Ron played a few rounds of Dou Dizhu in a daze.
Or rather, it was a modified version of Dou Dizhu—"Magic Duel."
In the end, he lost miserably.
Harper was well-versed in how magic from every element worked, and had a thorough grasp of how the elements reinforced and countered one another.
No matter what cards Ron played, Harper could find an incredibly tricky way to beat them.
Ron's Fire-element straight flush of "34567" was doused by Harper's single legendary Water-element spell, Ocean Domain.
His four Kings bomb was absorbed by Harper's "Little Joker," the Elemental God, Element, who then turned the tables and reflected the bomb back at him.
Ron didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
At first, he'd wanted to explain the rules again, but as they played, he decided there was no need. They were just playing for fun; there was no reason to take it too seriously.
Besides, the way Harper and Edith played was actually pretty interesting.
It was just that their magic skills completely overwhelmed him.
Only Edith could hold her own against Harper. Ron, a novice who hadn't even learned a single spell, couldn't compete with two seasoned mages in this regard.
In the end, Ron gave up his seat. Mason, who had just finished ordering, took his place, and the three mages began a true "Magic Duel" that was more evenly matched.
Mason and Edith's moves were fairly conventional, but Harper had an endless supply of bizarre ideas.
Mason played an Earth-element "8," the Tier Four spell Rock Bastion Shield.
Harper immediately played a Fire-element "5," the Tier Three spell Fire Dragon Technique, along with a Water-element "6," the Tier Three spell Heavenly Cluster Water Pillar.
Mason frowned. "That won't work, will it? Fire Dragon Technique and Heavenly Cluster Water Pillar combine into the Lightning-element Tier Three spell Heavenly Vertical Thunder Dragon. There's no way it can break through my Rock Bastion Shield head-on."
"Who said this was a combined spell?" Harper rolled his eyes. "Fire Dragon Technique and Heavenly Cluster Water Pillar attack the Rock Bastion Shield from two different directions. The temperature difference between the front and back will be so great that your shield will collapse from within. I've tested it before. If you don't believe me, go look up my report."
"Damn! That's a thing?" Mason looked unconvinced. "I thought Rock Bastion Shield was the strongest defense at Tier Four."
"How outdated is that idea of yours?" Harper scoffed. "Come on, keep going. Are you playing or not?"
Edith immediately played a Wind-element "K," the Tier Seven legendary spell Storm Tornado, crushing Harper's card with sheer power.
Harper grinned and played an Earth-element "3," the Second Order spell Burrowing Technique. "Storm Tornado is incredibly powerful, but it has one obvious weakness: the damage it does underground is negligible. Burrowing Technique lets you dodge it completely."
Sitting nearby, Ron saw the furrowed brows and thoughtful expressions on Edith and Mason's faces, and couldn't help bursting out laughing.
When he'd been the one getting crushed, he'd felt pretty aggrieved. But now, the whole thing struck him as hilarious.
It was killing him!
Just then, Lyle came out of the kitchen carrying the barbecue.
Mason immediately tossed his cards onto the table. "The barbecue's here. I'm done, I'm done!"
Edith followed suit, throwing down her cards. She even shuffled them around on the table until no one could tell which cards had been played and which hadn't. "Let's eat."
Harper smacked his lips, still not quite satisfied. But since Edith had said so, he put down his cards, though he still muttered, "I've got plenty of moves I haven't used yet..."
Ron laughed and shook his head as he gathered the Elemental Cards from the table.
"These Elemental Cards of yours are pretty interesting," Harper commented as he watched Ron put them away. "There just aren't enough spells yet. Otherwise, there'd probably be lots of combinations you could use."
That's not even how the game's supposed to be played... Ron rolled his eyes.
"Huh? This is barbecue?" Edith looked at the plate Lyle had brought over. It held a row of tempting, fragrant meat skewers that made her mouth water. Curious, she asked.
"This place's specialty is eating it this way. It's much better than regular barbecue," Mason explained. "And they use a special seasoning that's a hundred times better than salt! You'll see once you try it."
Harper and Edith were skeptical, but after one bite of the skewers, they were just as captivated by the delicious flavor as Mason had been.
"Mmm... this is so good." Edith blew on the hot skewer, slowly finished it, then immediately picked up another one from the table.
After eating one skewer, Harper picked up another and examined it carefully, murmuring to himself, "What kind of seasoning is this?"
Ron and Lyle exchanged glances and smiled without saying anything.
The seasoning recipe was the Barbecue Shop's secret, so of course they weren't going to answer Harper's question.
Though the recipe would inevitably get out eventually, every extra day they kept it secret counted. That was why Ron had specifically reminded Lyle.
After trying the new barbecue, Mason and the others ate their fill and were completely satisfied.
Even Edith, who normally wasn't fond of meat, felt the trip had been well worth it.
"Do you want to buy a Nether Orchid to take home?" After finishing the barbecue, Mason started drumming up business for Ron again. "The Nether Orchids in the lab will eventually be used up. You can buy one for yourself; they work really well."
Harper shook his head. "Why would I need one with my talent? Keeping my rank down is already troublesome enough."
Mason's teeth ached at that. Suddenly, he really wanted to punch the guy.
But Harper was telling the truth. He had an exceptional talent for magic, but because he was so interested in researching it, he kept holding back his advancement. He'd declared that he wouldn't advance to the next rank until he'd thoroughly studied the magic of his current one.
Otherwise, at over forty years old, he'd probably already be a powerful Tier Six mage, just like Professor Hicks.
Edith, on the other hand, seemed interested. She looked at Ron and said, "I'd like to buy a Nether Orchid. Is that possible right now?"
"Of course." Ron smiled. With a customer coming to him, there was no way he'd turn her down.
Seeing Edith was going to buy a Nether Orchid, Harper quickly changed his tune. "Then I'll buy one too!"
You really have no principles... Mason gave Harper a look of disdain and rolled his eyes.
Edith had probably gotten used to Harper's behavior by now; she couldn't be bothered to respond.
After paying, they left the Barbecue Shop.
On the way back to the Flower Shop, Ron suddenly remembered something and glanced toward the alley between the two shops. There, he spotted a small, thin figure standing by a trash can, secretly chewing on the food he'd left unfinished at lunch.
Noticing Ron looking, the small figure, wrapped in a tattered robe and wearing a burlap hat, immediately ran off in the opposite direction.
Ron frowned and shook his head, then returned to the shop with Mason and the others.
After making 40 gold coins, Ron had successfully sold two more Nether Orchids.
[Main Quest]—[Open for business and sell one hundred Nether Orchids]: "Progress: 8/100." System: "Please complete the task promptly."
Before you continue