Liens left the instance, opened his real eyes, and got out of bed.

Thanks to Nimophila's cooperation, Liens finally completed a full battle with her.

Even the Dean couldn't stop two Extraordinary Ones, who were not weaker than him, from fighting to the death.

In fact, later on, to prevent their battle from affecting the town's magic ritual, he had to painstakingly maintain the ritual while simultaneously blocking the aftershocks of their fight.

And in this battle, Liens also got to see Nimophila's trump card, which made her so confident she would never die.

How to describe the feeling at that time?

Just as he was about to stab his sword into Nimophila's heart, she changed... it wasn't a change in appearance, but a sudden shift in her expression and strength.

The transformed Nimophila easily caught his thrusting longsword with a single hand.

Her expression was cold and indifferent, as if she had completed an insignificant task.

And the feeling Liens experienced from that hand was even stronger than the pressure brought by the old man from the Glenbagen Family.

If that old man from the Glenbagen Family suppressed him with pure strength...

Then, facing Nimophila at that moment, Liens felt what suppressed him was...

This world itself.

He experienced for the first time the feeling of an ant facing a mountain.

However, in that instance, he didn't die directly in the end; he was only severely injured by a single blow.

Because the existence possessing Nimophila held back.

He didn't know if he himself wanted to show mercy, or if Nimophila made him hold back?

In any case, after feeling his body unable to move, Liens simply exited the instance directly.

"Am I the so-called Divine Endowed?"

Liens pondered in his heart.

Although Nimophila said he was a Divine Endowed, an existence favored by a true god...

But besides his instance ability, he didn't feel any signs of being favored.

Moreover, when he was in Kara City and tried to cause trouble in the Adventurers' Association and the Church of Heavenly Light, he was directly "divinely punished" by those two.

There was no feeling of mercy at all.

And if he was a Divine Endowed of Life, then Nimophila, as a priest of Life, should have noticed, right?

"Forget it, thinking about such things doesn't have much meaning."

"Many things and secrets, once you reach a higher position, you will naturally and easily know the full picture."

"And if you haven't reached that level, even if you desperately seek, you might only get fragmented information in the end."

"So, instead of spending this energy thinking about that, it's better to practice sword, to fight, to ponder how to improve strength."

Thinking this, Liens walked out of his room.

The previous few rounds of instances had taken quite a bit of time because he had been fighting Nimophila continuously.

So, he decided to take a break, to calm down from the shock brought by the existence that had possessed Nimophila.

The feeling of "I am the world" he experienced from that existence gave him some insights into swordsmanship.

It gave him a deeper understanding of nature.

So, what he needed now was not battle, but to quietly contemplate that feeling.

Of course, this so-called "quietly" didn't mean staying silently in one place.

It meant peacefulness.

Following nature, experiencing every detail of life and nature with a peaceful state of mind.

This was the process of enlightenment Liens had in mind.

Of course, since he was out of the instance, he might as well go to the cafeteria for lunch.

...

Noon, cafeteria.

Liens walked in.

Unlike the lively atmosphere at breakfast, it was somewhat quiet here now.

There were only a handful of people enjoying lunch in the cafeteria, and the cafeteria lady serving food was already idle, sitting to the side.

Seeing this, Liens realized that he must have arrived quite late.

"What a coincidence, Dean... I didn't expect you to come so late for lunch. Your work must be very tiring."

After getting his food from the counter, Liens sat opposite the Dean and greeted him.

As soon as he entered the cafeteria, Liens noticed the Dean's existence.

After all, throughout the entire academy, and even the entire town, he was the only one with colorful elemental reactions around him.

And after seeing the Dean, Liens suddenly remembered that he might be able to learn magic from him.

After being abused by magic multiple times, he also wanted to "learn the enemy's strong points to defeat them" a bit.

Admittedly, as a knight, he might not be able to cast magic.

But as long as he understood the elemental structures of various magic spells well enough, even if he couldn't cast them, he could better disrupt the opponent's magic.

From another perspective, he could achieve a kind of magic-breaking in a certain sense.

Just like how he previously saw through the elemental structure of magic shields, allowing his attacks to easily pass through them.

And coincidentally, although the Dean was old, he was very proficient in various magic spells.

At this moment, the Dean's age, in Liens's view, was a monument on the path of magic.

So, he came over intending to chat with the Dean and increase his favorability.

This would make it easier to ask him to teach him magic in the instance later.

As for learning by himself? That was only something to consider when there was truly no one to teach him.

Having never studied magic, he didn't know how difficult it was to learn magic.

But he had seen the complex elemental structures of those magic spells.

So he knew that forming the corresponding complex elemental structures from elements in a very short time was an extremely difficult act.

He felt that with his brain, trying to learn magic on his own... its difficulty might be no less than learning a programming language from his previous life without a textbook.

"My work isn't that hard; I just habitually eat late."

"Otherwise, if other teachers and students saw me here, they might feel a bit constrained."

"Eating is a happy thing, and if I interrupt everyone's mood because of me, that would be my fault." Visit Мy Virtuаl Librаry Еmpirе (МV-LЕМР-YR) fоr mоrе.

The Dean responded to Liens with a smile.

"The Dean is truly a good Dean, always caring about the teachers and students of the academy."

"However, I don't think anyone would feel constrained by a kind and approachable elder."

Liens praised the Dean.

As for whether the Dean truly cared about the people in the academy that much?

He didn't know.

However, at least when he saw him kill the town's residents and academy students in the instance, the Dean seemed quite angry.

"It's nothing, I just did what I should... But enough about me, Heier, why are you eating so late?"

The Dean asked Liens with curiosity.

"I'm a bit of a late sleeper, and I accidentally overslept."

Liens said with an awkward smile.

"Rest is a basic human desire... Heier might have been overly tired yesterday."

The Dean didn't mind, calmly providing an excuse for Liens.

"Thank you for the comfort, Dean... But I know my own situation; I just get sleepy easily."

"And I often sleep very soundly once I fall asleep."

"So, Dean, if you need to find me for anything in the future, you can directly come to my room; I'm usually there."

Liens responded.

"Is that so?"

The Dean looked at Liens, unsure if Liens was lying.

But if his excessive sleepiness was true, then it might be an effect of a lack of Life essence.

Just like when people get old, they always need more rest to recover their physical energy.

Thinking of this, the Dean's expression dimmed for a moment, his heart filled with helplessness.

Even rituals found it difficult to stop natural aging; at most, they could only slow down the pace of death.