Chapter 524

Chapter 524

"That should do it," Caroline gasped, lowering her hands. Since she had a clear target, her energy expenditure was much less than when normally searching for a Dimensional Hole in the tunnel. Even so, it was still exhausting.

"So? Was that helpful?" Caroline gazed at the group with barely contained excitement, shifting the pressure onto everyone else.

However, she didn’t get an immediate response.

The mages following the Bigmouth Books were all feverishly scribbling notes in their spellbooks, too absorbed to even lift their heads, let alone answer Caroline’s question.

The only one left to respond was Clayley, who was just as stunned as she was.

"Yes, ma’am, you’ve been incredibly helpful. Though we don’t have results yet, I think we’re off to a great start," Clayley murmured, still visibly stunned.

Having stayed close to the mage team, he had heard all their conclusions firsthand—and what they had just deduced left the information specialist utterly speechless.

What did they mean by "it should take no more than ten attempts to learn"? What was this about "spatial magic being a bit tricky"? And what in the world did they mean by "it’s not too difficult for the kids"?!

Not too difficult? If this wasn’t difficult, then what was?!

This was advanced spatial magic! Even high-level mages struggled to master it, often spending vast amounts of time and money without success!

Clayley screamed internally, but there was no one to answer his silent outburst.

The arrival of the Bigmouth Books had undoubtedly shaken the mages to their core—challenging their very worldview. Lorant had anticipated this.

He left the Bigmouth Books with Caroline and the others to learn the Dimensional Space Detection spell, keeping only Silem behind as a supervisor to watch over them.

On one hand, this was to ensure the Bigmouth Books didn’t cause trouble—should they act up, others might be helpless to stop them. On the other hand, it was also to protect the Bigmouth Books themselves.

This wasn’t the heavily guarded interior of Blue Star territory. The adventurers here were a mixed bunch, and there was no telling if one or two might harbor ill intentions. That was where Silem and his Ghost Spiders came in—serving as an immediate deterrent.

Of course, if anyone actually tried anything, it likely wouldn’t end well for them.

As for the Bigmouth Books themselves, Lorant had some confidence in them. These little creatures were no fools—they wouldn’t let themselves be easily kidnapped. And with their formidable fighting prowess, forcibly taking them wasn’t a realistic option either.

Once everything here was settled, Lorant headed straight for the Beast Tower with the strange new plant beast he had unexpectedly discovered.

To confirm the true identity of this odd plant beast, Lorant first needed to verify whether it was some obscure plant beast species he hadn’t immediately recognized—or perhaps a unique mutation of one.

Otherwise, he’d be all excited to name his new find, only to be told it had already been discovered long ago—just something he hadn’t known about. That would be a crushing disappointment.

The Beast Tower was as quiet as ever.

The massive Mage Tower was eerily deserted, with only a handful of permanent residents. If not for the now sizable Slime Farm behind the tower, the place would be completely silent.

Lorant was an official member here with his own room, but he had never spent the night. Even if he stayed late, he’d just teleport back home to sleep soundly in his own comfortable bed.

Most of the time when Lorant visited, he didn’t even run into the other official members of the Beast Tower.

Emerging from the teleportation array, he made his way straight into the Beast Tower’s massive two-story library. As usual, his spider companion BaoBao spread her silk across the entire upper level—a persistent challenge against the tower itself. Every time she laid down her silk, it would be completely gone by the next morning, cleaned away by the tower’s internal forces. This seethed with frustration endlessly.

But there was nothing she could do. Unless Lorant gained control of the Beast Tower and stopped its automatic cleaning mechanisms, BaoBao’s silk would keep disappearing no matter how many times she put it up.

From the high shelves, Lorant pulled down stacks of books and thumped them onto the table.

Thankfully, thanks to the rigorous cleansing charms BaoBao despised, the Beast Tower was always spotless. Even books untouched for several centuries wouldn’t stir so much as a mote of dust.

For the next three full days, Lorant buried himself in the Mage Tower's library. When Lancelot, growing worried, came to check on him, he found his partner had turned into a half-feral scholar.

With a sigh, Lancelot dug Lorant out from the pile of books and clothes—his hair a complete mess. He didn’t even know what to say. At least Lorant had the sense to throw some clothes on while sleeping, but he forgot to go back to his room.

Scooping up the drowsy Lorant, Lancelot watched as the boy startled awake from the sudden suspension, only to relax upon recognizing him and burrowed into his chest, kitten-like, letting out a soft whimper.

“Why are you here?” Lorant peeked open one eye, comfortably nestled against Lancelot’s chest, his words slurred in his half-asleep state.

Lancelot adjusted his hold, lifting Lorant slightly to prevent him from slipping. “If I hadn’t come, someone would’ve turned into a proper vagrant,” he sighed in exasperation. “Honestly, you shouldn’t spend so much time with those mages. Now you look just like one—if I hadn’t shown up, would you have stayed in the Mage Tower for a whole week, forgetting to eat and sleep, completely absorbed in some book? Hmm? Did you even remember you have a boyfriend waiting outside?”

Lorant knew he’d been a bit too obsessive these past few days. He yawned and buried his face back into Lancelot’s shoulder, murmuring sleepily. “What? It’s only been three days! Besides, Fa Meng, Xiao Lan, Little Qing, and Little Black were all here—they looked after me!”

Lancelot carried Lorant effortlessly to his quarters in the Beast Tower, pushing the door open and swiftly settling him into bed.

The knight wasted no time stripping Lorant down and tucking him snugly under the covers, which had been toasted by a mage’s precision-heated fire spell—cozy enough to lull anyone to sleep.

Lancelot adjusted the blanket, pulling it down from Lorant’s chin. “Don’t pull the covers up so far, or you’ll kick them off later.”

Lorant wriggled deeper into the bed, leaving only his sleepy eyes visible as he peered at Lancelot. “Fine, fine. Got it. Stay and nap with me?”

Lancelot sighed again—he could never refuse Lorant’s requests.

The knight lay down beside Lorant, still in his clothes, and wrapped his arms around the cocooned figure, pulling him close. “Alright, alright. I’ll stay. Now sleep.” He rhythmically patted Lorant’s back as he spoke.

Within moments, Lorant was out cold. Studying the shadows under his eyes from days of exhaustion, Lancelot’s heart ached. He pressed a tender kiss to Lorant’s eyelids.

He always wished Lorant wouldn’t push himself so hard, that he’d rely on him more. But this boy he loved, stubborn as ever, never seemed to listen.

Lorant’s efforts had paid off, though. Over those few days, he’d combed through every relevant record in the Beast Tower’s archives and confirmed that the odd plant-beast he’d found was indeed the first documented in history—the first to ever appear in people’s sights. In other words, he had independently discovered and captured a completely new plant-beast, earning the right to name it.

This was the pinnacle of a mage’s aspirations.

Even a legendary mage like Jacqueline would be overjoyed to discover a new beast, gloating over it for months, unable to get over the excitement. For others, it was an even bigger deal.

Lorant, however, couldn’t care less about prestige. He never cared much for vanity, but that didn’t stop him from feeling absolutely delighted.

A new plant-beast meant thousands of potential breeding paths—endless possibilities.

Under Lancelot’s guidance and the envious gazes of the other mages, Lorant happily applied for the official certification of his discovery.

He even named the plant-beast “Runaway Grass.”

The name left everyone aghast. Many were heartbroken, feeling that such a rare, unprecedented plant-beast was being sullied by such a silly name.

But since it was Lorant’s discovery, no one had the right to criticize the store manager’s blunt naming style. No matter how much they disliked it, they could only watch in despair as “Runaway Grass” was officially recorded in the certification.

With a smug grin, Lorant accepted the weighty certificate on beast-hide parchment—from the miserably resigned mage.

“Perfect. I’ll find a spot in Blue Star to raise this little guy properly and see if we can breed more.”

Lorant had already given a lot of thought to how to handle Runaway Grass.

The creature was uncanny and unprecedented—so much so that Lorant felt unusually cautious in dealing with it. If it were to die accidentally, he’d be devastated.

The more he learned about this little creature’s peculiarities, the more intrigued he became.

As a plant-beast, Runaway Grass blurred the line with regular beasts. Its activity level and aggression were nothing like a normal plant beast’s.

Yet, if it were classified as a beast, the test results still showed anomalies.

Lorant’s interest in it was a gamble, pure and simple.