Ever since Viktor's lecture ended, "dungeons" became a huge sensation and were quickly pushed forward.
Throughout the entire empire, countless nobles and wealthy elites were paying close attention to this matter.
The children of nobles are extremely precious.
Students who can be sent to the Royal Magic Academy are basically the most carefully cultivated future heirs of their families.
So for nobles, whether their children are geniuses or not is not important.
What matters is that they must be safe.
And once the academy introduced the concept of "dungeons," it immediately attracted the attention of countless nobles.
That was because it was advertised as "the safest form of real combat training."
Not only could it guarantee the students' safety, it could also train their actual combat abilities.
At present, "dungeons" were still only in an experimental stage, but even so, there were already countless people who wanted to cooperate with Viktor.
After all, once the "dungeon" project was established, it could be used in any field.
And a mage capable of creating "dungeons" would inevitably attract massive attention.
Viktor could understand the academy's thinking.
Using dungeons as publicity would not only greatly promote the academy itself, but also help filter students with better overall aptitude.
What's more, he already had the same intention.
So Viktor nodded and said to Henny, "That's fine."
"You can inform the academy that I've agreed. I'll make preparations."
Hearing this, Henny nodded twice with a couple of "mm-hmms."
But after that, she didn't leave.
She just stared at Viktor. After a long while, Henny's expression became a little shy and awkward.
She seemed to show a hint of anticipation, "Professor, you… haven't given me a hug today yet."
"..."
Viktor let out a sigh, then opened his arms.
Seeing this, Henny became extremely happy and immediately threw herself into Viktor's embrace, hugging him tightly.
After feeling the firmness and warmth of the professor's chest, her face flushed bright red, and steam practically rose from the top of her head.
Henny could no longer hold on. She hurriedly pulled away from Viktor's arms, her voice even stuttering a bit.
"Th-thank you very much for the treat!"
Henny shouted loudly, covered her face with both hands, closed her eyes, and ran downstairs.
Who knows whether she would bump into something.
Viktor felt a little worried.
After all, the furniture in the old mansion was quite expensive.
But in any case, his own mood was not very stable right now either.
Vega stood firmly on Viktor's shoulder, a giggling voice sounding in his ear, "What's wrong? If you really can't hold it in, just find someone to take care of it."
"There are so many servants at home, there's bound to be one you like."
Hearing the crow's teasing voice, Viktor shot it a cold glance.
But Vega wasn't afraid at all, and instead laughed sharply, "What are you looking at me for? I'm just a crow."
"Viktor, humans can't, at the very least, they shouldn't."
Seeing Viktor flustered for the first time in a long while made Vega feel extremely pleased.
It unconsciously lifted its bird head high.
Viktor took several deep breaths before finally calming himself down again.
His rationality also recovered a bit.
His physical contact with Henny was meant to let her level up and grow stronger through this method. From the very beginning, Viktor had held to this purpose.
But as this little succubus's level kept rising, this kind of physical contact with her was becoming more and more dangerous.
Even so, he couldn't stop doing it.
Because Henny had no talent for learning magic and couldn't increase her experience or level through any natural means.
So Viktor could only make her stronger in daily life by satisfying that greed within her.
As for leveling up all at once by harvesting massive amounts of anger, that kind of thing was hard to come by.
Those conditions had to be deliberately created.
'Should I find another primal demon?'
Absorbing emotions to level up was currently Henny's only method.
In comparison, wrath alone was a bit too single.
But now wasn't the time to think about that.
Viktor straightened his black trench coat and said calmly, "Let's go."
"There are other things to take care of."
White patterns spread across the entire surface of the coat, and the surrounding air began to grow restless under an invisible force.
Soon, fierce gusts of wind rushed inward from all directions. A burst of white dust and a storm wrapped around Viktor's body, then suddenly exploded outward.
When the dust cleared, Viktor had completely vanished from where he stood.
Only a few lingering traces of wind remained, still blowing wildly through the room.
———
Liya stood beneath the giant tree with a group of servants and several demi-human guards.
She waited for a very, very long time, but still didn't see Viktor arrive.
Liya raised her left hand and stared at the exquisite wristwatch on the inside of her wrist.
"He's ten minutes late. What is he even doing!?"
Could it be that in just these short ten minutes, that bastard mage had gone off to flirt with someone again?
After being seen head to toe by Viktor without changing out of her sleepwear, Liya was in no particularly good mood toward her bastard of a brother.
Just as Liya finished complaining, a current of wind instantly began to gather beside her.
A swirl of air rose up, blowing up everyone's skirts and hair, dancing wildly beneath the green canopy.
Liya's hair was blown loose. She brushed the strands aside and looked up, only to see a white figure gradually take shape within the dust and storm.
The black trench coat fluttered endlessly in the air, the patterns on it faintly glowing.
As the wind slowly calmed, Viktor's figure fully formed.
The servants had never seen a scene like this before. When they realized the person who arrived was Viktor, their attitudes immediately became even more respectful.
Liya looked at the suddenly arrived Viktor and clicked her tongue.
"Tch… always showing off."
She walked up to Viktor and said, "I've already brought everyone for you. Handle it yourself, I need to hurry off."
"I still have several contracts to deal with today, and there's also something going on at our family's mines. They say they dug up something and need me to go take a look personally."
Viktor looked at her and replied flatly, "Be careful."
Liya put one hand on her hip and helplessly raised the other, waving her fingerless glove.
The six differently colored, crystal-clear gemstones sparkled strangely in the sunlight, like six streams of different colors slowly flowing within.
"Got it, got it."
After saying that, she yawned and turned to leave.
As she turned her head away, a faint, barely noticeable blush appeared on her face.
Liya hurriedly left the area.
Watching Liya go, Viktor finally turned his gaze toward the servants and guards.
The guards and servants looked at Viktor and bowed respectfully.
With their heads lowered, they focused intently, listening to what Viktor would say next, "Now, I want each of you to step forward and touch this tree."
They looked at one another, confusion showing on each of their faces.
But since it was an order from the head of the Clavenna family, they still chose to comply.
One by one, they stepped forward and gently placed their hands on the thick trunk. A stream of energy flowed from their palms and spread throughout their bodies.
The divine tree began to sway slightly, and a glowing green light overflowed from their palms.
The branches trembled along with the trunk, as if they had souls of their own, gradually sprinkling silver stardust down from high above.
The warm sun shone in the sky, and the silver dust sparkled softly, without being harsh to the eyes.
The servants and guards immediately felt a strange power, as if their entire bodies were being massaged, and they couldn't help but let out long, relaxed breaths.
Their bodies felt much lighter.
Seeing their blissful expressions, Viktor's voice sounded, "That's enough."
The servants withdrew their hands and listened as Viktor continued, "After you go back, each of you will receive five hundred Gio, in my name."
Hearing that there was a reward, smiles instantly appeared on their faces, and they became extremely excited.
After seeing Viktor nod in confirmation, they all suppressed their joy and hurriedly left.
Once they were gone, Viktor turned back to face the divine tree again.
His body became slightly transparent in front of it.
When he opened his eyes again, he was already inside the divine tree.
This place was extremely similar to the previous Yad Divine Tree, but the space seemed larger, and the branches were even denser.
Everything around him was filled with glowing green light.
At this moment, green patterns swept across the back of Viktor's coat.
An enormous surge of natural energy erupted from his body, like a massive wave crashing forth.
Pure natural energy gathered toward the constantly beating heart at the center of the divine tree.
Light flowed along the heart's veins, swelling it into a bulging ring as its beating grew even stronger.
Under the relentless beating of the heart, rows of green fruits slowly squeezed out from the flourishing branches.
At the center of each crystal-clear fruit, a stream of green energy, like a soul, slowly flowed.
Very quickly, the flesh and veins inside the fruits gradually merged together, forming a curled-up infant that began to grow rapidly at a visible speed.
Humans, and demi-humans with animal ears and tails.
They were wrapped inside transparent fruits, hanging from the branches in long rows.
When the fruits fully stopped growing, their bodies had already matured enough. They burst out of the fruits and rolled onto the ground.
The moment they hit the ground, emerald-green leaves covered their mature bodies, blocking their vital areas.
Seeing this scene, Vega felt even more confused, "You used the divine tree to create a bunch of people!?"
Viktor merely looked at them calmly, his tone flat, "They have no consciousness and can be controlled at will."
He raised one hand slightly in the air.
It was as if countless transparent threads of magic power connected to those bodies, manipulating them so they began to move.
Their eyes were completely empty, and their movements extremely stiff.
Vega could tell at a glance that these people's actions depended entirely on Viktor.
At this moment, Viktor controlled several demi-human cat girls, making them mechanically walk up to him.
Vega flapped its wings, a strong sense of unease suddenly rising in its heart, and it couldn't help but ask, "Viktor, what do you mean by this?"
In its stunned gaze, Viktor's voice rang out calmly, with a hint of mockery in his tone, "Don't you always say you're just a crow? Choose."
"Out of so many, there's bound to be one you like."