Fulen walked in the direction Darlene indicated and indeed saw a room at the end. It wasn't locked. After opening it, there was no one inside, but a pot of black tea was cooling on the table. Fulen touched the outside of the teapot and confirmed it was at a temperature that had cooled down a bit after boiling water.
There was still some warmth, and Fulen subtly used "Freezing" to prevent his hand from getting too hot. Needless to say, the "Trick" of a "Trick Master" was truly effective.
Fulen looked around the kitchen. The candlelight was bright. Water was stored in buckets, and around the improved kerosene stove, cabinets were built. The room was very large; the stove and cabinets only occupied a portion of the room, with several tables in the other part.
The simple layout allowed Fulen to guess where the cups were stored at a glance. After rummaging through two or three cabinets, Fulen took out two cups. He was about to wash them under a tap but, after searching for a long time and finding nothing, realized there was no running water at all.
Lamenting how convenient his original living environment was, Fulen scalded two cups with tea, then poured the water into the sink that lacked a tap. Speaking of which, one point where this world was stronger than the Europe of his original world, which resembled the Industrial Revolution, besides Rosell's beloved nobles not rejecting bathing, was that this world had a drainage system similar to Rome's.
Just as people knew that the Demoness Pathway would rely on people not bathing to spread diseases, with the development of public health, a very advanced drainage system for this world came into being. Although Fulen did not know the pros and cons of the modern drainage system compared to it, in use, Fulen did not feel that the drainage system was much worse than the modern one.
Carrying the tray, Fulen knocked on Laze's lounge Door.
"Come in," Laze's voice came from inside the room.
Fulen pushed the Door open and saw Laze putting down a magazine he was holding. Fulen glanced at the title: "Magician."
While Fulen gently closed the Door, quickly placed the tray, set down the cups, and poured the black tea, Laze also left his desk and sat on the sofa by the table, casually chatting with Fulen: "Magicians nowadays are becoming more and more outdated. The magazine actually published an opinion that street Magicians have more Magician charm than stage Magicians, even saying that stage Magicians only use old tricks, and that true innovation comes from street Magicians—what utter nonsense! Oh, it's truly…"
After Fulen finished, Laze gently blew on the tea, a habitual gesture of anyone who enjoys drinking tea. He took a sip of the black tea and said, "Thank you." Fulen nodded, then looked at Laze. It was clear that Laze hadn't called him just for idle chat.
Indeed, Laze said, "Yesterday, we confirmed your intention to join the Circus. However, as the chief and only Magician of Sohier Circus, I need to train you to prevent you from ruining my reputation. During this period, you won't receive a salary. Correspondingly, I won't charge you any tuition fees. Is that acceptable?" Fulen nodded decisively.
"However, after each study session, you can dine at the Circus. Although the variety is limited, the taste is quite good. Hmm, that's your only benefit. Uh, but once you start performing, you can be promoted to a formal Sohier Circus Magician, and then you'll receive the Apprentice-period salary."
"Of course, don't think the time I mentioned is long. As long as you study diligently, you can generally complete your training in a week. Of course, this is with my permission. Don't worry, I won't deliberately hold you back. I'm a man in my sixties or seventies, and I still have to perform a magic show every morning, seven days a week, without rest. My goodness, if it weren't for the Circus having a unified annual holiday, I'd be going crazy," Laze said, rubbing his head with some distress.
Fulen nodded understandingly. Having to do the same work every day essentially made the Magician's job identical to those who perform repetitive manual labor. It's not that repetitive work is bad, but magic performances require innovation and creativity. Continuously performing the same type of work will eventually lead to numbness, ultimately losing the motivation to progress.
However, on the other hand, Laze works approximately 4 hours every day, which means 28 hours per week. Judging by Laze's clothes and demeanor, he doesn't seem to be someone struggling financially. Even the shortest working hours on Earth are 40 hours per week.
From this perspective, being a Magician is still very promising. Fulen nodded confidently.
Laze savored a sip of black tea, took a breath, and said, "So, you'll come here every morning at 8 o'clock to study for 2 hours, then practice on your own. After I check your learning progress for the day, you can leave. How about that? Did you remember?"
There was nothing difficult to understand, so Fulen nodded.
Seeing the affirmative reply, Laze stood up and effortlessly conjured a flower, the entire process being understated and full of artistic flair.
Fulen, however, felt an unexplainable awkwardness. It was known that Mr. Laze was not a Beyonder, and a common understanding was that matter cannot be created out of thin air. Therefore, this flower must have been carried by Laze, and the fact that he could conjure it so casually indicated that the flower was not far from Laze's sleeve.
Although there was nothing truly awkward about it, Fulen still felt that Laze might not have just one item hidden on him, but possibly more props. As soon as he thought of this, Fulen felt sympathy for those seemingly glamorous Magicians. However, it was conceivable that Fulen's situation would also be like this for the foreseeable future.
"Good!" Fulen clapped as soon as he saw the flower.
Laze heard the applause, his lips twitched imperceptibly, then he smiled and said, "Alright, then let's begin our magic lesson."
With the intention of showing off a little, Laze calmly said, "Fulen, you should know that conjuring a flower out of thin air is just a basic skill for a Magician. I know you can do it too, so I won't teach you that. But first, take a look at this. Haha, let me, an old man, sit down. Let's teach while sitting."
Saying this, Laze sat down, took off his top hat, and placed it over the flower. Laze adopted a mysterious demeanor, moved his hands, then lifted the hat, revealing a large ice block inside. Fulen touched it; the ice block was real and was emitting cold air.
Laze looked at Fulen's shocked expression and chuckled, "Fulen, the principle of this trick is very simple, but it's not easy to master it skillfully. We Magicians are a group of both boring and interesting people. We bring wonder, but we ourselves need to prepare many things that aren't necessary to carry. This is preparation. I said yesterday that a stage Magician is a manipulator of atmosphere, while a Magician is a perfectly prepared deceiver. Never forget preparation."