He walked into the School and marched quickly down the path.
Soon, he arrived outside the dwelling of his mentor, Atbolde.
After passing the verification of the Xi flowers, he stepped onto the stone path.
The place was as tranquil as ever.
But perhaps because he had been raising a Nado himself, this time, he distinctly felt that the plants around were somewhat different.
In fact, if one was familiar enough, they could indeed perceive some differences between plants taken over by Nado and ordinary ones.
Such as the faint golden green veins, as well as the more orderly growth…
"Colin."
Suddenly, just as he was carefully observing the surrounding plants, a familiar voice came slowly from the side.
He looked in the direction of the voice, and saw a green branch hanging from a large tree beside the path.
At the tip of the branch blossomed a trumpet-shaped white flower.
The voice was coming from within the white flower.
It seemed… to be Atbolde's voice.
"Have you finished your closed-door training?" the white flower continued to transmit the mentor's voice.
The white flower perfectly mimicked Atbolde's slow speech rate and his gentle, calm tone.
"Yes, Mentor Atbolde."
Although it was not face-to-face, Colin still bowed slightly, respectfully replying.
In this manor-style residence belonging to Atbolde, nothing could escape the mentor's eyes.
His arrival was naturally included… he had known that long ago.
He just didn't know why he was being called all of a sudden.
"Hmm, in the blink of an eye, another three months have gone by... Have you finished your training then?" Atbolde sighed, then spoke up:
"If you are looking for me, do not go to the study, I am not there.
Come to the top floor of the villa, we are hosting our monthly gathering, hmm, there are delicious roast pigeon."
Gathering?
"Alright, Mentor." Colin promptly replied.
Although he had been Atbolde's student for more than three months, he had only met two of the other students so far — Marjorie and Lillian.
But one couldn't blame him for that, apart from the reason of his closed-door training.
It was also because Atbolde hardly interfered with him and didn't assign him any tasks.
Moreover, Atbolde didn't seem to give lessons in general.
So he also had no chance to interact with more classmates.
Thinking of this, Colin couldn't help but sigh in his heart.
Atbolde's place was indeed free and leisurely, he could hardly find any fault with it... and he didn't know why there were no new apprentices joining.
Following Atbolde's instructions, he walked straight into the main building of the villa and stepped towards the top floor.
As soon as he stepped onto the top floor, the pleasing sound of a violin vaguely reached his ears, mixed with some conversation and the aroma of food.
Following the sound and fragrance, Colin walked to the room in the center.
Knock, knock, knock—
He knocked lightly on the door.
"Come in, Colin." Atbolde's voice came slowly from inside.
He pushed the door and entered.
Here was a spacious hall.
At the moment, a simple banquet was being held, and the long square table was laden with an array of food.
There were not many people, not even ten including Atbolde.
Hmm, counting carefully, besides the maids and Atbolde, there were only four wizards.
Two female witches and two male wizards.
...It was pitifully few if these were all the students Atbolde had taken.
At the moment, the apprentices were standing around Atbolde, holding glasses of wine or plates of food in their hands.
Beside Atbolde, Lillian was holding a light-brown violin.
"Good morning, Mentor Atbolde." Colin greeted him respectfully.
Actually, gatherings like this were usually held in the afternoon or evening.
But here, it was in the morning... needless to say, it was certainly because of Atbolde.
"Good morning, Colin." Atbolde raised the silver fork in his hand in response, onto which a pigeon leg was speared.
Come to think of it, this was the first time he had seen Atbolde standing up.
And it was when Atbolde stood, he realized that the mentor, though thin and stooped, was still tall.
Even now somewhat old and bent, he was at least one meter ninety in height.
"Hmm... relax, no need to stand there, come and choose something you like to eat," Atbolde added.
"Alright." Colin nodded and walked toward the dining table.
A maid had already prepared a plate and silver fork for him.
"This is Colin Leonard, the apprentice who has recently joined us."
As he casually selected a few items and walked over with his plate of food, Atbolde took the opportunity to introduce him to the others.
"Nehemiah."
"Fanny."
Marjorie and Lillian had known him for a while, so they merely greeted him.
The other two Wizards simply introduced themselves by name.
Fanny was a Witch, of plain appearance and visibly not young, a rare corpulent figure among her kind, with a gentle demeanor.
Nehemiah looked like a young man with pale skin, but the fine lines at the corners of his eyes betrayed his age as well.
"Colin, this is your first time at the gathering, so you might be a bit puzzled. Let me explain a few things," Atbolde took the initiative to say,
"This meeting is a tradition I've always insisted on. Over two hundred years ago, I set this rule—"
"Every Apprentice of mine needs to try to attend this monthly dinner."
"I haven't made it mandatory to come every time, nor have I specified what the meeting should entail... You can simply come to eat, chat with the other Apprentices, or, you could ask me some questions."
"Alright, Mentor Atbolde, I understand," Colin nodded.
"Mhm." Atbolde nodded slowly and turned with a smile, "Please continue, Lillian."
Lillian nodded, put the violin back on her shoulder, and resumed playing.
As the music began, the awkward silence that had settled due to Colin's arrival started to dissipate once again.
Colin's gaze flickered as he moved close to Atbolde, and he whispered,
"Mentor, I would like to ask you something."
"Of course, ask away," Atbolde, now seated, placed his dish of roasted pigeon on the wooden table and responded warmly.
Colin hesitated, unsure whether he should ask his question in front of everyone else.
There were only a few people in the hall, all close enough that the content of their conversations could be heard.
Atbolde saw his hesitant expression and waved his hand gently.
"Go ahead, they can't hear us now."
"Don't worry about it being awkward for them; in fact, it's quite common, well, at least it was when we had more people.
Back then, if someone had a question they did not want overheard, I would temporarily seal off the sound."
"Thank you, Mentor Atbolde," Colin hesitated no more and got straight to the point:
"I would like to ask how to obtain the continuation of the Tin Saint Meditation Method, such as the part for advancing to an Official Wizard."
"After meeting the requirements, just apply to the Mentor," Atbolde replied.
"In that case, I would like to apply to get the part of the Tin Saint Meditation Method for advancing to an Official Wizard," said Colin.
"Very well," Atbolde said, paused, and then asked, "Have you completed the switch to the Tin Saint Meditation?"
"I have."
"And have you fully recovered your Magic Power?"
"...It will take a bit more time," Colin replied after a pause.
After successfully switching Meditation Methods, the level of Magic Power inside one's body would usually fall to the Basic Level Wizard Apprentice.
For an Advanced Wizard Apprentice, it typically takes about a month to return to their original level...
But he was different. If nothing unexpected happened, he would recover his Magic Power by tomorrow.
This was mainly because he didn't truly switch Meditation Methods.
Additionally, it's worth mentioning that the new Tin Ring Meditation Method, perhaps because it was fused from two golden Meditation Methods,
had an excellent cultivation effect, reaching almost inconceivable heights.
Just this morning after the fusion and first meditation, his Rank as a Wizard had jumped a whole 3 points in progress.
"It will take a bit more time... When exactly did you successfully change your Meditation Method?" Atbolde asked.
Hesitantly and vaguely, Colin responded, "Just in the last couple of days."
"Mhm." Atbolde nodded, his expression calm, but he sighed softly to himself.
He knew that Colin came from a remote island and was an Advanced Wizard Apprentice who had progressed there... And now, having switched Meditation Methods, the chance to advance to Official Wizard must have become slim to none.
Although Colin seemed calm and still hopeful, even eager to obtain the continuation right after switching his Meditation Method, filled with passion...
But some things can't be achieved with passion and effort alone.
'Damned Tainted babblings!'
Thinking this, he couldn't help but curse silently.
Yet outwardly, he maintained a warm demeanor toward Colin, smiling and saying,
"Focus on recovering your Magic Power recently... After the gathering, I'll give you the part of the Meditation Method to advance to Official Wizard."
Actually, obtaining the content for advancing to Official Wizard was not so straightforward, entailing more rigorous evaluation and requirements, and sometimes even the completion of certain tasks or earning enough academic points.
But... he couldn't be bothered anymore; after all, it was just the part for advancing to Official Wizard, a matter of signing a good contract.
How many years had it been since he had an Apprentice willing to come to him?
And this one had specifically requested to study under him... Why be so strict?
"Thank you, Mentor!" Colin bowed deeply, his joy palpable as he expressed his gratitude.
He hadn't expected things to go so smoothly; he had thought there would be some sort of assessment or tasks to earn the continuation of the Tin Saint Meditation Method for an Official Wizard.
To think it was as simple as asking the Mentor!
However, the ease of the situation made Colin worry anew. The questions he had harboured before resurfaced.
With things so favorable at Mentor Atbolde's, why had no Apprentices joined for so long?
On the other side, after Atbolde heard his thanks, he smiled and waved his hand, dispelling the invisible Silence Barrier.
It was a two-way Silence Barrier, so when it was removed, the chatter of Marjorie and the others outside suddenly came through.
It seemed he heard something interesting, and Atbolde spoke up:
"It sounds like you're discussing something quite intriguing over there."