Soon afterward, Colin returned home.
On the front lawn sprouting with young shoots, aside from the Renee sisters and little Nasi, there were two familiar figures.
Colin greeted them with a smile, "Good morning, Senior Lillian."
"Good morning." Lillian sat on a wooden rocking chair, a replica made by Colin based on designs from his past life. Her petite frame was fully sunk into it as she leisurely read a book.
Nearby, Bobi was frolicking with Nasi, and Demi was helping Renee trim the plants.
Due to Bobi, Lillian had become a regular visitor here.
However, after that gathering, it seemed that she had been busy joining a faction and hadn't visited for a long time.
Now that she had the time to visit, had she successfully joined a faction?
A thought struck Colin, and he was about to inquire.
But Lillian put down her book and asked first, "Did you spend all of last night at the True Knowledge Society?"
"Yes, I was studying a piece of witchcraft," Colin nodded.
"Is it easy to join the True Knowledge Society? Are there any restrictions?"
"It's relatively simple; one just needs a few of their own original pieces of witchcraft," Colin paused before further elaborating on some information about the True Knowledge Society to Lillian.
After a while, Lillian nodded thoughtfully.
Colin walked over and half-reclined in the rocking chair opposite her, asking, "Senior, do you have time to visit because you've successfully joined a faction?"
Lillian shook her head, her lips parted as if she wanted to say something, but she paused and then asked instead,
"What about you, junior, have you decided on which faction to join?"
Colin's rocking motion briefly halted, and he shook his head.
Lillian sat up straight and asked him, "Aren't you in a rush at all?"
"Why rush? I'm just over twenty this year, with centuries more to live," Colin replied, sitting up straight and taking a sip from the cup of tea that Renee had just poured.
Although this was not his main reason for not wanting to join a faction, it did count as a secondary reason.
Even including his previous life, Colin had lived in this world for only fifty years, which was merely a brief beginning compared to the generally minimum lifespan of five hundred years for a Second Rank Wizard.
Lillian was taken aback by Colin's casual words, as if struck by a revelation, and after a long pause, she slowly said,
"That's true. I still have a thousand years to live. Why the rush?"
As someone with an Elf Bloodline, Lillian's lifespan far exceeded that of wizards of a similar rank, although this advantage would diminish as she progressed in ranks.
But at least in the Second Rank Wizard stage, her lifespan could reach a thousand years, double that of an ordinary Second Rank Wizard.
After saying this, Lillian seemed to have lifted a heavy burden; a smile appeared on her delicate face, and she switched to discussing other topics with Colin.
The conditions the factions offered her were far from lenient. The Pureblood Family was not willing to take in a half-elf, and other factions, leveraging her half-elf status, proposed contracts lasting at least seven to eight hundred years—a commitment Lillian naturally disliked.
Around ten in the morning, Lillian bid farewell and left.
And Colin went back to his bedroom and fell straight to sleep.
A sleepless night was nothing new for him now; although his body wasn't tired, the mental exhaustion was somewhat draining.
He needed a good sleep to reset himself to dive deeper into his magical studies and research.
At noon, Colin got up for lunch, and as he was about to cut into a piece of beef, his movement paused. He put down his knife and fork and took out a thin crystal slice from his pocket.
The dark black crystal was now flashing bright blue colors at a rapid pace.
This meant Isidore wanted to meet him as soon as possible.
'Three days remain until our weekly meeting. Why now…'
Colin frowned slightly, hurriedly finished his meal, and after picking up a Hidden Witch Tool from Darren's Commission, he headed to Isidore's residence.
The first time he had come to this ordinary courtyard, he had thought that it was just a place temporarily rented by Isidore for their meeting, only to learn later that this was actually Isidore's current residence.
His original home had been much more luxurious, but Isidore could no longer afford it— in a sense, the current Miracle was a gold-devouring beast.
The two met in the basement, and Colin glanced at the Miracle situated in the center.
Within a pale blue ice column about three to four meters tall, the Miracle still appeared as he had seen it before, with its eyes tightly shut and its slightly glowing body floating up and down within the ice column.
"What's the matter, why did you call me over ahead of time?" Colin asked, his voice muffled and mechanical under the effect of the Hidden Witch Tool, making it indistinguishable between male and female.
"Mr. Wood Elf, how has the recent progress been?" Isidore's eyes and eyebrows showed impatience, but he still maintained a calm appearance as he asked, adjusting something behind the ice column at the moment.
"It's manageable," Colin replied.
Isidore paused briefly in his movements, looked at Colin, and asked for confirmation, "Manageable, as in?"
"There has been some progress," Colin continued.
Isidore's face brightened slightly. After painfully replacing the Witch Array's power source with new Frost materials, he quickly walked up to Colin's side and started asking several more questions about the research.
Colin answered each one, without any concealment.
After listening to the answers, Isidore breathed a slight sigh of relief and looked back at the Miracle, sighing:
"Mr. Wood Elf, I previously told you the Miracle could last another three months, but now it seems that estimate is far too optimistic."
Colin was stunned, and subconsciously looked towards the Miracle.
He didn't know if it was a psychological effect, but now as he examined the Miracle closely, he noticed that she seemed a bit smaller than the first time he saw her?
This reduction did not seem like a physical one, but rather in age.
Before, the Miracle appeared to be about three or four years old, but now seemed at most three.
Meanwhile, Isidore continued:
"Starting last week, the Miracle's demand for energy suddenly increased. The Frost materials that could normally last at least half a month now only last a maximum of ten days."
Colin remained silent. This increase in demand might not seem high, but to note, each of these Frost materials cost at least a hundred thousand Magic Stones.
Ordinary Ice Elemental Energy would not suffice to sustain the Miracle; it had to be the precious Frost materials.
This was a very strange point. Isidore had researched it for a while but had not been able to determine the reason.
Otherwise, if Magic Power could be converted into Ice Elemental Energy to sustain the Miracle, a hundred thousand Magic Stones could suffice for several months.
Upon learning this, Colin was surprised.
Because if the Witch Array couldn't convert Magic Power into Ice Elemental Energy to supply the Miracle.
Then his own modifications, essentially converting external Magic Power into Ice Elemental Energy, how could he ensure that it would definitely save the Miracle?
Isidore's answer was that there was none.
He was making a final attempt, a solution when there was no solution.
And just because the Witch Array didn't work, didn't mean witchcraft wouldn't work.
The custom witchcraft received from Colin proved this point, even though there wasn't much fundamental difference between the two.
But just like not knowing why the Miracle could only use the precious Frost materials to sustain itself.
Isidore also didn't know—why an external Witch Array was useless, yet direct witchcraft targeting the Miracle itself was effective.
This was an unsolved mystery within the Miracle.
"Mr. Wood Elf, the Miracle has at most a month and a half left, I hope you can speed up the progress,"
Isidore withdrew his gaze, turned his head to look at Colin, and earnestly pleaded.
Colin keenly noticed that many of the Witch Tools that Isidore used to wear were now missing, such as the Witch Wand he often held.
Perhaps they had all been sold to buy the Frost materials needed to sustain the Miracle...
Colin looked back at the Miracle once more; she quietly floated within the ice column, her expression serene,
In response, he slowly and solemnly addressed Isidore:
"I will, Mr. Isidore."