The Old Rogue

"What kind of talk is that? You make it sound like I'm blowing you off," Ye Chuan said. "Elara, am I not an incredibly powerful mage?"

"Yes, Teacher, you are amazing!"

"Since I am such a powerful mage, my teaching methods naturally differ from those run-of-the-mill casters," Ye Chuan explained. "As the saying goes, 'The master leads you to the door, but the rest is up to you.' Magic is a profession based on sensing the elements of the world; it relies heavily on self-reliance."

"That..." Elara felt that what Ye Chuan said made a lot of sense.

No, it made perfect sense.

"I understand, Teacher!" Elara nodded vigorously. "From today on, I will rely solely on my own hard work to practice magic!"

"You are worth teaching." Ye Chuan patted Elara's head.

However, seeing the look of pure adoration on her face, Ye Chuan's conscience—which usually felt like it was encased in concrete—actually wavered for a moment.

Hmm...

Is this kid a little too innocent?

Is it really okay for me to treat her like this?

Ye Chuan pinched the bridge of his nose.

Forget it...

I'll teach her a little something.

It must be said that humans are contradictory creatures.

"Elara, come here. Although you need to gain insights on your own, I'll still teach you some magic."

"Really?!"

"Yes."

"Thank you, Teacher!" Elara said excitedly.

Look at that, she pays tuition and still thanks him.

"Hmm, Water-attribute magic..." Ye Chuan thought about his own repertoire of water spells. "Elara, what do you think about the element of water?"

"The element of water?" Elara didn't quite understand.

"I mean, compared to other elements, is there anything unique about water?" Ye Chuan asked.

"Unique..." Elara hugged her staff and thought for a few seconds. "Malleability?"

"Correct." Ye Chuan snapped his fingers.

"Does Teacher mean... water is a malleable element?"

"I didn't mean anything deep by it."

"Eh?"

"I just want to tell you that whether it's water elements or magic in general, neither is restricted to a specific form." As Ye Chuan spoke, he snapped his fingers again.

"Water Cannon."

As his voice fell, a magic circle appeared beneath Ye Chuan's feet. Immediately after, a pillar of water surged forth, forcefully lifting Ye Chuan up and making him fly!

"Fl-flying?!" Elara was stunned.

Ye Chuan landed back on the ground and simply said, "Magic is free. Like water, it possesses malleability."

Elara nodded subconsciously, seemingly understanding something.

However, Elara quickly realized something. "Teacher, why didn't you need to chant to cast that spell?!"

Mages were the most destructive profession on the battlefield, but because chanting required a significant amount of time, they needed the protection and cooperation of others.

Furthermore, learning magic was different from the path of a warrior; it required extreme talent. As a result, the drawbacks of mages had always been obvious: they were few in number and had very weak self-preservation capabilities.

Although defensive spells like Mana Shield existed, few mages learned them because such magic was strictly controlled and restricted by the Magic Tower.

But with silent casting, the weakness of a mage's poor self-defense was directly resolved.

One could just throw out spells right in an enemy's face without fearing interruption or having to run away.

"Does magic actually require chanting?" Ye Chuan asked.

Although many people had asked him this before.

"Of course magic requires chanting..." Elara felt that everything about Ye Chuan was different from what she had learned.

"Is that so?" Ye Chuan scanned his magic library, as if suddenly thinking of something.

"Alright, for today's magic lesson, I'll teach you this."

"High-Speed Chanting."

It was a passive skill Ye Chuan had drawn. Because of his instant-cast ability, this passive skill was actually somewhat useless to him.

Ye Chuan poked a finger against Elara's forehead. A blue light flashed, and Elara felt a massive amount of knowledge flood into her brain, along with the tricks for High-Speed Chanting.

"My... my head hurts." Elara knelt down, clutching her head, tears nearly falling.

"It's a bit much, just bear with it."

"Ugh, I'll do my best." Elara digested the magical knowledge Ye Chuan had imparted.

When Elara stood up, she was surprised to find she had completely mastered the method for High-Speed Chanting—she didn't know magic could be taught this way!

Though the process was painful, the reward was something Elara had never seen before!

"High-Speed Chanting can reduce the casting time of spells. I can now cast Water Cannon in five seconds... Teacher, you're amazing! I've never seen such powerful magic!"

"If I become proficient, can I cast magic without chanting?"

"If you work hard, probably," Ye Chuan said.

He wasn't sure, but the skill probably wasn't bad.

"I also have 'High-Speed Chanting of High-Speed Chanting' here. Do you want to try it?" Ye Chuan asked.

"High-Speed of High-Speed?" Elara blinked.

What did that mean?

"It accelerates the efficiency of High-Speed Chanting." Ye Chuan held up a finger. "Roughly... Matryoshka-style chanting?"

"I really want to learn, but I don't think I've finished digesting this yet," Elara said.

Whatever the teacher taught was definitely good stuff.

"Fine, just learn this for now," Ye Chuan said. He understood the concept of not biting off more than one could chew.

After all, not everyone was like Ye Chuan, who could learn hundreds of spells a day without side effects.

Not only that, he had infinite mana and could cast freely.

...

After finishing Elara's tutoring, a slightly weary Ye Chuan rolled his shoulders and planned to return to Yisu Town.

Nothing special, just to clear his mind and get a massage to relax after a tiring day.

"Welcome~~~"

"Oh my, Guest, you're back~ I love seeing you~"

When the little succubus at the entrance of the Succubus Hall saw Ye Chuan, she flew over eagerly. "Guest~ The ladies in the shop have rotated today. Would you like to take a look?"

"Is that so? I can switch and try a different technique."

Just as Ye Chuan was being led to a private room by the little succubus, a skinny old man wearing a towel and a blissful smile walked toward him.

"Hmm?"

Ye Chuan was quite familiar with this old man.

Diamond-rank adventurer, Seventh-Tier Grand Mage, Si Daofu.

A regular at the Succubus Hall. Ye Chuan had beaten him up previously using Magic Immunity over the matter of the Demon Sword.

"Huh?" Si Daofu also noticed Ye Chuan. He subconsciously hiked up his pants. "Y-You... You weren't drained of life by the Demon Sword?"

He was surprised to see Ye Chuan was actually fine.

"You think I'm you?" Ye Chuan raised an eyebrow. "What, Old Man, are you here at the Succubus Hall to 'temper your will' again? Sounds like hard work."

"Already so old, yet so shameless."

"W-What do you know!" Si Daofu blushed.