Witch Troupe and the Undead

As Roach walked through the corridor made of towering ancient trees, the smell of earth and trees was gradually replaced by a kind of putrid stench. The tree wall gradually became thinner, and after crossing a certain dividing line, a valley swamp with scattered dead and charred wood appeared before him.

Roach put down the rope, found a piece of dead wood that was neither too big nor too small, spat into his palm, picked up the axe, and started working.

These logs were completely dead and rich in oil, making them crisp and satisfying to chop. Since the internal moisture had been evaporated, each axe strike could penetrate deep into the wood. In just a few strokes, Roach chopped out a small triangle, then did the same on the other side, and the dead log, which was more than two people tall and as thick as a bowl, slowly fell to the ground.

Next, he used a hand axe to chop the tree into several sections, tied them together with rope, and prepared to take them back to split them in half again into semi-circular pieces of firewood. These pieces of wood were not only incredibly dry, but also very durable. Roach didn't quite understand why, but since it was another world, some anomalies were quite normal.

Just as Roach was about to leave, he heard a slight noise coming from the swamp, which made him stop gathering firewood. "Hmm? There are other people?" Roach put down the rope, picked up the axe again, and looked towards the swamp.

"Clang!" The steel blade collided with the scaly claws, exploding into a fine burst of sparks. The immense force even caused the blade to bend slightly. In the end, the Imperial military's standard-issue longsword withstood the test and managed to pry the claws away with difficulty. However, what followed the claws was a giant mouth covered with tiny, sharp teeth.

Blood, flesh, and bone burst apart, leaving only limbs and severed bodies wrapped in filthy military uniform fragments, which greatly shocked the remaining survivors.

"Hold the formation! Don't panic!" A man in light black leather armor and a wide-brimmed hat shouted, holding a swift sword in one hand and a ball of blue-purple flame swirling up his forearm in the other. The swift sword in his hand accurately pierced a lizard-like creature that pounced on him and flung it into the swamp.

The man was surrounded by seven or eight men, all carrying round shields and longswords. They wore leather armor with metal embellishments, round helmets, and blue short cloaks with a double lion holding a crown pattern, indicating that they were an elite squad from the regular army.

"Roar!" The monster with a crocodile-like head but no eyes let out a long roar. Small arcs of electricity crackled between its teeth, and current flowed from its snout to the tip of its tail. The thorns on its back stood up, and arcs of electricity jumped back and forth between the thorns.

"Watch out!" The man forcefully slammed the blue-purple flame in his hand onto the ground. A ring of flame expanded outwards, forming a ring of fire that intertwined and climbed upwards, forming a hemispherical structure. The next second, a flash of lightning collided with this strange fire, and the cage of flames instantly collapsed.

The blue-purple flames in the man's hand were reduced to a few scattered sparks. Taking advantage of the monster's weakness after unleashing some extremely energy-consuming attack, several soldiers rammed into the crocodile-headed monster, knocking it to the ground. Several standard military swords frantically stabbed at the soft skin in its throat and abdomen.

Even so, the monster's counterattack still tore the two soldiers who couldn't dodge in time to pieces at the waist. Their armor was as if it were made of paper in front of the sharp claws.

“Sir…” the soldier captain bowed to the man, “We can’t go any further. We’ve already lost half our men. At this rate, we won’t even be able to get halfway through the Deadwood Swamp.”

"No, we must keep going!" The man gasped for breath for a few minutes, the flame in his hand regaining its brightness. "We have no time to waste, we must..." *cough cough* "My lord..."

"Let's go! Since the Mud Dragons are here, there won't be any other dangerous monsters." The man forcefully shook off the soldier who was supporting him. "We must retrieve the lost sacred artifact; it's the only hope for saving the empire!"

“...Yes, sir.” The soldier captain paused for a few seconds, adjusted his equipment, and silently followed the man in front of him.

"This is only a dangerous area. According to the Adventurers' Guild's rating, the monsters here are no higher than... cough cough, lord level." However, judging from the expressions of the other soldiers, his speech, which was meant to boost morale, had no effect. Lord-level monsters were already considered "demon kings" in civilized territories.

Even for an empire, it requires provincial governors or border counts of the rank of nobles to prepare for war and then recruit brave warriors with generous rewards to gradually achieve victory.

Because lord-level monsters are already the most powerful "kings" in their species, their danger lies not only in their own strength, but also in the fact that they often have a large number of lower-level monsters of the same or even different species as their protectors.

With just a few people and a demon hunter master from the Imperial Military Intelligence Department, if they encountered a lord-level monster, the result would be total annihilation. Even the "panic" level monster just now caused them such heavy casualties.

Panic-level monsters are second only to lord-level monsters in the realm of civilization. This means that once such a monster appears, it will cause widespread panic in the surrounding area, or even within several cities. Villagers in the vicinity will flee, and even adventurers who specialize in dealing with monsters will feel troubled and fearful upon hearing about it.

The "Disaster" level, which is below the "Panic" level, is considered a normal force in the wild areas and ruins of the "Critical" level. The Disaster level refers to the degree of disaster that will bring to a region, usually a village or small town. This is the kind of monster that an adventure team needs to be prepared to deal with.

As for "threat" level monsters, to be honest, apart from being more common in wild areas and ruins below "dangerous" level, in higher-level areas they are not even considered trash; they are usually just food and decomposers filling ecological niches.

Conversely, in civilized areas, most monsters fall between "threatening" and "fierce." The latter refers to monsters whose lethality and threat are similar to those of wild beasts, while the lowest level is "harmless" monsters, which are generally domesticated as livestock or even used as a source of meat.

Roach pushed aside the thorns and headed toward the sound. The swamp forced him to take detours, and every few steps he had to use his long wooden pole to probe the way, lest he fall into the increasingly ominous dark green swamp. The valley was also becoming narrower and narrower. Fortunately, the number of dead trees was also increasing, and the tough vines growing between them became Roach's natural safety rope.

"I really need to find some time to lay a wooden plank road here in the future..." This thought only appeared in Roach's mind for a moment before disappearing.

Because he knew absolutely no carpentry skills, he probably couldn't even carve a decent piece of wood. He almost chopped his own leg while chopping wood before, but luckily Livia's magic stopped the axe in mid-air before it killed him.

The swamp gradually shrank, and the dead trees were gradually replaced by normal trees. Among the swamp and bushes, Roach discovered a black thing wriggling slightly.

Upon closer inspection, it became clear that the man was severely injured. He was missing an arm and a leg, and his chest and abdomen were ripped open with a huge wound. The man stared at Luo Qi with one eye, his eyes filled with disbelief and a sudden surge of hope. However, after making two hoarse sounds, his pupils gradually dilated.

"Damn it, don't die..." Luo Qi quickened his pace and rushed to him, but it was too late, or rather, it was too late from the start. With this level of injury, Luo Qi could tell that most of this person's soul was already in the underworld. The reason he was still alive was only because of the last bit of strength or willpower supporting him.

However, this last vestige of power, like a candle flickering in the wind, quickly dissipated, leaving only a mangled corpse before Roach.

"..." Luo Qi didn't know what kind of person he used to be, but at least for him now, seeing a fellow human dying in such a miserable state in front of him still made him feel uncomfortable and nauseous. His ruptured abdomen was spilling out his internal organs, which attracted swarms of insects even before they had decomposed in the swamp environment.

“Scratch marks…tooth marks…the right arm was cut off by himself…there are thorn marks on the legs, but no marks from swords or knives…” Roach squatted down, carefully examining the corpse, his mind filled with analyses of the body.

This made him wonder if he had ever been a detective or someone who was very familiar with human corpses and wounds.

"Maybe I was once a bodyguard or agent for the Secret Service?" Roach thought to himself as he reached out and searched the man's body, his fingers deftly avoiding bloodstains and any remaining traces of possible poison. He pulled out a pile of odds and ends from various pockets, both visible and hidden. "Or maybe I was a thief." Otherwise, it would be hard to explain his nimble fingers and skillful technique in searching a corpse.

The man's belongings included a gold-plated pocket watch that was no longer in use. The gold case was mottled and old, showing signs of age. This indicated that the world had at least invented the technology of clockmaking and machining intricate mechanical parts such as gears. It also meant that, if there were no problems with chemistry, manufacturing flintlock muskets would not have been difficult in terms of machining.

The two rings, one set with an oval black stone and the other a flat-topped seal ring with intricate patterns on the face, the kind used to leave a unique seal by pressing sealing wax.

Roach was surprised at how familiar he was with these ancient artifacts. He understood the function of the ring the moment he saw it, and then looked at the next item.

He opened a notebook tightly wrapped in leather and glanced at it. He couldn't recognize a single word inside. Well, it seemed he really was illiterate in this world. Being able to communicate in human language was probably a sign of some great power's mercy.

Finally, there was a small, dull, mottled crystal about half the size of his palm and a silver necklace. The pendant was a half-length statue of a praying girl carved from silver-gray metal, with a name engraved on the back. Unfortunately, Roach still couldn't read the writing on it, so he had to take it back and have Miss Livia translate it for him.

“Brother, you’re lucky to have met a kind person like me. At least you don’t have to worry about your body being left to rot in the wilderness. Well, it’s not that much different.” Roach tidied up the dead man, wrapped him in his tattered cloak, and sank the broken sword blade that he was clutching tightly into the swamp as a form of burial.

"Dust to dust, ashes to ashes. I don't know what the procedures are like in your local underworld, or if they offer reincarnation or anything like that. Anyway, if they do offer reincarnation or a next life, I hope I can die peacefully in my bed in my next life."

Luo Qi clasped his hands together and silently chanted a few times as if it were a ritual to help the dead find peace. As for whether it was effective or not, well, these kinds of things aren't done for the dead, but for the living, or even for himself, to put his mind at ease, so that he wouldn't be bothered by taking someone's belongings.

Roach didn't know if he was a good person, but at least theoretically he was a human being, so he should at least do what some people should do.

On the way back, there were no risks. After tidying up the scattered wood, Roach returned to Livia's cabin without incident. He first put the miscellaneous items away, then split the wood one by one and used the remaining embers to relight the stove.

The mushrooms, wild vegetables, and fish in the iron pot simmered, releasing a rich aroma. At the cost of a 15% increase in his "King of Dark Cuisine" progress, Roach successfully honed his culinary skills to a decent level.

Of course, in order to find edible mushrooms and wild vegetables so as not to eat fish until I was sick, I also almost maxed out the [Mushroom Warrior] rank and even unlocked a new achievement.

Shennong: Tasted over 100 kinds of poisonous plants. 23/100

"So slow..." The girl with light blonde hair sat in the chair, her clear emerald eyes looking at Luo Qi. Her expressionless face was turned slightly to one side, expressing her dissatisfaction through her body language.

“Ah, I ran into some things and found some interesting things along the way,” Roach said, taking out the man’s belongings and placing them in front of Livia. Her eyes were first drawn to the notebook, and she reached out to pick it up and begin to read it. “Um, could you teach me the writing here? I don’t recognize any of these characters.”

"Hmm..." The girl looked up at Luo Qi, and after the usual intelligence assessment, she nodded slightly, clapped her hands to signal Luo Qi to concentrate, and then raised her hand to summon a thick book that floated down from upstairs.

The ink bottle and quill pen followed closely behind, hopping and skipping onto the table. The pen tip lightly brushed against her delicate fingertips without leaving a trace, and the girl wrote a simple line of letters. The ink did not linger on the paper; instead, each ink-colored character jumped in front of Roach, loudly proclaiming its own pronunciation.

"Wow!" Roach exclaimed in surprise. "Smack!" A clump of dry sawdust, which he was using as an eraser, jumped up and hit him on the forehead.

"Listen carefully," the girl said earnestly. Luo Qi sat up straight again and began to seriously study this unfamiliar language.

Learning Chapter Four is such a wonderful thing! (Sigh!)

Learning a completely unfamiliar language was quite difficult for Roach, which further confirmed that his intelligence stat was probably no higher than 9.

"Nine? Isn't that the number of wisdom? Wait, why is the number of wisdom nine and not something else?" Roach's mind inevitably wandered, and then he was hit in the face again by the black characters loudly pronouncing his pronunciation, leaving a dark ink mark, which made him refocus his attention on the dictionary in front of him.

The language he is currently learning is called "Lust," which evolved from Old Lust and was prevalent in the ancient Lust Kingdom and surrounding cultural areas. Its advantages are that it is easy to spell and has few variant dialects, but its disadvantage is that a large number of slang words have evolved over a long period of time, making the entire dictionary very thick.

This made memorizing words incredibly difficult for Roach after he had mastered the basic grammar and spelling. What made him even more desperate was that after asking the little witch, he received some terrible information: there was no such language as "Universal Language" in this world, or rather, on this continent, that could be read, written, and used normally no matter where you were.

In the human world alone, books are most widely written in three languages.

The first is Luster, which Roach is learning; the second is Highland, which is mainly spoken in the Highlands and Mountain Kingdoms. It is an agglutinative language, and its vocabulary and long sentences are enough to drive anyone crazy; the third is Vis, which is mainly spoken among the scattered tribes on the edge of the civilized world. Its characteristics are chaotic grammar, but its advantage is that even if you don't know it well, you can still communicate by gesturing.

The three languages ​​mentioned above are only relatively popular or widely spoken. In reality, almost every country has its own language and script, or at least its own dialect.

This doesn't even take into account the languages ​​of other non-human races. This situation completely thwarted Roach's attempt to read the pile of books Livia had collected.

However, at least if he learns Luster language, he can escape the state of only being able to say "Aba aba, Waibi babu" in the Luster Plain.

Yes, he confirmed it. He had been speaking some indescribable otherworldly language all along, and Livia seemed to be able to communicate with him without any barriers in some way. Let's just call this strange state a "magical effect" for now.

After making some initial progress, Roach tried to read the notebook. The first few pages were some kind of reading notes, the next few pages were some daily trivia, and then there was something he couldn't understand at all.

If I had to put it into words, it would be that he knew each word individually, but couldn't understand the meaning of the words when put together, and the words he used were so obscure and rare that even Luo Qi had a hard time finding them in a dictionary.

“This must be encrypted, right?” Roach said seriously. “This notebook must be encrypted, right? It must be some kind of ciphertext rule, right!?”

"..." The emerald-eyed girl raised her head, her gaze sweeping over the contents of the notebook, and shook her head slightly. "No."

"Why is it that I recognize these words, but have absolutely no idea what they mean?"

“It’s the court style,” Livia whispered.

"what?"

Livia repeated the "courtly style" aloud, patting the textbook in front of her with her little hand. The pages flipped rapidly, displaying the relevant information.

Court style is a grammar popular among the high-ranking nobles of various countries in the Luster Plain region. Compared to what Roach learned, it is roughly equivalent to the difference between classical Chinese and vernacular Chinese. It emphasizes a mysterious and impressive style and makes extensive use of obscure synonyms in speaking and writing. It is a means for nobles to show that they are not the same kind of beings as the lower classes in any way.

"..." Roach fell silent, as if a foreigner who had just begun learning Chinese and could say hello in a strange accent was about to read a book written entirely in classical Chinese.

"What a rip-off! Why would anyone invent such a meaningless and useless grammar?"

The reason why classical Chinese was written in such a terrible way was simply because there was no paper at the time. It had to be written by scraping bamboo strips with a knife. Putting aside the possibility that the writer might die from the large number of characters, the reader couldn't even lift a "book" weighing hundreds of kilograms.

But this courtly style is just pointlessly making reading and communication more difficult, damn it! Roach could only go back to the beginning of the trivial parts, at least those things were written in normal grammar, and he could barely understand them with the help of a dictionary.

The owner of the diary is an honorary knight named "Greeme Strall" from the "Strol Empire". His daily life consists of working in an imperial government agency, possibly as a civil servant, as evidenced by his complaints about low pay and the incompetence of the new clerk.

From this, Roach even learned about the price levels and salary levels in the Stoll Empire. This Sir Graeme received a monthly salary of one gold and twenty-seven silver from the Imperial Ministry of the Interior. However, Roach wasn't entirely clear on the currency values, as the accounts mentioned gold coins alone...

There are three pronouns: "feather," "Libra," and "dragon." There are also several types of silver coins. The most commonly used one is a small silver coin, which is smaller than a normal silver coin and about the size of a copper coin.

Roach wasn't quite sure which type of gold or silver coin was included in his salary, but judging from his complaint that bread in the capital had increased in price by 3 copper coins, resulting in an extra 4 silver coins being spent on it each month, Roach calculated that one silver coin could be exchanged for a maximum of 22.5 copper coins. Considering that this wasn't a round number, there might have been smaller silver coins or other subsidiary coins as filler.

"What a brilliant currency! It reminds me of the British Empire's monetary system." Roach's mind inexplicably conjured up the peculiar monetary system and exchange rates of a country called the "England Empire," which seemed almost like a joke.

Then there was some scattered information about the Stoll Empire. The place names mentioned included the capital city of Vein, Lywood County on the border, and a place called Windcandle Town. In particular, it was mentioned that the hardwood furniture made of beech wood from Lywood County was very famous, and they were considering buying some to decorate their wedding room.

"Ah, writing such forbidden phrases in a diary, no wonder he died so tragically." Roach didn't know where this perception came from, but it seemed that people who talked about topics like marriage or lovers before dangerous activities rarely survived to the end.

However, since most of the diary's contents were written in a so-called courtly style with a grammar that was not encrypted but was more like encryption, and only the beginning and trivial matters were written in vernacular Chinese, Roach's understanding of this world increased very little.

He could understand the opening notes, though. Judging from the difference between the handwriting and the later content, they were likely Sir Graeme's notes from his time at the Imperial Golden Lion Academy. "And he wasn't a very diligent student."

The text was interspersed with a considerable number of inexplicable doodles, the content of which was quite difficult for Roach to understand. After all, by the standards of this world, he could be considered either illiterate or not fully educated.

What particularly interested Roach was the "magic" part, which they called the "mystical" spell system. After all, the supernatural power of magic has an unimaginable attraction for every adult man.

Unfortunately, this only contains a basic introduction to this kind of magic, which is completely different from the way Roach usually observes Livia casting magic.

The Mystic Arts consist of three key steps and structures. The first step, called “Source Determination,” is to determine the “source” of your magic. In the notebook, three sources that are considered safe and harmless are marked with an upward-pointing equilateral triangle, written in a language called “Ancient Mystic.”

"Livia, what do these words mean?" Roach asked without hesitation, and the little witch gently pointed at them, causing the words in the notebook to automatically twist and change into Lusterian words that Roach could barely understand.

"Spirit", "Elements", "Life".

After determining the "source" from which one draws power, one then alters the nature of that power, giving it a corresponding physical form, such as flames or light. Ultimately, it is these physical forms of power that are constructed into specific magical paradigms.

Paradigms can be divided into four types: enchanting, strengthening, shaping, and constancy. Enchanting involves injecting this power into an inanimate object, usually a weapon or equipment. According to Roach's understanding, it is a skill similar to Flame Slash.

Strengthening involves injecting into living beings to increase their functions or perform healing; shaping is the kind of fireball throwing that Roach is most familiar with; and finally, constancy is probably something like a summoning spell, allowing the physical form of this power to exist in a certain way for a long time.

In addition to the three positive sources, there are also three negative sources, which represent extremely severe side effects and are considered to be three sources of evil and heretical forces in many countries. They are represented by an inverted triangle and use a language found on tombs and coffins, representing the "dead language" of the underworld.

It was only thanks to Livia's friendly translation that the words could be read aloud: "Otherworld," "Death," and "Void." However, Roach's learning, or rather his understanding, of magic ended there.

The above only provides a general record of the basic structure and steps of the esoteric spells, roughly similar to how to put an elephant in a refrigerator. However, it completely omits the specific steps of determining the source of the magic power and each step of the spell.

At the very end of the notebook is a copy of the symbol representing an organization called the "Secret Ritual Society":

The equilateral triangle is entwined with emerald green vines and blooms with pure white flowers, while the inverted triangle features venomous snakes flicking their tongues. The two symbols overlap to form a six-pointed star, with a single eye representing wisdom that sees through mysteries in the center. Its unique composition and pattern give Roach a mysterious and dangerous feeling.

"Livia, is there any information on magic, I mean on mystic arts? I want to learn that."

"..."

The girl looked up blankly, her emerald green eyes vividly conveying: What do you want to learn? I didn't quite catch the meaning.

"Coach, I want to learn magic, I mean arcane magic, please teach me!"

"..." The petite witch jumped off the chair and walked to Roach's side, the wooden soles of her slippers making a clattering sound. Then, a soft little hand was placed on his head and slowly stroked it, as if she were stroking his fur, or simply comforting him: "Don't think about it, you can't learn it."

"Could it be... that I really have no talent at all?" Roach's expression turned to despair, which made Livia pause for a moment. She then took out a small stone slab, no bigger than her palm, from her skirt pocket and placed it in front of Roach. It was covered with dense and complex words in Lusterian. She then looked at him with anticipation.

"..." After reading carefully, Roach admitted that he really couldn't learn magic, not because he lacked a certain physique, but because the magic or arcane arts in this world came entirely from the external environment, which they called the "source".

It can be a tangible life form, an element that lies between the real and the virtual, or even a completely ethereal spirit or belief.

Then came the main event. Roach got stuck on the first step, which was to obtain power from a certain "source." It wasn't that he lacked perception or affinity, but rather that he simply didn't understand how the steps and operations worked.

In short, after another assessment of his comprehension and knowledge reserves, Roach confirmed that his basic aptitude was indeed below the threshold for learning arcane arts. As for Livia's "magic," which was unlike any other arcane art... "I have absolutely no talent for this, do I?"

"Mmm," the soft little hand continued to stroke him, as if to comfort him.

"I will study hard! I don't believe it's because my intelligence is incapable of understanding!" Roach declared loudly. From now on, he would put in utmost effort and seriousness, focusing all his attention on his studies.

He didn't believe that his inability to understand was due to a lack of intelligence; he believed it must be because he lacked knowledge of the local customs and even common sense, thus lacking the corresponding knowledge system, which naturally made it impossible for him to learn.

It's like an ancient time traveler who doesn't understand modern mathematics at all. When they arrive in modern society, they still don't know their own name even when they have a textbook. That doesn't mean they are stupid and incapable of learning.

It must be because of a lack of the corresponding knowledge base, resulting in complete ignorance of those omitted, self-evident prerequisites, and a complete lack of understanding of the basic knowledge that requires the mastery of corresponding common sense.

As long as he continues to learn the written language and related knowledge, he can also learn this esoteric art. He, Roach, absolutely does not believe that he is an existence with an intelligence of only 9. He wants to prove to Livia and to himself that he is not without magical talent, but simply lacks the prerequisite knowledge and experience!

However, just like in the world before, Roach knew of something called "advanced mathematics," which was described as something that people could do when pushed to the limit, but they simply couldn't do this thing called "advanced mathematics."