"Best of luck with your advancement, senior," Colin wished Lillian sincerely as their conversation continued until noon, after which Colin bid her farewell after lunch.
"Okay," Lillian exhaled softly, nodding her head with a mix of nervous anticipation.
Breaking through to Second Rank might have been a natural progression for Colin, but for Lillian, it was an unpredictable challenge.
For decades, she lingered at this threshold until an accidental venture into the Elf Kingdom and the purification of her lineage finally gave her a glimmer of hope to move forward.
The morning snow had not stopped but had lessened, fluttering down like catkins.
Colin watched Lillian's petite figure as she walked away, then he too started walking toward the True Knowledge Society.
The war between Wizards and the Divine had come to a temporary peace, and the turbulence within the city seemed to have subsided for a while, ushering in an unusually calm period.
However, Colin had no intention of relaxing. The calmer it was, the more one should gather strength.
Perhaps due to the snowy weather, Colin walked for a while and hadn't seen any public carriages, which made him somewhat nostalgic for the days he had a Coachman on Blackstone Island.
'Maybe I should consider buying a carriage?'
In Neustadt, only Third Rank Wizards and some Second Rank Wizards were normally allowed to fly freely.
Of course, since there were no mandatory Witch Arrays or restrictions, flying low over the streets generally wasn't a problem, and sometimes Colin would fly directly home from the True Knowledge Society Castle at night when there were no public carriages.
However, when riding in a carriage, he could use the travel time to study witchcraft in the carriage compartment, something he couldn't do while flying himself.
Therefore, Colin often preferred to take public carriages.
As he learned more about witchcraft, time became more precious and scarce for Colin.
Often, it became impossible to allocate enough practice time to all the techniques of witchcraft.
Making choices had become a necessity.
Colin sat cross-legged in the laboratory of the True Knowledge Society, focusing his spirit and summoning the Golden Paper.
After carefully reviewing the progress of various knowledge areas, Colin planned his schedule for the afternoon.
The Golden Paper ensured he progressed with each practice, but often, depending on his condition, the amount of progress per practice could vary.
The stages of witchcraft progression also affected this, as the boost from each practice session was not mechanically fixed.
Hence, Colin often needed to adjust his plans in real time.
The True Knowledge Society Castle was as quiet as usual.
In recent days, Colin even noticed that there were no Wizards on duty in the castle.
Luckily, some basic functions, such as renting the laboratory, were controlled by the True Knowledge Central Control, making it no different whether someone was there or not.
Regardless, the True Knowledge Society was the loosest organization Colin had ever joined.
As evening approached,
The sun set in a blaze of orange, fusing with the white snow to turn it golden.
Colin sat cross-legged in the laboratory and gently exhaled a breath of turbid air.
That afternoon, with acumulated efforts, he had managed to break the limits of three witchcraft techniques: the Deep Red Marking Technique, the Light Flame Soaring Skill, and the Natural Healing Skill.
Perhaps influenced by the crystal given by Nois, the Deep Red Marking Technique had leaped to become a Middle Second Rank, the highest level of witchcraft Colin currently mastered.
Generally, complicated witchcraft didn't necessarily mean powerful effects, but powerful witchcraft were usually complex.
The limit-broken Deep Red Marking Technique now offered a qualitative leap in effects compared to its old version, which couldn't detect the latest disguises of Divine Believers.
With his current mastery over the updated core mechanisms of the Deep Red Marking Technique, without any unforeseen circumstances, it should be able to identify the latest disguises of a Divine Undercover, similar to the new Third Rank technique Colin witnessed in a School the other day.
As for how it compared to the refined Third Rank version improved by Nois, honestly, Colin wasn't entirely sure.
'This time, has the Council decided not to popularize the Deep Red Marking Technique?' Colin suddenly thought.
But upon further consideration, it seemed normal, probably because it's too difficult to simplify and could only be used by Third Rank Wizards at minimum, so it couldn't be popularized.
After all, though Nois had given him a crystal that contained not only the complete improved Deep Red Marking Technique but also another manuscript,
many of the knowledge pieces were still out of his current scope; without the Golden Paper, he likely wouldn't be able to use the improved Deep Red Marking Technique until he reached Third Rank.
Colin sighed softly.
Advancing too quickly had its disadvantages; time was fair to everyone.
As he spent most of his time practicing witchcraft and advancing as a Wizard, he naturally had less accumulation of related Wizard knowledge.
But for a Wizard, accumulating a foundation of knowledge was crucial.
Colin shifted his attention to the newly limit-broken Light Flame Soaring Skill.
The flying witchcraft technique he obtained from Margaret, after its first limit breaking, had advanced from Middle First Rank to Second Rank Lower, aligning with most of the other witchcraft techniques he currently held.