Despite Mia's victory in the practical combat session, the K1 combat suit still left her deeply shaken.

Karien had not hidden anything from them in this regard. He directly dismantled the damaged jetpack and explained to them why the jetpack was capable of flight.

However, after the explanation, Mia was even more surprised.

On one hand, it was astonishing that Professor Karien was so wealthy, using dozens of elemental coins for experiments. Although she didn't know the exact price of elemental coins, the fact that they could store magical elements meant they had to be expensive.

On the other hand, the fact that ten "Wind Rejection" magic arrays could actually lift a person off the ground was hard for her to grasp.

"This involves the principles of aerodynamics," Karien seized the opportunity to explain physics to Mia and Jack, detailing the gas flow process in the jetpack.

However, after listening to the explanation, both Mia and Jack were left confused, completely unable to understand.

"Haha, this is still a bit too advanced for you," Karien chuckled, saying, "When we have more time later, I'll start a physics course for you.

"And when I conduct more experiments, you two can assist me."

Jack nodded vigorously, his eyes shining with admiration for his teacher.

"Is this the kind of experiment being conducted at the Galon Institute? That's incredible!"

Uh...

Karien scratched his cheek and replied, "Some of it, yes, but some of it is also my own research."

At the same time, Karien added in his mind, The Galon Institute hasn't even conducted research like this yet.

After roughly explaining the details of the K1 combat suit, Karien had Mia continue her training.

Then, he took Jack and returned to the classroom to continue teaching the other students.

In addition to Mia, Karien also planned to have ten other students participate in the graduation assessment.

Normally, the graduation assessment at Palos Magic School was for students aged 12-15.

At Red Leaf Academy, there were about twenty students in this age range.

Initially, Karien had planned to have all twenty of them take the assessment together, as long as they had magical equipment, which could help compensate for many differences in talent.

However, some students felt that it was still too early to take the test and wanted to study for another two years.

Others had never received combat training and, with only three months left before the exam, found it difficult to prepare in time.

Karien didn't force any students to take the exam and also had some students who, like him, preferred theoretical studies.

Thus, Karien divided the eligible students into two groups.

One group, like Mia, continued with practical combat training in preparation for the graduation exam. The other group focused on theoretical studies. Karien expanded the curriculum to include physics, guiding these students in participating in the research of magical devices.

After all, it was difficult for Karien to cover all the research by himself. Many adjustments in the details were very time-consuming.

With the students helping as assistants, the pace of his research could speed up.

Of course, in addition to the eligible students, there were also younger students.

Since Karien was extremely busy and Red Leaf Academy had only him as a teacher, he planned to rotate the high-achieving, eligible students to help take care of the younger ones, lightening his load.

After all, Red Leaf Academy was in a special situation, and Karien needed to manage his time efficiently.

After organizing the students, Karien instructed Mia and Jack to take the combat-focused students for training.

Meanwhile, he began teaching the theoretical students physics from the ground up.

Given that three months was too short, Karien couldn’t expect them to master everything right away. So, he focused on teaching them mechanics and thermodynamics.

Mechanics corresponded to wind elements, which could later be used to improve the K1 combat suit. Thermodynamics corresponded to fire elements, which could later aid in improving firearms.

These two fields were what Karien had prepared for the students’ graduation assessment, but they still had many flaws and required a great deal of time and money to perfect.

After a long day of classes, Karien lay on his bed and murmured:

"Another busy day."

It had been a week since he discovered the function of the teleportation crystal.

In that week, Karien had been as busy as a spinning top, traveling back and forth between Hongye Academy, the Misty Forest, the Royal Capital, and Black Iron Territory.

And more importantly, this was just the beginning.

There were about eighty days left until the graduation assessment at Palos Magic School.

This time, Karien’s goal wasn’t just for Mia to graduate smoothly, nor just to escape the bottom ranks.

He wanted to aim for a higher ranking so that all his students would have better opportunities for further education!

The graduation assessment at Palos Magic School was somewhat like a national college entrance exam.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

Students who passed the assessment could graduate and enter a magic university for further study.

However, getting into university wasn’t easy.

The higher the ranking in the exam, the better the university they could choose.

Institutes like the Galon Institute were essentially universities, but since the Galon Institute focused on magical experiments, they rarely selected students directly from these graduation assessments.

More often, they chose top students from magic universities.

As for people like Karien, who were directly selected by the Galon Institute, they were extremely rare, which spoke to his excellence in theoretical research.

At the time, Karien had been the youngest researcher at the Galon Institute.

The only regret was that he had no elemental affinity, which hindered his progress.

But for Karien now, whether or not he continued to rise was no longer important; he had his own path to follow.

What mattered was that his students could have more choices, so he wanted to help them get into the best magic universities in Durand Kingdom.

In the southern depths of the Misty Forest,

Horus, whose frame was thin and weak, moved his arm and felt that his injuries had somewhat healed.

During the four or five days he had been hiding in the cave, he had been able to rest well for the first time in a while.

Thanks to the intimidation from Mr. Sixteen, Maiko and the Hurricane Mercenary Group had stopped pursuing him. At least, they hadn’t dared to enter this area again.

Moreover, during these past few days, Mr. Sixteen had sent him a large amount of healing supplies, which had allowed Horus to recover quickly. His injuries were almost healed to the point where he could move without any problem.

Of course, being in the Misty Forest meant that he could never be completely safe.

In the past four or five days, Horus had sensed at least twenty magical beasts passing by nearby, including several fifth- and sixth-tier high-level monsters.

Fortunately, as the son of a count, Horus had many life-saving trump cards. He possessed a high-grade magical item—the Isolation Pearl—which allowed him to conceal the surrounding aura and avoid detection by magical beasts.

This was also why, despite being only a 4th-tier Magic Sorcerer, Horus dared to venture deep into the Misty Forest.

It was the Isolation Pearl that had allowed him to evade the pursuit of the Golden Knife Legion.

However, what puzzled him was that the Hurricane Mercenary Group seemed to have some method of tracking his exact location, even when he hid in the Misty Forest. No matter what he tried to avoid them, they always managed to find him quickly.

So, for now, the best option seemed to be staying within Mr. Sixteen’s domain, waiting until his injuries were completely healed before considering other solutions.

After twisting his neck a few times, Horus confirmed that there were no magical beasts nearby. He picked up the bag Mr. Sixteen had given him and started clearing the “weeds” around him.

“White-leaf Lan, Focus Grass, Bloodflame Flower… These mid-level herbs seem quite rare outside. One plant must be worth at least ten gold coins…”

With his extensive knowledge, Horus muttered as he pulled out the plants one by one.

“I didn’t notice these when I entered. Who would have thought these things are so common in the Misty Forest? If I managed to harvest a few dozen carriages full of these and take them outside, they could be worth millions of gold coins…”

One must understand that even Count Golden Knife, with his entire fortune, might not have as much as a million gold coins.

Of course, Horus knew that it would be nearly impossible to transport dozens of carriages full of herbs back and forth within the Misty Forest.

Unless, of course, it was using some magical space magic like Mr. Sixteen’s.

If Horus could move freely through the Misty Forest, he wouldn’t be focusing on mid-level herbs like White-leaf Lan. Instead, he’d be looking for high-level herbs, and maybe he’d just pick a few mid-level ones on the way back.

While pulling up the herbs, he fantasized about how he could make use of space magic if he had it.

At that moment, Karien suddenly appeared before him with a "swish."

“Mr... Mr. Sixteen!”

Horus jumped in shock, quickly standing up and picking up the bag.

“I… I’m just pulling some weeds.”

Karien nodded slightly, glancing at the bandages wrapped around Horus’s body. He asked:

“How are your injuries? Have they improved?”

Horus hurriedly nodded and replied, “Thanks to Mr. Sixteen’s healing potion, I feel much better.”

While listening, Karien was scanning the surroundings, making sure there were no immediate dangers nearby. Although his strength was such that he would likely detect any magical beasts, he still needed to maintain some level of vigilance.

“I’ve already sent that letter of yours to your friend in the royal capital.”

“Really!?”

Horus’s face lit up, and he pressed his hand to his chest in a gesture of respect, saying, “I am deeply grateful for your help!”

With a snap of his fingers, Karien produced a letter from his hand and said:

“This is his reply.”

Horus was taken aback. He hadn’t expected the reply to come so quickly.

After thanking Karien once more, Horus took the letter, opened it, and read it carefully.

After a long while, Horus’s face turned pale.

In the letter, his friend informed him that Horus’s older brother, Milo, had arrived in the royal capital a week ago, offering gifts to the king.

At the same time, Milo had slandered Horus in front of the king, accusing him of being the one behind the internal conflict in Golden Knife Territory, claiming that Horus had killed the former count and attempted to usurp the title.

In the end, it was Milo, with the help of the knights, who had quelled the “rebellion,” while Horus was now a fugitive, branded a criminal.

From the king’s perspective, he didn’t care who the ruler of Golden Knife Territory was. All he needed was a count who would obey him.

Milo had presented valuable gifts and pledged loyalty to the king’s commands.

So now, Milo had been rightfully recognized as the new lord of Golden Knife Territory.

Meanwhile, Horus had become a wanted criminal.

“How could this be… how could this happen…”

Horus found it hard to accept this outcome.

Seeing his expression, Karien spoke in a deep voice:

“This is reality. In the game of power, justice is just a tool. Interests are everything!”

Over the past few days, while collecting intelligence in the royal capital, Karien had also heard of the situation with Golden Knife Territory.

He had more or less guessed what the letter would contain.

“But… he’s the one who usurped the title! Why did I become the criminal in the end? Why?”

Seeing Horus’s confused and indignant expression, Karien hesitated for a few seconds before replying:

“There’s no ‘why.’ Sometimes this world doesn’t play fair. The victor is the king, the loser is the thief. That’s just how it is.”

Even in the modern world Karien came from, despite all the talk of morality, human rights, and equality, behind the scenes, countless dirty and despicable tactics were at play.

And that was in a supposedly civilized society.

How much worse could it be in this dark, feudal, magical world?

After a pause, Karien added:

“If you want to reclaim everything that was taken from you, you’ll need to become stronger.

“When you have enough strength, all those plots, slanders, and false accusations will seem laughable.

“Being weak is the original sin!”

Karien didn’t just say this to Horus—he was also saying it to himself.

As someone with no magical talent, Karien had managed to achieve so much only because of the Teleportation Pearl.

If he lost the Teleportation Pearl, he would be reduced to nothing.

So Karien knew that he couldn’t always rely on the pearl.

Without magic talent, he would have to leverage his other strengths and continuously work to enhance his abilities in all areas.

Holding the letter in his hands, Horus bowed his head in silence for a long time.

After some time, he looked up at Karien and pleaded:

“Mr. Sixteen, please allow me to become your student. If it can make me stronger, I am willing to do anything for you!”

This request took Karien by surprise. He had expected Horus to seek his help, but he hadn’t anticipated him directly asking to become a disciple.

Karien frowned slightly, feeling conflicted.

If he accepted Horus as a student, he could legally have him assist in expanding a territory within the Misty Forest, which could be very beneficial.

However, Karien was just an ordinary person, with only a little theoretical knowledge in magic.

He wasn’t qualified to be a teacher to someone like Horus, a 4th-tier Magic Sorcerer.

Karien had only researched up to 1st- and 2nd-tier magic, and anything above that was beyond his reach.

If he agreed to teach Horus, it would be very easy for him to be exposed.

Just as Karien was thinking about how to politely refuse, a rustling noise came from the distance in the forest.

Karien and Horus both turned their heads, and saw a massive black bear stepping through the low bushes, slowly approaching them.