Chapter 127: Taking a Master

Chapter 127 -126: Taking a Master

Fevik emerged from the room and said, “This is a bit better. It might be a little lacking for a formal apprenticeship gift, but you can make do with it for now. I’ll get you a better one later.”

Hesia was slow to react.

‘So… does this mean I’ve been accepted as her apprentice?’

‘Is the process really this casual? There isn’t even a ceremony?’

‘And besides, shouldn’t I be the one presenting an apprenticeship gift to her?’

‘Why is it the other way around?’

“Teacher Fevik,” Hesia began, a bit uncertainly, “um… to take me as your apprentice, aren’t there any other requirements or tests?”

Fevik, who was about to place the head on her workbench, froze mid-motion. She turned her head in confusion. “Requirements? What requirements? Haven’t you already called me Teacher?”

A hint of wariness appeared on her small face. She suddenly flew right in front of Hesia, tilting her head up to stare at him intently. Her Magic Power faintly rippled around her, exuding an invisible pressure. “Are you trying to back out?!”

Hesia felt the air around him thicken. He quickly waved his hands. “No, no, no, Teacher, you’ve misunderstood. What I mean is, do you have any specific requirements for me as your student? Like certain standards I need to meet, or rules I have to follow?”

Fevik paused, finally understanding what Hesia meant.

The fluctuations of Magic Power around her instantly subsided, replaced by a relaxed expression that seemed to say, ‘Oh, so that’s what you were worried about.’

“Requirements? You’ve already met them all.” She began counting on her short fingers. “First, you’re a talented guy. I’ve already confirmed that. Second, you’re not hard on the eyes, so I don’t mind looking at you.” She studied Hesia’s face again, seeming more and more pleased, and nodded. “Mhm, not bad. You really fit my criteria for selecting a student.”

[Affinity with Ghostly Half-Elf Fevik QuickThought has increased. Decryption Points +2]

She seemed to recall something pleasant. Her tone grew cheerful, even a little smug. “I was just thinking, how come all those old fossils with their heads full of stuffy doctrines get to find students who are easy on the eyes? I never expected this~”

Immediately, a strange, light, and completely off-key little tune escaped her throat:

“Da da da~ Da da~”

[Affinity with Ghostly Half-Elf Fevik QuickThought has increased. Decryption Points +2]

Humming this contented little tune, she flew back to her workbench and began to carefully work on the Demon Ghost Witch’s head, muttering to herself, “Just you wait, you old geezers!”

Hesia couldn’t help but be amused by this scatterbrained and straightforward teacher of his.

Although he couldn’t quite follow the strange workings of her mind, having such an unfathomably powerful Mage as his teacher would undoubtedly be a massive help on his future path as a Professional.

Besides, with this kind of backing, he felt much more confident about investigating matters related to “Lady Rose.”

Fevik’s voice drifted over from the workbench. “I’ll help you prepare the Wand Tip first. Good thing I didn’t rush to dispose of this. A Demon Ghost Witch isn’t like a Green Ghost Witch. Green Ghost Witches are rare enough, but Demon Ghost Witches are even harder to find. It’d be a waste to completely purge all the Magic Power it contains. I’ll try to preserve some of its original Magic Power, as long as it doesn’t affect your ability to use it. A Magic Staff made this way might even come with one of its innate Talent Spells.”

‘An attached spell?’

Hesia’s gaze fell once more upon the huge, pitch-black head.

If the Green Ghost Witch had given him the impression of something the Dragon Fang Squad would have to fight desperately against, with perhaps only a slim chance of escape, then the aura emanating from this Demon Ghost Witch’s head made him feel a despairing sense of powerlessness. Even escape would be a luxury.

Moreover, the head looked extremely ‘fresh’.

‘Did she just happen to take care of this one in the last couple of days, too?’

Just as he was speculating, something unexpected happened!

The Demon Ghost Witch’s head, its eyes previously shut tight, suddenly snapped them open. A pair of ghastly white, pupil-less eyes instantly locked onto him!

Its shriveled, pitch-black lips first split into a silent, crazed grin. Then, its mouth abruptly gaped open to an unnatural angle and, with a gust of foul air, snapped viciously in Hesia’s direction with a loud CRACK!

Although the head couldn’t move from its spot, the sudden movement made it jolt violently, and the sharp sound of its teeth clacking together was piercing in the silence.

“SLAP!”

“SLAP!”

Fevik delivered two unceremonious, crisp slaps to the large head, one with the front of her hand, one with the back.

“Behave! Don’t you dare scare my precious student!”

Hesia calmed himself and asked curiously, “Teacher, didn’t you say you only encountered one Ghost Witch before?”

[Affinity with Ghostly Half-Elf Fevik QuickThought has increased. Decryption Points +1]

Hesia: “…”

‘Alright, so she likes being called Teacher. I’ll remember that.’

Still humming her little tune, Fevik replied without turning her head, “Oh, that. It’s because of a Ghost Witch coven. I need to focus on this. You can read about it yourself.”

As she spoke, a dark object flew out from the inner room and stopped, hovering steadily in front of Hesia.

‘Looks like a book?’

But its cover had no text, only a raised, eyeball-shaped carving made of black stone.

The material of the book was also peculiar, as if it were tanned from the hide of some unknown, dark-colored lizard. In the light, you could see the fine pattern of its scales. The corners and spine were engraved with dense, miniature Runes.

The strangest thing was that the book seemed to be a single, solid object, with no discernible seam where one could open it to turn the pages.

Hesia turned it over and over, trying to find its cover or any place it could be opened, but found nothing.

Just then, a faint fluctuation of Magic Power came from Fevik’s direction, seemingly triggering something.

The stone eyeball in the center of the cover suddenly swiveled, as if it had come to life, and “looked” at Hesia.

Immediately after, a line of text in the Common Language slowly materialized beneath the eyeball:

“Personal Monster Quick Reference Manual”

“Ah, I almost forgot,” Fevik’s voice called out. “I forgot to remove my mark just now. You can use it now.”

“The information on Ghost Witches is around page 243. Of course, the simpler method is to silently think of the word ‘Ghost Witch’ while gently stroking the spine. It will directly transmit the relevant information into your mind.”

“Oh, and it’s yours now. Take it back, study it well, and don’t be lazy. I’ll be quizzing you on it later.”

Hesia couldn’t help but recall how, when he came by half a month ago, she had let him freely browse the books on the outer shelves because she was sleeping in. ‘So… the good stuff was never on those shelves at all.’

‘Since it’s a Magic Item, then…’

[Fivik Identification Skill]!

[Personal Monster Quick Reference Manual]

Type: Miscellaneous (Magic Books)

Quality: Special

Description: A Magic Manual personally crafted by Fevik. Through a certain special method, it has copied—”without authorization”—some of the Demon data from the academy’s library. When the user strokes the spine and silently thinks about information related to a Demon, it can respond more swiftly to present the desired knowledge. The knowledge base syncs with the creator’s updates (requires being within a certain range).