"Alright, how long are you planning to hold my hand? The tea’s going to get cold," Holan said with a hint of playful reproach after a while.

  Caius chuckled and let go of her hand.

  Then he glanced over at the bookshelves in the library and asked, "By the way, can I take a look at those books?"

  "External personnel are prohibited from borrowing," Holan replied.

  "Hmph, I’m not an external person anymore," Caius said as he pulled out the badge Hilda had just given him.

  Holan glanced at it, a little surprised. "When did you become the captain of the Student Council Guard?"

  "A few days ago. Hilda gave me this along with the deposit," Caius lied without blinking.

  "So that means you don’t need the external personnel quota anymore?" Holan asked.

  Caius froze for a moment but quickly put on a wide smile. "How could that be? Compared to being the Guard Captain, I still prefer the freedom of an external personnel~"

  Only then did Holan nod in satisfaction and ask, "What kind of books are you looking to borrow?"

  "Are there any magic books?" Caius asked.

  "There are, but at your level, you can only borrow magic books of Platinum rank or below," Holan said.

  "Then could you find me a few at the Gold rank to look at?" Caius grinned broadly.

  Holan shot him a look — she was an instructor, not a librarian, and fetching books wasn't part of her job.

  Still, she got up and walked over to the shelves, soon returning with three magic books.

  There are two kinds of magic books.

  One type works similarly to a magic wand, assisting in spellcasting, enhancing magic power, or directly casting spells through pre-engraved Magic Circles within the book. Essentially, they serve as a mage’s weapon, like a staff.

  The other type is used for recording spells, serving as study material for mages.

  The three books Holan brought were of the latter kind.

  Each contained between a few to a dozen spells.

  Caius opened one of them, titled Conrad’s Thirteen Tomes of Amplification Magic. It contained thirteen spells created by a mage named Conrad, all focused on amplification.

  Three spells enhanced physicality, four boosted spell power, and the remaining six provided various other enhancements, like mental amplification, magic power amplification, and sensory enhancement.

  Caius was quite excited. These magic books were clearly far more detailed than the crude records from his village. Maybe he could try it out?

  Thinking so, he decided to give it a shot.

  Caius focused on the section detailing Conrad: Power Amplification, carefully memorizing the drawing of the Magic Circle. Then he raised his hand.

  Holan watched with interest.

  In the next instant, her eyes widened.

  In the blink of an eye, a blue Magic Circle appeared in Caius's hand.

  "So fast..." Holan was utterly amazed.

  Caius was very different from ordinary novice mages. Most beginners could only draw a Magic Circle starting from a single point of magic light, building it up slowly and steadily for stability.

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  Experienced mages could manage three or more magic points, constructing the Circle from multiple angles simultaneously, then merging them into a complete Magic Circle.

  The more starting points used, the faster the drawing speed — but the difficulty also increased dramatically, requiring an exceptional level of control.

  Just now, Holan had witnessed something astonishing: Caius had conjured the Magic Circle almost instantly, as if countless starting points had been drawn simultaneously, completing the Circle in one fell swoop.

  This drawing speed was nearly instantaneous, something even Holan herself would struggle to achieve without full concentration.

  But before she could marvel any longer, the Magic Circle in Caius's hand quickly collapsed.

  He tried several more times, but the result was the same. Caius's face showed clear disappointment. "Still not working..."

  Holan pressed her lips together and comforted him, "It's okay. We’ll find a solution."

  "As long as we can solve the issue of your magic power’s inertia, I believe you’ll become a truly powerful mage!"

  "Really?" Caius’s eyes lit up.

  "Of course!" Holan nodded earnestly. "Your Magic Circle drawing speed is incredible and your precision is flawless, which shows you have outstanding control — something many mages can't even dream of!"

  Caius scratched his head and laughed. "That's because my magic power can't linger, so I figured I had to complete the Circle before it dissipated."

  "And after enough practice, I got this fast. Unfortunately, even if the Circle forms, I can't maintain it long enough to cast spells."

  "Leave that to us! With Belle’s help, I'm sure we can solve your problem!" Holan said excitedly.

  It was a challenge she found thrilling — our Instructor Holan had quite the adventurous spirit when it came to magical research.

  "Then I'll be counting on you two," Caius said with a bright smile. He then naturally shifted the topic to Belle: "How’s Belle doing these days?"

  "Still the same — attending classes alone, doing research alone," Holan said with a slight pout.

  "Doing research alone?" Caius was taken aback.

  He could understand attending classes alone, but research was supposed to be a team effort, wasn’t it?

  Holan noticed his confusion and explained, "I underestimated Belle. She’s different from the other students we recruited from Hydis and other academies."

  "Those students at best could be considered half a researcher—they're mainly here for further studies."

  "But Belle has fully reached the level of a First-Class Magical Researcher, and very likely has already hit Second-Class!"

  "Her professional skills are truly solid, and she covers a wide range of fields!"

  "Not only herbology, magitech device engineering, magical rune studies, and sigilology—she even excels in biology, mathematics, and magic circle sequencing. In all these areas, she achieves an excellent rating!"

  "It’s hard to imagine how she managed it."

  Hearing this, Caius sighed and said, "Probably for scholarships. The more disciplines you master, the more scholarship funds you get."

  Holan opened her mouth, then nodded. "Yeah, that’s probably it."

  "Anyway, her expertise is on a completely different level compared to the others in my team. Theoretically, she might not even be far behind me. What she lacks is mostly in practical application."

  "You know what that kid is like. She’s a total introvert, not good at communication. The others might not be as skilled as she is, but they don't realize it. They treat her like a novice and make suggestions that are way below her level."

  "If she follows those suggestions and the results are poor, she blames herself."

  "If she doesn’t follow, because she’s bad at communication, it’s easy for conflicts to arise."

  "Most magical researchers tend to have straightforward personalities, so I was worried she’d be negatively affected. That’s why I let her form an independent branch team. Right now, she's the only member, and I serve as her advisor."

  Caius blinked. "I see... Then count me in, too!"

  "You don’t even know magical research. What are you getting involved for?" Holan said with a laugh.

  "I may not be able to do magical research," Caius said, thumping his chest, "but I can supply you guys with all kinds of samples you need for it!"

  "I'll cover all the sample materials for the research team—free of charge!"

  Holan raised an eyebrow at him, then chuckled and said teasingly, "You big lug, why didn’t you ever offer me free supplies before?"

  "Heh, aren't you part of the team too? It’s free for you as well!" Caius grinned. "Besides, this way I can technically call myself part of a magical research team. Sounds fancy, doesn’t it?"

  Holan couldn’t help but laugh at his slightly childish comment. But after thinking it over, she nodded. "You’ve got a point. Having you around would make things much easier, and it’ll save us a good chunk of research funds."

  "Exactly~" Caius slapped his thigh, then asked eagerly, "So, can you show me around our team’s lab?"

  Goodness. It’s already "our team," is it?

  This big guy really had a thick skin.

  But Holan didn't refuse him. After all, this was a good thing. She nodded and said, "Sure, let’s go. Belle’s currently working on a teleportation project to prepare for her Second-Class Magical Researcher assessment."

  With that, Holan stood up and led Caius and Kiki toward the academy's research institute.

  As they walked, Kiki stuffed three small biscuits into her mouth, gulped down the last of her milk, her cheeks puffing out adorably.

  Such a little glutton.