Who Says I’m Not a Legitimate Adventurer?

Chapter 74: Memories Trigger Physical Reactions

Beneath the same brilliant starry sky,

a few hours earlier, while Lance was still sweating profusely in the yard, there were others who had yet to fall asleep.

Inside White Oak Manor, in a luxurious double suite on the second floor.

Soft magical crystal light filled the entire room.

Cecilia sat upright at the desk, the feather pen in her hand scratching softly across the parchment.

In front of her, the terrain sketch of Stone Crab Shoals was already more than half complete, and beside it were densely packed observation notes on monster behavior.

The coarse cloak that had been covered in mud during the day had already been carefully cleaned with Cleanse, and now hung neatly on the coat rack by the door.

She herself had changed into comfortable sleepwear.

It was a pure white silk nightdress, with delicate lace trimming the collar and cuffs. The hem draped softly onto the carpet, appearing exceptionally smooth and gentle.

And on the sofa behind her, sprawled without any regard for appearance, was another girl.That was her roommate, Yuna.

Yuna held a piece of berry pastry that Cecilia had brought back, stuffing it into her mouth while chattering indistinctly.

“Cecilia, you have no idea how boring my day was.”

Yuna flipped over, staring at the ceiling as she sighed.

“You know what? We went to clear out a Goblin camp today.”

“Sounds exciting, right?”

“But that team leader just drew a circle on the ground and told me to stand inside it and not move.”

“He said as long as I heard him call my name, I just needed to throw a Magic Missile at the monsters.”

Yuna’s face was full of boredom, even a bit indignant.

“I wasn’t even allowed to leave the group to scout ahead. I didn’t even get the chance to touch a single monster corpse.”

“Halfway through, I wanted to help them start a fire to roast meat, but the moment I made a spark, they stopped me, afraid I’d burn down the forest.”

After swallowing the last bite of pastry, Yuna concluded:

“It felt no different from practical classes at the academy—just doing moving target spellcasting tests.”

Hearing Yuna’s complaints, Cecilia paused.

The pen in her hand stopped midair, and a drop of ink fell from the tip, spreading into a black blot on the parchment.

The scene Yuna described…

Being tightly protected, only needing to stand in a safe place and cast spells, without touching filthy corpses or worrying about danger.

If it had been before, she would definitely have envied Yuna’s experience.

But…

for some reason, she no longer felt that way.

At this moment, when she recalled today’s experience, what surfaced in her mind was an entirely different set of images.

It was that senior wearing a gray hooded robe, extending his hand to her, leading her step by step into the muddy swamp.

It was him patiently teaching her on the riverbank filled with severed limbs how to distinguish the value of monster materials.

It was his figure standing alone with a shield, blocking the narrow rock crevice, facing the charge of more than twenty Stone-Shell River Crabs by himself.

Those things that once made her feel repulsed—the filth and danger—now felt so real, so vivid when she recalled them.

Right.

There was also one more scene.

Cecilia’s gaze unconsciously fell on her left wrist.

The moment when that senior used a rough piece of paper to carefully wipe away the mud on her wrist.

So strange.

Cecilia was surprised to find that as this thought surfaced, the patch of skin on her wrist that had been touched began to faintly redden and heat up again.

As if her body had remembered that sensation on its own.

“This is too strange…”

the girl muttered softly, confusion in her eyes.

When had she developed such a strange constitution?

She raised her wrist and examined it carefully under the light.

Yuna, after complaining for a long time without receiving the expected comfort, turned her head and noticed Cecilia staring blankly at her own left wrist, her gaze slightly unfocused.

“Are you even listening?”

Yuna muttered, getting up from the sofa and walking over. She curiously reached out and lightly touched that slender wrist.

Her fingertips felt a cool and delicate texture.

“What’s wrong? Did you hurt your hand?”

The sudden touch snapped Cecilia back to reality, her body trembling like a startled kitten.

After realizing it was Yuna, she let out a sigh of relief.

The girl did not answer immediately. Instead, she hesitated before extending her other hand—her right hand—toward Yuna.

“Yuna, try touching this hand.”

Although puzzled, Yuna did as told.

Her fingers gently rubbed Cecilia’s right wrist a few times.

The wrist bones were slender, the skin pale to the point of near translucence. Under the light, faint blue veins could be seen, and it felt as smooth as fine silk.

“Very smooth, and cool too.”

Yuna praised honestly, “Your skin’s in great condition. No allergies or redness.”

“How strange…”

Cecilia withdrew her hand and held it up in front of her eyes, examining it carefully.

The skin that had reddened and heated up immediately after being touched by that senior now showed no reaction at all under Yuna’s touch—it remained cool and pale.

The girl frowned slightly.

Could it be because the mud there was too dirty, containing some kind of microorganisms that triggered a skin reaction, and she hadn’t yet adapted to the wilderness environment?

That was probably it.

Seeing that she was fine, Yuna’s gaze drifted toward the parchment on the desk, densely filled with writing.

“Wow, your team mentor is really strict.”

Yuna clicked her tongue. “It’s only the first day and you already have to write such a detailed report? My team only needs me to sign in.”

As she spoke, she casually picked up a berry soft cake from the plate and stuffed it directly into Cecilia’s slightly open mouth.

“Mm—!”

Cecilia’s mouth was suddenly filled with sweets, her cheeks puffed up like a hamster.

She struggled to swallow the food, but her eyes began to sparkle.

“Today, that senior taught me a lot.”

The girl spoke somewhat indistinctly, her tone filled with barely concealed excitement.

“Things I’ve never encountered in classroom lessons at all.”

She set down the feather pen and reached for the thick stack of books beside the desk, opening the top one and gesturing for Yuna to look.

These hefty volumes were ones she had specially borrowed from accompanying academy instructors upon returning.

Yuna leaned over and glanced at the cover.

It was a book compiled by a high-level Evocation master—《Introduction to Environmental Evocation Studies of Athas》. Just the title alone was enough to make one’s head ache.

Cecilia skillfully flipped to Chapter Four.

【Chapter Four: Environmental Media and Elemental Phase Transformation】

She pointed at the theoretical model and shared with Yuna what had happened that afternoon—how she had almost cast Fireball by the riverbank, only to be stopped and lectured by that senior.