According to Ethan’s theory, he is a strong contender for the "strongest in history." Fınd the newest release on 𝕟𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕝✦𝕗𝕚𝕣𝕖✦𝕟𝕖𝕥
"Based on the timeline, McCarthy Delin should still be a just over forty-year-old at his prime."
Thick eyebrows and large eyes, always with a gleam of wisdom in his gaze.
This is the description of McCarthy Delin in the books; however, at the academy, there is only a portrait of an old man with a head full of white hair, a beard that nearly drapes down to his chest, who was already 80 years old when he founded the academy and served as its first dean.
As a teacher, she was not omnipotent either.
They had been wandering the wilderness and forest for so long without seeing a single person, and after finally passing through a small town, it was completely deserted, with signs of chaos everywhere, as if the residents had fled long before the war broke out.
This was the major inconvenience of the time before the First Epoch.
There were only a few city-states, with more scattered villages and towns, making transportation and communication extremely backward; the hawks cultivated by mages were an important means of intelligence transmission.
In fact, she didn’t even know where to find McCarthy Delin, she even doubted that the scale of Elemental Shapers led by him was more like the size of a club rather than an army.
Worse still, she was never known for her stamina; after walking for most of the day, her feet were already so sore that she didn’t want to move.
Lindong looked around and saw a place with a lake, there were signs of a campsite on the open ground by the lake, as if someone had recently rested here.
"Let’s rest here for the night."
Lindong manipulated the water to gather on the shore, the water instantly froze into ice, forming a simple ice house.
This would be their accommodation for the night.
After setting up the furniture inside the ice house, she used ice elements to create a harpoon.
"Let’s have grilled fish."
She had extensive wilderness survival experience, but after joining the academy, these skills learned from the cat monsters in the Northern Realm fell out of use—although the academy had gone through tough times, it never suffered funding issues, possibly thanks to strict admission standards and an elite education system.
At the academy, there was never the concept of student loans.
Firstly, students accepted by the academy need not pay any fees.
The academy’s library was open to all students, who could consult knowledge other than restricted books in their spare time; additionally, the academy provided every student with seasonal uniforms, the washrooms in the academy had Water Element Magic cleaning services, and due to the tradition of magical duels, magical robes being burned or soaked was commonplace, with students able to collect new uniforms at any time.
The uniforms were crafted by tailors who also served the nobility.
All casting materials costs were borne by the academy, even if there was an issue with misusing magical materials, the student would only be formally reprimanded and not fined.
Dining, toiletries, and entertainment were all of noble standards.
Lindong lived comfortably during her student years; perhaps living too well gave her the leisure to outwit and challenge the mentors at the academy.
She made a chair by the water, then crafted a simple fishing rod, placing it in Ethan’s hands, "Here, try this."
Although they could easily catch fish in the lake using Elemental Magic, they had plenty of time now, so it became a diversion, "Let’s see who can catch the bigger fish."
Ethan held the ice-cold rod, lost in thought.
This batch of candidates was definitely the most laid-back cohort ever.
Their predecessors at this moment would probably be racking their brains on how to sabotage the magical network and win this war, yet here they were, in a scenic forest clearing, fishing like retired old workers.
Fishing was not Ethan’s forte.
As a busy modern person, he rarely had such leisure, his only exposure to fishing was in games.
"Are you a beginner? I’ll teach you."
Seeing Ethan’s somewhat stiff movements, Lindong below once again demonstrated steady performance.
As a teacher, she advocated for hands-on learning.
So she naturally leaned against Ethan, holding his wrist from behind, guiding him in using the bait to attract fish, this position naturally brought some side effects.
For instance, Ethan felt the soft sensation from behind, the smell of snow berries lingering in his nose, whenever Lindong spoke, her warm breath blew onto his ear, making him suspect that Lindong was doing it on purpose.
"See, just , it’s easy to master."
"I understand the theory,"
Ethan watched the ripples on the water surface, his mood was just like the lake, and he pointed out the main cause, "But why are you biting my ear?"
"It was an accident."
From behind, Lindong’s mischievous laughter rang.
Ethan remained skeptical.
He couldn’t figure out how one could "accidentally" bite someone else’s ear and even lick it.
This move had a destructive power akin to elemental electricity, catching him off guard, he shivered, instinctively straightening his body, with goosebumps rising all over.
"Did you not know? Dean McCarthy Delin’s greatest hobby is fishing, there’s a fishpond on the academy’s back mountain, and all the fish there are prepared for him. He often brings a fishing rod to the mountain alone and spends the entire day there."