It was late at night and most people had gone into their tents, with only the sentries still patrolling around the camp.
Xiao Chen and Li Jia sat in a corner with dim firelight, from where they could clearly see what was happening in Serinda's tent.
The tent was not too thick, and the dim candlelight from inside cast Serinda's silhouette on the tent. Li Jia could tell that she was meditating. For a magic knight, magic training was as important as physical training.
He admired Serinda's perseverance and persistence, and she seized every opportunity to improve her strength. God rewards the diligent, but the diligent are always a minority, so people with such spirit will be respected, which may be the fundamental reason why he was confused in front of her.
According to Xiao Chen, the safest way to use the charm spell is to wait until Serinda falls asleep and then cast the spell through the tent. This way, even if it fails, Serinda won't notice anything.
Xiao Chen originally suggested that they go back to their tents and come back at midnight, but Li Jia thought that would alert their companions in the tent, and it would be hard to explain if they were bumped into by the sentry, so it would be better to pretend that they wanted to talk all night and go when the opportunity arose. So, the two of them waited for the opportunity here after dinner.
The so-called charm is to connect the caster with pleasure and establish a good impression beyond reason. If you feel particularly happy and comfortable when you see someone, you will naturally like him. This mysterious mental change is difficult to explain scientifically, so what Li Jia can do is not to understand the essence of this magic, but to review the rune model in his mind over and over again.
So far, Li Jia has not succeeded in enchanting even a rabbit, but if he can't, there is Xiao Chen. The power of Gregorio's version of the enchantment spell lies in the fact that the enchantment effect is not limited to the caster himself.
It was a bit nervous. Li Jia wiped the sweat from his palms on his clothes and looked at Xiao Chen involuntarily. The cat was still sticking to Xiao Chen. Xiao Chen was afraid that it would make a noise, so he picked it up and held it in his arms, while he himself was staring at the woods in the distance in a daze.
"Xiao Chen, what are you thinking about?"
Xiao Chen looked a little solemn. "You don't know, the last time I came here, I stayed in a small village called Phoenix. The villagers were very welcoming and held a bonfire party for us. That night, Luo Ling dressed up and danced with them. Girls, boys and children all surrounded her. It was like a group of happy birds. The scene was so beautiful."
"So you're missing your girl. Why are you in such a hurry? Aren't we going to see her soon?" Li Jia thought Xiao Chen was suffering from lovesickness.
"Do you know why we are staying in the wilderness?"
"Short road?"
"Because there was not a single person left in that village. They were all killed by bandits..."
"This... the bandits are too brutal." This was something Li Jia had not expected. He looked closely at Xiao Chen's face and found that his eyes were red. He quickly comforted him, "Fortunately, it's all over. We have avenged them. You, don't be sad."
Xiao Chen wiped his eyes and smiled bitterly, "You got it wrong. I'm not such a sentimental person. Although I sympathize with them, it's not necessary to be like this. This is all the sequelae of magic. In order to track down the horse thieves, I read the soul memories of these dead people. Their emotions are still affecting me. Since I came here in the evening, I felt the sadness of returning to a broken home."
Li Jia didn't know what to say for a moment, as he was about to cast his magic on the person he loved the most. Seeing Xiao Chen's look, he became anxious.
"Magic is really amazing, but also dangerous. Especially for someone like me who has a restless mind, it is more likely to produce some unpredictable consequences." Xiao Chen stroked the black cat's fur, and the cat licked his hand gently. "There is already a sequelae here, have you figured it out?"
Li Jia looked at Xiao Chen's red eyes, and habitually struggled, stammering, "But I'm really afraid that she will leave me. You don't know how sad I was when she said she was looking for a hero in the woods. I, I know I can't be a hero, I'm just an ordinary person, but I really, really like her. Do you know that feeling? Because I like her, I even like this world?"
Xiao Chen smiled, "From the crappy poems you wrote before, I knew you were a sultry romantic."
"Xiao Chen, just tell me what I should do. I will believe you."
Xiao Chen took out a gold coin from his pocket, threw it to Li Jia and said, "You want me to help you carry the burden? No way. You should pray to God."
Li Jia held the gold coin and nodded, "Okay! Then... let's go to the front."
The coin flipped over and landed in the hand with the back facing up.
"Best of three!" Li Jia gritted his teeth.
In the end, he made up his mind with a result of five wins in nine games...
The candlelight in Serinda's tent had been extinguished and there was no movement. Xiao Chen and Li Jia squatted in a corner two meters away from the tent and began to prepare.
"Listen carefully, you try it first, and if it doesn't work, I'll try again." Xiao Chen said softly.
"I know, let's go for it!" Li Jia knelt on one leg, rested his hands on his knees, closed his eyes, and prepared to concentrate on constructing the runes of the charm spell in his mind. This is exactly the difference between mental spells and elemental magic. The runes do not need to be drawn on the outside of the body, and are very secretive. The magician can complete the spell without moving.
But just as he opened his head, Xiao Chen elbowed him and he opened his eyes. Shi Hao, who was in charge of patrol, walked over with a rifle, looking a little suspicious.
Li Jia quickly made a gesture to keep quiet, then crawled to his feet and dragged Shi Hao aside.
"I've been watching you two for a while. Seeing how sneaky you are, you must be up to no good! Come on, tell the truth."
"Gently, gently." Li Jia hurriedly covered Shi Hao's mouth, but Shi Hao knocked her hand away.
Xiao Chen couldn't help laughing at Li Jia's appearance, "Shi Tou, don't be nervous. What bad things can we do? Just pretend you didn't see anything and go on patrol."
Shi Hao glanced at Serinda's tent, pointed at Li Jia's nose and said, "Xiao Li, if you don't tell me, I will tell that woman tomorrow that you were squatting at the entrance of her tent and spying on her. Let's see how you can cover it up then."
"You, you are too treacherous..." Seeing that Shi Hao would not give up until he got to the bottom of the matter, Li Jia had no choice but to admit defeat and honestly tell him and Xiao Chen's plan. He thought Shi Hao would object, but he didn't expect that guy to pat him on the shoulder and said, "Okay, I didn't realize you had the guts to force your way into this. Go ahead and do it, I'll help you spread the word, what's so great about these natives, they're just nobles, knights, they act like they're so arrogant, I've long disliked them. They're just backward elements."
"Shi Tou, it's not a good idea to say that. After all, we are partners now. They also have their own fighting spirit and magical civilization." Li Jia felt a little unfair when he heard Shi Hao say that.
"I shot Kadis so hard, but he still got shot dead by me?" Shi Hao patted the five or six half guns in his hand, "This is called civilization. Those people are still uncivilized. What's wrong with me looking down on them? Have fun with your own things. I'll stand over there and stop anyone from coming over."
After Shi Hao left, Xiao Chen saw that Li Jia was still a little unhappy, so he advised: "Shi Hao encountered Du Mei's incident, and he didn't like the locals. Don't think too much about it."
"That was done by the bandits! What's the point of hating others because of something in the past? Besides, Celine is beautiful and smart, how can she be worse than the rest of us?" Li Jia said angrily, "Many of them just look down on the locals and think they are superior."
"Is it useful to argue about these things?" Xiao Chen asked back.
Li Jia sighed, "Let's go! Let's finish this spell first."
Li Jia quietly walked back to where he was just now and continued to try to cast the spell. Perhaps because of Shi Hao's words, he couldn't concentrate and failed three times in a row. He couldn't even draw the rune completely in his mind. The last time, he tried his best and barely released the magic, but the magic was blocked by something in the tent.
He was already powerless, and the lack of mental strength made him drowsy. He looked to Xiao Chen for help, and Xiao Chen knew that he had to take action.
Xiao Chen came to Li Jia and constructed the magic pattern of the charm in his mind. He opened his eyes and looked at Li Jia, imprinted his image in his mind, and kneaded it together with the power of charm. Finally, he stretched out his hand and pointed, and a spiritual energy surged out of his body and rushed towards the tent.
His spiritual power was much stronger than Li Jia's. When he released this magic, he could clearly feel that there was a barrier in Selina's tent, resisting the entry of his spiritual power. A magic to defend the spirit? Xiao Chen secretly increased his strength. His huge and manic spiritual power was like a bear breaking ice to catch fish, turning up his huge claws and slapping the ice surface, again and again. Xiao Chen seemed to hear the collision between the spiritual power and the barrier.
Li Jia anxiously looked at the beads of sweat that began to seep out of Xiao Chen's head. His face turned pale. He whispered, "What's going on? If it doesn't work, let's retreat?"
Xiao Chen shook his head. The barrier made him feel uncomfortable, but he could feel that it did not exceed his limit. It was just a small challenge. And he, Xiao Chen, always liked challenges.
Xiao Chen's hair began to move without wind. This was the result of the mental power he released becoming stronger and stronger, gradually manifesting and beginning to affect the physical world.
Finally, the stream turned into a torrent and slammed into the barrier. Xiao Chen surpassed it to the limit, and it disintegrated, cracked, and exploded.
Xiao Chen heard a "boom" in his mind. He could feel that the ice layer was not only an obstacle, but there seemed to be a bomb buried underneath. His charming power mixed with the broken barrier and exploded in all directions.
He instinctively felt something was wrong, and quickly cut off the control of the spell, using the remaining mental power to release the defensive spell mental barrier he had just learned, blocking himself and Li Jia. Li Jia seemed to feel something, and the two looked at each other, both a little confused.
Suddenly, there were some noises coming from the tent. Li Jia turned pale and quickly pulled Xiao Chen away. As soon as they turned around a tent, Serinda walked out of the tent with a sword in hand and a suspicious look on her face. In her hand was a silver amulet that had been broken into several pieces.