Liurnia of the Lakes had fallen into an eerie calm. No one wanted to be the first to stir up trouble, and everyone seemed to be waiting in silence.
Most of Caria Manor's core strength was concentrated up north at Caria Manor itself, so they couldn't very well start a fight inside the academy.
The Preceptors likely sensed something off about the Carian Royal Family as well. Still, worried the scholars would get caught in the fallout, they chose not to make a move within the academy.
Between Loretta and Moongrum, the Queen's Guardian, there were two Carian Knights.
Add Preceptor Miriam, and the three of them alone were enough to throw the entire academy into chaos.
And then there was Rennala, Queen of the Full Moon. She remained hidden deep within the palace and never showed her face, but no one dared pretend she wasn't there.
What if she was lying in wait?
Who could swear that this ruthless figure, the one who had once conquered Liurnia of the Lakes by force and beaten back countless Golden Champions, wouldn't suddenly appear in front of them?
Back then, even the two masters, Lusat and Azur, could only follow in her wake.
These Preceptors were nowhere close to those two. Even if they all jumped her at once, they'd still just be lining up to die.
BANG—
The crash tore through the room's silence as the door was slammed open.
Nolan had been absorbed in a priceless set of Sorceries notes left behind by some ancient sage. The sudden noise made him jolt. He looked up toward the doorway.
Sellen stormed in, seething, muttering ugly things under her breath as she marched straight toward him, complaining the whole way.
"Those spineless thieves, every last one of them. Acting like the sky's falling. I swear there's nothing but slop in their pig brains."
"The fighting hasn't even started, and they're already wound this tight."
"If they're that scared, they should just shut the gates. Lock them in. Don't let Miriam and the others take a single step out."
Then we'd be stuck too, wouldn't we?
Just then, Nolan walked over with a steaming cup of tea and set it on the table with practiced ease.
Sellen took the cup without thinking, sipped lightly, and her mood immediately eased.
Over these past months, she'd slowly grown used to this kind of comfortable life.
Nolan, as calm as ever, laid it out. "The academy doesn't have enough leverage right now. If we close the gates on a whim, we'll be tearing things open with the Carian Royal Family."
"We don't know what state Her Majesty the Queen is in, but Her Highness the Princess is still at Caria Manor. And who knows how the Golden Order Dynasty would react."
Sellen snorted and laughed with open contempt.
"They're cowards. They've got dirty thoughts, but they don't have the nerve to act on them. So they just cling to what they've got."
"And that 'vow of virtue and poverty' they used to preach? They tossed it aside ages ago. Pathetic."
Then she asked, as if it were an afterthought, "Weren't you going to see Thops off? Why are you back already?"
"That kid can't drink at all," Nolan said, dropping into a chair and shaking his head. "Two or three cups and he was already swaying all over the place. If he'd had any more, he probably wouldn't have made it out of there."
Really, appearances meant nothing. Thops looked rough and wild, but anything a real tough guy could do, he couldn't do a single one.
"Thops really is talented. Sending him off to Caria Manor is a waste."
"Still safer than leaving him here," Nolan sighed.
"Fair. Besides, only the Lunar Princess and the distant Empyrean Miquella would put up with him. When are you planning to leave?" Sellen asked.
Nolan, already turning something over in his mind, paused before answering.
"There's still time. I'm not just an apprentice. I'm also a Golden Needle Knight of the Haligtree. The Academy won't dare act recklessly."
He'd come here to die in accordance with the Saintess's wishes, but the Academy didn't know that. The Preceptors couldn't possibly know what Miquella was planning, either.
And the invincible Haligtree Army was larger and stronger than Caria Manor's forces.
The Academy only dared to rebel because Caria Manor's own strength was fading by the day.
If it were the Haligtree at its peak, they wouldn't even dare to breathe wrong.
"Teacher, before I go, there's something I want to ask you," Nolan said suddenly.
"Go on."
"This separation could last years. It could even be decades before we see each other again. Are you really not coming with me?" Nolan asked, a faint hope in his eyes.
"I have research to finish. I can't leave this place." Sellen shook her head.
"What kind of research? We could study magic just as well at Caria Manor."
Even though he already had a guess, Nolan couldn't stop himself from asking.
"The stars have been fixed in place by the Starscourge. A sorcerer can look up all they want, but they'll never reach the truth anymore." Sellen let out a slow breath.
"But I won't accept that. If I can't make the stars move again… then I'll turn myself into a seed, and go in search of the Primeval Current."
Her long fingers tapped lightly against the tabletop. Her sapphire eyes narrowed, as if she'd fallen into thought.
"But if the starry sky is sealed, what would it change if you became a seed?" Nolan asked, his expression darkening. "Could you really uncover the secrets of the stars that way?"
"I don't know," Sellen said. "But I have to try. I refuse to shut myself away like those people in the academy."
Her gaze was steady and unyielding, her voice edged with resolve.
"Teacher…" Nolan parted his lips, wanting to say more, but in the end he fell silent.
Sellen looked at him without speaking. There was something almost approving in her eyes. Only after a long while did she shake her head.
"A sorcerer exists to chase endless mysteries. The unknown is treasure. You don't stop just because the road ahead looks blocked."
"You don't seem surprised. Then again, both of my mentors pursued the Primeval Current. Miriam probably warned you."
"I didn't need Preceptor Miriam to warn me," Nolan said, shaking his head. "You're just terrible at hiding secrets."
He even felt that Preceptor Sellen hadn't really tried to hide it from him in the first place.
"I didn't see the point," Sellen said, the corners of her mouth lifting. "You're my apprentice. What would I need to hide from you?"
Then she propped her chin in her hand and looked at him with a knowing glint.
"So… are you going to use this secret to threaten me, make me leave with you?"
Nolan hurriedly waved his hands. "How could I ever do that!?"
No matter what his reasons were, he didn't want to force her into a choice she didn't want.
But he also knew that pursuing the Primeval Current was a path soaked in danger, and it was hard to imagine it ending well.
In Glintstone Sorcery there was a forbidden practice called "Primeval Current." For Graven School sorcerers, it was a method of pursuit.
They gathered the bodies of many sorcerers, themselves included, and fused them into a single mass, becoming a "Star Seed" to probe the secrets of the stars.
Yet even after Sellen became a sphere, she only lay there on the ground, wailing, her lips still calling for "disciple."
Nolan didn't know if that counted as success, but it certainly didn't look like something anyone would want to endure.
How was he supposed to accept a future like that with a straight face?
"Then there you go," Sellen said. "If you don't want to walk a road that hard, then get to Caria Manor as soon as you can."
"After all, you were admitted to the academy by the Lunar Princess. Even with your special status, that doesn't mean you're safe."