Time passed quickly.
With Karl deliberately keeping a low profile, half a month went by in the blink of an eye.
The rumors about Karl stopped spreading.
The sorcerers returned to their own training.
Unless Karl deliberately went out of his way to show up, no one stared at him anymore.
Over these past two weeks, Karl had been cultivating magic nonstop.
As his proficiency rose, his power kept growing. The magical energy inside his body also increased more and more.
Huff!
Karl opened his eyes and exhaled.
That white stream of breath shot out like a sharp arrow, striking the ground and leaving a small crater.
"Not bad. My strength has improved again."
"It's time to learn some new magic."
Karl pondered for a moment.
With that, he stopped hesitating.
He sliced open a Portal and stepped straight into the training hall.
At this moment, Aldrich had returned to his old routine, teaching the newly arrived Apprentice Sorcerers and explaining the fundamentals of magical theory.
Seeing the Portal light up, Aldrich waved a hand and told the Apprentice Sorcerers below to study on their own.
"Karl, why are you here?"
"Is there a problem?" Aldrich asked kindly.
"It's like this, Aldrich-sensei," Karl said respectfully.
"Recently, I feel my practice with the other spells has reached a bottleneck."
"So I'm hoping Aldrich-sensei can teach me some new magic."
Hearing that, Aldrich's heart sank.
This is bad!
The thing I feared most has come.
Aldrich had been restless for days.
Karl was simply too much of a genius.
Aldrich felt he had no qualifications to teach a monster like this.
A monster like this should be taught by the Ancient One in person.
In barely a month, everything Aldrich knew had been drained dry.
This was the foundation other sorcerers needed decades to accumulate.
How was he supposed to keep playing this game?
But he couldn't exactly say he didn't know anything else—where would he put his pride?
Seeing Karl's extremely sincere expression, Aldrich put on a serious face and spoke.
"Karl."
"You must understand: a ten-thousand-story tower is built from the ground up."
"If you want to cultivate new magic, you must fully master the earlier magic first."
"Otherwise, your road will be difficult to walk far in the future."
After speaking, Aldrich patted Karl on the shoulder with earnest gravity, his expression exceptionally stern.
Karl felt moved.
Aldrich really treated him well, truly putting in effort.
Even at this point, he was still thinking of Karl's long-term growth.
Unfortunately, Aldrich didn't have a clear understanding of Karl's talent.
"Aldrich-sensei, I've already mastered the earlier spells perfectly. It definitely won't delay my cultivation," Karl said with utmost sincerity.
"Have you?" Aldrich replied noncommittally.
"Show me."
In truth, Aldrich wanted Karl to demonstrate a bit, then he would nitpick something and send him back.
Once the Ancient One returned, she would naturally teach Karl personally, and Aldrich wouldn't be needed.
All he had to do was stall for a while.
Anyway, cultivating basic spells to solidify one's foundation had no downsides—only benefits.
Karl, of course, had no idea what Aldrich was thinking.
"Please guide me, Aldrich-sensei."
Karl said that, then flicked his hand. A golden Portal appeared.
He made a polite "after you" gesture.
Aldrich stepped through.
"Aldrich-sensei, lately I've gained a new understanding of the Mirror Dimension. Please instruct me!"
Karl spoke, and his mental power burst outward.
In the next instant—
The world turned upside down.
Within the Mirror Dimension, the buildings of Kamar-Taj transformed into a gigantic hand that reached toward them.
Aldrich felt a suffocating pressure just from looking at it.
And that wasn't all.
That enormous hand morphed into a colossal blade—
And cleaved toward the distance.
In an instant, heaven and earth inverted.
In the distance, Mount Everest, which stood tall on the ground, was split cleanly into two.
Only then did Karl take two steady breaths and look back at Aldrich.
As for Aldrich…
He was completely stunned.
What was going on?
What kind of magic was that?
Aldrich couldn't help doubting what he'd just witnessed.
That was the Mirror Dimension?
Since when could the Mirror Dimension be used to attack?
Because it was a dimensional realm belonging to no one, most people who entered could control a bit of "authority."
Even if some were stronger and some weaker, no one could call on the things inside the Mirror Dimension to attack.
That was the rule of authority.
But just now—
That rule had been broken!!
Aldrich clearly sensed that if Karl hadn't held back, that huge hand formed from the buildings could have effortlessly crushed him to death!
The Mirror Dimension absolutely should not be able to do that!!
If that were the end of it, Aldrich could still explain it away by saying Karl's mastery was deeper.
But afterward—
Countless buildings formed a sky-covering giant blade and split Mount Everest apart.
That was utterly beyond imagination.
Matter in the Mirror Dimension was the same as in reality!
Aldrich was dumbfounded, his eyes unable to move.
Only now did he realize just how terrifying Karl's talent was.
Not only had he learned these spells—
He had improved them!
The original magic couldn't do this!
This kid was a monster!
Even saying he was a god's illegitimate child wouldn't be an exaggeration!
Karl didn't bother waiting for Aldrich's reaction and spoke again.
"Sensei, I'll demonstrate some other magic too."
As he spoke, a golden chain appeared in his hand.
He whipped it forward.
The chain suddenly thickened to the size of a bucket and lashed toward a skyscraper in front of them.
In the next moment—
That reinforced-concrete building melted.
Yes.
Melted.
Red magma streamed down from the structure.
Even from over a hundred meters away, Aldrich could feel a shocking heat wave rushing toward him.
Th-This…
Was that still an Eldritch Whip?
On my conscience!
Even lasers invented by humans wouldn't have this kind of power, would they?!
At this temperature, melting steel would be no problem at all, right?
This was an Eldritch Whip?
Since when did the Eldritch Whip have such absurd high heat?
Were they learning the same magic?
Aldrich was shaken to the core.
Karl, however, asked:
"Sensei, is there anything wrong with the magic I'm using?"
"No problems."
"There's nothing wrong. It's quite good," Aldrich said, sucking in a cold breath and pretending to be calm.
"Then I can cultivate new magic now, right?" Karl asked excitedly.
"Yes. You can," Aldrich replied through gritted teeth.
But inside, Aldrich was panicking like mad.
What on Earth was he supposed to teach Karl now?!
(End of Chapter)
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