Caius's eyes gleamed as he looked at the Crab Gang members frozen into ice sculptures.

  The efficiency of this large-scale magic in clearing out small fry like Kalami was simply unparalleled. Even if he could take them down one by one with his fists, it wouldn’t compare. He was truly envious.

  Holan, pleased with the look in Caius’s eyes, smiled and then tilted his chin toward Caius’s bloodied fist. “You’re hurt?”

  “No, it’s their blood.” Caius shook his hand and replied.

  After washing his hands, he gathered the money and equipment from the fallen and tossed them onto the carriage. With that done, the three of them set off once more. They were now only a few dozen kilometers from Ocean City—just past the grassy hill ahead, they would finally see it.

  “What was that spell called just now?” Caius held back for three minutes on the road before he finally couldn’t resist asking.

  “[Frostwave], a Platinum-tier ice spell,” Holan replied with a playful smile. “What? You want to learn it?”

  “Yes! Yes, yes, yes!” Caius nodded enthusiastically.

  Holan laughed heartily and said, “So this is the real reason you want to enter the Magic Academy?”

  “Hehe, I guess I can’t hide anything from my smart Instructor.” Caius grinned.

  “If you want to learn, you can. But you’ll need to pay a commission,” Holan said with a sly look.

  “Whoa, seriously?” Caius’s eyes widened.

  “Isn’t that the rule for mercenaries?” Holan winked playfully.

  “Fine.” Caius chuckled and then shook his head. “But honestly, even if you were willing to teach me, I wouldn’t be able to learn it.”

  “Why? No confidence in yourself?” Holan asked in surprise.

  From her understanding, Caius was a very confident person. She had expected him to shamelessly pester her into teaching him.

  “It’s not about confidence. It’s just… reality.” Caius spread his hands, looking a bit helpless. “My magic power is strange. It’s not like normal magic power, it’s…”

  “Not normal magic power.”

  Before Holan could respond, Kiki had already burst out laughing.

  Holan was also amused. “So what’s so unusual about it?”

  “It can’t be turned into magic,” Caius explained.

  “I’ve spoken with a mage from my village before, and he was willing to teach me magic.”

  “The process of casting magic involves condensing magic power into starlight, arranging that starlight into specific arrays, then using magical runes formed by magic power to interconnect everything into a [Magic Array Sequence]. Finally, by infusing magic power into the array, you amplify it to produce a more powerful spell.”

  “Hmm, yes, that’s about right. Your village’s mage isn’t bad.” Holan nodded approvingly.

  This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

  “He was a Gold-tier mage, formerly part of the Empire’s military. Our village has a lot of retired soldiers,” Caius said with a nod.

  “He taught me the structures of several common spell arrays. Basically, as long as you can release magic power, you should be able to cast spells, right?”

  “Uh-huh.” Holan nodded again.

  “But my magic power… it doesn’t resonate. It can’t form starlight, and it can’t be projected outward or condensed.”

  “Look.”

  Caius extended a finger, and a blue light glowed at the tip.

  He gathered his magic power at his fingertip. With the limited amount of freely controllable magic power in his body, he was now down to less than one percent.

  As he condensed the magic at his fingertip, he slid his hand through the air, drawing a glowing blue straight-line rune.

  Then, Caius withdrew his hand, and Holan watched as the rune quickly dissipated. From appearance to disappearance, it lasted less than the blink of an eye.

  “This…” Holan’s mouth fell open in astonishment.

  Then, she extended her own finger, and a similar blue light appeared, forming an identical straight-line rune before her.

  This rune lasted for over ten seconds before gradually fading from the air.

  This was what normal magic power was supposed to be like.

  “Try releasing your magic power again,” Holan instructed.

  Caius nodded and did so.

  This was the last of his magic power. Before Holan had woken up, he had burned through his reserves to withstand a fireball. Now, his free magic power was completely drained.

  Holan observed Caius’s magic power carefully. After a moment, she nodded slightly.

  “You figured it out?” Caius asked eagerly.

  “No,” Holan shook her head. “But I did notice something.”

  “Your magic power is quite strong. The quality of the residual magic after dispersal surpasses Silver-tier levels.”

  “But your magic power… it doesn’t seem active.”

  “It’s inert, as if it’s still asleep. That’s why it can’t linger in the air—once released, it dissipates quickly.”

  “So, even if I want to learn magic, I can’t,” Caius nodded and sighed.

  But then, his eyes burned with determination as he looked at Holan. “But I won’t give up! That’s why I want to get into Hydis—to see if I can find a way to learn magic!”

  “I thought you might just give up,” Holan said, admiration flickering in her gaze.

  “No way! No matter what, I’m going to learn magic!” Caius declared firmly.

  “Why?” Holan could see that Caius had a special obsession with magic.

  “Because magic is just so much more convenient than fists. Just now, you unleashed a single Frostwave, and bam, everyone turned into ice sculptures. I was insanely jealous.” Caius sighed.

  “It was elegant, powerful… and elegant.”

  “Why did you say ‘elegant’ twice?” Holan asked, her beautiful eyes blinking.

  Caius gave her a knowing look. “One for the magic, one for the mage.”

  Holan laughed again. Being around this big guy always lifted her spirits.

  “In that case, I might be able to help a little,” Holan said with a smile.

  “Really?” Caius looked pleasantly surprised, though he had actually been steering the conversation in this direction on purpose.

  “Of course. Don’t forget, I’m a professional magical researcher. In our magical research major, we study magic power and spells. Maybe we can find a way for you to learn magic.”

  “Haha, that would be amazing.” Caius was thrilled.

  This was exactly what he wanted.

  “So, how are you going to thank me?” Holan rested her chin in her hand, smiling at him.

  Caius immediately put on a serious expression. “I’ll work hard to earn a million!”

  Holan burst into laughter.

  “Then you better work hard.”

  “Of course!”

  “I’ll help too, Meow!” Kiki raised her hand enthusiastically.

  Even though she wasn’t into magical research, she knew Caius needed help. And if that was the case, she would definitely help.

  “Looks like I’ll have to work even harder to make another million,” Caius said with a smile.

  “Why, Meow?” Kiki asked curiously.

  “To take care of a cat.” Caius chuckled as he ruffled her little head.

  Kiki nuzzled into his palm affectionately. She loved it when Caius petted her—it made her feel safe and warm.

  With that, the trio’s little caravan continued onward, filled with cheerful laughter, heading straight for Ocean City.

  They entered the city.

  “You know where the Orphanage is, right?” Caius asked.

  “Of course,” Holan nodded.

  “Good. Kiki, you go with Instructor Holan to the Orphanage first. I’ll meet up with you after I finish my task.”

  “Okay, Meow.” Kiki nodded and hopped off the carriage. “Let’s go, Meow~” she said to Holan.

  Holan chuckled, nodded, and disembarked, walking with Kiki toward the Orphanage, while Caius drove the carriage toward the docks.

  He sent them ahead because on the way to the docks, he might run into members of the Crab Gang.

  If that happened, he’d have a nice little chat with those boys.