The moment Lucian placed a hand on Miriam's shoulder.
Miriam admitted it herself.
She panicked.
How many years had she served as the steward of the study hall now?
She had long since lost count.
All this time, she had remained here, faithfully guarding the secrets of the Carian royal family.
And because of the darkness and gravity of that secret, absolutely no one was permitted to enter the inverted interior of the study hall.
Yet this intruder was unlike any before.
The Carian Study Hall had actually been inverted.
That required the inverted statue possessed only by members of the Carian royal family.
But the one who entered was not any royal she recognized.
So she immediately responded as she always did, by attacking.
Every thief who had ever tried to intrude had been effortlessly defeated by her.
Even troublesome opponents ultimately fell beneath her judgment.
Her teleportation sorcery, combined with the puppet soldiers' interception tactics, had practically never failed.
Feeling Lucian's hand resting on her shoulder, Miriam reacted at once.
Without changing expression, she tightened her grip on her staff as the crest of the Carian royal family lit upon it.
She spun around, sweeping the staff sideways.
Magic instantly extended from the weapon, condensing into a short sword.
A Carian Piercer slashed directly toward Lucian.
The spell was exceptionally fast.
At this distance, it was more than enough to force space for escape.
Lucian released her shoulder and stepped backward.
The magical blade barely grazed past his chest.
Having forced him back, Miriam did not dare continue pressing the attack.
She immediately cast "Miriam's Vanishing" once more.
At the same time, the puppet soldiers surged toward Lucian from all sides.
Seeing him surrounded, Miriam finally relaxed slightly.
With the soldiers tying him down, she could unleash her full firepower and look for a chance to crush him.
Teleporting onto another beam high within the study hall, she immediately formed Loretta's Greatbow in her hands and aimed at Lucian within the puppet soldiers' encirclement.
But when her gaze landed on where he had been standing.
There was nothing there.
Only a group of confused Marionette soldiers remained.
Just like before, the same scene repeated itself.
A hand once again settled onto the exact same spot on her shoulder.
"Where are you looking this time?"
Hearing Lucian's voice, Miriam's scalp went numb.
A chill crawled up her spine.
What kind of monster was this enemy?
She could not understand it.
Every time he closed in beside her, he still refused to attack.
Was he humiliating her?
That terrifying realization surfaced in her mind.
Alongside helplessness came anger and indignation.
She was one of the Carian royal family's esteemed magic professors.
When had she ever been treated like this?
No matter what, she would make him pay.
This time, Miriam did not attempt to escape with Carian Piercer again.
Against an opponent this powerful, the same move would never work twice.
Feeling the hand on her shoulder begin turning her around, Miriam instantly formed a new plan.
—
Lucian held her shoulder and turned her to face him.
He had no intention of hurting her.
That was why he had never attacked, only teased her a little.
After all, she did not know him right now.
And the things she'd done to him in the game hardly counted as any real grudge.
Besides, she was technically one of Ranni's people.
She still had to stay here and guard the study hall in the future.
Killing her over something so trivial was not something Lucian would do.
However.
Just as he was about to explain himself.
The Miriam he had thought cornered and out of options suddenly surprised him.
Floating before her chest was a deep-blue crystalline mass formed from countless razor-sharp glintstone shards.
During her earlier buildup, Lucian had not sensed her gathering magic at all.
He could not help inwardly praising her skill.
What a remarkably clever and daring technique.
As expected of a magic professor serving the Carian royals.
The instant Miriam fully turned toward him, the irregular glintstone crystal violently exploded.
An overwhelming storm of crystal fragments erupted outward, engulfing Lucian at point-blank range.
At such close distance, his figure vanished instantly beneath the barrage.
"The price of carelessness shall be carved into you through pain."
Countless crystal shards shot wildly throughout the study hall, kicking up clouds of dust everywhere.
Miriam immediately teleported again, retreating to an even farther position.
Meanwhile, the glintstone barrage continued firing relentlessly toward Lucian's location.
After escaping, she immediately cast another spell.
A faint blue glow enveloped her body as the surging emotions in her heart gradually calmed.
Silently charging a spell while standing practically face-to-face with an enemy.
Even for her, it had been the first time.
If it succeeded, all would be well.
If it failed.
She would certainly die.
Only after using "Lucidity" to steady herself did Miriam finally focus on the battlefield again.
Her magic had clearly registered hits.
The attack definitely connected.
And the countless lingering glintstone fragments also helped her track the enemy's position.
Miriam once again formed her magical greatbow and continuously fired enormous arrows toward where she sensed Lucian.
One arrow after another.
Without pause.
It no longer resembled an attempt to defeat an enemy.
It was closer to venting the terror of having survived a brush with death.
Only after becoming convinced he had either been gravely wounded or outright killed beneath the barrage did she finally stop firing.
Miriam let out a breath.
Though the smoke and dust from the explosions had not yet cleared, preventing her from confirming his condition, she felt the saturation attack should have been enough.
And the hand that had repeatedly appeared on her shoulder had not returned again.
Just as she prepared to replenish her magic and recover.
Applause sounded behind her.
Clap. Clap. Clap.
Miriam's entire body trembled.
She spun around in disbelief.
Lucian was sitting casually atop a beam not far behind her.
And—
He was completely unharmed.
Why?
Those attacks had clearly connected according to her senses!
Lucian stood and slowly approached her.
As though hearing her thoughts, he smiled.
"You're wondering right now, aren't you?"
"Why your attacks clearly hit me…"
"And yet I'm perfectly fine."
He paused, then chuckled.
"I'm technically a glintstone sorcerer too."
"Just like you managed to secretly gather magic right under my nose…"
"I've also learned a few little tricks."
"Though my mastery is lacking, I never fully inherited my teacher's skills."
"I can still use magic power and glintstone to draw aggro, at least."
"Oh, right. Your first Crystal Release actually did hit me."
"Too bad it just didn't hurt."
Miriam trembled as she pointed her staff at Lucian.
But in order to make sure she seriously wounded him earlier, she had fired spell after spell without restraint.
Her magic reserves were almost completely drained.
At this point, she did not even have enough left to cast teleportation.
Without magic, the staff in her hand was little more than a stick for tending a fireplace.
All she could do now was bluff with the pose of a sorcerer.
Lucian calmly walked forward and snatched the staff from her hands.
Holding both ends with his hands, he leveled it before himself and drove his knee upward.
Crack.
With a crisp snap, Miriam's staff broke cleanly into two pieces.
Watching the staff that had accompanied her for countless years shatter apart, Miriam felt like her heart was bleeding.
But there was no time to mourn the staff.
Because the next thing that might snap in half, could very well be her.
She backed away step by step, but suddenly her legs gave out and she fell backward onto the ground.
Lucian blinked in surprise.
Was she really this terrified?
As he leisurely approached her, the Miriam sitting on the ground suddenly thrust a silver dagger toward him.
Lucian casually grabbed her wrist, and the dagger clattered to the floor.
She truly was dedicated to her duty.
Unfortunately, dealing with her now felt about as difficult as bullying a tiny child.
Miriam knew she had absolutely no way to fight him.
But his utterly relaxed demeanor made her unable to accept it.
"You damned intruder!"
"Why won't you strike already?! Are you waiting for me to surrender?!"
"Impossible! I will never submit to you!"
Lucian pressed Miriam onto the ground, pinning her tightly against the stone ceiling-turned-floor.
Then he manipulated gravity to reshape the surrounding stonework, binding her firmly in place.
With her entire body restrained, Miriam visibly panicked.
"Why aren't you doing it already?!"
A dreadful premonition suddenly surfaced in her mind.
"Y-You… what are you trying to do?"
"Ghk—just kill me!"
Watching Miriam struggle endlessly on the ground, Lucian shook his head.
Either she had gone stir-crazy spending too long inside the Carian Study Hall, or she had read some very strange books in there.
Her inner drama was clearly running a little wild.
Still, her worries were not entirely baseless.
The Lands Between was an extremely dangerous place.
All kinds of people existed here.
That said…
Now that she had said all that, Lucian became a little curious about what she looked like beneath the magic professor's mask.
Because of her role guarding the study hall for ages, and the traumatic memories of players being tormented by her in-game, he had originally imagined her as some irritating old crone.
But judging from her voice earlier, she did not sound old at all.
Then again, age hardly meant anything in the Lands Between.
Everyone's lifespan was absurdly long anyway.
As the saying went.
In fantasy worlds, your wife could be three thousand years older than you, or three hundred thousand…
But never thirty.
Once age passed a certain threshold, it was just a number.
Lucian crouched before Miriam and casually removed both her mask and oversized hat in one motion.
Brown hair spilled downward.
A dignified and refined face appeared before him.
Unfortunately, the owner of that face was currently glaring at him through gritted teeth, causing her elegant features to twist slightly.
Lucian raised a brow.
Well now.
Professor Miriam was still quite charming.
'Professor Miriam…'
'You wouldn't want the Carian royal family finding out you failed to guard the study hall, would you?'
Ahem.
The moment Lucian removed her mask, Miriam became even more uneasy.
Even glaring furiously could not conceal the panic in her eyes.
Yet the cruel treatment she had imagined never came.
Instead, the moonlight mark left upon Lucian by Ranni began glowing.
A phantom Dark Moon appeared before Miriam.
Miriam struggled to lift her head from the ground, staring at the Dark Moon projection in shock.
"This power…"
"So you are… one of Lady Ranni's people?"
The instant she saw the Dark Moon sigil, Miriam finally understood everything.
So he was connected to Lady Ranni.
No wonder he possessed the inverted statue.
Then he must have come bearing Lady Ranni's orders.
No wonder he had never attacked her earlier.
So that was the reason.
Now that she understood the truth, Miriam's attitude softened immediately as she lowered her head.
"My apologies. I thought you were an enemy who had stolen an important treasure…"
"The people who came to the study hall before were always thieves, so I instinctively assumed…"
Her voice grew quieter and quieter until she finally lowered her head toward the floor in embarrassment.
Seeing that Miriam had finally understood the situation, Lucian nodded.
"It's fine. If anything, it's partly my fault for getting playful and not explaining who I was immediately."
"Besides, you never actually hurt me, so there's no need to worry about the misunderstanding."
Though Lucian was comforting her, Miriam could not feel any better while staring at him completely unharmed.
Lucian released his gravitational restraint, allowing her to stand again.
Miriam hurriedly picked up her mask and oversized hat, dusted them off, and eagerly put them back on.
"Then… my lord, what brings you here?"
Without hesitation, Lucian answered.
"The Divine Tower of Liurnia."
For the miniature Ranni waiting there.
—
With the misunderstanding resolved, everything afterward went smoothly.
Lucian headed toward the elevator located at the center of the study hall.
Now under Miriam's control, the puppet soldiers no longer obstructed him.
Along the way, only the fingercreepers incapable of communication still blocked the path.
But they posed absolutely no threat to Lucian and were casually dealt with.
Before long, he boarded the elevator.
As it activated, it carried him steadily downward.
Though it felt like descending, Lucian knew he was actually traveling upward toward the very top of the Carian Study Hall.
Clack.
The elevator finally reached its destination.
An enormous domed ceiling appeared upside down before him.
Pushing open the massive inverted archway, a curtain of cold drizzle swept through the gap.
Lucian's gaze followed the straight road stretching out before him.
All the way toward the towering Divine Tower of Liurnia piercing the distant sky.
As long as he crossed this path.
He would reach his destination.