"Anarce?"

Hilia walked over, looking at the magic puppet beside her with a puzzled expression.

"Have you been preparing a magic puppet these past few days?"

"No..." Anarce instinctively wanted to shake her head, but forced herself to nod, "Ah, yes, I’ve indeed been preparing a magic puppet. Today is my first time attending the magic puppet training class."

Hilia slightly frowned, so it wasn’t true?

No, even if it wasn’t, it definitely has something to do with this magic puppet.

Anarce’s magic puppet was very worn out. From the outside, some parts were rusty, and there were signs that were clearly left by battles.

This was a magic puppet that had seen many battles.

Rose was also greatly shocked: "How could there be such a broken magic puppet? Is it second-hand? No, judging by the marks left, this is a fourth-hand puppet."

"Fourth-hand puppet?"

"A puppet that has gone through three previous owners, Anarce is the fourth."

"Ah?"

Hilia was also surprised.

How could a magic puppet have gone through so many owners?

Hilia belonged to the purist school where magic puppets must be handcrafted personally. She knew that magic puppets could transfer owners after a complex unbinding process, but she had never thought of doing so.

Whether it was her own or someone else’s puppet, she would never buy or sell it.

If she had to sell, she would only sell parts, like a replaced spine bone, which she planned to sell at the Mage Guild.

For selling an entire puppet like this, either it’s not personally marked in the Heart of the Magic Puppet upon completion, or requires complex unbinding in Hilia’s view. It might as well be better to keep the Heart of the Magic Puppet and magic core, and then disassemble the rest into individual parts to sell.

This was the first time Hilia had seen a second-hand... no, fourth-hand puppet in the Divine Magic Academy.

As the most prestigious and powerful school in the entire Holy Court, anyone coming from even the poorest backgrounds would naturally carry arrogance and would never skimp on their magic puppet. They either wouldn’t get one always opt for brand-new ones if they did.

Hardly any second-hand ones were seen.

Feeling Hilia’s gaze fixed on the magic puppet, Anarce smiled: "What do you think of my puppet?"

She wasn’t self-conscious, there wasn’t even that strange feeling from lunch.

Just like usual.

Hilia examined closely, "The design is standard, some parts haven’t been repaired well, there are quite a few issues. Before using it, I suggest you have it properly maintained first."

Anarce nodded, "I’ll ask the mentor for maintenance later."

"The mentor can provide maintenance for puppets?" Hilia exclaimed.

She wasn’t aware of such a thing. 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

"I can’t maintain a puppet, can you?" The voice of the magic puppet training class mentor, Mr. Abros, suddenly came into Hilia’s ear.

Hilia was startled, quickly said: "I didn’t mean that, I just didn’t know."

After explaining, she silently added in her mind—

I actually can!

Hilia’s interest and talent in runes were acknowledged by Rose.

Whether it’s a large rune like an array, a small rune like a scroll, or a micro-rune like puppet engravings, she picks them up very quickly.

Otherwise, Rose wouldn’t let her do it personally.

Just maintaining a puppet, easy as pie.

Mr. Abros looked at Anarce’s magic puppet, seeing its battle-damaged appearance, he frowned, walked up to touch here and there.

After a moment, he shook his head and said: "There are many issues, it can’t fight until it’s repaired. After the theory session, come with me, I’ll repair it, then you can join the training."

"Thank you, Mr. Abros." Anarce said after he finished talking, Mr. Abros called out to Hilia, ready to leave, "And you, Hilia, don’t leave yet."

Hilia stopped, turned back, "Is there a problem, Mr. Abros?"

"Problem?" Mr. Abros widened his eyes, "How dare you ask that? I ask you, how long has it been since you attended training class?"

"Ah, I..." Hilia was speechless, her mind turned, "I attended last time."

Since her last participation in the magic puppet training class was before the arrival of the Sea Successor white whale.

Originally, Hilia planned to continue attending, but Rose told her not to.

"Messing around in puppet training like this is a waste of time; it’s better to have a couple more practical sessions. Use this time to continue your engravings."

So she skipped magic puppet training class, spending her time digesting fish fins and engraving spine bones.

The reason she came today was still to use the training venue to test the enhancements of the new spine on the magic puppet.

But she forgot about skipping class.

True to form, upon hearing Hilia’s words, the hairs on Mr. Abros’s wrinkly face stood up with his beard, "You dare talk back? Do you know what’s required for skipping my class?"

Although she didn’t know what it was, Hilia knew it was nothing good. She quickly thought it over, and after a while, she showed a wronged expression: "I have no choice; no one wants to train with me in the training class."

Mr. Abros chuckled: "Really? But why do I always see Doris looking for you to train?"

No, why do you even notice that?

That’s too much, Professor!

"Today, I’ll assign you an opponent for training, return to your group."

Hilia felt a bit uneasy but still returned to the classroom.

Anarce came in too, sitting next to Hilia.

Hilia suddenly noticed that others didn’t seem too surprised by Anarce’s puppet, so she couldn’t help but whisper, "Anarce, today isn’t your first time in magic puppet training class, right?"

Anarce paused, nodded, "Hmm... I was here yesterday."

Was there a magic puppet training class yesterday?

Hilia wondered, then remembered normal students’ schedules were different from hers.

She only had two magic puppet training classes a week, while others had three to four.

Today’s theory session from Mr. Abros was about dissecting practical combat, analyzing magic power use and various details from different angles.

Hilia listened seriously too, but after listening, she thought it over and realized she could do better than the person in the case study.

Because she had the ever-changing Mage’s Hand.

After the theory, it was training time.

Anarce looked at Hilia: "Once my puppet is repaired, can I train with you?"

Hilia smiled and nodded happily: "Of course, I can’t wait!"

Watching Anarce and Mr. Abros leave, Hilia headed to the training ground, preparing to test alone, and someone already approached.

"Hilia, why haven’t you attended training class these past two weeks?"

It’s Doris.

The five Holy Daughter candidates had most courses apart, only the magic puppet training class was together, allowing communion in class.

But the others didn’t communicate, only Doris sought her out to reclaim the scene from the first-time magic puppet class.

This time was no different.

Hilia showed a smile.

"You’re just in time, I happen to need a target."

Doris: "?"