Chapter 92: King

Still a vial of red potion, within which faint flames flowed like crystallized magma of fire element.

Drinking it required a bit of courage.

When Li En pulled it out, her beautiful eyes locked onto it without blinking.

"Looks delicious," Dai Nia said, already drooling helplessly upon seeing it.

She snapped back to herself, wiped it away, yet realized something was off—her body itself craved it.

Li En wasted no time and handed the vial over; she had already paid, and ten times over.

"Gulps!"

As she swallowed it in haste, Li En grew even tenser, stepping back instinctively.

He still remembered the agony he endured after taking the potion—lethal-level pain.

Pain so severe it made him convulse, pain so abstract it shattered his mind, pain so intense he passed out, only to be jolted awake by the pain itself.

If the princess before him also went through this… he worried the guard might impulsively cut him in half.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Dai Nia frowned, wondering what this man was staring at.

"Nothing," Li En fell silent, seeing Dai Nia showed no signs of distress—he felt something was wrong.

"Kuku." If not Dai Nia, then it must have been himself back then.

"Kuku doesn't know!"

"Not Kuku's fault!"

"Ah. Everyone's body is different—definitely not the potion's fault."

Li En asked just one question, and Kuku answered three—self-incriminating without even trying.

Li En sighed; this was already an admission—he'd clearly been an experimental subject.

But what could he do? Accuse a well-meaning dog-man of messing up again?

"Ugh." Suddenly, Dai Nia instinctively clutched her head, as if dizzy and disoriented.

Her female guard moved swiftly, catching her instantly.

Li En exhaled in relief—this was normal at last.

But soon—less than five minutes later—she woke again, having merely slept as if normally, nothing like Li En's ordeal.

"So big a dragon," she murmured half-asleep, half-dreaming. "So big a fire."

Clearly, she had awakened successfully—nothing like Li En's full day and near-death struggle.

"How many words did you awaken?" Li En hoped for an answer that might ease his own suffering.

After all, Kuku had said most beginners awaken only one word—his three were abnormal.

He'd suffered extra pain; he deserved extra reward.

The princess, asked, looked bewildered.

"Konungr (King)!"

She spoke it instinctively.

When this "word" was uttered by one qualified to speak it, the world changed.

And the first to suffer was those around her.

Li En sank into a dream—a golden, radiant palace, himself standing within it, before him a magnificent throne of gold, upon which sat a beautiful, solemn figure.

Golden flame hair blazed fiercely; even the golden crown could not match her purity, her crimson dragon eyes gazed down upon mortals in silence.

She, unquestionably, was the sovereign.

"She is so powerful, so majestic—she is my sovereign—I should kneel, I should submit… but am I supposed to kneel to my own daughter?!" Li En's dragon eyes awakened at that moment.

"Thud!" Li En stomped hard, snapping out of the vision.

He returned to reality, opened his eyes—no towering Dragon Sovereign before him, only a girl with tear-streaked face and snot running down her nose.

Yet behind her, the veteran warrior—stronger than a fifth-rank Grand Knight—was already half-kneeling.

Li En had resisted; the female knight, far stronger than him, had been caught off-guard and only now began to stir.

"Dragon aura… no, something stronger—this is Dragon Speech." She too came to her senses.

A battle-hardened veteran, she felt a chill of fear—even though she'd let her guard down due to trust in the princess, she had been utterly defenseless then; a small dagger could have ended her.

Of the three present, two stared at Dai Nia with unease; only she remained clueless.

"Ah, why has my mana dropped so much?" She didn't even realize she'd just cast a spell.

Clearly, this Dragon Speech drained her heavily.

The inability to use it frequently when one's power is insufficient was a clear weakness of Dragon Speech.

The female guard leaned close, whispering softly into Dai Nia's ear—first startling her, then delighting her with every word.

This power was far greater than fifth-rank spells—and it was only a single "word"!

"Konungr (King) and Surtr (Flame)—only the first one works now," she answered Li En, her eyes gleaming with pride.

Flame too? Li En nodded thoughtfully.

Kuku had said even "flame" could mean different things depending on the word—different meanings, divergent paths.

Even as fellow Dragon Descendants, Li En and Dai Nia walked different paths—clearly, far apart.

"Gaga. King, not royal or noble—this girl isn't ordinary, not ordinary at all. Her Surtr refers to the Fire God's flame—also an extraordinary word."

Even Kuku, the Dragon Speech expert, seemed to have given high praise?

"Your Highness," her guard's tone grew firmer now.

"I know… don't tell anyone else," Dai Nia finally realized—supernatural abilities and spell lists were matters of life and death; they couldn't be casually revealed.

"Weird—I just blurted it out." Dai Nia glared at Li En again; it must have been this man's strange ability that made her feel she could trust him in that moment.

So she opened her mouth, eager—perhaps she should make him reveal a secret too.

"Hmm, I won't say anything. I understand the rules."

Li En raised his hands quickly—he didn't want another blast; the last one had barely passed his resistance, next time might not.

If he knelt, even without revealing a secret, she'd laugh at him for ages.

Seeing Li En so cooperative, Dai Nia's disappointment was plain to see; finally, she sighed and gave up.

After all, she wasn't a tyrant.

Next, after confirming her physical state was fine, the princess took her leave—her schedule was always packed.

But before departing, she paused, then added one more thing.

"If you're short on money, there'll be targeted expeditions soon—try joining one. Monster rewards in underground ruins are high, especially for lion-type or dragon-type creatures—they pay double. And don't you dare leak this!"

She spoke and left immediately—as if she'd already said all she could.

Was this a hint? But Li En had already heard rumors from multiple sources these past two days.

Probably only Dai Nia herself, the one who issued the order, didn't know—it was already common knowledge.

But that was normal; Kings and royal presidents lived in carefully constructed "cages," where distorted perception was the norm.

The princess's visit was a minor interruption; her successful awakening eased Li En's mind.

Now she was gone, he could finally focus on reading and studying—he truly hoped to become a true mage soon; he needed power badly.

But his progress remained strangely slow.

As a novice spellcaster, his ability wasn't terrible, but once he began reading these miscellaneous texts, he realized how many "common knowledge" gaps he had.

Magic in this world was a collection of knowledge—and Li En lacked many basics that locals took for granted; he clearly needed serious remedial lessons.

As for spell learning, he found it surprisingly smooth.

One by one, simple cantrips became easier to master, his practice growing more fluent.

These cantrips themselves were the "foundation" of higher spells—Mage Hand, for instance, was the basis of all field spells, while Fire Arrow trained one in fire magic.

After witnessing the power of Dragon Speech, Li En grew curious about his own "ELDER (Fire)."

But Kuku warned him again: if he wanted to rebuild his house from ruins, go ahead and use it.

Unlike Dai Nia, Li En's three words were all offensive—each alone a potent attack spell.

"This book is making me want to die—analyzing first-rank spells is so hard," Li En muttered, feeling like he was back in the hell of Gaokao—endless books, no end in sight.

"I can help you! Help you! I can accelerate your knowledge learning!"

Kuku's reply carried a hint of unease—compared to Dai Nia's awakening, Li En's had been far too painful.

And his teaching method was simple and effective.

Overnight, Li En awoke from his dream, dazed.

He snapped his fingers—a Mage Hand appeared on his shoulder, massaging away his tension.

When the Spirit-Soul was "awake," Kuku could share selected memories—and this time, Kuku shared his own journey of learning magic!

If he only selected a few low-rank spells, he had enough time to transmit them in full detail, letting Li En experience the complete learning and casting process.

It wasn't Li En's body, and the memories would fade as the dream dissolved—but upon waking, Li En felt his understanding of those spells had skyrocketed.

Yet the Spirit-Soul's time was limited; spending it this way felt wasteful—or perhaps, because Kuku now had nothing else to desire, he was willing to waste time.

As thanks, Li En fulfilled his promise.

He spent some money to buy a half-broken steam car—Kuku immediately leapt into the air, dancing a bizarre jig.

But half an hour later, a pile of metal junk appeared in the courtyard corner; Kuku lost interest, dashed back to his storage room, and hurriedly recorded his insights.

Study time was always joyful yet fleeting; autumn was full of troubles—but the first to shatter the calm was the seemingly stable underground ruin.

On the same day, at least three ruin entrances collapsed, spewing out massive numbers of monsters.

Surprisingly, it was the underground inhabitants who struck first.

But astonishingly, the location hit was none other than Huicheng—the district supposedly the most fortified.

"The Gray Goblins Bank on Mage Street was attacked? And a new tunnel entrance collapsed right out of it—could this really not be bandits taking advantage to rob the bank?"

(End of Chapter)