Costs Extra

"Not bad, not bad. I didn't expect you to be a genius!"

Psyche pinched Frederick's cheek, looking thoroughly satisfied.

An ice mirror stood in the stone pavilion. Frederick stared at the ten ping-pong-ball-sized elemental spheres of different colors circling above his head, his face darkening. He recognized nine of them, but one was completely unfamiliar.

"Using Mental Power to drive magical elements is like tightening screws," Psyche explained from the side. "Different magical elements are like different screw heads—flathead, Phillips, hexagonal. Mental Power is the screwdriver. You can force things through with brute strength, but using the right screwdriver for the right screw takes the least effort."

"Some people can use only one kind of magic, while others can specialize in several, or even master multiple schools. The reason is whether their Mental Power is naturally compatible with magical elements, and whether they can learn through practice to use techniques to drive other magical elements."

Frederick immediately said in Mandarin, "The way '10' is written in this world isn't made by crossing a horizontal and vertical stroke."

Yet Psyche reacted just as she always had, treating it as though she had not heard it.

Frederick was helpless. This mysterious figure occasionally hinted that she knew about another world, but she had never taken his probing seriously.

That left Frederick deeply frustrated. For a time, he could not tell whether she was also a transmigrator or possessed some kind of mind-reading magic.

Psyche continued with a smile, "I never expected that you would not only be compatible with the nine common magical elements—metal, wood, water, fire, earth, wind, lightning, light, and darkness—but could even control the rare Annihilation Element. In a novel, that sort of talent is something only the protagonist gets."

Frederick asked doubtfully, "Excuse me, is this 'Annihilation' also a type of magical element? I've never heard of it before."

Psyche crossed her arms smugly. "There's plenty you haven't heard of. Have you heard of the Space Element? It can achieve antigravity, teleportation, and opening spatial gates."

Frederick's eyes immediately lit up. If magic like that truly existed, wouldn't he be set for life?

"Don't get ahead of yourself." Psyche poured cold water over him. "Why don't you think about why you had never heard of these magical elements before?"

Frederick froze. That was true. Even the rarest magic should have left behind some fragmentary records. It might even have been specially documented precisely because it was rare. It should have come up while he was reading books or chatting with Aumert and the others, so why had there been no mention of it at all before now?

He sank into thought, and the little magical-element spheres above his head all exploded after losing control.

Frederick was blasted dizzy. He reached up to touch his head—he had gone bald, but had not grown stronger—and burst into tears with a wail.

Suppressing her laughter, Psyche extended her glowing hands and rubbed his head for a while. Shortly afterward, his hair follicles were stimulated, and his hair grew back.

"I told you already," Psyche said with a smile. "For now, you need to practice keeping ten elemental spheres constantly rotating around your head. You cannot lose focus for even a moment."

"Controlling magical elements comes from practice. It requires a long time to train. Only when it becomes nearly instinctive will you be able to cast spells faster than others in the future, while also multitasking. I generally do not tell others this method."

"You will definitely learn Composite Magic in the future. That requires precisely controlling two or more magical elements at the same time. Make one mistake, and it will explode right in your face."

As she spoke, she took a ring from the sleeve of her long dress and handed it to Frederick. The gemstone set into its face was gray, with starlight glittering within.

Frederick's face immediately turned red. He fidgeted and said, "This... I'm only eight this year... It's too early... Um..."

Though he said that, his right hand reached out, and he even raised his ring finger.

"Trying to marry an older woman, are you?" Psyche kneaded his face like dough for a full twenty minutes.

When Frederick was finally released, tears had come to his eyes. He wiped them away, took the ring, and began studying the Magic Crystal set into it.

There were two kinds of magical-element energy obtained from nature in this world. One was Magic Crystals mined like minerals, while the other was Magic Cores that grew on the skulls of magical beasts.

According to current theory, both Magic Crystals and Magic Cores were magical-energy crystals formed when dense magical elements gathered for a long time and altered the properties of surrounding matter. Once a crystal core formed, it would continuously absorb nearby magical elements and gradually grow.

Places containing Magic Crystal mines had extremely high concentrations of their corresponding magical elements. For example, regions with volcanic activity produced Fire Magic Crystals, mountaintops contained Wind Magic Crystals, and fishermen occasionally dredged up Water Magic Crystals from the bottoms of rivers and lakes while catching fish.

Magical beasts instinctively gathered magical elements into their bodies, with the greatest concentration in their heads. Thus, Magic Cores formed on their skulls when their bones crystallized into Magic Crystals.

These Magic Cores were all acquired after birth. Even among the same species of magical beast, the position of the Magic Core on the skull could vary slightly.

The color of a Magic Crystal was determined by the type and concentration of magical elements within it. The higher the concentration, the darker the color. Top-grade Magic Crystals were almost completely opaque.

However, gray Magic Crystals and Magic Crystals that glittered with starlight were unheard of, and its elemental concentration was frighteningly high.

"Put it on," Psyche said as she sat on a stone bench with a teacup in her hands. "If you've got the nerve, put it on your ring finger."

"This is an Annihilation Element Magic Crystal. Start by learning to control the magical element."

She took a sip of tea, thought for a moment, and then said seriously, "I'll give you a long-term assignment. Explain why there are so many different magical elements in this world, and what causes this phenomenon. If you can explain that question, I'll answer something you are interested in."

"I do not accept hypotheses. You need experimental data to prove your theory."

"Work hard. Richard Nahl and many others are researching this question. I promised them that whoever can answer it may become my true disciple."

Frederick put the ring on the middle finger of his left hand, then held his teacup and drank while thinking.

A moment later, he looked at Psyche and asked with a frown, "So the entry requirement for learning your real skills is mastering the essence of magical elements?"

"Clever little fellow," Psyche answered with a smile. "Wrong."

Frederick was stunned, then heard Psyche say, "Among the many forms of magic, there is another kind that does not require magical elements."

"Soul Magic!" Frederick cried in surprise. "Magic driven by pure Mental Power! You specialize in that?!"

Psyche nodded and continued drinking tea.

Soul Magic was not unfamiliar to the people of this world. The magic Beast Tamers used to command their companion beasts was one branch of Soul Magic.

Monoflo at Weissenburg University was a Beast Tamer. He currently kept a lynx as his companion beast, though it was as fat as an orange tabby and had already become a campus pet.

Soul Magic also had offensive, control, support, and illusion branches. Since its casting did not have the flashy windup effects of other elemental magic, it was extremely difficult to guard against.

Frederick's face darkened terribly as he demanded angrily, "Did you read my memories?"

Psyche rolled her eyes at him and said disdainfully, "Are you some shameless harem king or a lovesick mermaid? Are you worth looking into?"

Frederick was instantly speechless.

The next moment, he put on a sycophantic smile and said in a sickeningly fawning voice, "Teacher Psyche, please teach me Soul Magic."

Soul Magic was practically ideal for ambushing people in battle. He would definitely face all sorts of fights in the future, so learning some could only help.

"Sure." Psyche immediately agreed. "But I came here to teach you the basics of magic. If you want to learn Soul Magic as an extra, it'll cost extra!"

Frederick's face instantly fell. He had no money left.

"Can I buy on credit?" he asked pitifully. "I'm planning to unlock Papermaking and Printing, and I can use the profits from those two businesses as collateral."

Psyche lowered her head and drank her tea, ignoring him.

Frederick had no choice but to ask, "Then... can I pay with my body?"

"Fine!" Psyche nodded in agreement. "I want braised pork every day!"