At that moment, Fercart's expression remained unchanged, but his teeth were quietly grinding.
In truth, Karl had already made his decision inside; he was merely pretending to think and consider.
Otherwise, he would have simply agreed; given the other party's nearly five hundred years of experience, overthinking might have made him suspicious of Karl's intentions.
"Well, I would like to become your student." Karl took a deep breath, gave his answer, and bent down to bow to Hen at a ninety-degree angle.
He believed this was enough to show respect; there was no need to kneel, and this was the West.
The ceremony of kneeling was usually between a lord and a servant, where there was a vast difference in identity; the relationship between master and student did not warrant a kneeling ceremony.
"Good! From now on, you will be the student of me, Hen Gedymdeith."
Hen couldn't hide the excitement on his face, smiled, and stepped forward, placing both hands on Karl's shoulders to help him up.
He had finally found a gifted student before dying from the exhaustion of his life force.
Perhaps Karl could take his place in the future and support the entire brotherhood.
As for why there were so many members in the brotherhood, he was also afraid that after his death, the brotherhood would fall apart.
The reason was simple: the current brotherhood had long since declined; it was no longer the community that was once solely dedicated to the study of magic and the mastery of new knowledge.
Most sorcerers were obsessed with the pursuit of power, money, and so on, and their positions were not even clear.
Some had even secretly approached the king and acted as double agents.
In this situation, everything depended on him and Tissaia to suppress those with ulterior motives.
They had lived from the Golden Age to the present, and their strength, though diminished by age, still far surpassed that of other sorcerers, but eventually, they would die due to their limited lifespans.
He had considered purging the Brotherhood to get rid of those sorcerers with hidden motives.
But they had long been entrenched and continued to influence other sorcerers, and he had to consider the possibility of eliminating a large number of sorcerers and many other repercussions.
In the end, he did not choose that path, and his ailing body could not support him in fierce battles against others.
......
"Karl, when do you plan to come with me to the academy?" Hen stroked his beard and said quietly.
"Teacher, I need to participate in a martial arts tournament in a few days, and there are many matters to attend to. I'm afraid I can't start my studies soon." Karl was a little embarrassed and tugged at the corner of his mouth.
"Oh? You are a noble? Is what you said difficult?" Hen's eyes flickered, and he asked again.
The implication of Hen's words was that if Karl encountered difficulties, he could tell him.
"I can handle it for now, Teacher. I will ask for your help if it truly becomes difficult."
Hen nodded, didn't press further, raised his hand, and made a few gestures in the void.
Azure magic quickly coalesced into a rune, which then attached itself to the back of Karl's hand and vanished.
"This is a small spell that reminds you if someone casts a spell on you, and it also has a positioning effect so I can find you." Hen met Karl's suspicious gaze and explained slowly.
"I came out on a whim this time and didn't bring any extra magical items with me. I'll give you some magical artifacts later so you won't be unable to escape if you encounter hostile sorcerers."
Karl merely nodded slightly, while Fercart on the side, upon hearing this, widened his eyes and almost choked on his saliva.
He couldn't even get his hands on two such expensive and extremely rare items as magical artifacts, yet Hen was planning to give Karl several.
All that could be said was that he was Hen... a sorcerer who had survived from the Golden Age to the present.
His magical attainments and wealth were far beyond what he could imagine.
BOOM! Suddenly, an orange portal appeared, and Triss and Fercart turned their heads to look at it.
Everyone thought Keira had teleported, because Hen in front of them hadn't made any moves.
"Moreover, I don't want a third party to know about today's events."
Hen walked to the portal and looked back at Triss and Fercart, lingering for a long time on Fercart.
"I understand, Hen." A smile appeared on Fercart's grim face, and he nodded repeatedly.
This was an outsider for him; Triss was clearly well acquainted with Karl, and she was the one who reported it to the Brotherhood.
Then Hen nodded slightly to Karl, and his figure entered the portal and disappeared.
When Fercart and the others saw this, they were stunned and immediately realized that the portal had been opened by Hen, not Keira.
However, after just a few minutes of contact, Hen's magical attainments were far beyond their reach, which was a revelation to them both.
The sorcerers they had seen before didn't need gestures or to speak incantations to cast spells.
But Hen didn't need any of that; he could cast spells with only the power of thought, and even the fluctuations of magical power were invisible.
This meant that if Hen were hostile to them, they wouldn't even know how they died.
"I'm sorry, Triss, I misjudged you with my prejudices, and I sincerely apologize to you." Fercart took a deep breath and lowered his head slightly.
"Of course, it was a misunderstanding. Now you know the reason." Triss smiled at him and generously waved her hand.
Fercart hadn't expected everything to go so wrong. If he had known, he wouldn't have come to the scene.
He hadn't gained any advantage and had instead received a rebuke.
After this incident, his standing in Hen's heart would probably hit rock bottom.
Fortunately, he had inadvertently learned Karl's identity.
He could not only avoid offending the other party but also potentially become an ally, which other sorcerers didn't have.
As for his previous conflicts with Keira, and Keira being Triss's good friend, so what?
Compared to the promotion channels and a range of interests before him, he clearly distinguished what was more important.
Those were just minor grievances, hardly worth mentioning, especially since Hen had stated he didn't want a third party to know.
Even if Triss and Keira were good friends, they couldn't tell each other.
When the time was right, Keira, for some reason, would annoy Karl.
And he wouldn't even need to find evidence; he could just use a borrowed knife to kill.
Thinking this, the corners of Fercart's mouth involuntarily lifted, and the depression Keira had caused him quickly vanished.
Triss and Karl returned to the laboratory, and Keira came alone.
She glanced at Triss, crossed her arms, and said angrily: "Triss, what have you been doing?"
"You've cast spells several times in a row without any explanation, which has already made Fercart unhappy."
"Abusing magic for unknown purposes is enough for him to report to the Council of Sorcerers and call for a period of criticism against you."
"Don't worry, Fercart knows the reason now, and he won't do what you say."
Triss walked over to her, gently placed her hands on Keira's shoulders, and said with a smile.