Magic Is a Mage's Best Teacher

Originally, Xie Yu had simply been practicing magic, working toward becoming a true Void Magic mage and making up for the shortcomings in his status as a perfect-score examinee.

He had been absorbed in studying magic, concentrating on the sensations of spellcasting and reciting incantations, but the words that suddenly appeared made him examine his own abilities again. If that hadn't been an illusion...

"Can I win over a Void Twist, too?"

Xie Yu tried again, intending to reproduce what had just happened.

He recited a second incantation, trying harder this time, hoping to make the elementary Void Magic last a little longer. Xie Yu clearly caught sight of the words that flashed past.

[An irregular Void Twist (Affection 0):]

[Hello, I'm about to dissipate. It's probably because I'm not round enough, so I'm a little unstable...]

It complained, then dissipated just like the first one.

The space before Xie Yu settled again.

"Not round enough?" Xie Yu rubbed his chin. He hadn't considered its shape when casting the spell just now. He had let it spread out at random from a point at his fingertip, and the form the magic took had been equally random.

He decided to follow the little fellow's advice and try again.

He recited the third incantation. This time, Xie Yu not only narrowed the path of his thoughts to a single point, but also imagined that tiny point taking a round form in its final state.

[A round Void Twist (Affection 0):]

[I'm so round, but my boundary isn't smooth, and there's an abrupt change between it and the outside. The void around me is waiting for me to break... Oh dear, I can't hold on. I forgot to say hello, so let me say it properly now: hello, you suck.]

Xie Yu stared at it, about to argue that he was a beginner at magic, not just bad at it.

But it vanished as soon as it finished speaking. Although it had lasted a little longer than the first two, it still hadn't given him time to talk.

Xie Yu scratched his head, unable to help wondering if he really lacked talent.

So, following the guidance of that round Void Twist, he began his fourth attempt.

This time, he not only adjusted the shape of his thoughts but also controlled the point he imagined, giving it a smooth boundary that blended gradually into the flat spacetime around it. He imagined the curve changing like a tangent to a circle.

[A smooth Void Twist (Affection 0):]

[Hello.]

The fellow that appeared this time was less talkative. Xie Yu seized the chance and spoke to it:

"Aren't you going to dissipate?"

[Soon.]

"How soon?"

[Tomorrow morning.]

It sounded as though he had plenty of time to talk. Xie Yu breathed a sigh of relief and began considering whether to win this fellow over.

He hadn't expected that he could even win over magic...

He turned the book to the next page and saw this written in the brief analysis of the spell:

[As the most basic spell in the Void domain, it is not very difficult. Generally, as long as one follows a roughly correct path of thought, the casting will succeed. The difficulty lies in the quality of the Void Twist: the longer it lasts, the more subsequent spells can be extended and layered onto it, and the higher its quality.]

[Beginners need only cast it successfully, then practice frequently. Practice makes perfect. With the aid of the Void theory in chapter 2, section 1, if one can maintain this basic spell for one minute within a month and three thousand practice attempts, it indicates some talent for the Void domain.]

[If one cannot, switching to another branch of magic as soon as possible is recommended.]

It was already discouraging readers from continuing at the first spell... This book's requirements were quite strict.

Xie Yu pondered what it said, unsure what level he was at.

He didn't seem to have studied any Void theory at all.

Did his practice count come to about three attempts?

Then what level was he at, having created a Void Twist that could last ten hours?

Xie Yu found it difficult to assess himself.

But he could ask the book directly.

"Stop focusing on how good you feel. Look at my spell and see what level I'm at."

He patted [Lonely Book (Void Magic)].

[Lonely Book (Void Magic) reluctantly pulled itself away from its pleasure (Affection 80) and asked in confusion:]

[Level? What level? It takes a hundred years to go from apprentice to Sage. Please turn my pages for a hundred years...]

[Wait, no.]

[It looked at the little smooth Void Twist and seemed to sit up straight, absorbed in its beauty and perfection.]

[It assessed:]

[According to the assessment standards for each mage rank on page 104, I can state that this spell you cast approximately meets the test standard for advancement to Three-Star Mage in the Void domain. That usually takes several years of practice and theoretical study... Your luck is ridiculously good, isn't it?]

"Luck? What luck? I just made it on a whim."

Xie Yu felt that the book was looking down on him and protested.

[You've only turned to page 18. You haven't read a single word of the Void theory further on. I'm such a thick book, and you've barely started.]

The book was adamant. Even with its Affection already so high, it still didn't believe Xie Yu.

As for theory, I really don't understand it, but I don't seem to need it...

Xie Yu looked at the Void Twist and asked:

"Are there any other imperfections or uncomfortable spots in you?"

At that, the fellow suddenly seemed to have more to say:

[My internal curvature is a little off. The center bends too far. Don't make it so concave; correct it by a tenth, a fifteenth? That's about right. Everything else is fine. (It realized you were its creator. Affection rose to 20.)]

So Xie Yu began casting for the fifth time. This time, he was giving the book a demonstration. He focused his thoughts more closely, corrected the point's shape into a more perfect circle, drew its boundary together smoothly, and, following the latest Void Twist's guidance, corrected some internal features in the final form of his thought path.

Although he had made only minor adjustments this time, the spell consumed a great deal of his energy and that intangible, barely perceptible spirituality, leaving Xie Yu keenly aware of an emptiness in his mind.

"Void, elusive and insubstantial, I touch and twist."

It was plainly the same magic and the same incantation, yet the expenditure was completely different.

Xie Yu pointed lightly with his finger. The point in space rapidly pulled at the surrounding void and expanded to the size of a palm. From every direction, it looked like a perfect circular lens, bending the scene behind it.

It floated in midair, perfectly stable.

[A beautiful Void Twist (Affection 0) gazed at you in innocent confusion:]

[What would you like me to do? Are you going to use me to construct some advanced magic array?]

Xie Yu looked at the book, waiting for its assessment.

[Lonely Book (Void Magic) stared at that patch of space for a long time and said, doubting itself:]

[Maybe my author made a mistake...]

[After all, forty years have passed. Were humans forty years ago different from humans now? While I was sitting on the shelf where that damned Weile put me, did humans evolve?]

[According to the standards on page 104, this has the characteristics of a veteran Void mage's work. It's already a stable-state spell. That requires thousands upon thousands of refinements and adjustments, as well as adjustments for minute changes in the external environment. The slightest mistake will cause failure. The completeness and stability of a basic spell are very important for constructing more complex magic later on.]

"Maybe I was lucky," Xie Yu teased, bearing a grudge.

[A beautiful Void Twist was admiring itself:]

[I'm really beautiful. Did you make me? (Affection rose to 20.)]

[It noticed a smooth companion nearby and curiously floated over. As soon as they touched, it absorbed the other into itself.]

[A beautiful Void Twist ate a smooth Void Twist and grew a tiny bit bigger.]

[It thanked you:]

[Thank you for preparing dinner for me, too. It tastes good. (Affection rose to 40.) Munch, munch, munch, munch, munch.]

How could you just open your mouth and eat it?

That was the teacher who taught me to create you... Xie Yu kept that truth to himself.

"Is it possible that I'm even more of a genius than the perfect-score genius Yize imagined?"

The book's surprise and the confirmation from its contents gave Xie Yu confidence in his spellcasting.

Magic isn't so hard to learn after all.

Because the ability to win things over and Affection existed, the magic he cast could actually identify its own shortcomings.

Problems that ordinary mages needed hundreds, thousands, or even tens of thousands of practice attempts to discover took him only an instant to find. Although this was only the simplest spell, Xie Yu felt his future was bright.

He was by no means an ordinary mage.

He had previously been a little nervous, worried that his identity as a perfect-score genius might be exposed. After this practice, it seemed he no longer needed to worry at all.

"But why couldn't I see it before? There was no prompt for Sealed Artifact 3-0771's wind elemental magic, or for the Fire Umbrella Fry used in front of me before, or for Yize's divination magic."

"If magic can be won over too, why is it that only my own magic can be won over?"

Xie Yu thought back.

He grabbed the Fate-Substitution Talisman Doll, which had become dizzy from reading, and ordered it:

"Cast a spell and let me see."

The Fate-Substitution Talisman Doll demonstrated the wind-riding flight it had practiced all afternoon. Rising currents swirled around it as it flew steadily and continuously through the air.

No notification appeared, and he saw no new target to win over.

Xie Yu frowned.

[Are you dissatisfied, Master? I also practiced the Wind Coil Spell just now. Look.]

The little doll recited a new incantation: "Azure ring that climbs, entwine and spiral; amid the whispers of the air, let the wind form an eye."

Its casting was as crude as ever. A finger-sized cyclone squirmed across the floor; without a close look, someone might step on it and snuff it out.

[A messy wind coil (Affection 0):]

[Ah! This direction... I'm going to die.]

It struck a bed leg and dissipated, as though it had never been there.

Xie Yu didn't care about Sealed Artifact 3-0771's spellcasting ability. He was certain he had truly seen the wind coil speak.

That meant not only his own magic could be won over, but other people's magic could too.

But why couldn't all magic be won over?

"Do you know any other magic? You don't have to be very good at it. Just recite the incantation and cast it." Xie Yu tried to work out the pattern.

[Sealed Artifact 3-0771 said shamefacedly:]

[Sorry, Master, I don't... But I can try reciting some simple incantations directly. Some of them should work.]

With Sealed Artifact 3-0771's help, Xie Yu soon found the basic characteristic of "magic that can be won over" after trying beginner-level wind blades, fireballs, and ice spikes.

They were all [released] spells.

All magic that could be won over was released magic. Only when a spell did not need the mage to maintain it after casting could it become a target to be won over. Whether Xie Yu or Sealed Artifact 3-0771 cast it made no difference.

"In other words, only magic that's been released can be considered an independent object. Magic that needs the caster to maintain it over time can't."

"The wind the Fate-Substitution Talisman Doll uses to fly doesn't count, nor does the Fire Umbrella Fry put up before, or the divination magic in Yize's eyes."

Xie Yu was slowly coming to understand it all.

This also gave his magic training a direction.

The next day, Xie Yu again rose very early, just as dawn broke.

[Beautiful Void Twist (Affection 60)] was floating beside Xie Yu's pillow. It seemed to have stared at his face all night, its Affection rising naturally.

Last night's spellcasting research had consumed a lot of energy, and Xie Yu had none left to win the little fellow over before bed.

Now that he was awake, he began feeding it.

He made [a somewhat smooth Void Twist (Affection 0)], and sure enough, the little fellow drifted gently over.

[Thanks for breakfast. It tastes all right. (Affection rose to 70.) Munch, munch, munch, munch, munch.]

"How long can you exist?" Xie Yu asked.

[A beautiful Void Twist didn't quite understand the question:]

[How long? I'm in a stable state. I'm meant to be used in constructing more advanced magic arrays.]

"Forever?" Xie Yu was a little surprised.

[More or less. Plain, ordinary void can't break my stable state.]

Xie Yu opened [Lonely Book (Void Magic) (Affection 100)] beside his pillow and found the chapter the book had mentioned the night before.

It discussed the spellcasting assessment standards for Void mages. The term "stable state" actually appeared among the assessment requirements for a Void Magister. Apart from fixed requirements such as spirituality and the number of spells mastered, one spellcasting requirement for advancement to Void Magister was proficiency in stable-state casting of twelve basic Void spells. No such description appeared in the assessments for One- to Five-Star Mages.

"Do you want a little more to eat?"

Xie Yu watched it with interest, feeling that it had become a little prettier.

[May I? I actually have a bird's appetite.]

[...Munch, munch, munch, munch, munch...]

He fed it four more, but the increases in Affection grew smaller, finally stopping at 90.

Xie Yu felt that continuing to feed it probably wouldn't raise its Affection any further, and the energy he had fully replenished over the night was also beginning to fade from the repeated spellcasting.

After eating, the fellow became clingy, sitting above Xie Yu's shoulder. From a distance, it looked like a transparent bubble.

Putting [Sealed Artifact 3-0771] in his inner pocket and taking [Gentle Fountain Pen] and [Loyal Cane] with him, Xie Yu was ready to face the new day.

He was going to be in the newspaper today!

And Wig Brown's funeral had originally been scheduled for today. He wondered how Yize had handled it last night.

When he stepped out, there were still people in the inn's corridor who had risen earlier than Xie Yu.

Fry and Yize were discussing something, and there were two less familiar faces. From Fry's earlier description, Xie Yu guessed they were Mr. Duoha and Ms. Xiuno from the Education Bureau.

Several times as many documents as yesterday were piled on the table, along with today's Northern Morning News.

[A humble newspaper (Affection 10) looked at you with doubt and shock:]

[Oh, heavens, you're alive!]

The visible page carried a portrait of Xie Yu from three years ago, when he enrolled at the pre-apprenticeship general education school in Pinecone Town.

He was still a child in the portrait, smiling brightly.

"Good morning, everyone," Xie Yu greeted them.

Yize looked up at Xie Yu and felt that the boy seemed to be projecting a confidence he hadn't shown yesterday.

Xie Yu had been confident yesterday as well, but then his confidence had been more restrained, like a hidden trump card; now, Xie Yu seemed intent on expressing it, as though ready at any moment to turn over a card that would seal his victory... Both were forms of confidence, but Yize could see the subtle difference.

He looked at Xie Yu, hid the weariness in his eyes, and smiled gently.

"The Education Bureau has transferred another artifact, Sealed Artifact 3-2152, from Mirror Lake City for you. You may hold it temporarily as proof of your genius. As for the one you have, after discussing it at a meeting, we decided it would be best not to take it out and use it for the time being, especially not in Black Pine City."

[On hearing this, Sealed Artifact 3-0771 said nervously:]

[Master, what's going on?]

It was probably related to the Brown Family's movements. It seemed Wig Brown's death was still having repercussions.

Although the Education Bureau was shielding him for now, he still couldn't afford to let his guard down.

Xie Yu squeezed the Fate-Substitution Talisman Doll in his inner pocket, signaling that it didn't need to be nervous.

Fry stepped forward, holding a small stone box in both hands, and gestured for Xie Yu to open it himself:

"Sealed Artifact 3-2152, the Chapter of Teleportation. It possesses an extremely rare Abnormal State of the void domain. It's not very dangerous and is friendly toward humans. If you gain its approval, it can automatically activate its power when you're carrying it and your life is in danger, teleporting you somewhere safe nearby. But if it teleports too far or too many times in a short period, it will rest and be out of action for a while."

"I brought it back for you last night, based on Lord Yize's divination, when I was ordered to return to Mirror Lake City to report."

Yize's divination, Xie Yu had to admit, really was impressive.

Did he glimpse my sudden interest in the void domain last night? Or did he glimpse part of the future?

Xie Yu reached out and opened the [Aged Marble Box (Affection 0)]. Inside was a badge the size of a button, engraved with an upper-body portrait whose face was indistinct. It didn't look worn; it seemed to have been that way from the moment it was created.

[Sealed Artifact 3-2152 (Affection 0) smelled the Void Twist on your shoulder:]

[I want to eat that!]

It really wasn't shy. Before Xie Yu could agree or refuse, it abruptly vanished from the stone box, giving Fry, who was holding the box, such a fright that he thought something had gone wrong and the Sealed Artifact had been lost the moment it appeared.

Only when he saw the badge appear on Xie Yu's shoulder did Fry breathe a sigh of relief.

[Sealed Artifact 3-2152 (Affection 10) ate that beautiful Void Twist (Affection 90):]

[That tasted really good, a little better than I remembered.]

[Do you have any more little things of that caliber? You must have more... How about I teleport you once for each one I eat?]

[Sealed Artifact 3-2152 looked at you expectantly (Affection rose to 25).]

It took so much effort to raise its Affection to 90, and it was almost full. I hadn't even seen the reward yet! You could at least have waited until I claimed it before eating it... That little thing was pretty cute, too.

Xie Yu felt the loss, but there was nothing he could do about the Sealed Artifact, so he could only pin it to his chest.

Yize had immediately stood up when the Chapter of Teleportation acted up, seemingly afraid it would run away. Seeing that it was still there, he breathed a sigh of relief:

"My divination showed that this fellow was a good match for you, but I didn't expect it to get close to you the moment you met."

The Chapter of Teleportation had teleported straight to Xie Yu's side, clearly a sign that it liked the young man.

"Are there really geniuses in the field of Sealed Artifacts?"

The other Education Bureau mages at the side couldn't make sense of it.

It was no surprise for any field of magic to have geniuses. After all, everyone had their own talents, and some people naturally liked and excelled at formations or potion-making. But Sealed Artifacts came in all kinds of strange forms, and there wasn't even a unified framework for studying them. Though there were legends of geniuses in this field too, most were simply lucky people who had won the favor of one powerful Sealed Artifact. How could there really be someone all Sealed Artifacts naturally liked?

When they heard about Yize's arrangements for Xie Yu, no matter how they looked at it, the perfect-score candidate seemed like someone with connections who had been dressed up for show. Yize and Fry had also been busy all night: Fry had been sent back to Mirror Lake City by teleportation at public expense, and secret letters had been sent to the grading teams in various places. All in all, it had been a busy and peculiar night.

The arrangements for Xie Yu shouldn't have been so "grand" as to require the help of Education Bureau colleagues across the entire province... If openly displaying a candidate's results required layers of arrangements, did that mean there was something false about Xie Yu's perfect score?

Only after witnessing Sealed Artifact 3-2152 show closeness to a stranger with their own eyes did that doubt fade, though not entirely.

Xie Yu could still see strange, speculative looks on the faces of the two Education Bureau mages standing nearby.

"I'd like to try out what it can do. May I?" Xie Yu looked at Fry. "Please make a fireball and try hitting me with it."

"You only just put it on." Fry frowned deeply, feeling that Xie Yu was being too bold.

He'd only touched Sealed Artifact 3-2152 once, and he'd already gained its approval? That wasn't what the artifact's file said.

"Let's try it." Xie Yu squeezed the shameless, gluttonous badge and insisted.

Seeing how confident Xie Yu was, Fry nodded his agreement.

He put down the marble box, and flames sprang to life in his hand without an incantation. He was sufficiently skilled in these basic spells that he had long since stopped needing full, lengthy incantations. For combat magic that didn't require intricate construction, only short incantations or no incantations at all had practical value.

"Here it comes," Fry warned.

He conjured a round fireball in his hand, holding back the Fireball Spell's power in case Xie Yu was overconfident and failed.

[A Crude Ball of Flame (Affection 0):]

[Why is the flame circulation so unstable? The surface temperature is extremely uneven too... Damn it, in this state, am I about to explode?]

Fry threw the fireball, sending it flying toward Xie Yu.

[Sealed Artifact 3-2152 (Affection 25) sighed, feeling that humans really were boring:]

[Such a crude test. That fireball is flying so slowly you could dodge it by crouching or lying on the ground, but you just had to make me do it... Oh, fine, for the food's sake.]

The fist-sized fireball went off with a muffled bang in the air of the inn's corridor, expanding to half a meter across.

But Xie Yu had already vanished; the Chapter of Teleportation had taken effect.

The Sealed Artifact was good at choosing a spot. It sent Xie Yu behind Fry, letting him place a hand on Fry's shoulder.

"The flame circulation in your fireball seemed rather unstable, and the surface temperature was uneven too. That's why it exploded before hitting me, greatly reducing its power. I could tell you were going easy on me."

Xie Yu gave his assessment as though savoring the experience.

"What else would I do? If I'd really burned you, Lord Yize and everyone in the province would tear me apart. But you really know your Fireball Spell, don't you, kid?"

Seeing the look on Fry's face at being read so accurately, Xie Yu gave a mysterious smile, feeling that playing a genius was even easier than he'd imagined.