Chapter 45: Shuli’s magic: Failure is the mother of success.

"Great Fire God Afama Cheps, I am Sperien of the Faerie Forest. I ask that you command the elements of fire to gather around me and bring me a fireball that will burn all things to ash—"

The moment Shu Li finished reciting the fire spell, he sensed the fire elements in the air growing exceptionally active. He could even "see" the red slimes, each sporting three little antennae shaped like the prongs of a trident. Jostling and squeezing against one another, they gathered into a single mass, transforming from countless tiny "slimes" into one enormous "slime," delightfully soft and springy.

Once no more little slimes could merge into the enormous mass, it instantly transformed into a fireball and appeared above the tip of his magic staff.

Shu Li acted without hesitation. With one clean sweep of his magic staff, he launched the fireball toward the pond like a miniature cannonball.

"Bang—"

The fireball struck the water, blasting a column of water half a meter into the air.

"Wow—"

The Little Fairies watching from the sidelines exclaimed in wonder and clapped excitedly.

Sperien was amazing! His fireball had actually blasted a column of water out of the pond!

Among those who could use fire magic, some produced nothing more than a cloud of steam when their flames touched the water, just like Disio. Others saw their flames extinguished instantly with a faint hiss.

Neither had much power. They were as harmless as children playing make-believe, without the slightest offensive potential.

Siet applauded along with the children and praised him with a broad smile. "Excellent! Your Fireball has reached the standard level of basic magic."

The standard for basic magic was the ability to condense elements into a definite form with some practical use.

Sperien had condensed his fireball extremely quickly, and once launched, it had blasted a column of water half a meter high. Its power was nothing to scoff at.

His talent for magic was every bit as great as expected.

Amid everyone's praise, Shu Li secretly breathed a sigh of relief and broke into a happy smile.

Fire magic was the element he felt most confident about. After all, he had spent five years reciting the spell every day to light the stove and boil water. By now, it came naturally to him.

His first basic magic lesson had begun with a resounding success. His confidence gradually rising, Shu Li lifted his magic staff and began reciting a second spell.

"Great Light God Leant Freys, I am Sperien of the Faerie Forest. I ask that you command the elements of light to gather around me and bring me an orb of light that will dispel all darkness—"

The moment he finished reciting the spell, an orb of light appeared above his magic staff.

Judging by its brightness, it had to be at least sixty watts. He could have taken it home and used it as a light bulb.

Another burst of enthusiastic applause erupted around him, and the children showered his magic with praise.

Shu Li remained completely focused.

He knew that succeeding with two spells in a row was merely the result of long practice. The true test was only just beginning.

Taking a deep breath, he concentrated. He first repeated the spell silently in his mind, then recited aloud, "Great Water God Wendis Inor, I am Sperien of the Faerie Forest. I ask that you command the elements of water to gather around me and bring me a water ball that will engulf all things!"

His expression solemn, Shu Li stared fixedly at the tip of his magic staff and felt the water elements stirring in the air.

Then he waited.

Nothing happened.

Startled, he swiftly extended his consciousness to sense the water elements in the air.

The blue slimes drifted about leisurely, scattered and relaxed, without the slightest sign of gathering.

Did I fail?

His brow furrowed slightly.

That shouldn't have happened!

Angel quietly reminded him, "Sperien, Wendis Inor is the Wind God."

Budno added, "Hildani Gerti is the Water God."

Shu Li froze on the spot, magic staff still raised, his face a picture of embarrassment.

He had clearly recited the name of the Water God, Hildani Gerti, in his mind, yet the words that came out of his mouth had been the name of the Wind God, Wendis Inor. Even more terrifyingly, his brain remained firmly convinced that he had not said anything wrong.

This was terrible!

His confidence had only just risen by twenty percent, and his third spell had already slapped it right back down.

Seeing the child's ears droop as he lost his fighting spirit, Siet comforted him. "It's all right. You only made one mistake."

Basic magic spells were very simple. As long as the mage correctly recited the god's true name, the success rate exceeded ninety percent.

Sperien had already succeeded twice in a row. That was quite impressive.

Shu Li nodded silently. He raised his magic staff high, focused every ounce of his attention, and recited the Water Ball spell again.

"Great Water God Hildani Gerti..."

Wonderful. He had said the Water God's true name correctly this time.

When the spell ended, he tensely sensed the free-floating "blue slimes" in the air, waiting for them to merge and transform into a ball of water.

To his disappointment, however, the water elements continued drifting about as they pleased, completely unresponsive to his spell.

Shu Li looked to Siet for help.

He had said the Water God's name correctly this time, so why had he still failed?

Siet cleared his throat twice and explained, "Reciting the spell correctly does not guarantee success every time. Once a mistake is made, the elements begin to question whether the mage is truly summoning them. They will remain on the sidelines and observe until the mage recites the spell correctly again."

Was that really how it worked?

Shu Li recalled the water elements' reaction a moment ago.

Just as Siet had said, the number of blue slimes had doubled after he finished reciting the spell, but they had merely floated back and forth in front of him without the slightest intention of gathering.

No wonder every spell had to begin with a god's true name. The natural elements recognized their masters.

A mage had mispronounced their "master's" name and still expected to command them. He was lucky they had merely ignored him instead of openly looking down on him.

"I understand." Shu Li steadied himself and rallied his spirits. With genuine reverence in his heart, he raised his voice and recited the Water Ball spell.

This time, he succeeded.

The instant he finished the spell, the water elements condensed into a ball that shot toward the pond with a whistle.

"Plip~"

It raised the tiniest splash.

Shu Li let out a breath.

The water ball he had condensed might have been no larger than a mung bean, but at least he had succeeded, right?

"Hooray!"

The Little Fairies, who had been holding their breath for fear of disturbing him, finally cheered at the tops of their lungs.

Angel and Disio flew over to Shu Li, planted their hands on their hips, and laughed triumphantly.

"I knew Sperien would succeed!"

"That's right! Sperien is the best!"

Budno flew over and immediately began singing at full volume. "Brave Sperien fears no hardship—"

"Stop, stop, stop!" Shu Li hurriedly lunged at the chubby boy and clapped a hand over his mouth. His little face stern, he declared, "As long as you don't sing, we're still bro-thers!"

"Mmph, mmph, mmph~~~" Budno stared at him with a pair of innocent brown eyes and nodded to show that he would stop singing.

"Promise?" Shu Li asked.

Budno blinked.

Only then did Shu Li release his mouth.

The moment Budno regained his freedom, he flapped his wings and fled. He hid in a nearby bush, shielding himself behind a broad leaf with only half his head peeking out.

"Hahahaha—"

At the sight, Disio doubled over and laughed with undisguised delight at Budno's misfortune.

Budno looked thoroughly aggrieved.

Why would singing a hymn jeopardize their brotherly bond?

Catching Budno's resentful gaze, Shu Li pinched the bridge of his nose with a headache.

He did not mind other people singing "Brave Sperien," but Budno absolutely could not.

No one else's voice was as loud as the chubby boy's.

At five years old, Budno was no longer as round as a ball, but his lung capacity had only increased. Once he opened his mouth, his voice rang out with tremendous force and astonishing penetration, practically deafening everyone around him.

Shu Li thought the chubby boy's magnificent voice made him an ideal candidate for developing sonic attacks. Perhaps one day, he could even master the legendary Eastern Shaolin technique known as the Lion's Roar.

Then, when a powerful enemy appeared, the chubby boy could step forward and unleash a single roar. It would undoubtedly make the enemy's blood run cold and scare them out of their wits.

Once the children's commotion ended, Siet stepped forward and asked, "Sperien, would you like to continue?"

"Yes!" Shu Li replied solemnly.

He had awakened all seven elements of magic, [N O V E L I G H T] but for now, he could study only six. The remaining element, darkness, was not something he could control at his current age.

Magic in this world was divided into white magic and dark magic.

White magic was just, benevolent, and uplifting. It was often used for healing, defense, and dispelling negative emotions. Naturally, it also possessed the offensive power to eradicate evil, but its ultimate purpose was to pursue peace and tranquility.

Dark magic was its opposite. It usually violated morality and ethics, relying on despicable methods such as curses and threats to harm and control others.

Necromancers were the most representative practitioners of dark magic.

Wherever necromancers passed, not even a blade of grass remained alive.

They enjoyed digging up graves, summoning the dead, enslaving skeletons, and launching massive wars to seize resources.

Although necromancers did not necessarily control the element of darkness, every mage who awakened an affinity for darkness was capable of using dark magic.

Eighty percent of darkness spells were classified as dark magic.

Fairies and Elves were children of the Light God. They revered white magic and had always regarded dark magic with disdain.

At present, the Elven King was the only person in the entire Elven Kingdom and Faerie Forest capable of casting darkness spells.

However, his darkness spells were generally used for support. They possessed neither offensive nor harmful properties, much less qualified as dark magic.

Even so, the gentlest darkness spell could still burden a five-year-old cub with considerable negative emotions. Only after Shu Li turned ten and developed a sufficiently resolute will could he travel to the Elven Kingdom and receive personal instruction from the Elven King.

Therefore, practicing the other six elements would be enough for today.

He had already succeeded with fire, light, and water. He still needed to work on spells of wind, earth, and wood.

Shu Li raised his magic staff, cleared his mind of all distractions, and continued practicing.

Unsurprisingly, his frequent slips of the tongue caused him to fail again and again, earning him the collective "scorn" of the slimes. Even when he subsequently recited the spells correctly, the elements barely acknowledged him.

Shu Li repeated the spells over and over until his throat was parched and every last trace of his strength had been exhausted. At long last, he succeeded with them all.

Watching a tiny whirlwind rush toward the pond and draw up a miniature waterspout, he descended from the air and dropped onto the stone paving of the practice ground.

Siet gazed fondly at the little fellow, who was drenched in sweat from exhaustion.

Such perseverance and results were truly remarkable for his first time learning magic spells.

As the Fairy cubs' language teacher, Siet knew Sperien's level of Elven extremely well. Calling out the wrong names, failing to express what he meant, reversing the order of his words, and mispronouncing them had all become the child's personal hallmarks.

The little fellow worked hard and studied diligently every day. By now, he had essentially mastered Elven.

However, the recently introduced Continental Common Language class seemed to be causing him considerable distress.

Their first magic lesson concluded successfully before the setting sun disappeared.

To prevent damage to the divine tree, the magic practice ground had been specially constructed beside a pond five hundred meters away. Now that class was over, the Little Fairies eagerly flew back toward the divine tree.

Completely exhausted, Shu Li trailed behind them, staring enviously at his energetic companions up ahead.

Being an all-element mage sounded incredibly badass, but... it required several times more sweat than everyone else had to shed.

He had already been utterly drained on the very first day. He dared not imagine how grueling his future magic lessons would be.

Even that would have been tolerable. To become a hero someday, he would grit his teeth and persevere no matter how difficult or exhausting it became.

But... why, after finally managing to learn Elven, was there still a Continental Common Language waiting for him to "grace it with his attention"?