The Magic Whale’s purpose is to control the rainfall within a certain area, allowing water-affinity mages to absorb the natural plane’s mana from the rain.
Without the enemy knowing that their side has a Magic Whale, and with a numerical advantage of water mages, this magical beast—if used properly—can instantly change the tide of battle.
As for controlling rainwater, there are magic arrays for that too, but Lin Nuo hadn’t found one yet.
To put it another way, magic arrays that simply manipulate water are relatively common, like the one Lin Nuo found in the Sacred Relic Hall: Magic Array: Heavenly Rain Enrichment River.
Magic arrays don’t have many tiers like spells do; they’re divided only into upper, middle, and lower ranks, each subdivided into three levels.
This magic array, barely reaching the middle rank, already has source runes so complex that ordinary mages can only stare in awe.
If someone has struggled with magic arrays for years without progress and finally manages a middle-rank array, they would excitedly shout, “Hahaha! I did it, I did it!”
But even the enthusiastic youth at the academy wouldn’t applaud; instead, they’d ask, “Dummy, what exactly did you ‘do’?”
Breaking through a magic array at once often just means the person has gone a little mad…
Lin Nuo, however, was different.
Though his ability was limited—his current mana reserves weren’t nearly enough to cast even a basic large array—he could still attempt smaller arrays like the Heavenly Rain one.
Another morning passed, with Lin Nuo taking mana-restoring pills while focusing all his willpower on practice.
The array’s faint image appeared in his palm repeatedly, shattered countless times…
Only by evening did a water stream, as thin as a pinky finger, finally bubble out from the array’s core in his palm.
Because the magic array’s power inherently far exceeded regular magic techniques, this unassuming little water column hit the window with a loud “clang” and smashed it open instantly…
From the garden outside, a maid’s surprised voice came through:
“Wow!”
“The Noble Young Master doesn’t have Princess Amidina here to watch over him, so why is he secretly spraying water in the bridal chamber?”
“Spraying so much, the Noble Young Master is really undisciplined…”
“…”
“Chirp chirp…”
Fatty Bird had been hopping around the room, peeking under the neatly hung ladies’ dresses in the wardrobe and beneath the empty bed.
No sign of Little Watermelon Sister; the delicious glutinous rice balls she made had already been gobbled up by the little bird.
Seeing Lin Nuo finish spraying water, Fatty Bird landed on his shoulder, fluttered its wings toward the only two occupants in the room—him and the little bird—and sighed.
“Chirp chirp…”
“Missing her?”
“Chirp chirp…”
Lin Nuo was silent for a moment, glancing at the room Princess Amidina had carefully decorated: a new dress embroidered by a seamstress, exquisite and warm tapestries on the walls, a small target set up for Yulilian to practice archery, and even a lush green hanging basket on the balcony for the little bird to sleep in—just to make it easier for him to bring Fatty Bird along.
“The decor looks like she intended to live here permanently…”
Lin Nuo stroked Fatty Bird on his shoulder and said, “Leaving like this, it really feels like something’s missing.”
A few days ago, a messenger from the Capital had brought news.
The secret Magic Whale taming mission at Silver Tears Lake had mysteriously collapsed.
Only the mutilated corpse of Parks was found in Mist Forest, along with Ruding, covered in knife wounds and cruelly drained of blood.
The lake shore was littered with silver bricks, and at the forest’s edge lingered residual evil god magic…
The Four Great Dukes, watching in the shadows, knew clearly that neither the Clemence Family’s Guard Squad nor Lord Kuxiu had taken any action.
They suspected the Angekesai family’s flawless plan had been completely ruined, most likely due to the Evil God’s interference.
But they also knew the Angekesai family’s elf slaves, secretly cultivated for years, had mysteriously all ended up in the hands of the Clemence family.
The only person who knew the truth must be someone from Clemence—someone without magic who nonetheless pulled off a world-shaking upheaval against the Angekesai family’s seven-year scheme.
A powerless ordinary person could evade the Four Great Dukes’ covert surveillance.
Yet no one believed that such a fragile ordinary person could slip past Parks and his son’s guards and shatter the sixth Duke family’s elaborate plan.
Even so, two of the Great Dukes still demanded a thorough investigation!
Lin Nuo remembered it vividly.
About five days ago, the night the messenger arrived from the Capital, he’d been buried in the Sacred Relic Hall reading magical scrolls all day, his eyelids nearly glued shut from fatigue.
Luckily, Princess Amidina’s delicious meal revived him.
After dinner, she suddenly stopped him.
Maintaining her usual cool composure, she didn’t say much but pulled him up to the top floor of the castle’s main building.
The evening breeze gently stirred Amidina’s fragrant hair, the bright moonlight casting soft light on her cold and beautiful face.
“Lin Nuo, I see you’ve been practicing magic.” Her voice was ethereal.
Lin Nuo said nothing but recalled Yulilian mentioning that the Princess was afraid of the cold.
He slightly bowed, yawned, and took off his coat to drape it over her.
“Do you know…”
He still remembered her voice, and the serious expression in her peach-blossom eyes when she clutched her own coat, looked at him and said, “To me, there is something very important.”
“To you, there is also something very important.” She spoke earnestly.
“Something important to me.”
Her gaze flickered under the hazy moonlight, as if reluctant to be so solemn.
She just stared at him, her tone softening and carrying a barely perceptible warmth: “But to me, it’s even more important.”
Pulling himself out of memories with the Princess, Lin Nuo understood.
When she said she saw him practicing magic, it probably meant she thought he had found something important to do.
So the next day, Princess Amidina left without a word.
After asking his father and mother, he learned she took Yulilian and decided to report to the Capital about what happened at Silver Tears Lake…
Though the Princess would surely side with him and the Clemence family.
Lin Nuo understood that even if the Capital’s messengers came to investigate the Clemence Manor, they probably wouldn’t find anything.
At worst, they might notice he was missing that day and detain him for a month of questioning.
After all, a Noble Young Master with such a bad reputation would have no one believing him even if he confessed.
Before setting off to Mist Forest, Lin Nuo had already considered all this.
What surprised him was that
Princess Amidina had first decided to vouch for him.
She didn’t want anyone from the Capital to interfere and disrupt his magic studies, so she gave up her rare chance to rest…
“To me it’s important; to her, even more so. Is that really what it means…”
So that night was her temporary farewell.
“Decorating the room like this… the Princess must be very reluctant to leave. But once she goes to the Capital, she’ll probably have to stay with the Angekesai family for a while.”
“Though so many things have happened with the Angekesai, they probably won’t cause trouble for the Princess and might even nurture her better because of her relationship with the Clemence family.”
“But she used her time to buy me more time…”
“Earlier, she even risked her life to stop that madman from killing me. After the magic was drained at Silver Tears Lake, she came back to heal me and even cast a magic array in my body to block the poison, and she gave me a Sacred Relic… A Princess like that, sigh~”
Lin Nuo sighed along with Fatty Bird.
“Right? Is your little head feeling a bit messy too?”
“Chirp chirp…”
“Yeah, you’re right. Study magic well and try to remove the poison. I know you miss her. Wait until we see her next time, then we’ll talk…”
“Chirp chirp!”
Fatty Bird tugged at Lin Nuo’s sleeve, shaking its head left and right as if asking what he meant.
The little bird didn’t understand—Fatty Bird only came over to find something to eat!