Since Liu Ji had turned back into human, naturally, potatoes were off the nu.
To obtain sufficient food, the young swordsman decided to venture into the forest to hunt.
Osar wanted to tag along, but the young swordsman didn't feel at ease leaving Yaine alone with Liu Ji, and thus, the tigerman was forcibly made to stay.
Now, Osar was idly sitting by a newly lit fire, while Yaine was focused on writing and sketching in a small notebook nearby. Not far from them, Liu Ji was slowly flipping through a thick, heavy old to.
"If I rember… That spellbook was the first gift from your teacher, right?" Osar asked Yaine while tossing a branch into the fire. "And you just lent it to him like that?"
"We know nothing about this world, and I think we need a guide," Yaine replied without even looking up. "That spellbook, though it's just a children's prir on magic, can teach simple incantations that I can use to communicate with him."
"But that was from your teacher…" Osar started but stopped when he saw Yaine glaring at him. He scratched his chin and changed the subject, "Okay, never mind… But I thought using incantations to speak was just a trick pretentious third-rate mages use."
"That's usually true." Yaine gaze went back to her notebook. "But isn't the ability to be pretentious based on the fact that this thing can actually be used for communication?"
"Then, why don't we teach him a common language or sothing?" Osar asked.
"I have never learned how to teach soone a new language when there's no common language between us," Yaine said. "Besides, you may want to teach him, but he might not want to learn."
"But can he really learn incantations?" Osar stroked his chin. "I looked at spell books when I was a kid, and I couldn't understand a thing."
"It depends on luck. If soone is talented and has an interest, they can learn incantations on their own much faster than a new language. At least, judging from his reaction, he doesn't lack interest," Yaine explained, tearing a page from her notebook and handing it to Osar. "Here, your task. Try to get it done before the sun sets."
"Ah?" Osar looked at the page and his mouth twitched wildly. "This much timber? And I have to go so far to collect them? But rvant asked to watch over you."
"Co on, do I look like I need guarding?" Yaine rolled her eyes. "rvant has just been overly suspicious. I'm half ifrit; I know far better than you whether that potato man is dangerous or not."
"Is he dangerous?" Osar asked.
"Not at all. He's as safe as can be," Yaine replied. "I suspect he has never killed a person in his life… No, maybe he's never even seen soone die in front of him."
"Ah? No way." Osar glanced at Liu Ji in astonishnt, then ca to a realization. "Oh, right, this is the other side of the desert…"
"Right, this is the other side of the desert," Yaine said solemnly. "There is no tyrant and his dogs here, nor anyone's holand turned into rubble."
"Uh…" Osar opened his mouth to say sothing, then scratched his head, unsure of what to say. In the end, he muttered, "I'm off to chop wood," before he turned and left.
Yaine sighed and lowered her head, continuing to write away in her little notebook.
————
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Liu Ji was sowhat in shock.
Just now, it seed like that underage girl had shown him a bit of magic.
While he had already been in this world for many years, this was the first ti he had seen magic.
Well, if counting the ti when he saw them flying right after he opened his eyes, then that would be the second.
He wasn't sure how he had reacted at that mont, but Liu Ji felt it might be similar to the expression he had as a child when he first saw a Ga Boy Advance.
After all, that was magic!
Liu Ji had grown up watching Harry Potter and had even fantasized about receiving his own Hogwarts acceptance letter delivered by an owl in his childhood.
And then, that girl had given him a book.
Initially, he found it strange. How could he understand a book when they didn't share a common language?
But when he opened it, guess what!
Turns out that it was a children's picture book!
And it was an interactive one at that!
Just by lightly touching the words in the pictures, a corresponding pronunciation would sound in his mind—like a magical version of a LeapFrog learning book!
Liu Ji wasn't sure if the pronunciation was too awkward, or if he had just been a potato for too long and had forgotten how to speak, but he struggled to mimic the simple three-syllable word associated with a small fla drawn on the first page.
He felt like he was twisting his tongue in every way imaginable but couldn't get it right.
The strangest part was, according to the instructions in the book, while saying the word, he was supposed to raise his right hand and point his index finger toward the sky.
So there he was, right hand raised, left hand pressing the word in the book, repeating the clumsy pronunciation.
As if he was a priest holding up a cross and reading from the Bible.
Well, more like a priest using a reading book.
Liu Ji couldn't help chuckling at the imagery in his mind of a priest holding a cross and touching the Bible as it triggered electronic voices.
Nearby, Yaine shot him a strange glance.
Slightly embarrassed, Liu Ji touched his nose awkwardly.
During his years as a potato, he had relied entirely on his wild imagination for entertainnt, and he had slipped back into his old habit without realizing it.
To cover his embarrassnt, he quickly returned his gaze to the book, and out of habit, repeated the word from the book.
This ti, his unruly tongue suddenly cooperated, and he pronounced the syllables correctly.
However, he had forgotten his right index finger wasn't pointing at the sky, but at his own head because he had just been touching his nose.
The mont the word was spoken, Liu Ji felt a certain energy within him being activated, seemingly about to burst forth from his fingertip.
He knew he could suppress this energy, but it happened so suddenly that he didn't have any ti to react before the energy erupted.
In the next mont, a brilliant fla filled Liu Ji's entire field of vision, and intense heat hit him face on.
But just a mont later, a large ball of water splashed down on his head, cooling him down both inside and out.
"Aack!" He spat out a mouthful of water and, when he looked up, saw Yaine pointing her staff at him, with shock written all over her face.
Liu Ji looked at her, then at the water all over him, and then at his fingertip, and suddenly realized what had just happened.
Had he just cast magic?
And had he then directed it at his own head when he used it?
He now understood why the instructions had told him to point his hand toward the sky while speaking.
He had followed the instructions, just that he had been distracted for a mont…
And then, the water ca down on his head…
Liu Ji looked at Yaine.
By now, she had put away her staff and ca over to squat in front of him. She poked his cheek, then pulled his eyelid up to look inside, and made an "Ahhh" sound.
Liu Ji hesitated, then opened his mouth wide and said, "Ahhh."
Yaine seed to conjure a small wooden stick out of nowhere, using it to press down on Liu Ji's tongue and peered inside, then finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Liu Ji pinched his throat. This procedure reminded him of visits to the doctor for tonsillitis as a child.
Just as Liu Ji was thinking about how to thank her, Yaine reached over and took the thick children's spellbook from his lap. It was then that Liu Ji realized that the book had probably suffered from the dousing of cold water.
Yaine gently flipped through the now thoroughly soaked spellbook, looking sowhat sorrowful.
"Uh, sorry…" Liu Ji said, then rembered that Yaine probably wouldn't understand him.
However, she smiled at him and responded with a short one syllable word.
Sohow, Liu Ji felt that it probably ant "It's okay."
But despite saying so, the pain and sadness in Yaine's eyes as she gazed at the book were unmistakable.
Liu Ji realized that the book might have special significance for the young woman before him.
As he watched Yaine walk away with the book, Liu Ji gulped hard, feeling a bitterness in his throat.
Haa… It seems that I've caused trouble, even though she lent the book specifically so I could learn magic…
Liu Ji couldn't help but sigh inwardly.
He felt guilty and upset, and a part of him even wanted to turn back into a potato…
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