v2 c7 - Magic and Battle Qi
"Do you have an interest in taxes?"
"No."
Today, when Tang En was scanning books, Zosia came to the library again to chat with him.
"But in your hands are the imperial tax regulations."
"Uh, I was just casually flipping through this."
Zosia blinked her eyes and said, "Oh, but this book is just for show. There are around fifty kinds of taxes in there, but Black Rock City has nearly a hundred!"
"So it's like this. I think a hearing should be opened for these kinds of matters, for everyone to discuss it."
"Hearing?"
"It's just picking some taxpayers to consult, seems democratic enough..."
Zosia's eyes lit up. "Huh, democracy, this is good. Does it mean that the people are the rulers?"
"Uh, it has a broad meaning. I can't explain it well right now. Understand it yourself first." Tang En had an unfathomable expression. Damn... I've overdone it... If it's like this, how can I give you a reply? I've been taking cheat sheets into the social-political exams ever since I was young...
"Mm, I know what you mean. Self-comprehension will bring about a deeper understanding, right?"
"Right." That was why you needed to find smart people for things like talking. When you couldn't continue, the other side would make up for it.
Zosia didn't suspect him and said seriously, "Tang, thank you, I've really gained a lot from talking with you. The day before yesterday, you said you weren't from this school. I'm really curious, what is your job? Your way of thinking is so deep, the academy's teachers can't compare."
Tang En was stunned, and his brain spun rapidly. "I... I, I send people to other places..."
Zosia frowned and thought. "Sending people to other places... Ship captain? Coachman?"
"Coachman... Mm, read thousands of books and travel thousands of miles!" Tang En secretly let out a sigh of relief.
"Read thousands of books and travel thousands of miles... I've learned again, Tang, you are really insightful." Zosia looked sincerely admiring.
"Hehe, not bad, not bad... then what are you, a student?" Tang En smiled dryly and changed the subject at once.
"Yeah, don't look down on me, I am a low-level magician after all."
"Magician?" Tang En's heart jumped. "So amazing, I'm quite curious about magic, but the books here don't seem to touch upon it much."
"The important magic books are all on the second floor. Usually, only teachers can enter there. Actually, I can enter, but I can't take you along," Zosia said embarrassedly.
"So it's like this, it's okay. I'm just curious, you can simply give me a brief explanation." Tang En had gotten a chance to learn about magic, with much difficulty, so he naturally didn't want to miss it.
Zosia: "This is no problem. You have given me a lot of pointers these days, how else can I repay you..."
After a pause, she continued. "Around us, all the time, magic elements exist. And magicians..."
"Uh, hold on, what are magic elements?"
"Have you never heard of magic elements? Then I'll start from the beginning."
……
Zosia was certainly a qualified teacher. After a couple of hours of detailed explanation, Tang En finally had a rudimentary understanding of this foreign world's magic.
In this foreign world, the atmosphere contained numerous types of magic elements like gold, wood, water, fire, and earth. If you could sense these elements, congratulations! You had the potential to be a magician.
Next was to go through meditation, guiding these magic elements into the body. After a certain amount of magic elements had been gathered in the body, it was possible to use magic through specific incantations and gestures.
Overall, it seemed like magic wasn't hard to learn.
But above all, it was necessary to know the current situation, which was being able to sense magic elements. There were only about ten people who could for every ten thousand people. The chances of this happening were almost one in a thousand.
And after crossing that first threshold, the magic elements had to be successfully guided into the body. The chances of this were high, about one in two.
In general, for every ten thousand people, only around five people could truly become high-level magicians.
It was precisely because of how rare magicians were, that those five or six people, regardless of origin, would all have bright futures.
Any country or aristocrat would receive them with utmost sincerity.
If a high-level magician was willing to serve any force and build a magician's tower in their territory, that force would have another layer of protection with the magician's presence. It could be said that there would be absolutely no problem with several generations' legacies.
Just take Zosia for example, who came from a small aristocratic family. It ran things poorly, and in her father's generation, the family's decline had been inevitable. If nothing else happened, the family's noble title would've also been taken back by the kingdom1T/N: Originally, this was "empire", but they're in the Titus Kingdom, so I changed it to "kingdom". by the next generation.
But ever since Zosia had been confirmed to have the potential to be a magician and had successfully become a low-level water magician, the major families in Black Rock City had extended olive branches one after the other and her family's status had risen rapidly. Now, she had become a rising star within Black Rock City's aristocratic circle.
And the reason why magicians were so important was because of the formidable power of magic.
According to Zosia, if a great magician was given enough time and distance, they could exterminate a hundred-man cavalry squadron with a wave of their hand.
Yet great magicians obviously did not belong to the highest level of magicians. In this world, magicians were divided into 8 levels: apprentice magician, low-level magician, intermediate-level magician, high-level magician, grand magician, magister, grand magister, and magister sage.
In addition to magic, Tang En also seized the chance to learn about battle qi from Zosia.
Zosia knew less about battle qi than magic, only that many warriors practiced it.
Battle qi was stimulated through continuous physical exercise. If it was successfully learned, upon reaching earth-level martial artist, you could use external forces for yourself.
The power of battle qi was also good, it had an explosive power. If it was at a close range, even magicians wouldn't dare to underestimate it.
Battle qi and magic were the same in that they were divided into 8 levels: novice warrior, low-level warrior, intermediate-level warrior, high-level warrior, earth-level martial artist, air-level martial artist, heaven-level martial artist, and martial sage.
Finally, Zosia gave a comparison of magicians and warriors.
In general, at the early stages, magicians at the same level had a large advantage over warriors.
When a magician reached intermediate-level and could maintain a magic shield, the close-range threat of a warrior would be weakened and this advantage would become even greater.
Only once warriors reached high-level would they be able to do long-range attacks with external battle qi. And high-level magicians of the same level could already use flying skills. After reaching a certain height, warriors could only be targets.
The real threat magicians would face from warriors would be when they reached the air-level martial artist realm. At that realm, warriors could stand in the air and wouldn't be at a clear disadvantage in a fight with magic.
Generally speaking, the advantages of magicians were more obvious.
Of course, magicians definitely had to keep one thing in mind, which was that it was best to not let warriors come too close.
……
After listening to Zosia, Tang En felt a chill in his heart.
The various assassination skills he had learned were all for ordinary people. He didn't know if these assassination skills would work against warriors and magicians.
Even if they did work, they still had to be discounted... So, what could he rely on to kill Sethman? Tang En was lost in thought.
"Hi, Zosia, so you were here, letting me find you easily." A well-dressed, handsome young man came from the entrance of the library.
"Hi, Vincent2T/N: Previously "Wen Sen".." Compared to Vincent's enthusiasm, Zosia seemed a little dull.
"Ah, this is?" Vincent, upon seeing Tang En next to Zosia, asked with a flash of a smile.
"Tang En." Although it was easily seen how fake the smile was, Tang En responded politely, seeing that he had previously been given a ride.
"Oh, hello, Tang En. My name is Vincent Delk. Just call me Vincent."
Zosia: "Vincent, is there anything that you needed me for?"
"It's nothing, I came to invite you to lunch..."
"Uh, you guys talk first. I still have things to do, so I won't bother you." Nodding his head towards them, Tang En left the library.
Tang En took his time to leave the academy. Sitting down on a far-off stone chair, he inwardly called out the assassin system.
Inside the space, the originally empty hall now had rows and rows of ancient bookshelves. The old butler was currently lying on a rattan and wood couch, with a pair of reading glasses, concentrating on reading a book. Next to him was a little red clay teapot containing the fragrance of tea.
Seeing that Tang En had come in, the old butler put the book down on the wooden table that was next to him, and took a sip of tea from the teapot.
The randomly scanned, "Collection of Bards' Poems"…
Tang En was suddenly thrown into confusion. He couldn't connect the old butler, who was proficient in assassination skills, with the poet.
But he currently had no time to think about these questions and said anxiously, "Old butler, what Zosia said just now, did you hear it?"
"I have heard, what's wrong?"
"What's wrong?" Tang En frowned. "Isn't it very obvious, the power of magic and battle qi is too strong, it won't work even if I'm an expert in all the assassination skills. You can't say I'm going to use a dagger to stab a magician's shield..."
The old butler put the teapot down unhurriedly. "I was wondering what was wrong. You're underestimating the system. Once you upgrade, everything will be clear."
"Really? Could it be that I'll also have this kind of power after upgrading? Uh, it wouldn't be internal force… Nine Yang Divine Skill? Nine Yin Manual? Anyways, as long as it's not the Sunflower Manual, I won't be greedy…"3T/N: The Nine Yang Divine Skill, the Nine Yin Manual, and the Sunflower Manual all appear in wuxia novels by Jing Yong. The Sunflower Manual requires its user to castrate himself.
The old butler's eye twitched. "You read too many YY novels4T/N: YY novels refer to novels that allow the reader to indulge in unrealistic fantasies. Some common features: Having mostly young people as authors, usually first being published on the internet, and being generally illogical.. When you have time, you should read more poem collections to improve your character."
"Uh, speaking of many books, can you finish reading all of this?" Tang En looked at the rows and rows of bookshelves. This was the result of his hard work over the past few days.
The old butler said faintly, "If you point at the contents of the texts, you'll have already read it."
"How scary!" Tang En was shocked and immediately rolled his eyes. "You keep bragging, I haven't seen you turn a page in a long time, yet you've finished reading all these books?"
"For every book that the system records, the text inside will be sent to me immediately. But it is only text. You must know that some text not only supplies information, but also contains a deeper meaning that needs to be appreciated."
"Like poem collections?"
"Right. Okay, go out and find ways to complete the task, don't disturb my reading."
After he finished speaking, the old butler waved his hand, driving Tang En out from inside the system.
