Interests and Hobbies

Dragging his heavy body, Zheng Yichen found even the wild boar he could usually handle with ease had become hard to fight. He was clearly much more agile than it... but until he adjusted to his sharply increased weight, even the lumbering boar seemed nimble.

The gap in strength could not be closed so easily, though. After killing the boar that would serve as their food, Zheng Yichen realized he had a more serious problem: how was he supposed to get it back?

"By dragging it back, of course."

"..."

"Tell me... this forest used to be pretty ordinary. Why has it become so full of life lately?" Zheng Yichen asked between gasps as he practically crawled home. Lolise was still sitting steadily on his back.

"When I saved you, I set up an Area Charm Formation while I was at it."

"Huh? What's that?"

"Something that draws creatures together. It seems to have worked a little too well," Lolise said calmly, as though it were nothing worth mentioning.

"...That's seriously impressive." Zheng Yichen's mouth twitched as he spoke. He did not know whether the creatures of this world were exceptionally adaptable or whether something else was at work.

Either way, in less than half a month, a new food chain had formed in the forest.

Once they got back, Zheng Yichen's hope that Lolise would lift the gravity weighing him down was dashed. Under her watchful gaze, he soon had no choice but to drag his exhausted, heavy body over to prepare the food and start roasting the meat according to the cookbook.

Staring at the flickering flames, Zheng Yichen felt his head grow heavy, as though he were being hypnotized. He wanted so badly to rest for a while.

Smack!

A sharp crack and a burst of pain on his head jolted him awake. He looked up to find Lolise wearing a displeased expression. "The meat's about to burn."

"Oh, right." Zheng Yichen hurriedly reached out a claw to turn the roasting meat. He sighed inwardly. Sleep would have to wait. He had done his physical training, but today's magic lessons had not even started. Lolise probably would not let him go to bed.

After adding intense training to his daily routine, Zheng Yichen gained a new appreciation for the Dragon Race's physique. No wonder people had once pursued dragon bodies so obsessively. Who wouldn't envy a body like this?

On the first day, the added gravity had nearly worn him to death. By the second, he already felt much lighter. After just over half a month, he felt only slightly uncomfortable, and things were otherwise much the same as before.

Lolise had plenty of books for Zheng Yichen to read as he studied magic. Even if he could not use some of that knowledge yet, building it up would surely pay off someday.

"But can training this hard really produce Battle Qi?" Zheng Yichen flexed his claws. He still did not understand how intense training alone could produce Battle Qi in this world. Was it because the surrounding energy was so abundant?

As his magic power accumulated, Zheng Yichen became more sensitive to the free-floating energy around him. What interested him even more were the magic items he had collected earlier. Lolise explained that they, too, were made using Magic Array Patterns.

The ones Zheng Yichen had collected were all low-grade, mass-produced items. Once the right materials were prepared, all that remained was to inscribe a magic array on them with precision. The arrays inscribed on items needed some modification so they could store magic power and be used upon activation.

They were mass-produced because their magic arrays followed standard designs. Low-level mages could make them simply by copying the pattern, though that did not mean every mage could do it well.

Making magic equipment consumed additional mental energy and demanded precision when inscribing the array. Poor precision reduced its power and increased its energy consumption, while greater precision did the opposite.

Magic equipment that truly qualified as fine work was generally made by mages who had entered the ranks. They could refine and modify Magic Array Patterns, or even create patterns with their own distinctive character, much like each person's handwriting.

The words remained the same, but their style, beauty, and character could be entirely different. The magic Zheng Yichen was learning now was like text printed by a machine: standardized and ordinary. Every distinctive hand began with those basic characters.

Magic Array Patterns worked the same way. Other people generally could not use patterns a mage had refined for herself. Everyone's mental energy was different: some gentle, some volatile, some strongly projected, others less so. Magic Array Patterns were closely tied to mental energy, so apart from unmodified basic patterns, modified ones were generally suited only to their creator.

Even when younger mages received help from their elders to develop improved Magic Array Patterns, the patterns' power did increase, but they could never achieve a perfect fit.

"I don't know." Lolise tapped one of the bands around Zheng Yichen's limbs. His steady stance faltered, and he nearly fell flat on the ground. "Adjusting this time won't be as easy as before."

"I know..." Zheng Yichen waved a claw, sounding a little dejected. Rapid progress at the beginning was normal when there was so much room to improve. As he grew stronger, progress would slow. While adjusting to the first increase in gravity, he had noticed that his burden lessened by a smaller amount each day toward the end.

As for the exhaustion from intense training, he had gotten used to it. If he didn't, he got smacked. The fake little girl might look soft and sweet, but she never held back!

After Zheng Yichen took a moment to adjust to his body's condition, he picked up a bracelet he had set aside and examined it again. Lolise sat down beside him. "Are you interested in magic items?"

"Well... before I came to this world, I liked making little things." Zheng Yichen scratched his head. The way he most vividly remembered passing the time was tinkering, whether that meant assembling toys or taking things apart. Any fiddly task that took a while could quickly draw all his attention.

He could never achieve that same intense focus when doing anything else.

"Making magic items only truly begins once you've entered the ranks. Before that, you're still an apprentice." Lolise nodded gently. "It won't be too late to study the relevant knowledge then."

"But there's no harm in tinkering with them before that, right?"

"No." Lolise glanced at Zheng Yichen. "If you're willing to spend your daily study time on it, I have no objection."