As Serie recovered from her shock, she finally understood how a mountain from the Northern Kingdoms had ended up all the way down here.
It was genuinely done with pure, unadulterated brute force?!
“Interesting. Truly, fascinating.”
She re-evaluated Link once more.
Having lived for thousands of years, the opponents who could elicit the word “interesting” from her mouth could be counted on one hand.
“When it comes to sheer strength, I acknowledge you.”
She continued, “Name the magic you desire. I possess the knowledge of nearly every grimoire recorded in history.”
Link did not answer immediately.
His heart ached as he surveyed the castle, now reduced to ruins by the collateral damage of their fight.
How much money is this going to cost to clean up and rebuild?!
“Cleaning magic.”
“What?”
Serie thought her ears were playing tricks on her.
“You have no natural talent for learning magic, but through [Magic Transfer], I can allow you to learn it directly. So my advice is to think very carefully.”
Serie’s words forced Link to ponder whether this might be the sole opportunity of his lifetime.
Wait a minute—I’m a long-lived species!
A little bit of magic should be a piece of cake for me to learn anyway.
Besides, who doesn’t have magical talent?!
“I want cleaning magic,” Link repeated, his gaze unwavering.
Serie stared at him, uttering the words:
“Truly an ambitious-less fellow.”
Though slightly disappointed, Serie raised her hand and silently chanted an incantation.
A faint blue light ignited at her fingertip as she stood on her tiptoes.
Link obliged by lowering his massive head.
Her fingertip tapped lightly against his forehead, and a warm current instantly flooded into his mind.
The incantation, the paths for circulating mana, and every tiny detail were instantly etched into his knowledge.
Just like that, he had learned Cleaning Magic.
“I am leaving. I’ll take the Sword of the Hero next time.”
The petite elf showed no inclination to linger, turning around to walk away.
Link suddenly called out to her.
“Hey, Serie.”
“Next time you visit, bring some stronger offensive spells,” Link said, slumping lazily on the ground.
The wind rustled through the grass.
Serie gritted her silver teeth, offering no response.
In the blink of an eye, her petite figure vanished from sight.
Link lay there for a while, coming to the conclusion that today’s beating had been well worth it.
He had farmed a great deal of damage resistance and scored a free cleaning spell to boot.
The only downside was that his dwarf buddy would have to put in some hard labor afterward.
More importantly, he had a quest reward waiting for him!
He had almost forgotten about it!
Since the reward was calculated based on the opponent’s strength, and Serie’s power went without saying, wouldn’t the reward be…
With a thought, Link summoned his status panel.
[Novice Quest] Showcase Mechanics (Completed)
[Quest Reward] Hex Selection Count +1
[Commencing Hex Selection…]
Three orbs of light emerged from the void, floating in a neat row before his eyes.
Each orb was shrouded in a different colored aura, lighting up one by one from left to right.
[Silver Veil (Silver): Immunity to the first control effect encountered in combat.]
[Dive Bomb (Gold): Upon death, deals massive damage to all surrounding units.]
[New Recruit (Prismatic): Target a unit to make them a teammate, gaining the bonuses of their Synergy traits.]
Link contemplated the three Hexes before him.
[Silver Veil] offered crowd-control immunity, while [Dive Bomb] provided raw burst damage.
Which one should he pick?
Link feigned hesitation, though inside, he was practically bursting with joy.
I guess I’ll reluctantly choose you then.
[Congratulations! You have obtained: New Recruit]
With this thing, if he ever ran into someone he couldn’t beat in the future, couldn’t he just convert them directly into a teammate?
He could pull Serie into his team today, kidnap Frieren tomorrow, and as for the Demon King or the Seven Sages of Destruction…
it wasn’t like they couldn’t sit down and talk things out.
Once he tied every top-tier fighter to his ship, justice would never have to walk alone.
After all, everyone would be his sworn brothers!
Musing pleasantly on these thoughts, Link quietly stored [New Recruit] away into his system inventory.
On the distant mountain trail, Serie walked at an unhurried pace.
She had lived for far too long and was accustomed to all manner of powerful, ambitious creatures.
Yet that dragon possessed not a single shred of ambition.
She couldn’t tell if it was absurd or something else entirely.
However, a promise had been made between them.
The next time she returned, she would use a newly developed spell to blast that dragon’s mouth wide open.
The battle just now had granted her a wealth of inspiration.
If pure physical force could crush mana, what about the reverse?
Could mana be used to crush pure physical force?
“[Dragon-Slaying Magic],” she whispered the four words softly.
“That’s a nice name.”
Just like that, the two individuals drawn together by fate both obtained what they desired.
And the third person between them, the maid Chris, was not neglected by fate either.
She had obtained work.
In front of the castle ruins, Chris, who had been released from the body-freezing spell, rubbed her forehead.
Surveying the scene of utter destruction, she let out a gentle sigh.
“The coming days are going to be so busy,” she muttered to herself before crouching down to clean up the mess.
“Let me teach you magic, Chris.”
Link had materialized behind her without her realizing it.
For a body so massive, he had walked over without making a single sound.
Chris turned her head, looking up at the dragon addressing her.
“Huh? Is someone like me really allowed to learn?”
“What do you mean, ‘someone like you’?”
“I mean…” She looked down at herself.
“An ordinary human with no natural talent.”
“Besides, have you forgotten? I’m the child that even the village at the foot of the mountain didn’t want.”
Link pointed toward the massive crater in the grassland blasted out by Serie, and said, “Just now, master and servant joined forces to repel Serie. Learning magic is the reward you deserve.”
Chris burst out laughing.
Lord Link always had a way of making blatant fabrications sound like absolute truth.
“Then the two of us must be really strong, huh?”
“Isn’t that obvious?”
“You should definitely write this part into your stories.”
“I certainly will.”
Master and servant exchanged a warm smile.
Link lay back down on the ground, adopting a completely nonchalant tone.
“It’s just a bit of magic. It exists naturally between heaven and earth anyway; anyone can use it.”
Link spoke casually, but Chris felt immense gratitude.
As someone who had once been “abandoned,” this was the very first time in her life she had received a “gift.”
[Novice Quest: Passing the Flame]
[Bound Target: Chris]
[Your trace upon this world continues onward like a flame.]
Thus, under Link’s guidance, the maid Chris began her journey into magic.
She studied with utmost devotion.
Although her talent for mana was far from extraordinary, she possessed endless patience.
And for a human capable of keeping a dragon’s castle in tip-top shape, patience was the one thing she never lacked.
Furthermore, her passion for magic compensated for many of her shortcomings.
Three months later, Chris finally succeeded in casting her very first complete cleaning spell.
“Lord Link!” She jumped up in excitement.
“Did you see that?! I succeeded!”
Link opened a single eye, taking a lazy glance over at her.
“Not bad. Once you’ve completely mastered it, I’ll teach you the next spell.”
Link tossed out the promise offhandedly, without giving a single thought to the fact that he didn’t actually know any other spells.
“I’ll definitely practice every single day!”
“Oh, right.”
“You just said ‘every single day,’ didn’t you?”
Remembering something, Link flipped his body over.
Exposing his broad dragon back, he rested his chin upon his other claw.
“You actually just reminded me.”
Link paused, his tone turning serious.
It was time to forge that willpower of steel.
“You haven’t stepped on my back today.”
“Huh? Right here?”
“Why are you so obsessed with having your back stepped on…”
Getting it done right before sleeping every day—there was truly nothing more blissful.
Right now, Link felt he might just be the most comfortable dragon in this entire world.