"JULI—AIRU!?"
Zhou Rui stared at Julius in shock, utterly surprised to see him awake so soon. He hadn't expected him to recover this quickly.
"Mr. Airu, are you feeling okay now?"
"Yes, Chief. I'm alright. But… how did we even return to the village?"
Zhou Rui responded calmly, "We met one of the Chief's friends along the way. He brought us here."
Julius narrowed his eyes slightly.
"Chief, what happened to that dungeon?"
"Oh, don't worry about it," Yu Zhen replied with a relaxed smile. "We cleared it. I'm now thinking of converting it into a storage area—and a shelter during emergencies—for the villagers."
Julius thought to himself, Ah, right. Since the game is still in its testing phase, we'd disabled all boss respawns, and even their minions.
"That's a good idea," Julius nodded.
Then Zhou Rui added, "By the way, I've decided the Chief will be joining us from now on."
Yu Zhen glanced at Julius and asked politely, "You don't have any objections, do you, Mr. Airu?"
"No," Julius said. "But how will you protect yourself, Chief?"
Yu Zhen smiled confidently. "I have complete faith in you two. You'll keep me safe."
Julius gave a faint smirk.
"Don't worry. We will."
Then he added, "By the way, Chief... is there a spell shop in this village? I found a Temperature Scroll, and I'd like to buy more—like healing magic scrolls."
Yu Zhen nodded. "The Temperature Scroll contains the same magic you learned from the villagers—the basic fire spell. I'd suggest fusing that scroll with the one you already know. That'll allow you to evolve the magic and unlock more advanced forms of fire spells."
"And about shops," he continued, "there's going to be a major event in two days—the annual Tournament of the Mages. Many mages from all around will gather to compete. The first-place winner will get three magic scrolls of their choice—Earth, Healing, or Beast—and can choose one type to receive three of that category. Second place only receives Earth scrolls, and third place gets just Healing."
Zhou Rui tilted his head. "But I thought the villagers here didn't know any impressive magic?"
Yu Zhen chuckled. "That's not entirely true. There are a few very powerful individuals here. They just suppress their mana to stay unnoticed."
Zhou Rui asked again, "Then why haven't you recruited them?"
Yu Zhen's expression became more serious. "Because if I had, and a beast or enemy attacked the village while we were away… who would protect the people?"
"That's a good point," Zhou Rui admitted.
Julius then asked, "But how do I actually fuse the Temperature Magic Scroll?"
Zhou Rui looked at him for a moment—almost as if asking with his eyes, Didn't you or your programming team implement this system?
Julius shook his head slightly in refusal, and Zhou Rui understood.
Yu Zhen stepped in, "It's quite simple. You just need to open the scroll and chant the incantation written inside. Focus the magical energy into your left hand. Then chant the spell you already know and focus that energy into your right hand. When both spells have materialized in each hand, bring your hands together and combine the magic. They'll merge and evolve."
Julius blinked. "But I can do that even without the scroll, right? I mean, the spell in the Temperature Scroll and the one I already know are the same. So why do I need to chant what's inside the scroll?"
Yu Zhen smiled. "Good question. It's because each spell uses a specific type of mana. There are three kinds: Passive, Aggressive, and Neutral. Passive mana is used for buffs and healing, Aggressive for attack, and Neutral for defense. Out of your total mana pool, 33% is Passive, 33% Aggressive, and 33% Neutral. The last 1% is your life force."
He continued, "In our village, we use Neutral mana to perform the Temperature spell. But the scroll you found may be different. Inside, it'll say which mana type it uses. If it's anything other than Neutral—like Aggressive or Passive—you'll be able to evolve your magic. But if it's Neutral, then it's useless to you. You should just sell it."
Julius blinked in surprise. "Wait… I'm a wizard and even I didn't know that…"
Zhou Rui chimed in, "Even I didn't know that. This is new to me too."
Yu Zhen laughed. "That was a good joke."
"It wasn't a joke," Julius replied flatly. "It's the truth."
Yu Zhen chuckled again, "Alright, alright. I get it."
Then he asked, "So, will you be participating in the Tournament of the Mages?"
Julius replied without hesitation, "Yes. I need to learn healing magic."
Yu Zhen nodded. "This year, the event is being hosted in our village. I'll be one of the five judges. Don't worry—I'll sponsor you since you've helped me a lot. But I won't tolerate any cheating," he added with a laugh at the end.
"Don't worry," Julius smiled.
Yu Zhen then turned to Zhou Rui. "Mr. Zhou Rui, if you'd like, I can sponsor you too."
Zhou Rui shook his head. "No thanks. I'm not a mage. I channel magic into my swords. I'd rather become a great swordsman than a mage."
Yu Zhen nodded again. "As you wish. You both can stay at Friedrich, Heinrich, and Ms. Anna's homes for as long as you need. There are two houses—you can either stay together or separately. Now, if you'll excuse me..."
With that, Yu Zhen turned and left, his steps fading softly into the distance.
Both Julius and Zhou Rui watched him go. Still looking in his direction, Zhou Rui muttered,
"Yu Zhen is a new data pack."
"Yeah," Julius replied quietly.