With Ivan's cheers, the golden butterfly also danced gracefully in the air, as if it could feel the joy.
After a while, Ivan slowly calmed down and looked up at the flying golden butterfly, asking, "Do you know where Professor Lavash left the magic wand for me?"
The golden butterfly seemed to understand Ivan's words and floated towards the top of the laboratory tower. After some time, it slowly descended, carrying a one-foot-long, ivory-colored magic wand with the thickness of a wheat stalk, tied with a yellow ribbon at the top, and a scroll of parchment.
Ivan carefully caught the falling magic wand and parchment.
He lovingly examined the magic wand that belonged to him.
The magic wand was finely crafted from ivory, with a smooth surface, soft color, and a flexible feel, making Ivan extremely fond of it.
As he gently waved the magic wand, Ivan felt the resonance produced by the collision of the magic wand and the element of wind, as if playing a symphony praising the wind.
Excited, Ivan settled down and gently opened the parchment.
The text on the parchment was concise and clear, describing the three types of magic that the magic wand could cast, as well as the meditation and incantations required to use the magic. For Ivan, meditation was not difficult as he had been practicing it. The ointment given by Professor Lavash also required special meditation, and Ivan had mastered this method, not forgetting Herbert's teachings. Only by mastering this skill could he use it flawlessly in any situation.
Although Ivan did not like Herbert, his words were correct. During that week, Ivan devoted himself to ensuring he could meditate quickly in tense situations. While this practice was arduous, the results were significant.
Ivan believed that there were not many magic users as skilled as him. The meditation method on the parchment had minor differences from what he had practiced. This meditation was meant to gather wind elemental energy, not advanced magic.
For Ivan, the real challenge lay in the three long incantations. All incantations were recorded in five special "divine runes."
On the parchment left by Professor Lavash, Ivan recorded two commonly used "divine runes." His main task in the past week was to learn these mysterious characters. Learning these "divine runes" was quite challenging, unlike any other language in the world. The two "divine runes" consisted of 325 letters in total, each with five to six completely different and irregular pronunciations. The pronunciation of these "divine runes" depended entirely on the combination of letters, which was also entirely irregular.
After just one week, Ivan's mastery of these mysterious characters was still very limited. Holding the parchment, he could only attempt to decipher these characters.
Fortunately, the parchment clearly documented the uses and casting methods of three types of magic. This magic wand was like a special launching device, capable of gathering wind elemental energy and ejecting the liquid in three different ways.
The first magic could turn the liquid into a mist, dispersing it within a range of ten meters. The second magic condensed the liquid into liquid beads, enveloped in wind elemental energy and shot out to a distance of two to three hundred meters, stronger than a crossbow bolt and almost always hitting the target. The third magic pushed the liquid beads to a distance of two to three hundred meters, then transformed them into mist, with an incantation length close to the sum of the first two.
Now knowing the casting steps and magic incantations, the next step was continuous experimentation until the correct pronunciation of the "divine runes" was found.
Although unsure of where to start, Ivan had some cleverness. He recognized some familiar combinations and remembered learning simple incantations. The teacher had annotated them in Francian, so he knew how to read them.
The next step was to identify the remaining combinations of divine runes. Ivan did not understand why the teacher did not directly annotate the pronunciation, perhaps wanting him to practice finding the key to the combinations.
The following time was spent on studying magic, not experimenting with the hallucinogenic powder, as water was abundant in this world. Ivan's magical experiments progressed smoothly, and he finally found the correct pronunciation of a magic incantation when he was too fatigued to concentrate.
Ivan realized that he had reached his magical limit and would not be able to cast any magic for at least the next three to four hours. It seemed that these three magics consumed much more magical energy than the levitation magic his teacher had initially taught him.
However, now that he knew the pronunciation of one incantation, he could roughly guess the other two. These three magics were closely related, sharing common magical characteristics. Ivan felt he had somewhat grasped some patterns within them.
With this realization, he noticed that time was running out. They had set out early in the morning, and he had arrived here on horseback in just two hours. Mr. Hyde and the others couldn't have arrived so quickly; he remembered the first time he had traveled to Pidton with Mr. Audrey in a carriage, which had taken half a day.
They should be arriving here soon.
Thinking quickly, Ivan inserted the magic wand and the parchment into the pocket on the right side of his clothes. The only thing he needed to do now was to write down what he needed to tell Professor Lavash on the mirror.
Ivan took out the carefully prepared magic potion from the side pocket of the saddle and returned to the laboratory. There was so much he needed to tell his teacher.
He detailed everything that had happened recently on the mirror, hoping that the teacher would know about it and maybe rush back to help him. However, Ivan was not certain about this.
After finishing writing on the mirror, Ivan left the laboratory and mounted his horse, riding towards Baron Longa's mansion in the distance.
Although he couldn't use that kind of magic, for this purebred horse, Ivan's weight was negligible. Moving along the forest path, the horse's gait remained light and graceful.
In no time, they arrived at Baron Longa's mansion.
To Ivan's surprise, the mansion's door was tightly closed, with only a few servants picking fruits and vegetables in the fields.
"Mr. Hyde, you are Mr. Hyde, Miss has been missing you all this time. Why do you never come? You make our Miss worry so much." An elderly man in the field stood up, wiped his hands on the apron around him, and respectfully approached Ivan.
Ivan recognized the man as the steward of Baron Longa's house. He politely asked, "Mr. Steward, my grandfather and uncle have come to visit Baron Longa. Is the Baron not here?"
"Oh, you see, it's really unfortunate. Yesterday, our master took his wife and daughter to Sether Castle. I heard that the lord's last heir was also murdered, and it was a blatant bloody massacre this time. Oh, what is happening in this world? The master and his wife and daughter rushed to Sether Castle for the memorial service," the steward said.
"Yesterday? It seems I won't be able to catch up then," Ivan said without any regret.
"Yes, how unfortunate. If you could have accompanied them, the young lady would have been very happy," the steward said, lamenting.
"Thank you, Mr. Steward. I must leave now; my grandfather is waiting for me. Anyway, I will surely meet Miss Fanny at Sether Castle. Goodbye, Mr. Steward," Ivan said, turning his horse's head and galloping back the way he came.
The steward muttered to himself, "What a fine young man. If he were to be paired with our young lady, they would make such a perfect couple."
After hearing his wife's words, the steward returned to the fields to continue working. Ivan sighed deeply as he left Baron Longa's mansion and slowly rode towards the crossroads.
For him, the only thing to do now was to wait for Mr. Hyde's carriage to arrive. Ivan never considered patient waiting as a waste of time; for a magician, meditation practice could be done at any time. Having depleted his meager magical energy in experimenting with the new magic, he now needed to quickly recover through meditation.
Ivan stood quietly by the roadside, resembling a motionless statue. The wind blew through the dense forest, rustling the tall trees, creating a "shush" sound. These continuous sounds converged into a roaring wave, as if the "giant waves" made of tree leaves were crashing against the "reefs" formed by the branches.
Standing there quietly, Ivan seemed to hear distant sounds, messages brought to him by the wind. This feeling was truly wonderful.
Ivan recalled that Professor Lavash should have told him that meditation in nature was a unique experience.
Deep in the dense Bartson Forest, on the main road leading to Sether Castle, a regular merchant's carriage was slowly moving. Ten meters ahead and behind the carriage, two middle-aged men rode horses, looking serious. The secluded path made them uneasy.
Suddenly, the carriage stopped. An elderly man with white hair stepped out of the carriage, dressed in a grayish-blue suit, a deep blue vest, and a crimson soft cap, with copper wire glasses perched on his nose. His attire made him appear as a seasoned old accountant.
The old man ordered the carriage to stop, causing surprise and tension among the siblings and bodyguards inside. He slowly walked into a clearing in the dense forest, took a deep breath, opened his arms as if to embrace, and then spread his wings like a crane about to soar.
The old man's actions made everyone even more nervous. After a while, the old man slowly lowered his arms and walked back.
"Master, have you discovered anything?" the young master asked.
"It's not clear yet. There was a magician on the road we just passed behind us, and for some reason, he triggered a resonance of the wind," the old man said calmly.
"Resonance of the wind? What is that, is it a type of magic?" the girl beside him asked curiously.
"No, it's not magic, just a magical phenomenon, a relatively rare one," the old man replied.
"Does it have any effect?" the girl inquired further.
"It has no effect. The resonance of the wind is just a magical phenomenon, not magic. Being able to trigger the resonance of the wind only proves that the magician understands the essence of the wind and can freely manipulate the wind element," the old man explained.
"So, this magician must be very powerful, right?" the girl asked.
"Perhaps, being able to freely manipulate a certain magical element is not something any magician can easily achieve," the old man answered.
"Master, what should we do?" the young master asked.
"Continue forward. I don't have any bad feelings about it. It was just a moment of curiosity. In that magical disturbance, there was no malice, it wasn't directed towards us. Besides, our enemies wouldn't be foolish enough to expose themselves, right?" the old man said with a smile.
"Are you suggesting that there is a magician in this forest who doesn't belong to any faction?" the young man asked.
"Yes, that's likely the case. I found that there is a place in the forest where my mental power cannot reach," the old man said.
"Can you see what kind of magician is hidden there?" the girl asked with great interest.
"There's no need for that. It's a rather dangerous act. Miss, please remember, we do not welcome other magicians spying on our actions. It signifies complete hostility. If you don't want to attract unnecessary enemies, it's best to restrain your curiosity," the old man said sternly.
The girl stuck out her tongue in response.
"We don't need to take risks. Let's continue on our way," the young master ordered.
The group returned to the carriage, and the carriage continued to move slowly. At the other end of the forest, Ivan finally saw Mr. Hyde's carriage approaching.
After informing Mr. Hyde that Baron Longa had left early, Ivan tied his horse to the back of the carriage, climbed onto the luggage rack on top of the carriage, and began to meditate.
Now, what he needed most was to contemplate the peculiar feeling he had when he entered the meditative state. This feeling not only gave him strength but also made him feel like he had become a part of the wind element, dancing freely with the wind, experiencing everything about the spirit of the wind.
This indescribable feeling accompanied by a sense of the extraordinary, Ivan found his magical energy rapidly recovering, and the pronunciation of the three incantations no longer seemed obscure and difficult to understand.
Ivan seemed to naturally understand the pronunciation of those divine runes. These divine runes described the emotions of the wind spirits, with each letter depicting their feelings. These divine runes were like a conversation with the wind spirits, everything felt so natural.
All of this was enchanting to Ivan, the allure of magic, the allure of nature. He was immersed in it.
"What are you doing? Get down quickly, it's quite dangerous up there. If you encounter a protruding branch, you could fall off the carriage," the coachman Ted said.
Ivan was immersed in the mysterious world, all earthly languages had long been blocked out from his ears, and he remained motionless.
"Get down quickly, it's too dangerous," Ted raised his voice.
"Ted, let him be. As long as you're careful, we can continue on our way," Mr. Hyde ordered from inside the carriage.
"Yes, sir, I understand. Giddy up," Ted carefully drove the carriage. Soon, he felt completely at ease.
Although Ivan remained in a meditative state, sitting on the luggage rack seemed to offer him some kind of protection. Whenever there was a protruding branch, his body naturally avoided it, moving in a strange and eerie manner that made Ted unable to see him as an ordinary person.
The carriage continued to move along the forest path. The trees in the Bartson Forest were dense, and the sunlight was sparse and dim, with almost no light ahead on the road.
Ted was an excellent coachman, able to safely navigate in the pitch-black night with just a lantern. However, he needed to consider where to stop and rest for the night. While traveling through the night was feasible, Mr. Hyde and Audrey were more accustomed to this mode of travel.
It would take two days to traverse the Bartson Forest, without stopping to rest through the night. If they didn't have an urgent need, traveling at a normal pace would require an additional day. Ted needed to find a clearing large enough to accommodate the entire carriage for rest, which was not easy in the densely wooded Bartson Forest.
Ted pondered where to settle for the night, knowing there were several common resting spots along the way for merchants. He decided to head to a slightly more distant but better resting place where there was a stream for easy access to water.
Familiar with the road from Lair to Sether Castle, Ted knew the driving speed and arrival time like the back of his hand. As the sun cast its rays through the Bartson Forest, the rest area in the woods came into view.
Scattered across a piece of land were several open spaces, with a stream gently flowing through, emitting a pleasant sound. Ted drove the carriage towards one of the stopping points, where he saw another carriage already parked there.
It belonged to a group of merchants from other parts of Francia. Their carriage and goods didn't seem too lavish, perhaps explaining why they only had a few bodyguards. The road to Sether Castle was relatively safe from bandits, but beyond Sether Castle, it was less secure, so merchants often hired bodyguards.
Ted decided to choose a spot away from these merchants to avoid disturbing Mr. Hyde and the others. Mr. Hyde, Herbert, and Audrey dismounted, with Audrey feeling refreshed from the good rest along the way, compensating for her lack of sleep, and now she walked around to clear her mind.
Ivan continued his meditation practice on top of the carriage. Ted secured the carriage wheels and had his assistant take the horses to the stream for water, preparing to cook and boil water. These chores were his responsibility, and he wouldn't let others do the work.