In the afternoon around one o'clock, Xiabo Lei returned, bringing with him a wanted poster.

Harrick took the poster and read it aloud:

"In recent days, a series of brutal murders have occurred around South Square, with similar modus operandi.

"For information leading to the murderer, rewards from 5 to 10 crowns depending on value. For direct capture of culprit, reward 30 crowns - City Hall Security Department."

Looking up at Xiabo Lei, he asked, "Going bounty hunting now?"

Xiabo Lei nodded. "After living it up for a month at the Rose Manor, my martial skills have gotten rusty. This is a good chance to exercise and earn some pocket money."

"Now that's more like it," Harrick approved. Then he asked, "How did Lawrence's thing go?"

"With me on the job, how could it fail?"

Xiabo Lei let out a hearty laugh and held out his hand to Harrick. "I'll need to borrow 2 crowns. And don't look at me like that, it's not for me but for the boy. Can't have him showing up empty-handed to apprentice, right?"

"That's more reasonable."

Harrick retrieved 2 crowns from under the counter.

Taking the coins, Xiabo Lei turned and hollered upstairs, "Lawrence! Lawrence! Come down, it's settled!"

A few minutes later, Lawrence appeared at the top of the stairs, neatly dressed with impeccably combed hair - clearly having taken special care with his appearance.

"It's done? When can I go over then?" he asked eagerly.

"Right now."

"Wonderful!" Lawrence was truly delighted.

He had already memorized Principles of Precise Geometry cover to cover, practically knew the punctuation by heart, yet didn't dare actually practice magic without a mentor's guidance, which he had been desperately hoping for.

"Here you go."

Xiabo Lei tossed 1 crown to Lawrence. "I'll take you there, we can pick up a gift along the way."

"Sounds good!"

Lawrence was deeply grateful that Xiabo Lei could be depended on when he was serious, though he failed to notice Harrick's face darkening beside them.

Xiabo Lei saw it but pretended not to, putting his arm around Lawrence's shoulder and steering him towards the door.

"Let me tell you, your new mentor's temper has gotten even more peculiar, really hard to deal with. When I went over just now, she started cussing me out before I even said a word."

"Luckily I've got thick skin. I told her about you while bearing the abuse, and she actually agreed."

"She can't stand me, so I'll just drop you off at her place. After that, it's all up to you, got it?"

This gave Lawrence pause. "What's her name and personality like? I mean, is she aggressive?"

He certainly didn't want to deal with someone petty like Severus again.

Xiabo Lei laughed. "Don't worry, just peculiar moods, you'll be safe."

"Oh right, her full name is Anna Serandis. Since she's a prestigious formal mage, address her as Lady Serandis."

"Got it."

Soon the two were out of the Hound's House and strolling down the neatly paved road towards the southern city for half an hour.

Passing a grain shop, Xiabo Lei had Lawrence buy 50 jin of coarse flour, 10 jin of premium smoked bacon, and 1 bottle of moderately-priced moonlight wine.

Exactly 1 crown, with no change left.

Carrying the heavy bag of foodstuff, they continued on until past South Square and into a sparsely trafficked side alley called '1st South Square Lane'.

Over 100 meters down the narrow lane stood a dilapidated 2-story wooden building. The door plaque read '1st Lane No.89, House of Serandis'.

"Here we are, this is it. She's home now. Just go knock on the door."

Lawrence was still rather apprehensive, but steadied his nerves and approached to gently rap on the rusty iron knocker.

Knock knock knock, knock knock knock...

A young woman's voice responded from within, "Door's unlocked, come on in. Close it behind you."

Lawrence was mildly surprised. "A young mid-rank mage?"

Based on the voice, she sounded barely over 20 - clearly a remarkably gifted mage.

Back then, Severus had been in his 40s yet still a low-rank mage. Even after obtaining the Ash Bird feather, he never managed to advance to mid-rank.

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

Pushing the door open, Lawrence turned back to shut it firmly. The room instantly grew much darker.

In the faint light coming through the narrow circular window, he saw the first floor hall was completely empty save for a round table and some broken chairs - utterly destitute.

"Brought a gift too? Very good, leave it in the kitchen."

The voice floated down from the second floor.

Looking around, Lawrence noticed a half-closed small door in one corner, beside which hung a pitch-black flat-bottomed pan - likely the kitchen.

He set the bags down on the moldy floorboards inside the kitchen, causing them to creak and groan under the weight.

The commotion also startled a rat in the corner. A scrawny black rodent emerged, seemingly unafraid of humans, blinking beady eyes at Lawrence in 'curiosity'.

Considering he'd brought only food, leaving it openly would basically serve as an extra meal for the critters.

Lawrence briskly shooed the rat away and searched the rundown kitchen, finding a broken cupboard.

After checking it was intact with no rat-chewed holes, he dumped in the flour, bacon, and wine before carefully bolting it shut.

The woman's voice rang out again, "Leave the stuff and come upstairs!"

Exiting the kitchen, Lawrence saw against the wall a rickety wooden ladder barely half a meter wide, so steep he practically had to claw his way up.

At the top was a narrow elongated platform under 1 square meter, like an entrance foyer.

Beyond was a wooden door, behind which came the faint sound of splashing water - someone seemed to be bathing inside.

"Come in, let me get a good look at you."

Lawrence took a deep breath and entered.

The upstairs room had much larger windows and was significantly brighter than the first floor.

The furnishings were also far more ample, with a single bed in the right corner next to a coat stand, and a work desk by the window with an old armchair.

On the other side was a large wooden bathtub occupied by a young redheaded woman, idly scrubbing her snowy arms with a loofah-like object.

The bathwater was also clear without bubbles or flower petals for modesty, fully exposing the woman's body.

Lawrence was shocked. "So beautiful yet so brazen?!"

One look and he understood why Xiabo Lei would have risqué thoughts about her.

With those looks, she belonged in the 'Rare Beauties' folder, minimum.

Though she had invited him in, it was highly improper to ogle a stranger's nude form.

Lawrence quickly lowered his gaze to the floor and called out, "Greetings Lady Serandis."

She didn't respond, but he could feel her eyes roving over him.

"Ha, so Xiabo Lei has brought me a child for an apprentice. How amusing."

This 15-year old body of Lawrence's was underdeveloped and emaciated from malnutrition, barely 1.5 meters tall with a very boyish face.

That was likely why she showed no modesty bathing in front of him.

Unsure how to properly respond, Lawrence said after thinking a bit, "Lady Serandis, shall I wait downstairs for you?"

"No need. Let's begin now."

Seeing him frozen stiffly by the door, she added, "Liven up those eyes, boy!"

Lawrence was speechless. 'Liven up my eyes? How exactly in this situation?'

Her voice carried over again. "When a lady is bathing her body, and this lady happens to be your prospective mentor, you should proactively serve her. For instance, scrub my back."

With that, she flung the loofah at Lawrence and casually flipped over to lay chest-down on the tub edge, exposing her pristine back.

Lawrence sighed inwardly. 'It'd be such a waste not to cup on that back.'

Picking up the loofah, he stepped over soundlessly and began scrubbing her back methodically.

Lady Serandis seemed totally at ease, even moaning pleasurably in her tender voice, setting Lawrence's heart racing wildly.

After a good while, she asked, "Xiabo Lei said you have some magical foundations. Tell me about them."

Lawrence collected himself and answered honestly.

"I've learned still meditation and sun visualization. I can use the Spellhand and have modified it somewhat.

"Oh, I also grasped a technique to safeguard against dark magic. Additionally, I closely studied Principles of Precise Geometry."

"Don't just scrub the top, go lower too."

Seeing the abrupt swell of her shapely rear, Lawrence was unsure where to place his hands.

"Hurry up!"

Biting the bullet, he envisioned it as just scrubbing a lump of white pork.

"Mm...not bad, really good. I haven't been pampered like this since my family went bankrupt."

Lady Serandis sighed contentedly, resting her head on the tub edge with eyes dreamily narrowed like a dozing cat.

Just as Lawrence thought she was falling asleep, she suddenly spoke.

"Everyone has a sheep inside them. Most people's sheep run wild, but a mage's sheep must never leave the pen."

Lawrence's mind stirred slightly, then brightened.

'Ah wonderful, I can finally learn something substantial.'

After a while, Lady Serandis asked another question.

"How long have you been meditating?"

"Over two months."

"Oh? Interesting."

That seemed to be all she would say for now, for she fell silent again for a good while before tossing out, "Do parallel lines intersect?"

"Not on planes. Possibly on curved surfaces."

"Hmm, not bad. Now scrub the front for me."

With a splash, Lady Serandis nonchalantly reclined in the tub with eyes closed, as casually as if Lawrence were just a human-shaped bathing implement instead of an actual person.

Lawrence decided to just go with the flow. Wherever she wanted scrubbed, he scrubbed, though his heart pounded like a drum and his hands shook slightly. But at least he didn't lose composure.

In the midst of scrubbing diligently, he heard her speak again. "Demonstrate your magic."

Lawrence was taken aback. "How should I demonstrate? I'm not very adept."

"Simple. Scrub me using the Spellhand."

Lawrence did as told.

He visualized an invisible hand grasping the loofah as he was about to start scrubbing. But suddenly the loofah seemed to resist control, as if another invisible hand was tugging at it.

Realizing what was happening, he focused his will to pull the loofah back.

The opposing force strengthened its grip as well.

The loofah now hung motionless between them, only occasionally shuddering to indicate the tug-of-war stalemate.

As both sides kept amping their power, a critical point was eventually reached.

With a muffled but penetrating 'Bang!', the air rippled outwards.

Caught in the shockwave, the contested loofah instantly disintegrated into powder.

The ripples continued expanding, soon striking the wooden walls and shaking the entire building, dislodging copious amounts of dust through the cracks.

Already rickety from age and water pressure, the tub near ground zero promptly collapsed with a splash, sending water spilling everywhere including a drenched, disheveled Lady Serandis onto the floor.

Lawrence fared little better.

Losing the loofah's support, he felt a sudden hollow emptiness. The shockwave blasted him off balance, sending him stumbling backwards to slam painfully against the wall.

As he stabilized himself, Lady Serandis's incredulous voice rang out, "You've only been meditating for over two months?!"

Lawrence knew his magic was fairly strong, but believed it to just be high-end low-rank level. Thus facing the mid-rank Lady Serandis, he had held nothing back.

After all, being completely ignorant of the arcane arts, only total self-expression could earn accurate guidance from an expert.

He was just as astonished by the outcome.

In a low voice he answered, "Yes, around 67 days I believe?"

Seeing Lady Serandis sitting sopping wet and bedraggled on the floor, he stepped forward to support her creamy lotus-root-like arms. "Are you hurt, Lady Serandis?"

She seemed to not even notice her exposed state, ruby eyes intently fixed on Lawrence.

"Don't call me lady, call me mentor."

"But remember this - I'm only a temporary mentor, just to give you a primer in the arcane arts."

"Once you've crossed the threshold, our teacher-student relationship ends."