Chapter 396 Summoning
Chapter 396 Summoning
Adam couldn\'t help it. He was in the presence of a mighty Mana Vortex Magus, so he couldn\'t help but feel a little nervous.
Seeing that the youth seemed a little tense, the old professor\'s eyes softened a little. "No need to be so nervous."
She then turned around and walked away. "Follow me, I wish to discuss some things with you in my office."
"Yes, ma\'am," Adam respectfully replied before following after her.
As the pair walked through the corridor, the walls seemed to have come alive. Adam felt like they were closing in on him. But he just brushed it off as his mind playing games with him after he witnessed the talking wall earlier.
The flickering torchlights hung on the wall at fixed intervals, casting dancing shadows that amplified the mysterious ambiance of the castle.
They passed through several intersections and climbed a winding staircase. Turning down a narrower corridor, they approached a section of the castle that was less frequented by students.
The walls here were lined with portraits of Magi who nodded at Professor Whitaker as she passed by. On the other hand, when they saw Adam, their eyes were filled with curiosity.
Some even showed blatant hostility toward him. Seeing such a scene, Adam didn\'t know whether to laugh or cry.
I\'m now a student of Saratoga Castle, aren\'t I? Why are you looking at me like that? It\'s creeping me out!
After a series of twists and turns, the pair arrived before a large wooden door with an intricate lion-shaped knocker.
"We\'re here," said the old professor.
She tapped on the knocker in a strange pattern, following which the wooden door slowly swung open, revealing her office.
Adam stepped inside and looked at the office with curious eyes. The room was spacious, yet it was filled with a wide array of fascinating items and furniture.
To the left, a large mahogany desk occupied the space. On its surface, parchment papers, scrolls, books, quills, and ink bottles were neatly organized.
Behind the desk was a high-backed chair made of some kind of ostentatious leather. Adam guessed that it probably belonged to a high-ranked magical reptilian.
Bookshelves lined the walls filled with a vast number of arcane textbooks. Some tomes looked ancient, their spines cracked and faded, while others looked relatively newer.
There were also shelves that seemed to contain many magical artifacts. Adam had never seen so many artifacts in one place.
A Rank 3 Magus sure is rich! He thought to himself.
Even though he had spent so many years with Begrer, he had never known the old gnome to be attached to materialistic things.
To his right was a warm fireplace and above it hung a painting that instantly caught Adam\'s interest.
It wasn\'t of Professor Whitaker like he would have imagined, instead, it was a portrait of an old man in complete black attire.
Adam found himself drawn to this portrait for some strange reason.
He walked toward the fireplace and stood right before it. On the mantlepiece, there were framed, smaller portraits that showed Professor Whitaker with past students and other colleagues.
However, Adam didn\'t look at the smaller portraits, instead, he glanced at the stern-looking man in the large painting above with curious eyes.
"Professor, who is this man?" He asked.
Professor Whitaker took a seat at her desk and started pouring some tea into two fine ceramic cups. She looked at Adam\'s back and then at the portrait he was staring at.
Her lips parted and she muttered, "The Headmaster of Saratoga Castle, Marcus Blackwood."
Adam\'s eyes widened in shock. He hurriedly turned around and asked incredulously while pointing his finger at the portrait behind him, "That\'s the Headmaster?!"
Professor Whitaker chuckled in amusement, "Why are you so shocked?"
Why wouldn\'t I be shocked? Adam screamed in his heart. That guy totally looks like a villain!
A few moments later, he calmed down his emotions and apologized, "Forgive me for my outburst. I just didn\'t expect the Headmaster to... look like that."
"Look like what?" Professor Whitaker smirked. "An evil dark Magus?"
"Ehh, it\'s nothing like that," Adam spoke awkwardly, but inwardly he thought,Yes, it\'s exactly like that!
"Have a seat," the old professor chuckled, gesturing to one of the chairs in front of her desk.
Adam politely sat down. Then, he glanced at the teacup in front of him and smiled, "Thank you for the tea."
"Hmm." Professor Whitaker nodded and took a sip from her own tea cup.
She placed the tea back down and folded her hands atop the surface of the table. She looked at Adam and asked, "From your admission form, I\'ve learned that you\'ve decided to major in the School of Summoning."
Adam wasn\'t surprised that the old woman in front of him knew about the details of his admission. After all, she was the department head of the School of Summoning.
"That is correct, Professor." Adam nodded.
"May I ask why you\'ve chosen this school?" Asked the old professor with curious eyes. "What draws you to this particular path of magic?"
Adam lowered his head, glancing at the faint ripples on the surface of the tea in his cup.
During the one and a half years he had spent recovering, he had gotten to learn a lot about the white lotus. Although he had just barely scratched the surface, he had acquired deep knowledge about this mystical artifact.
Apart from being able to absorb the souls in his vicinity and increase his spiritual power, the white lotus helped him see through all illusions.
This was something he already knew.
But what he didn\'t know was that the white lotus also helped in healing his soul from any and all damage!
This was something that was thought to be impossible not only in Tron but also in the vast universe. Yet, this seemingly unassuming lotus could do it effortlessly.
Other than that, Adam earlier believed that this artifact strengthened the effects of spells related to the schools of illusion, enchantment, and summoning.
However, this too wasn\'t entirely right.
He learned that that the white lotus wasn\'t just intimately linked to the spiritual aspect of magic…
But the Spirit World itself!