Chapter Thirteen: The Thrill of Showing Off

Ren: ???

This system of mine is always so cryptic.

But still, having a system is better than not having one.

Ren took a closer look and felt a bit embarrassed.

Patiently watching the system upgrade progress bar reach 100% over ten minutes, the next system prompt finally appeared.

“Congratulations, host! Due to successfully teaching a disciple through ‘Physical Truth’ and having them gain initial recognition in this world, the ‘Tireless Teaching’ beta version 0.1 is now online!”

“Tons Kiqet has established a connection with you based on the world’s laws. As long as the disciple survives, the host can selectively share the disciple’s strongest talent based on their fame!”

Next, three talents appeared on Ren’s retinal display for him to choose from.

1. Evocation Magic Specialization: Reduces mana consumption by 30% when using evocation spells, grants a 10% additional critical hit chance, and increases casting speed by 30%.
2. Advanced Wind Element Affinity: Allows cross-realm sensing of wind elements, doubles the range of wind element control, and grants immunity to wind element magic below master level.
3. Insight: ???

Seeing this, Ren was stunned.

“Heavens! What kind of monstrous disciple did I take on? I actually pushed Tons away…”

Is taking on disciples beneficial?

Hell yes, it is!

With this master-disciple system, it means as a teacher, he can infinitely share his top disciples’ extraordinary talents.

Ren checked: “System, do I have a limit on how many disciples I can take?”

The system responded: “The host has no limit on the number of disciples, but the disciples must gain power beyond their destiny limit because of the host to be counted in the host’s disciple list. The higher the disciple’s strength, the greater the bonus they provide to the master.”

Ren suddenly understood.

In a way, this was akin to the relationship between a talented individual and a discerning mentor.

Geniuses are common, but discerning mentors are rare.

Without Ren, this otherworldly traveler, discovering Tons’ potential as a mage in this manner, Tons would likely have lived his life as a third-rate knight, never making the significant mark he did now.

This was a mutual accomplishment between Tons and Ren.

If Ren could train a group of legendary figures, it’s conceivable that he could even reach godhood through this system…

That seemed a bit far-fetched.

Ren didn’t dare to think about it for now.

On second thought, Ren felt a bit troubled: “I don’t even know how to teach him next!”

While the combination of Earth’s physical theories with this world’s laws might produce a bunch of mages, who could say everyone would have Tons’ extraordinary insight?

“Sigh! I hate deceiving people. But isn’t the system forcing me to become a top-level mentor who has to fool people?”

Ren’s mindset shifted slightly at this moment.

To be honest, showing off in front of Tons felt great.

As the saying goes…

Showing off is thrilling for a moment, but keeping it up is thrilling forever.

By the time he had taught a group of legendary mages, he would no longer be pretending to be awesome; he would truly be awesome. At that point, who could say he was deceiving people?

Ren decided to walk this unrelenting path of teaching to the end.

After all, what he was teaching was physics! It was the truth!

If you can grasp it, it means you have the talent.

If you can’t? Well, that just means your talent isn’t enough!

With Tons as the senior disciple as a banner, this accumulated reputation… At least until Ren had misled a dozen new disciples, would be endless.

Now, the problem was:

“Who can teach me how to get out of this damn Dragon Valley? I need to take on more disciples! I need to keep teaching! I want to become a legendary mentor!”

In the otherwise empty valley, the lament of the world’s first “dark” teacher echoed.

After wailing for three minutes, Ren dejectedly returned to the previous choices. Although Evocation Magic Specialization and Advanced Wind Element Affinity were tempting, Ren decisively chose the third option.

Yes!

Only the monstrous insight of Tons was what Ren most desired to share.

Almost the moment Ren made his choice, a flood of information surged into his mind.

This wasn’t some known knowledge to Ren, but a vast amount of knight and magic stories from this world.

Suddenly realizing, this was all the tales that Tons had heard from bards in taverns.

They were filled with artistic exaggeration, deliberate omissions, or politically motivated embellishments.

The worst part was, these messages flooded into Ren’s mind simultaneously.

It was like watching more than ten novels on a computer screen at once. Forget remembering the plots; just remembering the names of the main characters from ten novels would be a miracle.

“Damn, is this Tons’ ‘Insight’?”

Ren felt it was utterly ridiculous: That kid’s mind was overly active, even daring to touch electric wires because of these exaggerated tavern tales?

Yet, in reality, Tons had successfully ascended to become the only mage in this world.

That was the most absurd part.

When the brain-busting sensation subsided, Ren felt completely drained, his entire body soaked in sweat.

He felt dazed and didn’t even notice the system had given him a +2 Intelligence rating…

For some reason, Ren had a strong urge to create a “Wardenclyffe Tower” modeled after the design that appeared in his mind…

Meanwhile, the atmosphere in the Lord’s mansion in Lamanche City was filled with celebration.

It wasn’t based on the lord’s authority but because everyone was genuinely celebrating the reappearance of a mage in the world, and he was from Lamanche.

Surrounded by passionate music, curvy beauties showing off their figures, and the aroma of fine wine filling his nose, Tons felt a surreal sense of happiness as if he were in a dream.

“Tons! I propose a toast to you on behalf of all the citizens of Lamanche City!” The one proposing the toast was none other than the Count of Lamanche.

With no social experience, Tons didn’t know how to refuse and could only follow blindly, drinking cup after cup.

The Count’s toast was an honor for Tons, a commoner.

But what really overwhelmed him was his former mentor, Knight Perez’s, toast.

“Sigh! I used to blame you for not striving hard enough, unable to complete even the most basic knight training. It turns out I misjudged you. Your talent lies not in the path of the knight but in magic. Tons, this cup is my apology to you.”

All the misunderstanding, frustration, and resentment he once felt disappeared at this moment.

Tons couldn’t refuse his former knight mentor’s apology.

Unknowingly, he drank cup after cup.

Even though he was about to get completely drunk, Tons still clung to a shred of clarity—he felt that all he had now wasn’t because of himself, but his master Ren.

During the banquet, both the Count and his former knight apprentice companions, directly or indirectly, asked him who his magic teacher was.

Tons always responded bitterly: “My talent isn’t enough! My master refuses to take me as his official disciple. He only guided me for two weeks. I’m not even his disciple and have no right to reveal his true name!”

End of Chapter Thirteen