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Chapter 166: The Naive Flamme
The afternoon sun was warm, and even the scent of grass and earth in the air became pleasant. Or perhaps it was because she had received praise? Flamme wasn't sure.
She sat beside the crater created by her Light Spear magic, her chest rising and falling slightly from the magic power consumption, but a smile she couldn't hide graced her face. Serie's rare and direct affirmation made Flamme feel somewhat lightheaded. This was the first time Teacher Serie had praised her like this.
Unlike Teacher Kurtz's usual gentleness, Teacher Serie was very strict with her, even to the point of being harsh. However, Flamme had no complaints. She also wanted to become stronger, stronger than all demons, and then kill all demons!
But with Teacher Kurtz's intervention, everything changed. Even Master Serie became much gentler, rarely demanding strictness from her anymore. Flamme didn't know if this was good or bad, but she only knew that she was very happy now.
And that was enough.
She subconsciously looked in Kurtz's direction, just in time to see Teacher Kurtz walking towards Teacher Serie. Their figures standing side by side in the sun appeared so harmonious, as if they had been like this for a thousand years.
Teacher Kurtz's gentle smile and Teacher Serie's subconsciously gentle tone when speaking with him caused a strange emotion to grow quietly in Flamme's heart. What was the relationship between them? Why did they seem so close?
It was truly enviable.
Flamme wasn't sure what she envied. Was it simply the intimacy between the two of them? Or was it that Teacher Serie could be so close to Teacher Kurtz? She didn't know.
She waved vigorously at them, and Kurtz's encouraging response was her reply. Serie merely nodded slightly, but the gaze in her eyes was enough to satisfy Flamme.
"Watching her grow is, in itself, the most moving miracle beyond magic."
Kurtz's words drifted into Flamme's ears, warming her heart. She was indeed growing, at a speed that surprised even herself.
After no longer being driven by hatred, even learning magic became much easier, and many previously incomprehensible magical concepts suddenly became clear. Was it really Teacher Kurtz who did this?
After hearing Kurtz's words, Flamme had confirmed her previous guess. And the result of this was that Flamme's reliance on Kurtz further increased.
If possible, she also wanted to be like Teacher Serie…
Time flew by quietly in the study.
The naive little girl who first arrived gradually grew taller, revealing the slender figure characteristic of a young woman. In Serie's eyes, her magic power deepened daily, and her every move subtly showed the demeanor of a mature mage.
She could skillfully use many of the spells Serie had taught her and had begun to try incorporating her own understanding to make subtle adjustments. She was trying to create her own magic, like Kurtz.
Serie did not stop her.
After the end of the Age of Myths, the development of magic no longer focused on large-scale destruction, and the threshold for creating new magic was significantly lowered. Serie had heard of many strange and wonderful spells.
If it were in the Age of Myths, she would have considered these spells useless. A spell that couldn't kill an enemy wasn't a good spell.
But now, under the influence of a certain man, Serie's views had quietly changed. In fact, over the past thousand years, she herself had tried to create different spells. And Flamme's actions were exactly what she wanted to see.
What Serie didn't expect, however, was that as Flamme grew older, a new restlessness began to sprout in her heart.
She was no longer satisfied with just learning magic itself. Her gaze lingered more and more on her two teachers. Especially Kurtz, the only male she had interacted with on her growth journey.
He was like a magic book she could never finish reading. He possessed magical knowledge that even Teacher Serie hadn't mastered, and not just magic, but also history, races, and even some legendary stories about the Godslayer and the Monk Kraft that she had never heard Teacher Serie speak of.
His patience and gentleness towards her were completely different from Teacher Serie's strictness, making her want to get closer. And then...even closer.
This sense of closeness grew in her unknowingly.
When she saw Kurtz and Serie talking in low voices, exchanging a knowing glance, or Serie naturally taking something Kurtz handed her, Flamme always felt a pang of exclusion and loss.
She didn't understand what this emotion was, but she instinctively felt that Teacher Kurtz's gaze towards Teacher Serie seemed more complex than his gaze towards her, containing a bond she couldn't intervene in. It was as if the two had been together for a very long time.
This made her somewhat envious. She longed for more attention from Teacher Kurtz, even to become someone like Teacher Serie.
This thought startled her, and what puzzled her even more was what kind of existence Teacher Kurtz truly was.
He never personally cast powerful spells, at most demonstrating some basic techniques. Teacher Serie was a recognized progenitor of mages; her power was beyond doubt.
But what about Teacher Kurtz?
What was his true strength? Why would an existence as proud as Teacher Serie allow a seemingly ordinary human to be her equal, even obeying his words in some aspects?
A bold, almost absurd guess grew wildly in her mind like weeds: Could Teacher Kurtz be that legendary Kurtz, the Godslayer, who ended the Age of Gods a thousand years ago and saved the world?
Every time this thought surfaced, she forcibly suppressed it.
It was too crazy! What kind of legendary existence was the Godslayer? He was the protagonist in stories, a figure living in myths! How could he be standing alive before her, teaching her magic patiently like a gentle older brother?
The timeline didn't match either. How could a human live for a thousand years? This was absolutely wishful thinking!
It must be Teacher Kurtz's unique aura that made her have such unrealistic associations. She tried to convince herself and buried this incredible guess deep in her heart.
But once the seed of doubt is planted, it is never easy to get rid of it.
Flamme began to observe Kurtz's every word and action more carefully, trying to find clues, yet also afraid of actually discovering something.
Days passed in this complexity. Flamme studied even harder, seemingly wanting to fill those unanswered doubts with progress in magic.
Until a peaceful afternoon was broken.
[End of Chapter]