Celine Noles was a Magic Master, a Master of Rune Array Magic possessing a special inheritance in Rune Array Science, and a Senior Tutor at the Kaya Empire Royal Mage Academy.
Excluding the Dean of the Academy, who was a Great Mage, Celine was one of the most powerful Mages in the academy.
Given this premise, and considering that he seemed to possess a slight "Talent" for Rune Array Science, Brand felt that becoming her disciple wouldn’t be a bad idea.
After further conversation and learning more about Celine’s background, Brand expressed his willingness to become the chief disciple of Ms. Celine Noles.
"Since you’ve agreed, from now on, you are the chief disciple of Celine Noles.
"This is the welcome gift I prepared for you. It contains my Mage Badge and some Advancement knowledge in Rune Array Science. If you ever run into trouble while out and about, you can directly drop my name."
Pausing here, Celine hesitated for a moment before adding, "Let’s skip the apprenticeship ceremony; I don’t like those tedious formalities.
"Also, I took you in as my disciple two months ago. You absolutely must not get this wrong, or else there might be some trouble."
Before returning to the grand banquet hall, Brand hadn’t quite understood what his new teacher meant by that last sentence. However, when he returned to the hall and was pulled aside by Professor Morian—who interrogated him about who his teacher was and when he had become their disciple—Brand instantly understood everything!
Facing the curious and probing gazes of the surrounding tutors, Brand thought about his teacher’s strength and background, as well as the Amethyst Space Necklace strung with Profound Silver that she had given him. He then "confessed," "I am the chief disciple of Lady Nors. Two months ago, I was favored by my teacher, and we forged the bond of master and disciple."
***
Several days had passed since the farewell banquet. Since the Mage Academy had entered its recess period, Brand’s classmates had all gradually left over the past few days. As for Brand, because Celine had accepted him as a disciple, he delayed his departure for a few days to build a closer relationship and mutual understanding with his teacher.
This morning, having packed his belongings, Brand walked toward the academy gates. After delaying for several days, he was finally ready to return home.
Since his luggage was already packed into the Space Equipment his teacher had given him, Brand was currently empty-handed. He was extremely satisfied with the welcome gift. Find the original chapter at NovelPing.
Setting aside its excellent appearance, the most important part was that it contained a full ten cubic meters of space. One must know that on the market, a Spatial Bag with just one cubic meter of space cost a staggering 300 Magic Gold Coins. Brand’s Space Necklace, boasting ten cubic meters, was valuable enough to serve as the grand finale treasure at a Province-level auction. Its price was immeasurable!
Just for this alone, Brand decided he would firmly cling to his teacher’s coattails.
***
High atop the central High Tower of the Mage Academy, inside Celine Noles’s workspace, Dean Andrew gazed from afar at the silhouette leisurely walking toward the academy gates. He couldn’t help but ask Celine Noles—who was sitting at her workbench drafting an Array Base Plate—with a curious expression, "Little Celine, judging by your cheerful mood, Brand’s Talent must be pretty good, right?"
Hearing the Dean of the Academy’s voice, Celine slowly set down the pen in her hand and stretched her wrists. She poured some coffee grounds from a nearby jar and brewed herself a fresh cup of coffee before replying absentmindedly, "You mean Brand? He’s completely foolish!"
Andrew had originally just been asking casually, but he was somewhat stunned upon hearing Celine’s answer.
"What did you say?" he asked, suspecting he had misheard.
"Utterly foolish! Hopelessly inept!" Celine clearly enunciated the words describing Brand’s Talent, repeating her assessment and adding an extra descriptive phrase this time.
Confirming he hadn’t misheard, Andrew’s expression turned quite strange. However, after thinking for a moment, realization dawned on him. "That makes sense. He really does stand out a bit too much; tempering him will allow him to grow better."
At this point, Andrew expressed some symbolic "worry." "Brand won’t have any problems with the test two years from now, will he? I don’t want your grandfather to chew me out for withholding your resources the next time we meet."
"There shouldn’t be any problem with that."
Seeing Celine reverse her earlier appraisal and suddenly appear full of confidence in Brand, Andrew offered a faint smile.
Considering the harmonious atmosphere and suitable timing, Dean Andrew finally revealed the purpose of his visit. Pointing at the coffee in Celine’s hands, he asked curiously, "I’ve been meaning to ask since our meeting yesterday. What brand of Stimulant Potion are you drinking? Where can I buy some?"
"Young Master! Over here."
Just as he stepped out of the academy gates, Brand heard a familiar voice. Turning to look, he saw a smiling young female Knight waving at him from beside a carriage. She wore a silver-white women’s Full Body Armor, had a Knight’s Sword hanging from her waist, and sported slightly curly, long golden hair.
Although the young woman was dressed as a Knight, she was actually Brand’s Maid—Catherine.
Because she had been sold to the Holland family at a young age, she had no surname. The Holland family’s management rules for their slaves were relatively benevolent. As long as they could demonstrate enough value and make sufficient contributions to the Holland family, they could be granted the status of Free People or even Household Servants, thereby escaping slavery.
Unfortunately, Catherine’s path to freedom was much longer compared to the other maids. The main reason was that she had done something unforgivable in the past: intentionally harming a Noble Descendant.
The origin of this incident was about half a year ago. While Brand was playing with a group of maids in the garden, under everyone’s watchful eyes, Catherine "suddenly exerted force" and pushed Brand into a pillar, busting his head open.
At that time, Viscount Holland was out on business, so Yelsen was in charge of everything in the territory. Yelsen had originally planned to follow the rules and execute Catherine immediately, but Brand woke up and managed to stop him just in time.
As the victim involved, Brand saw the situation very clearly. Catherine hadn’t "suddenly exerted force"; rather, her strength had "suddenly skyrocketed." Catherine possessed an Extraordinary Bloodline, and that bloodline had awakened for a brief moment while playing with him.
Having realized this fact, Brand didn’t inform Yelsen of the truth. Instead, he simply had Catherine sign a new, much harsher Slave Contract. However, this time, the slave owner wasn’t the Holland family; with a grand wave of his hand, Brand wrote down his own name.
Even though Yelsen harshly scolded Brand for his "indecisiveness," and Elder Master Holland frowned upon the matter when he returned, Brand still successfully transferred Catherine under his own name and spared her from the death penalty.
As the second son of the Viscount, and considering the family’s business wasn’t large enough to require assistance from relatives to manage, Brand would eventually have to leave Holland Castle and establish his own independence, barring any unforeseen circumstances. Naturally, before venturing out on his own, Brand had to properly poach from Elder Master Holland’s talent pool to build a core team exclusively his own.
As for concealing Catherine’s Extraordinary Bloodline, that was just Brand thoughtfully looking out for Yelsen’s mental health. After all, since Catherine was the one who injured Brand, the authority to handle her fell into Brand’s hands. Therefore, even if the truth had been revealed, Yelsen would have had no choice but to helplessly watch Brand claim Catherine for himself.
This would have been detrimental to family harmony! And Brand was a man who cared about his family!
Of course, leaving Catherine to Yelsen or something like that was clearly impossible. As a proper Noble Descendant, when a delicacy presented itself right at his lips, he naturally had to swallow it whole. There was absolutely no chance of letting anyone else have it!