Noelle's cheeks instantly turned crimson, half from anger, half from anxiety.
"I... I must go supervise him!"
The girl found a perfect excuse for herself, while a suspicious blush spread across her cheeks.
She looked left and right, confirming that no one was paying attention to her, then quietly followed them.
All of this, of course, did not escape Lorne's eyes.
He was standing in the corridor on the second floor, taking in the scene unfolding downstairs.
This tsundere royal girl... is truly becoming less and less able to hide her feelings.
She spoke with disdain, but in her actions, she cared more than anyone else.
Unfortunately, Asta, that blockhead with only the nun and getting stronger in his mind, will probably never figure it out in this lifetime.
Lorne shook his head helplessly, no longer bothering with the youthful romantic comedy of those lively characters.
The people at the base gradually dispersed, each enjoying their rare holiday.
Lorne weighed the bag of salary in his hand but had no desire to go out and spend it.
He walked straight to the forest outside the base... arriving at the clearing where he usually practiced magic, ready to thoroughly study his power.
Lorne extended his right hand, and a thick, silver-white grimoire automatically floated before him, flipping open on its own without any wind.
Apart from some faintly glowing mysterious symbols on the first page, the book did not record a second spell.
This Space-Time Magic was the second power he awakened after coming to this world, but it was not easy to master.
"Hoo..."
Lorne took a deep breath and began to mobilize the magic power within his body.
He attempted to draw out a faint wisp of Space-Time Magic, trying to fuse it with his Ice Magic.
Although he could previously achieve teleportation by using Ice Magic to envelop the Space-Time Magic mark, it wasn't perfect.
Essentially, it was a jump achieved by the burst at the moment the frozen mark shattered, and if not controlled well, it could easily lead to problems.
He needed to research and upgrade it, and improve his control over Space-Time Magic.
Buzz—
The ice crystal emitted a faint tremor, and its surface seemed to distort light for a moment.
But the next second.
Crack!
The ice crystal instantly covered in cracks, then completely shattered, turning into specks of ice dust that dissipated into the air.
"Did it fail...?"
Lorne opened his eyes, not discouraged.
Fusing two completely different magic systems was never an easy task.
Ice Magic was about construction and shaping, while Space-Time Magic, based on his current understanding, was more about conceptual distortion and transmission.
If he were to directly create a more stable ice crystal that could withstand spatial effects, the consumption would be too great and not worth it.
However, Yuno had the Wind Spirit, and Asta had Anti-Magic power; they were both growing rapidly.
He couldn't afford to stagnate, or they might catch up to him.
Lorne took a deep breath and once again calmed his mind, beginning a new round of attempts.
Once, twice, ten times, a hundred times... Time slowly passed in the monotonous practice.
From instantly shattering at the beginning to being able to last for one or two seconds later, and then to the ice crystal's structure becoming increasingly stable.
In this process, his understanding and control of spatial power were indeed improving at a slow but steady pace.
At least on the spatial level, he felt increasingly at ease.
However, regarding the other half of Space-Time Magic—time—he still had no clue.
Apart from that extraordinary Magic Emperor in this country, he had never heard of anyone else mastering Time Magic.
This was a power even more forbidden and mysterious than Spatial Magic.
Just as Lorne was continuously circulating the silver-white magic power within his body, his grimoire suddenly emitted a barely perceptible warmth.
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