"Wow!" Marcus put the empty cup in his hand on the table, let out a comfortable sigh of relief, "This, this is so delicious, it's the best drink I've ever had!"

From the outside, the tavern was not very large, but when you entered, it was quite spacious, but the places near the two fireplaces were already full, and the three of them were sitting by a window, sipping old Bob's special drink. Pen % fun % Pavilion www.biquge.info

The tavern was very lively, but perhaps because there were more students and there were no vulgar quarrels in ordinary taverns, Marcus recalled the taste of the drink, his eyes swept slanted, and he was stunned: "Isn't that Strayer's group, that short and fat boy, I remember the name...... Osmond, right, would you like to go over and say hello to them?"

Aeno snorted: "Forget it, that Strayer with a smile on his lips is okay, Osmond simulated a battle with Morin last time, obviously Morin stayed in the end, and he also knocked Morin out of the arena, I don't look like a friendly person." So saying, she took out the leather money pouch and opened it, only to find a fire coming out of the bag.

The girl let out a low snort, almost took off her hand, and when she looked closely, she found that the middle of the fire was a dark color, and she couldn't help but say angrily: "Little Hei, you are going to die!

Xiao Hei hid most of his body in the money bag, and only stretched out a pair of slender arms to gest.

"You didn't think the training ground was interesting, so you ran out to play?

Xiao Hei blinked his dark green eyes, indicating affirmation.

"That can't be hidden in my purse!" Aeno pulled Hei out, and Hei immediately ducked into the girl's cuffs in a panic, only to poke out a pair of small eyes to look at the others in the tavern.

The girl began to happily sort out the gold coins, because she had successfully applied for a large bursary from the college, and the money bag bulged again, and she could not help but hum: "I love gold coins more than flowers, I love gold coins more than the sea......"

"Equino!" Marcus exclaimed, frowning, "That's a song that only goblins sing!"

The girl gave him a blank look, without the slightest intention of stopping.

Tilna watched the two of them talk and smiled slightly.

On the other side of the tavern, Strayer, dressed in a black cotton robe, stood up, leaned into Osmond's ear and said something, nodded to the members of the same table, and left the tavern alone.

There was a light snow outside, and there were not many pedestrians on the streets of Bellamy's town, and Strayer walked a foot deep and shallow along the snow-covered road, past a few low hedges, and into a narrow alley.

At the end of the alley was a stone house, uninhabited for years, with a rusty lock attached to the wooden door, and a thin layer of snowflakes had fallen on it.

Strayer stood in front of the door for a moment, hiding the gentle smile on his lips, with a hint of trepidation and humility in his eyes, and then reached out and knocked on the door.

Knock knock.

The lock on the wooden door was stuck in the deadbolt, and the rust was almost filling the keyhole, making it hard to believe that the old house would be inhabited.

Ten breaths passed, and no sound came from the stone house.

The black-haired and black-eyed boy shrunk his frozen red fingers into his sleeves, still waiting with his head half-bowed, and did not knock on the door again.

I don't know how long it was, when Strayer's black hair was covered with snowflakes, there was finally movement in the stone house.

With a creak, the wooden door opened inwards along with the door frame, and it turned out that the lock was just an eye-catching decoration.

The boy walked into the dark stone house, and the door closed behind him.

"I've told you not to contact me unless there's anything special, it's only the first day of the holiday, why are you here?" It was an old, hoarse voice, weak as a wisp, and if you read it closely, you could see that this voice was the same as the voice of the heavily armored swordsman standing next to Strayer during the previous test of Victor Academy.

The vision gradually adjusted to the darkness of the room, and a figure wearing a dark cloak could be seen, and there was no heavy armor under the cloak, showing his rugged figure, which should be an old man.

"The boy didn't die. Strayer said with his head down.

"Which boy?" asked the old man.

"When I tested it at the academy before, the mana capacity was close to ten fars, and the boy I marked it on. Strayer replied calmly, his lowered brow well concealing the hint of sarcasm in his gaze.

"Not dead?!" the old man's voice rose and fell for the first time.

"Not dead. Strayer replied affirmatively: "And also at the Academy." ”

There was silence in the room.

“…… In that case, then you can put this matter aside for now, and I'll find someone to investigate. The old man said slowly, and said, "That young man, can you see what kind of person he is?"

"Either it's clear or it's hidden, and I think the former is more likely, and maybe it's just a fluke that he survives. Strayer pondered for a moment and gave this answer.

“…… I know, go back and don't forget who you are. With a wave of the old man's cloak, the door of the stone house was opened again.

Strayer nodded respectfully and turned to leave.

The house was once again plunged into darkness.

In the dimly lit room, the old man looked up, revealing his face under his cloak.

It was a white skeleton, and in those two empty eye sockets, two dark green soul fires were silently burning.

……

On the second day of the winter break, at the training ground at the foot of the mountain.

Merlin was engrossed in practicing throwing his weapon, while Barron helped.

Suddenly, the young man's movements froze, and he shouted: "Hurry up, I can't catch it!"

Before the words fell, Merlin and Barron pounced to the side, and more than twenty short swords that had been thrown into the air in turn fell to the ground with a clang.

"Whew......" Morin sighed and said, "Twenty-one, I feel that I have reached the limit, and the rest is estimated to wait until I exercise my magic power." ”

"Fourth-level power, so-so is also reasonable. Barron said.

The young man's face darkened, and he secretly said whether he was praising himself or hurting himself.

In any case, Maureen was quite satisfied with his progress, thinking that if his grandfather came back to see his progress, he would probably have to praise him with a "good". Just thinking that he still couldn't use magic cards, and he didn't have any clue, the boy couldn't help but sigh again.

"Let's go, Marcus and they are still waiting for us in the dormitory, saying that we will go to Bellamy Town together in the afternoon, there is a good drink. "It's also inconvenient, it's so cold that I really miss the warm weather in Lothar, and it rarely snows in winter." ”

However, Barron was obviously more accustomed to the cold, so he wrapped himself in a short leather coat and said, "If it gets colder, it will be a bit like the Eternal Winter Ice Field." ”

The two packed up their practice props and trotted all the way back to the dormitory castle, and in the water sound lounge, in addition to the three of them, there was also a woman who was unexpected by the teenager.

Minelma.

After months of not seeing her, she looked a little haggard, her blond hair in her shawl was a little disheveled, and the coldness in her eyes was no longer so threatening.

"Minelma, what have you been busy with for the past few months, I haven't met you, is there any news from Mr. Honorome?" asked Morin.

Not wanting this question to make Minelma blow up the pot, tiny ice crystals condensed in the air, she clenched her fists, gritted her teeth and said, "There is no news! The Temple of Nature still refuses to send a large number of people to search, and what is even more annoying is that no one in the school cares!" she couldn't help but get up from her seat as she spoke, "Especially your headmaster, Fielding, the damn old man!" It took me so much effort to find him and report it, who knew that he didn't pay attention to it at all, how to say that Honorom is also a teacher here, and he actually !! like this"

After saying a lot in one breath, she finally vented the indignation in her heart, she let out a sigh, tried to stabilize her strength, and sighed: "So I can only rely on myself to find some clues, but I don't have a clue, and there are so many courses in your school, there is almost no free time." ”

"I met our botanical and pharmacy teacher Faith before, and he seems to be quite concerned about this, so maybe you can ask him. Morin replied, he thought for a moment, and then said, "Speaking of clues, I remember that the suspicious mage's half-cut cane is still with me, and there seems to be a strange mark on it, you wait for me to get it." ”

With that, he ran all the way back to the dormitory, rummaging through the package.

"Hey, I remember that I put it here, how could I not see it?" The boy spread the contents of the package on the ground, but did not find the half of the cane in his memory.

He searched for a long time in the cabinet under the bed, but there was still no sign of the cane.

But Merlin tried to remember it, and was sure that he had not thrown the staff away, and he couldn't help but wonder if the staff itself had been enchanted and disappeared by some means.

"Mo, Morin, what's going on?" After waiting in the lounge for a long time, Minelma and the others came directly to the door of the dormitory, but seeing the mess in the room, Marcas couldn't help but stammer.

"The cane...... It's gone. Maureen glanced around again and replied with a frown.

Hearing this, Minerma's expression became much more serious, and she said, "I was too hasty that day in the Gangdi Forest, and I didn't have time to check those items, you just said that there are special marks on the cane, do you remember what it looks like?"

Maureen nodded, took out a pen and paper, and drew a mark on the paper as he remembered it: an abstract pupilless eye. Hopefully, he handed it to Minelma, who might recognize her.

But Minerma stared at the paper for a long time, shook her head, and said, "I haven't seen a similar symbol, but I'll look it up." ”

The boy nodded, saw Marcus and Barron beside him, and asked, "Have you two seen that half-cut cane, like dead wood?" ”

But neither of them had ever seen each other.

"If there was any magic attached to that stump that lasted for a long time, I would have noticed it at the time, we knew that there were other people behind that suspicious mage, and maybe some accomplice was helping him clean it up. As she spoke, she looked down at the door lock, "There are no signs of being picked." ”

"You can ask the house elves, and she will notice what is happening in the academy, no matter how big or small. Tilna reminded from the side.

At the same time, the familiar milky girl's voice sounded in the boy's head: "Hey, troublemaker, do you need my help with anything?"

...

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