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Chapter 294: The Three-No Princess's Personal Guidance
In the Study Room of Lut Gholein Villa, nearly ten days had passed since the Encounter with Tal Rasha. During this Time, I had shut myself in the Study Room, either wrestling with Fara's Magic Foundation Book or entering the Meditation State to Practice the Soul Magic I had just mastered. The remaining Time was spent tinkering with the Horadric Cube and the few Magic Scrolls Tal Rasha had given me before disappearing.
After several days of fumbling around, I discovered that Soul Magic was not as easy to pick up as I had imagined. Firstly, I could only explore my own Soul while in a state of complete concentration during Meditation. If I couldn't do this even when casting Magic normally, many of Soul Magic's effects would be unusable.
The second difficulty was exploring the Magic Marks within my Soul. There were countless Light Points within the Soul, and finding the Magic Marks in this sea of information was no easy Matter. It took me a full six or seven days to finally find a Magic Mark with great difficulty, but then another problem arose. Looking at the dozen or so Magic Chains composed of countless Incantations twisted together like a pretzel, I was instantly dumbfounded.
It seems I'm a Magic Idiot.
There really is no such thing as a free lunch in this world. Even if Soul Magic provided a shortcut to the ultimate Magic, if you couldn't even walk, it was useless. My current situation was like a Farmer who was lucky enough to be hit by a supercomputer but had never even touched a Radio Receiver – possessing something good but not knowing how to use it.
Of course, if you don't understand a computer, you can just randomly press buttons; at most, it will just fall apart. But the Soul is different. I am ninety-nine percent Affirmative that if I relied on the Protagonist's Halo to randomly move the Magic Marks within my Soul, hoping for a blind cat to stumble upon a dead Mouse, then the Protagonist's Halo would turn into the Idiot's Halo. If I was Lucky, maybe I could still retain Monkey-like Intelligence and occupy a Mountain Peak to be a Monkey King for a while.
*Cough cough*, in short, the Soul is like a precision instrument. If you don't have absolute certainty, or haven't reached the Extent of giving up on life, it's best to keep your Distance and look but don't touch.
Therefore, I had no choice but to pick up Fara's Magic Foundation Book again, thinking that no Matter how difficult Magic was, it couldn't be harder than advanced mathematics. But I was wrong, I was damn wrong. I underestimated the Wisdom of Otherworlders and was deceived by the simple Knowledge at the beginning. This damned Magic Fundamentals was like university analog electronics; the beginning was simple introductory Knowledge, but once you got to the next chapter, the difficulty shot up like the Himalayas. What I was reading now looked like a combination of analytical geometry and assembly language. Just flipping through it a little, countless stars appeared before my Eyes. Oh, is it dark?
"Creak—"
Just as I was so depressed I wanted to jump off a building, a dull Sound broke the silence. The exquisite sandalwood Wooden Door of the Study Room was opened. Looking up, I saw it was the Three-No Princess carrying a Silver Plate. Speaking of which, thanks to her these past few days, otherwise I would definitely have become a gloomy, dispirited Shut-in living on Instant Food. This Little Squirt is quite reliable at Critical Moments.
"Is it Noon?"
I stretched, subconsciously turning my Head to look at the only Window in the Study Room. It was covered by thick curtains, making it impossible to distinguish day or night.
"It's evening, Master," the expressionless Three-No Princess immediately corrected.
"..."
Wait, if I remember correctly, I ate breakfast this morning, right? What about lunch? Did she serve it to the me in another parallel world?
Retract the previous statement. This fellow is not reliable at all.
Forget it, if I fuss too much with this Little Fellow, I'll really lose. I rubbed my Stomach, looking at her with Helplessness. No wonder my Stomach was growling so loudly; I thought it was because my Brain cells had consumed too much!
After a good bout of wolfing down Food, two adults' worth of Food was swept into my Stomach in less than a few minutes. Wiping my mouth, I buried myself back in the Book.
A few minutes later...
"..."
A flawless, pretty face suddenly filled my Eye sockets, startling me and making me lean back quickly.
"Why are you crying?"
The owner of the pretty face, Marissa, extended her Jade finger from her sleeve, pointing at my tear-streaked face and asked. This Little Fellow usually leaves immediately after I finish eating; why is she suddenly interested today? Could it be that she thought I had become a Shut-in and was finally worried about me, her Master?
"Oh, no, it's nothing. I'm just moved by the profundity and vastness of Magic." I wiped away my Tears and snot while wiping my hands on the Book page. I couldn't possibly say that I was evoking feelings by the scene, reminded of the failed subjects from my university days.
"Is Magic difficult?" A confused Gaze flashed in the Three-No Princess's Eyes. She walked around the Table opposite me and leaned closer, wanting to see what Book I was reading.
Magic Fundamentals?!
She paused slightly, "Is the Book difficult? I finished reading it when I was eight."
This damned Child Prodigy, don't compare ordinary people to you! How could someone like you understand the bitterness of ordinary people? Damn it, I wish all the Child Prodigies in the world would contract Nine Yin Severed Meridians and not live past twelve years old.
Suppressing the throbbing veins on my Forehead, I tried my best to ignore the Kid's Existence and put my full Spirit into the characters in the Book, which looked like tadpoles, like frogs, like Earthworms, like... okay, I can't describe them anymore, or I'll think I'm reading an animal encyclopedia myself.
Perhaps seeing that I was ignoring her, the Three-No Princess became unhappy. Although her face still had no Expression, for some reason, I just felt a hint of annoyance flash through her mind. Is this the legendary Telepathy? If it's true, then it's a truly annoying Feeling!
Just as I was pretending she didn't exist, the Three-No Princess acted. Her petite stature bent slightly, and her Head slipped between my hands holding the Book. While pushing my Upper Body back, she turned around, lightly jumped, and sat on my thigh with her soft backside leaning against my chest.
"If you want to play house, can we do it next Time?"
I can guarantee that if I were a little older and my smile a little kinder, anyone seeing this scene now would think it was a gentle Father holding his Beloved Daughter, reading her a Book and telling her stories, and would involuntarily sigh: What a heartwarming scene of Deep Father-Daughter Affection.
*Ptooey ptooey ptooey*, who gave birth to such a big Daughter for me?
"King Father used to tell me stories like this often."
Seeing that I intended to ask her to leave, the clever Little Fellow actually played the sympathy card. Is she trying to stir up my Fatherly Love? *Hmph hmph*, you Kid, I'm not that old yet. Besides, your Dad isn't dead, is he? You don't need a substitute, do you? If you want Fatherly Love, go find it yourself in the Palace!
"Good girl, I'll tell you stories next Time."
I said with a "pleasant Expression," feeling the veins on my Forehead twitch a few more times. I endured, I endured again.
"Idiot." Just as I was overwhelmed, the Three-No Princess seemed to mutter something softly, but unfortunately, I didn't hear it.
"The Book, I'll help you explain it." I don't know if it was my Illusion, but her cheeks seemed to puff up slightly.
I was slightly taken aback. Explain it to me? Did this Little Fellow have this Idea from the start but was too embarrassed to say it? Heh heh, so that's how it is. What a dishonest Little Loli. After figuring it out, my face immediately beamed with joy. Yes, isn't there the best Teacher right beside me? Why bother studying by myself and getting so tired?
"Idiot."
This Time, the Three-No Princess raised her Voice, letting me hear it clearly. However, in my fully optimistic state, I wouldn't dwell on such things. I just took it as a sign of her arrogance. Besides, she hadn't scolded me any less before.
Hmm, wait? Speaking of which, is it really okay for a Maid to scold her Master? Do I have M tendencies?
I slightly shifted my Body, changing to a more comfortable posture, but inadvertently pressed closer to Marissa's Body. A cold and clear body fragrance, like Winter Plum, entered my nostrils. The Maiden's soft Body was so real, but my full Spirit was now focused on that damned Magic Fundamentals. I absolutely had no evil thoughts, well, I guarantee, even if I did, it was only a little bit.
Perhaps illuminated by the Magic Lamp on the Table, Marissa's pretty face was flushed with a tempting pink, but her expression remained indifferent. As expected of an expert-level Three-No trait.
"Here, do you know what this means?"
She extended her index finger, pointing at a complex pattern in the Book that looked like a combination of several 3D polygons, and upon closer inspection, also somewhat like a circuit board diagram. She asked about the strange diagram.
"This... it's a Magic Array to Summon a UFO, right?" I stared for a long Time, finally looking into the distance, my Body pale.
"Wail!!" The Little Fellow seemed to let out a Wail, then extended her small hand and decisively flipped the book pages, which I had only turned a fraction of, back to the first page with a swish swish Sound.
"Let's start from here."
In the Study Room of Lut Gholein Villa, nearly ten days had passed since the Encounter with Tal Rasha. During this Time, I had shut myself in the Study Room, either wrestling with Fara's Magic Foundation Book or entering the Meditation State to Practice the Soul Magic I had just mastered. The remaining Time was spent tinkering with the Horadric Cube and the few Magic Scrolls Tal Rasha had given me before disappearing.
After several days of fumbling around, I discovered that Soul Magic was not as easy to pick up as I had imagined. Firstly, I could only explore my own Soul while in a state of complete concentration during Meditation. If I couldn't do this even when casting Magic normally, many of Soul Magic's effects would be unusable.
The second difficulty was exploring the Magic Marks within my Soul. There were countless Light Points within the Soul, and finding the Magic Marks in this sea of information was no easy Matter. It took me a full six or seven days to finally find a Magic Mark with great difficulty, but then another problem arose. Looking at the dozen or so Magic Chains composed of countless Incantations twisted together like a pretzel, I was instantly dumbfounded.
It seems I'm a Magic Idiot.
There really is no such thing as a free lunch in this world. Even if Soul Magic provided a shortcut to the ultimate Magic, if you couldn't even walk, it was useless. My current situation was like a Farmer who was lucky enough to be hit by a supercomputer but had never even touched a Radio Receiver – possessing something good but not knowing how to use it.
Of course, if you don't understand a computer, you can just randomly press buttons; at most, it will just fall apart. But the Soul is different. I am ninety-nine percent Affirmative that if I relied on the Protagonist's Halo to randomly move the Magic Marks within my Soul, hoping for a blind cat to stumble upon a dead Mouse, then the Protagonist's Halo would turn into the Idiot's Halo. If I was Lucky, maybe I could still retain Monkey-like Intelligence and occupy a Mountain Peak to be a Monkey King for a while.
*Cough cough*, in short, the Soul is like a precision instrument. If you don't have absolute certainty, or haven't reached the Extent of giving up on life, it's best to keep your Distance and look but don't touch.
Therefore, I had no choice but to pick up Fara's Magic Foundation Book again, thinking that no Matter how difficult Magic was, it couldn't be harder than advanced mathematics. But I was wrong, I was damn wrong. I underestimated the Wisdom of Otherworlders and was deceived by the simple Knowledge at the beginning. This damned Magic Fundamentals was like university analog electronics; the beginning was simple introductory Knowledge, but once you got to the next chapter, the difficulty shot up like the Himalayas. What I was reading now looked like a combination of analytical geometry and assembly language. Just flipping through it a little, countless stars appeared before my Eyes. Oh, is it dark?
"Creak—"
Just as I was so depressed I wanted to jump off a building, a dull Sound broke the silence. The exquisite sandalwood Wooden Door of the Study Room was opened. Looking up, I saw it was the Three-No Princess carrying a Silver Plate. Speaking of which, thanks to her these past few days, otherwise I would definitely have become a gloomy, dispirited Shut-in living on Instant Food. This Little Squirt is quite reliable at Critical Moments.
"Is it Noon?"
I stretched, subconsciously turning my Head to look at the only Window in the Study Room. It was covered by thick curtains, making it impossible to distinguish day or night.
"It's evening, Master," the expressionless Three-No Princess immediately corrected.
"..."
Wait, if I remember correctly, I ate breakfast this morning, right? What about lunch? Did she serve it to the me in another parallel world?
Retract the previous statement. This fellow is not reliable at all.
Forget it, if I fuss too much with this Little Fellow, I'll really lose. I rubbed my Stomach, looking at her with Helplessness. No wonder my Stomach was growling so loudly; I thought it was because my Brain cells had consumed too much!
After a good bout of wolfing down Food, two adults' worth of Food was swept into my Stomach in less than a few minutes. Wiping my mouth, I buried myself back in the Book.
A few minutes later...
"..."
A flawless, pretty face suddenly filled my Eye sockets, startling me and making me lean back quickly.
"Why are you crying?"
The owner of the pretty face, Marissa, extended her Jade finger from her sleeve, pointing at my tear-streaked face and asked. This Little Fellow usually leaves immediately after I finish eating; why is she suddenly interested today? Could it be that she thought I had become a Shut-in and was finally worried about me, her Master?
"Oh, no, it's nothing. I'm just moved by the profundity and vastness of Magic." I wiped away my Tears and snot while wiping my hands on the Book page. I couldn't possibly say that I was evoking feelings by the scene, reminded of the failed subjects from my university days.
"Is Magic difficult?" A confused Gaze flashed in the Three-No Princess's Eyes. She walked around the Table opposite me and leaned closer, wanting to see what Book I was reading.
Magic Fundamentals?!
She paused slightly, "Is the Book difficult? I finished reading it when I was eight."
This damned Child Prodigy, don't compare ordinary people to you! How could someone like you understand the bitterness of ordinary people? Damn it, I wish all the Child Prodigies in the world would contract Nine Yin Severed Meridians and not live past twelve years old.
Suppressing the throbbing veins on my Forehead, I tried my best to ignore the Kid's Existence and put my full Spirit into the characters in the Book, which looked like tadpoles, like frogs, like Earthworms, like... okay, I can't describe them anymore, or I'll think I'm reading an animal encyclopedia myself.
Perhaps seeing that I was ignoring her, the Three-No Princess became unhappy. Although her face still had no Expression, for some reason, I just felt a hint of annoyance flash through her mind. Is this the legendary Telepathy? If it's true, then it's a truly annoying Feeling!
Just as I was pretending she didn't exist, the Three-No Princess acted. Her petite stature bent slightly, and her Head slipped between my hands holding the Book. While pushing my Upper Body back, she turned around, lightly jumped, and sat on my thigh with her soft backside leaning against my chest.
"If you want to play house, can we do it next Time?"
I can guarantee that if I were a little older and my smile a little kinder, anyone seeing this scene now would think it was a gentle Father holding his Beloved Daughter, reading her a Book and telling her stories, and would involuntarily sigh: What a heartwarming scene of Deep Father-Daughter Affection.
*Ptooey ptooey ptooey*, who gave birth to such a big Daughter for me?
"King Father used to tell me stories like this often."
Seeing that I intended to ask her to leave, the clever Little Fellow actually played the sympathy card. Is she trying to stir up my Fatherly Love? *Hmph hmph*, you Kid, I'm not that old yet. Besides, your Dad isn't dead, is he? You don't need a substitute, do you? If you want Fatherly Love, go find it yourself in the Palace!
"Good girl, I'll tell you stories next Time."
I said with a "pleasant Expression," feeling the veins on my Forehead twitch a few more times. I endured, I endured again.
"Idiot." Just as I was overwhelmed, the Three-No Princess seemed to mutter something softly, but unfortunately, I didn't hear it.
"The Book, I'll help you explain it." I don't know if it was my Illusion, but her cheeks seemed to puff up slightly.
I was slightly taken aback. Explain it to me? Did this Little Fellow have this Idea from the start but was too embarrassed to say it? Heh heh, so that's how it is. What a dishonest Little Loli. After figuring it out, my face immediately beamed with joy. Yes, isn't there the best Teacher right beside me? Why bother studying by myself and getting so tired?
"Idiot."
This Time, the Three-No Princess raised her Voice, letting me hear it clearly. However, in my fully optimistic state, I wouldn't dwell on such things. I just took it as a sign of her arrogance. Besides, she hadn't scolded me any less before.
Hmm, wait? Speaking of which, is it really okay for a Maid to scold her Master? Do I have M tendencies?
I slightly shifted my Body, changing to a more comfortable posture, but inadvertently pressed closer to Marissa's Body. A cold and clear body fragrance, like Winter Plum, entered my nostrils. The Maiden's soft Body was so real, but my full Spirit was now focused on that damned Magic Fundamentals. I absolutely had no evil thoughts, well, I guarantee, even if I did, it was only a little bit.
Perhaps illuminated by the Magic Lamp on the Table, Marissa's pretty face was flushed with a tempting pink, but her expression remained indifferent. As expected of an expert-level Three-No trait.
"Here, do you know what this means?"
She extended her index finger, pointing at a complex pattern in the Book that looked like a combination of several 3D polygons, and upon closer inspection, also somewhat like a circuit board diagram. She asked about the strange diagram.
"This... it's a Magic Array to Summon a UFO, right?" I stared for a long Time, finally looking into the distance, my Body pale.
"Wail!!" The Little Fellow seemed to let out a Wail, then extended her small hand and decisively flipped the book pages, which I had only turned a fraction of, back to the first page with a swish swish Sound.
"Let's start from here."
