Earlier, Ye Chui and Debbie had damaged some tombstones during their fight, and Debbie’s Angry Clown had toppled a tree. Cass let them leave only after they paid a silver coin for repairs.
As they departed, Cass looked down at the unconscious Kaimis and the two severely injured lackeys, still groaning in pain, his face deep in thought.
“Take them away, lock them up,” Cass ordered the guards he summoned.
When Ye Chui, Debbie, and Kaimis arrived at the graveyard, the poor keeper had rushed to find Cass, who was nearby. Cass witnessed nearly the entire fight and understood what had happened. Kaimis and his two accomplices had ill intentions and deserved their beating. Now, Cass was more intrigued by Ye Chui and Debbie.
A summoner in the town piqued his interest. She seemed strong, and he wondered what it would be like to spar with her, though people might accuse him of bullying a young girl. He rubbed his face, chuckling wistfully, missing his days as a mercenary adventurer.
But that regret would soon be addressed.
Teacher Merlin would soon unlock the coordinates to the Gods’ Ruins, and a battle loomed. Cass waved his hand, and his greatsword, thrown earlier, flew back with a whoosh, guided by his sword aura. He caught it effortlessly.
He stroked the blade gently, his eyes showing a tenderness rare for a rugged man.
“Darling, you’ll soon have your fill of action,” he murmured.
“That’s why you can never find a wife,” came the teasing voice of old mage Merlin from behind.
Cass froze, sheathed the sword, and turned with a sheepish grin. “Teacher Merlin, how’s the coordinate cracking going?”
“Cracking coordinates isn’t easy, and it consumes a lot of magic,” Merlin said with a smile, stretching his arms and waist as he approached Cass. His gaze drifted toward the direction Ye Chui and Debbie had gone. “What interesting kids.”
“You saw the fight? Yeah, that summoner is something. She mentioned an even stronger spirit. I wonder if she’s bluffing. I’d love to see it,” Cass said eagerly. “When the Gods’ Ruins open, I’m taking some old comrades in. Maybe we can bring that girl along.”
Merlin glanced at Cass with a hint of amusement, shaking his head. “The interesting kid I meant isn’t the girl, though she’s certainly impressive. Her clown spirit is strong, and she might have powerful hidden tricks, but she doesn’t compare to the other one, the boy.”
“The boy?” Cass frowned, puzzled. “He’s got some moves, sure, took down Kaimis, but that’s it, right? His spellbook looks pathetic.”
“Exactly. That spellbook is thin, small, seemingly incomplete, and white. I’ve been a mage for seventy years and never seen such a shoddy spellbook,” Merlin said, chuckling. His wrinkled face grew serious. “But he only awakened four days ago.”
As the mage guarding the Tower of Magic Books, Merlin remembered clearly. Four days ago, a boy named Wade, full of promise, arrived at the tower at dawn, waiting for a spellbook to choose him. But from morning to night, none did. Merlin had offered him some concern, watching as Wade left, crestfallen.
Later, Merlin heard about the so-called worst spellbook in history.
Spellbooks had to awaken in the Tower of Magic Books, meaning Wade had awakened, likely during Merlin’s nap or a moment of inattention. With thousands of spellbooks in the tower, he couldn’t notice every detail.
Merlin had felt deep regret then, a feeling that lingered until he saw Ye Chui’s fight from afar using spatial magic.
Four days, the worst spellbook, yet he defeated a mage awakened for four years.
If that wasn’t interesting, what was?
Cass’s eyes widened in surprise. After a moment, he turned toward where Ye Chui and Debbie had gone, murmuring, “So, two interesting kids.”
…
“Beating Kaimis a second time only gave me five points!”
Back at their small wooden cabin, Ye Chui sat at the living room table, studying his spellbook. Debbie had climbed to the attic, where occasional noises indicated she was tidying her new room, where she’d stay in the coming days.
“The first time I beat Kaimis, I got eleven points. This time, though I used a new spell and the fight was more exciting, Kaimis himself hadn’t improved, so the points halved,” Ye Chui mused, piecing together the pattern of earning points.
He had seventeen points left, enough to download another spell.
“Now I need to seriously prepare for my duel with Riken in six days. Riken’s spellbook is fire-based, with the spells [Flame] and [Flame Snake]. Mastering two spells in a month is impressive, but he likely won’t learn more in the next few days. So, I’ll face a Riken using those two spells.”
Among the nine basic magical elements, there were clear relationships of strength and weakness. Earth counters water, wind counters earth, light and dark counter each other, and obviously, water counters fire.
To defeat Riken’s fire magic, Ye Chui’s next spell choice was clear.
He opened the app store, found the water element spells, and located Kaimis’s [Water Snake Dance]. After spending fifteen points, he downloaded and installed it.
“The biggest gain from this fight was discovering the iPad’s camera function can lock onto targets. That’s like a spell in itself, like [Safety Guard],” Ye Chui thought, opening the camera. He knew being a mage wasn’t just about mastering strong spells. You needed skill to cast them effectively. “Having a gun doesn’t make you invincible. You need to hit the target.”
“But to master [Target Lock], I need practice.”
Speaking of practice targets…
Ye Chui grinned and shouted to the attic, “Debbie, can I borrow your Xiululu?”
