Chapter 32: Do you crave power?

That Night.

Wayne enjoyed his dinner, feeding the white dove from his hat while studying the basic theoretical magic book related to messenger birds to reinforce his memory.

He had memorized this book inside out, but still reviewed it every day.

"Coo, coo, coo—"

On the table, the dove seemed startled by something, cooing as it flew into Wayne's hat.

Glancing to the side, Wayne saw a shadow on the windowsill, with cold, indifferent golden eyes staring directly at him.

The shadow, about thirty centimeters tall, was motionless, with something twisted and curled beneath its eyes, resembling tentacles.

Wayne was taken aback, but upon closer inspection, realized it wasn't something incomprehensible—it was a jet-black owl, staring at him intently with a mouse in its mouth.

The mouse was alive, and the twisted appendages were its tail.

"You're quite unique, aren't you? Quite the character," Wayne complained, waving his hand to shoo away the curious owl. Unexpectedly, the owl was fearless and landed on the table, placing the mouse in front of Wayne.

The mouse, now lifeless, stopped moving its tail as soon as the owl set it down.

Perplexed, Wayne watched as the black owl nudged the mouse with its claw, then tilted its head towards him, as if saying, "Tonight, dinner is on me. Enjoy your meal; I've got plenty."

Amused, Wayne realized the wild owl wasn't shy at all but rather hospitable. Compared to his messenger owl, Snowy, this owl was far more engaging.

"Thank you very much, but I don't eat that. I've already had dinner," Wayne said, trying to get the owl to leave on its own.

It wasn't very effective. The black owl clearly misunderstood something, firmly holding the mouse's head with one claw and with a snap, turned the feigned death into a real one.

After dealing with the prey, the owl pushed it towards Wayne again.

"It's not a matter of life or death, but thank you for your kindness…"

Wayne was helpless. He was grateful, but he really didn't eat such things. He stood up, raised his hands, and tried to scare the owl away.

It was useless; the owl just cocked its head, showing no signs of being startled.

Instead, Wayne felt like a fool!

"You're quite clever, knowing who is friendly and who won't harm you. Unfortunately, you're too late. The Wayne household is full, and I can only treat you to a meal but not support you every day."

"Go on, or I'll add you to the menu."

Wayne reached out to catch the owl, but it didn't want to be touched. It pushed off one step at a time, with Wayne following closely behind until the black owl landed on the windowsill, flapping its wings and disappearing into the night sky.

"Quite cute…"

"Maybe I should get a nocturnal messenger owl instead?"

After clearing away the dead mouse from the table, Wayne sat down to continue reading. Familiar eyes met his, and he turned to see the same owl, now carrying another mouse.

"So many mice!"

Wayne sighed, spreading his arms to prevent the owl from entering the house. Just as he was about to close the window, the owl flew away on its own.

Wayne remained in place, curious about what else the owl might bring.

Two minutes later, Wayne was astonished.

The owl brought back a necklace, placing it on the windowsill.

The necklace was shaped like a winged cross, each feather meticulously crafted, with a hollow center adorned with a ruby and numerous diamonds, resembling Renaissance jewelry.

The owl understands me!

Wayne's heart raced as he picked up the necklace. It was covered in dirt, as if it had just been unearthed.

"You little… this thing, do you have more of it?"

Wayne gestured, feeling grateful. Good deeds bring good rewards, after all. He didn't know if the owl understood, but the way it brought both the necklace and the mouse indicated that it did. Two minutes later, it brought a ring.

After that, earrings, bracelets, and other jewelry were delivered one by one by the black owl.

Wayne grinned from ear to ear.

Tonight, things are looking up!

Snowy lacked discipline and organization, with no sense of collective honor or dedication, making it unsuitable for its current position. After a meeting, it was decided that Snowy would be demoted to the household mascot, while Lucky Cat would be appointed as Wayne's sole nocturnal messenger owl.

The items brought by the black owl were all small, leading Wayne to speculate that it had discovered a large treasure trove. To prevent valuable jewels from falling into the wrong hands, Wayne decided to take charge of them himself. He followed the black owl to the treasure's location.

During the journey, he lost track of the owl several times, but it always returned to guide him.

Half an hour later, Wayne stumbled upon a dense forest and found a cave nestled between the rocks.

Wayne, holding a flashlight, peered into the cave. It was narrow at first, but after a few steps, it opened up into a spacious chamber.

He hesitated for a moment, but his supernatural intuition didn't warn him. After contemplating for a moment, he entered the cave, guided by the sense of responsibility to rescue precious artifacts. He encountered a stone statue sitting on a throne, holding a book in its hands, enveloped in vines, making its features indiscernible.

Wayne's attention was drawn to the book. Upon closer inspection, he noticed obvious mechanical marks on the stone palm, indicating that the book could only be retrieved by activating the mechanism.

Made of an unknown material, the book showed no signs of decay despite its age, its pages clean and pristine without a speck of dust.

Wayne noticed a hexagram pattern on the cover, reminiscent of one of the iron gates in the gym. He guessed it was a spellbook.

Marvelous! Finally, his luck was turning!

Wayne had read many novels where the protagonist stumbled upon secret techniques and became invincible. He thought of himself in a similar situation now, accidentally finding a cave and discovering ancient secrets, eventually becoming unstoppable.

He searched for the mechanism, finding a line of text under the stone chair.

"Kneel before me a hundred times, accept my heritage, become my disciple, obey my commands…"

Translating this profound wisdom wasn't easy, but Wayne figured it out. Essentially, he had to kneel a hundred times and become a disciple to obtain the magical inheritance.

Kneeling was out of the question, and besides, it wasn't a common practice to kneel before a teacher here. Wayne joked, "Teacher above, accept one bow from your student."

With that, he pretended to bow and jumped up in place.

He suspected the mechanism was underground. Jumping a hundred times might have the same effect as kneeling a hundred times. As expected, after a dozen jumps, he successfully activated the mechanism.

The vines entwining the stone statue dispersed like snakes, and the statue holding the magic book stood up, revealing a figure that appeared to be a woman wearing a hooded robe.

The black owl flew away, emitting a spine-chilling cry.

The statue descended from the throne, extending its hands to hand the magic book to Wayne solemnly, exuding an aura of ceremony.

Wayne was taken aback, pondering how the statue could speak!

"You've taken my magic book, so from now on, you're my student. You must obediently follow your teacher's instructions and not back out."

"Wow, you can speak!"

Wayne stared in astonishment. After spending the day together, he hadn't noticed any traces of magic on Wayne.

This wasn't surprising; many talented wizards could conceal their aura, appearing as ordinary people.

She was amazed at Wayne's magic power, though scarce, it was absolutely pure.

The meager magic power indicated that Wayne had just begun to dabble in magic, his latent magic power, difficult to observe, was pure, indicating that he was a genius!

Excellent teachers had parents begging for advice, excellent students had schools offering scholarships.

Since she had ignored Wayne's existence and allowed him to wander around freely, she would now be more direct.

Goddess above, this disciple has potential!