Chapter 383: Private Research and Guidance

The possibility that the Spellbook itself was erroneous was too low; who would specifically create three Spellbooks about 【Short-range Teleportation】 just to trap him? Moreover, with his current level of Magic attainment, although he had yet to fully grasp the Principles of Teleportation, judging whether it was true or false was not a problem.

Therefore, Xia Duo was more inclined to believe that the current experimental environment was incorrect; perhaps 【Short-range Teleportation】 experiments should not be conducted inside a Spell Laboratory.

He asked the Tower Spirit, and the Tower Spirit replied that everything was normal. As for what the Reality was, a calmed-down Xia Duo immediately contacted Aiboke, arranging to meet him on the Public Level, relayed by the Tower Spirit.

And Aiboke also gave a response quickly—he could not get away at the moment; they would meet in two hours.

Thus, Xia Duo flipped open that "Projects to be Tested" notebook. Recorded on it were his partial conjectures regarding some of the elements contained in 【Short-range Teleportation】 over the past half-month, many of which were clearly highly dangerous.

If he were outside, it would take quite a long time to finish testing them all, mainly to avoid risks, whereas in the Spell Laboratory, there was no need to worry too much.

After setting the reminder time for the 【Alarm Clock】 Spell in advance, Xia Duo threw himself into the engrossing experiment.

……

On the other side, in Aiboke's Research Lab.

Aiboke looked at the pile of waste on the Alchemy Bench before him, revealing a pained expression. The experiment had failed again. He pulled at his hair forcefully, as if venting.

"Why exactly? What else have I not thought of?" He kept pressing himself with questions.

Previously, Xia Duo had handed him a specialized research application regarding Permanent Magic, which had been submitted by the Primary Mage Tilake. He was very optimistic about the prospects of this research, so he began to research it himself based on the data in that research application.

The result was that he could never reach the expected outcome every time. As an Arcanist, he really could not bring himself to consult a Primary Mage. Furthermore, this was already a project on record at the Tower of Time; he had looked at data submitted by others and then researched it privately, which in itself was somewhat in violation of the contract.

Not to mention asking the original creator; this directly violated the basic Principles of the Tower of Time's existence. As a high-level member, he could not lead the way in doing such a thing.

All he could do was wait for the other party's project to go bankrupt, then take it over entirely and restart the research. Before that, he could only do some research in private.

"Sigh—"

Fortunately, as an Arcanist, there were simply too many research projects Aiboke could carry out, so he did not need to be fixated on this one for the time being. Thinking of Xia Duo's earlier contact, Aiboke cleaned up the Alchemy Bench, tidied his hair, and walked out.

……

Public Level.

Ever since the Tower of Time resumed normal operation, unless they happened to need to execute repair tasks, teaching tasks, Territory Tasks, or other tasks, the figures of Official Mages rarely appeared in the sight of Apprentices.

The Public Level was the place where it was easiest to encounter Official Mages, but relatively speaking, there were not many opportunities for Apprentices to appear here either. Unless they happened to be working on the Public Level, it was rare for Apprentices to specifically come over to lurk for Official Mages.

When Xia Duo stepped out of the Elevator, the surroundings were quiet. Looking around, there was not a single figure. He could not help but sigh; perhaps this was the true state of a Mage Tower.

Because of the habit of being early, after waiting for a few minutes, Aiboke arrived on time. He looked at the young man before him and revealed a faint smile, "Xia Duo, what is it you're looking for me for?"

"It's like this, I was attempting to perform 【Short-range Teleportation】 in the Spell Laboratory earlier, but I couldn't succeed each time. Is it because the Spell Laboratory environment is special?" Xia Duo got straight to the point and asked directly.

Both parties' time was precious; he did not want to waste it. As for the possibility of the Spellbook being wrong, he did not ask at all. If there was no problem with the Spell Laboratory, wouldn't it just be a problem with the Spellbook!

When he asked, he was definitely going to ask about the possibility he personally considered more likely.

"Short-range Teleportation?" Aiboke was somewhat surprised. He did not expect that Xia Duo had already grown to this step. Aiboke could not help but have Xia Duo's file emerge in his mind—

The most conspicuous line among them: He only joined the Tower of Time at the Midsummer Festival one year ago!

It had only been a little over a year, and he had already become an Intermediate Mage. Aiboke felt deeply moved by Xia Duo's exceptional talent, and could not help but feel a pity for him; if Xia Duo could have joined the Tower of Time a few years earlier, perhaps the Tower of Time could have one more Arcanist at this moment.

And right now, regarding the question of Short-range Teleportation, Aiboke smiled slightly and said: "The Magic Net environment of the Spell Laboratory is indeed different from the normal environment outside. The calmness is just an appearance. More essentially, regarding the control of the Magic Net, many Spells are on the prohibited list, and Teleportation is one of them. Regarding this aspect, you can ask the Tower Spirit more."

So that was it!

Xia Duo suddenly realized. However, speaking of the Tower Spirit, it was not that he hadn't asked, it was just that the Tower Spirit told him everything in the Spell Laboratory was normal. What he truly needed to know were the rules behind the normal.

At the time, he had contacted Aiboke quickly, and with experiments needing to continue, he had not delved deeper.

Looking at it now, his mind had indeed been somewhat chaotic at the time.

After expressing his gratitude to Aiboke, Xia Duo proposed to take his leave, but he was stopped by Aiboke, who asked: "Xia Duo, are you preparing to go outside to experiment?"

"Yes." Xia Duo nodded. He was indeed preparing to go outside to experiment. Since the Spell Laboratory had restrictions, the Mage Tower itself surely had layers of Permission Levels.

Even if he used his Agent Permission Level to lift the restrictions, without the Protection of the Spell Laboratory, he felt it was safer in an open space in the outside world!

However, Aiboke's next words gave Xia Duo a huge surprise, "If you don't mind, I can guide you to complete your first 【Short-range Teleportation】."

"I don't mind, how could I mind!" Xia Duo hurriedly agreed.

Under normal circumstances, a Mage would not let another Mage observe their Spellcasting, especially between Mages of the same rank, because under normal circumstances, being too close would allow the observing Mage to directly observe all the details of the Spellcasting.

This was something many people could not tolerate; after all, Spellcasting details related to the secrets of a Spell, and also related to one's own Spellcasting habits, easily leading to one's own Magic Items being cracked by others.

Of course, the premise for all this was that the observer had a sufficient understanding of the Spell Principles and the essence of the Magic Net. Letting a Primary Mage observe a High Mage casting a Spell, even if they were huddled together, they might not necessarily see anything of substance.

And guidance, generally, was a mentor guiding an Apprentice. Besides being close in distance, sometimes the technique of Synergistic Resonance would be used, with the mentor leading the Apprentice in Spellcasting.

Of course, "generally" meant that very few mentors would teach with such patience; most would just go through the motions and let the Apprentice self-study, or participate in experiments, letting the Apprentice realize things on their own through practice.

It felt very much like the ancient saying from Xia Duo's hometown: "The master leads you through the door, but Cultivation depends on the individual."

Although Xia Duo felt this master-apprentice inheritance model was very backward and very inefficient, now that there was such a person willing to provide him with dedicated guidance, he could not help but sigh that it was truly wonderful.

……