Previously in front of the Earl, Rosen chose to conceal some details for self-protection.

But in front of his mentor, he was completely relaxed.

Because the mentor was a pure scholar, with no personal interests or entanglements, and was wholly dedicated to her studies, she could be completely trusted.

Therefore, he gave a general account of his recent trip to Moonlight Town, including the matter of the Apostle of Winter, as well as the bizarre dreamscape from last night, omitting nothing.

Only the dangerous parts he kept unsaid, lest the mentor worry for his sake.

After listening, Selendis fell into contemplation.

It was a good while before she came to her senses, saying, "Eat first, then I'll show you a book that may offer some insight."

These books were the fruit of Selendis' lifelong collecting. Even in the most difficult times, she never gave up the pursuit of knowledge, nor discarded a single book.

"Alright."

The two enjoyed a delightful lunch, then as usual, Rosen tidied up the remnants with his mage hand.

Recalling the faint scent of fragrance he had caught on Selendis' nightgown earlier, he knew today was bath day, so he dutifully heated up water as well.

Boiling water took no small amount of time, so while waiting, Rosen went upstairs.

In the second floor atrium, Selendis sat poised in an armchair, a brown-covered book on the table before her, its title "Buried History" and author one Robin.

Seeing Rosen, she slid the book forward.

"This is a history book written by an adventurer who claimed to be an archaeologist but actually made his living through tomb raiding.

Due to the limits of his personal capabilities, many parts are not objectively described, but one can still vividly sense the weighty atmosphere of ancient history.

Of the most famous two tribes, one called Hethuro, the other Zainalaro, their specific histories have been lost in the sands of time, but from the remnants, one can still infer they were intricately intertwined, with numerous major wars erupting between them.

Here are the depictions I found of the tribal totems."

The page contained two crude illustrations, clearly rendered by an author lacking any artistic skill, badly distorting the images. Combined with the awful print quality, the so-called illustrations were like two blobs of ink.

Rosen sighed, "Can't make out anything."

Selendis shrugged helplessly.

"This is already the best quality edition in existence, and a rare one at that, only present in a few noble family libraries."

She took the book from Rosen and turned to a page.

"But see here, the descriptions of the tribal spirits match those of superhuman beings exactly.

And these superhumans had a far greater understanding of souls than ordinary mortals. They would often employ dreams to convey key messages to mortals."

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

Rosen understood. "Mentor, your meaning is, this dreamscape was Eureka's way of conveying information to me? Or rather, she is seeking my aid?"

That had been his guess already, and now with the book's records, it was all but confirmed.

Selendis nodded slowly. "If she truly is superhuman, that is likely her intention."

"Considering what she told us before and the historical accounts, my personal feeling is she sought vengeance against the Winter King but failed and was trapped instead."

Rosen thought the same. "But there's still too little to go on. How could I possibly save her with so little? She's a superhuman being, how could I deal with that?"

Selendis laughed. "Who said you had to save her? Passing word to the Temple and providing what aid you can is enough. After all, you owe her no debt."

This accorded with Rosen's thinking - he could only do his best.

Selendis pondered a moment, then said, "Let's do this - I'll write to the Temple detailing all we know about the Winter King and Eureka, and let them figure out a solution."

Hearing this put Rosen completely at ease.

A letter specially written by his well-known and powerful mentor would surely receive the Temple's full attention.

"I'll leave that to you then, Mentor, thank you."

"Just a small thing."

Selendis took Rosen's newly bought paper and pen and started drafting the letter.

Meanwhile Rosen continued perusing "Buried History".

Soon the letter was finished. After handing it to the gardener to deliver to the Temple, the matter was settled.

"Mentor."

Selendis immediately smiled and corrected, "No no no, I'm Alice now, don't call me mentor, call me sweetheart."

"Alright then, sweetheart."

Rosen promptly switched terms. "I'll read through this book again and commit it to memory."

Selendis was already well aware of Rosen's 'photographic memory' talent, and commented with some envy, "Ah, what a fickle thing an excellent memory is."

Rosen took the book and quickly paged through it, front to back, done in under 10 minutes. He then returned it to Alice.

Alice placed the book in the small bookcase by her bed. She looked to the arming sword at Rosen's waist and smiled. "A masterwork of Elexes, but do you know any swordsmanship?"

Rosen shook his head casually. "I'll use it as a butcher's knife."

Alice beckoned and a small booklet flew out from the bookcase towards her.

"Here, standard nobiliary fencing, practice it a bit if you like. Could come in handy."

"Thank you mentor."

"Mere words of thanks won't suffice. The bathwater's ready and I'm waiting for my dearest student to serve me."

"Yes, sweet daughter."

After adjusting the hot water in the large wooden tub, Selendis beckoned to Rosen. "You're dirty too, come, bathe with mother."

Rosen was already used to Selendis' free spirit flouting conventions, so this occasion was no surprise either.

Anyway the new tub was exceptionally spacious, easily fitting two without crowding, so he naturally did not decline.

After entering the tub, Rosen gently scrubbed Selendis' back. "Sweetheart, the Earl gave me a copy of Advanced Meditative Spellcasting Aids.

Selendis was wholly unsurprised.

"Mm, extremely precious knowledge indeed, though I don't know the contents specifically, I do know ordinary mages would find it hard to afford such an expense."

"This trip earned me around 600 crowns total. We could take the potions together."

"Ah, dearest generous father, I'm deeply grateful for your kind intentions, but daughter has no need right now, perhaps never will.

"Why is that?"

"Because daughter's mystical power has already reached the apex of intermediate level, and encountered the dread high level barrier that frustrates all mages. For two months now, power has plateaued without any increase."

"High level barrier?"

"Too abstruse to explain clearly, daughter can only say this bottleneck is most formidable, trapping countless mages for life, stalling all progress."

"Daughter also lacks confidence in transcending it."

After a pause, she smiled and shook her head.

"Father need not dwell on it for now. When your mystical aptitude reaches daughter's stage, all will become clear."

With his experience now in raising his talent level, Rosen knew these mystical frontiers were profound and arcane, so he asked no more.

After scrubbing her back a while, he went on. "Sweetheart, I'll be away on a long trip in three days, new orders from the Earl."

He omitted mention of going to war, as that was his personal decision rather than the mentor's, no need to make her fret over it.

Selendis immediately asked, "Oh, away again? Dangerous?"

Rosen smiled. "No danger, just some investigative work, I'll be going with Uncle Zaborole."

Hearing this, Selendis was much relieved. "Then that's fine, but no matter what, don't neglect your mystical studies."

"I'll remember, dear mentor...sweetheart."

The other terms he could get used to, but this one still felt odd.

But it couldn't be helped, since Alice just loved acting out this role.

(Chapter end)