Learning

"If you haven't felt a dormant period coming on, you may remain a young dragon forever."

"What? I'll never grow up? Does that matter?"

"It does. Every time a dormant period ends, a dragon's body grows stronger. For the Dragon Race, dormancy is also a time of transformation. Every one matters."

"...Well, that's no fun." Zheng Yichen looked down at his claws and spoke helplessly. As for dormant periods, he had never had one. He could sleep for two or three days straight, but after sleeping that long, he simply wasn't tired anymore.

"Not having a dormant period has its advantages. For the Dragon Race, it's a transformation, but it's also a weakness, though few people dare exploit it," Lolise said evenly. "As for you, you don't seem to have dormant periods, but your body keeps growing stronger. Of all the dragons I've seen, yours is the finest."

She wasn't saying that to comfort Zheng Yichen. From what she had observed over the past two days, his body was growing stronger at every moment. The changes were tiny, but they never stopped.

"Growth and strength that defy the laws of nature just don't seem reliable," Zheng Yichen muttered.

Lolise glanced at him. She didn't tell him how many things about him she had found that defied the rules of this world. Besides, defying the laws of nature wasn't exactly... a big deal in this world!

"You must master one of the most basic magic patterns within three days. Any one will do."

"Aren't you even going to question whether I have the talent for it?"

"If I say you can, you can," Lolise said evenly. When she had touched Zheng Yichen's consciousness in the dream, she had also discovered that his soul was slowly growing stronger along with his body. That growth was probably caused by some special "factor" he had brought from his own world when he crossed over.

The abnormalities in his body were likely caused by a conflict between that special factor from another world and the rules of this one. It had made his body develop more in line with Zheng Yichen's own understanding—or rather, with the rules of growth in his world.

But the shift wasn't a complete distortion. The result was this abnormal growth, which had stalled at the Dragon Race's first growth-induced dormant period.

These were only Lolise's guesses, but she could verify them over time. In short... barring the unexpected, Zheng Yichen might remain a young dragon forever. Dragons slept so their bodies could transform and adapt to the growth of greater power.

Zheng Yichen's constitution, on the other hand, was improving constantly, making growth-induced dormancy something of a joke. With that kind of abnormal improvement, even an ordinary dragon would probably skip one or two unnecessary dormant transformations.

Narrowing his eyes, Zheng Yichen studied the book before him, which Lolise had once again enlarged. This was no Primer. It was a genuine book on magic... the introductory kind.

Even so, looking at it made Zheng Yichen's head ache. What happened to the absurd magical talent a world-hopper was supposed to have? He didn't seem to have any!

"Do I have to memorize all of this?" Zheng Yichen asked, his brain throbbing as he stared at a complicated magic pattern. And this was the simplest one!

"All of it," Lolise said with a slight nod.

"What if I forget it later...?"

"Once you've memorized and mastered it, you'll inscribe it into your consciousness. Then you'll have trouble forgetting it even if you want to. After you reach the threshold, you can start refining spells to make them better suited to you," Lolise said evenly. "These are all fundamentals, so memorizing every one won't hurt. Afterward, you can choose the branch—or branches—you find easiest to master as your main source of power."

"Oh... I've been wondering for a while what you mean by 'reaching the threshold.' The Primer didn't list ranks for any of the professions, either. So what is it?" Zheng Yichen asked curiously.

"Reaching the threshold isn't a rank. It's a sign that the power you wield has taken on characteristics of your own," Lolise explained. "For a Mage, the standard is being able to adjust magic patterns. For a warrior, it's being able to alter the course of a combat technique to some degree, thereby developing one of their own or refining an existing one. For a Battle Qi warrior, it's gaining complete control over Battle Qi's violent nature."

"Uh, so there aren't any ranks like magic apprentice or bronze warrior?"

"There's no need for them. Once you've grasped a power, you've begun. Getting stronger is a matter of gradual accumulation. Not every race can make great leaps in strength through growth and transformation like the Dragon Race."

"Then... how do you build up mana?" Zheng Yichen's mouth fell slightly open. Damn it, there goes everything I thought I knew again!

"When you practice and learn magic, you draw on power from the world around you. Some of it flows into your body and is absorbed as your own. Warriors achieve the same effect while training in combat techniques. As for Battle Qi warriors... they use the relevant training methods and work themselves half to death."

"I thought there'd be some kind of meditation method..."

"There is, but it doesn't suit you." Lolise glanced at Zheng Yichen. "The Dragon Race has its own method, preserved in inherited memories, so I don't know what it is. Accumulating mana through ordinary means doesn't necessarily make it inefficient. After you reach the threshold, you can create a training method suited to yourself. That's what most who reach it choose to do."

"Got it." Zheng Yichen propped up his chin and nodded. He was a little disappointed, but had no further objections. The more he learned, the more he understood how grounded this world's training methods were. If he wanted to grow stronger, he would have to build his strength bit by bit!

If he wanted to devise some kind of "cultivation technique," Lolise's explanation made it sound like he would have to wait until he reached the threshold. The ranks might be vague, but that made things more realistic.

To master a spell's magic pattern, he first needed to understand the pattern well enough. How well? At the very least, he had to be able to close his eyes, picture the entire pattern clearly in his mind, and then draw it!

After all, the pattern had to be inscribed into his consciousness. If he didn't even know it well enough, how could he inscribe it there? The process was similar to visualization: the deeper his impression and the finer his understanding, the better his chances of success. That applied to basic spells.

More advanced spells required more than a detailed understanding. He would also need to master the complex paths along which their patterns operated. Basic and low-level spells didn't require that, because their patterns could be drawn in a single continuous stroke. Higher-level magic could wait. For now, the important thing was to master the basics...

Incidentally, Magic Array Patterns in this world weren't magic circles filled with mysterious lines inside a ring. Zheng Yichen thought those looked pretty cool, but changing that would also have to wait until he reached the threshold.

I'll make a cover in the next couple of days ╮(╯▽╰)╭. There's been too much going on lately.