The Bizarre Wizarding World

For a moment, he didn't know what to say.

Knock, knock, knock—

Renee gently knocked on the door.

"Master, Lord Welber has come to visit."

Colin felt a sense of relief inside and offered Shelley an apologetic smile.

"Sorry, I might need to step out."

"It's fine, let him in," Shelley said.

Colin was somewhat surprised at her words but did not comment further, simply turning to Renee outside the door:

"Let Welber come in."

"Yes, Master."

Moments later, the door was pushed open again by Renee returning, and with it came Welber's hearty voice:

"Master Colin, you are hard to find. There's another gathering tomorrow evening, and Wizard Erwin will be attending this time, so you better not refuse again."

"…And who might this be?" Welber caught sight of Shelley, his step halting as he asked with uncertainty.

"Head of Chasai Commerce, Delorje."

Before Colin could speak up, Shelley preempted him with a foreign name.

To Colin's greater astonishment, Welber hesitated, then said with a brimming, respectful smile:

"So it's the distinguished Delorje of the Chasai Commerce. I didn't expect to encounter you here.

Your and Chasai Commerce's arrival was the hot topic of discussion the night before last. Everyone is eager to see what new things Chasai Commerce can bring to the everlasting Golden Barley."

"Haha, is that so? Thank you for all the Wizards' fondness."

The words conveyed enthusiasm, but from Colin's perspective, Shelley still wore no expression, and her voice retained its usual aloofness.

Colin glanced subconsciously at Welber.

But the latter seemed oblivious, his smile unchanged and even warmer, complimenting a few more times.

As Colin marveled at Welber's smoothness, Shelley gave him a slight look.

Then, in a flash, the image of Shelley in Colin's eyes suddenly changed.

Shelley's appearance became strange yet familiar, a frost-like aloof face now bore an impeccable polite smile, even her voice became gentle, comforting as a spring breeze.

Colin realized that this was probably the scene Welber was seeing.

The ice sculpture-like girl in front of him had put on a facade of politeness.

However, this vision only persisted for a moment, and in Colin's eyes, the facade came down once again.

Shelley reverted to her true, cold demeanor, and the voice by his ear regained its chilliness.

Yet, for some reason, he found this aspect of her more endearing.

Shelley and Welber's pleasantries continued to the reason for her visit.

"Master Colin is a Golden Feather of the Tin Saint School, and so I came to visit today," Shelley simply explained.

"I see," nodded Welber, his thoughts aligning with the reason he had imagined.

'As expected of a Golden Feather, even in these straits, she's far stronger than us Wizards.'

Delorje of Chasai Commerce is indeed a genuine Second Rank Wizard, and so beautiful to boot…

A brief surge of envy arose in his heart but vanished like the wind.

Welber had long lost the courage and determination to strive forward; he only wished to enjoy the remaining long life of a First Rank Wizard.

"Master Colin, will you attend tomorrow night's gathering?" Welber renewed his smile, continuing to ask Colin.

Colin nodded lightly.

Since Wizard Erwin would be attending, and as the residing Wizard, he naturally had no reason to refuse.

"That's great, you rarely agree to come," Welber said with a smile, then glanced over both and added, "I've achieved my purpose in coming here, so I won't disturb you two any longer."

Welber rose to leave.

The door was gently closed, and Renee also stepped out, leaving just Colin and Shelley in the room.

Crimson sunlight crept through the stained-glass windows, climbed the brown floor, the fabric sofas, and settled on both Colin and Shelley.

Colin did not ask about Chasai Commerce, nor did Shelley explain.

The two tacitly skipped over this subject.

"It's getting late. Would you like to have dinner here? Hmm… there's fish soup."

"Alright."

Colin nodded gently, then asked, "The cooking will take a while, shall we go out for a stroll?"

"Okay."

Shelley's response was neat and to the point.

The two of them stood up and walked outside together. Evening was falling, and the heavy curtain of night descended, but it could not stop the two wizards from taking a stroll.

...

Although Wizard Erwin attended the gathering the following day, there was nothing particularly special about it.

The only thing worth mentioning was that Wizard Erwin also brought up the arrival of Chasai Commerce at the party.

In the days that followed, Colin's life returned to normal.

He awoke every day at five in the morning, first to read through Council announcements and various newspapers obtained through Chasai Commerce, and then to deal with miscellaneous matters.

After that, at nine o'clock, he would head to the South Third Tower for duty.

For the most part, life on duty was uneventful, only on the rare occasion would the Communication Ring Tower send out calls for assistance.

Later, at six o'clock in the evening, Colin would punctually finish work and return home.

Then, he did nothing else but go to the study on the second floor.

Except on very rare occasions, whenever Colin opened the door to the study, he could see Shelley sitting on a soft, grey-brown fabric sofa.

On the coffee table situated between the two facing sofas, there would also be hot tea and delicate, tasty snacks prepared by Renee.

Then Colin would sit down, and the two would begin to exchange knowledge.

Every day's training brought new problems; with each day's research and clarification of one question, new questions arose.

It seemed their exchange of ideas was endless.

But around seven-thirty, sometimes closer to eight, they would tacitly conclude their exchange for the day.

They would leave the study and take a walk in the lingering twilight or the dim moonlight, in silence, or they would talk about other things.

After the walk, Shelley would occasionally stay for dinner, but more often than not, she would leave in a hurry.

Time flowed like water, quietly slipping by.

Unknowingly, a year passed in this repetitive manner.

Yanan Calendar 3587, July 11th.

In the Silver Chamber.

Colin looked as he always had; a year's time had left no trace on him.

However, the thin Golden Paper floating in front of him, with its ink-colored characters, spoke of the changes the year had brought!

Firstly, in terms of Wizard Level, Colin had successfully advanced a minor step to Intermediate Second Rank Wizard.

In terms of being a Knight, he had reached First Rank Advanced.

Then, there was witchcraft; in the past year, since he hadn't acquired the Flame Talent, there was no change in his Elemental Net, aside from a slight 30-point progress.

But he had successfully iterated all his spells; practically all had been Limit Breaking to at least Second Rank Lower witchcraft.

He had also successfully combined Silent Invisible and Invisible Shadow to create a new Second Rank Middle witchcraft—Silent Invisible.

In addition, it's worth mentioning that those two Second Rank Lower Disguise Magic—Spirit Fog and Hayden's Pseudo Ability—perhaps because of frequent use, had also successfully Limit Broken to Second Rank Upper.

According to Colin's estimation, a normal Third Rank Wizard, without the use of targeted Detection Magic, would not be able to see through his disguise.

On the key defensive front, Steel Temperature Resistance Field had also Limit Broken once to Second Rank Middle, but at the same time, it had turned golden, and he was temporarily unable to continue improving it.

In terms of wizardry, one could only say it was methodical and within expectations.

The changes that truly gave Colin a sense of accomplishment were those related to being a Knight.

In this past year, not only had he mastered all sixty-nine Knight Breathing Methods, but he had also Limit Broken them all once, and some key ones, such as the White Light Breathing Method, had even been broken twice.

The changes in these characters translated to a tangible increase in Colin's strength.

Although his Knight Level had only progressed a little, due to the changes in his Breathing Skill, his overall strength as a Knight had increased at least seven or eight times compared to before!

However, his current research into Knight Breathing Methods had once again hit a bottleneck.

After this reflection, Colin shook his head.

What he wanted was not this; in terms of being a Knight, he sought the path forward!

And at present, stacking Breathing Skills was only increasing the quantity, not achieving a qualitative change.

This made Colin somewhat worried that even if he fused and Limit Broke all the Knight Breathing Methods, he might not be able to explore the path of a Second Rank Knight.

Colin exhaled softly and picked up the Breathing Skill known as Giant Mountain once more.

As he continued reading, the unique sensation that the Breathing Skill brought forth once again emerged in his mind.

A long-standing thought surfaced again in his heart—

'Maybe it's time to seek out that Knight again.

I recall the place I went to for assistance was… Intuo City, and that Knight's name was… Onions?'