Chapter 39 : Mentor
Mentor
Underneath the statue fountain, a brown-haired elf woman was sitting nearby, listening to Jin Xue's report, her brows unconsciously knitting together.
"You're saying that Yinhua of Wanhua is already dead?"
Xing Sha's tone held a trace of disbelief.
"Yes. She made a bet with His Majesty, was utterly defeated, and then even had her soul taken. Her body was thrown into the crematory—she's been reduced to ashes,"
Jin Xue replied, closing the file in her hand.
"Really? Then Aili's reaction was far too calm."
Xing Sha stood up slowly, treading upon a ground covered with withered flowers.
"But... that is indeed what the intelligence says. Under those circumstances, it can be said there's almost zero chance of survival."
"No. She's still alive."
"But..."
"Take a look at this."
Xing Sha tossed a stack of intelligence reports to Jin Xue.
"This is..."
After reading it, Jin Xue's frown deepened.
"Last week, the prince of Yuexing was apparently attacked on his way home. The princess of Yuexing still hasn't awakened. That means Yinhua's soul should have been stolen."
"Yinhua is Aili's 'redemption'. If Yinhua really was dead, then what we'd be facing would be her mad revenge. Do you know what redemption means to a person?"
Jin Xue pushed up her glasses and spoke up: "I'm sorry. I've never experienced such a thing, so I naturally haven't gone through redemption."
"Go and investigate Yinhua's whereabouts."
"Uh..."
You want me to go investigate the whereabouts of a dead person???
As if seeing right through Jin Xue's thoughts, Xing Sha added, "Go find Aili's location. She'll naturally stay beside Yinhua."
"Yes."
As soon as Jin Xue finished speaking, she disappeared on the spot.
If Yinhua really was still alive, then how did she manage to escape such a certain death?
But if she was dead, then where is Aili right now?
There was a sense of neglect nagging at Xing Sha's heart, making her feel uneasy. She knew Yinhua might still be alive, but if even her body was burned, with only her soul remaining—how could she possibly survive?
Could it be she changed to another body? No, no, that's too absurd.
But...
Elsewhere, in the Yuexing Kingdom, Mo Fengren was sitting on a branch in the courtyard with his eyes closed. Several shadows returned from underground, rejoining his body. He opened his eyes slightly.
"All the agents we sent out are dead."
"What?"
Yuexing Beichen, who was sitting under the tree, exclaimed in shock.
"That's twenty of our operatives, products of years of training and significant cost. How can they just die like that?"
"They're definitely dead, and the methods were identical to those used to ambush us. You could say their bodies were completely destroyed."
Mo Fengren leapt down and approached Yuexing Beichen.
"But their deaths were not in vain. I've already pinpointed that person's location. Now, it's time for us to seek vengeance."
"Yes."
Remembering the death of Xing Zhaohe, Yuexing Beichen involuntarily clenched his fists.
"Well then, let's move."
"Just the two of us?"
"We're on enemy territory. More people would only draw suspicion. The two of us are enough."
There was an enigmatic composure and confidence in Mo Fengren's tone.
In the blink of an eye, the two vanished on the spot.
Within the Wanhua Kingdom's royal palace—
"According to the sage, they should be staying in a district about three thousand meters from the shopping street, which puts them right in this area."
Lingxian pointed at a spot on the map.
"That group doesn't act like ordinary residents,"
Shen Baixue remarked quietly.
"I know. Even so, there's something I want to confirm."
Lingxian put the map away into her bag.
*-"You still think Luna is Yinhua?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Intuition."
"Hehe, you'd bother them over such a boring reason? On that night, there were already two sages among them."
"How do you assess the strength of those two sages?"
"Stronger than the Sage of Water, but I'm stronger than them."
"In that case, there's nothing more to say. Get ready, tonight we'll check it out in person."
"Whether she's Yinhua or just an irrelevant person, I am determined to claim the throne."
Lingxian gazed out the window at the gradually setting sun and murmured to herself.
Meanwhile, in Yinhua's home...
*Pfft!*
An ear-piercing sound came from inside the room. Odin looked at the now shredded magic textbook in his hands and coldly said, "Alright, from now on, you can forget everything in these books. Whatever's in there was written by a bunch of idiots."
Somehow, he'd found a blackboard, and now Odin, donned in a teacher's outfit, stood before it, pointer in his right hand and glasses perched on his left. Sitting in the seats in front were Aili and Zhixi.
"They are magic. You are the users. And yet this book reverses the position of magic and user, utterly putting the cart before the horse."
"These are the standard textbooks of the continent, the basics for all magic, passed down for thousands of years,"
Aili said.
"It details only magic incantations and usage, but it completely ignores the most important point—the relationship between user and the thing being used."
"Sorry, I didn't understand a single word,"
Zhixi said, yawning.
"Alright, then use a basic lightning magic—let's say Lightning Blade."
"I can create thousands of those with a wave of my hand,"
Zhixi said, completely unable to grasp the point of this lesson.
*Shua!*
Suddenly, countless blades of violet lightning appeared all around.
"Recite the incantation,"
Odin said coldly.
"Huh?"
"I said, recite the incantation."
"Oh, oh... Furious spirits of lightning, by your power become sharp blades, pierce my enemies!"
A single lightning blade instantly shot out.
"The focus of today is here: this is a level-two Lightning spell. Any mage with even minimal lightning affinity can cast this. So, today, we'll study it."
"What a waste of time."
Aili started to get up to leave.
"Don't rush. There's no harm in watching till the end, is there?"
Odin's tone suggested some secret was yet to be revealed, so Aili sat down again.
"Zhixi just recited the Lightning Blade's incantation. Now, have you ever considered not following the script in the book?"
"That'll only cause magical backlash. There's no point,"
Aili replied.
"Oh really? Well then, 'Furious spirits of lightning, by your power become blades, cut through my obstacles.'"
*Bang!*
With a loud sound, a tree in the courtyard fell, sliced right through the middle like by a saber.
Aili's eyes widened as she witnessed it.
"As everyone knows, lightning Blade is a thrusting magic, not matching its name—it should be called Lightning Spear. I modified it, turning it into a real blade. So with a level-two spell, I achieved the effect of a level-four one."
The two remained speechless, and Odin smiled.
"It can be stronger. Let's experiment more with the incantation. 'Lightning, become my blade, cut it down.'"
This time, the bolt was even faster—they could barely track it.
"That's right. In your understanding, the longer the chant, the stronger it is. Forbidden spells are convoluted and unwieldy, and filled with unfamiliar scripts: dragon runes, god's inscriptions, demon curses, human language, elven terms, beastman calls—none of which you really understand or can learn. Many die to backlash while casting forbidden spells simply because they don't actually understand the incantation. But what if you shortened the incantation to a single, natural sentence?"
Odin's example was unnecessary—Aili instantly grasped the meaning.
If forbidden spells could be compressed to a single line, that would be like holding the launch key to a nuke. You could set it off anywhere, any time.
"Well, that will be all for today. Pack up, and bring Her Highness. We're leaving."
"Where to?"
Zhixi asked.
"Someone's coming."
"How do you know?"
"Intuition."
-------------= Clacky's Corner -------------=
This is also mentioned in the bastard magic instructor...
【ദ്ദി(⩌ᴗ⩌)】