Chapter 33: Two Months Later (Part 2)

(Regarding the protagonist’s name, I’ll use “Thos” once the voting data shows Thos surpassing Jiang Zhe. However, I think “Zhe” can serve as a nickname, just like “Avi” for Ravia.)
On the same day, in the west of the empire—Rohn!
More than half a year ago, Jiang Zhe set off for the small town of Riox Academy, which has now been transformed into a military fortress to defend the empire’s western borders. The imperial residents living nearby were forcibly relocated to the east. The once lively town was now filled with tension; those moving about were no longer ordinary residents but well-equipped imperial guards, and occasionally, a few royal knights in bright armor could be seen.
Over the past half year, the empire has dispatched no less than three thousand troops to this place. One duke and three counts have also been ordered by the imperial capital of Sassen to lead these troops here.
Rohn has become the empire’s first line of defense against orcs.
The original town lord was removed, replaced by the young commander, Count Brian Elvis. Brian Elvis is the heir to the Grand Duke of Elvis. He graduated from the Imperial Royal Knights Academy three years ago. Though only 23 years old, he is highly talented. Two years ago, he suppressed a small-scale rebellion and is one of the commanders the empire is nurturing.
Unlike the conservative Grand Duke of Elvis, Count Brian Elvis is a radical. He believes in using his sword and the honor of being a royal knight to destroy any force that dares to offend the empire!
This is typical of a royal knight educated at the Imperial Royal Knights Academy.
After receiving the order, this young commander arrived in Rohn within days and established a defense line. However, instead of rashly attacking the orcs, he focused on gathering information about them. Moreover, the imperial capital of Sassen had not yet reached a consensus on its attitude toward the orcs. Many nobles did not want to “anger” that ancient race, fearing retaliation—after all, a thousand years ago, humanity paid a heavy price to drive them far to the west!
Now, this young commander stood on the castle walls, gazing into the west.

Beside him were two figures: an old man and a little girl—the Royal Chief Mage, the Great Mage Veston Malagigi Hastings, and his apprentice, Gianna Malagigi Hastings. The Great Mage doted on his apprentice just as a grandfather dotes on his granddaughter.

“It seems our ‘neighbor’ has no intention of returning…” The old mage sighed softly.

“Yes, respected Great Mage,” the young commander bowed slightly in respect, then leaned on the city wall and pointed westward. “Three months ago, I sent ten excellent knights to investigate Bird Fortress and Set Town. Back then, we found that the orcs were cutting down forests, gathering stones, and building something on the ruins of the town…”

“A shrine to their ancestors,” the old mage said with a sigh, glancing at his silent apprentice. He forced a smile and continued, “As far as I know, the orcs worship their ancestors, considering them gods. The orc leaders, the shamans, use a special kind of power, different from magic… This is something we need to be aware of. Our understanding of them is still far from sufficient!”

“Yes, Great Mage!” Commander Brian nodded and performed a knightly salute before saying solemnly, “I swear by the honor of the Royal Knights that we will never allow these cruel creatures to take another step forward!”

“Hah!” At his words, the other Royal Knights on the wall echoed in agreement. Most of them were young knights who had just graduated, brave and upright, regarding honor as their life.

“I believe you can do it, Brian!” the old mage praised with a smile.

“Your trust in me is the greatest honor. Thank you, respected Great Mage!”

“Hehe,” the old mage smiled, then turned to see his apprentice looking sadly westward. He quickly changed the subject. “Nina, the wind is strong here. How about we go back to the castle? We can warm by the fire and drink some delicious red tea…”

The girl shook her head, suddenly raised her finger toward the west, and said softly, “Over there… is the town… There used to be… a beautiful small lake beyond the forest outside the town. It was Sos’s favorite place…”

“Nina,” hearing her words filled with sorrow, the old mage sighed inwardly. Seeing her body trembling slightly and her coughing, he changed the subject. “Are you feeling cold? I think we should go back to the castle. We still have a long journey ahead in a few days!”

Hearing the old mage say this, Brian quickly replied, “I’ll have someone prepare some snacks right away!” Before he could finish speaking, the girl whispered, “Old Wiston, I’d like to stay here for a while longer…” Glancing at Brian, who seemed puzzled, Wiston waved his hand and said, “Brian, I’m sorry to disappoint your kindness. This child… I’ll stay with her for a while longer. You go ahead and take care of your affairs. I’m sure you have many things to deal with…” Brian was stunned for a moment before realizing what was going on. With a hint of regret, he said, “Yes, respected Grand Mage. Then I’ll be leaving. Oh, by the way, I’ll have someone prepare the snacks…” “Mm!” The young commander left, and Nina took off the cloak covering her head, letting her brown hair blow in the cold wind. Her eyes, like obsidian, gazed sadly toward the west. Seeing her pale face from the cold wind, the old mage felt heartache. After thinking for a while, he coughed and changed the subject again, “Nina, don’t you think lightning-based composite magic is the most powerful?” “Huh?” The girl turned her head and said in surprise, “Old Wiston, haven’t you always said there’s no most powerful magic?” “Think about it,” the old mage said, winking. “To cast lightning magic, one must also master both fire and water magic. That means such a mage can go anywhere—whether it’s the scorching western deserts or the frozen northern wastelands. Places that are unreachable for ordinary people pose no threat to them. Isn’t that the most powerful magic?” The girl giggled, and the sadness in her eyes gradually faded. Seeing this, the old mage seized the opportunity to continue, “Isn’t it? For example, right now, the wind here is really strong, and the weather is very cold. But as long as one practices fire magic, they can generate a layer of fire elements on their body to ward off the cold. Look!” As soon as he finished speaking, a faint red glow appeared around the old mage. Then he chuckled and said, “Nina, can you do it? Without using any spells!” “Of course!” Nina nodded defiantly, closed her eyes, and soon a faint red glow covered her body. She then opened her eyes and looked at Wiston proudly. “Ah, I really underestimated you!” the old mage said in a resigned tone, but his eyes were filled with satisfaction and pride. After a long while, the old mage sighed slightly and said, “Nina, we’ll be leaving here tomorrow…” “Mm,” the girl nodded and asked, “Where to?”

“Hmm…” The old mage pondered for a moment before saying, “I want to take you to meet some famous mages to broaden your horizons. A mage’s strength depends on knowledge—only by knowing more can a mage become stronger! Those who can only cast a few spells aren’t truly mages at all!”
“Hmm,” I said anxiously, scanning the west. “Old Veston, those orcs… I remember you being the Royal… Royal…”
“The Royal Chief Mage!” The old mage shook his head sighingly with resignation. “The records say orcs are a stupid, cruel, and heartless race, but that’s not what I’ve seen… They’re also a wise race, just like us humans. Look, Nia, the orcs don’t intend to go to war with us now. Of course, we don’t intend to go to war with them either, as we’re separated by a thousand years and don’t know much about each other. Though I really hope to avoid this, maybe in a year, or maybe in a few years, the war will break out. But once it does, it won’t be a war between nations—it will be a war between races, with only victory or extinction in sight. Countless people will lose their lives because of this war… Against that ancient race, we’re not sure we can win…”
“If so many people will die because of this war, why not reconcile?” Nina asked in confusion.
“Reconcile?” The old mage shook his head with a bitter smile. “A thousand years ago, we defeated them and drove them to the distant, barren west. It’s not that easy to resolve this. Besides…” He paused, glanced at Nina, and said softly, “Hatred isn’t something that can be easily resolved, is it?”
A shadow flashed in Nina’s eyes as she fell silent, lowering her head and biting her lip while staring at the stones beneath her feet.
Sigh!
The old mage sighed inwardly, knelt down, placed his hand on Nina’s shoulder, and said earnestly, “No matter what happens in the future, Nia, stay committed to your goal of learning magic—not for revenge, but to fulfill wishes that others couldn’t. I think that child definitely wouldn’t want your hands to be stained with sinful blood… Nor would I!”
“Mm!” Nina nodded, looked up at the sky, and smiled. “That’s right. Although Thos is lazy, never listens to me, sometimes makes me angry, and never wants to call me sister… he’s very kind…”
He’s my dearest brother…
Forever!

“Ah-choo! Ah-choo! Ah-choo!”
Sneezing repeatedly for no apparent reason puzzled Jiang Zhe—he wasn’t sick, was he?
That said, as a mage specializing in fire magic, if he caught a cold from catching a chill, it would be laughable. Though there wasn’t much connection between the two.
“Am I that uncomfortable just by being here?” On the sofa across from him, Lavia held a book on magic and glanced at Jiang Zhe indifferently.
“Not exactly,” Jiang Zhe shrugged. “Maybe I have a cold.”
After several months of getting to know each other, Jiang Zhe had a rough idea of the girl across from him—competitive, stubborn, and unwilling to admit defeat. Perhaps due to her temperament, she didn’t have many friends aside from her two roommates, which was similar to Jiang Zhe. As for him, aside from Scott and Allen, the only one he could truly call a friend was Dia, a senior from the third year.
As for Lavia…
With more meetings, the two had become something like half friends and half rivals. But Jiang Zhe could never quite stand the girl’s dominance.
“A cold?” Glancing at the dense clusters of fire elements around Jiang Zhe, Lavia hummed indifferently before turning to the documents in her hands. “Theoretical explanation of fireballs!”
“Hmm,” Jiang Zhe coughed under her direct gaze, recalling, “…Using spells, gestures, and tools to gather fire elements from the air and condense them into a relatively stable form…”
“Properties!”
“Hmm… High temperature, scorching heat, explosion!”
“Good!” Lavia nodded slightly, flipping a page in her documents. “Element arrangement of fireballs!” She pushed a stack of parchment on the table toward Jiang Zhe, making her intentions clear.
“Hey, is it really necessary? I’ve already remembered it. Otherwise, why cast a fireball?” Jiang Zhe was amused and exasperated. Come on, drawing it would take at least ten minutes!
Unfazed by Jiang Zhe’s refusal, Lavia simply placed the ink bottle and quill beside him…
“…Fine!”
After over ten minutes of effort, Jiang Zhe handed in his work. But Lavia only glanced at it before setting the paper aside.
Actually, Lavia understood—since it was the guy’s strongest magic, how could he possibly forget it? It was just that…
“I really hate your arrogance…” Looking at Jiang Zhe’s frustrated expression, Lavia pursed her lips slightly and muttered.
“Hm? Did you say something just now?”

“N-nothing much,” she quickly shook her head. Lavia cleared her throat gently and continued, “Sos, you should know what a mole is, right?”
“Do you mean the energy contained in magic?”
“Yes, but not exactly,” Lavia nodded, setting down the documents in her hand, and asked in a serious tone, “Theoretically, one mole unit of magical energy can control one mole unit of elements, but in reality, it’s not that simple. For example, when you cast a fireball—a regular fireball—theoretically, it requires 14 mole units of magical energy. But in practice, you use more because some energy is lost during the process of gathering the elements. Yet the energy of the fireball itself remains 14 mole units. In other words, the longer it takes to cast a spell, the more mental energy and magical energy are consumed, and the lower the efficiency of the spell’s energy output.”
“Oh…”
“Can you pay attention?”
“Please, I’ve been paying attention the whole time!”
“You!” Lavia seemed a bit angry. She stared at Jiang Zhe for a long time before frowning and finishing her sentence, “Magicians explain this by saying that the essence that constitutes magic, that is, the mass of the elements, is constant. Theoretically, casting a fireball requires 14 mole units of energy. But in reality, almost no one can reach this standard. Even great magicians can only get extremely close to it, not reach it exactly. So where does all that lost energy go?”
“I don’t know…”

“I didn’t ask you!” Ravia frowned; it seemed she hated it when others interrupted her. “A century ago, the great mage Yuri Spell came up with an idea: why can mages use magic to gather elements? It’s because the elements themselves have the property of absorbing magic. Theoretically, one unit of element absorbs one unit of magic, allowing mages to use this to cast spells. The process of gathering elements is actually about expanding your magical aura and attaching it to the elements in the atmosphere. That way, you can control those elements, but ultimately, what you control is just your own magic. Generally, the elements themselves aren’t consumed or controlled; you can think of them as necessary tools for casting magic… But there’s more than one element in the atmosphere. Even if you don’t need other elements, they will still absorb the magic you lose, which is a waste of magic. So, you need to use your mental power to control them, sense the fire elements in the atmosphere, and push out the unwanted ones. Spells and enhancement tools are meant to speed up and strengthen this process. Element affinity is even more important—it allows you to gather elements more easily. For example, the fire elements around you—although you haven’t gathered them, they still move closer to you due to your magic influence. The higher the affinity, the more obvious this becomes…”

“Oh…” Jiang Zhe nodded in realization. Suddenly, he thought of a question and asked doubtfully, “Do you mean elements naturally tend toward magic? Then why are there only fire elements around me? According to you, shouldn’t there be various elements?” As he spoke, he glanced at the girl’s surprised expression and frowned. “What’s wrong? Is there something wrong?”

“I thought you’d never ask questions,” Ravia smiled faintly. Seeing Jiang Zhe’s puzzled look, she explained, “I’ve also thought about this question, but I still haven’t come up with any answers. However, there was a mage in history who proposed a hypothesis. He saw the process of casting magic as a contract—mages use magic as a price to control certain elements… It’s a contract made through spiritual power. The more times such a contract is made, the stronger the element affinity becomes. But we all know that elements themselves don’t possess intelligence, so this hypothesis was refuted by other mages… If you have to explain it, you can think of it this way… The higher the affinity for fire elements, the weaker the affinity for other elements…”

“Hah?” Watching Ravia deliver that conclusion in an unsure tone, Jiang Zhe felt like laughing.
“Do you get unsure sometimes too? How rare!”
“How could I…?” Mid-sentence, Ravia suddenly realized what she was saying and snapped, “What do you mean by that?”
“Nothing, it’s nothing!” Jiang Zhe stretched and stood up. “Isn’t class already over?”
“What do you mean?” Ravia looked at Jiang Zhe in confusion.
Pointing at the wall clock, Jiang Zhe said irritably, “Even the longest self-study session must be over by now.” With that, he picked up his magic robe from the sofa and added, “I’m going for a walk!”
“Where are you going?” Ravia glanced at the thick stack of documents on the long table—she still had so much she wanted to say to this guy!
Noticing Ravia’s gaze, Jiang Zhe glanced at the documents as well. The corners of his eyes twitched slightly. Coughing, he said, “I suddenly realized my understanding of the fire element isn’t thorough enough, so I want to go to the library…”
“Is that so…” Ravia seemed surprised. Beyond that, she asked doubtfully, “Is this not just an excuse? An excuse for you to get me out of here…”
Why have to be so smart?! Jiang Zhe rolled his eyes and forced a smile. “Of course not. If you want to stay here, go ahead…”
“Do you think I want to stay here?” With that, Ravia stood up and walked out beside Jiang Zhe, humming softly.
“Hey, your documents…” Jiang Zhe called after her.
“Just leave them there. I’ve memorized everything!”
Great!
Glancing around the room, especially at the sofa where he often dozed off, Jiang Zhe sighed and closed the door.
He knew it would be troublesome, but he didn’t expect it to be this much…
About ten minutes later, Jiang Zhe indeed arrived at the library, but he didn’t pick any books from the shelves because he wasn’t there to read—he was there to catch up on sleep…
Strangely enough, ever since arriving in this magic world, he somehow slept much more than before. Jiang Zhe attributed this to using up his magic power too often. After all, a good sleep could fully restore both his mental energy and magic power. It was only natural for such an extraordinary talent to have side effects—restoring mental energy was far more difficult than restoring magic power. Many magicians might take years to recover after suffering mental exhaustion. Of course, this also had something to do with the difference in levels.

But anyway, Jiang Zhe wasn’t too concerned about this. Even though he had been sleeping more lately and felt drowsy easily, he attributed it to excessive stress and mental fatigue… Everyone has experienced such things, right?
“Hey!” Someone gently tapped his shoulder.
“Hm?” Jiang Zhe, who had been dozing off at the long table in the library, raised his head, glanced at the person, yawned, and said, “It’s you, hey, Dia…”
The person was Dia, the only one at Rex Academy who could be considered a friend of Jiang Zhe’s aside from Scott and Allen.
“Hey, is that the way you talk to a senior?” Dia said playfully as she sat down next to him. Seeing the sleepiness on Jiang Zhe’s face and the table devoid of any books, she laughed and said, “This isn’t a place to sleep!”
“I had no choice…”
“Hm?” Dia placed the magic book she was about to read on the table and asked curiously, “No choice? If you’re tired, why not go back to the dormitory to rest?”
“I can’t go back…” Jiang Zhe lazily turned his head.
“Why can’t you go back… Huh? You fell asleep?” It took her just a moment to realize Jiang Zhe had fallen asleep after flipping through a page. Amused yet puzzled, she shook her head and started reading again.
More than two hours passed. The sky darkened, and fewer students remained in the library.
“Ugh…” As she carefully read and used shorthand magic to jot down important information, the two-hour task left Dia extremely tired, her eyes sore as well. Meanwhile, the faint snoring beside her continued…
“Still asleep?” Dia turned her head irritably and said softly, “You’ll catch a cold, Sos…”
“Mmhm…” Jiang Zhe mumbled in his drowsy state.
“Hehe!” Smiling slightly, Dia propped her head and stared at Jiang Zhe. Gradually, her gaze grew distant.
‘Sis, we met a magician on our hunting trip. He was really amazing. It’s a shame you weren’t there…’
‘Yes, that’s too bad…’
‘I want to become a dark magician too, a very powerful one!’
‘Mm, I believe in you…’
“…You definitely can!” Dia murmured those words.
If her brother were still alive, he would be about the same age as this child…
Biting her lip, Dia stared at Jiang Zhe absentmindedly. After a long while, she reached out and touched his cheek with her fingers…
“Hehe…”
“Why are you smiling?” A puzzled voice came from beside her.

“Huh?” Dia came back to her senses and realized Jiang Zhe was looking at her with confusion. She quickly pulled her hand back from the air and stammered, “Uh… I just…”
“Hm?” Jiang Zhe slowly raised his head, wiped his mouth with his hand, and asked in puzzlement, “Did I drool?”
“Uh… Yeah! That’s why I wanted to remind you… Maybe I misread it…”
“Oh,” Jiang Zhe nodded, stretched, glanced around, and stood up. “It seems the library is about to close. I’m heading back…”
“I should go too,” Dia said, quickly gathering the materials on the table. She casually asked, “Sos, after the year-end assessment, do you plan to stay in Riox or go back home?”
“Go home?” Jiang Zhe was stunned for a moment, holding his head with both hands. “I should stay here, right? Scott and Allen don’t seem like they’re going back either… Oh, right, my professor for Fire Blue Magic, Professor Hod, mentioned a few days ago that after the year-end assessment he wants me to follow him. He seems to live in a small town to the south…”
“I see,” Dia nodded and then smiled. “It seems Professor Hod values you a lot. Maybe he wants to teach you some new knowledge…”
“I hope so. What about you?”
“Me?” Dia was momentarily stunned and said with a hint of melancholy, “I haven’t decided yet. The third-year assessment is very difficult. If I can’t pass it smoothly, it’ll be troublesome… People will laugh at me…” She stuck out her tongue as she spoke.
“It’s okay. I believe you can definitely pass with your skills!”
“Giggle… If that’s the case, that would be great… Then I’m off!”
“Okay, goodbye!”
With a slight smile, Dia carried her notes and headed toward the dormitory.
It’s really… so similar…