Kent began pondering whether he should stay or leave.
There was still a month of winter left; people from down the mountain couldn’t come up yet, though he could easily head down.
But what should he do once he got down there?
He felt completely lost.
Should he wander around adventuring and cultivating on his own, or pledge allegiance to a major power?
According to the books, these were the two standard paths.
Venturing alone offered immense freedom, but it was perilous, lacked systematic education, and cost a fortune.
On the other hand, attaching himself to a major faction meant following orders—not quite like being a servant, but everything was provided, and the danger was minimal.
Right now, what piqued Kent’s curiosity most was the profession of alchemy.
As for magic, he had been studying it diligently; after all, it was straight out of Earth’s Western mythology.
Since he had actually stumbled into it, how could he possibly let it slip away?
He first picked up Basics of Alchemy.
In the back, it detailed introductory magic arrays and the carving solutions required for them.
All Kent needed to do was practice carving these arrays.
“Primary magic arrays actually evolve from a single, fundamental array.
Basic arrays are split into two aspects: defense and attack.
Primary arrays are also just two: one for damage, one for defense.” Kent carefully flipped through the pages and found it relatively straightforward.
Because primary magic arrays basically boiled down to two types, they were categorized purely by the carving solutions and materials used.
An attack array carved with a solution formulated from a fire-beast core produced a small fireball; a wind core produced a wind blade—with only slight modifications needed.
In other words, a primary alchemist only needed to master two basic magic arrays, and everything else would fall into place.
Magic arrays were one thing, but mana and spiritual force were the real keys.
Generally speaking, items crafted by an alchemist were two to three ranks lower than the alchemist’s own mage rank, meaning one had to be at least a third-rank mage to learn alchemy.
Moreover, there was a compatibility factor: most alchemists were fire-attribute, so water-attribute items they crafted wouldn’t be quite as compatible.
For a fire alchemist to craft water items, they needed an alchemy pen—a special tool where you could swap out magic cores or crystals to emit different elemental mana.
Naturally, this required massive spiritual guidance; a fire mage crafting water-related items consumed more than double the spiritual force required for fire-attribute work.
“Well, that’s a relief.
If there were a separate array for every single element, with my twelve systems, I’d be worked to death.” After figuring it out, Kent finally breathed a sigh of relief.
But the moment he remembered he could wield twelve-element magic, his eye caught Niu Niu, and he couldn’t help shooting her a flirtatious glance out of the corner of his eye.
Then he remembered the sheer amount of mana required to advance—level one was fine and dandy, but what about level two?
Level nine?
His shoulders instantly slumped in despair.
Niu Niu gave him a weird look, guiltily turned her head away, and pulled out a small bronze mirror to inspect herself.
She couldn’t find anything wrong—she still looked like a proper grass spirit.
Seeing Kent’s listless expression, she muttered, “Freak!” and went right back to what she was doing.
“Time to draw some magic arrays.” After studying the diagrams, Kent flipped the book to the pages introducing the two primary arrays.
He found a flat stone slab and picked up a twig, preparing to practice.
He carefully compared his strokes with the magic book, drawing line by line.
Though they were called “primary basic arrays,” Kent found them even more complex than circuit diagrams.
Fortunately, he had inherited a family skill back on Earth: micro-carving.
He could write characters on a grain of rice and carve dragons onto a pea.
Relying on this steady hand, the previous owner of Kent’s body—the Earthling shut-in—had used it to flirt with girls online.
But the guy was a coward.
He’d seen too many news stories about people getting scammed or caught in the act.
Even when he actually met up with netizens, he would usually sneak away right after dinner, terrified of ruining his reputation.
Later on, when the laws got stricter—requiring family members to pick you up from the police station and slapping you with massive fines—his courage shrank even further.
Even with pockets full of cash, whenever he walked past those massage parlors with the glowing pink lights, he only ever dared to take a few extra glances.
Because of all this, Kent’s memory and focus were actually quite good.
His only flaw was a deep disdain for foreign languages, which was why he hadn’t gotten into a good college.
After graduating, he struggled to find a job because every company demanded fluency in a foreign language under the guise of “international integration.” It had left him deeply frustrated.
(Just venting a little sourness!)
Kent traced the array on the stone slab with the dry twig a few times until he felt ready.
He prepared to dip the twig in water for a real attempt.
“What are you doing?”
The sudden voice made Kent jump.
He looked up to find Niu Niu staring at him in utter confusion.
Kent rolled his eyes at her.
“Practicing magic arrays.”
“Don’t you know what fluorite is?
Or alchemy pens?” Niu Niu looked at him with sheer disdain.
“Uh… yeah, I’m just warming up,” Kent replied.
The shock had made him flinch, and while he didn’t drop the bowl of water in his hand, he managed to spill its entire contents straight into his lap.
Depressed and fighting the urge to faint, he answered with a twitching mouth.
“Hehe!
And here I thought you were just crazy,” Niu Niu teased, covering her mouth with her hands.
“Hmph!” Kent quickly scrambled up to find the so-called fluorite.
It was a basic alchemy material that glowed when stimulated by mana; the duration of the light depended on the amount of mana poured into it.
“Is this physics or chemistry?” Kent murmured in amazement.
In his left hand, he held a palm-sized piece of fluorite.
In his right, he held an alchemy pen made of amethyst and mithril.
The pen looked like a thick chopstick with an egg jammed onto the top.
Its body was pure amethyst, while the rounded bottom was coated in a layer of mithril to channel mana.
This was just a standard pen; the high-end ones that allowed a fire alchemist to draw water arrays were worth an absolute fortune.
Once an alchemist reached a high enough rank, there was actually a second way to carve arrays: using highly corrosive substances to etch the lines, then filling the grooves with the required materials.
However, that was reserved for massive alchemy constructs.
You couldn’t exactly do that on a delicate bracer or a broadsword.
Kent quickly realized that fluorite was an incredible tool.
It visually displayed whether his mana output was steady, could be reused endlessly, and clearly showed whether an array was completed in one fluid motion.
He didn’t find the practice boring at all.
In fact, it was much better than sitting alone in front of a computer in the dead of night.
Plus, he had a girl keeping him company!
Sure, she was tiny and had a bad temper, but at least he had someone to talk to.
(Honestly, the only reason Kent knew Niu Niu was female was because of their soul contract.
Otherwise, given her size, it wasn’t exactly something he could check for himself.)
Kent spent two solid days drawing magic arrays until he felt proficient.
He even identified the underlying patterns between the different elemental arrays—just as the book had mentioned, they only required minor tweaks to the base array.
While he could draw them perfectly, he still didn’t understand the scientific principles behind them, nor did he plan to try.
The book only contained two magic arrays; the subsequent pages detailed potion recipes and brewing methods.
Since the demon ape hide was still curing, Kent decided he needed to relax and take a break.
He headed outside for a walk.
“Great weather today!” Kent muttered as he let the horses out of the stable.
The animals were still badly spooked and in low spirits.
Just because he was a mage now didn’t mean he was going to abandon the poor beasts; he wasn’t that kind of person.
The horses seemed much better after walking around for a bit.
The sun was shining brightly, and there wasn’t a breath of wind.
The sky was as blue and clear as a pristine sheet of glass.
The rolling mountains in the distance were a breathtaking sight, but Kent’s eyes were fixed on the two massive planets looming overhead.
He couldn’t remember how many times he had stared at them, yet he never grew tired of it, forever marveling at the wonders of the universe.
Suddenly, the horses scattered in a panic and bolted straight back into the stable.
Kent knew something was wrong.
A horse’s hearing was far sharper than a human’s.
“Who’s there?
Who is it?”
He listened closely and caught the sound of movement coming from the fence further up the mountain.
A small fireball quietly materialized in his hand, which he hid behind his back.
With his free hand, he slowly pulled open the small gate in the fence.
The scene waiting on the other side left him completely stunned.
“Why… why do they look like this?”