What's the Use of Learning So Much Water Magic?

"Bye-bye, Boss."

"Take care. Come again sometime."

"Mm-hm, we'll definitely be back. Oh, right, Boss—our school will be holding an inter-academy tournament next month. Would you like to come watch?"

Seeming to recall something, Yin Xue asked Gu Xin.

"Your senior-year tournament?"

Gu Xin raised a brow at that. To be honest, he was not particularly interested. He had not even cared about the inter-academy tournaments back in college, let alone one at a high school.

Still, the expectant look in the girl's eyes was rather lethal.

"If I'm free then, I'll go."

Gu Xin gave a vague reply, neither agreeing nor outright refusing.

"Okay. I think the two of us will definitely shine using the cards you made, Boss, so I really hope you can come and see."

"Hahaha, then I'll wish you both good results in advance."

Gu Xin was quite pleased to hear that.

Yin Xue had a point. If the two of them could win the inter-academy tournament using cards he had made, Gu Xin would indeed be rather happy.

It would prove that the cards he made were freaking awesome!

"Hmph hmph, the final winner will definitely be me, Tang Yueyue!"

The eldest daughter of the Tang Family planted her hands on her hips and declared proudly.

With [Heart Change] to control her opponents, [Trap Hole] to make them fall into a pit they could not climb out of—

And with [Charmander] and her other cards, was she not invincible?

"Oh? Come to think of it, Miss Yin is your competitor too, isn't she, Miss Tang?" Gu Xin paused in surprise.

"Huh? Snowy? Tsk, she's never beaten this young lady from childhood until now, okay?"

Tang Yueyue was extremely confident.

"Really? But I was still voted school beauty this year."

Yin Xue continued smiling faintly, though the murderous intent in her gaze had clearly intensified.

"Tsk, what's the use of that thing? I don't care about it at all."

Tang Yueyue feigned disdain, but her little mouth still pouted. She was fiercely competitive by nature.

That so-called school beauty poll was merely a bit of entertainment among the students on Yin City High School's forum.

But Tang Yueyue was still very upset. How was she inferior to Yin Xue??

Was it not just that her chest was a little smaller? But she was taller than Yin Xue! Men really were shallow!

The only consolation was that although she had indeed received fewer votes than Yin Xue, she had still come in second.

So, rounding up, she was a woman who had nearly become the school beauty. Not bad.

Gu Xin watched with great interest. He found the interactions between these two girls genuinely amusing.

"This time, it might not be so certain, Yueyue. I'll give you a big surprise."

Yin Xue paid no mind to Tang Yueyue's bravado, maintaining her faint, meaningful smile.

"?" Tang Yueyue had no idea what she meant, and a question mark seemed to appear above her head.

"Boss, we'll be taking our leave now. We'll come visit again when we have time," Yin Xue said, bidding Gu Xin farewell with great politeness.

"Be careful on the way. Oh, right—if you get the chance, give my little shop some publicity. Bring a few more customers over."

Gu Xin waved to the two girls.

"Don't worry, Boss. Bye-bye. And goodbye to you too, little Shoko. See you next time. Remember to get me some cola next time, okay? I like that stuff."

"Yes. Goodbye."

Toyokawa Shoko nodded and returned the smile.

After watching the two girls get into the luxury car parked by the roadside, the two of them returned to the shop.

"An inter-academy tournament, huh? Shoko, are you interested? Want to go take a look?"

Gu Xin lounged lazily in the beanbag chair.

"Um, what about you, Boss?"

"I suppose it's alright. We'll see whether I have time then. Come to think of it, Shoko, you should be school-aged too."

Gu Xin suddenly thought of this.

"How about I send you to high school? You don't need to worry about tuition. You can go to school during the day and come back to work at the shop in the evening. It won't interfere too much."

"There's no need. I finished teaching myself the high school curriculum a long time ago."

Toyokawa Shoko shook her head. She was not particularly interested in school.

Hearing Toyokawa Shoko's typical top-student remark, Gu Xin couldn't help smacking his lips.

Then the girl rested a slender, jade-like finger against her fair chin and thought carefully for a moment.

"Boss, I want to buy some magic books."

"Aren't you a card master?" Gu Xin asked in confusion.

"Mm-hm, but I have mage talent too. During the mana test back then, I got first-class."

The girl's almost boastful tone made Gu Xin smile.

Still, Toyokawa Shoko's words genuinely surprised Gu Xin. To this day, he had only personally seen one person with first-class mage talent.

That was his friend Wang Quan, who shouted every day, "Magic is the coolest!"

That guy was arrogant and conceited, but he had every reason to be. His magical talent was truly astonishing—he was also a top-tier genius who had tested as having first-class mana talent.

Gu Xin had never expected Toyokawa Shoko to be the same.

"What are your mana attributes?" Gu Xin was genuinely interested this time.

"Dark and water, dual attributes." The girl smiled modestly.

Not as good as Wang Quan.

Gu Xin silently assessed her. Though both had first-class talent, his good brother Wang Quan's three-attribute magical talent was still clearly one of a kind.

Still, even if she was inferior to Wang Quan, first-class dual-attribute magical talent was already exceptionally high.

If she were in the Dark Church, Toyokawa Shoko would at least be a candidate for Dark Saintess. She might even have had a chance to ascend to the position itself.

And honestly, the dark attribute was somewhat rarer than normal magical attributes.

Fire, wind, lightning, water, and earth were the most common magical attributes. Of Wang Quan's three attributes, ice was his most noble mana attribute.

However, Wang Quan liked high-power magic. He disliked ice magic because it lacked the thrill of magical bombardment, so ice was actually the attribute he used the least.

"With magical talent like yours, your family still made you become a card master?"

Gu Xin found it hard to understand Toyokawa Shoko's family's way of thinking. Though card masters were currently the dominant mainstream profession, other classes had plenty of potential too.

Especially for someone with top-tier talent like Shoko.

"My family all thinks card masters have the greatest potential." Toyokawa Shoko pressed her lips together, her gaze rather dim.

"All right. Since you want to switch to being a mage, Shoko, then study dark magic well. Once you master dark magic, we'll go wipe out the Dark Church, and you can become their Dark Saintess."

Gu Xin encouraged Toyokawa Shoko. He supported her decision.

After switching to mage training, it wasn't as though she would no longer be able to use magic cards. She simply wouldn't be able to use multiple cards in a short span of time like a card master could.

Besides, dark magic was powerful, so Gu Xin respected Toyokawa Shoko's wishes.

As for water magic? She could just study it as a secondary discipline. What was the point of learning too much water magic? Did it make more water?

To put it bluntly, water magic couldn't compare to even a single hair of dark magic, unless the battlefield was somewhere like a river, lake, or ocean.

Its destructive power was inferior to fire and lightning magic, its healing was inferior to light magic, its casting speed was inferior to wind magic, and its defense was inferior to earth magic.

Water magic dabbled in everything but excelled at nothing. It was in just such an awkward position, which directly led to water mages being looked down upon everywhere.

Shoko: "..."

Toyokawa Shoko felt that she truly couldn't keep up with her boss's train of thought.

But...

"I'll work hard."

Toyokawa Shoko etched that goal into her heart.

Gu Xin looked outside at the sky gradually darkening. It was time to prepare to head out.

The hunt was about to begin.