Cackle...
The Greybone Academy, located deep within the Greybone Forest, always gave off a sinister feel at night.
Carly, walking alone through the academy, was unusually unafraid, and even a smile would occasionally cross her face.
"Lucien is so good to me..." Carly chuckled.
But soon, Carly's smile faded as she saw three people turning the corner ahead, one of whom she recognized as Yellen, who had also chosen Lucien as his mentor.
At that moment, the latter was slightly trailing behind his two companions, appearing eager as if trying to fit into their circle.
Carly silently stopped in her tracks and leaned against the wall, deciding to wait for them to leave first.
Although she understood Yellen's behavior, Carly naturally viewed it from Lucien's perspective, so she didn't have a good opinion of Yellen.
Even if given a chance, she still wanted to prove it for Lucien!
However, naturally not now, as Carly had just stepped onto the path of wizardry and could not even yet consider herself a formal Wizard Apprentice.
Thus, Carly buried this thought deep in her heart.
Meanwhile, Yellen was obviously met with cold indifference. After speaking with the two senior apprentices, they parted ways, and Yellen headed down the path towards where Carly stood, his expression somewhat dejected.
Carly felt a bit awkward as she moved. She had stopped initially to avoid Yellen, but now they were about to face each other.
"Oh, it's... Carly," said Yellen, straightening his back and regaining his confidence upon seeing Carly.
"Hello," Carly responded coolly, and wanted to head back to her dormitory.
She felt there was nothing to discuss with Yellen, for his actions were a significant insult to Lucien, making it impossible for them to be friends.
However, Yellen seemed not to mind Carly's deliberately distant tone. He looked at Carly with a personable smile on his face.
This smile was like a lord smiling down at his subjects, gentle yet somewhat condescending.
Seeing Yellen's smile and thinking of the Duke's family his surname represented, Carly felt a bit intimidated and took a small step back.
But quickly, Carly steadied herself, suddenly remembering that her status had changed, and moreover, she was representing Lucien.
She stopped retreating, straightened her back slightly, and made an effort to meet Yellen's gaze. "Do you need something?" she asked.
Yellen surveyed Carly, a gentle look in his eyes, but a flicker of resentment and ruthlessness passed through them.
To escape from the great hazard that was Lucien, he had paid a tremendous price.
He and Nolian weren't related by blood or friendship, and Nolian wouldn't stick his neck out for Yellen without substantial inducements to offend Lucien and snatch him away.
After all, as long as Lucien was alive, he remained a Level 3 Wizard Apprentice, capable of harming or even severely injuring another Third-level Wizard Apprentice!
And the tempting inducement had to be borne by Yellen alone.
Despite being the duke's second son, despite his family wielding great power within the kingdom,
in the Wizard World, these things hardly served as bargaining chips in dealings with wizards. Besides handing over all of his remaining five Magic Stones to Nolian, Yellen had also been forced to agree to various unequal "lab assistant" treaties, where he must cooperate with Nolian unconditionally during experiments!
Just like just now, he had been "used" once, and the cost was his left hand.
Thinking of this, Yellen felt increasingly indignant.
Before he set off, he possessed Magic Stones, and his talent was a genius almost reaching Level 4 from Level 3. Had he not been "deceived" by Lucien's recruitment conditions, he could have chosen a mentor with less stringent contract conditions. But now, he had no other choice.
Even among Nolian's other apprentices, he, the "outsider," subtly suffered exclusion, even though he tried to ingratiate himself and fit in, but still...
Yellen looked at the young girl before him, and the violent, indignant emotions in his heart were slightly alleviated.
After all, everything is relative.
Although he was far more unfortunate than the other new blood, compared to the one before him still struggling in a pit of fire, he was indeed fortunate.
At this moment, Yellen particularly wanted to vent his negative emotions, and Carly, who was even more unfortunate, a weaker "unlucky person," naturally became his best target.
Looking at the girl with an expression of alienation written all over her face, Yellen felt much better inside.
To him, Carly's alienation naturally appeared to be a normal reaction after enduring grievances from Lucien's side.
After thinking about it, how could the injured Wizard Lucien possibly have the patience to instruct students? Moreover, since Carly's talent was just the weakest Level 1, following Lucien meant probably just learning to serve and assist!
And after Lucien's injuries proved fatal, perhaps the next time he wanted to see her, she would be either in some wizard lord's specimen collection or in the trading area's slave section, right?
Yellen thought to himself, but his smile grew even more obvious. "Can't we chat if there's nothing in particular? We're all new blood wizards from the same batch; perhaps exchanging information could benefit us all in adapting to the cruel Wizard World."
"For instance, what might happen to a new blood if her mentor dies unexpectedly." Yellen's lips curved up as he watched Carly, expecting her to reveal the expression he had anticipated.
Carly furrowed her brows, and her chest heaved slightly with anger.
This Yellen, he was clearly talking about her, about Master Lucien!
"Move aside!" Carly's voice turned cold.
Yellen's smile became more pronounced as he enjoyed Carly's angry demeanor, feeling much comfort inside; then he raised his "left hand," revealing the metal prosthetic that had been attached, as if showing off, boasting.
"I suggest you face reality sooner, and quickly find a Third-level Wizard Apprentice willing to take you in and then pay some price. Hmph, the sooner, the better, because the price you'll need to pay will only grow bigger..."
Yellen hadn't finished speaking when his chin received a heavy blow from Carly.
"Huff... huff..." Carly clenched her fists, breathing heavily, tilting her head back, glaring at Yellen, who was taller by half a head, like a young enraged lioness.
"You..." Yellen, caught off guard by the sudden attack, still appeared confused, pointing at Carly as if wanting to say something, but Carly had already swung her little fist up again.
Without any martial technique, without any skill, just punch after punch, aimed directly at Yellen's head.