[Äußerst · Great Mage Serie's Home]

At the entrance, Serie stared at her disciple Gut who had followed her into the house, her expression quite strained.

"I did say to let you go rest."

"But I didn't say to come rest at my house, did I?"

Gut, who had already entered his teacher's home, closed the front door after hearing these words.

Then he shrugged his shoulders, saying rather shamelessly to the elf: "Don't be so stingy, teacher."

"You understand my situation - I have no fixed residence in Äußerst."

"I've been staying at city inns, but at this hour, the inn staff have long since gone to bed."

"Surely you wouldn't bear to see your disciple sleeping on the streets in this cold winter night?"

"I would bear it."

Serie used her warm lips to speak extremely cold words.

"It's not snowing tonight. With your physical condition, even if you rough it outside for one night, there wouldn't be any major problems."

Gut: ...

"Fine, come in."

Perhaps thinking of today's massage and sweet dreams, the elf ultimately softened and didn't sweep her disciple out the door.

"I'll get you a blanket later. You can rest in the living room tonight."

But even saying this, considering her mysteriously vanished shoe incident.

Serie didn't go directly to her room, but stood at the entrance monitoring Gut. Only after her disciple obediently changed shoes and entered did she plan to turn back to her room.

However, the elf had only walked a few steps before returning.

For safety's sake, she bent down and collected all her shoes from the entrance, only then returning to her room with peace of mind.

Gut: "..."

Was it really necessary for teacher to guard against him like this? Could there be more trust between master and disciple!

Just as Gut was internally complaining, the elf emerged from her room and tossed a blanket to her disciple.

Catching this blanket with quite pleasant texture, Gut instinctively examined it.

Seeing several light creases on the blanket and its faint fragrance, he couldn't help asking:

"Teacher, have you been using this blanket regularly recently?"

"How could that be." Serie denied flatly. "This blanket has been stored for at least several years."

"Even because it wasn't folded properly when stored, those creases couldn't be removed even with Cleaning Magic."

"I see."

Gut felt disappointed after hearing this.

"Alright, I'm going back to my room to rest." The elf spoke while letting out a long yawn.

Adding the alcohol consumed earlier, as the intoxication set in, her brain became even more fatigued.

"The bookshelf is over by the room. I've taken you there a few times before."

"If you can't sleep, you can find some magic books to browse through, but if you dare push open my bedroom door at night..."

"Believe me, teacher will definitely give you an unforgettable lesson!"

Before closing the door, the elf gave her disciple a final warning.

"Fine." Gut reluctantly agreed and promised to stay obediently in the living room.

Only after watching his teacher close her bedroom door could Gut clearly sense waves of magical power emanating from her room - the elf was apparently setting up some magical arrangements before sleep.

Gut: ...

But this commotion actually dispelled his drowsiness.

Even the alcohol he'd consumed earlier was completely metabolized by his robust body.

For a moment, Gut's mind was exceptionally clear.

After tossing and turning on the living room sofa unable to sleep, Gut simply got up and went to his teacher's home library to look for interesting magic books.

[Hellfire Magic · Improved Version]

[Water Magic Variant · Return of the Tide]

[Destruction Lightning Magic Variant · Eternal Thoughtlessness]

"These magic books are located on the lower shelf and show signs of frequent use."

"That's right - teacher is passionate about power, so she'd naturally be more interested in these highly destructive magics."

"What kind of magic would be placed on the upper shelves?"

Thinking of this, Gut lightly leaped upward.

Connecting with skilled Flight Magic while airborne, he reached the top of the bookshelf in an instant.

[Magic to Make Paper Airplanes Fly Further]

[Magic to Remove Stubborn Stains]

[Magic to Never Stumble Over Tongue Twisters]

"What are these, some grandmother's life hacks..."

Gut silently complained, instantly understanding why his teacher had relegated these magic books to high storage.

"These folk magics are truly like chicken ribs - useless to learn, wasteful to discard."

"Perhaps they can only serve as collectibles."

Thinking this, Gut used Flight Magic to control his descent toward the ground.

But in this casual moment, he glimpsed a magic book placed at the very edge of the highest shelf.

Its cover prominently displayed several large characters:

[Magic to Make Men Last Longer]

"But speaking of which..."

If the book's title was accurate, this would indeed be an extremely useful Folk Magic.

The reason teacher placed it in this corner was probably because she had no use for it.

However, when Gut excitedly pulled out the book and seriously read a few pages, he couldn't help but curse, even wanting to burn this garbage.

What did it mean by "this magic can only slightly improve male muscle endurance, ineffective on spongy tissue"?

What did it mean by "prolonged use of this magic may cause metabolic disorders and affect sexual function"?

Also, what was this about "magic duration extremely short, requiring constant recasting"?

And "prolonged use can cause addictive psychological dependence, potentially leading to relationship issues"?

Gut put it back and silently moved it to the very edge of the highest shelf, furthest back position.

After adjusting his mood from feeling like he'd eaten something disgusting, Gut continued looking downward.

As the shelf levels gradually decreased, the displayed magic books became increasingly useful, like [Fire-starting Magic], [Magic to Find Lost Ornaments], [Bird-catching Magic] and such.

Though still in the Folk Magic category, they were at least quite practical, having real learning value for mages who frequently went to the wilderness.

As the shelf levels went further down, they gradually escaped the Folk Magic category and entered the realm of true Magic.

Like [Illusion Magic], [Mental Control Magic] and such, plus some human mage research manuscripts.

The [Body Training Method] he was currently practicing was placed in this area by his teacher.

And right around this level, Gut finally found a book that interested him greatly - or rather, a research manuscript.

Left by the human sage Ewig: Theoretical Research on Soul-type Magic.

"Sage Ewig" - this name was already very familiar to him.

Whether in helping break Seven Collapse Sage Aura's Obedience Scale magic, or in research achievements recognized by both Teacher Serie and Heiter.

Pulling out this research manuscript compiled into book form, in the table of contents, Gut immediately spotted an extremely familiar achievement:

[Method to Guide Souls of the Deceased to Soul Resting Place]

This was exactly the method jointly developed by Sage Ewig and his teacher that became key to solving the Obedience Scale Magic.

Taking this research manuscript back to the sofa, Gut read with great interest.

The book contained both Sage Ewig's original manuscripts and Serie's handwritten annotations.

Not only was the reading process enjoyable, but he could also enter his teacher's thought process and deeply experience Serie's profound understanding of Magic.

This study session was truly beneficial.

It wasn't until the sky had brightened considerably that Gut reluctantly put down the book and fell asleep covered by his teacher's blanket.

Time passed minute by minute.

In the blink of an eye, it was already noon.

In the bedroom.

The well-rested elf stretched pleasantly.

Releasing the pillow that had somehow migrated from her head to between her legs, picking up the blanket she'd kicked to the foot of the bed, Serie yawned and gradually became conscious.

While washing at the washstand in her room, she glanced at the magic she'd left on her bedroom door.

Confirming the magic was intact and her disciple hadn't misbehaved, the elf breathed a sigh of relief. After finishing her wash, she put on slippers and came out.

"Strange, it's so quiet outside. Has Gut already left?"

When Serie walked to her home's living room with this question, she saw Gut lying on the sofa, covered with a blanket and sleeping soundly.

"This child can actually stay in bed too?"

The elf was somewhat surprised, since it was usually Gut who woke her up. She never expected the tables to turn today.

Just as Serie was considering which method to use to wake her disciple - to repay the "revenge" of being woken up by him for so long - she noticed something interesting.

Gut was holding a book to his chest, and judging by the cover pattern, it was [Ewig's Soul Magic Theoretical Research].

Looking at the reading progress, even staying up all night wouldn't have been enough to reach this section.

Serie clicked her tongue in approval. This studious attitude was more like it.

Seeing that Gut had seriously studied all night.

She wouldn't wake him up - let her disciple catch up on sleep during the day.

Moreover...

Should she perhaps make an extra portion of "breakfast"? Let her disciple taste her cooking skills too?

Thinking of how she'd often eaten ice cream Gut carefully made, Serie became increasingly interested in this idea.

After a moment's thought, the elf confidently walked into the kitchen.

Half a minute later, the elf came out cursing.

Not because her "superior" cooking skills failed to display, but because "a skilled cook cannot cook without rice."

After returning yesterday, she'd forgotten to purchase some ingredients at home.

This left her kitchen so clean that not even a single grain of rice remained.

"Bang - bang -"

Just then, two gentle knocks came from the entrance.

Serie wiped her freshly washed hands and, without removing her apron, walked toward the front door.

Opening the door, she found two of her other disciples standing outside - Lernen and Hafka.

"Good afternoon, teacher."

The two noble-born disciples followed proper etiquette, bowing first upon seeing Serie.

"Come in." The elf invited both disciples into her home, then asked about their purpose for coming.

"Oh, it's like this." Hafka spoke while pulling several invitations from his pocket, respectfully handing one with gold thread trim to Teacher Serie, saying:

"My sister and I settled into the small courtyard we purchased in the city district yesterday. We'd like to invite you, teacher, as well as our fellow disciples, to a housewarming dinner tonight."

"I see." The elf pulled out the invitation for a glance, then nodded in agreement. "I'll come tonight."

"Thank you for honoring us with your presence, teacher. We won't disturb you further."

A glimmer flashed in Hafka's eyes as he prepared to leave with Senior Brother Lernen.

But unexpectedly, Lernen didn't leave and instead puzzledly called out to him.

"Hafka, don't leave yet."

"Didn't you forget something? We agreed to ask teacher together about Senior Brother Gut's whereabouts."

"Oh no!"

After hearing Lernen's words, Hafka's temples throbbed.

He really wanted to open a private channel and shout at Lernen:

"Can't you see the pair of men's shoes at teacher's entrance?"

"We just drank together last night - don't tell me you don't recognize those as Senior Brother Gut's slippers."

"Also, when have you ever seen teacher wearing an apron and voluntarily cooking..."

"Can you guess why yesterday when we went to call teacher at the association's side room, there was a light-proof and sound-proof Barrier Magic, and both teacher and Senior Brother Gut disappeared together, then appeared together?!"

To say nothing was happening between these two, Hafka would be the first to disbelieve it.

But disbelief aside, Hafka absolutely wouldn't try to expose their situation.

After all, doing so wouldn't benefit anyone.

But Hafka never expected Lernen to be so oblivious to these signs and even directly ask their teacher about it.

"Hm-"

Serie glanced at both disciples, then straightforwardly replied:

"You're looking for Gut? He's at my house too."

"Last night he expended too much energy and got tired. He's currently lying on the sofa catching up on sleep."

Hafka: "?!"

Lernen: "??!"

Lernen was just stunned, but not stupid.

Combining his teacher's words with fellow disciple Hafka's previous reaction, he instantly understood something.

Especially since Lernen had just gotten married recently, he deeply understood why men would be tired during the day.

"Did I phrase that problematically?"

Now the elf seemed to realize something too, emphasizing to both disciples: "After drinking last night, Gut had nowhere to sleep, so he spent the night on my sofa."

"He stayed up late reading and couldn't get up this morning."

"Teacher, you don't need to explain. We understand." Hafka immediately declared, playing dumb.

Lernen also chimed in with his statement.

As for whether they truly believed it? At least Hafka didn't believe it from his heart.

"Late night," "after drinking," "at a woman's house," "staying overnight" - which of these terms related to "staying up reading"?

Teacher Serie was also something - if you're going to make excuses, at least make them believable.

"Mm-"

On the sofa, Gut stretched his arms and, after a long yawn, sat up from the sofa.

Seeing his teacher had already gotten up, he folded the blanket and said to her: "Teacher, wasn't my performance last night excellent? I didn't disappoint your expectations! (Didn't intrude into the elf's room at night)"

"I just stayed up too late and couldn't get up this morning."

After these two sentences, even Lernen began doubting Teacher Serie's explanation.