Chapter 64

Gret thus infiltrated—no, joined—the Cult of the Nature God and became Elder Elwin's disciple. Of course, being a disciple was just a change in title; no ceremony was held, and no guests were invited to witness it.

Gret had no intention of showing off, and Elder Elwin, being a seasoned veteran, sensed something amiss from the message of divine inspiration. He simply let Gret go home that day and visited Mage Gehrman at the mage tower the next day to express his intentions.

"What? You want to take Gret as your disciple?" Mage Gehrman was so surprised his eyes nearly fell out. He leaned forward, and his red robe puffed up like a lifebuoy. Fortunately, the robe had no buttons, or a few would have popped off immediately:

"I know he's a healer, but..."

But you don't need to take him as your personal disciple, do you?

"Eh, this kid is quite interesting," Elder Elwin chuckled, his white eyebrows twitching. "He came up with new tricks for two sleight-of-hand techniques you haven't seen yet. Believe it or not, these new tricks are quite useful in healing..."

Mage Gehrman: ???

You learned magic just for healing?

How much do you love healing spells! If you like healing spells so much, why don't you become a priest? Why come to the mage tower to study?

Despite his words, Mage Gehrman's curiosity was piqued, and he asked Gret to demonstrate. The Mage's Hand didn't interest the mage much; in his words, "It's just more precise control." However, the Detection Magic caught his eye.

In the meditative vision, Gret's hand covering the oak staff showed every bone—finger bones, palm bones, wrist bones—clearly.

"It really works!"

Mage Gehrman got up and walked to the oak staff, casting the spell himself. The bright magical aura spread in the meditative vision, and Mage Gehrman extended his hand, covered the staff, and observed...

"I can't see clearly!"

Mage Gehrman frowned. In the meditative vision, the magical aura couldn't penetrate his skin, only illuminating the edges of his fingers. The visual effect was similar to looking at the sun through clasped hands on a sunny day.

"I can't see clearly either," Elder Elwin stood beside him, extending his hand in the same way. "I tried this spell last night, on myself and others in the cult. The conclusion is that I can only see clearly with this staff if the person is five levels lower than me."

"Five levels..." Mage Gehrman was moved.

Elder Elwin's oak staff had been with him for decades, nurtured by his own energy. The Cult of the Nature God had unique methods for nurturing extraordinary items, and such a staff could be considered equivalent to the user's level.

If he could only see clearly with a staff five levels lower, that meant a magical item of level five or higher would be needed to see through the bones of a commoner or, at most, a mage apprentice.

But even mage apprentices rarely get to touch high-level magical items in their lifetime!

"Is such a spell useful?"

"It is!" Elder Elwin nodded, his white beard fluttering, and he smiled broadly. "It can help many people!—Oh, I've been talking for so long, and you haven't said whether you agree or not!"

Mage Gehrman: "..."

It sounds like you think it's really useful, even if I don't agree to take you as a disciple...

Despite his thoughts, given Elder Elwin's strength and the good relationship between the Cult of the Nature God and the Mage Council, Mage Gehrman couldn't find a reason to refuse. Not only did he agree, but he also planned to make it a bit more impressive, like giving a gift:

"Gret!" he called out seriously. "Since you've created a new use for this spell, summarize it and write a paper. The council's **Master will be here soon, and it would be great if the paper could be published. Even if it doesn't pass, it will earn you some points with the **Master."

Gret: "...What?"

A paper?

Does this world have papers?

Where do I submit my paper? Are there journals, SCIs, and impact factor evaluations?

Gret opened his mouth to speak but swallowed his words. Mage Gehrman, thinking he didn't know what a paper was, explained:

"Oh, I forgot you haven't finished the basic books yet. —There are some on the second floor. Go back and look through them. If you don't know how to write, ask Elliot, or you can ask me directly."

Gret: "...No need, I know how to write papers! I wrote a lot in my previous life!"

And why do I have to write papers in this world, even after working so hard in my previous life...

He silently lowered his head, feeling a wave of sympathy for himself. Beside him, Elder Elwin was already laughing:

"A mage apprentice writing a paper? Little Gret, Mage Gehrman really values you! —Come, come, I'll tell you the results of my attempts, and we'll write a great paper! Gehrman, I'll stay with the kid!"

"Elder Elwin!" Mage Gehrman jumped up: "You are a distinguished guest—"

In the mage tower, different people stay in different places! Apprentices stay on the second floor, formal mages on the third, and the tower's controller and distinguished guests on the fifth! If you stay on the second floor, people won't think you're casual; they'll think the mage tower is ignorant and doesn't know how to treat guests!

"Shh—Confidential, confidential." Elder Elwin chuckled, hooking his arm around the mage's neck:

"You don't know, but someone is after this kid! The more confidential, the better!"

Rustling, rustling. As they whispered, Mage Gehrman's expression grew increasingly serious. Elder Elwin, having dropped a bombshell, casually led Gret downstairs.

"Write, write, write! I'll watch you write!"

"Uh... Elder, I haven't seen what a paper looks like yet..."

Five minutes later, Gret sat in the large hall on the second floor of the mage tower, his eyes widening.

Title... Author's name... Abstract... Keywords...

This is the way I'm used to writing papers!

Why do papers here look the same?

Has a穿越者 (穿越者 means someone who has traveled through time or dimensions) been here before?

If a穿越者 has been here, why does it still look primitive and ignorant, with magic progressing from Spark, Blazing Fireball, to Fireball?

Gret's imagination ran wild. Elder Elwin tapped the table: "Quick, quick! Get a pen and write down what I say!"

"Sure thing!" Gret jumped up and ran to get one.

Case studies! Fresh case studies!

Fresh clinical case studies!

For writing papers, besides theoretical basis and data derivation, the most lacking are detailed case studies!

And he didn't have to go around looking for people to try his limited five daily spell casts!

Great!

Gret looked up:

"Elder, do you want to be a co-first author?... Ow! Don't hit me if you disagree!"

Elder Elwin stayed in the single rooms of the mage apprentices on the second floor of the mage tower for several days. During these days, the old man stuffed Gret with the doctrines of the Cult of the Nature God, prayer words, the use of divine spells, and all the knowledge a novice priest should know, like force-feeding a duck.

Gret studied to the point of exhaustion. Of course, the old man wasn't much better: when Gret was memorizing the doctrines, prayer words, and the history of the Cult of the Nature God, feeling dizzy and confused, he would turn around to see the old man staring at the human anatomy diagram he had drawn, his white hair messy, eyebrows knitted, and eyes blank:

"The left ventricle connects to the aorta, the right ventricle to the pulmonary artery, the left atrium to the pulmonary veins, the right atrium to the superior and inferior vena cava... left ventricle..."

Gret watched him repeat it three times, then reached out and slapped the paper, spreading his fingers:

"Where does the left atrium connect?"

The old man looked at him blankly, like a bear that had woken up from hibernation and hadn't realized the nearby beehive was gone. Gret silently recited the words for him:

"Ma what mei?"

Come on!

We'll die together!

I feel like I can memorize what you taught me in half a month, but what you need to memorize, hehe, I studied for seven years!