"Laura went too far this time. Even if her husband died, it doesn't justify her madness and blaming the innocent."
Jerome glanced at the distant corpse of the ponytail girl, his tone cold, but he quickly looked away after a brief glance.
"So Faor was her husband," Ronan realized, showing an expression of "understanding" on his face. "No wonder she reacted that way..."
"She's gone mad before. When Faor was alive, if he spoke more than a sentence to any woman, that woman would likely meet an untimely death—apprentices, without exception, only formal wizards might escape. This is why Faor was extremely unpopular among women in the academy."
Jerome seemed to realize he had said too much and quickly stopped talking. He gently patted Ronan's shoulder, reassuring him, "It's good that you're okay."
Ronan could tell that Jerome seemed to appreciate him, likely due to the impression he made during the battle with the black-robed wizards.
'Turns out she's a madwoman... With such a controlling and possessive wife, no wonder Faor turned to men... it seems he had no choice.'
Ronan suddenly understood why Faor and Linus were involved.
The root cause was this.
"Oh, by the way, Lord Jerome."
Ronan recalled the terrifying green shadow that had dragged away the mad woman Laura and couldn't help but ask.
Jerome looked toward the deepest part of the academy and said in a low voice, "That was the headmistress, and she's Laura's mother."
Ronan's eyes flickered intensely.
So the madwoman Laura was the biological daughter of the headmistress of Hoddam Academy. No wonder no one could hold her accountable, despite her madness.
This was definitely bad news for Ronan.
Laura's venomous stare before being forcibly taken away was branded in Ronan's mind like a searing brand. As long as he lived, she would likely continue to trouble him.
And there was no way to peacefully resolve this.
Although Anglair had thoroughly erased the traces Faor left on him, leaving nothing for anyone to find fault with.
But Laura was a madwoman, completely unreasonable, trusting only her own insane intuition.
And the worst part... her intuition was damn accurate!
Ronan felt a headache coming on. Getting involved with Anglair was already troublesome enough, and now another problem had arisen before the first was resolved.
Was he supposed to find a way to make these two problems clash and cancel each other out?
Ronan was deeply troubled.
"Don't worry, as long as the headmistress is here, Laura won't be able to act out for a while," Jerome comforted Ronan, perhaps noticing his concern. "As long as you stay within the academy, she won't have the chance to harm you... but if you leave, that's uncertain."
Ronan nodded, but he didn't believe it at all.
If that were really the case, how did those who previously provoked Laura end up dead?
The ponytail girl's body was still lying on the grass, not yet cold.
'Power! In the end, it's all about power!
If I'm strong enough, no one can threaten me.
If I'm not, no protection will be enough!'
Ronan had never craved power as intensely as he did now. Never.
"Keep working hard."
Jerome concluded his brief conversation with Ronan, offering a mild encouragement: "Now that this mission is over, you should start preparing to become a formal wizard.
You're young and have a lot of potential... but remember, use less potions, as dealing with their side effects can be troublesome."
With that, Jerome took to the air, leaving in a blaze of red light.
Ronan bowed in the direction Jerome had left. So far, Jerome was the only formal wizard he had met who showed him genuine kindness.
Anglair didn't count.
Ronan stood on the ivy-covered academy lawn, facing the sunlight, and saw another "sun" hovering in the winter sky.
It was the core of the rune array enveloping the entire academy.
He suddenly felt a chill, slowly walking to where the ponytail girl had died. He knelt down, gently closing her eyes, which had long lost their sparkle.
"May you find peace."
As the ponytail girl, who hadn't even had time to tell Ronan her name before dying, had said, Ronan soon received formal admission arrangements from the academy.
In fact, with Jerome's presence, he couldn't refuse even if he wanted to.
The "Corpse Garden" mission could be seen as both a failure and a success.
The failure lay in the high-level decision-making error, failing to identify the true owner of the garden, resulting in the deaths of a formal wizard and numerous advanced apprentice wizards, along with the subsequent chaos caused by Laura's madness after Faor's death.
The success was that Ronan and his group had indeed caused significant damage to the resources cultivated within the Corpse Garden.
Thus, the rewards were issued as usual.
The reward was delivered to Ronan by a snow-white owl with beautiful blue eyes.
Accompanying the Spirit Ignition Potion were some letters from "home," which surprised Ronan greatly.
**[Dear Brother Ronan,
How are you faring in the tower? I've heard that mysterious wizards reside in dark, eerie towers, spending their days with spiders and bats, never seeing daylight... Without Lier by your side, you must be quite lonely.
The myrtle we planted when you left has grown to my chest. Time flies, Brother Ronan. Spring vanished in a blink, and I wrote you this letter during the grape-bearing season.
Do you remember Cousin Dosan? The one you said could break a toilet every time she sat on it. She married three months after you left, to the son of Count Bopott. His name is hard to remember, but he's even fatter than Dosan. It's hard to imagine how many toilets they'll go through living together. But the cake at their wedding was delicious. I know you love blueberry hazelnut, so I secretly saved you a piece, but it was covered in ants by the next day.
I need to hug the teddy bear you gave me every night to sleep. I miss listening to your wizard stories under the starry rooftop. You ran into the story and left poor Lier behind.
Mother says you might only appear at my wedding, which seems so far away. Maybe sooner, as I find the coachman's son quite nice. He always smells of horse manure, but to see you sooner, I don't mind marrying him.
— Missing you, Lier]**
In the winter morning sunlight, through the ivy-covered window, amidst the gentle breeze, Ronan sat at his desk, quietly reading the "letters from home" that had yellowed slightly with age.
These letters were likely sent half a year ago, discarded like trash in the academy's storeroom. By then, Ronan's predecessor had already dropped out due to lack of funds. If Ronan hadn't crossed over, he might never have seen them.
Ronan carefully read the letter from his sister Lier, the childish handwriting evoking corresponding memories in his mind. She was a little girl with curly chestnut hair and freckles, her face a bit blurry, but he remembered her smile.
The sincere longing expressed in a child's clumsy words was moving, even if it didn't directly relate to him, Ronan felt a stir in his heart.
Besides Lier's letter, there were two more—one from Ronan's father, and another from his betrothed in the Count's domain.
The former was mostly filled with a lot of nonsense, with the only significant content being the mention of war with a neighboring country. It was said that the neighboring king had hired a wizard to cause a tsunami, drowning tens of thousands of their troops. Then, the pen turned, subtly implying that now was the best time for Ronan to make a name for himself, suggesting he return to help if he had completed his studies.
Ronan chose to ignore it completely.
What level of wizard could cause a tsunami?
He didn't know, but he doubted a first-level wizard could do it. Would such a figure participate in mundane wars for a minor kingdom?
Even if such an idle, powerful wizard existed... was he, a mere wizard apprentice, supposed to rush back and die?
Ridiculous.
If Ronan's father's letter was all nonsense, then the one from his betrothed was even less than that.
It contained only a few brief greetings and a mention of the weather on the day she wrote the letter.
Merely a perfunctory check-in, Ronan guessed the other party was probably already engaged to someone else by now.
The three letters from home didn't impact Ronan's life any further, quickly skimmed over and set aside.
Ronan casually slipped them into a wizard book on his desk, then went to the window to scatter some millet, attracting a few greedy skylarks.
Enjoying a moment of peaceful leisure, Ronan turned to a corner of the room and retrieved his staff from the rack meant for long-handled implements.
This was the single dormitory assigned to him after enrolling in Hoddam as a formal student, spacious and bright, with a private bathroom, far better than anywhere he'd lived before.
Withdrawing the sword hidden in the staff, Ronan ran his hand along its length, ghostly blue flames wrapping it gently, the aura of the [Charged Weapon—Breaking Force] domain spreading.
Compared to the 32-point proficiency of [Particle Stream], the 1-point proficiency of [Breaking Force] was undoubtedly weaker.
Its effect was, however, quite extraordinary, as Ronan discovered when he killed Linus.
As the name suggests, the domain effect of [Breaking Force] is—Breaking Spells!
Any orderly array of energy particles would be disrupted, entangled, repelled under [Breaking Force]... until utterly disintegrated.
The principle of a formed spell is the orderly arrangement of energy particles.
Simply put, [Breaking Force] has the terrifying ability to dismantle spells head-on.
This was why Ronan could easily pierce Linus's energy shield with a single strike.
"Truly a perfect ability for close combat!"
Ronan's eyes gleamed as he opened his character panel.
**[Name: Ronan Damien]**
**[Age: 16]**
**[Affinity: Non-attribute]**
**[Strength: Ninth-level Wizard Apprentice (3%)]**
**[Skills: Basic Meditation (Expert 544/800)
Energy Missile - Particle Stream (Master 32/1600)
Charged Weapon - Breaking Force (Master 1/1600)
Ascetic Body Training (Expert 123/800)
Basic Swordsmanship (Master 26/1600)]**
His attributes hadn't changed significantly, with the only notable increase being a 2% rise in mental energy progress.
Probably due to several instances of mental exhaustion, stimulating potential, resulting in some mental growth.
The path before Ronan was now clear—push his mental energy to the ninth-level apprentice peak, reach the gaseous stage, and prepare to formally become a wizard.
He had enough high-level mental enhancement potions and Spirit Ignition Potions for the process.
He didn't need to go anywhere, just stay home and train steadily.
However, before fully entering this stage of rigorous practice, Ronan had something else to do.
At the Drunken Stag Tavern.
A pretty young witch sat in a corner, her expression sad and dazed as she stared blankly ahead.
She wore a white flower on her wizard robe, signifying that someone very important to her had permanently left her.
"Iris, don't be sad... Rainey wouldn't want to see you like this."
"No one expected him not to return... but it's happened, and all we can do is grieve and move on."
A young wizard held the girl's hand, tenderly comforting her.
He tried to put his arm around her shoulders, but she suddenly shook him off, standing up and accusing him loudly, "Why? Why didn't you help me stop him?!
You knew how dangerous the task was.
Weren't you his best friend? Why didn't you hold him back?! Tell me, why?!"
Her voice drew the attention of many in the tavern, and the young wizard stood awkwardly, trying to explain.
"I did try to stop him. I spoke to him many times privately...
But you know Rainey's stubbornness; once he decided on something, no one could change his mind."
The girl wanted to say more, but looking at the man's face, she realized that nothing could undo what had happened. Overwhelmed by sorrow, she sat back down, tears flowing freely.
Seeing her sadness, the young wizard's eyes flickered as he moved to comfort her again.
But at that moment, a figure appeared at their small table.
"Are you Iris? Rainey left something for you."
The newcomer was a handsome young man with chestnut hair and lake-blue eyes, exuding a slightly cold demeanor.
His new academy robes couldn't hide his tall, perfect figure, and the aura of an advanced apprentice emanating from him drew attention.
The crying girl paused at the mention of Rainey's name, pulling herself from her grief, and nodded.
The young man took a small storage pouch from under his robe, placing it in front of her, saying, "Inside are all of Rainey's belongings and the academy's compensation for him."
The girl slowly took the pouch, seeming to lose herself in memories, silently weeping.
Then the young man turned to the man beside her, "Are you Matthew?"
"Yes, yes."
"Rainey left something for you too."
"I have something too?!"
The man was taken aback, eagerly asking, "What is it?"
The young man's calm eyes reflected the man's surprised, delighted face as he replied, "He said... to break your hands."
"Uh??!"
Moments later, a piercing scream echoed through the tavern.
"Ah!————"
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