This wizard only wishes to be a teacher

"Alright, but you still know too few potion recipes. Come by my place this afternoon or evening, and I’ll tell you some more potion recipes..."

Lucien reminded Carly before watching her leave.

Then he turned his attention to the wizard formation blueprint which, after the discussion with Carly, had been significantly modified.

"It seems I need to rebuild it. These have been fundamentally adjusted and changed..." Lucien said as he scribbled and sketched, temporarily forgetting about a certain unfortunate soul.

...

"Damn Two-legged Long-haired Monster..."

Count Sanaxis was very angry at the moment, slowly moving his body, crawling out from a pile of discarded steel needles.

Looking back at the needles, Count Sanaxis shuddered all over, vowing to himself that he would never forget this painful day.

He couldn’t imagine why that creature with silver hair and long ears could be so malicious!

Too brutal!

Count Sanaxis muttered to himself but didn’t say it out loud because he was currently scheming a "grand plan."

"Humph, to think that a single grape could buy the great Count Sanaxis?" he sneered inwardly while slowly crawling towards the boundary of the enchantment set by Lucien.

But within this enchantment that severely suppressed nightmare creatures, he couldn’t move quickly using the many feelers on his body and could only push himself forward slowly like a flea, "jumping" towards freedom.

Yes, Count Sanaxis’s grand plan was to escape.

"I’ve endured so many days just for this moment!" Seeing the "Gate of Freedom" getting closer, Count Sanaxis could no longer contain his emotions and roared as he made his final leap towards the doorway.

However, he soon realized that the door suddenly opened. Looking up slowly, he then saw a small, yet imposing figure, looking down on him.

And sometimes, when you gaze long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you...

Count Sanaxis then saw Carly slowly lower her head and squat down in front of him, her large eyes silently peering at Count Sanaxis on the floor, in a silence more eloquent than words.

Carly: Staring...

The body of Count Sanaxis started to squirm, and the eyeballs inside him trembled frantically.

Carly’s lips curled up slightly, and she then gently pinched Count Sanaxis with two fingers.

Seeing Carly’s face drawing ever closer, Count Sanaxis felt as if all his tentacles were going to explode.

"Two-legged Long-haired Monster! Your most loyal Magic Pet is in trouble!"

The voice was shrill, causing Lucien, who was in the next room refining and modifying the trap design, to shudder involuntarily, leaving a trail of irregular stains on the paper with his Feather Pen.

"Carly, stop playing around. Bring it here, too. I’m about to try again," Lucien said with slight frustration, setting down the Feather Pen. Fortunately, even though he had accidentally smeared the blueprint, he had already perfected most of its construction, so it did not require redrawing and could be tested immediately.

"Did you hear that, my master is calling us! Hmph, you wretched pointy-eared one, the great Count Sanaxis will never..." Nearby, Count Sanaxis, feeling the advantage, looked at Carly with an air of superiority.

Carly’s mouth slowly puffed up, and fine feathers even appeared on her face.

However, in the end, she didn’t act rashly, only squeezing a bit harder on the two fingers holding Count Sanaxis.

"Mentor Lucien, I’m coming!" Carly trotted over, ignoring the futile struggles and whimpers of Count Sanaxis between her fingers.

...

With Carly’s help and refinements, the second version of the capture trap became even more perfected. Even the Dream Worms that Lucien had previously retrieved from the Dream Space were placed into the trap, and following Count Sanaxis’s suggestions, he made the interior environment even more "comfortable."

Of course, this comfort was relative to nightmare creatures; to normal life forms, it merely looked like a flat piece of art.

To be more precise, what they would see was a classical fairy-style painting that could be displayed in the halls of noble estates.

Of course, if there was anything discordant in the picture, it would likely be the depiction of a doll’s dismembered limb within it.

"Are you sure this is going to work? After all, it’s just a fake you’ve created," Lucien said skeptically, glancing at Count Sanaxis who had just escaped from Carly’s magic claws and was now sprawled over an apple, burrowing a home for himself.

"And it’s just drawn on," Carly muttered.

The severed limb was added to the painting by Count Sanaxis after they had finished designing this trap.

While Carly had to admit that the foul-mouthed fellow had some surprisingly good drawing skills, it didn’t stop her from doubting Count Sanaxis about this matter.

"What do you know, you little brat? Go grow up for a few decades..." Count Sanaxis couldn’t crawl out of the newly dug hole in the apple, starting a new round of provocation in a form that suggested what doesn’t kill him only makes him stronger.

Carly took a deep breath.

Still, she quietly glanced at Lucien before looking with an eye that could dissect someone at a certain little something.

Ever since her transformation into a Pureblood Fairy, age had become Carly’s most sensitive word.

Just as humans grow much slower compared to common animals like cows and sheep, the growth cycle of the Fairy Clan is also much slower than humans. This resulted in Carly’s somewhat resentful feelings about her own growth rate after becoming a Pureblood Fairy...

And now, all this was bluntly poked at by the damn nuisance before her!

Thinking of this, Carly’s gaze toward Count Sanaxis filled with even more murderous intent.

If it weren’t for her mentor Lucien being beside her... Carly squinted her eyes.

"Hey, two-legged long-haired monster, I feel that your student’s mental state is very problematic. Although it’s true that the long-eared ones have the worst temperament of all races, your student’s personality is exceptionally vitriolic... Uh, I mean, very traditional..."

Count Sanaxis had only gotten halfway through his sentence when he was "squeezed" out of the apple by Carly, softening his tone in the process.

Lucien looked deeply at Count Sanaxis, then turned to Carly, who was still very restrained.

It seemed that Count Sanaxis understood how to read the room.

After that, Lucien turned his attention back to the trap.

No matter whether the severed limb Count Sanaxis had drawn was useful, Lucien could at least be sure of one thing: it would not ruin the entire trap.

What they needed to do next was to set the trap in a suitable place and then... wait.

Lucien chose the lab where he had lived before and the single dorm room behind it.

Despite having moved to a new residence, this original abode hadn’t been reclaimed by Greybone Academy and had been allocated to Lucien under a "default" status.

Now, it served as a small workshop for Lucien or Carly to concoct Magic Potions, where they could perform experiments that were either somewhat polluting or dangerous.

However, the wizard formation there was indeed a notch lower in performance compared to the one in Lucien’s own current residence. If Adeline was willing to pay a price, she would still be able to infiltrate and peep quite easily.

And that was exactly what Lucien intended.

...

Not long after leaving his residence, Lucien sensed a covert surveillance from the outside world. Yet, after making a pact with Count Sanaxis, even though he hadn’t gained the "controlling power" a normal Magic Pet should have, Lucien could feel the Dream Layer more clearly through their bond.

He was aware of Adeline’s peeping, but now it seemed that Adeline too realized he was not to be trifled with. Therefore, she was only observing from a safe distance, even staying in the relatively safe "deep waters" of the Dream Layer.

"Very cautious, but I never planned to catch you inside the Dream Layer," Lucien muttered in his heart, then continued walking nonchalantly.

He never expected to capture Adeline instantly, what he needed was for Adeline to relax and ultimately walk into that particularly attractive trap.

"Hey, you’re currently being stalked by a disgusting nightmare, why not let me go into the Dream Space? Let me tell you, back in the day when I was in the Dream Space, I was wielding two watermelon knives..."

On Lucien’s right ear, Count Sanaxis moved slightly, about to speak out. However, remembering Lucien’s earlier warning and seeing Carly nearby seemingly "sharpening her knife," his body squirmed, and then he communicated his thoughts to Lucien via their mental link.

"No need, she’s just a little one," Lucien shook his head and responded through the mental link, but he quickly caught onto a discrepancy in Count Sanaxis’s statement and his brow furrowed slightly, "You’re a sphere, how did you use watermelon knives to cut from one layer of the Dream Layer to another?"

"That... Young man, don’t sweat the details..." Count Sanaxis said, his eyes showing a hint of melancholy.