Magic Waste

"The undead fluctuations on me can be tracked. No matter how I run, there's nowhere I can hide," White Bone explained. "Luckily, you didn't touch the White Bone Mark earlier. Otherwise, you would have become my master and picked them up too. Then there really would have been no way out."

"Undead fluctuations?" Su Ming stopped in his tracks. He raised a hand and reached for the rune he had just gained during the awakening. Gray light began to flow over his hand. "You mean this?"

White Bone was so stunned that she forgot to maintain her illumination spell. The surroundings darkened, leaving only the glow flowing around Su Ming's hand. "That's impossible!"

"Galio used Undead Spirit Awakening on me just now-" Su Ming explained. He finally understood what that old bastard's parting gift was for. He had forcibly stained Su Ming's name, determined to drag him down even in death!

"I know. I sensed the spell residue!" White Bone grew agitated. "But you have no elemental affinity at all. There's no way you can become a mage!"

This time, it was Su Ming's turn to be confused.

"I already checked when you arrived. You can't control any elements," White Bone explained with a sigh. "That's why I initially thought you had a warrior-type profession."

That was hardly surprising. Different environments produced different people, and as someone from Earth, it made perfect sense for Su Ming to be a magic waste.

"Water, fire, wind, earth, light, and darkness. I checked all six," White Bone muttered. "In the elemental field of vision, you're like a stubborn rock." A wave of magic wrapped around Su Ming as White Bone examined him again. "It's still the same. There's no sign of any element being controlled!"

"But I'm casting a spell." Su Ming waved his hand and threw the fully formed Withering Orb he held. "Maybe we should accept the facts first and look for the reason afterward?"

The White Bone Scholar sighed and thought for a while. "To use magic, you have to control the corresponding element."

"Magical cybernetics." Su Ming now had such basic knowledge in his head too, and it reminded him of reading about engineering cybernetics.

"Often, spellcasters lack the ability to control several types of elements," the scholar continued. "The usual solution is simply not to use them. But some stubborn mages use the effects and interactions between different elements to forcibly draw on magical elements they can't control to cast spells. It's just outrageously inefficient."

"So I'm controlling the dark element indirectly?" Su Ming asked.

"Indirectly?" White Bone sneered. "How? One way or another, you'd need to be able to control at least one element. What kind of bizarre situation is this?!"

"Then is it an element outside the six that I awakened?" Su Ming asked.

"There are only six magical elements. There aren't any others." White Bone dismissed the idea.

"The gods used nine elements to construct this world," Su Ming said, searching his mind before contradicting White Bone.

"The other three are Concept Elements-time, space, and life. Those are the domain of the gods. Mortals can't control them," White Bone answered, continuing to ponder. "So where does the problem lie? Still, we're not in a hurry anymore. We can take our time thinking about it."

Su Ming immediately understood. White Bone meant there was no chance of him escaping now, so there was no need to teach him the array anymore.

He glanced at the floor. The symbols of the Plane Transfer Magic Array were densely packed, and by his initial estimate, there were more than thirty thousand of them. He couldn't even tell whether he felt more regret at having to die or more relief at not having to take an array lesson.

"So there's no clearing my name now?"

"Although I haven't figured out how it happened, please show some respect for a holy archmage's dying grudge," White Bone said. "Take it in stride. Think of it this way: when you met Galio, he didn't run you through with a bone spear. Everything after that was a bonus."

"Thanks for the comfort," Su Ming said dejectedly. "There's something I don't understand. We can't fight back right now, can we?"

"Mm-hmm. I'm a fairly powerful spellcaster, but there's a whole crowd of them on the other side." White Bone sounded resentful. Her earlier experience had clearly been unpleasant.

"Then why did you say we still had a few days?" Su Ming asked, puzzled.

"Uh, all right. I'm a traitor to my people. After hearing about me, my people said they wanted to come punish me personally. That's why the Temple of Light had no choice but to surround me without attacking and wait for them to arrive."

For a moment, Su Ming didn't know where to start. She had offended beings capable of turning a temple legion into an obedient cheering squad so badly that they were determined to kill her no matter how far they had to travel-and they were her own people, who should have been on her side.

"Before, I wondered why you had to die. Now I wonder how you're still alive," he said to White Bone.

"You flatter me!"

Su Ming took instant noodles, a thermos, and his insulated cup out of the vehicle. Everything that had happened had left him hungry. Desperate situation or not, he still had to eat.

"Want to try some food from my world?" Su Ming asked White Bone as he poured water into the noodles. "Where did you say your actual body was?"

"I'm an undead creature. I don't eat." White Bone paused for a while before answering, apparently thinking about the problem. "My actual body is at the top of the tower. Don't come up. The temple throws a few spells over here every now and then, and I'm afraid I can't protect you."

"I see." Su Ming understood. "Isn't there a spell called Comprehend Languages? Using Mind Synchronization all the time must be a strain, right?"

Language was the most basic bridge for communication. Learning it couldn't hurt, especially when there was a convenient way to do it.

"It's not too bad. Our psychic energies are highly compatible, so synchronizing doesn't take much effort," White Bone answered. "Comprehend Languages requires some dead people-oh, there are some right here."

A string of blue magic runes fell from above and began drifting around the tower.

"Materials for Comprehend Languages are hard to find. It's rare to have more than a dozen fresh corpses with extensive educations here," White Bone explained.

The magic runes floated above the corpses one by one and began drawing out the traces of knowledge left in the dead people's brains.

"Those are Galio's dead subordinates," Su Ming said, understanding now. "But do you need so many?" he asked, puzzled.

"Mm. It's a common problem with spirit-memory spells. Less than one part in ten is retained after transmission."

The first stage of the spell was complete. Su Ming watched the scattered magic runes return from all directions and gather into a ring.

"Relax your mind and don't resist."

The ring of flowing runes settled over Su Ming's head. It went smoothly. Su Ming felt a brief heaviness in his head, and then everything returned to normal.

"The spell will last a week, and the language knowledge will slowly be imprinted on you. But afterward, you'll still need to study to reinforce it. Usually, you can master it permanently in a month."

Although that was already fast-

"That long? Won't I have been dead for ages by then?" Su Ming asked hurriedly.

"Yep. That's why I didn't use it on you before."

"Then why use it now, Miss White Bone?"

"Nothing better to do," the scholar complained. "I still can't find a single clue as to why you can cast spells."

"..."