From the moment he boarded the sailing warship, Lynn had been contemplating the identity he should assume upon entering the land of the wizards.
A disciple of Corlu? A wizard's apprentice who has only been practicing magic for half a year?
Assuming such an identity would undoubtedly bring endless troubles.
Everyone on the ship had witnessed his spellcasting, and the explosion in Port Town was even more telling—there was no way a mere apprentice could have accomplished such a feat.
As the saying goes, "A man without sin who carries a treasure is often targeted." A weak individual harboring significant secrets would naturally become the focus of ill-intentioned people.
Their current status was also extremely precarious—being relentlessly pursued by the Church, fleeing to the land of wizards like stray dogs, and even destroying a vital shipping route. It wouldn't be surprising if they were detained and interrogated upon arriving at Yieta Harbor.
Therefore, to break out of this predicament, a change was imperative.
With this in mind, Lynn looked towards Jonny and asked, "Do you know why the teacher risked capture to travel to the Duke of Nordland's capital?"
"Teacher mentioned that the Duke of Nordland's second daughter possesses a promising magical talent..." Jonny hesitated before speaking with more certainty. "And also, we're running out of money..."
Lynn's mouth twitched. He had suspected that Corlu recruited noble students for a reason—it was to secure funding for his research.
Of course, there was another reason as well: nobles were generally literate and well-educated, sparing the need to teach everything from scratch.
Learning magic is an expensive endeavor; for example, a portion of "Red Fire Embers" required for casting a Fireball spell costs one silver and thirty-seven copper, enough to sustain a poor family for a month.
Magic is not something the poor can afford to learn!
Perhaps Corlu also harbored the idea of cultivating a few noble wizards; though these apprentices were not the first heirs, there was always a chance they could create opportunities for themselves...
Lynn didn't dwell on this thought further and instead shook his head, refuting Jonny's words. "Those are merely pretexts. Have you heard of the 'Arcane Society'?"
"What is that?" Jonny asked with a puzzled expression.
"It's a very secretive wizard organization within the Seccas Empire, gathering many prominent figures. During the time I was learning magic from the teacher, he had the rare opportunity to interact with members of the Arcane Society," Lynn said, fabricating a story.
Corlu's method of teaching apprentices was quite casual—he would keep each apprentice by his side for a period, then send them to a relatively safe place to practice magic on their own.
In other words, only Corlu and Lynn knew what had transpired during the time they spent together, making it impossible for Jonny to refute his claims.
"After interacting with the Arcane Society, the teacher told me that many research theories in the land of wizards were outdated and couldn't keep up with the times...
So, in private, the teacher compiled a secret research manuscript and planned to meet a colleague from the Arcane Society in the capital of Nordland. If this mission failed, he instructed me to deliver the precious manuscript to the land of wizards at all costs!"
With just a few words, Lynn transformed their identity from being fugitives fleeing from the Church and accidentally destroying an important shipping route, into devoted followers of Corlu's orders, who braved countless dangers and evaded the Church's pursuit to deliver a crucial research manuscript to the land of wizards.
As long as the manuscript carried enough weight and the information it contained was explosive enough, they wouldn't be blamed but could even receive commendation.
"Is that so?" Jonny was bewildered. Corlu had never mentioned the Arcane Society, and Lynn's serious expression made it hard to believe he was joking.
"So, did you learn the method to advance to a formal wizard through the Arcane Society?" Jonny asked thoughtfully.
"You could say that, though my situation is somewhat unique and the method may not apply to others," Lynn nodded, not bothering to correct the misunderstanding.
In the land of wizards, only formal wizards held any real status and the ability to protect themselves, which aligned with the ship's crew's minimum estimation of his power.
If he wanted to avoid trouble, whether he liked it or not, he had to be recognized as a formal wizard.
As he spoke, Lynn also pondered the contents of that "research manuscript" in his mind.
Based on Jonny's descriptions over the past few days, the understanding of the world in the land of wizards was roughly equivalent to that of Western Europe during the Renaissance.
Just presenting a slightly advanced theory would be enough to astonish these wizards.
Due to the presence of magic, wizards were heavily biased in their studies.
Though they made significant strides in the microscopic field, discovering gravity early and even creating alchemical ships powered by steam, most wizards still adhered to the flat-earth theory, believing the continent beneath their feet was the center of the universe.
They even used this continent as a reference to map out the orbits of every planet in the galaxy, forming a unique star theory.
Lynn had seen the so-called "Star Chart" in Corlu's research notes—the entire continent floated in the void, surrounded by a solid magical barrier.
Then, the sun and moon circled the continent, with other celestial bodies following specific orbits, forming an extremely complex geometric pattern, which coincided with the creation narrative in the Church's "Genesis."
However, simply repositioning these celestial bodies with the star at the center made everything familiar again.
It was clear that the Church's creationism was pure nonsense—Eira wouldn't be so confused as to mistake a continent for a sphere she created, right?
Of course, this kind of misconception was a pitfall that every civilization must step into—essentially, their thoughts were constrained by so-called common sense...
When people are born, they tend to think of themselves as the protagonist, with all things revolving around them. Likewise, the continent beneath their feet seemed a unique existence in the vast universe, naturally considered the center of everything.
However, deeper research would reveal a harsh truth: not to mention a planet, even an entire star system is insignificant in the grand expanse of the universe.
Attacking the flat-earth theory would be an excellent approach, not only because it was shocking but also because there was ample evidence to disprove it. By simply removing the shackles of common sense, Lynn wouldn't need to say much—those wizards would naturally come to understand what was correct.
Lynn also intended to use this as a way to test the "scientific" atmosphere in the land of wizards—to see if they would carefully verify and accept the truth when faced with doubts or suppress those dissenting voices that didn't align with mainstream beliefs. This would determine his course of action moving forward.