The Art of Language

Nortonholt, capital of Nortonholt County.

In a dimly lit room within the Count's estate, Countess Serina Nightthorn was holding a secret meeting.

Dark green curtains blocked prying eyes from outside, while the flames dancing in the fireplace cast shifting shadows across her body.

Around thirty years old, she reclined sideways against a dark velvet sofa.

One arm rested casually along the back of the sofa, supporting her chin, while several strands of her raven-black hair fell over her full breasts.

Her deep ink-colored velvet gown flowed like the night, outlining her lush, graceful figure.

Her ice-blue eyes were half-lidded as they rested seemingly carelessly on the black-clad man kneeling before her.

Her red lips parted slightly.

"Has it been handled?"

"My lady, as you instructed, I gave that boy a vial of Dreamweaver Spider extract and told him it could increase the chances of Bloodline Awakening."

"Did he drink it?" Serina's voice was soft.

"Probably..."

She cut him off coldly.

"Probably?" The warmth in her voice plummeted. "So you didn't see him drink it?"

Jared felt his chest tighten.

He instinctively wanted to raise his head and defend himself—only to find his gaze met the faintly visible long, beautiful legs hidden in the shadows of her gown, and higher still...

Just imagining it was enough to make his blood rush.

Slap.

A sharp slap echoed through the study.

Jared grunted, clutching his right cheek as it immediately reddened and swelled. The burning pain made his vision darken.

He hurriedly explained, "Mistress, please calm your anger! The Atmesia Family is destined to perish. That brat does not have many years left! None of his forebears lived past twenty-five. I heard his health is far worse than his father's and uncle's!"

Slap.

The second slap cut short his self-righteous excuse.

Serina's voice was icy. "Idiot. That isn't what I want to hear. You cannot even handle such a trivial matter properly—what use are you? Get to Plint and confirm whether he is alive or dead with your own eyes."

"Yes, Mistress."

Jared did not dare delay for even a moment. He did not even have time to straighten himself before scrambling toward the door on hands and feet.

At the very moment Jared fled the study in disgrace, deep within a forest thousands of miles away.

As the morning mist was gradually consumed by the rising warmth, He Xi's taut nerves finally eased slightly.

The mother bear, as huge as a small hill, merely gave them a lazy glance before closing her eyes again, apparently unconcerned by the two "little bugs" trespassing in her territory.

At that moment, however, a "smaller" Earth Bear was curiously studying the man and dog before it.

It was about the size of an ordinary adult brown bear, but within the Earth Bear's long life cycle, it truly counted as only a cub.

It tilted its head, amber eyes brimming with curiosity.

Before it passed from its juvenile stage into the next stage, it would roam through various forests with its mother.

It had only just awakened from its last hibernation, and this was also its first time encountering humans at such close range.

For He Xi, this was simply the best opportunity he had seen so far!

He first gently patted Bruce's tense body and said softly, "Relax. Leave it to me."

Fortunately, he had prepared in advance.

Steadying himself, he rummaged through his shoulder bag and pulled out a bag of honey-soaked rye balls wrapped in oil paper.

A sweet fragrance spread through the air.

The "little fellow's" nose immediately twitched.

It clumsily stood up and stared fixedly at the bag in He Xi's hand.

He Xi estimated that if the other party truly wanted to smack him a few times, he would not be able to escape anyway. Besides, the Earth Bear was a master of earth magic.

He gathered his courage and stepped forward.

In Earth Bear Tuen's understanding, this sweet-smelling fellow before it was undoubtedly the same as the Honey Dew Sprites from its dreams who brought delicious food.

It beckoned with its paw, trying its best to appear friendly, afraid of frightening the human before it.

Seeing its reaction, He Xi sighed in relief.

It seemed that even a young bear blessed with the mighty power of earth could not resist its craving for sweets.

Tuen accepted the oil-paper package with its enormous paw and eagerly brought it to its mouth.

Amid satisfied "Grrr... snort..." sounds, it hugged the package and swallowed all the honey-soaked rye balls in two or three bites, as though eating crunchy peas.

It even crumpled the oil paper into a ball, chewed it with several crunches, then spat it out with a "Ptoo."

[Earth Bear · Tuen's Favorability toward you has increased. Parsing Points +2]

He Xi felt greatly encouraged. His attempt had paid off.

That meant he only had to... repeat this process another two hundred and fifty-nine times to gather enough for one draw.

Please provide the text you would like me to translate or revise. I am ready to process it according to your instructions.

Two hundred and fifty honey-soaked rye balls? He was afraid he would give the thing diabetes!

Though speechless, He Xi quickly calmed down.

Different species granted different amounts of Parsing Points for Favorability. As a high-level magical beast, the Earth Bear's traits were naturally powerful ones.

If he could draw one, it might solve his current predicament.

Five hundred and twenty Parsing Points was unrealistic to obtain merely by feeding it things and greeting it.

Killing it was even more impossible.

Helping the target grow or break through...

As he remembered, this species took more than a hundred years to progress from the juvenile stage to the growth stage. By then, he had no idea where he would be playing in the mud.

Besides, he had no way to help it grow.

Seeing He Xi's tightly furrowed brow and solemn expression, Bruce tried to comfort him. A soft whimper came from his throat as his furry head pressed against He Xi's leg and rubbed against it.

Looking at his companion, He Xi suddenly recalled Bruce's distant dream of becoming a mage.

Even with [Nortonholt Common Tongue], having Bruce learn magic was obviously unrealistic. The requirements for a mage's talent were extremely demanding.

But Earth Bears were naturally gifted. If Tuen possessed [Nortonholt Common Tongue], could it learn magic?

He did not hesitate any longer.

Thanks to its mother's upbringing, Tuen was a polite Earth Bear.

After finishing its food, Tuen seemed to want to express its gratitude. It clumsily extended its massive bear paw and gently held He Xi's hand.

He Xi immediately seized the opportunity.

[You have consumed 10 Parsing Points to exchange for the trait: Nortonholt Common Tongue]

[You have selected target: Earth Bear · Tuen]

[Granting target trait—Nortonholt Common Tongue]

Tuen said, "Grrr... hmm... huff... um... Delicious. Thank you!"

Tuen: "?"

Tuen's Mother: "?"

Tuen abruptly covered its mouth, its eyes widening into circles.

Not far away, the mother bear, huge as a small hill, suddenly stiffened and instantly opened her eyes.

He Xi's heart pounded wildly as he hurriedly explained, "Honored Earth Guardian, please do not misunderstand. I mean no harm. This is merely a small language spell."