Chương 28: Magic

Before dawn the next morning, Li Qinwu stood upon the ramparts of Gobu-Fort. He sucked in his gut and bellowed a roar that echoed through the castle:" WITHIN THREE METERS!!" His voice roused the sleeping humans, many of whom peered out of their windows in alarm. Li Qinwu still had them living inside the castle for ease of management—once the gates were shut, it was essentially a giant, high-security prison. He stood waiting. Minutes later, a frantic, disheveled Hana Duranyin came running.

Her hair was a mess, her robes were haphazardly thrown on, and the dark circles under her eyes suggested she hadn't slept a wink. Being summoned before dawn clearly triggered her "morning grumpiness." Li Qinwu studied her. After being called "stinky" yesterday, the magical girl had clearly scrubbed herself raw. Even her mage robes and boots looked cleaned. She looked significantly more radiant.

"Jie-jie-jie-jie!" Li Qinwu laughed weirdly and leaned in close, stepping behind her to rest his hands on her shoulders. Hana froze. Is it happening today after all? she thought. I shouldn't have cleaned myself up out of spite! Foul odors were my only protection! As her mind raced with dark thoughts, Li Qinwu leaned into her ear.

"Miss Hana..." His warm breath hit her ear, giving her instant goosebumps.

"Teach me magic."

"Guh! I will never yield to—wait, what did you say?" Li Qinwu spread his hands.

"I said, teach me magic. Why is your face so red, Miss Hana? Were you thinking about something... strange?"

"Ah... that... uh..." Hana was at a loss. This was not the development she expected. In truth, Li Qinwu was also frustrated. This magical girl was beautiful and he was tempted, but the problem was his biology. Natural-born goblin offspring were emotionless monsters. He couldn't bear the thought of raising children who were literal man-eaters—creatures he couldn't talk to or look toward the future with, and who would eventually try to kill him the moment they were strong enough.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. Fortunately, he had the Mount & Blade system. In the game, you could marry female lords. Children born through system-certified marriage had a fixed 100 relationship with their father, became upgradable NPCs, and could govern towns or lead armies. In other words, "system kids" were functional humans. However, to marry someone, they had to be a female Lord. Hana was currently a captive NPC with low favorability.

She wasn't eligible yet. So, for now, "the business" was off the table—this is a story on a mainstream platform, after all; writing "forbidden content" would get the story locked in the "Little Black Room"! Once Hana was sure he wasn't going to pounce, she began explaining magic. It involved magic particles scattered in the air. To use them, one had to use "Magic Script" to store mana in the body and then arrange those characters in specific patterns to manifest the spell.

"To learn magic, you must first learn the Human Common Tongue, then Ancient Elven, and finally the Magic Script itself," she explained.

"Why can't I just learn the script directly?" Li Qinwu asked. Hana looked at him like he was an idiot.

"Common Tongue is a derivative of Ancient Elven, and Ancient Elven is a derivative of the Magic Script. It's said the script was used by the gods; every character contains the laws of the universe. To master its mysteries, you must understand how language flows. Jumping straight to the script is like building a tower without a foundation. You won't get far." The explanation was clear. Li Qinwu nodded.

"Then teach me the Common Tongue first." Hana trembled with indignation, but could only huff in response. She thought this goblin was being naive—languages across different species were vastly different due to physiology and culture. It wasn't as simple as learning a second language on Earth. Li Qinwu wasn't worried. He could dump points into Intelligence and Magic Specialization—with these cheats, learning a foreign tongue was trivial.

He took Hana for a stroll around the territory, pointing at things and asking for their names in the Common Tongue. Hana was stunned by his dedication.

"What branch of magic do you want to learn?" she asked. Li Qinwu's eyes sparkled.

"Is there Wood magic to increase crop yields? Or Earth magic to move stones directly into habitable housing? Or maybe Fire magic that can provide constant heat for smelting or boiling water?" Hana recoiled in a tactical lean.

"What are you talking about?! Sacred magic used for... peasant work? Don't you want to learn Fireballs, Lightning Bolts, or spells that can manipulate minds and change the weather?" Li Qinwu's face lit up.

"Magic can change the weather? Then mages can create artificial rain to boost agriculture!" Hana gasped.

"You... you really want to learn magic just for these trivial things?" Li Qinwu was baffled. Trivial? This is national development! He looked at her seriously. Hana wore her pride like a cloak, a result of years in an ivory tower. He suspected that in the human world, mages were high-status elites who learned magic not for production, but for social standing—much like the ancient Imperial Examinations, meant for gaining office rather than scientific research.

The two looked at each other, both feeling a deep sense of disdain for the other's worldview.