Chapter 288: Tom Hiddleston’s New Magic

Shaking off the snow, Lister had regained his usual elegance. Although there was still a lingering trace of strangulation on his face, his eyes were exceptionally clear.

An intense battle was enough to dispel his physical agitation.

He picked up Parris's greatsword that had fallen to the ground and found that despite numerous collisions, the blade showed no signs of wear: "Your greatsword is crafted with great skill. We've fought more than a dozen times, and I've never seen it damaged. It shouldn't be an ordinary steel sword."

Taking the greatsword, Parris's pretty face still had a touch of red, and her slightly panting voice exuded a languid charm.

Her bright eyes sparkled: "This greatsword came from the collection of a viscount in Maple Leaf Duchy. I don't know its craftsmanship level, but it looks pleasing to the eye, so I took it." As a female thief, she spoke of her thievery matter-of-factly.

"Hmm."

Lister noticed the sweat on her face, and the thin shirt beneath her leather armor was already soaked. He said, "The fight is over. Go back and take a bath and change, it's cold, don't get chilled... I also need to change."

Just as he turned around, he heard Parris call out, "Lord Baron."

"What?"

Lister turned to look at her.

Parris sheathed her greatsword and gave a brilliant smile, her voice sweet: "Thank you for your concern. You are a nice person."

Poof!

Lister received his second 'good person' card.

Of course, these were truly indicative of being a good person. He waved his hand and walked away gracefully, leaving Parris standing there. She bit her lip and looked at his back with charming eyes for a while before stepping forward to follow him.

……

In the castle bathhouse.

As he soaked in the indoor hot spring, he casually summoned the smoke mission.

He found that the serpent tongue transformation from the smoke mission had changed: "Mission completed, reward: one Rubber Tree Spirit Bug."

The venomous bees had all flown away, and the danger was declared over.

Then.

Another change occurred, generating a new mission.

"Mission: Dousen has been getting restless lately. It feels like its magic power is about to burst out, wanting to vent, but it doesn't know how to relieve itself. As its owner, you should help Dousen resolve this distress. Reward: Dousen's new spell."

Lister raised an eyebrow.

He instantly realized that Dousen was beginning to grasp a second spell. The previous rock spikes or multiple rock spikes could only be considered a single spell. Just like the purple sand crocodile that could cast individual water arrows, this was a prerequisite skill.

"Dousen's second spell requires my help, but I have no research on earth magic... The several earth magic spells sent by Elkson seem to be a good reference. Earth wall? Rolling earth ball? Earthen platform? Or the rock grenade I haven't purchased yet?"

After his bath, he immediately retrieved the thick parchment that recorded the spellcasting techniques of these earth magic spells and carefully memorized the theories.

Preparing to help Dousen test each one to determine which spell it would master.

"If it's an earth wall, have the serfs build some earth walls; if it's a rolling earth ball, have the serfs roll stones on the ground, or just roll snowballs; if it's an earthen platform, we can use snow to illustrate the concept to Dousen."

It was impossible to make Dousen understand the casting principles, so he could only follow its instincts and provide a bit of guidance.

Having planned all this, he immediately took action.

First, he started with the simplest task—rolling snowballs. The servants in the castle were able to do this, with Tom, Thomas, Jesse, Parker, Jim, and John taking turns to keep the snowball rolling on the lawn.

Liszt led Hiddleston, constantly urging it to cast a new spell.

However, despite the grand spectacle of rolling snowballs, Hiddleston still only managed to cast Rock Spikes, and after half an hour of struggling, there was still no sign of a new spell.

"The plan failed, switch to Earth Raise Platform." Liszt immediately ordered the servants to start piling up snow to create platforms.

The Earth Raise Platform spell involved using earth-based magic to raise and lower the ground.

Whether it was due to imperfect imitation or because this wasn’t the spell Hiddleston was meant to learn, the servants were exhausted from their efforts, yet Hiddleston still only cast Rock Spikes.

"The plan failed again, switch to Earth Wall!"

The Earth Wall spell was quite similar to Earth Raise Platform, creating a semi-rock, semi-soil wall by raising the ground, which could block some attacks. It consumed a considerable amount of mana and was much more difficult than spells like Rock Spikes. The serfs dug several walls desperately, but still failed to trigger Hiddleston.

The entire day passed, and Hiddleston had learned nothing.

The next day, Liszt repeated the process, but Hiddleston still showed no signs of understanding. Sometimes it seemed like Hiddleston was on the verge of casting a new spell, but after much struggle, it would only manage to cast Rock Spikes. Without inspiration, it always fell short at the last moment.

As he pondered how to help Hiddleston learn the new spell, Jie La somehow appeared, having left her seashell bath with Acheronides. Instead of staying put, she began picking up snow from the ground, forming small snowballs, and throwing them at Hiddleston, screaming "Woah! Woah!"

She was clearly dissatisfied with how close Liszt had been to Hiddleston lately.

Thus, the snowballs began.

Hiddleston, hit by the small snowballs, showed no reaction. It didn’t care about Jie La’s pitiful combat strength. This disdain infuriated Jie La, and in her anger, she forgot Liszt’s prohibition. With a wave of her hand, she scattered seeds, and thorny vines rapidly sprouted from Hiddleston’s fur.

In no time, Hiddleston was completely wrapped up.

Liszt didn’t intervene. He felt a bit of "disappointment in a hopeless student." After teaching Hiddleston for three days, it hadn’t learned any new magic—clumsy and stupid.

So, the furious Jie La began her frenzied assault. The rapidly growing thorns pierced Hiddleston, causing it to howl in pain. Expecting Liszt to step in and stop Jie La, Hiddleston was disappointed as Liszt remained indifferent. Finally, unable to endure it any longer, Hiddleston jumped up to chase Jie La.

But Jie La could fly, and no matter how high Hiddleston jumped, it couldn’t bite her.

Seeing no way to get her, Hiddleston became agitated, its eyes almost turning red as it randomly cast Rock Spikes. Just as Liszt thought the lesson had gone on long enough and was about to stop Jie La, Hiddleston opened its mouth wide, and a surge of magic shot out, forming a rock in the air that rushed towards Jie La with a roar.

The overconfident Jie La shuddered in fear as the rock hurtled towards her, causing her to fall from the air.

The rock whizzed past her head and exploded mid-air, shards of rock flying and spraying snow everywhere. This was clearly a new spell… Hiddleston’s new spell had been successfully cast, and though it missed, it immediately pounced again, snarling and lunging to bite Jie La on the ground.

"Stop it, Hiddleston!"

Liszt quickly shouted. Jie La was his treasure, after all.

Deep-rooted obedience kicked in, and Hiddleston froze in place, growling at Jie La, who was just within reach.

Liszt rushed over, picked up Jie La, and breathed a sigh of relief after confirming she wasn’t hurt. He then turned to look at Hiddleston, which was still growling low growls.

He couldn’t help but laugh.