"What's this about 'literary competition'?" As soon as Ryan spoke, a loud voice from the crowd of dwarves asked. There were about a dozen dwarves around, all of whom seemed to be heading to their work. When they heard Ryan's words, they all turned and looked at him, curious to hear his explanation.
Ryan looked around at the dwarves. Dex and the others had stopped fighting, but for those who could use Qi to enhance their combat abilities, it was hard to settle the fight with just physical strength. With a smile, Ryan explained, "A literary competition, as the name implies, is a contest of knowledge—who can recognize more words or solve math problems better."
"Kobi, magicians have a lot of knowledge, ask him about a 'martial competition' instead," Tanis quickly walked over to the dwarf who had been arguing with Ryan and loudly suggested. It seemed that this dwarf, named Kobi, was related to him in some way.
Kobi glanced at Ryan and then ignored Tanis. With a stubborn look, he answered, "Fine! A competition is a competition. Let's not compete in literacy; let's compete in math. You magicians may know more words, but I'm Kobi, and I'm the best at math."
"Ha, ha, ha! Alright, but can I ask the first question?" Ryan laughed to himself, thinking that a simple middle school algebra equation would be enough to defeat Kobi, not to mention anything more complex.
Kobi heard Ryan's words and felt a bit smug. He knew that he was one of the best mathematicians in the city of Mumon, and traders from other regions often came to him for calculations. Kobi, however, managed to hide his excitement, pretending to think for a moment before nodding. "Okay, I, Kobi, accept."
Ryan smiled slightly and began, "Alright, Kobi, listen closely. There are two carriages. One is a red carriage that travels 30 kilometers per hour, and the other is a yellow carriage that travels 26 kilometers per hour. The yellow carriage starts by traveling 20 kilometers. How far must the red carriage travel to catch up with the yellow one?" Ryan thought this was a simple problem.
"Why does the red carriage go faster?" Kobi asked, confused.
"The yellow carriage is carrying more cargo."
"Why don't they just leave together?"
"Because the yellow carriage finished loading the goods first and left earlier."
"Is the road even?"
"That's irrelevant; it's the same road. Just focus on the math."
...
"Hey! Are you going to waste everyone's time or do you know how to solve it?" Ryan couldn't help but laugh as he saw Kobi start drawing roads on the ground. Tanis was muttering beside them, and Ryan couldn't stand it anymore, so he spoke up.
"Hmph! You win this round, but what about the martial competition?" Kobi, feeling embarrassed and irritated, grumbled. He was not happy with the question, thinking it made no sense, but still answered, "Let's go! I'll show you that I can beat you."
"Alright, the martial competition is a free fight. Whoever gives up first loses," Ryan said, seeing Kobi's frustrated face. He felt a little relieved and thought, "Do I enjoy bullying others?"
"Fine! A martial competition it is. You magic users think you can show off in front of us. I'll show you what we're made of." Kobi's mood lifted immediately, his earlier frustration gone. For a warrior like him, defeating a low-level magician was no challenge. He grabbed his axe and swung it toward Ryan, determined to teach him a lesson.
"Father, how should I strike him?" The dwarves around them cleared out a 30-meter circle for the match. Kobi ran back and forth, loudly asking Tanis.
Tanis replied with displeasure, "Just fight. Keep it within reason. Are you planning to break his limbs?"
"Oh!" Kobi happily ran back to his starting position, and Ryan couldn't help but laugh at the dwarf's antics.
"Start!" The judge, an elderly dwarf, shouted. His commanding presence silenced the crowd, as everyone knew he was highly respected.
"Ha!" Kobi stomped his left foot and then leaped toward Ryan, following the instructions his father had taught him.
Ryan watched as Kobi rushed toward him. Kobi's leap covered nearly 5 meters, and as he landed, Ryan immediately cast Fireball, targeting the path where Kobi was about to land.
"I'll dodge!" Kobi was surprised. He hadn't expected Ryan to cast a spell so quickly, but there was no time to think. He tried to retreat, ready to continue his leap. But to his shock, as the first Fireball landed, another one followed, and Kobi realized he had nowhere to retreat.
"Kobi loses," the judge announced loudly, just as Kobi was about to make another move.
"Why have I lost before even fighting?" Kobi was upset, thinking that no one had been injured yet, so how could he have lost? He protested loudly.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!" Before Kobi could finish speaking, Ryan quickly cast three Fireballs in succession, hitting the ground in front of him with precision.
Kobi froze. Who could have expected a level-one magician to cast a spell so quickly? Was this human not truly human? Kobi's mind raced with confusion, but his body didn't stop. He sprinted to a spot 30 meters away.
The other dwarves looked at Ryan with new respect. Previously, they hadn't thought much of him, assuming a human magician would be weak. After all, in the dark, magic was a disadvantage. Without enhanced senses like the dark elves, the glow of magic spells made magicians easy targets. But seeing Ryan perform this way changed their view.
In the Underdark, magicians were rare, and even rarer were alchemists. Over the years, the alchemist profession had degenerated into sub-specialties like gem setters and smelters, which further fueled the desire of the underground dwellers to return to the surface. However, there were no high-level alchemists in their world, and this contributed to the sense of stagnation in the region.
But instant-cast magic was different. Not only did magic have great power, but the key advantage was that it could be guided and locked on using mental energy, which was better than archery. Also, the power of magic was renowned. With instant-cast mages, for the members of a team, this became their last hope. Moreover, mages didn't need to carry a large supply of arrows like archers. As long as they had mana, they could cast spells—this was another benefit of being a mage.
Thus, the surrounding dwarves began to look at Ryan differently. However, the change wasn't significant because the people from the Underdark were not very familiar with magicians. Furthermore, Ryan was only a level one mage, and among these dwarves, many were higher level than him.
"You won, I lost. You could have told me you were an instant-cast mage earlier, and I wouldn't have been embarrassed," Kobi said, walking up to Ryan with a displeased expression.
Ryan smiled bitterly and replied, "Would you have believed me if I had said so?"
"Well, you have a point! What's your name?" Kobi scratched his head and tilted it, answering while opening his arms to give Ryan a hug.
"Ryan, level one Fire Mage, nice to meet you!" Ryan bent down and returned the hug. There was no avoiding it—dwarves loved hugs. They used hugs to express warmth and friendship. But with the height difference, frequent hugging would likely cause some awkwardness.
Kobi grabbed the wine pouch from his waist, took a sip, and handed it to Ryan. "I'm Kobi, level one warrior, with earth-based Qi. Hey, Ryan, how about we go hunting together? I love adventure, but my father wants me to learn smithing. Ugh, I'm just not interested in those iron lumps."
Ryan took a sip from the pouch. By this time, most of the crowd had dispersed, leaving only Kobi and Ryan walking together. "Can you wait for me for a few days? I'm about to break through. Once I do, we can go hunting together."
"Break through? Are you here to absorb Fire magic elements near the volcano?" Kobi asked, looking at Ryan in surprise, but his gaze was upwards due to their height difference.
Ryan nodded and handed the wine pouch back to Kobi. The wine was actually very similar to iced tea. "Yes, that's right. After that, I need to visit Grandpa Keta... then I'll have time to go hunting with you."
"Grandpa Keta? Oh, no! Doesn't he only like elves?" Kobi's eyes widened. Grandpa Keta was so influential that even the city lord couldn't control him. His strength was considered the best in Mumon City. The ancient war trees that protected the place ignored anyone who wasn't an elf, and the idea of inviting others there was unthinkable.
"Yeah, that's him. I'm not sure about it either. But Kobi, don't you like smithing? Don't dwarves all enjoy it?" Ryan replied confidently before asking Kobi in return.
Kobi shook his head. "I just don't like dealing with ore all day. I prefer hunting. I'll take you to a place full of magical elements. I guarantee it."
Ryan followed Kobi across the stone bridge but didn't head toward where Dex and the others were working. Instead, they continued along the small river formed by lava, heading toward the volcano. In fact, the volcano didn't seem very far, but Ryan estimated it to be at least a dozen kilometers away. It was amazing how nature worked. As soon as Ryan stepped onto the small lava river, he felt the powerful surge of Fire magic elements in the area. Ryan closed his eyes slightly and spread out his mental energy, sensing the environment. Everything around him was ablaze with Fire magic elements, and they were highly active. What puzzled him, though, was that Kobi was still walking forward, not heading directly toward the volcano, but instead veering toward a winding cave nearby.
"We're here. Not only is this place safe, but the nearby caves also produce a lot of figs. However, you mustn't go that way. Over there is the territory of a group of fire lizards. Most of them are level one, but there are many of them, and there's even a level two fire lizard leader. Luckily, they're not interested in figs, or else they'd have wiped them out already." Kobi led Ryan to a stone wall. The wall was covered with irregular caves, and it was unclear whether they were natural or man-made. After finishing his words, Kobi turned to check, but Ryan had not followed him. He quickly looked back and felt a strong elemental fluctuation near Ryan.
Ryan was absorbed in his own mind. As soon as he stepped onto the lava-covered ground, he felt a slight fluctuation in his mind. As Ryan spread his mental energy to sense the surrounding Fire magic elements, they rushed into his mind, forming a fire-red funnel with a silver-white light at its center, continuously absorbing the incoming Fire magic elements. Ryan's entire consciousness was immersed in the changes in his mind. Meanwhile, a flow of elemental energy surged from the soles of his feet, traveled up his spine, and directly entered his mind. Ryan felt a warm, indescribable pleasure spread throughout his body, giving him a light and floating feeling. His entire mind merged into this sensation.
"Boom!" Ryan felt a slight tremor in his mind, and then the Fire magic elements stopped flowing in. The elemental energy flow from his feet also ceased. Ryan saw the silver-white light in his mind expand to the size of a soybean. After sensing it, he realized that his mental energy, which previously had a radius of 30 meters, now had a range of 80 meters. This was one of the reasons why magicians needed strong mental energy—because at a minimum, they needed to guide magic within 30 meters. Without powerful mental energy, it would be useless. At the ninth level, mental energy could cover up to 2 kilometers.
"Fireball!" Ryan opened his eyes. Now he could release level two magic, and the first spell he tested was Fireball. The difference between Fireball and Fireball Junior was in size and temperature. The Fireball Ryan cast was five times the size of his previous small fireball, and its color had shifted from red to orange-red.
"Boom!" The hard stone wall was struck by the Fireball, causing debris to scatter. The rocks underground were incredibly tough, so Ryan was very satisfied with the power of his magic. Now, what Ryan needed to do was train all the magic he knew to be instant-cast: Fireball from the Fire element, Water Arrow from the Water element, Earth Shield from the Earth element, Gold Shield from the Metal element, Thorn Bind from the Wood element, and Light Heal from the Light element. As for other magic, Ryan wasn't interested. He only planned to learn basic magic. This had precedent in the Magic Guild. It was said that a level seven Wind Mage only knew two spells—Wind Blade and Flight. This Wind Mage could instant-cast Wind Blades from all parts of his body and attack within a 1,500-meter range. The Wind Blades could curve and spin under his control, making them nearly impossible to defend against. The compressed Wind Blades reached the power of a level eight spell. Thus, most magicians didn't master every spell—they would choose a few to specialize in. This was why Ryan chose to specialize in the mentioned spells. Thorn Bind, a level two Wood magic, only required a thorn seed. Water Arrow, a level two Water magic, completed his offensive spell set. For defense, he had Earth Shield, Gold Shield, and for healing, Light Heal. With these, Ryan thought he could easily deal with enemies, and the thought of overwhelming them made him chuckle.
"Ryan, hurry up, the fire lizards are coming! These guys are very sensitive to Fire magic fluctuations, and most importantly, they're immune to Fire magic! Hurry up and move!" Kobi called to Ryan, who had just come back to his senses and could now cast magic. But Kobi had already heard the fire lizards' calls from a distance, and the sound was getting closer. Kobi quickly grabbed Ryan and pulled him back.