Praise the Orc

Chapter 102: How to Become a Wizard (2)

Jamero nodded without any changes in his expression. “You must be Crockta. How are you?”

“Are you alive?” greeted Crockta. He then scooted aside and made space for Jamero. “Please sit.”

“Thank you.”

Jamero glanced at the two dark elves following him. They unpacked their bags and brought out various food items from their huge backpack.

Seeing that, Tiyo’s eyes widened in surprise.

He exclaimed, “We are about to have a feast. Welcome!”

Tiyo and Anor got up and accepted the food that the dark elves handed to them. They began to brainstorm what kind of dish to cook. Nevertheless, even if they put a lot of thought into the dish, they would inevitably end up mixing everything and boiling them into porridge because all they had for cooking was an old pot. Then the dark elves said something, and Tiyo and Anor leaned in closely to listen. The dark elves pretended to poke something with a branch.

‘Perhaps they’re thinking of skewers?’ Crockta thought, anticipating that they might cook something new tonight.

After observing Tiyo and Anor prepare dinner for a bit, Crockta shifted his gaze back to Jamero.

“Are you returning from Spinora?” asked Crockta.

“That’s correct,” replied Jamero while staring intensely at Crockta.

“What are you looking at?”

“You are strange.”

Jamero raised his fingertip, and a faint flame rose from it and blew into sparks. It was a firework of a minuscule size. Crockta was captivated by the strange sight. The small flame burned brightly and then turned blue.

“What do you feel when you see this?” asked Jamero.

The flame was the color of fire on a kitchen stovetop.

Crockta muttered without thinking, “A complete combustion...”

The blue flame on Jamero’s fingertip was an example of a complete combustion in which oxygen and heat were sufficiently provided, and everything burned completely without any waste. If either the oxygen or heat had been inadequate, then the flame would have remained an incomplete combustion and continued to burn as a red flame.

When Crockta raised his head, he realized that Jamero had a strange look on his face. Crockta regretted what he had just said. He had unwittingly used a word from the real world that Jamero probably didn’t understand.

However, Jamero gave an unexpected response. He put out the fire and leaned in toward Crockta.

“Hey, why don’t you become a wizard?”

Crockta drew back a little. “What do you mean? I’m a warrior.”

“What do you think magic is?” asked Jamero.

Crockta was unable to respond to Jamero’s question. He had only walked the path of the warrior up to this point and had never dabbled in other hidden skills or abilities. He had braved the harsh world of Elder Lord by gaining skills from fighting and killing, but he felt like a kid who only wore clothes his mom bought him.

Crockta suddenly wondered, ‘What is magic?’

If Elder Lord was a different dimension, then where did these supernatural abilities come from? Such abilities were not possible on Earth. Players could acquire magic from skills through the system, but how did Elder Lord’s citizens create such miracles?

Crockta looked at Jamero with a dumbfounded expression.

Jamero smiled and said, “You don’t have to think too hard about it. Answer the question however you want. It’s a question without a clear-cut answer.”

Crockta became lost in his thoughts. He didn’t want to disappoint Jamero with an unsatisfactory response. He had a great sense of dignity as a just and strong orc warrior. Moreover, he had already gotten Jamero’s attention with the word ‘combustion’ and had even received an invitation to become a wizard. Crockta’s mind raced, but he put on a calm face as if nothing was wrong.

Then, without thinking, he began speaking, “The world is made up of land, fire, wind, and water.”

“Ohh... Back to the elements...” muttered Jamero.

“But...”

Crockta thought of the man who had moved his heart during his youth. He was now conveying the man’s words to a wizard in the world of Elder Lord. Life was unpredictable.

Crockta continued, “But there’s one more.”

“There’s a fifth element? What is it?” asked Jamero.

“That is...”

Instead of saying it verbally, Crockta pointed at Jamero’s chest.

Jamero’s gaze followed Crockta’s finger. Then widened his eyes in shock when he realized that Crockta was pointing at his heart.

“Heart,” said Crockta.

“...!”

“Land, fire, wind, water, and heart—if you merge these five strengths into one...”

Jamero’s eyes widened at Crockta’s answer.

Crockta said in a sing-song voice, “This beautiful world, beautiful world...”

He pointed his finger at the sky—the galaxy. The seasons and constellations changed over time, but the galaxy was the one thing that never changed and moved everyone’s heart just by crossing the sky.

Jamero engraved that sight of the starry night sky in his mind. He felt as if a sea of clustered stars was about to spill onto him.

“We can bring forth change by moving the four elements that make up the world with our hearts,” said Crockta. He tried to incorporate the profound insights he had gained from catching a glimpse of the realm of heroism and proclaimed to Jamero, who was still looking up at the sky, “And that change is magic.”

Behind Crockta, the two dark elves accompanying Jamero applauded him. Tiyo and Anor, who had been threading meat onto wooden sticks, tilted their heads with bewildered expressions.

“You truly are an amazing orc,” said Jamero with a nod. “You realized the truth that took me ages to understand even though you are a warrior...”

“Although the paths are different, they move in one form when they reach the peak!” exclaimed Crockta.

“...!”

Jamero nodded in agreement, and the dark elves next to him looked like they were touched by Crockta’s words.

Tiyo and Anor placed the meat skewers on the campfire with disgruntled expressions. It was obvious that they thought Crockta was just spouting nonsense and that the conversation was not worth engaging in. The porridge they were cooking simmered in the heat and gave off a delicious smell. With the food almost ready, everyone sat down around the campfire.

“I’ve been talented in magic since I was a child, so I always wondered what it was. I asked myself, what is this power transmitted through the bloodline that allows one to excel in the mysterious phenomenon known as magic?” said Jamero.

Anor nodded. He could relate as someone who had become a necromancer through his mother’s bloodline.

“However, as I progressed, I realized that magic is the power to resonate with the world and create changes, and my talent was to resonate with the world through magic,” continued Jamero.

“...”

Jamero was just bragging about himself now, but then he said something surprising.

“Crockta, you should learn magic.”

“A warrior doesn’t need to,” replied Crockta.

“You already have a natural feel for magic. That kind of intuition is an essential quality of a wizard.”

Tiyo and Anor continued to grill the skewers of the meat, indifferent to the conversation happening between Jamero and Crockta.

“Take this.” Jamero handed Crockta a book.

“The Youngest Son of the Wizard House...?”

Jamero nodded. “It’s a masterpiece written by Saynkiun, who grew up tormented as the youngest son of a renowned wizard family. He grew up to become a master of magic through intense research and effort. It’s a new type of educational material that captivates readers with autobiographical storytelling and effective training methods. It’s an introductory book to magic that I highly recommend. Take it.”

Crockta accepted it.

[You have acquired Introduction to Magic.]

[Your proficiency in magical skills will be delayed because of the clash between warrior and magic class.]

[Will you still enter the realm of magic?]

A message window popped up. He hadn’t seen one in quite a while.

Crockta frowned. It was definitely that ashen woman. He was annoyed to know that she was watching him.

Jamero mistook Crockta’s annoyed expression as intense contemplation.

“Don’t think too hard about it. Just skim through it,” he suggested.

“Thank you.”

Then Jamero changed topics to stop pressuring Crockta about learning magic.

He complimented Tiyo’s cooking skills instead, “Your gnome friend is an excellent cook.”

“A true man must learn how to cook,” said Tiyo proudly.

Tiyo had merely threaded meat onto sticks and tossed the leftover meat into a pot to make porridge, but he swelled with pride at the praise.

“What is Spinora like? Is the World Tree huge?” asked Anor suddenly.

“It’s really big. It’s a beautiful place. You guys will be surprised,” replied Jamero.

Anor was excited because seeing Spinora’s World Tree was something all northern dark elves wished for. He was especially excited because he hadn’t ventured out of Nuridot much.

“Take a good look at that place. We must protect it,” stated Jamero.

The mood turned solemn.

“The orc chieftain is crazy. He is probably—no, he’s definitely under a spell,” said Jamero.

“What do you mean under a spell?” asked Crockta.

“They will tell you at Spinora. Anyway, he doesn’t seem like he’s able to make rational decisions right now. He only seeks destruction and war. What will remain if he strikes the north and then the continent?”

“...”

“A cycle of infinite tribulation. The world will be in a repeated loop of slaughter and conflict. That’s what he wants, and that’s the future we are most worried about coming true,” continued Jamero. Then he gazed at them and instructed, “Go meet Zelkyan in Spinora.”

Zelkyan was the head of the dark elves who loosely managed all of the dark elf cities and villages in the north. He was known for being able to communicate with the World Tree and for always making the best decision for dark elves.

Crockta nodded. There had to be an important reason why Zelkyan was inviting them to Spinora.

“Zelkyan has high expectations for you. Hahaha, I never thought Zelkyan would be excited to meet an orc,” remarked Jamero with a laugh.

All of the food was fully cooked at this point. Everyone took a bite out of their skewers. Contrary to the stereotype that elves were vegetarians, these dark elves sure knew how to eat meat. Jamero even ordered the other dark elves to bring out more meat. The dark elves continued to cook fresh meat on top of the campfire.

“It’s nice,” said Anor with a grin. “It would be nice to continue traveling like this.”

He had been saying the same thing since leaving Nuridot. He’d said it when they were in Xantimur’s lair, camping during their journey, and in Nameragon. Anor had never looked this happy in Nuridot.

“We can continue,” asserted Crockta with a smile, “after capturing the chieftain.”

Anor’s eyes grew wide. “We can continue afterward?”

“Dude, what other thoughts did you have in mind? Why are you asking?” Tiyo replied, putting Anor in a headlock.

Anor flailed in Tiyo’s arms. “Ah, it hurts. Hurts... Fu—!”

Tiyo covered Anor’s mouth and let go of the headlock just as Anor was about to cuss. Annoyed, Anor proceeded to fix his disheveled hair.

“You’ve been stuck in Nuridot your entire life. You have to cross through the north and see the continent. I will show you the continent,” declared Tiyo.

“Don’t you only know the area around Quantes?” asked Crockta.

“...Shut up. Fine. After we capture the chieftain, we will parade through the continent to celebrate bringing back the peace. We will go on a pilgrimage to the continent!” said Tiyo enthusiastically.

Anor’s eyes glistened with excitement.

Jamero laughed. “It’s nice to be young.”

“Jamero, how old are you? Why do you keep acting old?” asked Tiyo.

“Let’s see... I stopped counting after 150.”

“...!”

Despite his youthful appearance, Jamero was in the twilight stage of his life. Elves lived twice as long as humans, so he was like an elderly person over the age of seventy.

“You’re a geezer!” exclaimed Tiyo.

“Hey!” Jamero said in a chiding tone.

He waved his arms, and an invisible force grabbed the back of Tiyo’s neck and raised him off the ground. Tiyo hovered in midair. Without a place to stand, he turned pale as he thrashed around.

“What, what is this?!” Tiyo cried out.

“Gnomes who don’t know how to respect their elders should get a whiff of the air above them,” stated Jamero.

Tiyo rose to Crockta’s height while continuing to flail. “S-Stop it!”

Anor burst out laughing. Crockta couldn’t help but laugh as well.

Magic was such a mysterious power. The energy around them was following Jamero’s will and lifting Tiyo higher. Crockta could feel the flow of energy through his sixth sense. It was beautiful.

‘It wouldn’t hurt to give magic a try,’ thought Crockta with a nod.

The message window that he had closed popped up again. He found the accompanying tone strangely annoying.

[The warrior of justice Crockta has begun his journey into magic. How far is he trying to go? You have gained the Common-tier skill: Introduction to Magic (Common). Congratulations!]