Moreover, Karl had just shown enough generosity in the main distribution, so they naturally wouldn't say much about this minor matter.
In the hall, only Alexandrea's suppressed laughter of pain and the faint sounds of the three collecting their spoils remained.
The hunting mission, which was supposed to be extremely difficult and dangerous, ended in a way none of them had ever encountered before.
Karl opened a portal and returned to the academy.
As soon as he returned to the academy, he found Hen descending a hanging spiral staircase.
In his hand, he held a heavy classic tome written in some long-lost handwriting.
The moment Hen saw Karl, his steps paused almost imperceptibly, and obvious surprise flickered across his face.
He distinctly remembered that less than two hours ago, he had personally assigned Karl to join the enforcement team to hunt down Alexandrea.
Previously, such missions required the enforcement team to track for days, sometimes weeks, and several clashes and escapes before finally capturing... or dealing with the target.
He was prepared for Karl's first encounter with such a mission to be disappointing or even come up empty-handed.
As a result, looking at Karl, there were no signs of a fight on his body, and his expression was unusually calm.
He naturally assumed the mission had failed; young people always need to be tempered, and failure is a stepping stone to growth.
He clutched the classic tome in his hand, a relieved smile appearing on his face, and opened his mouth to comfort his talented student.
"Karl, don't mind it. Pursuing lawbreakers is not easy; even experienced enforcement teams often miss."
"Alexandrea is very good at hiding secrets. Failure is nothing; you need to gain experience..."
However, before he could finish, he was suddenly interrupted by Karl.
"Teacher, the mission is complete. Everything went smoothly."
Karl's voice was not loud, but it echoed clearly in the empty hall.
Hen's words had already reached his lips, and he stopped abruptly, his eyebrows slightly raised.
"...You're done?"
Karl nodded and explained: "Yes, Alexandrea had found an elven ruin as a hiding place."
"But she was very unlucky; many golems and gargoyles had been activated in the ruins."
"When we found her, she was in a fierce fight..."
"If Dradi and I had arrived a step later, I'm afraid we would have only seen Alexandrea's cold corpse."
Hen listened quietly, unconsciously rubbing the leather cover of the classic tome, digesting this unexpected news.
The mission was not only completed but was almost as smooth as "cleaning up a leak," without casualties or even...
"An elven ruin guarded by a large number of golems and gargoyles?" Hen pondered, a questioning glint in his eyes.
"This means the ruins might be quite intact, and there could be more valuable things inside, perhaps ancient magical creations or scrolls of knowledge."
He looked at Karl with a hint of approval in his voice: "I will arrange for a Brotherhood research team to study the ruins as soon as possible."
"Your actions not only successfully completed the capture mission without loss but also found a valuable relic. This is a great achievement, and I will record it for you."
Karl nodded slightly, expressing agreement with Hen's appreciation and arrangement.
However, there was no particular joy on his face, but his eyes flickered slightly, as if he was hesitant.
After a short pause, he looked up to meet Hen's eyes, a slight uncertainty in his voice.
"Teacher, is there any way the Magic Society can cure the Pale Sickness? I have a close relative... who unfortunately suffers from this illness."
Karl assumed that sorcerers, having existed for so long, might have many legacies and ways to cure incurable diseases.
It was just that the conditions for obtaining these methods were extremely harsh, or the cost was enormous, and ordinary sorcerers couldn't access them at all, so his question was also a bit uncertain.
Hearing Karl's question, Hen didn't think for long, slowly shaking his head.
In his eyes was an understanding of the fragility of life, as well as a sense of helplessness that magic is not omnipotent.
"The Pale Sickness... the sorcerers can't do anything about it either." Hen's voice was low and clear.
"If it's just some ordinary illness, or even a physical disability, like eye damage,"
"the former can be restored with healing spells or potions, and the latter by cultivating prosthetics with alchemy, though they are far less effective than the original organs."
"But the Pale Sickness... it's a lesion that originates deep within the root of the blood and bone marrow inside the body."
He paused and gave an example closer to himself: "It's like my heart condition, caused by aging, a manifestation of the decline or confusion of life."
"Current spells and alchemy cannot fundamentally reverse or cure it."
"Even Miss Matti, known for her healing spells in the Brotherhood, can only cast spells to alleviate the severe pain at the onset of the disease, but cannot cure it."
Hearing this, the flame of hope in Karl's eyes completely extinguished.
He sighed softly, unable to hide his inner disappointment.
The painful face of Raymond flashed in his memory, making his heart clench slightly.
Hen observed Karl's changing expression and remembered the energy Karl had hidden in his body, which, according to his theory, was very similar to dark matter.
He also thought of the priestesses who served Melitele.
Hen spoke thoughtfully: "However, Karl, the unique energy within your body..."
"Although the form may differ, the priestesses of the temple pray and wield it, perhaps drawing from life itself or more unusual forces."
"Perhaps you can go to the Temple of Melitele in Ellander and give it a try."
"I have collected information and cases related to that temple and found that there are indeed very few people in history suffering from incurable diseases like the Pale Sickness."
"The records of their long-term recovery in the temple and inexplicable healing after prayer rituals are unknown, but they are true."
When Karl heard this, he was indeed very surprised. He thought Hen would come up with some rare ancient potion formula or some lost spell.
Instead, he was asked to seek help from the Temple of Melitele? This broke his innate impression of this teacher.
Although sorcerers and the temple are not mortal enemies, their relationship is far from harmonious, as both sides have very different views on the nature of power.
One side believes the other has no faith, while the other believes the other's faith is ethereal, and there is no proof of the existence of gods.
But soon, Karl also figured something out; even Tissaia deeply understood the source of the priestesses' power.
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