves, meaning the caster could create a barrage of missiles from different directions and angles, forming an overwhelming, nearly unstoppable attack.
This involved equations of lines and curves in three-dimensional space...
Lynn rubbed his chin, thinking, *This problem doesn't seem too difficult...*
Since [Magic Missile] was a pure magical construct, gravity had little effect on it, so he only needed to consider inertia and wind speed.
Seeing Lynn's intense focus on the book, Jonny couldn't help but remind him, "This is a formula created by the Grand Wizard Helleram. It can further enhance the power of [Magic Missile], but it's too advanced for us right now. You shouldn't waste too much time on it."
"I'll keep that in mind," Lynn replied casually, after scanning the page a few more times to confirm his thoughts, before closing the book.
Jonny noticed Lynn's dismissive attitude and shook her head helplessly. When she first began studying magic, she was just like him, eager to dive into complex formulas, only to realize her limitations after hitting a wall...