The Origin of Magic

Upon hearing that voice, Fini and Chen Cheng both turned to look behind them.

Chen Cheng wanted to see who this arrogant Donald Duck was.

Then he saw a little boy dressed in exquisite silk clothes, walking toward Chen Cheng with his hands behind his back and a disdainful expression on his face.

Beside him followed a... rather, a giant. A giant over two meters tall, with knotted muscles all over his body, arms thicker than an adult's thighs, and a somewhat simple-looking face.

When Coles reached Chen Cheng, he glanced at him and said:

"Good dogs don't block the road. Get lost."

Chen Cheng had not expected this little brat to be so arrogant. In this life, aside from suffering a little when Scorpio's slave-catching team had captured him, he had never endured such humiliation—not even during those days when he had fled through the deep mountains and old forests.

Chen Cheng immediately fired back:

"Where did this little duckling that hasn't even weaned yet come from? Why does it go quack, quack, quack the moment it opens its mouth?"

Then Chen Cheng lowered his head a little before finally spotting little Coles's face. He put on an apologetic expression and said:

"Ah, please forgive my lofty gaze. I actually failed to notice such a tiny bean sprout. How embarrassing."

Those words struck straight at little Coles's heart. His father, Baron William, had often been troubled by his own height, yet the son he had produced was also a little dwarf.

And Chen Cheng had not merely mocked his height—he had mocked his voice as well.

That was the pain in the heart of a child his age, so Chen Cheng's words had directly jabbed at Coles's reverse scale and sore spot.

Fini let out a snicker when she heard that.

"Did you hear that? A little duckling that hasn't weaned yet."

After saying that, Fini even imitated a duck and quacked twice.

Coles's little face had already turned bright red with rage. He pointed at Chen Cheng with his tiny hand, stammering "you, you, you," unable to form a complete sentence—especially after hearing the other students unable to hold back their laughter.

He had never imagined that a slave would dare be so arrogant, daring to insult him, the dignified son of a Baron.

Could this slave not see the exquisite silk clothes he wore? Was that something a slave could mock? And that bitch Fini too.

In the end, the little boy merely shouted "Hit him!" at the hulking man beside him. Then a fist truly the size of a sandbag, attached to an arm thicker than Chen Cheng's thigh, came crashing toward Chen Cheng's face.

Before Chen Cheng could activate his wise brain and use every law of physics to calculate the best evasive maneuver, he knew nothing at all.

When Chen Cheng woke again, the first thing he saw was Fini's anxious little face.

When Fini saw that Chen Cheng had awakened, the anxiety on her face turned to delight. She waved her little hand before him and asked:

"Little Slave, are you all right?"

Chen Cheng shook his head to show that he was fine, though his head still felt rather dizzy.

He only remembered that arrogant little brat telling the hulking man to hit him. He had wanted to clear the names of the great forebears of physics, and then... then he knew nothing.

Seeing him shake his head to indicate that he was fine, Fini finally relaxed somewhat. Then her pretty face turned angry.

"Little Slave, don't worry. Coles and that big brute of his were both taught a lesson by Teacher Melinda. Teacher Melinda also used healing magic to heal the injury on your face. Once this young lady learns magic, I'll definitely avenge you."

Chen Cheng sat up from the bed and looked around at the room's furnishings before asking curiously, "Where is this?"

"Oh, here? This is your room from now on, Little Slave. This young lady's room is right next door.

Starting today, this young lady is officially a student of Huidun Academy. We'll be staying here for an entire term of study."

Fini then began introducing the dormitory's layout to Chen Cheng.

Meanwhile, in the academy's boys' dormitory, Coles and his hulking companion were sitting in their room, staring blankly ahead in frustration.

Just after the big brute had knocked Chen Cheng unconscious, their future homeroom teacher, Melinda, had witnessed Coles ordering him to attack.

Melinda had then scolded him mercilessly in front of everyone and even recorded a demerit against him.

This time, the Baron's son had truly lost face beyond all measure. First, he had been mocked and ridiculed by a slave; then, even after retaliating, he had been reprimanded by his own teacher.

Coles slammed a fist into the wall and roared angrily:

"Fini, you little bitch! And that lowly bastard too! I, Coles, will never let either of you off!"

"@#...%*&￥*&"

The hulking man beside him also roared angrily.

When Chen Cheng and Fini went to magic class the next day, they discovered that all the little mages in the class were looking at them strangely. After all, in their eyes, Chen Cheng was merely a lowly slave.

Yet yesterday, he had made Coles look bad. He had mocked him openly and even insulted him somewhat. That counted as major news within the academy.

It was the first time in all these years that they had seen a slave behave so arrogantly—and his master had even allowed such behavior to run unchecked.

After watching Fini enter the classroom, Chen Cheng stood waiting outside in the corridor, just like the slaves accompanying the other students. Slaves like them had no right to enter and attend class.

Very soon, Chen Cheng saw a tall, graceful figure coming down the corridor. Golden, lightly curled long hair fell to her waist; her delicate face was as exquisite as an elf's; and her fiery, voluptuous body was so perfect it seemed almost unreal. She was simply a peerless beauty among mortals.

The sound of Melinda's white high-heeled boots striking the floor was exceptionally crisp. When she reached Chen Cheng, she stopped.

Then she bent down slightly, bringing her exquisite, beautiful face closer to him. Her lovely pale-golden eyes narrowed, and a fragrant breeze drifted toward Chen Cheng.

"Mm, you've recovered very well. It seems I didn't apply my healing magic to the wrong place yesterday."

Only then did Chen Cheng realize that this peerless beauty before him was Teacher Melinda, who had treated him yesterday.

Under Melinda's close gaze, Chen Cheng felt somewhat shy. His eyes inadvertently drifted slightly downward, where he caught a glimpse of springtime, and his face immediately reddened as he said:

"Thank you, Teacher Melinda, for saving me yesterday."

Seeing Chen Cheng's shy cheeks and his sincere, fluent words, Melinda was slightly stunned.

Then, like a mature older sister, Melinda reached out with her slender jade-like hand and stroked Chen Cheng's head.

"It's all right. Coles was too much yesterday as well. If you still feel any discomfort, you can tell Teacher."

Melinda reached out and touched the spot where Chen Cheng had been struck. Then she leaned her face closer to his, and Chen Cheng could already feel the sweet fragrance of her breath.

Before Chen Cheng could lose his grip on himself and entertain thoughts he should not have had,

Melinda whispered into his ear:

"Would you like Teacher to help remove the collar around your neck?"

Before Chen Cheng could answer, Melinda had already straightened up. She smiled at him, then walked into the classroom.

Though Chen Cheng was no longer a virgin mentally, his heart was pounding wildly. To be honest, Melinda had been far too seductive just now. Especially for someone whose mind had already matured, it was simply lethal.

Inside the classroom, the little mages all respectfully stood when Melinda entered and greeted her, "Hello, Teacher."

Chen Cheng calmed himself down, then leaned against the windowsill and looked into the classroom.

In the corridors outside other classrooms, any slaves who tried to peer through the windows would be driven away by the instructor. Then a barrier spell would directly seal off the classroom, ensuring that not even the slightest sound of the lecture could travel outside.

But here, Melinda merely narrowed her eyes and glanced at Chen Cheng before no longer paying him any attention.

"Little mages, please turn to the first lesson of magical education. Today, we will discuss the origin of magic:

In ancient times, the gods..."

After that, only Melinda's lecturing voice remained in the classroom, while Chen Cheng listened to the entire lesson from outside.

Although Chen Cheng had already accepted the existence of an energy called magic in this world, he neither agreed nor disagreed with Melinda's claim in class that magic originated from gods.

Though Chen Cheng had not seen much magic and had never systematically studied it, he had always believed that magic was still a form of energy, and it still had to obey the law of conservation of energy.

And when it came to energy, he felt that he had quite a bit of authority to speak on the matter.

As long as energy existed in this world, it had to obey the law of conservation of energy. Before his rebirth, humanity's understanding of the universe's matter and energy accounted for less than ten percent of the universe's total mass. The remaining ninety percent was unknown, named dark matter and dark energy.

Therefore, this so-called magical energy was very likely a form of dark energy that humans on Earth had not yet developed or understood. That could also explain why the mediums used here to conduct magical energy were not merely gold, silver, copper, and iron.

As for how mages could use magical energy to summon wind and rain, in his eyes, that was merely another form of energy conversion. It was simply that the energy conversion formulas they used differed from the conventional conversion methods Chen Cheng knew, so he did not agree with the claim that magical energy came from gods.

Of course, he would not voice these conclusions. There had been countless pioneers of science, and there were no few tales of their sacrificing themselves for righteousness. Chen Cheng admired those great forebears, but he did not want to become one of them.