Chapter 338: The Perfect Playground

Du Zhengyi spent the entire afternoon reading a book on spatial theory by a Highland Mage; the mages here expounded on spatial theory using a different model, and the language used was a variant close to the ancient tongue.

He did not go to the hall, spending the entire afternoon in his room, projecting the stored characters onto the wall and lying on the bed to quietly browse through the whole book. He had not noticed the light and shadow outside changing until the sunlight slipped away behind the forest to the north of the window, leaving a slight chill on the tip of his nose.

Du Zhengyi shifted his attention away from the book; no one had come to disturb him for a full day, and he had quietly finished the entire book. Ordinary people dared not and were unwilling to seek him out; the only person who could disturb him was Luo Qi.

Luo Qi usually had to attend classes with Mage Hashi in the morning; he never would have imagined that he would be reduced to the point of being a study companion for Luo Qi.

In the afternoon, Luo Qi was supposed to learn Battle Mage techniques with other Highland Mages, but the Highland Mages did not place much importance on such courses, and Luo Qi only had the opportunity to attend when he could confirm someone was willing to teach him.

Du Zhengyi actually looked down on the combat abilities of the Highland Mages. Their philosophy left little room for combat; there was no fire or blood in their lives, and they... their only pleasure was gardening—could one really expect them to be good at hunting? However, it was a coincidence that Du Zhengyi was not very invested in Luo Qi wanting to be a Battle Mage either. Luo Qi could become a Level 1 Mage in the future and would become a resident Mage of the Qionglin, that was no problem, but it was unlikely he would be a Battle Mage. It would be difficult for Luo Qi to even wring the neck of a small frog, and after being forced to do so, he would have to constantly perform psychological self-counseling; such a person was not material for a Battle Mage. Besides, a warrior did not need to have too many doubts about orders; there was no time for doubt on the battlefield. But Luo Qi was full of doubts about everything, and hesitation would cost him his life.

Yet Du Zhengyi did not want to tell Luo Qi that he lacked the talent to be a Battle Mage. If Luo Qi wanted to try, let him try; it wouldn't cause any harm anyway. If the experiment didn't succeed, he could just take another path. It just so happened that the Highland Mages' haphazard educational model was very suitable for this situation; the two sides made Du Zhengyi want to applaud them. If a half-baked student met a half-baked teacher and still wanted to pass the imperial examination, then there would truly be no one else in the world.

Today, no one had given him lessons again; a Battle Mage Apprentice could be idle enough to go out and fool around.

But now the sky outside was already dark, and Luo Qi was still nowhere to be seen. This was a place with a harsh survival environment; although it was a gathering area for Highland Mages, there were only thirty-three Highland Mages in total, and outside the small world they had constructed using Magic, there was a vast no-man's-land. Luo Qi should know the principle that he must return before dark; even if he didn't know, that Zhou Quan should know. Although that person's Magic Ability was not outstanding, he was still considered a reliable person.

If Luo Qi had already returned, according to his behavioral patterns, he should be jumping in front of him right now, loudly showing off his experiences from the better part of the day.

Du Zhengyi could not wait any longer; he stood up, stretched his body, which felt a bit stiff from lying down, and felt he should find someone to spar with. Since Luo Qi was shouting loudly about wanting to be a Battle Mage, he should call Luo Qi over to practice and give him a proper, thorough beating.

By this time, the sun had long since set, and only the last trace of afterglow remained outside the window. A faint mist had risen in the forest, and the fog over the lake in the woods drifted ethereally. The cold mist was vast and desolate; Du Zhengyi felt even colder, and invisible icy tentacles had already crawled up his arms, attacking his body.

He turned and pushed the door open, walking quickly to the room next door and knocking hard on Luo Qi's door.

There was silence behind the door.

Du Zhengyi waited for two seconds, knocked a few more times, and then opened Luo Qi's door directly. The room was empty, scattered with the food experiments Luo Qi had created. His Magic Ability was indeed quite good now; he could actually make so many Oreos while idle.

But Luo Qi was not here, and the traces of Magic here had dissipated for several hours.

He turned and walked quickly through the corridor toward the hall. The public area of the Highland Mages was too large, and Du Zhengyi did not have the patience to search carefully; he headed straight for the center of the hall. The central duty Mage rotated every thirty-six hours, and the person on duty happened to be Kawa.

Du Zhengyi walked up to him, without courtesy or any nonsense, and said straightforwardly, "Check for me whether Luo Qi is here."

Kawa's gaze was only slightly startled for a second before he immediately nodded in understanding. Du Zhengyi had to admit that this was one of the few good things about the Highland Mages; they rarely talked nonsense, were all very intelligent, and would use their own minds to judge the ins and outs of a matter.

He watched as Kawa raised his chin slightly, his gaze drifting upward, focusing on an unconscious direction as he recalled. Then, his gaze leveled out and returned to Du Zhengyi's face. Before he could speak, Du Zhengyi had a bad premonition from the subtle astonishment on his face.

"Why is Luo Qi not here? He is not in any of the rooms, nor is he in the four gardens," Kawa said, adding, "You should know that this is a no-man's-land; it is very dangerous to leave here, especially when it is dark."

Du Zhengyi did not answer him and asked again, "Is Zhou Quan here?"

Kawa looked like he was sluggish for a second, then his eyes widened slightly, "This Mage is not here either."

Du Zhengyi was somewhat irritable, "Who else is not here?"

After about three seconds, Kawa shook his head, "Except for those two, everyone else is here."

"Is there any place here suitable for skiing?" Du Zhengyi asked.

"What is skiing?" Mage Kawa asked.

Du Zhengyi stared at him for a long time, "Forget it."

He thought for a moment and asked again, "You have outposts here, right?"

"We do not," Mage Kawa said.

Du Zhengyi looked at him, "Have you never considered that you might be attacked?"

"No one can successfully attack us, not even the Qionglin."

Du Zhengyi sighed; he really didn't know if they were arrogant or naive. "No outposts, no forward observation points," he muttered, asking without much hope, "Then how far can you monitor at the furthest?"

"Only here," Mage Kawa said.

"Fine. Luo Qi and Zhou Quan went out... to play; where do you think they might have gone?" Du Zhengyi felt a bit ashamed when he said this.

Mage Kawa looked at him with the clear, cold gaze of a Highland Mage, "It is impossible for me to know what place is suitable for playing."

Du Zhengyi pursed his lips.

"It is oxygen-deficient outside, there are wolf packs, there are bears, avalanches happen frequently, and in the spring, the snow-capped mountains begin to melt and the river water rises irregularly," Mage Kawa said, "Therefore, I do not know what place is suitable for playing. We have four gardens with different climates; the scenery is pleasant."

"Yeah," Du Zhengyi understood his sarcasm, "I also know they are idiots; you don't need to remind me of that. I want to see your Chief Mage, now, immediately."