"Mentor..." Colin's smile froze on his face.
He looked at Atbolde in the sunlight, his expression turning silent.
"I didn't expect you'd still be alive," Atbolde said softly, smiling as he caressed his own body. After a pause, he added, "And I never thought you'd come back to see me, Colin."
"Mentor, your injury..."
Colin's lips moved as he hesitated to ask.
He watched Atbolde intently, watched how, under the sunlight, the lower half of his body appeared diseased and tree-like in a brownish hue.
Atbolde wasn't sitting at his desk... he was growing.
His elderly upper body was bare, and from his lower abdomen downward, it had transformed into gnarled, thick tree roots.
A faint smell of blood wafted from the dark red junction of root and flesh, spreading throughout the study.
Atbolde lowered his gaze and didn't answer, only saying calmly,
"I'm about to die."
He looked up at Colin with a somber expression and smiled, "Tell me what brings you here, let's see if I can still assist you one last time."
Atbolde's demeanor was calm, his tone gentle, just as it had always been when answering various questions in the past.
But his voice was inevitably weaker, his white temples disheveled. If one could overlook the abnormality of his body, he looked like an ordinary, wise old man approaching the end of his life.
Hearing this, Colin's heart was filled with even greater sorrow.
He had thought that he was prepared for Atbolde's condition, but seeing it with his own eyes was still painful.
Such an injury, probably more of a metamorphosis... Could the Ancient Tree Spring, which focused more on life and healing, truly cure him?
"What is it? If you want to change mentors, don't feel embarrassed, Colin," Atbolde asked again, his tone candid, "Your talent shouldn't end here."
Colin steadied himself and without further thought, activated the power of the Ancient Tree Spring, and with all his might, formed a fist-sized light green sphere of water in his hands.
"Mentor, this might help you!" His face slightly pale, he took a breath and spoke earnestly.
"Is this... an Elf creation?" Atbolde asked, surprised.
"Yes, it is called the Ancient Tree Spring," Colin explained.
Next, Colin briefly shared with Atbolde his accidental journey into the Elf Kingdom.
As Colin spoke, Atbolde's calm expression rippled like a breeze upon the surface of a lake.
He had not expected that this new student of his, who had ventured to the Southern Sea Domain, would encounter such a tumultuous adventure.
But what surprised him even more was the news about Lillian.
"Lillian entered the Treasure Vault and has not come back out? And her little elf went in with her?"
Atbolde fell silent for a moment and then asked softly.
"Yes," Colin nodded and said,
"After I obtained the Ancient Tree Spring from the Treasure Vault and came out, I waited several more days, but still, there was no sign of senior Lillian... so I left with a keepsake."
All of this was the truth, except he omitted the part about the Ancient Tree of Life.
"Octavia... what exactly did you leave behind?" Atbolde murmured, his head bowed, barely audible.
Octavia was the name of Lillian's mother.
In fact, before Colin mentioned this, Atbolde had no idea that Lillian's journey involved a visit to the Elf Kingdom.
And the purpose had been to find something to heal him.
He had thought it was merely a routine mission assigned by the School...
However, this was much better than the news of her disappearance on the battlefield that had reached him a few days ago...
Atbolde thought so.
His heart, which had grown numb and vacant upon learning of Lillian's disappearance, suddenly felt a warm surge of hope emerge from nothing.
He raised his head, looking at Colin with somewhat cloudy eyes.
He was old, slow, and now injured, even on the verge of death.
But the more he was like this, the clearer and more lucid his mind seemed to become, and the cloudy look that radiated from his eyes held a penetrating power, as though seeing through everything.
He just calmly watched Colin until he made Colin feel somewhat uncomfortable, then slowly withdrew his gaze.
"Thank you, my student," he revealed a slow smile on his aged face, his gaze turning even softer.
As the smile lifted, the creases in his skin, deep as the grooves in tree bark, unfolded too, greatly dispersing the heavy sense of impending doom.
Atbolde's heart was filled with joy.
He could tell that the Colin in front of him had not spoken a single false word.
There might be omissions... but no lies, only a sincere and genuine heart.
Therefore, Atbolde gently raised his hand, and with a gesture, the globe of water from the Ancient Tree Spring was drawn to his chest, slowly merging into it.
Colin watched attentively and silently as everything unfolded.
With the globe from the Ancient Tree Spring completely absorbed into Atbolde's chest,
Colin could distinctly feel a powerful healing energy, spreading from his mentor's chest to the limbs and body like a tide.
Under the influence of this energy, the injuries at Atbolde's lower abdomen, where the gnarled roots connected, visibly began to close and heal.
The dark red scars shrunk, their color slowly fading.
Seeing this, Colin's expression brightened with joy.
However, the wounds continued to not heal completely; at most, they shrank to a thin red line at the connection point, let alone his lower body, which was bloated and monstrous like the knotted roots.
The Ancient Tree Spring was incapable of eradicating these abnormalities...
Long after, Atbolde opened his eyes, his face displaying both disappointment and joy.
"What's wrong?" Seeing Colin's distressed face, he chuckled softly, "Don't feel sorry for me. I am much better now... Although I can't be completely cured, at least I won't die so soon, and I can hold on for a significant amount of time..."
Atbolde's words were not meant to comfort; he clearly looked much better, and his expression was much more relaxed.
At least if one ignored the abnormalities of his lower body, he appeared just like an ordinary old wizard.
Colin examined Atbolde closely, his heart relieving some tension.
As if thinking of something, he hesitated before removing the Ancient Tree Spring from his chest, then said in a grave voice:
"Mentor, the corruption in your body is not yet gone. The globe from the Ancient Tree Spring was only a temporary remedy, not a cure. Please accept this Ancient Tree Spring Necklace."
To Colin, his talent of Strong Life, with the strengthening of his body's foundation, would continue to improve, which was entirely sufficient for his needs. The benefits of the Ancient Tree Spring were actually not as great as he had imagined.
It was better to give it to his mentor Atbolde, a Second Rank Wizard, to stabilize his condition.
Out of sentiment and reason... even if it were out of self-interest, in the relatively peaceful environment of Neustadt City, having mentor Atbolde in a stable state would allow him to avoid many troubles and focus on his training.
On the other hand, hearing these words, Atbolde was surprised again, his heart filled with mixed emotions.
Regardless of the reasoning, such a choice was not something just anyone could make.
"I am touched, Colin," he paused, then continued gently, "But the Ancient Tree Spring would be more useful on you than with me.
"The root of the injuries on my body lies in the previous enhancement of my physical foundation. Due to certain reasons at that time, I was injured and a latent disease took hold...
Now it's deep in my bones, and even wearing the Ancient Tree Spring Necklace won't make me any better."
"Moreover, I do not need a constant supply of the Ancient Tree Spring... Hmm, if it's convenient for you, it is enough to come and replenish the Ancient Tree Spring for me once a week."
While speaking, as if to prove that his condition had indeed much improved, Atbolde stretched out his hands, forcefully leveraging himself to "stand" up using the desk in front of him.
With this movement, his originally bared body gradually donned a large wizard robe, and the gnarled roots that once entwined around his lower body seemed to take the shape of legs, hiding beneath the fabric of the robe.
Colin tried to persuade him several more times.
Indeed, he felt that he didn't really need the Ancient Tree Spring in Neustadt City and that it would be most prudent for Atbolde to have it.
However, Atbolde clearly had made up his mind, unswayed by Colin's arguments.
Colin could only give up.
Nevertheless, the good news was that Atbolde's physical condition was indeed rapidly improving.
He was now able to walk slowly, stepping over to the grand floor-to-ceiling window.
Colin silently joined him at the window.
He looked out at the huge, lush ancient tree that seemed to be a host to the main body of Nado and suddenly asked again:
"Mentor, what exactly is going on with the Hidosh Family?"
The Hidosh Family... This was the very perpetrator that Lillian had mentioned during their time in the Elf Kingdom, the direct cause of Atbolde's current condition.