Grant was lying on the bed, sleeping deeply. The rumors were true—this guy cherished his wand immensely; even while sleeping, he held it tightly in his arms, gripping it firmly with his hand.

If it were a real thief, stealing the wand in this situation would be quite tricky. But Luke Carter was different; he knew that the impending massacre would obliterate everything that happened in the city—no one would investigate what went on here.

Now, he could act without any scruples.

He walked to Grant's bedside and swung his hand hard, slapping Grant's handsome face with a crisp 'smack.' The slap was heavy.

This was for the former young Luke Carter. Grant had bullied the old Luke Carter plenty; during one prank, he even caused Luke Carter to break his arm.

Grant's father was a duke, so the boy had chosen to swallow his anger, but Luke Carter would not.

The slap instantly woke Grant up. Startled, he sat up abruptly, clutching his face and looking around in confusion, shouting, "What happened? What's going on?"

His eyes were still unfocused, and for a moment, he couldn't figure out what had happened.

With that movement, he naturally loosened his grip on the wand.

Luke Carter, quick as lightning, snatched the finely crafted wand from his hand. Then, raising his hand, while Grant was still dazed, he chopped hard at Grant's neck with a knife-hand strike.

Grant's eyes rolled back, and he collapsed heavily onto the bed, passing out.

From start to finish, he never figured out what had happened.

The wand was in hand!

Luke Carter examined the wand in his hand. It was forty centimeters long, encircled from end to end with rings of magic-conducting fine gold like rings, and intricate magical runes were engraved from the tip to the base, finally outlining a crescent moon at the tip.

As he observed, a virtual frame appeared beside the wand, with glowing text flashing inside.

Crescent Wand

Quality: Excellent

Effect: +20% power to attack magic.

(Note: A coming-of-age gift from Count Gridan to his second son, Grant)

Luke Carter smiled, "The Lord of Radiance's game system is actually quite well done. This way, everything looks much more intuitive."

Having obtained the Crescent Wand, he took out his pocket watch and checked the time—9:50. There were still forty minutes left, plenty of time. He walked to the door, opened and closed it, then, outside the room, tapped the Crescent Wand on the door lock and activated Mage Hand.

With a 'click,' the wand's boost greatly increased the power of Mage Hand, and the lock cylinder was instantly and completely destroyed. The door could no longer be opened from either side. Even if Grant woke up midway, it would take him some effort to get out.

In just forty more minutes, no one at this magic academy would have time to mind anyone else's business.

The wand was secured—this was the first step.

Luke Carter continued down to the first floor of the apprentice dormitory. On the first floor, there were several display cases, one of which contained a magic bracelet called the "Guardian Bracelet," a low-level magical item that allowed the wearer to cast a level 2 defensive spell, "Guardian Barrier."

Luke Carter was determined to get this bracelet.

In this era, due to the world's low concentration of magical energy, there were far fewer powerful individuals than in later times. A level 2 defensive spell was already quite formidable; used well, it could save his life.

Of course, as the world war continued, all sorts of powerful forces would erupt, and countless spatial rifts would appear across the Ferroman Continent. The world's magical energy concentration would rise again and again, and more and more powerful individuals would emerge. By then, level 2 magic would be nothing special.

The problem now was that a full-fledged mage lived on the first floor—a kindly old lady named Mrs. Fairfax, a level 1 mage and the dormitory manager of the apprentice quarters.

This old lady was a light sleeper, easily awakened by the slightest disturbance. With her around, stealing the bracelet would be much more difficult, but Luke Carter already had a plan in mind.

He walked toward the stairwell, but after a few steps, Luke Carter suddenly stopped in front of a room, an uncontrollable wave of reluctance rising in his heart.

Luke Carter was taken aback as memories from his youth surfaced.

The apprentice dormitory was co-ed, and the room belonged to a magic apprentice named Celine, a commoner's daughter who, thanks to her outstanding magical talent, studied at the academy for free. She had been enrolled for three months and had already mastered three level 0 spells—her future was limitless.

In his memory, Celine was a very beautiful girl, naturally stunning—she could easily be called the most beautiful in the academy. But that wasn't the key point. The key was that Celine had once helped Luke Carter greatly. After his arm was broken by Grant, Celine took care of him for over a month, as she also bore some responsibility for the incident.

Luke Carter was shy and introverted, with almost no friends at the academy. During that month, he developed a deep, unbreakable attachment to Celine.

'Heh~ Kid, was she your first love?' Luke Carter chuckled softly in his heart. He didn't intend to meddle further—he'd be lucky enough to escape on his own; bringing someone else along would only make things far more dangerous.