The Disciple Is Dull-Witted

Too abstract!

This could work too?

Who exactly was the transmigrator here—you or me?

I'd seen people court death, but never anyone this good at it!

Even though Lein was not from this world, he knew perfectly well how difficult it was to create magic from scratch.

In just one day, his good disci(eldest disci)ple had touched an electrical switch, cast Electric Claw, and created magic. That string of insane stunts had nearly scared his master into having a heart attack.

Lein muttered to himself, "I'm not trying to criticize you, Downs, but someone as determined to get himself killed as you would never survive past Chapter Three in an online novel without some absurd luck backing him up!"

His disciple was so freakishly talented that Lein was genuinely scared.

If he had not discovered that the system's teaching points could be used in a shop to strengthen the teacher, he truly would have wanted to quit.

Ha! It wasn't as if he coveted achievement rewards like Imperial Teacher or Divine Teacher. He was simply curious about what the thing preceded by a question mark, [20cm], actually was.

Still, a disciple this eager to die could only be taught at noon.

Otherwise, something would happen sooner or later!

Before Downs kicked the bucket, Lein would squeeze out as many points as he could.

Lein seemed to have already foreseen his Eldest Disciple's death. After mentally preparing himself, he began giving Downs the cold shoulder.

Before long, Downs came running over eagerly, clearly intending to show off his achievement. Lein did not give him even the slightest friendly expression.

"Master, I just..."

"Do you think I wouldn't know about that little stunt of yours?" Without even turning around, Lein's icy words made Downs's facial muscles stiffen.

Normally, words like that were quite hurtful. In Lein's imagination, they were no different from dumping a bucket of cold water over Downs's head.

Downs's eyes widened in disbelief.

But what he thought of was something else: the place where he had formed the Magic Shield was at least five hundred meters from the pond! At that distance, even shouting might not be heard, right? His master's magical perception was actually this terrifying?

"I..."

Still angry and utterly unaware of his own mistake, the master remained in his fishing posture, like one of those shameless cheaters in online games who did not even bother pretending. Without turning back, he unleashed a harsh reprimand. "Having a little cleverness is better than having none, but being too clever will get you killed."

"Yes!" Downs hurriedly lowered his head.

As luck would have it, those stupidly adorable fish in the pond, unaware of the dangers of humanity, bit the hook again. With a flick of Lein's hand, a large fish weighing at least two pounds flew from the water on the line and smacked down in front of Downs.

Watching the fish flop wildly on the ground, Downs fell into a daze.

"Stop messing around with your useless magic from now on. Do chores properly until I'm satisfied. Scale and debone these fish, then grill them. Remember! Not one scale or fish bone is allowed to remain! And don't burn the fish like you did last night." Lein pointed at the fish on the ground, as well as the ones he had caught earlier and placed in the basket.

To put it bluntly, Lein was afraid that this monstrous disciple was too bizarre. Downs had produced miracle after miracle in succession, and Lein was worried he would come up with something else to scare him. So, he decided to leave the boy alone for a while.

Little did he know that, as a modern man from the Celestial Empire, he truly did not know how to make life difficult for someone.

When Downs had been a Knight Apprentice, he had even had to empty and scrub a knight lord's chamber pot. What was a bit of menial work compared to that?

"Understood, Master!"

Seeing the excited, almost delighted look in his Good Disciple's eyes, Lein's heart skipped another beat. He could not help asking, "Do you really understand?"

"I really understand."

Though he was a tiny bit worried that his bizarre disciple had misunderstood again... he could not possibly make something out of scaling a fish, could he?

Probably... perhaps...

No! There definitely wouldn't be a problem!

Lein patted his backside and slipped away, returning to the abandoned village to enjoy the shade beneath a large tree.

What was the point of having a disciple if not to put him to work?

Left behind, Downs stared blankly at the fish and thought to himself: What did I do wrong this time? Was the Magic Shield I created not good enough? No! It definitely wasn't that it was bad. If there had really been a problem, Master would have stopped me immediately, just like when I touched that electrical switch last night.

Why did Master forbid me from studying magic?

Downs could not help recalling Lein's teaching: "Basic knowledge is the most important thing. Without a solid foundation, every structure built above it is merely something erected on loose sand and can collapse at any moment."

Then Downs suddenly realized that when his master had left, he had not left behind the Tiny Knife used to scrape fish scales last night.

Wait! Without a knife, how was he supposed to remove the scales? Was he meant to pull them off one by one with his hands?

"No! How could someone as meticulous as Master forget to leave me the Tiny Knife!?"

The slightly deranged Downs did not know that this time, Lein really had forgotten.

Lein noticed it too while enjoying the cool shade, but he had no intention of correcting it. "Ha! I'll just call it a master making things difficult for his disciple. When he asks me for the knife, I can lecture him a few more times. Hehehe! It feels great to put on a master's airs and take out my frustration on a disciple!"

It was much the same as beating a child on a cloudy day just because one had nothing better to do.

But when it came to Downs, things took another strange turn.

"Master is best at teaching according to aptitude. Master said I was the worst disciple he had ever taught. I don't have the incredible talent of my senior brothers and Senior Sister. I may have comprehended magic, but my foundation is poor, and I cannot achieve true mastery. Last night, I only sensed the Wind Element almost after the time limit. This morning, I comprehended [Electric Claw], and just now I learned Thunder Shield. Master gave me no knife but told me to remove the scales. Could it be..."

As he muttered this, Downs suddenly shuddered. His eyes flew wide open, brimming with delight.

"Master! I understand!"

His Good Disciple's shout echoed across the Pondside.

"Master! Before learning more advanced magic, you want me to use [Electric Claw] to remove the scales, so I can properly train my elemental control this way!" Downs was so excited that two tears shot from the corners of his eyes. "Master! You're so good to me!"

No sooner thought than done.

The task might not have sounded difficult in Downs's imagination, but actually carrying it out was as hard as reaching the heavens.

This world was founded upon the Four Elements: Earth, Water, Fire, Wind. Among the Wind Element, lightning was undoubtedly the most active and difficult element to control.

Using a constantly writhing Electric Serpent as a knife to remove scales was geometrically more difficult than simply using a blade.

Yet this stubborn Young man actually did it.

First, he wrapped his right Index Finger in an air shield to prevent the Electric Current from flowing back and shocking him. Then he worked hard to control the current at his fingertip, compressing it into a Tiny Knife less than two centimeters long.

Simply maintaining that precise level of elemental output—not too strong, not too weak—took him nearly half an hour.

It left Downs drenched in sweat and nearly exhausted.

Only after resting for a full fifteen minutes did Downs officially begin scaling the fish.

He had to remove the scales without scorching the skin. That was even more outrageous than making Carved patterns on an eggshell!

At first, it took ten minutes to remove a single scale. Once he became familiar with it, Downs grew faster and faster. In the end, he could use all five fingers at once to peel away scales.

After finishing the fish, Downs immediately began worrying over his master's next requirement.

"Not burning it means... I need to use Mental Power to control the fire element and heat the fish evenly!?"

It had to be said, Downs truly possessed Enterprise-Level Understanding.

Having discovered that his master taught through everyday life, Downs's worship of him deepened another level.

He began manipulating what little Mental Power he had left, influencing the flames in the fire pit and making them spread as evenly as possible over the fish on the skewer.

It was nearly two in the afternoon by the time Downs brought over the grilled fish.

"Why did you take so long? Your master is practically starving." Lein grumbled in dissatisfaction. Seeing that the fish smelled delicious, had no scales left, and was not burnt, Lein did not lose his temper.

Faced with his master's dissatisfaction, Downs did not argue. Instead, he became even more convinced of his earlier assumption: My talent truly is inferior to that of my senior brothers and Senior Sister.

He bowed deeply, utterly convinced. "Master, I'm sorry! This disciple is dull-witted!"