Chapter 90: Mage Jokes (Third Chapter, 10,000 Words, Requesting Monthly Tickets)

Luo Yisi was also a veteran instructor of the accelerated class, aware that students' inner monologues in the first lesson would hinder learning, so he didn't push the pace.

"In a few weeks, it'll become clear."

To truly gauge progress, you must observe the apprentices' self-study of the reading list—then a few small quizzes will make everything obvious.

With no teaching pressure, he could naturally take it easy.

After swiftly covering the universal textbook, introduction, overview of mages, and history of magic—all required courses—he began "chitchatting" about "anecdotes" to spark the apprentices' interest in the magical world.

"Red dragons are greedy and warlike, blue dragons vain and arrogant, green dragons cunning and treacherous, black dragons venomous and vengeful, white dragons stupid and brutal."

When questioned by the apprentices about their interest in dragon language and dragons, Luo Yisi directly shared his knowledge of the evil dragons.

The impressions tied to dragons were overwhelmingly negative—this was also the general public's view, though mages seemed to elaborate more precisely.

Dragons are divided into factions; the five most common colored evil dragons indeed have terrible reputations.

It is said that sixteen years ago, a colossal red dragon destroyed the royal capital.

Red dragons' warlike nature and arrogance are infamous; in many places, the sudden descent of red wings is regarded as an unstoppable natural disaster.

"This is prejudice! This is prejudice!"

Ku Ku, whom Li En had expected to join in mocking dragons, declared that Luo Yisi's words were full of prejudice.

"Huh? Are they not that bad?" Li En was surprised—had the infamous evil dragons been a misunderstanding?

"No! The great evil dragons possess all these flaws—greedy, warlike, vain, arrogant, brutal (and thirty other negative traits omitted here). If you think they only have one or two of these flaws, you'll suffer!"

Li En was speechless—you're the one harboring prejudice.

"Truly! Truly! Evil dragons have all these flaws! What this little mage said is merely their most obvious traits."

"You're of evil dragon bloodline. You must be careful, restrain yourself!"

No power comes without cost—especially power borrowed from dragons.

Red dragons are notoriously warlike, frenzied, and arrogant (with at least a dozen other negative adjectives omitted), yet many places still carefully guard against red dragon descendants.

"Huh, you even prepared me Tiamat's advanced model?"

If one colored dragon is this evil, how evil must Tiamat, the evil dragon deity who gathers five of them together, be?

"So you must restrain yourself! Power itself may be neither good nor evil, but human nature and reason can suppress and overcome it. Hold power, don't let power control you. Nature can be overcome."

Ku Ku tried to persuade Li En, and Li En nodded, agreeing.

This lesson lasted over four hours, with two breaks—mostly because the teacher needed to drink water.

During breaks, while the instructor was away, the apprentices introduced themselves to one another.

The seven apprentices left Li En with an average impression; his introduction as "Holy Knight and Sorcerer" made others' expressions peculiar.

They probably couldn't say it outright, but their "Did you get lost?" expressions were obvious.

The apprentices still exchanged contact information, but their expressions grew even more peculiar when they saw Li En's address: "Nanmen District."

Their relationships were lukewarm; after class, everyone naturally went home—though usually there were social gatherings—but Li En's presence made the class atmosphere too strange.

Perhaps some of them were already eager to go home and ask who Li En really was.

"This one and this one," Li En naturally went to purchase the books on the reading list after class.

The instructor had kindly marked the bookstore locations, but the more Li En bought, the paler his face grew.

These things were absurdly expensive—fewer than fifty books cost over a hundred gold coins, and this was only the beginning.

"Hurry up! Next one!"

Ku Ku, pushing the cart, was quite cheerful.

"Hey, don't perch on my shoulder," Li En grumbled—not because it was heavy, for Kusula was far lighter than this armor.

"Why not? Ku Ku made a disguise!" Ku Ku was confused.

"It's this disguise." To avoid trouble, Kusula had crafted a fake outer shell—but…

"... pink-furred giant stuffed bear. I, a grown man, carrying this on my shoulder—forget ever being taken seriously again."

The only casing large enough to fit Kusula that Li En could find was this oversized toy children loved.

Thus, the two had transformed from a con artist alchemist and his metal lizard golem into a holy knight and his girly pink-furred stuffed bear.

Li En sighed, ultimately accepting Ku Ku's company—and the bear sitting on his shoulder to read (really, Ku Ku just wanted to read faster). Li En's thick skin had long been trained, but if he didn't complain now, he feared Ku Ku would keep climbing higher.

As he placed each book down, Li En grew more pained.

He didn't understand—if he'd been friendlier with the other apprentices, shown more warmth, they might've told him about the secondhand bookshops, where he could get nearly new complete magic introductory sets for half price.

Why? Too many apprentices dropped out midway.

If he'd been shameless enough to hang a sign on this street offering to buy used books, with patience and wasted time, he could've gotten them for three-tenths the price.

"By the way, what auxiliary studies should I focus on when I reach the second ring?"

Li En hadn't even entered the path yet, and he was already thinking about flying.

But both Li En and Ku Ku found this perfectly natural—Li En was unlikely to be blocked before the second ring.

"Focus on auxiliary studies that improve logic and calculation—architecture design is good, it trains spatial imagination. Practical arcane knowledge is also useful; history helps greatly when excavating underground ruins. Herbalism is important too—no, wait, no." After thinking, the "stuffed bear" in teaching mode shook his head.

His conclusion: ordinary mage apprentice experience couldn't measure Li En.

"It depends on who you draw," Ku Ku gave a subtly realistic answer.

"Huh, alright." After thinking, Li En agreed—it was realistic, and made sense.

Self-study couldn't compare to borrowing the experience and talent of a divine spirit.

"What branch suits me best at the third ring?" Li En looked even further ahead.

"Start with evocation. Dragon-blooded and dragon-bloodline users are naturally elemental conduits." In Ku Ku's view, dragons themselves were kings of elements; dragon-blooded shouldn't hesitate to specialize in evocation—controlling, shaping, and manipulating energy and elements.

Li En hesitated—he didn't want to be called a brute mage.

He'd heard evocation was viewed oddly among mages; "fireball mage" didn't sound like a prestigious title.

"What was your first awakened divine spell?" Ku Ku asked directly.

"Uh, Holy Flame Aura—but isn't that a divine spell?"

"The eight schools of magic aren't limited to mage spells—they classify supernatural abilities by how they function. Most divine spells and supernatural powers fall under these categories."

Li En tried to argue—he thought the spell that snapped fingers to hypnotize foes was cool.

Or the abjuration spell that bounced back an opponent's magic—also great.

"Smite Evil is evocation." Ku Ku's single sentence ended the debate.

"Cure Light Wounds is evocation too." This confused Li En—but then he realized, such divine spells controlled "positive energy," so maybe it made sense.

"Holy Flame Aura is evocation too. Holy Knights have a whole arsenal of evocation spells."

"Alright, I'll study evocation seriously." Li En raised his hands in surrender.

Ku Ku, victorious, nodded. Though he himself excelled in alteration (alchemy), evocation pushed to its peak was far more than merely manipulating energy and elements.

In Ku Ku's view, red dragon sorcerers were born with an evocation holy body; holy knights had countless evocation divine spells (Li En specialized in Smite Evil)—Li En was clearly an evocation holy body, and not studying it would be a waste.

But he also worried Li En was too suited to evocation.

"But you must restrain yourself! Restrain yourself!"

Magic is elemental power—it alters the user's nature too. But conversely, certain personalities suit certain spells.

Evocation, famously, produces hot-headed men and fiery women.

Some say it's because prolonged exposure to elements erodes their temperament—this has some truth; among dragons, the five colored ones skilled in elemental magic truly had no good ones.

New apprentices and veteran magic lovers had endless topics to discuss; Li En heard many sorcerer jokes, dragon jokes, and warrior jokes—no mage jokes, though; Ku Ku seemed to dislike telling them.

Later, Li En would learn that mages, especially between factions, had countless targeted jokes—otherwise, the term "evocation brute" wouldn't be known even to outsiders like him.

Finally, having sorted out most of his tasks, Li En could return home to relax.

Back at his home, Li En, who'd stayed out overnight, received punishment—Lana refused to speak to him!

"Stinky friend, going out to play alone again!" The little girl pouted, not even glancing at Li En.

Fortunately, Li En had a trump card—he casually handed Lana Ku Ku's "bear skin" disguise, claiming he'd bought it specially for her (Ku Ku: Shameless! I've never met such a shameless person!).

Sometimes lies work better than truth—Lana's mood instantly brightened, and she beamed.

After running around with the little bear, she returned, tiptoed, and kissed Li En's cheek.

Then, blushing, she ran off again.

"Who taught her that?" Li En smiled faintly, unaware of the maid's peculiar expression behind him.

Hearing the maid say the household was stable, that Lana had slept well last night, and that eating, drinking, and studying were going smoothly, Li En sighed in relief.

Once her mind matured a bit more, he could send her to school.

After confirming everything was fine, Li En naturally returned to his books.

Following Ku Ku's method, he first let a mental thread scan the book's key points, then slowly analyze them.

As Ku Ku advised, Li En did not rush to learn first-ring spells.

He first studied auxiliary subjects; his natural advantage in dragon language and mathematics made his progress surprisingly strong.

While he diligently read and studied, at dusk, an unexpected visitor arrived.

"Li En. Fulfill your promise." Another "daughter," cloaked, had planned to wait two days—but came today.

Apparently, she, a red dragon bloodline evoker, had very little patience.

(End of Chapter)