Chapter Eight: The Final Lesson?

Ren didn’t dwell too much on the matter; he was starving and gobbled up the grilled fish quickly.

Honestly, he was getting a bit fed up with this reclusive, secluded lifestyle.

The valley had all the essentials, and Ren had found some mineral salt. After making some activated charcoal, he managed to extract a bit of fine salt by boiling the mineral salt.

The small amount of fine salt made the grilled fish tolerable, though eating too much of it was tiresome.

Ren was already looking forward to the carrots and tomatoes he had planted earlier.

He had some expectations, but not many.

These weren’t the cultivated and selectively bred vegetables and fruits from Earth’s advanced agriculture. The carrots he had previously dug up were somewhat bitter.

When Tang Si saw Ren’s salt-boiling process, it was as if he were witnessing alchemy…

In the following days, Ren kept coming up with new ways to challenge Tang Si.

“A good memory is not as good as a bad pen. There’s no paper here, so you have a week to copy the definitions of voltage and electric potential 30 times, carving them into the stone wall,” Ren pointed casually at a black stone wall, roughly half the size of a basketball court. “Each character should be no larger than a Kaos gold coin, and the depth should be about 5 millimeters.”

After saying this, Ren tossed Tang Si a small knife.

Under Ren’s guidance, Tang Si certainly knew how deep 5 millimeters was.

After Ren left, Tang Si tried carving with the knife and immediately realized something was wrong.

The stone wall’s texture was peculiar, seemingly soft on the outside, but as soon as the blade penetrated 2 millimeters, the resistance increased exponentially with each additional millimeter.

As a knight apprentice, Tang Si used all his strength and barely managed to carve the first stroke to the required depth.

“No! This isn’t right! Master’s instructions must have a deeper meaning! Why would a mage need a knife? This knife must be a trap. Think… I need to keep thinking! Master first had me scale fish, then control fire elements to grill fish, and now this is an obsidian wall…”

After pondering for a while, it was as if a lightbulb went off in Tang Si’s head. “I understand now! Master is using this exercise to refine my element control skills. I’m not supposed to use the knife but my ‘Electric Claw’ to carve each stroke!”

It had to be said, even if Ren himself tried to carve with the knife, with his ‘genius’ level, he couldn’t pull off the intricate work that Tang Si, overflowing with talent, was able to achieve.

For seven consecutive days, Ren ignored his disciple.

Apart from leaving him to carve the stone wall, he had Tang Si handle live fish, assist with kitchen tasks, and refrained from teaching any new physics principles.

Tang Si wasn’t annoyed in the least. He concentrated and meticulously used his electric finger blade to inscribe the Kaos language definitions.

Happy times are always short-lived.

These past days, Ren enjoyed a life where he didn’t have to lift a finger, and he was genuinely reluctant to give it up.

On the eighth day, Tang Si came to submit his work.

If Ren were a real mage, he would have noticed the faint magic aura emanating from his disciple and recognized that the words on the wall were carved with an electric blade, not a knife.

Ren casually commented, “Not bad.”

Unknown to him, Tang Si let out a deep breath of relief: Master’s standards are strict. It turns out that even achieving this level only earns me a ‘not bad.’ Given my lack of talent, I must work even harder.

Tang Si bowed respectfully. “Master, what shall I learn next?”

Suddenly, Ren said with a cold expression, “I will teach you one more law of physics. Once you comprehend it, you will have completed your training.”

Tang Si was shocked and incredulous. “Ah! No, Master, that’s too sudden. I feel I still have a long way to go.”

“Do you still consider yourself a weak magic apprentice?” Ren’s eyes grew stern.

“I…”

“Throughout history, anyone who can master three level 1 or higher spells is recognized as a full-fledged mage. As I’ve said—‘A master can lead you to the door, but cultivation is up to you.’” Ren stood with his hands behind his back, chin raised at a 45-degree angle, looking very arrogant. “First, I am not your official master. I just felt like giving you some pointers. Moreover, I teach science, not magic. I have no obligation to train you into some great mage.”

Ren was pushing Tang Si away, ultimately because he felt insecure.

He had no idea how far this bizarre teaching method could take Tang Si. Understanding was an unpredictable thing. If Tang Si could grasp it every time, that would be too miraculous.

After all, this broken system had never provided a single official spell or any incantations. Since he couldn’t systematically create a magic repertoire, his ‘great mage’ persona was easy to expose.

When Tang Si got stuck and couldn’t grasp new concepts, Ren wouldn’t be able to teach him, and that would be the end.

Besides, from the start, Tang Si had spent all his savings, even selling his family’s heirloom armor for over fifty gold coins. Now that Tang Si was about to become a full-fledged mage, Ren felt he had been compensated ‘fairly.’ But if he continued teaching and Tang Si miraculously became a legendary high-level mage, Ren would feel he had been severely shortchanged.

Ren didn’t know the current market prices, but considering there hadn’t been a mage for a century, a high-level mage’s value shouldn’t be equivalent to a set of armor.

Anyway, once Tang Si became a full-fledged mage, he would always acknowledge Ren as his master wherever he went.

Coming from a knight apprentice background, Tang Si didn’t have much to offer.

With too much risk involved, it was better to stop while ahead.

Ren’s words left Tang Si silent for a long while. Initially confused, he soon convinced himself—this must be the unyielding principle of this reclusive great mage. It wasn’t that Master didn’t want to teach him; it was that his own talent was too poor to meet Master’s standards.

“Master, I want to ask, how can I become your personal disciple?”

Ren gritted his teeth and decided to set a high bar to make Tang Si give up: “Come back when you become a legendary mage.”

Tang Si’s breathing became rapid.

A legendary mage! That was a figure celebrated for eternity by bards. So, one must be such a grand existence to qualify as Master’s personal disciple?

“I understand. If that day comes, I will prepare an exceptionally grand apprenticeship gift.” Tang Si bowed deeply.

“Ha! An apprenticeship gift… Once, a king laid out his entire treasury before me, and I didn’t take it because his child lacked the talent.” Blowing smoke, Ren continued bragging.

To prevent Tang Si from coming back, Ren piled on extra conditions.

Ren didn’t believe that Tang Si could become a legendary mage while also having the ability to loot a kingdom’s treasury for him.

Tang Si immediately understood: the apprenticeship gift was at Master’s discretion, but the ritual had to be grand, requiring at least a kingdom’s wealth to match Master’s status.

Tang Si didn’t realize his master was essentially a greedy opportunist. He earnestly bowed, “Master! I understand. So, please instruct me on the final lesson.”

End of Chapter Eight