Chapter 57: Chapter 55: A Shocking Change in the Gloomy Forest
The moment his fingertip brushed against the face of the ring,
a message from Anya burst into Mo Ning’s mind:
I’ve prepared breakfast for you. It’s in the mailbox of Apartment 804.
Mo Ning was a bit baffled.
In his previous life on Blue Star, in all his years growing up, no female classmate had ever brought him breakfast.
’Who would’ve thought that after transmigrating to this Wizard World, I’d finally get to enjoy such treatment?’
He subconsciously glanced at the Magic Energy Clock hanging by his bed—5:03 AM.
’The variety of the breakfast is probably just as good, if not better than the cafeteria’s. Otherwise, Anya wouldn’t have gone to the trouble of delivering it, as that would seem insincere.’
’This means she must have started bustling about at four o’clock at the latest, maybe even earlier.’
’Right, and considering the main course is bread, she probably started preparing yesterday.’
’Kneading, fermenting, baking—none of that was easy even in my past life with all its modern appliances. In this world, where everything is done by hand, it must have been even more work.’
And the fact that she had sent the message at exactly five o’clock clearly meant she had found out about his schedule beforehand.
Anya had most likely confirmed through an elder in her family—that Supervisor in charge of the newcomers—that he was always up before five.
The so-called "mailbox" was standard for every apartment.
The mailboxes in the Wizard Academy naturally had a distinct magical flair.
On the wall to the right of the apartment door was a white outline that looked as if it were drawn in chalk.
One just had to press against the wall, input a wisp of Spiritual Power, and say, "I want to deliver."
The wall within the outline would silently dissolve, turning into a dark opening—deep and gloomy, as if leading to some bottomless cave.
This was the mailbox.
Others could place items inside it.
But they could only deposit, not retrieve.
Only the owner of the apartment could open it and take back their belongings.
Mo Ning had read in a book about the reason for the academy’s design.
After accepting missions, many Apprentices were often away for several months, and it wasn’t uncommon for them to be gone for a year or two.
Things like letters and packages could be temporarily stored in the mailbox, to be opened when the Apprentice returned.
Opening the mailbox was simple and didn’t even require going outside.
Inside the apartment, to the left of the doorframe, a brass wall sconce hung on the wall.
At first glance, it seemed to be a light fixture, but it wasn’t.
Mo Ning walked quickly to the door and reached out to touch the wall sconce.
As he touched it, he felt as if something was flowing out of his body.
This was the illusion of his Spiritual Power being absorbed.
The next moment,
the wall sconce emitted a faint white light.
The light fell upon the wall, and a white wall cabinet quietly appeared.
Mo Ning immediately saw a large, exquisite wooden food box in the center of the cabinet, its surface carved with many patterns.
He reached out and took the food box.
It had some weight to it, clearly filled with a lot of food.
Opening the food box, a variety of tempting aromas rushed into his nostrils.
There was golden-brown bread, a color that could only be achieved by brushing it with honey during baking.
Its appearance alone was miles better than the cafeteria’s food.
The bread was still warm, obviously fresh from the oven.
Beside it was a fragrant roasted leg of lamb, its skin a crispy golden-brown with a few charred marks, looking equally appetizing.
In a corner of the box were some bright red fruits, several large chunks of cheese, and a small jar of butter.
Just by looking at it, one could easily tell that the person who made the food had put a lot of thought into it.
Mo Ning gazed at the food in the box and suddenly felt a bit of warmth lingering in his chest.
’Mmm, just a little bit.’
’I don’t want to admit it, but I am a little touched.’
’I’m not made of stone, after all.’
Mo Ning broke off a piece of bread and took a bite.
It was soft and slightly sweet, with an excellent texture, completely unlike the cafeteria’s perpetually throat-scratching rye bread.
He felt a bit conflicted.
’The Noble Lady did this today... even if she messes up in the future, how could I be ruthless enough to kick her to the curb?’
’The old saying is true: accepting favors makes it hard to be firm.’
As Mo Ning dipped the bread in some butter, he couldn’t help but recall a line he’d read in a book: *You’d better prepare as many anchors as possible.*
His eyes flickered as he thought, ’This food... I guess it counts as an ’anchor’ against the Meditation Space, right?’
’At least the Zhang Xiaoxiao in the Meditation World doesn’t seem to be this good of a cook.’
* * *
「Seven-thirty.」
Mo Ning exited the Simulation Space.
From finishing the Heartfelt Breakfast until now, he had received an infusion of a Sub-zero Level Trick through the Mirror Image Mysteries Hall and had completely mastered it.
The Black Tower Points balance in his Guiding Ring account had shrunk to 1,071 points.
For ordinary newcomers, so-called "mastery" was merely successfully establishing a Witchcraft Model in their Spiritual World, allowing them to cast the Witchcraft.
But by his standards, "mastery" required long periods of practice to reach a level of effortless control.
Just like with [Fast Sliding], it meant being able to weave through a dense forest freely without ever hitting any obstacles.
Mo Ning lowered his head, his gaze falling on the [Secret Technique Whisper] he wore on his right hand.
’A strange intuition surfaced. Miss Anchor is probably about to send a message.’
The next moment,
his intuition was precisely confirmed.
BUZZ~
The ring vibrated lightly.
Mo Ning raised his hand and brushed the ice-cold face of the ring. A pleasant female voice, tinged with playfulness and gentleness, swiftly rushed into his mind:
Good morning, Mr. Genius! The second required course starts in half an hour. Shall we head over now?
[Secret Technique Whisper]’s messaging function included voice, but this was the first time Anya had sent a voice message.
’I have to admit, the Noble Lady has an excellent sense of propriety.’
’If she had sent a voice message during their first conversation, it would have seemed a bit presumptuous.’
’Someone who highly values their personal space might have frowned, thinking, "I don’t know you that well; I don’t want to just hear your voice out of the blue."’
’But the two of them had already communicated many times, and now she’d even delivered a Heartfelt Breakfast. The boundaries between them had largely dissolved, so her actions were now perfectly appropriate.’
’All in all, she was truly a sharp and perceptive woman.’
As he evaluated the Noble Lady’s actions, Mo Ning replied with a single, calm voice message:
Let’s go!
He pushed the door open, walked quickly through the corridor, and saw her figure at a glance.
At this moment, Miss Anchor was standing gracefully in the small plaza, her bright, beautiful eyes frequently glancing in his direction.
A phrase from his previous life instantly popped into Mo Ning’s head—captivating grace.
He inexplicably recalled his high school literature teacher’s explanation from back then:
"’Captivating grace’ doesn’t just refer to a pretty face. It’s a beauty that radiates naturally from every movement and moment of stillness, from every glance and turn of the head.
"Glancing around is key, but it’s by no means an aimless looking about; it requires elegant posture, a lively spirit, and a touch of reserved modesty.
"Let me summarize. It describes a sublime aesthetic of spirited beauty in Great Xia literature—it’s not in the form, but in the spirit; not in stillness, but in motion; not in artifice, but in natural expression.
"When an ordinary person glances around, there’s no ’grace’ to speak of. At best, it’s just gawking."
Mo Ning suddenly realized that his literature teacher’s explanation seemed to fit her perfectly.
The Noble Lady’s appearance made the phrase "captivating grace" instantly come to life.
Just then,
Anya saw Mo Ning too, and a smile blossomed on her pretty face like a field of flowers bursting into bloom.
But the brilliant smile lasted only a moment before it quietly receded, softening into a gentle, faint smile.
Mo Ning nodded in acknowledgment and quickened his pace to walk over. The two of them walked side by side toward the Secluded Path.
’I understand the Noble Lady’s hidden intentions. She isn’t content with our ’secret’ meetings and wants to openly occupy a ’permanent’ spot by my side.’
Just like the other teams, such as Sitt and Princess Phoebe.
’Seeing as Miss Anchor is quite useful, I’ll allow it.’
It was as if most of the newcomers had agreed on it beforehand; almost all of them were heading to the Lecture Hall at this time.
The reasoning wasn’t hard to understand:
Arriving too early meant a boring wait; arriving too late would seem disrespectful to the speaker.
With so many people, the entrance to the path became congested.
An invisible hand of order began to take effect.
The "underachievers" tacitly fell behind, waiting for the "Top Students" to pass first.
Anya glanced at the Secluded Forest several times, her pretty face suddenly growing a little serious.
Her slender hand brushed over the face of her ring, lingering for half a second.
Mo Ning immediately received a text message: I feel like something is off in the Secluded Forest.
He was stunned for a moment.
’What does she mean, "off"?’
He then realized—Miss Anchor most likely possessed a Spiritual Trait like [Crisis Sensing].
In the Wizard World, people with Spiritual Talent, in addition to condensing Spirit Rings and casting Witchcraft, might also possess superhuman abilities in certain aspects.
These were what Wizards defined as "Spiritual Traits"—a type of innate, special gift.
Crisis Sensing was one of them.
According to the information Mo Ning had, other common Spiritual Traits included [Agile Thinking], [Magic Perception], and [Solid Mind].
These traits sounded nice, but their actual Effect wasn’t that strong. Witchcraft Items could completely replace them and provide a much better Effect.
Overall, Spiritual Traits were far from being as powerful as bloodline talents.
Because of this, Wizards didn’t place much importance on Spiritual Traits, and very few people even bothered to research them specifically.
But during the dirt-poor newcomer stage, when few people had Witchcraft Items, Spiritual Traits could be quite useful.
Mo Ning really hadn’t expected that this teammate of his would be a rare newcomer who possessed both a bloodline talent and a Spiritual Trait.
He tilted his head slightly, glancing at the fair, pretty face beside him out of the corner of his eye, and his internal evaluation of her quietly rose another notch.
’Miss Anchor isn’t just "very useful," she’s "extremely useful."’
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