Witch Troupe and the Undead

He also knew that this thing called advanced mathematics never deceived anyone, because if you don't know it, you don't know it. After intensive study, Roach found that this thing called esoteric arts was just like advanced mathematics to him—if you don't know it, you don't know it!

Tons of proper nouns spun around in front of him, each one accompanied by a whole host of words twisting and turning behind it, making Roach feel as if he were in a nightmare from which he could not wake up.

What! What! What is this again! What is a resonance field? What is a ritual field? What is the difference between the two!? And what is this strange analytical and computational method that has no mathematical or rational logic involved?

Roach even had a strange name pop into his head, a man named Riemann. He didn't even know why he thought of this person, but as related stories from those fragmented memories surfaced, he now felt as if he were a disciple or grand-disciple of this scholar named Riemann.

Simply put, it means that when someone proposes that a point outside a straight line has one and more than one line parallel to it, and then uses this to create a completely new system that violates the "axioms" you once knew, you feel bewildered, helpless, self-doubting, and completely lost when faced with this thing.

"Livia, I really don't have even the slightest bit of magic, I mean, any talent in arcane arts!? Not even a little bit?"

"...Hmm~" The girl fell into deep thought, and as the time of her thought increased, the expression on Roach's face became more and more desperate.

With a "thud, thud," the witch left. A few minutes later, she came down with a huge pile of books. "Bang!" One book after another was slammed viciously in front of Roach. The covers of each book seemed to be baring their teeth at him. The covers, made of some kind of living leather, looked rather shady.

"..." The girl showed an expectant expression.

Chapter 5: The Fisherman Never Misses a Match

Mystic magic originated from ancient alchemy. Why ancient alchemy? Because everyone knows that alchemy can no longer produce gold. Therefore, it has now split into two disciplines: creation science and potion science. This greatly disappointed Roach, who thought it would become chemistry.

The contents of these books describe the learning courses for this unique arcane magic. Surprisingly, Roach found that he could actually understand and learn it, albeit with some difficulty. It's the same as arcane magic; both rely on external power to cast spells, completely different from the kind of magic Roach had imagined, which involved accumulating magical power through meditation.

The difference is that the Mystic Source Spell draws its power from the "Mystic Source Essence" that it extracts and refines itself, while the Mystic Ritual Spell draws its energy from a ritual field formed by the surrounding environment.

Since the process looked like a combination of chemistry and materials science, even though Roach didn't quite understand the mystical parts, he could still watch it with some difficulty, at least he wasn't stuck on the first step of "understanding".

Soon, he also understood why the witch needed so long to find this thing: it was truly obscure, and its hexagram and esoteric arts were completely opposite. The positive aspect represented death, nothingness, and the otherworld, while the elements, spirit, and life represented the negative source.

However, Roach understands this quite well, because it requires the extraction of "Secret Essence" from substances and entities with corresponding power, much like refining oil. So the question is—what should Life Essence be extracted from? You see, this makes it easy to understand why it's the opposite.

Similarly, Roach also understood why these books looked so much like evil magical books. Maybe... perhaps... maybe, in this world, this thing... is a kind of "magic". Hmm, an otherworldly person learning "magic" paired with a witch who knows magic, this little house is increasingly feeling like some kind of BOSS room.

Furthermore, Roach understood why the witch believed that he was capable and qualified to learn it. It was like chemistry: as long as you follow the correct steps, it doesn't matter whether you understand the underlying principles or not. As long as the steps and process are correct, Roach will definitely be able to make the corresponding Secret Essence.

Whether one understands or not depends on whether one can extract the essence most efficiently and whether one can safely handle those complex and ever-changing materials. And in this process, the biggest hurdle for the locals is... mathematics.

According to Roach, this is a unique local "science," so it requires a very high level of mathematical ability. It requires a lot of knowledge of calculus when calculating the proportions of various materials and refining formulas.

"Waaaaah~ I finally understand, I'm not an idiot~" Roach was practically crying tears of joy, because calculus was indeed a bit difficult for him, but his past education and memories gave him an advantage in this area that others could not match.

"Pat pat~" The witch patted his head sympathetically. These large books were also somewhat difficult for Livia to read and study. She felt that Roach might have finally broken down. If he was too depressed, he might die, as her first "magical pet".

The little witch looked worried when she thought of her mentor's rabbit pet that had died because of "excessive melancholy." Unfortunately, this pet was too big to hug like the rabbit.

“It’s okay if you’re a little clumsy,” Livia whispered, the sweet scent of roses enveloping Roach. “At least, you’re cuter.”

"Cute!? Me?" How can you describe a grown man like me as cute!

Livia looked at Roach and nodded seriously, "Cute." It looked a lot like the rag doll her mentor had given her, only much bigger.

Learning secret techniques cannot be accomplished overnight. Luo Qi was also very curious about how those characters in his mind, such as Yan and Tang, could learn an unfamiliar skill in a short time using a scroll or a thin manual. Perhaps this is what is called genius.

Luo Qi sighed, walked down the wooden stairs to the dining room, and picked up a fishing rod and basket from behind the wooden door. "Even if you're a saint, you still have to solve the problem of eating first. This is too realistic, isn't it?"

After all these days, Livia has gradually become more discerning about food, and she no longer makes those magical potions and strange ointments to eat as before.

Therefore, the burden of finding food for this little family fell entirely on Roach's shoulders. It was impossible to expect the little girl, who would pant after walking a few steps quickly, to find food. Even the old horse in the stable would open the stable door and go out to find food on its own at dusk.

When Roach hadn't made any progress, they would bring him some safe and edible mushrooms from the forest, looking at him with a pitying gaze that would make anyone silently sympathize.

So Roach, who was extremely angry because a horse had shown him pity, ate mushroom soup all day long in his rage.

Same time, same place, same... oh, new fish. As usual, Roach threw the shredded mushroom pieces into the sea as bait, propped up his already slick fishing rod, and began his fishing spree for the day.

The candlelight illuminated the small room filled with books and tiny crystals. The hardcover book on the desk trembled the moment its owner entered. The gilded crescent-shaped face on the cover revealed a playful expression, and the leather clasp unlocked itself before being touched by fingers. The pages quickly turned to a blank page.

The creaking chair bounced up behind the girl, urging her to sit down quickly. Livia straightened her skirt and sat on the chair that her mentor had made for her. The smooth armrests, like snakes, raised their heads and supported her arms just right.

The quill pens jumped into the ink bottle in a rush, causing the old man to curse loudly. Tiny specks of ink splattered on the pages, and then, as if realizing he had done something wrong, he carefully moved and slipped out through the gaps in the book.

"Quiet," her pale pink lips parted slightly, uttering a silent rebuke. The restless objects in the room fell silent. Livia nodded in satisfaction, stretched out her hand, and a quill pen, which she used most readily, jumped into her palm amidst the envy of her companions.

"Fellow Pet Observation Diary, Day 45" The splashed ink droplets quickly twisted their bodies to form a line of text that landed on the blank page. The soft parchment seemed to feel a little uncomfortable and wriggled slightly, squeezing the crooked text to the top of the page, turning it into a heading.

Today, Livia discovered that her magical pet named Roach possesses a remarkable talent for learning arcane magic.

The girl quickly wrote down the words, her pale golden eyebrows slightly raised, showing that she was in a very good mood.

The mentor said that magical pets are usually influenced by their master's magic, and on top of ordinary animals, they gain increased intelligence and comprehension. Even creatures with low intelligence can understand their master's meaning quite well.

Livia believes that Roach is even smarter than his mentor said.

"Hmm, Roach ate four bowls of fish soup today, just like the day before yesterday. His bedtime wasn't much different either; he doesn't seem like he's about to die. Livia is very happy."

After writing the last line, Livia closed the book, and her cloak-like black coat fell down naturally, revealing a silk dress underneath. Then, her white dress embroidered with gold patterns untied itself, and a nightgown flew out of the wardrobe and onto her body. She scurried into the bed like a fluffy pink rabbit.

The girl who had turned off the lights opened her eyes again and looked at the candlestick on the table. All the "living beings" in the room cast their "gaze" toward the yawning candlestick.

"Pfft!" The thin metal branches on both sides of the candlestick lifted up and extinguished the candle flame like fingers, plunging the room into darkness once again. Only the girl's even breathing and the slight rustling sounds of various "living things" moving around could be heard.

The stars lined up in the sky, the bright moonlight danced and swirled among the waves, and the sea breeze carried the moist scent of the tide. On this night, Roach felt as if his senses had been elevated to some kind of limit, and he could even perceive the movement of every blade of grass and every tree.

However, the hermit crab that had somehow climbed onto his thigh told him that he was really overthinking it; the fish basket was empty. Roach looked at the hermit crab for a few seconds, thought for a few seconds, then stretched out two fingers, pinched the little guy's pincers, and decisively threw it into the fish basket.

With the moonlight so bright, why not go night fishing all night? Luo Qi thought to himself as he looked at the full moon. Come to think of it, this world didn't have the same settings as the otherworldly settings he remembered. There were only one full moon, and it was much larger than the moon in his memory.

That makes sense. According to what I remember, if a planet has several moons orbiting it, the tidal perturbations would be enough to turn it into a geologically active lava planet. But having a moon even larger than the moon orbiting it doesn't seem quite right.

Well, Roach felt that all the questions and abnormalities could be explained by "another world." Who knew that the astronomical deities here did not follow celestial mechanics? What if the moon above them really was a deity riding a silver chariot?

While Roach was lost in thought, the fishing rod suddenly plunged downwards. Judging by the force, it must have been a large fish weighing at least several tens of kilograms. Overjoyed, Roach grabbed the rod and, with the stability and grip strength enhanced by his fishing master's enhancements, firmly held onto it. "Hey! Lift it up!"

"Splash!" A rather large sea fish was thrown up by Luo Qi and slammed onto the reef. The bluish-gray fish stared at Luo Qi with its eyes wide open. Just as he was about to catch what was probably the biggest fish he had ever caught, the fish slowly opened its mouth and spat the hook onto the reef.

Then a fair, delicate arm emerged from the fish's mouth, followed by seaweed-colored, wet hair. The two arms gripped the solid rocks and crawled toward Roach. In the moonlight, the scene resembled something out of a horror or supernatural movie.

Next came a lithe and slender body. The strange figure that emerged from the fish's mouth flicked its hair back and casually pulled out a piece of seaweed to tie its hair into a ponytail. "Ah, have I finally drifted to the shore?" The androgynous voice and the lack of any substance in its chest made Roach begin to wonder if this person's gender was something that could be written using the 26 letters of the alphabet.

"Hello, friend on land, could you help me? I think I'm stuck."

"..." Luo Qi took a step back without making a sound. This guy was speaking in a language that was completely incomprehensible. He instinctively gripped the fishing rod and laid it flat like a spear.

The polite smile on that handsome, androgynous face was slightly shaky because of Luo Qi's action. But now half of his or her body was in the fish's mouth, and Luo Qi couldn't even figure out how this guy managed to hide himself in there—could this ability be developed to the point where he could hide inside his teammates' anuses?

Although he didn't know why such a ridiculous guess popped into his head, it still sent a chill down Roach's spine, and he even felt a phantom pain in his anus.

“…Friend from land…Oh, my mistake.” The strange man switched to several languages ​​in succession, and only breathed a slight sigh of relief when he realized that Roach seemed to understand Luster language. “Friend, I mean, could you help me? I think I’m stuck in there.”

Roach thought for a few seconds, then reached out and grabbed the guy's arm. It felt smooth and slippery, like a young girl's skin, but there was also an indescribable feeling that made him feel uncomfortable.

"Are you a crossdresser?" Roach asked, just to be on the safe side. This word didn't exist in Luster language, so Roach made it up himself, using words for men and women. It sounded more like "effeminate man" or "woman who is like a man."

"..." Instantly, the seaweed-headed weirdo's expression froze, and a strange light flickered in his eyes. Rhodes was certain that it was definitely not the meaning of being moved or having feelings for him.

Roach used his foot to step on the fish tail and pulled hard with one hand, finally freeing the seaweed-headed monster. He was only wearing a pair of tight shorts. Roach glanced at him; hmm, no suspicious bulges, so it was actually a girl? Then...

Roach looked at her chest, which was completely covered by her drooping hair and looked almost like a man's, and showed a look of pity. This girl probably wouldn't have any wardrobe malfunctions even if she went to the beach without wearing a shirt.

"Let me introduce myself. My name is Leslie (Leslie is a name that can be used by both men and women)," the seaweed-headed weirdo said in a strange tone, proudly placing his right hand on his chest and raising his face slightly, as if reciting some kind of lyrical poem. "I am a deep-sea poet. Such an encounter under the moonlight is truly impressive, only a little bit... impolite."

"Excuse me, what are you saying?" Roach's face showed an illiterate expression. Yes, although this guy was speaking Luster language, it was the court style mentioned before. The exaggerated and gorgeous tone and the subtle changes in the glissando made the language that was barely understandable evolve into the language of celestial secrets.

"......"

"......"

“What a rude and despicable fisherman,” Leslie turned his face away unhappily. “Then tell me where this place is, and I will give you a fair reward.”

"..." Roach looked him up and down with a gaze that the other party found extremely offensive. This guy was only wearing underwear. What would he offer as payment? His body? But he didn't think he was that desperate.

"What kind of look is that?" Leslie reached into her seaweed-like hair and pulled out a few azure pearls. "You ignorant fisherman, isn't this enough?"

“To be honest…” Roach hesitated for a moment, “I don’t know where this is either, but I can confirm that it’s south of Windcandle Village, roughly southeast of the Eastern Province of the Stoll Empire, and probably belongs to Lywood County.”

"Honestly... Have the land-dwelling peoples made no progress these past few years?" Leslie complained, though he knew that a fisherman talking about national affairs and the state of the world made him wonder if he had encountered some hermit master or simply stumbled upon a hidden cultist or rebel leader.

"Let me think... Lywood County... Windcandle Village, which is in the southeast of the Empire... That mountain isn't Eagle Feather Mountain Gang's, is it?"

Leslie's eyes sparkled as if they were shining, but Roach had to tell him that he didn't know if the mountain was Eagle Feather Mountain, but there were indeed many eagles or eagle-like birds on it, and he couldn't climb it anyway.

"......"

"......"

"What's wrong with you?" Roach noticed that the strange man was completely frozen. "So, where is this place?"

“No, sorry to bother you, I’m probably just lost for a little while in life,” Leslie reopened the fish’s mouth. “Could you do me a favor and put me back in the sea? Thank you.”

"no!"

"Why!?"

"Because we're saving this fish to make soup tomorrow."

"......"

"......"

"Hiss!" Leslie took a deep breath, as if she had made a decision.

"Farewell!"

After saying that, she leaped off the reef. In mid-air, her legs transformed into a shimmering, dazzling fishtail under the moonlight. As she fell into the sea, her voice changed to a sharper, more feminine tone, "Never again. I've never been here, and you've never seen me before!"

"So... what exactly is this place? At least give me a name!" Roach stared blankly at the shimmering sea. What was this seaweed-headed weirdo doing here?!

Chapter Six: So-called great achievements are "things that no human being can do".

The late spring sun was warm and comforting. The herbs in the flowerbed swayed gently, enjoying the sun's bounty. Roach, shirtless, revealed his upper body, which showed initial muscle definition thanks to a healthy protein diet and plenty of exercise. His body was covered with crisscrossing scars left by healed wounds, making him look like a poorly sewn rag doll.

"Hey!" The axe chopped deep into the log, splitting it in two. "Livia, is this enough?" Roach wiped his sweat and asked, leaning on the axe.

Beside him was a large pile of wood, all brought from the Deadwood Forest across the swamp. The dark gray wood reflected a glossy sheen in the sunlight, clearly top-quality timber.

"Hmm..." Livia closed the book she had been reading, a book about magic workshops and architecture. She raised her hands slightly, and the pink and white sleeves slid down to her elbows, revealing her fair forearms. In the sunlight, her skin had an almost transparent glow, as if it were shrouded in a warm, soft light.

"Crack~" The cut wood made a series of strange noises as the wood fibers contracted inward. The planks, which were originally uneven due to Roach's clumsy carpentry, were quickly straightened. The thick, dark gray log flew into the sky and then disintegrated into four sharp, square pillars that fell downward.

Pillars, walls, floors, beams—the prepared wood and stones quickly assembled into a new little house. Near the bottom were low walls made of cobblestones and stucco, while the rest consisted of planks and sturdy mud bricks. The roof was covered with a layer of planks and quickly grew a layer of fuzzy vegetation.

A brand-new room, similar in style to the witch's cottage, appeared on the open ground. This was Livia's newly built magic workshop and laboratory. Unlike arcane magic, mystic spells require a lot of space and tools to extract mystic essence from various materials.

The extracted essence still needs further processing to become a "paradigm" that can manifest various supernatural and mysterious powers. Ultimately, these paradigms require specialized tools for preservation and activation.

It can be said that from beginning to end, it requires professional laboratories and tools to complete. Rather than magicians, they are more like alchemists or craftsmen. They may not even understand the mysteries behind it. As long as the results match the calculations, they can correctly extract the essence and process it into the secret source paradigm.

If this kind of arcane paradigm could be used only by these arcane sorcerers, they might be the most popular profession in the world, instead of becoming an obscure and unpopular profession, or even considered somewhat unorthodox based on those grimacing, predatory spellbooks.

Roach could understand why they had become like this. How could a discipline that integrates materials science, environmental science, biology, and chemistry, whose products could only be used by themselves and could not be monetized, possibly raise enough money to support their livelihood and academic research? And yet, this amount of money was definitely not small—the only explanation is that the methods were all written in the criminal law.

Livia built this room because Roach's learning of arcane magic had reached a level where he could serve as an "apprentice" and was beginning to try the most basic practical operations.

A few days ago, the girl beckoned to Luo Qi with a "Come here!" and led him to her study or rather, her workroom. On the cleared-out table were several small crystals, a delicate little scale, and some colorful pebbles.

Having already read through "The Essence of Secrets - Beginner's Guide," Roach could tell that this was one of the materials for extracting the basic Essence of Secrets: "Essence of Power."

For some reason, even though it was a room meant for only two people, as soon as Luo Qi walked in, it felt like the entire room was filled with people, and everyone was looking at him with attention. These gazes were everywhere and came from more than one source.

"Power Essence," the witch said, looking at Roach with encouraging eyes and pointing to the materials on the table. It seemed she wanted Roach to demonstrate whether he could extract the Power Essence.

The essence of power belongs to the essence of the "nothingness" source. The so-called nothingness source does not refer to something like the void, which is nothingness. Rather, it refers to things that exist between existence and non-existence, such as magic power itself, luck, and sin.

Among them, the core of the secret source, "Power," is the simplest. Anything with a certain magical quality will be associated with it; the only difference is how much power essence can be extracted from it.

The Power Essence can only be used in the Enchanting Paradigm to imbue weapons with power, transforming ordinary weapons into extraordinary weapons for a certain period of time. Yes, the effect of the Void Source is also somewhere between existence and non-existence; none of its core effects directly provide any direct benefit.

Extracting the essence of power is simple. The crystal is the container representing "spirituality," and the stones are the materials representing "demonic nature." All that's needed is to calculate and balance the two. The rest is simple grinding, crushing, and washing, ultimately using water as a medium to obtain an extremely crude "turbid essence of power."

"Power Essence is a beginner's recipe shared by both Arcane Spells and Alchemy. In Potions, Power Essence is also used to create 'Weapon Enchantment Potions.' Potions use Power Essence as a potion ingredient, not as an enchanting paradigm."

Livia's soft, gentle voice whispered a textbook-like explanation in his ear, as if she was worried that Roach was too nervous and felt that this was too difficult.

“Uh, I know.” Roach focused on the tools on the table, weighed the materials, used water to calculate the volume, and quickly obtained the densities of the two materials.

Although I don't understand the relationship between mystic sources and density, or in what form they exist within matter, as Livia said, this is the foundation of potion-making, creation, and mystic science. The only hurdle is the various calculations and operations involved.

Following the empirical formula in the textbook, Roach quickly calculated the estimated spiritual value of each crystal and the magical index of the stone. After roughly balancing them, he ground them, put them into the prepared distilled water, stirred them slowly, and then waited for the liquid to gradually clarify. After pouring out the clarified liquid and distilling it again, he could obtain the most basic power essence.

Of course, this is just the most basic formula. It doesn't even require Roach to master the mystical knowledge and principles involved. He only needs to follow the steps to get the finished product. As for why it should be calculated this way, and why it can extract the power of the secret source, he can't say he knows nothing about it, but he can say he knows very little about it.

His great undertaking was also activated by a series of new projects.

[When Humanity's Stars Shine: Understanding, Mastering, Inducing, and Summarizing the Twenty Fundamental Theorems of Mysticism; 0/20]