As dawn broke over the royal capital, the first rays of sunlight began to peek through.

Aurelianne had been waiting early in front of the Kravina mansion, with a small army of guards standing behind her. Clad in cold armor and wielding heavy blades, each guard had an oddly shaped shield in front of them, seemingly inconvenient to carry due to its length.

Having received the emperor's orders early in the morning, they had been assigned to protect Aurelianne.

Naturally, the royal visit couldn't be taken lightly. A maid hurriedly ran towards the mansion.

"Your Highness, I'll go notify the master of the house right away."

"No need," Aurelianne suddenly said to her. The maid, who was about to leave, stopped in her tracks upon hearing this.

"It's not proper for a student to wait for her teacher to receive her. I'll go in and find my teacher myself."

Although somewhat reluctant, the maid slowly opened the mansion gates, the royal title carrying too much weight to refuse.

Aurelianne glanced at the guard beside her and said, "Celia."

"Yes, Your Highness."

"If you want to come in with me, you must not be disrespectful to my teacher like last time when we meet him."

Celia nodded and responded with a "Yes."

The two entered the Kravina mansion one after the other.

"Your Highness, at this time, Mr. Viktor should be reading in his study," the maid informed.

Aurelianne nodded and followed the maid's lead to Viktor's study.

As she climbed to the second floor, full of anticipation, she was still pondering how to greet her teacher when she saw him.

But the scene she witnessed in front of the study door left her dumbfounded.

A girl was standing in front of Viktor.

Although her loose robe concealed some of her charm, it was still evident that she was beautiful, with a natural air that made people want to cherish her.

Who was she?

The next second, Aurelianne's eyes widened.

The girl, as if expecting something, watched as Viktor reached out a hand and patted her on the head.

She looked utterly satisfied, giggling foolishly, then, as if suddenly realizing something, blushed furiously and hurriedly bowed to Viktor.

"Thank you, Professor! I'm off to work now!"

Then she ran towards the staircase in a fluster.

As she passed by Aurelianne, she nearly tripped, and upon seeing Aurelianne, she politely gave a slight bow.

Aurelianne stood there slightly stiff, even forgetting to return the courtesy.

By the time she turned to look again, the girl had already run down the stairs and left.

"Aurelianne."

Viktor's cold, emotionless voice rang out from where he stood. Aurelianne snapped back to reality and instinctively looked towards Viktor.

"T-Teacher."

Viktor stood at the study door, gave her a bland look, and then walked back into the study.

The door wasn't closed, and Aurelianne knew this was an invitation to enter.

Aurelianne walked over, somewhat timidly.

After entering the study, Celia closed the door for Aurelianne.

Viktor sat in his chair, with the crow on the table dozing off nonchalantly.

Aurelianne stood in front of Viktor, feeling a bit nervous.

She thought Viktor might be angry at her unexpected visit, but it didn't seem to be the case.

After she entered, Viktor barely moved.

He held a book in his hand, occasionally turning a page, seemingly engrossed in reading.

As if suddenly remembering something, Viktor, without raising his head, simply extended a hand.

A chair materialized behind Aurelianne.

"Sit."

A simple, imposing word, carrying an irresistible command.

Aurelianne clasped her hands behind her back, her icy fingers gliding along her long skirt. She gracefully sat down on the chair, as elegant as a noble swan folding its wings.

Aurelianne had wanted to ask about the girl she had just seen, but before she could speak, a book fell from the sky out of nowhere.

Aurelianne quickly caught it. The book had no cover, not even an author's name.

But it was thick, and Aurelianne curiously opened it.

Inside were records of various magical beasts, their categories, habits, and weaknesses.

What shocked Aurelianne most was that some of the creatures she had encountered were described in even more detail than in other books, down to the habits and intervals of their attacks!

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Aurelianne took Viktor's lessons very seriously. After the battle the day before yesterday, she had started wanting to learn more about wild magical beasts to reduce the number of times she would 'die' in future lessons, saving her teacher some trouble.

So, she had spent a long time in the library yesterday, just to learn more about those creatures.

As expected of the royal library, the books and illustrations there contained records of a large number of magical beasts.

But now, looking at this notebook Viktor had given her, Aurelianne realized that those resources paled in comparison to what was recorded here.

This notebook could be considered an 'encyclopedia'!

Aurelianne was puzzled.

Had her teacher prepared this specially for her?

"Remember to read it thoroughly and take notes. It will be helpful in the future," Viktor's voice said flatly, and then he fell silent again.

He continued reading his book quietly.

Seeing this, Aurelianne also sat down quietly.

She flipped through the notebook, and after just a glance or two, she became engrossed.

She even forgot about the passage of time around her.

After who knows how long, a voice broke her out of her trance.

"It's time to go."

Aurelianne looked up to see Viktor putting away his book and standing up.

The dozing crow also flapped its wings and perched on his shoulder.

Aurelianne finally came to her senses, hurriedly put away the book, and stood up as well.

She thought today's lesson was about to begin, but then she heard Viktor say:

"I'm taking you to a good place today."

A good place?

Aurelianne was a bit confused, but before she could react further, the teleportation array on the ground began to glow faintly.

Seeing the teleportation magic appear on the ground, Celia became anxious.

"I must accompany the princess!"

As the princess's personal guard, how could she be left behind by Viktor again?

If the princess were to be alone with Viktor all the time, what if something went wrong?

The next second, she might lose her head.

But Viktor's cold voice had already sounded.

"Sorry."

"Only one person."

Whoosh—

The mysterious sound of the magic array suddenly rang out, and in an instant, the two turned into two blue beams of light that shot out of the study window towards the horizon.

Celia was left alone in the empty study, staring blankly out the window, a nameless anger suddenly rising in her heart.

Damn it, Viktor!

He's taken the princess away again!

......

As the light gradually faded, Aurelianne and Viktor appeared on a towering cliff.

The sky was overcast, with lightning occasionally splitting the heavens.

A cold wind blew between the mountains, and the chill made Aurelianne feel as if all the hair on her body was standing on end.

She looked down at the deep, gloomy abyss at her feet, where a cold air howled up from the bottom, like countless wailing ghosts.

And before the mountain, there was a vast ocean of surging, ink-black waves.

Aurelianne felt short of breath, as if her legs were enveloped by a strange sensation, becoming weak and soft, almost unable to support her body.

Is this the good place Teacher Viktor mentioned?

She wouldn't have to take lessons here today, would she?

But Viktor's expression remained calm, letting the cold wind blow his coat.

"This is... the Talin Abyss."

"The border of the Empire."

Aurelianne opened her mouth, her voice a bit small due to the difficulty in breathing.

"Teacher... why have we come here?"

Viktor took out the invitation, gently pinched it, and threw it towards the sky.

The envelope seemed to be guided by something, gradually rising into the sky as the wind blew.

Suddenly, a beam of light pierced through the sky, and that clear space grew larger and larger. A floating island gradually appeared from within that bright light.

It was Endymion.

The City of Mages appeared in different locations every day but never entered the territory of any country.

So Viktor had to wait for Endymion's coordinates to appear at the empire's border and then use the teleportation array to reach this place.

The teleportation array he had prepared overnight was for this very moment.

A white light gradually descended, enveloping Viktor.

"Princess, please give me your hand."

Aurelianne blinked and reached out to hold Viktor's hand.

A flash of light passed, and Aurelianne closed her eyes.

Their bodies gradually floated into the air. This sensation felt very strange to Aurelianne, as if her free soul had suddenly been liberated to soar in the sky, feeling incredibly light.

She felt herself gliding through the air.

Gradually, she became immersed in this sense of freedom.

After the bright light faded, Aurelianne heard a familiar voice:

"You can open your eyes now."

She slowly lifted her eyelids, and the scene before her made the world seem so unreal.

Rune-covered circular arrays floated above the island, and those floating buildings above the rocks seemed to be constantly breaking apart, only to chaotically reassemble the next second.

It was as if they were in a strange state between order and chaos.

They would occasionally collide, and the giant rocks beneath the buildings would fly away in the opposite direction due to the force.

The entire castle was also covered with various strange plants.

For example, flowers with lion heads, and leopard-headed grass staring at the flowers, drooling.

They probably never bore fruit.

There were also some winged pigs flying in the sky, touching those floating rainbow bubbles.

Strangely, those rocks would also touch the bubbles in the sky, but it was as if they hit a sponge, slowly bouncing back.

When the little pigs burst the bubbles, they disappeared in an instant.

Aurelianne had never seen such a place before. She was immediately attracted by the rainbow bubbles in the sky, and out of curiosity, she was about to reach out and poke them.

"If you pop them, you don't know where you'll be teleported to," Viktor warned.

Hearing Viktor's warning, Aurelianne withdrew her restless hand.

She silently prayed that the flying pig was safe and sound.

Soon, mages came out to greet the two.

A white cloud gradually floated over, and a long-eared elf rubbed her sleepy eyes, touched her long green hair, and looked up at the two.

Many pink petals surrounded the cloud, and the elf mage stretched out two slender, fair, and delicate legs from within the cloud.

Just as she was about to speak, she held back, touched the white cloud on her body, and then spoke again:

"You must be Viktor."

"We've been waiting for you for a while."