Chapter 523

Chapter 523

The rowdiness that Bigmouth Book displayed earlier on the road didn’t even amount to a third of its usual mischief.

Now, out of Lorant's sight, Bigmouth Book was truly free.

The Blue Star Inn set aside a large portion of its space for beast companions. When Dream Jellyfish worked, they hovered right at the center of the inn, treating guests to dreamlike vistas and providing a feast for both the eyes and the senses.

Healing Chimes worked in individual small rooms but had their own network of tunnels. Behind each room lay an intricate system of passages designed for the convenience of these little ones.

Moreover, at the very bottom of the inn was a spacious resting area for the pets, where they could play and relax during breaks.

Right now, several Bigmouth Books were raising hell in that lower resting area, disrupting every pet in the inn that wasn't currently working.

Fa Meng could already sense the commotion among the pets inside the inn.

Worried, she tugged Lorant's sleeve and warned him telepathically. No matter how formidable Bigmouth Books were, if they couldn’t harm other pets, these little rascals would likely be overwhelmed in a swarm of angry pets.

"Clayley, go check again. They’re probably misbehaving. Get them up here as soon as possible," Lorant turned and said to Clayley beside him.

Caroline was still stunned by the news, her jaw slack as she muttered, stunned, "Pets that can learn magic?"

"I've heard before that someone in the Mage Council patiently taught Glassy Ice Flame Dogs some simple spells, but I assume you mean something beyond that."

Glassy Ice Flame Dogs could indeed learn some basic variant spells. For instance, Little Yi, under Stephanie's guidance, had mastered flame whip and other variant spells that utilized their own glassy ice flames.

Lorant chuckled and shook his head. "No, no, completely different. You'll understand once you see them."

"The learning they're capable of is real learning."

......

When three waist-high, squirming giant books wobbled in through the door—one even making an effort to hop over the threshold—Caroline knew she was doomed to look like a fool in front of this shop owner she was meeting for the first time.

In fact, her jaw stayed dropped.

Even without delving into their abilities, Bigmouth Books were astonishing just by appearance alone.

It was hard to associate their appearance with the term "pet."

"Alright, allow me to introduce you. These are the newly bred pets I mentioned. I call them Bigmouth Books," Lorant said, reining in the liveliest one and holding its pages to keep it from squirming.

"Next, I hope Ms. Caroline can sign a confidentiality agreement. That way, we can show what this one can really do. Our mage team can then demonstrate Bigmouth Book's abilities for you," Lorant said with a tempting smile, waving the book’s pages slightly.

Seeing Caroline's expression, he knew she wouldn’t refuse.

From then on, everything went smoothly. Caroline signed the contract without hesitation, using her full name, and was then led to the secret base beneath Lopulo Mountain Square.

This was an underground space still under excavation. Originally, Lorant had intended it to serve as a temporary storage area for beast bones and other materials obtained from the mountain entrance in the future.

Now, it had found an unexpected early use.

Naturally, Caroline had no prior knowledge of this place. In fact, barely anyone at Blue Star knew of its existence, aside from the construction team.

Fortunately, their progress was swift. Though the space was currently empty, all walls and floors had been treated. The gelatin extracted from crushed and boiled beast bones, after deodorizing with other materials, made for a perfect sealant—waterproof and durable.

Walking on it gave slightly underfoot, and the squeaky floor gave Lorant the illusion of walking across an infirmary floor.

"Now, let’s have these little guys show off what they’ve already learned," Lorant offered, clapping his hands.

Caroline naturally had no objections. She knew almost nothing about Little Qing and Little Black, so it was only natural to proceed step by step.

The Bigmouth Books were even more excited about this proposal. These little ones were all crowd-pleasers—having someone appreciate their every move would thrill them beyond measure!

When casting spells, they acted as if they were hopped up on energy, flinging one after another without pause, like they grew on trees.

Oh, for them, it probably *was* free. Aside from some acceptable energy depletion within their bodies, there were no other consequences.

From the moment Caroline witnessed a Bigmouth Book perform the most basic Mage Hand right in front of her, her gaping mouth never quite managed to close.

No-component casting, instant casting, and spam-casting—any one of these alone would be enough to make any mage drop their staff!

It wasn’t until these little ones had completely exhausted their energy that they finally settled down.

While the mage team fed the Bigmouth Books, Silem carried in a creature crate containing a Dimensional Hole and placed it far at the opposite end of the training ground.

Then he quickly ran away. Once he was at a safe distance, Xiao Lan swung out a whip of blue energy, hooked the crate’s lid from afar, and yanked it open while keeping well clear.

"Will this be alright?" Lorant asked, watching the bouncing crate lid with concern as he absentmindedly stroked Fa Meng’s short fur. "Once that thing comes out, it won’t attack us or try to escape, right?"

A high-level spatial entity like this, if it went haywire here, could very well cause some serious damage.

Before Fa Meng could respond, Caroline, standing nearby, reassured Lorant with absolute certainty: "No, it won’t. They’re naturally immobile creatures, especially when we’ve placed so many Spatialberries—their favorite food—nearby. The Dimensional Hole would *never* abandon such a rare feast to attack us instead."

As a spatial magic expert, Caroline’s confidence eased Lorant’s worries somewhat.

Sure enough, once the crate was opened, a small rock—would blend into gravel but glaringly obvious on this monolithic resin floor—tumbled out of the crate.

Being able to see the Dimensional Hole’s true form was perfect for Caroline’s demonstration.

When the fruits placed beside the crate vanished into thin air, Lorant finally relaxed.

"We can begin preparing for the lesson," the mage team leader announced after measuring the Bigmouth Books’ physical data. "They’ve rested enough."

"Oh, wonderful! Uh—I mean, how exactly should I teach? Just demonstrate once, right?" Caroline asked, feeling immense pressure as the three Bigmouth Books behind her turned their bookspine eyes toward her in unison.

"Exactly," Lorant nodded, staring at Caroline with wide-eyed wonder as the Bigmouth Books. "If you could clearly display your mana flow while casting, that’d be even better."

The shopkeep looked as excited as a child seeing a mage for the first time.

His expression—hopeful, innocent, impossible to disappoint—was just like a kid waiting for a mage to conjure a floating rose or something equally magical.

Caroline only felt the pressure mounting.

"Alright, alright, this is normal. Stay calm, Caroline, no need to be nervous. You’ve got this, haven’t you?" The witch muttered to herself, carefully rewrapping her scarf around her neck to ease the tension. "Just do it like you always do."

She reached into her seemingly flat, oversized bag and pulled out a puck of pressed herbs—a performance impressive enough to wow any ordinary audience, given how impossibly large the item was compared to the bag.

But neither Lorant nor the Bigmouth Books were the type to applaud such tricks. Their eyes remained fixed on Caroline’s movements, maintaining rare, razor-sharp focus.

Perhaps touching the familiar herb puck relaxed her. Holding it, Caroline seemed far more at ease than before.

The archmage crouched, forcefully breaking apart the dense herb puck—which looked sturdy enough to crack a skull—and carefully arranged the fragments into a small conical pile in front of her.

Then, in one swift motion, she sprang up and began weaving around the herbs like a spirit dancer, waving her arms in hypnotic, looping gestures.

Not a ripple of mana, no incantations, no hand seals—just dancing. And yet, she cast Void Scan.

Lorant gawked like a fish. The three Bigmouth Books, however, were eating it up.

The open pages facing away from Caroline slowly began to form special magical runes, though this time the process was far less smooth than before.

Faint glows of light shimmered across the pages, but each time they tried to coalesce into a simple pattern, they instantly dissipated.

Clearly, mastering such an advanced spell was nothing like learning basic magic.

As Caroline moved, the distant form of the Dimensional Hole suddenly emitted a soft glow. The light drifted upward, spreading like a fan before vanishing into an invisible tear in space.

As the glow was consumed, leaving only its outer edges, the Dimensional Hole’s predatory domain took visible shape.

The Dimensional Hole’s entire nature was exposed.