Following Sellen's demonstration, Bai Shi tried to cast the spell himself. The initial steps went smoothly, as they were no different from casting a regular spell. However, he faltered at the final step—splitting the mana. With his current level of fine control over mana, Bai Shi couldn't replicate Sellen's effortless precision in splitting a fully formed magical construct. Any mistake in this division would disrupt the entire spell's composition, causing it to fail. Sellen spoke softly to Bai Shi, "My apprentice, take your time. There's no need to rush." "The academy is an excellent place to practice. We have all the time in the world for your lessons." "The truly top-tier sorcerers in the academy are incredibly powerful—nothing like the ones you just faced." "In terms of pure combat, they're no match for you. But facing them in magical duels should prove quite rewarding." Bai Shi nodded. He was in no hurry. After all, it wasn't as if the sorcerers in the academy could go anywhere. With that, he walked on, heading for the nearby Cuckoo Church. Bai Shi crossed a small garden and soon stood before the bodies of the two sorcerers. Behind them stood the elegantly designed Cuckoo Church. On the surface, the partnership between the Cuckoos and the academy seemed solid enough. The Cuckoos defended the academy in Liurnia, and the academy, in turn, had constructed a special church for them. But ultimately, it was a superficial alliance, with both sides warily watching each other, each with their own agenda. The Cuckoo Church was separate from the main academy grounds, and the Cuckoos themselves were forbidden from entering. Meanwhile, the Cuckoos treated the academy's commands with utter negligence, stationing nothing but shambling soldiers to guard the gate town. Bai Shi glanced over the edge of the staircase and saw that the area was shrouded in a thick night fog, completely obscuring the view below. But since the academy was built on an isolated cliff, he presumed a bottomless abyss lay beneath. Bai Shi hoisted the two sorcerers' bodies and tossed them over the side, sending them plummeting into the chasm. And with that, the bodies were disposed of. Bai Shi didn't push open the doors to the Cuckoo Church. This time, he was going for a stealthy approach. The power gap was so vast that a direct assault would be no fun at all. It was like in a game: after beating a boss, you aim for a no-hit run; after that, you try a level one, no-upgrade run... Clinging to the stone bricks and carvings on the church's outer wall, Bai Shi climbed along the side of the building that jutted out over the cliff, a fitting tribute to a certain legendary stealth game series. He arrived at a small, open-air platform enclosed by iron railings, where several stone coffins rested. Bai Shi leaped over the railing onto the platform without alerting the sorcerers inside the Cuckoo Church. This was the hidden area behind the illusory wall to the right, just inside the church entrance. A light rain had appropriately begun to fall over the academy, lending a special atmosphere to the scene. Bai Shi suddenly felt a strange thrill, like a killer on a rainy night, sneaking into an unsuspecting home. Once on the platform with the stone coffins, Bai Shi retrieved Sellen's body from his spatial disc and laid it on one of them. To prevent the rain from soaking her clothes, Bai Shi quickly removed her sorcerer's robe and immediately stored it away. Bai Shi placed Sellen's Primal Glintstone back where it belonged. After a brief moment, Sellen's fingers twitched, and she sat up. She wasn't wearing her glintstone crown, and the rain lightly dampened her soft, long hair, giving her a unique, gentle beauty. Sellen sat up on the stone coffin and looked toward the window, which cast a soft, warm glow. "Hah... It's been a long time, Raya Lucaria Academy..." "And the academy's love for rainy weather hasn't changed one bit." Sellen chuckled softly as if recalling a fond memory. "Heh, they probably never imagined the Witch would return to the academy ." "Right now, those fools are likely celebrating their victory over an intruder, completely unaware that I've already come back..." Bai Shi took out the glintstone crown, interrupting his master's muttering. Sellen's undergarments were already thin; a little more rain and they would be far too revealing. "Master, aren't you going to put on your crown?" "And your clothes..." Sellen glanced down at herself and understood Bai Shi's concern. "Although that glintstone crown was a gift from my own master and is very important to me," "I'm not like those other sorcerers who wear it every second of every day as if it's the highest honor imaginable." "I only ever wore it to hide my face." "But now that you're here with me, it doesn't matter at all. I doubt you'd ever let any harm come to your master, right?" With that, Sellen took the sorcerer's robe from Bai Shi's hands. She turned her back to him, removed her underthings, and slipped on the robe. Then, turning back, she tossed the rain-and-blood-stained garments to Bai Shi. Bai Shi reached out to catch them out of reflex, only to realize a second too late that they were a bit too... personal. But his hands were already moving, and the clothes landed in his grasp. "Uh, Master, what's this for?" Sellen placed a finger on her chin, tilted her head, and looked at Bai Shi with a mysterious smile. "Aren't you trying to be stealthy? You can't leave any traces, can you?" "You don't want your little infiltration to be discovered, do you, my apprentice? So, you'd better hold on to that for me~" "You have a way to store things, don't you?" Bai Shi just shrugged and tossed the garment over the railing. Below was a sheer cliff; once it fell, it would leave no trace. Sellen had only been teasing him and didn't really care what he did with it. "Master, where do we go next?" Sellen was undoubtedly familiar with every nook and cranny of the academy. It was best to let her lead the way. Sellen looked up toward the second floor of the Cuckoo Church. She remembered a connecting bridge there that led to a separate building. She could sense a trace of her master Azur's magical energy from that direction. Master Azur was no longer at the academy, so it had to be something he had left behind. "Come, my apprentice. We're going to the second floor of this church. There's a path leading somewhere from there." Sellen's words jogged Bai Shi's memory. He recalled that there was a sorcerer sphere from the Primeval Current school up there, along with Master Azur's Glintstone Staff. And it seemed quite easy to get there by climbing the church's exterior. With a plan in mind, Bai Shi moved closer to Sellen. His sudden approach made Sellen a little nervous, and she wondered if she had teased him a bit too much. Bai Shi stepped in front of Sellen and wrapped his right arm firmly around her waist. "Master, hold on tight. We're going." Pressed against Bai Shi, Sellen felt a strange flutter of panic. Before she could even process what he was about to do, she instinctively followed his command, wrapping her arms around his body. Seeing that his master was ready, Bai Shi leaped onto the railing, then launched himself off of it and into the air. Aided by a gust of wind, he soared across the gap and landed on a distant rooftop in an instant. As a sorcerer, Sellen had never experienced anything so thrilling. She yelped in surprise, her usual composure and calm instantly vanishing. For a moment, she was in a complete panic. She even clamped her legs around Bai Shi's right thigh, clinging to him like an octopus. One couldn't blame Sellen for being so tense. The academy was built on a cliff that pierced the clouds; calling the drop below a bottomless abyss was no exaggeration. She was a sorcerer, one who would never willingly put herself in such a perilous situation. Fortunately, she was too stunned to scream, otherwise their stealthy approach would have ended in failure right then and there. After landing on the roof, Bai Shi quickly scanned his surroundings. Thankfully, there were no marionette soldiers or anything of the sort on the nearby roofs. The coast was clear. The bird-like marionettes in the distance also failed to spot them. Both types of marionettes were just cannon fodder. On a rainy night , they couldn't possibly spot them from so far away. After a moment to recover from the landing, Sellen finally regained her senses and released her grip on Bai Shi. Standing on the rooftop, her legs still felt a little weak. It was only then that she realized she had lost her composure in front of her apprentice. Embarrassed, she turned to look at the distant scenery, unable to meet Bai Shi's gaze. Seeing his master suddenly at a loss for words, Bai Shi couldn't help but smile. Sellen was always the one actively teasing him, but a little physical contact was enough to make her flustered. "Master, why did you let go so suddenly?" Sellen glanced at him out of the corner of her eye before quickly turning away again. "Ahem... Aren't we here already?" Seeing her , Bai Shi felt a sudden urge to tease her back, a bit of payback. He said with a smile, "Master, we're only on the roof. We still need to get down." "There's no staircase or path leading down from here, is there?" "Looks like we'll have to climb down the edge of the roof and break in through a window." "Sigh, how troublesome. And with a bottomless abyss right below..." "One slip and we'd be done for, wouldn't we?" "I'm sure a sorcerer like you wouldn't want to attempt such a risky maneuver, right, Master?" Sellen couldn't believe Bai Shi had just turned her own words back on her, and so quickly at that. She could only grit her teeth, turn around, and once again wrap her arms around him. Pressing her face against his chest, Sellen whispered, "I never knew you had such a mischievous streak, my dear apprentice..." Bai Shi laughed cheerfully. "Haha, it's all thanks to your excellent teaching, Master." Sellen looked up and shot him a fierce glare. "Alright, let's get down from here." The latest_epɪ_sodes are on_the 𝕟𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕝⚑𝕗𝕚𝕣𝕖⚑𝕟𝕖𝕥 But with her current posture and faintly blushing cheeks, her glare held no menace at all.