Chapter 31

Luo En responded with a polite formality; his enhanced keen perception allowed him to catch a slight incongruity on Oliver's face.

Those were extremely fine suture marks, almost impossible to detect, but they were clearly visible under his spiritual perception, which had now crossed a major stage.

Associating this with Marcus's ugly, short face, and then looking at Oliver's near-perfect face—

He quickly cut off his train of thought; it was best not to continue such dangerous associations.

"Then, I won't disturb you anymore." Oliver bowed slightly, making an elegant farewell gesture: "I hope we have a chance to meet again in the future."

Marcus followed behind his brother, looking back at Luo En as he left.

That look contained extremely complex emotions—it held both the pity one might show a dead man and deep schadenfreude, mixed with an indescribable sense of vengeful pleasure.

This look made Luo En's heart sink; his intuition told him that this "kind visit" from Oliver was definitely not a good thing.

When the two figures disappeared at the end of the corridor, he let out a long breath and packed up his belongings.

Since he had already gained his freedom, there was no need to continue staying here.

Moreover, with his current spiritual perception ability, he could clearly capture a trace of strange energy remaining in the confinement room—it was some kind of magic trace left by Oliver.

Luo En couldn't help but shiver, deciding to leave this place as soon as possible.

No matter what scheme Oliver was plotting, with his current strength, he was still far from being his match.

The moment he walked out of the confinement room, he took a deep breath.

Although the air in the Black Mist Forest was still filled with that unique, fishy-sweet smell, for him, having just escaped confinement, this was already a pleasure.

"What exactly is that guy trying to do..."

Luo En pondered as he walked, deciding to return to his room first and then find Andre to understand the situation in detail.

On the way, he could feel that he was a different person compared to two weeks ago.

The qualitative change in his internal spiritual power had greatly enhanced his perception, and even his gait had become lighter and more fluid.

Other candidate apprentices passing by appeared in his perception like glowing sparks, with each person's spiritual power strength and fluctuation frequency roughly visible.

This ability might be commonplace for other apprentices, but for Luo En, who had just broken through, it was still full of novelty.

Soon, he arrived in front of his room door.

The lock was intact; it seemed no one had broken in during the past half-month.

But Luo En still cautiously checked the trap markers inside the room—these were tiny marks he had deliberately set before leaving to determine if anyone had intruded.

After confirming everything was normal, Luo En finally truly relaxed.

"It seems I was overthinking."

He laughed at himself and then began to organize his items.

This simple apprentice dormitory could not be called comfortable, but it was already much better than the environment of the confinement room.

Just as he was about to sit down and rest, Luo En heard a series of urgent knocks on the door.

"Luo En, you're back?" Andre's voice came through the door panel.

He raised his eyebrows; this Thirteenth Prince was truly well-informed.

"Come in, the door isn't locked."

Andre pushed the door open, a look of surprise on his face:

"I was just eating in the cafeteria and heard someone say they saw you in the dormitory corridor, so I came over to take a look. Did you spend extra magic stone fragments? That's really extravagant..."

His words stopped abruptly, his pupils slightly contracting: "No, you have already..."

Luo En knew he had noticed something and smiled slightly: "That's right, I broke through."

"Primary apprentice!" Andre gasped: "In the confinement room? This is simply..."

His tone was full of disbelief, but he soon returned to calm: "However, given your rate of progress during this time, it's not too surprising."

Luo En gestured for him to sit down and briefly described the process of his breakthrough, naturally omitting the assistance provided by the profession panel.

"As expected of you," Andre praised sincerely: "The environment of the confinement room is an ordeal for most people, yet it became the opportunity for you to gain focus and break through."

A look of complexity and unwillingness flashed in his eyes: "Luo En, do you know? Sometimes I'm really curious, how exactly did you make such great progress in such a short time..."

Luo En smiled and did not pick up on that topic, instead quickly changing the subject: "Do you know what kind of person Oliver is?"

Hearing this name, Andre's expression also instantly became solemn: "He came to find you?"

Luo En nodded: "Just now. I was able to get out so quickly, and it's thanks to him spending magic stone fragments."

"That's not a good sign." Andre's voice lowered a few notches:

"Oliver's reputation in the school is not very good. This guy is a notorious smiling tiger, and his research direction is too..."

He seemed to be looking for the right words: "Too twisted. Even some high-level apprentices of the same rank keep their distance from him."

"Be more specific?" Luo En pressed.

Andre hesitated, seemingly weighing how much information to reveal: "His research direction is 'living body modification'..."

Speaking of this, his voice dropped even lower: "It is said that those 'materials' in his laboratory are mostly servants collected by Marcus."

Luo En thought of Emily, whom he had met earlier, and his heart sank.

"But what puzzles me most is, why did he specifically come to see you?"

Andre frowned: "Logically speaking, the little conflict between Marcus and you should be insignificant to an apprentice of his level."

"I guess..." Luo En said softly: "It might have to do with Daren'de's sonic spells."

Andre understood what he meant: "You mean, he is interested in this research?"

"Not just interested." Luo En recalled Oliver's words: "He said that sonic waves and curses have some commonalities, both using special means to continuously influence a target."

"That does make some sense." Andre was thoughtful: "But even so, for a high-level apprentice to specifically approach you, someone who just broke through from the candidate level, is still somewhat strange..."

The two fell into a brief silence, each pondering the possibilities.

Finally, Andre broke the silence: "In any case, you must be extra careful now. Oliver is not a character to be trifled with, even our royal network in the school is..."

Luo En nodded, knowing the weight of this warning.

"By the way," Andre remembered something: "In the past half-month, the black market merchants in the bazaar have become active again. Several more candidate apprentices have had accidents recently..."

"Still that kind of prohibited potion?" Luo En asked.

"Yes, but this time it's a bit different." Andre's expression became grave: "Those potions seem to be related to curses, and the way they mutate after use is even..."

He paused, seemingly looking for the right words: "Even more controllable, as if they were precisely designed."

Luo En thought of this, and his heart stirred: "You mean, these potions might be related to Oliver?"

"This is just my guess," Andre said cautiously: "But the timing is indeed very coincidental."

Luo En rolled his eyes and pretended to casually mention a less relevant topic:

"I was wondering, does the black market have any... special materials and formulas?"

(End of chapter)