Chapter 42

"Kuk, your mental power is three times that of an ordinary person, so in the coming period, you must learn the magical script and start practicing. No one can say for sure what dangers lie ahead." However, Kuk was about to fall asleep again, but Lori wouldn’t have it. She stepped forward and said in a scolding tone.

"Three times the mental power, what a waste." Kangknie looked at Kuk with a hint of regret.

"What’s there to regret? Three times the mental power can still cast magic." Lori was dissatisfied. Kuk is my servant, what right do you, a captive, have to criticize?

"Hehe! Hehe!" Kangknie was taken aback for a moment, then laughed, her chest jiggling more under the firelight.

"Remember your place, you are just a captive." Lori said irritably, giving Kangknie a glare.

"Kuk, let’s start now. Micky, come over and bring the teaching props." Lori took action without any discussion.

Kuk was stunned for a moment, thinking to himself, "This master is really...?" But then Kuk understood. Lori was afraid, after all, a Level 3 magical beast had already appeared. Who knows if there will be a Level 4 or even higher one? Any extra strength would be beneficial.

Kuk struggled to sit up, but felt an itchy sensation on his back. Kuk knew this meant his external injuries were almost healed. Kuk became even more curious about the magician’s tools, knowing that although he hadn’t seen his back, the initial pain had been excruciating.

"Thank you, Micky, for bandaging me." Kuk looked at the bandages on his body and expressed his gratitude sincerely.

"It wasn’t me, it was her." Micky blushed and pointed to Kangknie.

"Uh?" Kuk was confused.

"Bandaging is a deep science!" Kangknie said proudly.

Kuk nodded, knowing that bandaging not only required the right pressure and method based on the injury but also played a significant role in the healing process, much like a specialized profession on Earth.

"Alright, now let’s start learning the magical script." Lori was very unhappy with Kangknie, as she sadly realized she was inferior to Kangknie in every aspect. In terms of status, she was a magician, but Kangknie was a general, a five-star general. In terms of demeanor, Lori couldn’t compare. Demeanor is partly innate but mostly cultivated, influenced by one’s environment and life experiences. What life experiences did Lori have? None. In terms of figure, Lori was even more embarrassed. Kangknie exuded the beauty of a mature woman, while Lori...

"Magical script?" Kangknie was taken aback and asked in confusion.

"What, you don’t understand this?" Lori asked excitedly.

"Hehe, you want someone who doesn’t recognize a single character to learn the magical script? Haha, that’s a good one!" Kangknie laughed, her words filled with sarcasm.

"Hmph, how about we make a bet?" Lori humphed and stared at Kangknie.

"Fine, let’s bet." Kangknie didn’t care about Lori’s words and agreed immediately.

"We’ll make a magical contract." Lori said, still unsure.

"Hmph, I know the magical script. I used to be a magic warrior." Kangknie replied, not backing down.

"Good, magic warrior!" Lori praised, then walked to Kangknie, took out a wooden box, and inside was a scroll, but Kuk saw it was blank.

Lori and Kangknie each wrote their stakes on the scroll, then signed their names in blood. Lori then recited a magical incantation, and the scroll floated in the air, slowly transforming into a highly intricate pattern. This pattern split into three parts, two of which flew into Lori and Kangknie’s foreheads, and the third into Kuk’s.

"This, this, this!" Kuk was curious at first, but when the contract entered his forehead, his face turned green, and he stammered.

"Shut up!" Lori’s face was very unpleasant as she shouted at Kuk.

"Hehe! I’m going to sleep, you two can keep learning!" Kangknie giggled.

"Kuk, if you don’t memorize five hundred magical characters in three days, you’ll be in trouble." Lori said sternly before starting to learn.

"Sir, sir, what does this have to do with me?" Kuk, feeling wronged, asked.

"Shut up, Micky, give him the props." Lori ignored Kuk’s question and instructed Micky.

"This is a magic fluorite, this is a magic pen, for learning." Micky handed Kuk a palm-sized, jade-like object and a metal pen, explaining their use.

"Wow!" Kuk saw Micky use the metal pen to draw on the magic fluorite, leaving a visible trace, similar to a smartphone on Earth.

"Alright, the first magical character is 'God'." Lori, seeing Kuk’s reaction, said calmly.

"See, Kuk, start practicing." Micky took out a piece of parchment and wrote a very strange character, somewhat like ancient script.

Kuk quickly used the metal pen to practice the character, while Lori watched closely.

"Smack! How are you writing? Look here, and here. This is a magical character, it cannot be deformed." Before Kuk finished, Lori hit him on the head with a stick.

"Damn woman, damn magical characters!" Kuk dared not resist, not just because of the follower-master contract, but also because of Lori’s magic, which Kuk was far from matching.

"You idiot, what’s in your head? If a magical character is off, the meaning changes. If you use these to write a magic scroll, congratulations, you’ll never succeed."

"Kuk, are you sure you see it clearly? Smack!"

"Smack!"

"Smack!"

"Sir, sir, spare me, we don’t need to do this." Kuk, fearing more hits, pleaded when Lori raised the stick again.

"Why not? This is about... the magical contract." Lori glared at him.

"Sir, you can teach me these characters first. This is the scroll for the earth elemental energy, with more than five hundred characters. The magical characters are deeply imprinted in my mind. Just a little explanation, and I... ." Kuk quickly wrote out a magical character from memory.

"Good point, Kuk, you’re smarter than I thought." Lori’s eyes lit up, and she glanced at the sleeping Kangknie with a sly smile.

"Yes, sir, thank you. Also, sir, you can teach me the magical incantations first. They are more coherent and easier to remember." Kuk suggested, using a method he learned for studying foreign languages, which was a strict requirement during his security job. Of course, Kuk’s spoken English was excellent, but writing it down was another story.

"Um, this method is effective, the speed of learning whole sentences is much faster." Lori looked at Kuk and praised him.

"Alright, let’s start with the magical characters from the earth elemental energy scroll. Write them out." Lori took out her staff and nodded.

"Uh, sir, you don’t know them?" Kuk asked, unable to help but smile.

"I don’t practice elemental energy, why should I know?" Lori’s response was strong.

"Alright, alright!" Kuk’s body trembled, accepting the answer reluctantly.

After that, Kuk didn’t get hit much, as the characters were deeply imprinted in his mind. Kuk knew the method of practicing elemental energy, and Lori was smiling all night, clearly focused on the bet with Kangknie.

"Alright, start practicing the elemental energy. With elemental energy, our safety will be higher. Also, practice the magical incantations I taught you. I’ll check in three days. As for meditation, Micky can teach you. I’m going to meditate." As the first light of dawn filtered through the branches, Lori stretched and, to her, the bet was already won, it was just a matter of time.

"Ao!!!" But just as Lori was about to meditate, a high-pitched cry echoed from outside the cave.

"A griffin’s cry!" Lori exclaimed in surprise.

"Go! Sir, this cry is so close, it’s too dangerous. Mike, hurry!" Kuk jumped up, waking the sleeping Mike, and Kangknie was also startled by the cry.

"Boom!" The branches at the cave entrance were blown away by a powerful force.

"Quick, jump down, it’s not very high." Kuk glanced down and saw a bird as big as three large water buffalo floating in the air, with a rider looking surprised. But Kuk recognized the rider’s attire, which was from the Ceylon Empire, something he had seen often at the ranch.

"Plop!" Kuk pushed Lori, who was still holding the scroll, down into the underground river, while Micky had already gone down. As for Mike, he was quick to escape.

"Damn woman, trying to run?" Kuk noticed Kangknie was retreating and immediately grabbed her hand, forcing her down.

"Plop! Plop! Plop!" Kuk also fell into the water, which he had already checked, leading to an underground river.

"Quick, go!" Kuk pulled Micky and Lori to the shore.

"Sir, quick, destroy that cave entrance." Kuk saw Kangknie still struggling in the water, while Mike had already made it to shore. As for Gray, his swimming ability was even better than Kuk’s. Kuk pulled Kangknie back, as she was an important hostage and Kuk’s hope of becoming a noble.

"Red spirits, heed your friend’s request, use your destructive power... Fireball!" Lori, who had just stood up, stumbled but managed to stand, her staff glowing with a bright red light as she recited the incantation.

"Boom!" As Kuk pulled Kangknie to shore, a fireball the size of a basin appeared and struck the cave entrance where they had fallen.

"Clang!" Kuk felt a wave of air, and the rocks at the cave entrance fell like they had been blown up by tons of explosives.

"Run, run up!" Kuk shouted, but in the dark cave, who knew which way was up and which was down.

"Damn, why is it so hard to save some money?" Kuk muttered, then searched his body.

"Here." A soft light appeared, and Micky held a round bead, emitting a faint white light, one of Kuk’s savings from the ranch.

"Thud! Thud! Thud!" Rocks kept falling into the water, making dull sounds.

"Mike, lead the way, Kaka, scout ahead, Micky, stay close, Kangknie, follow, sir, I’ll carry you. Run, the cave is collapsing." Kuk saw the cave ceiling cracking and shouted.

"Sir, I’m sorry." Kuk saw Lori fall after casting the fireball, so he quickly picked her up and followed Micky and Kangknie, while Gray had already run ahead.

"Quack!" As Kuk ran a few steps, Big Mouth appeared, grabbing Kuk’s shoulder, and Little Bad also poked his head out of Kuk’s arms, shaking off the water.

"Rumble!" Kuk and the others ran on all fours, the rumbling sound behind them, with small rocks flying onto Kuk’s back. Kuk had to run hard, and Kangknie was almost dragged by Micky.

"Damn, you’re trying to run!" The griffin rider, after sending a signal, watched the cliff where the cave was slowly sink, and couldn’t help but curse.

"Quack!" A loud, piercing cry reached them, a fire-red bird.

"What’s going on?" Munky’s face was grim.

"Sir, I didn’t do anything, I just sensed someone in the cave, so I lifted the branches, but they ran and then used magic to destroy the entrance to the underground river." The griffin rider, trembling, answered, while the griffin kept retreating.

"Entrance to the underground river? This is troublesome." Munky used his mental power to scan the area and sighed.

"Sir!" Soon, two green shadows appeared on the ground, Munky’s two followers, riding wind wolves, Level 5 wind elementals.

"Is there any way now?" Munky pointed to the half-sunken cliff.

"Sir, it’s not easy. If we force it, at Miss Lori’s level, she might be killed by the powerful force." The two knights, a man and a woman, the man brave, the woman cold, with their armor faintly glowing with magic, the male knight carefully examined and reported.

"Ah!" Munky sighed, riding his mount, staring at the ground still sinking, his face showing frustration and regret.

In the underground river, Kuk and the others continued to flee, as the rumbling sound behind them didn’t stop. Kuk not only had to carry Lori but also guide the way, as only he could hear Kaka’s calls. The riverbed was slippery, and they often had to crawl, making Kuk the most exhausted of the group.

"Left, to the left, Mike, hurry, there’s a smaller passage ahead, quick!" Kuk saw Mike moving on all fours, while Micky had to hold the only light source and drag Kangknie, who was using her free hand to move forward.

"Plop!" Just as Kuk shouted, Mike slipped and fell back, colliding with Micky and Kangknie, and the three of them rushed towards Kuk.

"Damn!" Kuk, seeing them rush towards him, cursed and freed one hand to pull out the magic cleaver from his waist, embedding it in the ground, the handle disappearing.

"Ouch!" Kangknie landed directly on Kuk’s hand, causing him to scream in pain.

"Quick, get up, my hand!" Kuk, pinned under the three, with Lori in his arms, shouted.

"Mike, be careful, next time, you won’t be so lucky." Kuk, seeing his swollen wrist, warned Mike, who knew the danger, as the riverbed was sloping and slippery, with a slight current, making it unpredictable.

"Alright, let’s go, it’s still not safe. Kaka has already explored the riverbed for several kilometers, and there’s no major danger." Kuk pointed to the back, where the collapsing sounds had decreased, but no one dared to assume it would stop.

"Before that, should we change our clothes?" Lori suddenly said.

"Change clothes, sir, are you sure now?" Kuk asked, smiling bitterly, as they were all in a mess.

"Ah, let’s walk a bit more." Lori, hearing the occasional sound of rocks falling into the water, sighed and instructed.

"Let’s go, Kaka says there’s a drier place ahead. Little Bad, go check?" Kuk asked Little Bad, who, seeing the darkness, quickly retreated into Kuk’s arms.

"Um um um um!" A strange sound suddenly rang out, and Kuk couldn’t help but smile bitterly.

"Micky, you brought this little thing? It needs to be fed." Kuk saw a small furry head and a pink nose in Micky’s arms.

"Shut up, this is Micky’s future magical pet. Earth elementals, like bear-type magical beasts, are the best pets for magicians, with extremely high defense." Lori, hearing Kuk’s comment, scolded him harshly.

"The little guy is hungry, he wants to eat." Kuk, seeing the little gray bear, whose eyes were still closed, constantly using its pink nose to search, said to Micky with a bitter smile.

"Let’s go, there’s food on Gray." Lori waved her staff.

"Really? Gray’s back is empty?" Kuk, surprised, asked.

"What? My magical items and gold coins?" Lori, hearing this, used the faint light to see that Gray’s back was indeed empty, and she exclaimed in shock.

"Sir, sir, don’t pinch me." Kuk, with a pained expression, pleaded.