Chapter 15: Enlightenment Book

“Magic doesn’t need to be learned based on Talent bias?”

“I don’t know what you mean. If one has the Talent for a certain Elemental Affinity, they can focus on learning magic of that element. Otherwise, as long as one has the conditions to learn magic, there’s no difference between the elements,” Loris said faintly.

“Really, there isn’t?”

“There’s a difference in emphasis, that’s all.”

“Oh~ So basically, it’s like choosing a major in university,” Zheng Yichen nodded. That didn’t seem like a bad thing. He sat on the ground, his wings behind him fluttering slightly. “How do I know what I can learn?”

“…” Loris looked at Zheng Yichen with a strange expression. Her gaze seemed filled with extra concern.

The kind of concern one shows toward an ignorant young child.

“Um, does that mean I just have to try learning and see?” Zheng Yichen struggled for a moment before asking. That seemed to be the only possibility.

“You are a dragon, not a Human. Dragon Clan basically all have the ability for Spellcaster.” Not just spellcasting ability, but also physical strength that Human Warriors could train their whole lives and still not match, along with long lifespans. With such innate conditions, it was no wonder some people pursued Dragon Clan bodies.

Cursed Dragon… ultimately, they couldn’t escape death, like dragons under a Curse.

This term appeared after the Dragon Clan exterminated all Cursed Dragons. Frankly, there was nothing wrong with the name.

“The kind where you learn it once and know it?”

“You don’t even need to learn it. Dragon Clan’s Inherited Memory has the relevant knowledge.”

Zheng Yichen simply spread his claws. “Unfortunately, I don’t have that.”

What he had were just the Otherworld knowledge accumulated from his life before he crossed over. Perhaps a dragon’s brain was big enough, or maybe his Soul underwent some qualitative change after crossing over. Anyway, his memories from before the crossing were quite clear. As long as he had remembered something… if he thought back a little, he could basically recall it.

Loris pulled a book out of the Void. This book was only suitable for ordinary people to read, but she still used some unknown method. The book’s size instantly expanded tenfold. “An Enlightenment Book for children. Even children from commoner families, if their conditions are a bit better, can get access to it.”

“… I think the second part isn’t necessary to say,” Zheng Yichen said, sweating a little. An Enlightenment Book for children was one thing, but commoner children could also access it… tsk, the conditions in this world sounded pretty good!

“No matter. Even if they can access it, it’s enough to weed out over ninety percent of people. And you are only a Young Dragon, no different from a child.”

Zheng Yichen lowered his head to look at the little Lolita, then looked at his own body, which was already about three meters tall. “No way. Half a year ago, I wasn’t even as tall as you. Now, with this size, I should have… grown up, right?”

“Even if your body size is close to a Juvenile Dragon, it still doesn’t change the fact that you are a Young Dragon.” Loris touched the Scales on Zheng Yichen’s body. “Even though you might be stronger than the Black Dragons among the Dragon Clan… but, you probably aren’t a Black Dragon.”

Zheng Yichen looked at the color of his body surface. It was a rock-black shade, slightly different from true black. “I originally hatched from a stone.”

“Oh, what are you regretting?”

“Regretting? Regretting that I’m not a monkey,” Zheng Yichen shook his wings.

“…” Loris shook her head slightly. She didn’t understand what joke Zheng Yichen was making. But knowing his Soul belonged to an Otherworld, she could guess a bit. He probably wasn’t referring to the monkeys in this world, but something from his own world… some kind of powerful being!

Otherwise, he wouldn’t idly compare himself to the Dragon Clan of this world, picking up sesame seeds and dropping watermelons. But what kind of monkey, especially one hatched from a stone, could be mightier than a Giant Dragon?

Otherworld knowledge… it just makes you want to explore it.

“Something hatching from a stone should be a stillbirth.”

“… Dead!?”

“You yourself are very special. So it’s not strange for a Dragon Egg without vitality, or even possibly petrified from age, to hatch because of you,” Loris stared at Zheng Yichen. “A Young Dragon needs over five years to grow into a Juvenile Dragon, accompanied by a sleep period lasting several months. Before the sleep period arrives, a Young Dragon’s body size changes, but not greatly. During the sleep period, the Young Dragon’s body grows rapidly. This is another point where you differ.”

“And although your body is of the Dragon Clan, a purebred Dragon Clan, you don’t have the normal growth characteristics of a Dragon Clan. You are an anomaly. Perhaps compared to those later called Cursed Dragons by people who know, you are more suited to that title.”

“Hmm, it sounds weird, though. After all, the word Curse isn’t very nice.”

“Not necessarily,” Loris said calmly. “Your identity ensures you won’t be accepted by the world. And…”

“And what?”

“I don’t want to say for now.” Loris glanced at Zheng Yichen. Entering his Dream was very difficult, which was rare for her. Even with a normal Dragon Clan… if she encountered one, invading its Dream wouldn’t be that hard. Zheng Yichen’s Soul Strength differed greatly from a Dragon Clan’s.

Yet she found it unusually difficult to enter his. This was related to certain ‘factors’ carried by the essence of his Soul that didn’t belong to this world. Those factors happened to have many conflicting deviations with this world. For now, it didn’t seem like a problem. Zheng Yichen was alive and kicking without any issues, but it was ultimately a hidden danger.

The reason she didn’t say was because sometimes, not knowing keeps you safe, but knowing might cause trouble…

“Even if I told you, with your knowledge, you wouldn’t understand. You’d just forget after a sleep.”

“…” Loris’s words made Zheng Yichen think of when he idly studied algebraic geometry before crossing over. That stuff really made you want to give up the more you learned. Zheng Yichen looked at it, went to sleep, and the next day, couldn’t even remember a single symbol he’d seen!

Placing the Enlightenment Book on the ground, Zheng Yichen propped his chin with a claw, muttering in Chinese as he flipped through it. One claw occasionally drew some symbols on the floor beside him. When the area was full, he’d scrape sideways with his claw, immediately creating a fresh ‘scratch paper’.

Magic in this world, compared to his pre-crossing studies, was similar. The difference was it relied more on ‘Talent’. For example, some people learn English very easily, while others struggle hard. Here, only those who could learn easily had the qualification for further Magic study. If you felt it was a struggle, it would only get harder, forming a vicious cycle. As long as such a cycle existed, you couldn’t even get started!

You could try to pile resources into it, and that wasn’t impossible. But for ordinary people, they didn’t have such conditions. As for Warriors, the requirements weren’t high, but it was easy to learn, hard to master. Becoming a Warrior was easy, but wanting to become a powerful Warrior who could match the might of a Mage wasn’t common.