"I..."
Loren's series of questions instead made Luna feel guilty. She didn't know how to answer Loren; she couldn't just admit she had come to spy on him, could she?
"Forget it, since you're here anyway, I might as well teach you some high-level magic. I can also have Paqina teach you a thing or two."
Hearing this, Luna felt a surge of humiliation. She had clearly come first, yet now she needed Paqina, this newcomer, to teach her.
At the same time, she once again felt inferior because of her talent.
Although Loren often said she didn't need to rely on magic, seeing that everyone else's talents were better than hers made her somewhat uncomfortable.
"Did you learn the Night Magic I taught you before?"
Loren didn't hold out much hope. The magic he had given her even included the Eighth-Tier Magic he had used last time.
"I only managed to learn a Sixth-Tier Magic..."
"That's already very impressive."
Loren stroked Luna's hair. He could see her emotions but didn't know how to comfort her, so he could only pat her head incessantly.
And Loren wasn't wrong. That was Sixth-Tier Magic after all. For a witch's talent, this was nothing, but among ordinary people, this was already an impressive and achievable feat.
Even in the Nofica Theocracy, this was a combat strength that formed the backbone of their forces. Only witches wouldn't take Sixth-Tier Magic seriously.
"Mmm..."
Luna lowered her head. She had seen Paqina's performance. It was Paqina's first time learning magic outside of Abundant Magic, yet she still picked it up so quickly.
Out of concern for Luna, Loren ultimately decided not to teach them high-level magic on the spot. He was afraid Luna would break down seeing Paqina learn it immediately.
She wouldn't feel jealous of others; she would only blame herself for being useless. Loren didn't know whether this personality trait was good or bad.
"Never mind. This book contains some high-level magic. Take it back and study it yourself first. For this lesson, I'll teach you something else."
"Don't get discouraged if you can't learn it. High-level magic isn't something ordinary people can master. From the moment you learned high-level magic, you've already surpassed most Scarecrows."
Ordinary Scarecrows were only at the mid-level mage level. Only a few elites could reach the level of high-level mages.
High-level mages were the elite among elites. It was just that Luna was surrounded by witches, which made her lose perspective on such things.
"What are you going to teach me?"
Hearing that Loren would teach her something else, Paqina became exceptionally excited.
"I'm going to teach you how to craft accessories. Luna, you come along too."
Today happened to be the day Loren was turning Furad's fang into an accessory, so he could conveniently teach Paqina as well.
The more things he taught Paqina, the more work she could help him with when he eventually poached her away. He could just use her as cheap labor.
"Crafting accessories?"
Paqina immediately understood that Loren wasn't talking about ordinary accessories, but rather enchanted ones that provided bonuses. The craftsmanship of making such accessories had always been a secret, completely monopolized by certain major forces. As a result, even the most basic accessories couldn't be made by anyone else; they could only be purchased from them.
Luna had no concept of this and followed Loren in a daze.
On the way to the laboratory, Paqina was so excited that Loren could even hear her heartbeat.
She was trembling with excitement, to the point that Loren worried he might need to get her a new pair of pants.
The group made their way to the laboratory's warehouse. There were many valuable items here, so plenty of people were guarding it, and the entire warehouse was covered in perception arrays.
Normally, students weren't allowed to approach this place. Even if teachers wanted to apply to use certain materials, they first had to submit a request to the guards, who would retrieve the items for them.
It had to be said that the Bountiful Magic Academy truly deserved its reputation as one of the top academies in the world. The teaching quality was excellent, and not only were the materials abundant, but they were also willing to let students use them.
This was something the Gedlan Royal Magic Academy couldn't compare to. Their warehouse had gathered dust, and if Loren hadn't arrived, it probably would never have been opened, serving only as a decorative talking point.
Still, Loren was relieved that none of these materials had been embezzled by Greed.
"Who goes there? We didn't receive any application!"
As Loren approached the warehouse, he was blocked by several mages holding weapons. They were the warehouse guards.
"I..."
Just as Loren was about to say something, the guard who had spoken was pulled aside by his colleague:
"Apologies, Master Mentor. Please, make yourself at home. The Headmaster instructed us to fulfill any request you might have..."
As he spoke, the other guards quickly lifted the seals on the warehouse and opened the door for Loren.
"This is way too imposing..."
This was Paqina's first time experiencing the feeling of borrowing power from someone else. Seeing her novelty, it made Luna feel a bit better.
Paqina was indeed very clever, but after all, it was still Luna who was more familiar with Loren, and they had even gotten closer...
Thinking this, Luna blushed a little, but at the same time, she felt somewhat relieved.
As Loren entered, a guard followed him. To avoid incurring Loren's displeasure, he quickly explained:
"I'm following to keep track of what you take, so we can restock in time and ensure you don't come up short next time..."
"Fine."
Loren wasn't unreasonable. The guard had already said his piece politely, so Loren wouldn't treat him badly.
Once inside the warehouse, Loren headed straight for the deeper sections. He used to rob this place often, so he was very familiar with the layout.
Finally, Loren arrived at a secret chamber. This room housed the most precious materials and had been sealed with additional barriers multiple times. Ordinary people couldn't get in at all, but that couldn't stop Loren.
Truth be told, Loren didn't know how to undo the seals either. But he knew that although the seals here were nearly immune to magic, they couldn't withstand physical damage. So Loren sliced the door hidden within the wall in half with one swing of his blade.
"..."
The guard was stunned speechless by this sight and stammered:
"I-I could have opened the hidden door for you, sir. There was no need for you to... use physical methods to break it..."
"Oh, sorry. Old habit..."
Given the Headmaster's attitude toward Loren, there was no way he would begrudge these materials. He might as well give everything to Loren directly. Loren chose to chop it open simply out of habit.
Loren grabbed a burlap sack and stuffed everything from the secret chamber into it without showing any care for these precious materials, making the guard wince in pain.
After preparing the materials, Loren led the others to the laboratory. This was a lab specially vacated for Loren, fully equipped with facilities. Casper's attitude toward Loren was more extreme than any bootlicker could ever be.
Tom himself had never pulled a cart for his goddess.
"What kind of accessories do you want?"
Loren took out a piece of metal and asked.
"A ring!"
Luna blurted out, but regretted it the moment she said it.
