Chapter 41

Luo En finished his work at the herb shop. Lady Ailan was as severe as ever today, but when teaching him how to make an anti-toxin potion, her attitude was surprisingly patient.

"Don't be late tomorrow." The old witch exhorted when he left: "I have a few new formulas that need your help to test."

Walking on the way back to the dormitory, his thoughts were flying.

He had been a formal primary apprentice for a while. Although there was no difference from before on the surface, he could clearly feel the change in people's attitudes around him.

"Apprentice Luo En!" A familiar voice came from behind, interrupting his thoughts.

Turning around, it was Gregory, a candidate apprentice who almost never communicated with him.

This person came from a merchant family and was accustomed to climbing up the social ladder, never looking directly at classmates with mediocre or even inferior aptitude.

But at this moment, Gregory's attitude was completely different, and he ran over with a full face of smiles:

"I heard you have passed the apprentice qualification certification? It's truly admirable!"

"What's the matter?" Luo En asked coldly.

"I, of course, have nothing important." Gregory's smile was even more diligent:

"Just wanted to ask if you need a capable assistant? I have experience in document organization and data retrieval, and I am also proficient in bookkeeping and ancient Three Kingdoms language. If you have any needs..."

Luo En immediately understood the other party's intention—this was seeking protection, hoping to become his slave.

In the Black Mist Forest, becoming an apprentice's slave could at least guarantee basic survival rights, which was already a fairly good ending for those candidate apprentices who saw no hope.

"No need, I'm used to acting alone." Luo En refused decisively.

The smile on Gregory's face couldn't hold, but he still braced himself:

"If you change your mind, you can find me anytime! I live in Room 34, West Wing..."

Luo En didn't wait for him to finish before turning and leaving.

But before he had walked a few steps, he was called by another voice.

"Apprentice Luo En~"

A sweet, somewhat cloying female voice came from the side.

Luo En saw a graceful female apprentice walking toward him, her steps light, her dress deliberately worn looser than usual, revealing a large area of snow-white skin.

Luo En recognized her as Isabella, a candidate apprentice from a noble family in the south.

In his memory, this woman was usually very close to Emily, and the two often went in and out of various apprentice gatherings together.

"I heard you have talent in potionology." Isabella blinked her big eyes, her voice sweet:

"I happen to be very interested in this area. I wonder if you could give me some pointers?"

She deliberately leaned very close, wanting to press her plump parts against the arm of the person in front of her, and the rich perfume mixed with some ambiguous breath rushed toward him.

Luo En keenly noticed that behind the admiration she deliberately created, there was calculation and sophistication hidden.

What made him even more uncomfortable was that through the keen perception he gained after transferring to [Wizard Apprentice], he could clearly perceive the "usage traces" on this noble lady—

She was obviously no longer a pure girl but a veteran of the bedchamber who had experienced many sexual encounters.

Just as Luo En avoided the other party's approach without a trace and prepared to refuse again, several other female candidate apprentices surrounded him.

Each of them was dressed exceptionally enchantingly, and their words were full of explicit hints:

"Apprentice Luo En, I can do anything for you..."

"My family also has some connections in the Farouk Kingdom. If you need..."

"I have learned various ways to please people since I was a child, and I guarantee that I can make you..."

These words made Luo En feel a wave of nausea.

He knew very well the purpose of these people—to rely on a newly promoted primary apprentice and use their bodies in exchange for security guarantees.

In their eyes, he was just a new object of attachment, a tool that could be discarded at will.

"Enough." Luo En said coldly, while radiating an invisible mental fluctuation outward.

It was exactly the new ability he gained after becoming a primary apprentice—mental interference. Although it only had an interference effect in battles at the same level, it was more than enough to deal with these candidate apprentices.

[Mental Interference (Novice) Experience +1]

Perhaps because the mental interference ability was recorded as a skill, Luo En felt that his control over it at this time was much stronger than when he first gained this ability.

An invisible fluctuation spread with him as the center, and those apprentices surrounding him immediately felt a wave of dizziness.

Their thoughts became chaotic; some staggered backward, and some even sat directly on the ground, looking blank.

"I have no interest in you, and I don't need any slaves." Luo En's tone was calm but carried a deep chill:

"Don't bother me again, otherwise, I don't mind letting you lose a few parts."

After speaking, he turned and left, leaving a group of candidate apprentices who had not yet fully recovered from the mental interference looking at each other, and they all saw extreme jealousy and unwillingness in each other's eyes.

Returning to the dormitory, he had just locked the door when he heard a knock.

"It's me, Andre." A familiar voice came from outside the door.

Luo En opened the door and saw the golden-haired Thirteenth Prince standing at the door, his face somewhat heavy.

"I heard you just gave those candidate apprentices an unforgettable lesson in the corridor?" Andre curled his lips, but his smile looked somewhat forced.

"The news travels really fast..." Luo En stepped aside to let Andre into the room: "Those guys are like feces stuck to the soles of my feet; they really annoyed me a bit."

"This kind of thing is normal." Andre shrugged: "In the Black Mist Forest, every promoted apprentice will experience this 'welcome ceremony.' Those candidate apprentices who see no hope always hope to hold onto new thighs."

Luo En nodded, then noticed that Andre's expression was not quite right. The elegant and confident temperament of the past still existed, but there was a hint of worry and struggle in his eyes, as if there was something unspeakable.

"What's wrong?" Luo En put down the refining utensils he was organizing and looked at Andre seriously, "You look like you have something on your mind."

Andre sighed and sat in a chair: "Nothing, just some annoying demands from the family side."

He smiled reluctantly and turned to ask: "By the way, I heard that you have passed the primary apprentice qualification certification. This is truly good news. How is the school side? They shouldn't have deducted your resource allocation, right?"

Luo En did not answer immediately but poured two cups of herbal tea he had just obtained from Lady Ailan and handed one to Andre.

"Thanks," Andre took the teacup and took a sip: "What is this? The taste is not bad."

"A mixture of calm grass and moon-seeing root." Luo En sat opposite Andre: "Lady Ailan said this can alleviate mental fatigue. It seems you need this right now."

Andre's mouth twitched slightly; obviously, Luo En's words hit the nail on the head.

He stared at the liquid in the cup, seemingly thinking about how to respond.

(End of chapter)