As soon as Christian opened the door, he realized something was wrong. Kallista rushed in without any witty or sweet welcome. Christian calmly closed the door: "Did something happen?"

"Did you kill him?"

"Who?"

"Ophelia."

"...Does it matter?"

"Of course it does," Kallista replied in a slightly raised voice.

Christian sighed. "Yes, I killed him."

"Why?" Kallista asked.

"I didn't do it just because of you. That night, after everybody fell asleep, I tracked him down to talk. I wanted him to back down. But he wouldn't.' Christian used both hands to caress his face while sighing softly.

"I saw his mind. He wanted to kill me for standing up to him. He wanted you for his sick ambitions. I deem him a threat to the team and to my goal of returning home. So, I put him down like the mad dog he was."

Christian suddenly felt thirsty, so he fetched his hand next to his bed to conjure some water. "You don't need to dwell on this. You had nothing to do with his death, and with the library's protection, the Pytherias family would not dare harm you."

"They have ways to make my life miserable even without harming me," Kallista sighed.

"We'll deal with whatever they throw at us, and if they go too far, I'll deal with them."

"What can you do?"

"You've underestimated me," Christian said with a slight, cruel smile. He still had a few modern weapons, which he could enchant to deal with the Pytheras Clan. However, it appeared that Kallista did not believe him, as worry was plastered all over her face.

"Give me a moment. I have a gift for you." Christian did not give her time to answer before entering his bag. More than half an hour later, he brought her inside before showing her a modern-day gun.

"What's this?"

"You can think of it as a more powerful crossbow. Let me show you." Christian pointed at the target dummy nearby and fired. Kallista was slightly shocked by the sound, but soon, she was focused on how fast and devastating the power of this weapon was.

"Now, even a basic shield spell can block this weapon, but its true lethality comes with its immense speed. Ninety-nine percent of wizards will not be able to react in time before you blow their brains out," Christian explained.

Kallista was still reeling from the shock, so she only nodded.

"Of course, if someone has a protective enchanted item on them, this thing will become useless. That's why I've also enchanted the gun and bullets." Christian changed the gun's cartridge. He was lucky he took the time to learn and practice from the books he stole. He fired a second time, and the bullet turned into a flame.

"You will need to learn the Doubling Charm so you don't run out of bullets, the Repairo Charm in case it's damaged, and I will also teach you how to enchant them. Now, give it a try."

Kallista held the gun and copied Christian's actions. She embraced herself for the loud noise and pushed the trigger. Unfortunately, she did not prepare herself for the recoil, which forced her to take a step backward and miss the target by a wide margin.

"Let me show you," Christian said before positioning himself behind her as he slowly corrected her posture. "Relax your shoulder, plant your feet deep on the ground, breathe to relax your body, point your weapon slightly below your line of sight, then shoot."

Christian was trained as an archer. So, with a few minutes of training with the help of the Supersensory Charm, he could even be called a marksman in the mortal world.

Christian waited for her to shoot, but nothing happened. Instead, he felt her body heat rise slightly, and her face was red. "Sorry," he apologized before stepping out of the way.

"No, it's fine," Kallista said, trying to ease the tension and focus on the task at hand. She exhaled deeply to focus before firing. She seemed to be a natural at this, improving her skill at a relatively fast rate, making Christian proud.

"I think I should add another enchantment to remove the noise."

"I like the noise. It's so empowering," Kallista said.

"Then, I'll add it as an option in case you need to use it quietly. Now, tap your finger on the barrel."

Kallista followed his instruction, and the gun morphed into a ring on her right hand. "It's beautiful."

Christian did not know whether she meant the ring or the gun, and he did not want to find out. "You can use this in case you're in danger. And from now on, I'll also teach you enchantment after our daily meditation."

Kallista looked him in the eyes, her eyes dripping with an unknown emotion. "I don't know how I can ever repay you for everything."

Christian's heart skipped a beat. He smiled gently. "We're friends, aren't we? Come, it's time to meditate. You can train your shooting skill in your own bag of holding."

Kallista looked at her bag. She thought it was a regular bag with an extended interior, but only later on did she realize it had been enchanted to allow living people to enter and leave freely. "Alright."

After the meditation, the two headed to the first area, and Christian started his routine memorization. However, unlike before, he did not lose himself. He used an Alarm Charm that he discovered in the first area, which would release a sound only he could hear at the designated time. Christian set it for around noon to remind him to eat something.

However, as he was about to search for Kallista, he found her next to him, reading a book intensely and taking copious notes. "What are you reading there?"

"It's a book detailing how to become a Grand Sorcerer."

"That sounds like a scam," Christian said instinctively as he thought of those books that taught people how to become a millionaire.

"It's actually a great outline. It shows you all the skills and magic required to receive the Grand Sorcerer Certificate. Of course, it's not perfect since it's very vague on the Arcane Magic requirements."

"Sounds interesting. Can I have a look once you're done?"

"You can have it," Kallista said as she handed the book to him.

"I can wait."

"I've already read it and am just taking notes."

"Alright then."

Christian immediately delved in. Kallista was correct to say that this book was an outline for becoming a Grand Sorcerer. The first chapter talked about how a Third Class Apprentice can become a Novice. The book recommended learning a variety of spells to prepare for many situations, but also suggested choosing a subject as the primary focus—for example, charm, transfiguration, potion-making, alchemy, and plant study.

The purpose of the Novice Exam is to choose a mentor who will further guide the acolytes in their chosen path. Most people strive to have a Master Wizard as their mentor. The book mentions that a Novice will need to have a high enough score to be noticed by a Master Tier Mentor, and they will also be required to take an additional test before being chosen. Each mentor's test is different and unique, so the book said it could not help.

The next step is to become an [Official Wizard]. The requirements for an official wizard are to be able to cast 10 nonverbal and wandless spells and cast the Patronus Charm. The book guides how to train to meet these requirements, including daily magic theory lessons, practice, and even tips on how to utilize [Intent].

The following certificate is the [Elite Wizard] title. The requirements for this are for the wizard to create three new spells and write a dissertation on an existing theory or spell. Additionally, an Elite Wizard must also achieve 10% Synchronization of Arcane Magic.

'This is more detailed than I thought,' Christian contemplated before continuing to read.

The following certificate is for [Veteran Wizards]. Christian had to pause at the requirements because the first one said that a wizard must master five spells of Advanced Charm or Advanced Transfiguration.

Christian was shocked because Advanced Charm involved using an [Intent], primarily emotions, with every spell. Christian had the same idea and wrote in Entry 35. Meanwhile, Advanced Transfiguration involved the transformation of magical animals and substances by studying the anatomical structure, which Christian started when he was 10 years old.

'It seems I have a head start,' he thought.

The second requirement was the mastery of long casting. It took Christian a moment to understand what long casting was and where he had heard of it. During Dueling Club, Professor Flitwick talked about an interesting duel that took place in 1379 at the international dueling contest in Dartmoor.

The third semi-finalist used a long incantation that moved a mountain. The wizard planned to drop it on his opponent to win. However, while the wizard was amid his long incantation, his opponent — Elizabeth Smudgling — used the much shorter Disarming Charm to win.

'I should have immediately noticed how this man was using long incantations,' Christian thought as he prepared to write Entry 39 in his magic journal. Since the library deemed it worthy for a wizard to learn long casting as a skill, Christian also wanted to one day explore and learn this skill.

The last requirement of a Veteran Wizard is a 20% Arcane Synchronization. Unfortunately, the book did not elaborate beyond these words.

Master Wizards seemed to be a massive jump in difficulty. The first requirement was a 30% Synchronization, which the book insinuates is a significant threshold in the study of arcane magic. But once again, no further elaboration.

The second requirement is a demonstrative battle against a puppet or judge using Advanced Charm or Transfiguration. The book emphasized that all library members had the right to request a puppet for their Master's Test if they felt a human tester might be biased against them.

'Something must have been for this rule to exist,' Christian sneered.

The last requirement for the Master Certificate was what Christian would describe as a thesis or dissertation, which will be peer-reviewed by more than ten Master's on the library's board. The topic can be anything, but it must involve magic in some capacity.

The book even provided an example, stating that someone could write their thesis on the laws of the kingdom, but it must be approached from a magical perspective, for example, the use of magical contracts in government.

'This example seemed too specific. Did someone write such a thesis?' Christian analyzed. He flipped the book to read the section about Grand Sorcerers, and to his surprise, it said no requirement for Arcane Magic.

The book stated that there are different levels of Grand Sorcerer certificates, but the minimum requirement is still 30% Synchronization. However, most other Sorcerers will not accept anyone until they've achieved 50%.

'Elitist much?' Christian commented.

The main requirements for Grand Sorcerers are achievements in soul magic. A Grand Sorcerer must discover their soul and train it. First, their soul must grow to twice that of a standard wizard. That's the minimum requirement.

Second, a Grand Sorcerer must condense their first [Aura]. According to this book, regular wizards with weak will cannot stand in the presence of a Grand Sorcerer.

'My soul is quite powerful. Can I condense my [Aura]?' Christian thought. Unfortunately, the book did not say how. It explained that the aura will manifest in the shape of a halo above the soul, but nothing more.

'How useless,' Christian cursed before continuing. The last requirement for a Grand Sorcerer is called Soul Anthropomorphization, or more commonly, Soul Shaping. The entire thing can be explained in a simple manner: turn the soul from its round and cloud state into the same physical appearance as the body.

The soul will naturally take that form once it leaves the body, but will revert to its original form after returning to the mind. Soul Shaping is about training the soul to maintain that form even in its natural state.

'Once again, not enough detail,' Christian sighed.