My Magic Will Make You... Sorry

"Um... is the address Senior Yifang gave me really this place? It looks so ordinary..." Holding the note Luo Yifang had left her that day, Saten Ruiko stood in front of his apartment building.

After looking around and finding nothing unusual, Saten Ruiko gathered her courage and stepped through the apartment entrance—for a middle school girl, entering a man's room was truly difficult...

A knock sounded at the door. Luo Yifang, who was sitting on the sofa drinking a bottle of Otaku Joy Water, froze for a moment, wondering who would come looking for him.

"Hello, is this Senior Yifang's home? I'm Saten Ruiko."

Uh... I nearly forgot about this... Luo Yifang tapped his head. Why did his supposedly perfect memory seem increasingly unreliable...

Opening the door, Luo Yifang invited Saten Ruiko inside and had her sit down. She curiously looked over his residence. "Senior Yifang's place... really is quite distinctive..."

"Oh, you mean all that gaming equipment? It took a lot of effort to put together." Luo Yifang smiled. "What would you like to drink? Juice, cola, or black tea?"

"Juice, please. Thank you."

Before long, Luo Yifang brought out two glasses of juice. After handing one to Saten Ruiko, he sat across from her and asked, "You came to see me today because you've decided to learn magic?"

Saten Ruiko hesitated for a moment before asking, "Senior Yifang... does magic really exist?"

Luo Yifang made a surprised sound. "You haven't tried it? It's only been a day, but you should've tried meditation by now."

In Azeroth, meditation was actually a method mage apprentices used to sense Arcane Energy. True mages rarely used such a method to restore their mana.

The reason Luo Yifang found it strange was that he had given that manual to Saten Ruiko, yet she had not even tried it... That didn't suit this girl's personality at all...

"Um... well, Senior Yifang..." Saten Ruiko stammered.

Seeing her expression and thinking of the recent AIM Diffusion Virus incident, Luo Yifang realized that he had been too hasty. Saten Ruiko might have been very interested in such things, but after going through an event like that, immediately asking her to do something else unknown was asking too much.

"Sorry, I didn't think it through." Luo Yifang apologized to Saten Ruiko. This time, he really had been in the wrong.

Saten Ruiko gritted her teeth, but still asked Luo Yifang, "Um, Senior, if I may ask... why haven't you learned magic yourself, if something like magic exists?"

"Me?" Luo Yifang pointed at himself, then smiled. "Because I can't learn it!"

Of course, learning magic was not difficult for Luo Yifang. He simply could not use it for some peculiar reason. In terms of knowledge alone, he could be considered one of Azeroth's top archmages, and no one in Dalaran, the City of Mages, could match him.

"Huh? Why not?"

After trying again, Luo Yifang had finally figured out why he could not use magic. Just as Paqi had said, this world possessed both arcane and elemental power. Since there was nothing wrong with the spells themselves, the only possible problem was Luo Yifang himself.

Luo Yifang's second ability, which he had named "Energy Absorption," absorbed all magical energy that came near him like a bottomless black hole. So even if Luo Yifang recited the correct incantation and drew the correct magic circle, he could not use magic. The instant those elements gathered toward him, they were absorbed completely.

Although he knew where the problem lay, Luo Yifang still had no way to solve it, because even he did not know how to turn off that absurd absorption ability.

"If even Senior can't learn it, then how could I possibly..." The moment she heard Luo Yifang's reason, Saten Ruiko wilted.

"Hey, hey, hey, don't lose heart so quickly. I can't use it because my own ability prevents me from doing so. Anyway, just try following what I say first."

And so, under Luo Yifang's guidance, Saten Ruiko began her path of learning magic, half convinced and half doubtful.

"Focus. Use the method described in the book to connect with Arcane Energy..."

"But... Senior, I can't feel anything at all..."

"Don't talk. Feel it with your heart." Luo Yifang tapped Saten Ruiko on the head.

Wincing in pain, Saten Ruiko immediately shut her mouth and calmed herself, trying to sense the wondrous power Luo Yifang had described.

Half an hour later, Saten Ruiko opened her eyes with delight and said to Luo Yifang, "Senior Yifang, I saw them... those wonderful violet lights."

Luo Yifang nodded. He had not expected Saten Ruiko's talent for magic to be this good. Could this be why she had always been Level 0?

"Very good. Now try guiding that energy into your body and gathering it there."

Saten Ruiko was a little scared. "Senior Yifang, nothing will go wrong, right? It's unknown energy, after all... Could it have radiation or something?"

Luo Yifang did not know whether to laugh or cry. If it had radiation, then since they were exposed to it every day, wouldn't they have kicked the bucket long ago? Would they still be waiting for her to bring it into her body?

"Don't worry. As long as you don't abuse it, Arcane Energy is very stable." Luo Yifang thought to himself, At least it's far better than Fel Energy.

Finally, under Luo Yifang's guidance, Saten Ruiko successfully absorbed a small cluster of Arcane Energy. In a sense, she could already be considered half a mage apprentice.

Afterward, Luo Yifang had Saten Ruiko continue absorbing Arcane Energy on her own. After all, aside from him, no one in this world knew how to use arcane power. The energy accumulated over countless years had made the concentration of arcane power unprecedentedly high.

Before long, Saten Ruiko stopped meditating. She felt an indescribable sense of swelling, and she was afraid that if she kept absorbing energy, she would burst like a balloon with a POP.

"Senior Yifang, I don't think I can absorb any more." Saten Ruiko scratched her head awkwardly. After all, in her eyes, lasting for such a short time certainly did not seem like exceptional talent.

"So soon?" This time, Luo Yifang was genuinely shocked. Aside from an extremely small number of exceptions, humans just beginning to learn magic all had almost the same magical capacity. But the difficulty and speed of absorbing arcane power depended on race and talent!

Judging by Saten Ruiko's absorption speed, Luo Yifang felt that aside from several famous, genius-level archmages in Azeroth when they had first begun learning magic, everyone else would probably be left dozens of streets behind.

Of course, the speed of absorbing energy was not the sole measure of a person's magical talent. There was also control over arcane power. Rhonin, that loser, had a tremendous amount of mana in his body, yet found it difficult to control.

"Try this. We'll use the simplest arcane spell—Mage Hand." Luo Yifang had Saten Ruiko try a small spell.

Thinking over the contents of the manual, Saten Ruiko did not spend much effort before gathering a pale blue hand.

Good grief, an Arcane Prodigy... Did I just stumble onto a monster? Luo Yifang sucked in a cold breath.