The Forest Feeds No Idle Goblins

Chapter 12: Chapter 11: He Is My Brother

"Almost there."

Vivian sat at her desk, a quill pen hovering in mid-air before her, scrawling crooked characters onto the paper: Shire Merlot...

"Come on." She furrowed her brow, concentrating hard as beads of sweat formed on her smooth, pale forehead.

The quill trembled violently, laboriously writing out the next two words, "is at," before its shaking grew even more erratic.

"What’s next? Where is my brother?" Vivian couldn’t help but stand up and cry out in anxiety.

CRACK. The quill finally gave out, falling onto the paper and splattering a blot of ink.

"Sigh, another failure." Vivian slumped back into her chair, a sense of powerlessness washing over her.

Immediately after, the solid wood desk began to tremble slightly, its shaking growing more and more intense.

Vivian quickly pushed herself up from the armrests, struggling to her feet.

But the ink on the paper lifted into the air, dancing like thin black strings.

Staring at the ink lines swaying like evil creatures before her, Vivian’s face paled. She tried to escape, but her Spiritual Power was almost completely drained. She stumbled and fell to the ground after just two steps.

The dancing ink lines shot toward her calves, wrapping around them tightly. Vivian felt herself being dragged toward the paper.

"No! Teacher! Teacher, save me!"

She struggled desperately on the floor, but it was no use.

Just as Vivian fell into despair, a stream of water burst through the door with a BANG, enveloping her, the ink lines, and the solid wood desk. ƒreewebηoveℓ.com

An old voice called out, "Sleeping Elemental Spirits, hear my plea and bind them."

With a series of CRACKLES, the water rapidly solidified into ice. Vivian and her desk were frozen into an ice sculpture, but the ink lines also stopped moving, slowly melting back into specks of ink.

"Teacher! Teacher, let me out!" Vivian exclaimed with joy.

A leopard made of water padded over to Vivian and sat down in front of her. "Stay frozen a little longer."

"No, Teacher, it’s so cold," Vivian begged, batting her big eyes.

The leopard didn’t answer, merely watching the ice sculpture on the floor.

"Teacher, how about honey-glazed grilled fish for dinner tonight?"

"You little rascal, don’t think you can tempt me with that." The leopard turned its head away, no longer looking at Vivian.

However, after a shattering sound, the ice broke apart. Vivian stood up, rubbing her knees. "Thank you, Teacher."

"Explain yourself. Why did you cause a Magic Turbulence?"

"I was just practicing diligently," Vivian said, her eyes darting away.

The Water Leopard didn’t speak. The paper from the desk flew up and floated before it. "Just as I thought. Didn’t we just perform a Divination the day before yesterday? Your brother is still alive."

"But Teacher, I don’t know where he is or how he’s doing," Vivian said, wringing her hands, not daring to look down at the leopard before her.

"That doesn’t give you the right to be so reckless. You nearly got yourself killed."

"Teacher, I had another dream last night. My brother and I were at the seashore. He gave me a shell—it was pink and very beautiful—but while I was looking down at it, he put a crab on my head."

Vivian recounted this with a forced casualness, but tears welled in her eyes.

"Sigh. You silly child."

The Water Leopard collapsed to the floor with a SPLASH, turning into a puddle of clear water. Then, a long-bearded old Mage in a pointed hat and blue robes slowly rose from the water.

"Your teacher knows you’re anxious, but you can’t be this reckless."

The old Mage raised a finger. The overturned high-backed chair slowly floated up, drifted behind him, and settled down.

"These old bones of mine... had to run all the way up from the basement." He massaged his legs as he sat down in the chair.

"Teacher, please help me." Vivian went behind the old Mage and began to rub his shoulders.

"Vivian, let me ask you. Do you still remember why you wanted to learn Magic?"

"I remember. Seven years ago, you performed a Magic Power experiment in Sunshine Square for everyone, demonstrating the existence of the Magic Field. That’s when I decided I wanted to become a Mage."

An invisible, intangible Energy field permeates this world. Mages draw upon this Energy to cast Magic, which is why it’s also called the Magic Field. In that demonstration, the old Mage successfully made dozens of radial stripes appear in a pile of sand in front of thousands of people, thus revealing the Magic Field to the common folk in a new way.

"Originally, I was just fulfilling a request from your father, putting on a little show for the ribbon-cutting ceremony at his Deepwater Port. I never expected to find such a promising student with an Elemental Coordination of 82."

"What good is 82? I’m so slow at learning Arcane Magic," Vivian pouted.

"Little rascal, your teacher’s is only 71!" The old Mage stamped his foot in frustration. "Let me ask you, since you’ve been studying Magic for several years now, how many Magic Schools are there?"

"Four. Molding, Arcane, Divine, and Darkness. Oh, right, and those Bloodline Warlocks also count as their own school."

"Then answer me this: what are the three components of Magic?"

"Energy, Medium, and Model." ƒrēewebnovel.com

"If you know that, then how dare you rashly venture into the Domain of Arcane Magic, and the even more difficult branch of True Understanding at that?"

"But Teacher, didn’t you say I have great Magic Talent?"

"Great, my foot! Your talent is all in Elemental Coordination. What’s more, it’s equally balanced across all four elements, a situation that hasn’t been seen on this continent in a hundred years."

The old Mage stretched out his hand, and a Magic Book three fingers thick flew from the desk into it. "An Introduction to Arcane Magic? You’ve barely learned this much and you already dare to cast a Divination Technique? You’re completely delusional."

Vivian took the Magic Book and muttered, "I’ve already finished it. I’m already very proficient with the Mage’s Hand spell."

As she spoke, the gloves she had left on the table floated into the air, flew to the old Mage’s shoulders, and began to knead them in place of her hands.

"Just save your Spiritual Power." The old Mage grabbed the gloves and tossed them back on the table. "I’ll ask you, what are the Energy and Medium for Molding Magic?"

"The Energy comes from Elemental Power, and the Medium is the Magic Field," Vivian answered, while complaining internally, ’So that’s why Molding Mages like to stay in places dense with their corresponding element and hate to move, just like how you always live at the bottom of the sea.’

"And what about the Arcane School?"

"The Energy comes from the Magic Field, and the Medium is oneself."

"If you know that, you still dared to experiment? Don’t you know that those from the Arcane School do nothing but meditate all day to train their Spiritual Power? Your daily training, on the other hand, consists of Elemental Coordination and Molding Models. How could you possibly dare to cast such a powerful Arcane Magic spell?"

The old Mage looked at her with exasperation. "We compete to see who can eat more; they compete to see who can sleep more. With your meager Spiritual Power, there’s nothing to even squeeze out. If you want to learn Arcane Magic, you’d better start meditating 20 hours a day."

"Huh? Then when will I ever learn the Flying Technique?"

"Flying Technique?" The old Mage shot Vivian a sidelong glance. "Hold out your hands."

"Teacher..."

"Hold them out." The old Mage’s tone left no room for argument.

Vivian hesitantly extended her hands toward her teacher, deliberately keeping her sleeves pulled down over her forearms.

The old Mage yanked up her sleeve, revealing blue, lightning-like patterns on Vivian’s forearm.

"You... you..." The old Mage was so angry he could barely speak. "Your Demon Plague just ended a week ago, and now you’re about to have a second bout!"

The Demon Plague is a side effect of resonating with the Magic Field, and it affects everyone who uses Magic. On a fixed day each month, Magic practitioners suffer through a whole day of symptoms, starting with fatigue, progressing to muscle spasms, and ending in intense pain. There is no effective cure; one can only endure it by taking Paralyzing Potions and Healing Potions.

The sign of an impending Demon Plague is the appearance of blue, lightning-like patterns on the arm.

"You know as well as I do that if the Demon Plague strikes three times in one month, the only outcome is death."

Vivian silently pulled her arm back and lowered her sleeve.

A few seconds later, she slowly raised her head and looked directly into the old Mage’s eyes, her green pupils filled with determination. "He’s my brother."

"Sigh..." The old Mage heaved a long sigh. "Even so, you can’t act like this. If something happened to you, who would be left to help him?"

"Teacher, isn’t there a faster way to learn?" Vivian pleaded.

"A faster way?" The old Mage chuckled. A book flew out of his ring and, with a FLUTTER-FLUTTER, flipped open to a page. "Take a look."

Vivian took the book and read quickly: "I arrived at their Royal City. The building materials here were pure white marble, and the ground was spotless. I was amazed that such a beautiful Pure White City was floating in the sky."

"The streets were filled with pedestrians. They were very clean, cleaner than me at least. Some people even rode past on Magical Beasts. I couldn’t help but wonder how they managed to tame such vicious creatures."

"My guide called out to me, asking if we should go to the Magic Academy now. I finally remembered the purpose of my trip. This city is so beautiful it’s overwhelming; being here makes you forget everything else."

"The guide told me that learning Magic is easy, that the High Elves would teach Magic to other Races, but the Magic Academy isn’t here."

"Ah, such a beautiful city! Could the Magic Academy be in an even more beautiful place? I couldn’t help but wonder."

"The guide interrupted me. He said that to get to the Magic Academy, one must cross the Boundary Wall. I would need someone to lead me, or I would get lost in space."

"I was very curious. Where on earth is that place?"

"He said the place is called the Heaven-Reaching Tower, and it exists within time itself."

"The Heaven-Reaching Tower?" Vivian stared at the old Mage with wide eyes. "Teacher, how do you get there?"

The old Mage didn’t speak, only motioning for her to look at the cover.

Vivian flipped to the cover and saw the title: *Spencer’s Fantasy Travelogue*.

"This... Fantasy?" Vivian was completely confused.

"Correct. It’s a fantasy. So, do you understand? There are no shortcuts. Magic cannot be rushed." With a raise of his hand, the travelogue WHOOSHED back into his ring.

"Then what should I do, Teacher?"

"Sigh. I’ll write a letter to Affif later and ask him to come over again." The old Mage couldn’t bear to see Vivian’s disappointed face, so he had to think of another way.

"The High Tier Arcane Grandmaster who performed the Divination Technique the day before yesterday?" Vivian’s eyelashes fluttered.

"Yes. And remember, stay far away from that lecherous old wolf."

Vivian nodded. When that Great Mage had visited, he was wearing a long, pink, noble’s formal coat studded with pearls, a top hat, and carried a golden cane covered in engravings. His long beard was braided and hung down his front, with a pink bow tied at the end.

The man looked like a flamboyant old noble.

She’d also heard that his Magic Tower was built in the Royal Capital’s Red Light District. It was the first time Vivian had ever heard of a High Tier Great Mage building his Magic Tower in a place like that.

After speaking, the old Mage chanted another spell, transformed back into a Water Leopard, and walked out of the room.

"Don’t call for the Little Fishmen. Clean up this room yourself."

"Also, in an hour, go down to the basement and check on that little bastard."

"Oh, okay, Teacher," Vivian replied. ’In the basement of Teacher’s Magic Tower, there’s another guy with extreme talent, a "monster" with 93 Earth Element coordination.’

The leopard’s figure disappeared through the doorway, leaving only a few paw-print-shaped puddles on the floor. But the old Mage’s aged voice still echoed, "For the honey-glazed grilled fish, I want sea bass. And cover it in sesame seeds."

"Oh." Vivian pouted and got up to tidy the room.

’Sea bass isn’t too hard to prepare, but I’ll need to make the sauce in advance.’

’I’ll prepare one for Teacher,’ she thought, her lively eyes brightening, ’and I’ll eat two.’

’I wonder how brother is doing now.’