Tarnes, carrying the glintstones he had obtained from Rellana, quickly returned from Ensis Castle to Stormveil Castle and arrived at Teacher Sellen's room.
"Teacher Sellen, I got new glintstones!"
Tarnes excitedly pushed open the door, making Sellen lift her gaze from the book she was holding.
She asked with interest, "Oh? That was fast. Where did you obtain the glintstones? Caria Manor or Raya Lucaria Academy? If it's the latter, I still have some personal items I didn't have time to bring out back then."
Tarnes shook his head, hesitated for a moment, but still told Sellen about Ensis Castle. "Neither, Teacher Sellen. Have you heard of Ensis Castle?"
Sellen questioned in a confused tone, "Ensis Castle? Is it a city in this world?"
Seeing that Sellen wasn't aware of it, Tarnes briefly explained the situation of the Land of Shadow and Ensis Castle to her.
Sellen again spoke with an interested tone. "Fascinating. Though I'm not familiar with Ensis Castle, I know quite well the once-famous Carian princess Rellana. So her sudden disappearance was because she abandoned her position in the Lands Between to follow her beloved. At that time, the academy was quite disturbed by this matter, all thinking Rellana had been secretly assassinated by those invisible assassins serving the Golden Tree."
Just how much of a grudge does Caria hold against the Golden Tree...
Tarnes sighed at how the Golden Tree had to inexplicably take the blame for this as well.
Noticing Tarnes's expression, Sellen chuckled and said, "This isn't taking the blame at all. You must know that when Caria and the Golden Tree fought, both sides used every possible means, naturally including those Black Knife Assassins. At that time, Caria's royal family had many outstanding knights, or highly talented but not yet matured sorcerers, who were silently assassinated by those assassins. Of course, later the Carian sorcerers also found ways to counter those assassins and struck back, which finally made the Golden Tree stop the assassinations."
This happened too?
Tarnes, hearing about past events he didn't know, immediately had his curiosity aroused by Sellen.
However, Sellen lazily declined. "If you want to hear stories, it's better to come alone next time. The matters of Caria can't be explained in just a few words. Having you stay here to listen to my stories would probably displease the little lady behind you. Let's get to business. Give me the glintstones."
Tarnes instinctively turned to look at Melina, who still had her usual calm expression. "It's fine, I can wait here for you to finish listening."
Tarnes immediately shuddered and smiled. "It would take too long and delay our dinner time."
"Heh..." Seeing Tarnes's behavior in front of Melina, Sellen let out a light laugh.
Tarnes carefully took the glintstones from his chest and handed them to Teacher Sellen, asking, "Teacher, how long will it take to make the new spirit vessels? A few days, or...?"
Sellen raised her hand to receive the two glintstones and casually placed them on the table.
Hearing Tarnes's question, she hummed with a nasal-heavy voice. "It won't take that long. A few minutes will do."
Tarnes widened his eyes in surprise. "That fast?"
Sellen shot Tarnes a dissatisfied glance while writing inscriptions on the glintstones and explained, "What do you take your teacher for, some mediocre sorcerer, my good student? I've already created one properly functioning spirit vessel, solving the most difficult problem of going from zero to one. After that, it's just a matter of combining the magic circle I've researched with the properties of the glintstone itself to quickly produce spirit vessels that meet your needs... There, this one is ready to use."
As she spoke, she lightly tossed one of the glintstones with completed magical inscriptions toward Tarnes, making him scramble to catch it with both hands, afraid it might fall and shatter on the ground.
"Don't worry, glintstones have very strong stability and durability. Even if you throw them hard on the ground, they won't leave a mark. Otherwise, why do you think we sorcerers choose them to store our souls? If they broke with just a little force, the risks during soul transfer would be too great." Sellen added after noticing Tarnes's caution.
However, Tarnes still carefully stored it close to his body and replied, "Better safe than sorry. That's one of the truths I learned in the Lands Between. Besides, spirit vessels relate to the speed at which I can summon people and objects from the Lands Between, so being cautious is appropriate."
Hearing this, Sellen hummed in agreement and picked up the remaining modified glintstone, handing it to Tarnes instead of tossing it. "Your cautious approach is completely opposite to your combat style, but I think you're right about this point. Just like how we sorcerers must also be careful and cautious on the path of researching glintstone sorcery."
After thanking Teacher Sellen again, and before she could issue an eviction order, Tarnes quickly left her room filled with books and glintstones with Melina, returning quiet to Teacher Sellen.
Melina looked at Tarnes, who couldn't help but smile with joy from obtaining two brand-new spirit vessels, and asked, "Tarnes, what do you plan to do next?"
Without thinking, Tarnes directly said, "Of course, go kill Orcs and collect their souls."
Then his face showed a regretful expression as he muttered to himself, "I just don't know if the souls of those Orcs who died in the Battle of the Lonely Mountain are still on the battlefield. But so many days have passed; the souls would have long since dissipated. It would be great if they were still there."
After saying this, Tarnes touched his chin again, still thinking and speaking to himself. "But where are there still Orc gathering places with extremely large numbers now? Bilbo... he's always lived in a peaceful environment, so he definitely wouldn't know. Or should I ask Thorin, or maybe Gandalf? Ah, Elrond definitely knows. I remember he occasionally leads Rivendell's Elven cavalry out on patrol to eliminate nearby Orcs. Good, then I'll first go to the Mountain to find Thorin, then return and go to Rivendell to find Elrond. Bilbo will probably be returning to Hobbiton around that time, so I can visit his home as well. It's just a pity I don't know where that old fellow Gandalf is now..."
"Tarnes, wake up."
Melina helplessly watched Tarnes, who had inexplicably fallen into talking to himself, and gently patted his shoulder, making his body suddenly shudder.
He looked at Melina embarrassedly and said, "Sorry, Melina. I accidentally started talking to myself out of habit again."
Melina shook her head lightly, indicating she was already used to it, then her bright amber eyes gazed at Tarnes as she said, "Although you told me your story after coming here last night, I still don't quite understand your current situation. Please tell me what needs to be done currently. I also want to provide some help."