Chapter 182: The Heart Beneath the Knife

The days that followed in Aretuza left Lannor with an odd sense of familiarity, as though he had somehow returned to school.

He attended lectures. When the pace outran him, he buried himself in the library until he found the answers. When books were not enough, he sought out Margarita for proper instruction.

Thanks to Mentos’ perfect recall, knowledge never slipped through his fingers. What he learned stayed learned.

That simple advantage, a method of study without regression or forgetting, made his growth far more frightening than that of naturally gifted sorcerers.

He did not follow Tissaia’s reading list in any strict order.

In truth, he was using his own eyes as a scanning device.

Everything he could read, he read.

Everything his brain could endure, he fed into Mentos.

The Biological Intelligence Core had remarked more than once that this was the proper use of an educational machine designed for children.

Aretuza suited Mentos perfectly.

Practice verified knowledge. Knowledge guided practice.

Within an environment built for learning, Mentos elevated Lannor’s educational efficiency to the standard expected of an ordinary citizen of the Commonwealth of Man.

The gaps left by his witcher training rapidly shrank.

Knowledge of curses, ritual afflictions, magical abnormalities, all the subjects neglected during his upbringing gradually fell into place.

At this point, the only major deficiency separating him from a properly trained witcher was monster lore.

Sorcerers cared about monster materials.

At most, they might study ecological habits.

Weaknesses, hidden behaviors, hunting methods, those rarely interested them.

As a result, books covering such subjects were scarce.

Lannor found that acceptable.

He had already accepted the Lady of the Lake’s contract.

For a span of time that even a deity had called “not short,” most of his adventures would likely unfold in other worlds.

A lack of local monster knowledge was not an urgent concern.

The sorceress apprentices had been far less restrained during his first days at Aretuza.

They winked during lectures.

They tugged open collars.

They flashed smiles loaded with invitation.

Lannor did not feel flattered.