Magic Is Learned For Nothing [EN]: Chapter 12

Magic is a Waste to Learn – Episode 12

# 12

Night After Night 1

Mark, in auto-mode, rummaged through the mansion’s ancient books. He was aware of the servants and maids whispering about him.

-The lord goes out every night.

-He comes back in the morning with blood on his mouth.

-Oh my, how scary. Do we really have to keep working here? What if the lord harms us too?

-Should we quit?

-Sigh, but there’s no other place that pays as much. To get a salary like this, we’d have to go to a big city.

Well, something like that.

Mark didn’t care what they said. He didn’t feel guilty either. Why? Because it wasn’t him getting the blame. It was the Master.

They shared a body, but they were distinctly different.

The owner of the house is the Master, and I’m just renting. No one blames the tenant when the house is weird.

Anyway, that’s not the important thing right now.

What matters is somehow raising the Master’s intelligence. His manner of speaking [말투, mal-tu] and personality are getting worse and worse.

It’s all because of his lowered intelligence.

If we don’t raise his intelligence quickly, he might self-destruct.

Fortunately, we managed to subdue the Assassin Guild. It was pure luck. To go to the Assassin Guild just because he was in a bad mood, make a mess, and then threaten them to join him.

If he had just 5 more intelligence, he wouldn’t have thought of something so ignorant.

It’s true what they say, the ignorant are brave; he’s a perfect example.

“Haa.”

Mark sighed.

As expected of a family with a long history of martial arts, there were many books about martial arts. Especially books about swordsmanship. Besides that, there were mountains of books about the origins of swords, the mindset of martial artists, the principles of knights, and so on.

There are no books for culture.

No wonder he’s so ignorant.

It seemed like this family had only lived for fighting.

There aren’t even any books about magic.

Even if they haven’t produced a single magician for generations, they should still have a few books.

Wouldn’t there have been a time when they had to fight a magician?

Are they not even preparing for that? No wonder a family that inherited the genes of a great warrior is declining over time.

Still, Mark searched through the books.

Just in case. If he couldn’t find a way to raise intelligence here, he would have to go to a big city with a Magic Guild.

He couldn’t bring himself to go all the way there.

The journey to the Magic Guild is quite long. At least a few months. Before that, Legion would be kicked out of his position as lord and his intelligence would be lowered to around 20.

Then he wouldn’t even remember his position as lord.

“Ah!”

Mark exclaimed after searching for a long time.

It wasn’t a book about magic. Instead, it was a book about minerals. If eating iron makes you dumber, maybe eating stones will make you smarter?

Mark read the book with a hopeful heart.

Bingo!

He cheered inwardly.

If he couldn’t raise intelligence with magic, he could raise intelligence by breaking down minerals.

Ether, useful for forming a dantian [energy center in the body, according to traditional Chinese medicine] and improving the quality of mana.

Gold, silver, and bronze, good for increasing magic power.

And-

A smile spread across Mark’s face as he turned the page.

Mithril, which directly controls the power of magic.

“Yes, this will do!”

Mithril not only directly receives the power of magic but is also used to seal or create new memories. An ordinary person would never eat this, but Legion doesn’t care, does he?

He already has a body that can digest any mineral!

“Good. Let’s find Mithril.”

* * *

Mark found the Goblin Village.

When he found the Goblin Village, Omega and Mayfield jumped up from their sleep and ran out. Parents, startled, held their children and went into the tents.

Omega and Mayfield prostrated themselves and asked.

“Oh great one. What brings you to this humble place?”

“Is there a mine here?”

Is there.

I really can’t get used to that way of speaking. Usually, wouldn’t you ask in an arrogant tone like, ‘Is there?’ or ‘If there is, tell me.’?

A Black Dragon who has lived for thousands of years using 말투 [mal-tu, manner of speaking] like that.

If I didn’t know he was a Black Dragon, I might have slapped him on the back of the head and told him to go drink more mother’s milk.

“What kind of mine are you talking about?”

Still, he’s a Black Dragon. I have to be careful. If I make him feel bad and he drops a meteor here, the village will be annihilated.

“Mithril mine.”

“Are you talking about the Mithril mine?”

“Yes. Other mines are okay too.”

Goblins don’t have the ability to create mines. But other races are different. Intelligent monsters mined rare minerals and bartered with humans.

Especially those unlucky dwarves and crazy pig-headed orcs.

“I know that dwarves own quite a few mines. But their city is quite far from here.”

“How far?”

“It would take us about fifteen days or more to walk there. Even if you go, it may be difficult to find. We only know what our ancestors told us.”

“Hmm. Then let’s pass on the dwarves’ mine for now.”

“Orcs also operate mines. But I don’t know what minerals they mine.”

“Why?”

“They…”

Omega swallowed his words.

He couldn’t bring himself to say that they eat goblins. The nightmares of countless members of his race being captured by them flashed through his mind.

“Are orcs higher predators? Do they eat goblins like fried chicken?”

Ugh- that cruel Black Dragon. He speaks so mercilessly.

“Yes. We don’t want to associate with them. We don’t even want to run into them. They try to kill us no matter what. So I don’t know the details.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes.”

“Do you know the location?”

“I know, but…”

“You don’t want to guide me?”

“No. I have to go. If the great one commands me, I will go anywhere.”

“Hehe, you thought well. Since you have a cold, you might as well get rid of it. Move out right now.”

“N, now?”

“Don’t want to?”

“No. No. I’ll prepare right away.”

Omega sighed deeply while bowing his head. Ever since that Black Dragon appeared, he felt like his lifespan was getting shorter and shorter.

* * *

Omega guided him to an orc tribe about half a day away. By the time they arrived, it was well past midnight. If he wanted to return by 6 a.m. tomorrow, it would be tight.

Why did he have to return by 6 a.m.?

Because that’s when Legion wakes up due to his ‘Goodbye Helicobacter’ bowel movement.

It’s a really useless skill for people who don’t have constipation. You have to wake up in the middle of a good sleep and run to the bathroom because of bowel movements.

It’s okay for ordinary people.

What about on the battlefield?

If you’re fighting to the death with the enemy and you have a bowel movement, you can’t say, ‘Wait a minute, my stomach hurts. Can you wait a little bit?’ and you have to fight while pooping? It’s really a concern.

He had to offset the ‘Goodbye Helicobacter’ skill as soon as possible, or troublesome things would happen.

Ah, that skill did level up.

What does it mean to be able to spray waste from somewhere other than the anus?

I’m a little curious. Could it be from the mouth?

Ah, Legion might kill himself if he knew. A skill upgrade that poops out of the mouth.

Anyway, thanks to that useless skill, he had to arrive at the mansion by 6 a.m.

And pretend to be dead.

“Is that it?”

Mark asked, pointing to the mine.

“Yes.”

Orcs wearing chest guards were guarding the front of the mine. Their fangs growing backward looked very menacing.

“They are the Amazon Orc tribe.”

“Amazon Orc tribe? Do orcs have different tribes?”

“Of course. There are more than five orc tribes in this area alone. They don’t recognize each other’s tribes and are constantly at war. Among them, the Amazon Orcs are a tribe made up of only women. They are very aggressive.”

“Only women?”

“Yes, it seems that almost all the male orcs died during the war. So their hunting purpose is not territory.”

“Then?”

“It’s reproduction. After capturing male orcs…”

“After?”

“After planting the seeds…”

Omega drew his hand across his neck. It means they kill them.

Mark frowned. He thought he shouldn’t get caught by those things.

The sense of incongruity is also considerable.

Originally, he should retreat from here, but he had to check what minerals were in the mine.

If it’s a Mithril mine, he has to risk his life to steal those things.

Before the Master’s intelligence becomes lower than a dog’s.

“That’s enough. You go back to the village.”

“To the village?”

“You came half a day through the mountain path. Can you find your way?”

Mark snorted. What does he think of the supercomputer?

“I remember everything after seeing it once.”

“After seeing it once?”

“I’m much smarter than you. I’m better than all of your race combined. I am such an existence.”

Damn it, he’s showing off so much.

Omega nodded, forcing a smile.

“As expected of the great one. You are wonderful. I understand. Then I will return to the village. Please visit our village anytime. I promise the best service with my body and soul.”

“Okay. Go quickly.”

Mark waved his hand as if he was annoyed.

Omega bowed deeply again and returned the way he came.

As Omega disappeared, Mark lay flat on the ground and watched the mine. The orcs yawned long. What is the reason they are guarding the mine? Humans don’t come here. It’s probably because of other orc attacks.

Anyway, he can’t fight and win against the orcs…

“I have to go in secretly.”

Mark approached the mine, crawling little by little on the ground.

All demi-humans and monsters have better senses than humans. So even a little noise could alert the orcs. He approached slowly, as slow as an earthworm.

By the time he reached the side of the mine, his body was glistening with sweat. His skin was scraped and bleeding from rubbing against the ground.

It’s not my body, so whatever.

The orcs were leaning against the wall, nodding off. If he moved carefully, he might not get caught.

Mark sneaked into the mine. Fortunately, the orcs didn’t open their eyes until he entered the mine.

The mine was bright.

It wasn’t because torches were lit. Expensive gemstones called night stones were embedded in the ceiling at regular intervals. Seeing the night stones made him want to disassemble them.

What kind of skill will be created?

If he has time, he should take one out and disassemble it. If he has time.

He went a little further inside.

Tools for mining the mine were scattered around. It seems they don’t organize like humans.

After passing the tools, he saw a small cart where the ores were collected. It didn’t seem like a horse could pull the cart. Several orcs would have to work together to pull it.

Mark grabbed the ore loaded behind the cart.

-Start scanning.

Red beams of light flowed from Mark’s eyes, analyzing the composition of the ore. The conclusion came in less than 10 seconds.

-Mithril.

Mark’s mouth widened like a basin.

That’s it. Now the hardship is over, and happiness begins.

He grabbed the Mithril and put it in his mouth.

-Starting Mithril disassembly.

Dugun dugun [onomatopoeia for a heart beating fast].

His heart started beating.

Please! Please!

Raise my intelligence!

-A new passive skill has been created.

Yes, that’s right.

-‘Let’s Diet’ skill is activated.

What is this again? Let’s Diet?

-If you consume the right amount of Mithril, your intelligence will increase by +1. As your intelligence increases, your understanding of all martial arts will increase. Your ability to learn skills will also increase. In short, it’s very good. But.

But?

-Because raising intelligence lowers sugar levels, it causes overeating. So, if it increases by +1, you will gain 5 kilograms [approximately 11 pounds].

Ah! So that’s why it’s a Let’s Diet passive skill.

I’m doomed.

If my intelligence dropped by 19, if I raise it by 19… Damn it, I’ll gain 95 kilograms [approximately 209 pounds]. If I just raise it to 110 like a normal person, I’ll gain 145 kilograms [approximately 320 pounds].

If I make him a genius.

He’ll die of obesity.

What kind of magic is this?

Mark grabbed his head. Damn it, because of the cast, he shaved his head, so he can’t even grab his hair. Nothing is working out.

At that moment.

He heard someone behind him. Could it be that he was caught by an orc?

Mark quickly turned around.

An orc was firing a poison needle at him.

Mark quickly raised his hand to block the poison needle. The poison needle was stuck in his hand.

Ah, damn it. I should have blocked it with my head. Unconsciously, I blocked it with my palm.

Instantly, the poison from the poison needle spread throughout his body.

Mark’s eyes blurred. Static appeared in his vision as if he had logged out. He fell to the ground powerlessly.