Free Web NovelChapter 7: Chapter 7: Introducing Mo Ning to the Mentor
「Deep within the Black Tower.」
「Inside the Observation Room.」
Initially, the Sharp-eared Female Apprentice could barely follow the leaps in Mo Ning’s train of thought as his pen moved.
Although this "jump-style" of deduction made her feel very ill-at-ease.
But she understood. For a genius who had truly mastered Secret Divination and Divination, one who had already constructed a complete logical framework in their mind, many intermediate steps were as natural as breathing, unnecessary to write down.
For instance, one step involved the conversion of a "Constant Pulse Energy Fluctuation": "⊙446Θ" was equivalent to two times "⊙178◇".
For someone like Mo Ning, it was obvious at a glance. ’Why write down all that superfluous stuff?’
For an observer, however, it was incredibly difficult to follow.
Each leap was like having several steps vanish from the staircase of logic, forcing her to expend extra mental energy to fill in the gaps.
She glanced at Mo Ning’s intensely focused profile within the sphere of light and couldn’t help but mutter to herself, ’Annoying brat! You can’t be doing this just to save a few sheets of scale pattern paper, can you?’
For new apprentices, the Black Tower Points provided by the academy were certainly never enough.
The five Black Tower Points per month for room and board only covered basic meals and lodging.
Everything else, from supplies to other necessities, had to be acquired on one’s own, either by crafting it or buying it. Scale pattern paper was no exception.
With such high expenses, it was normal for newcomers to pinch every penny and struggle to make ends meet. Being extremely frugal with scale pattern paper was also a common sight.
At that moment, she felt an inexplicable urge to send a Hardwood Puppet to stuff an entire cabinet full of scale pattern paper into apartment 804.
’Just stop skimping, will you?’
「Five minutes later.」
The Sharp-eared Female Apprentice could no longer keep up at all.
The deductions on the paper became increasingly unrestrained, the logical links between symbols and conclusions compressed to their absolute limit.
Her eyes chased the Ink Tube Pen, a flicker of indignation in their emerald depths.
After all, she was a Third Level Apprentice. To be utterly crushed by a newcomer using pure "Divinatory Thinking" was a serious blow to her pride.
Yet, cold reason reminded her of her mentor’s warning: "In the face of Secret Divination and Divination, everyone is equal."
「One hour later.」
The Sharp-eared Female Apprentice was in a state of shock.
For a full hour, the blue-robed figure inside the sphere of light had not slackened his pace in the slightest.
The speed of his pen, the frequency of his intellectual leaps, and even the very "aura" he exuded while immersed in pure calculation showed no signs of waning.
Normally, performing high-intensity deductions in Secret Divination and Divination was a grueling task that taxed both one’s Spiritual Power and mental endurance.
In her own case, she could only maintain a similar intensity of focus and output for half an hour at most before her efficiency would inevitably plummet.
Mo Ning, on the other hand, seemed to possess a tireless "perpetual core" made for calculation.
This level of mental exertion seemed as effortless as breathing for him.
The Sharp-eared Female Apprentice murmured to herself, ’I think I’ve gravely underestimated this kid’s talent!’
「Four hours passed.」
"...Only a 3.2% improvement. The final model’s efficiency is just 66.3% of my theoretical estimate.
"It’s too low!"
Mo Ning finally set down his Ink Tube Pen, gently rolling his neck as he grumbled in dissatisfaction.
The Sharp-eared Female Apprentice had already fallen into a state of shock that bordered on numbness.
3.2%!!
Even though it was just an optimization of the peak energy-flow pulse for the Level Zero Trick, Flash, for a newcomer who had just started out—and who, in theory, hadn’t even formed a Spirit Ring yet—that number was nothing short of astonishing.
’And he’s still not satisfied?!’
The Sharp-eared Female Apprentice stared at Mo Ning’s profile, a sense of the absurd mixing with annoyance in her heart.
The only thing she didn’t feel was jealousy.
She knew full well that the gap in Divination Talent between them was an uncrossable chasm.
Thus, she felt no trace of jealousy whatsoever.
The Sharp-eared Female Apprentice suppressed her emotions and whispered to herself, ’I can’t wait any longer!’
Her original plan had been to wait for Mo Ning to complete the Divination deductions for all three of his proposed ideas. She would then present a more complete "report card" when recommending him to her mentor.
But now, she had changed her mind.
With this level of Divination Talent, this unbelievable intellectual stamina and efficiency... every minute that passed meant another chance for him to be discovered and snatched up by other sharp-eyed Wizards.
The Sharp-eared Female Apprentice straightened up. ’I have to contact my mentor. Now.’
She quickly retrieved a palm-sized object from a hidden pocket in the lining of her gray robe—an exquisitely crafted Silver Mirror.
The frame was filigreed from pure silver with intricate, ancient patterns. The smooth surface wasn’t for reflecting a face; a rosebud, on the verge of blooming, was engraved upon it in bas-relief.
The layered curves of the petals, the delicate veins on the leaves, even the moment a drop of morning dew was about to fall—all of it was frozen on the mirror, so lifelike it was almost surreal.
It looked as if it might break free from its confines and bloom into reality at any moment.
This was undoubtedly a Witchcraft artifact.
The Sharp-eared Female Apprentice spoke a single, clear syllable into the mirror’s surface: "Da-li!"
Instantly, the Magic Power in her body was precisely drawn forth, surging into the Silver Mirror in her palm.
"HUMMM—"
The Silver Mirror vibrated with a low hum, then floated up from her palm of its own accord to hover in mid-air.
A blood-red line, like a crack, materialized in the center of the mirror’s surface.
An impossibly deep crimson bled from the line, instantly staining the entire surface of the mirror a stark red.
The next moment, a vibrant, peerlessly beautiful rose, so red it seemed to drip color, shockingly "grew" right out of the mirror’s surface!
Every petal was full and real, the thorns on its stem were clearly discernible, and a rich, pure fragrance of roses instantly filled the Observation Room.
Sight, smell, touch—all of her senses declared unequivocally that this had to be a real, freshly picked rose.
The Sharp-eared Female Apprentice gazed at the rose and called out respectfully, "Mentor!"
As if in answer, the rose’s petals suddenly unfurled, blooming completely in an instant.
A crimson glow flowed over each petal and converged at the flower’s heart, finally coalescing into a woman’s face.
The face’s contours were exquisite and perfect, yet they held a cold, inhuman sheen. She was completely bald, her smooth scalp accentuating the sharp indifference of her features.
Most striking of all, her left eye was not of flesh and blood, but an intricate mechanical eye, across which a subtle blue light occasionally flickered.
The skin around the eye socket was tattooed with a rose, identical to the one on the mirror itself.
The mentor’s gaze fell upon the apprentice. Her voice was nearly emotionless. "Nasha, you have thirty seconds."
The Sharp-eared Female Apprentice, Nasha, was not at all surprised by her mentor’s coldness.
Her mentor, Yi Lin, was a renowned research fanatic within the Black Tower. If she hadn’t held Nasha in some regard, she absolutely would not have spared her even thirty seconds.
Nasha dared not delay, reporting in a rush, "Mentor, I was carrying out my mission to monitor the new apprentices when I discovered one with an extremely strong talent for Secret Divination and Divination."
She paused for a moment, then added candidly, "This newcomer is only sixteen, but the Divination Talent he’s displayed is at least ten times greater than my own."
Yi Lin’s mechanical eye whirred, contracting slightly with a faint CLICK.
Although her mentor said nothing, Nasha instantly understood the meaning behind the subtle movement. ’Show me the proof!’
The Sharp-eared Female Apprentice said at once, "Just a moment ago, I watched him, with my own eyes, independently complete a structural optimization of the Sub-zero Level Trick, Flash, at an unbelievable speed."
Nasha reached out, making a grasping motion toward the sphere of light that was monitoring Mo Ning. "Mentor, please see for yourself!" she said respectfully.
The sphere of light flashed and drifted over to the Rose Mirror Surface.
The Sharp-eared Female Apprentice then spread her fingers and made a "pulling" gesture.
The image inside the sphere immediately rewound as if time were flowing backward. The scene sped in reverse—light and shadow flickered across the room, writing on the paper vanished and reappeared—until it finally froze on the moment Mo Ning first lifted his pen to write down his idea.
On the screen, the Secret Spirit Text was clearly visible:
"First idea: Reconstruct the foundational energy-flow pulse of Flash..."
Immediately after, the recording began to play at twenty times normal speed.
The images flickered by so quickly that an ordinary person would have become dizzy, unable to make out any details.
But Yi Lin’s mechanical eye vibrated at a high frequency, capturing every single detail in every frame with perfect clarity.
