Chapter 154: Serie's First Disciple
However, to his surprise, Serie did not use a cold tone to tell the other party to leave as he had expected.
She closed her book, stood up, walked to the steps, and looked down at the elf girl: "Are you lost?"
The elf girl nodded vigorously and whispered, "I was chasing a very beautiful butterfly, and then…"
"Your sense of danger is too poor. Be careful, or you might encounter a beast and lose your life directly," Serie commented bluntly, but her gaze lingered on the little elf for a moment, as if evaluating something.
She sensed the presence of magic from this young elf in front of her; the other party seemed to be a natural talent for learning magic.
However, Serie said nothing. She just raised her hand, a small, gentle ball of light formed at her fingertip, and she gently pointed it towards a certain direction in the forest: "Your tribe is over there. Just follow the light, and you can go back."
The elf girl looked at the guiding light, then looked up at Serie in surprise, gratitude and admiration welling up in her large eyes: "Tha…thank you!"
She bowed, then carefully ran in the direction of the light. After a few steps, she couldn't help but look back again, her expression filled with wonder at the magic she'd just witnessed.
Kurtz leaned against the window, watching her run off, then looked at Serie, who had returned to her seat and picked up her book, and chuckled, "I thought you would just chase her away. I didn't expect you to kindly show her the way."
Serie didn't even look up, focused on the book in her hand, her tone still flat: "It was just convenient."
Kurtz chuckled softly, saying nothing more.
After all, even if Serie didn't do it, he would have guided the elf back.
However, a few days later, the elf girl appeared again.
This time, she wasn't lost; she came prepared.
She timidly carried a small basket of berries and placed it on the steps of the cottage. After Kurtz discovered her, she lowered her head and quickly ran away.
Then came the third time, the fourth time…
Sometimes she would bring some beautiful stones, and sometimes she would just stand far away, watching Serie practice new magic.
Her eyes were filled with pure curiosity and longing for magic.
This look reminded Kurtz of the girl named Liza in the first human village they had taught.
Finally, one morning, when the elf girl once again mustered her courage and stood in front of the cottage, looking eagerly at Serie.
Serie finally took action.
She stood up and walked under the eaves, looking at the small figure in front of her.
"You," Serie's voice was still clear and cold, "What is your name?"
The elf girl looked up in surprise: "Ayla! My name is Ayla!"
"Ayla," Serie repeated, then said indifferently, "Do you want to learn magic?"
"I do! Please accept me as your disciple!" The elf girl bowed without hesitation, requesting.
"Good!" Serie's lips curved upwards. "I will teach you magic, and you will be my first official disciple."
When Ayla successfully gathered magic in her hand for the first time under Serie's guidance, she was so happy she almost jumped.
Even Serie herself showed a hint of satisfaction in her eyes. The small orb of light flickered between Ayla's trembling fingers like a captured star.
Kurtz couldn't help but ask, "Why are you suddenly interested in taking a disciple?"
Serie was demonstrating to Ayla how better to control the flow of magic within her body. Hearing this, her movements paused.
She turned her head and glanced at Kurtz, her tone carrying apparent calmness: "It's exciting, isn't it? Watching her clumsy attempts at learning, from ignorance to finally growing into a powerful magic-user, this process should be fascinating."
During her adventures with Kurtz before, Serie had also taught some humans magic, but it was always brief, and the magical knowledge she shared was minimal.
It was completely different from Ayla, whom she had officially accepted as her disciple.
She withdrew her gaze and continued to focus on her movements, as if talking to herself, and also as if speaking to Kurtz: "And I always need to find something to do. In this long wait, living alone can be very difficult."
The time for Kurtz's reincarnations seemed to be getting longer and longer.
At first, it was fifty years, then fifty-five years, and the last time he made her wait sixty years.
According to him, he was continuously perfecting this magic, which was why it took longer and longer.
Serie was somewhat puzzled by this.
If he was continuously perfecting this magic, shouldn't the time taken be getting shorter? Why was it getting longer and longer?
But even if she asked, this man never gave a reasonable explanation.
Serie had no choice but to stop focusing on the matter.
Anyway, for her, as long as she could wait for this man's return, fifty years or a hundred years made little difference.
During this waiting period, she would do something interesting to pass the time.
Kurtz looked at Serie's focused figure as she taught Ayla, at her golden hair that glowed softly in the sunlight. The elf who had once been proud and almost indifferent to others seemed to be quietly changing.
A warm feeling surged in his heart, and he smiled, "Yes, it's very interesting."
"Do you want to join too? This child is a good prospect."
"I'll pass," Kurtz tactfully refused.
He wouldn't compete with Serie for the title of the Ancient Magician Ancestor.
"However…" Kurtz deliberately drew out his words.
"However, what?" Serie asked without looking up.
"However," Kurtz walked to her side, looking at Ayla, who was distracted by their conversation and whose ball of light had shattered, causing her to feel annoyed.
He quietly lowered his voice, "If a certain human, who didn't know the immensity of heaven and earth, hadn't refused you back then, then this little one's position now would probably be mine, right?"
Serie's hand movements stopped in mid-air.
She turned her head and stared at Kurtz intently for a long time.
Her eyes were complex for a moment, as if she remembered a very, very long time ago, that fellow who suddenly burst into her life in the forest and boldly refused her offer to take him as a disciple, instead choosing to stay by her side forever in another way.
Then, the elf showed a very subtle smile.
She turned back, telling Ayla to concentrate, and at the same time, said in a tone only Kurtz could clearly hear: "That's different, Kurtz. What you gained is a far more important identity than that."
Her voice was very soft, yet it made Kurtz's emotions fluctuate.
He looked at Serie, who was once again focused on teaching Ayla, at the elf girl diligently learning, and thought of the relationship between himself and Serie that had lasted through the long years.
Yes, he had long since obtained the most precious and irreplaceable bond.
This was something no master-disciple relationship could compare to.
He suddenly felt a little fortunate that he had refused the elf's proposal back then.
Kurtz said nothing more, just stood quietly beside Serie, watching Ayla clumsily grow under the elf's guidance.
[End of Chapter]
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