Li Wei left Gu Ze's room, still puzzled.
He was curious about how the members of the Guard Team had disappeared.
But it was only curiosity.
He wasn't a detective, so he wasn't about to investigate the truth just because he was curious.
It's fine to be curious, but not to court death.
It was obvious this matter ran deep, and Li Wei wanted no part in it.
He dutifully returned to his room to focus on his cultivation.
Over the next few days, the Mages who had gone out returned to the Mage Tower one after another.
Some, however, never came back.
Casualties were inevitable.
The highest number of casualties was among the enthusiastic Apprentice Mages who had volunteered, hoping to make a name for themselves.
Next were the Apprentice Mages.
All the Official Mages returned to the Mage Tower completely unscathed.
「January 31st.」
While Li Wei was cultivating the Invisibility Armor Spell, a flash of insight suddenly struck him.
He quickly used his Mana to construct the Magic Model for the Invisible Armor.
This time, the Magic Model had subtle differences from the original one.
Thirteen seconds later, the casting was successful.
A layer of Invisible Armor appeared on Li Wei.
He reached out to touch his arm but didn't feel the Invisible Armor.
With a mere thought, he felt a hard sensation at his fingertips.
He was instantly overjoyed.
'I can finally turn the Invisible Armor on and off at will!'
Although it was still a far cry from the intelligent Invisible Armor he had imagined.
But being able to turn it on and off at will was already incredibly convenient.
He finally wouldn't have to dispel the magic before every meal and cast it again afterward.
Li Wei was in high spirits.
It was a pleasant surprise.
He had thought he would have to wait until he had completely mastered the Invisible Armor's Magic Model and then add the function himself.
He never expected to have half his wish granted so soon.
He opened his eyes, and a few lines of text materialized on the wall.
[Basic Meditation Method (Small Success)] 1645/2000
[Small Fireball Technique (Tier Zero Mastery)] 333/2000
[Invisible Armor Skill (Tier Zero Mastery)] 2/2000
As expected, the Invisibility Armor Spell had leveled up to Master Level.
Li Wei glanced at his Basic Meditation Method; it was also close to leveling up.
His sleepless nights of grinding weren't in vain, exhausting every last bit of his Spiritual Power daily in his cultivation to increase his Mana.
Now, Li Wei's Mana was enough to continuously cast eighteen Small Fireball Techniques or six Invisibility Armor Spells.
The Magic Model for the Invisible Armor was far more complex than the one for the Small Fireball Technique, and constructing it consumed more Mana.
Fortunately, however, the Invisible Armor was a semi-permanent magic.
One casting could last for a very long time.
With his Invisibility Armor Spell having broken through, Li Wei eagerly rushed to the Magic Training Ground.
He put a shield on a wooden dummy, then bombarded it with the Small Fireball Technique.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
Three consecutive Small Fireball Techniques hit the wooden dummy, but it remained completely undamaged.
Li Wei launched a fourth small Fireball.
BANG!
The Invisible Armor on the wooden dummy shattered, but it still absorbed most of the small Fireball's explosive power.
In the end, the wooden dummy was left with only a few minor scratches.
Li Wei revealed a satisfied smile.
Before the Invisibility Armor Spell broke through to Master Level, it could only withstand two attacks from the Small Fireball Technique, no matter what.
Now it could block four attacks. Its Defense Power had doubled.
"Who's practicing magic so late at night?"
A figure walked toward Li Wei.
Li Wei quickly turned and greeted him, "Good evening, Master Luo."
Master Luo looked at Li Wei and said with a helpless laugh, "Why do you always come here to practice magic in the middle of the night? You're so noisy this old man can't get any sleep."
Li Wei gave an embarrassed smile.
Master Luo waved his hand and said, "Alright, hurry up and go! Don't make me start locking the door at night."
"Goodbye, Master Luo."
Li Wei bid farewell to Master Luo and left the Magic Training Ground.
Master Luo walked over to the damaged wooden dummy, squinting as he examined it.
'Is this some kind of Magic Shield?'
'Heh, so the kid was hiding this little trick...'
'But where did he get a Magic Book?'
Master Rota managed the library on the second floor of the Mage Tower and only remembered Li Wei coming to learn the Small Fireball Technique.
A Magic Book that had found its way into the outside world was a rare item.
Li Wei returned to his room.
From his frequent chats with Gu Ze, he knew why many Apprentice Mages called Rota "Master Luo."
Rota wasn't necessarily the oldest Apprentice Mage.
But he was definitely the Apprentice Mage who had mastered the most Tier Zero Magic.
Rumor had it that he had already learned every Tier Zero Magic in the Mage Tower.
Rota himself never addressed this.
The rumor likely started because people assumed that since Rota managed the library, he could freely read all the Tier Zero Magic Books.
Regarding this, Li Wei adopted a "better safe than sorry" attitude.
He had always treated Master Luo with respect.
'Sigh, what a shame I can't come to the Magic Training Ground to practice at night anymore.'
After returning to his room, Li Wei cultivated for a while before lying down to sleep.
Before sleeping, he activated his Invisible Armor.
He had grown accustomed to sleeping with the Invisible Armor on; the hard sensation on his back was actually reassuring.
The next morning, Li Wei received a letter.
"Come meet me alone by the Maple Forest outside the city. —Reina."
Li Wei frowned as he looked at the letter in his hand.
After a whole month, Reina had finally remembered her promise to him.
'But why ask me to go outside the city?'
Li Wei looked up at the young man before him and asked, "Did Reina really ask you to deliver this letter to me?"
The young man nodded quickly. "Yes, Big Sis told me to deliver it to you personally."
"Big Sis?" Li Wei looked confused.
The young man's face filled with admiration as he said, "Big Sis Reina is a noble, but she never looks down on us commoner Knight Apprentices. She's even taught a lesson to those noble Knight Apprentices who used to bully us."
'Uh... I didn't expect her to be that kind of person.'
Li Wei thought about it and felt it was highly likely that Reina would do something like that.
But it probably wasn't out of the kindness of her heart to help the commoner Knight Apprentices.
He figured it was more likely that the noble apprentices had simply annoyed her, and she had just found an excuse to beat them up.
Although he had only interacted with Reina twice, Li Wei had already gotten a clear read on her personality.
Carefree, unconventional, and straightforward.
Li Wei put away the letter and nodded. "Alright, I understand. You can go back now."
The young man bid a polite farewell and left.
Reina hadn't said what the meeting was about in the letter, which most likely meant it was something that couldn't be told to others.
'The Magic Book?'
'Probably not,' Li Wei thought.
Last time, Reina had declared in front of several people that she would steal the Magic Book to show him.
He hesitated. Should he go or not?
After a moment's thought, he decided he should at least bring the matter of the Magic Book to a close.
That way, he could avoid any future trouble.
Li Wei found Gu Ze and told him he was going out for a bit.
If he wasn't back by tomorrow, he asked Gu Ze to look for him in the Maple Forest.
No matter what, it was best to have some insurance.
Gu Ze didn't ask for a reason and simply nodded in agreement.
Li Wei changed into some plain clothes and headed out of the city.