CHAPTER 35: INEXPERIENCED YOUNG MAN

Wayne genuinely felt untalented—trash, even. Silvia wasn’t sure what to say. If he were trash, what would that make her? And what would that make her classmates, who had all failed their first meditation?

She maintained a poker face. It was her fault. She had dug herself into a hole with her lies, making her a waste of air. Her stiffening expression, however, read to Wayne like she was disappointed with his lack of talent. He suppressed the urge to pout. It was all the fault of the Book of Greed, intimidating the elements and keeping them from approaching him.

“Wayne, magic is difficult, but that’s what happened to all beginners. One failure isn’t representative. Just work harder in the future.” Silvia managed to string together a response, but she was running out of things to say.

He nodded. Diligence could make up for a lack of talent. “I understand. My lack of affinity won’t stop me. As long as I invest ten times or even a hundred times the effort, I’ll catch up with the geniuses.”

Please let geniuses be. They’re already cowering in fear!

The topic was so depressing that Silvia felt as if she was seeing countless ashen faces that had lost their purpose, her daughter being one of them. She changed the subject and flipped to the last chapter of the magic book.

Self!

The Hexagram Magic Book hadn’t explained in detail the concepts of void. The theoretical knowledge was to be taught in academies, or the book would be an unwieldy brick.

The dozen or so magical formulas could be considered void, and by learning the basic knowledge, beginner mages could light up a complete hexagram. Once the hexagram took shape and stabilized, their life essence would be strengthened significantly, making them independent mages in their own right, with decent enough thoughts to acquire more knowledge.

Since his first meditation wasn’t satisfactory, Wayne asked Silvia if there was a way for him to capture elemental particles more efficiently. She gave him an immediate response. It was an issue many beginners encountered, and there was an easy way to improve: get close to nature and allow his body and thoughts to come into contact with elemental particles as much as possible.

“Use earth as an example. We are in contact with earth at all times. You can try to walk barefoot in a garden... Wait, why are you going through the window? Come back!” Silvia called out to him with a scowl. “Put your socks back on those smelly feet. This is not how a gentleman should act before a lady.”

It wasn’t a complicated process. To get close to earth, walk barefoot on the ground, and the elements would strengthen a mage’s muscles, bones, and internal organs. The degree of enhancements would depend on one’s talent, though. Some mages would never excel at melee fights, while others—the Dragonbloods, for example—would be much stronger than the average mages after enhancements.

The same logic applied to the other three fundamental elements. To get closer to water elements, drink more water and take more baths, or ideally, submerge in the sea. To get closer to wind elements, stay in the wind or turn on fans. To get closer to fire, bask in the sun, and if it was cloudy, just stay near a fireplace.

“If you think your meditation doesn’t yield satisfactory results, practice more. Incorporate meditation into your daily life. It may be challenging at first, and your meditation may be interrupted by intrusive thoughts. But if you work harder, you’ll be able to multitask and maintain a meditative state even while asleep.”

Silvia warned him not to meditate when he was with other people, especially not when he was attempting stealth; it would be easy for others to notice him. She also told him that his mana was discreet by nature, allowing him to blend in with ordinary people. That could be a great advantage. As long as he didn’t reveal it, it would be difficult to tell that he was a mage!

Nonetheless, the formation of the hexagram would change a mage’s energy over time, making his aura fundamentally different from that of an ordinary person. It was an irreversible change, and one day, he would have to learn the sophisticated technique of concealing his energy if he wanted to avoid detection.

The method required refined mastery over mana that he couldn’t achieve at the moment. It would be unwise to take too great a leap. Steady progress was key.

***

Late night arrived quietly. Wayne was getting drowsy from his first meditation. Silvia ended her lesson and told him to have a good sleep. They would continue tomorrow morning.

She didn’t mean it when she said that they would go without sleep for three days and nights. Insufficient sleep was the bane of beauty, and she needed to rest regardless of his eagerness to continue. Besides, it had been years since she last visited the manor. She missed the good times. If only Veronica and... if only Veronica were here!

During their lesson the next day, an accident happened.

Wayne was so absorbed in the class that he missed mealtime and forgot to feed his messenger bird. The white dove got out of his hat, exposing itself to Silvia.

“Where did you get a messenger bird, Wayne?”

She was surprised. Wayne had not received formal training at an academy, and he wasn’t registered as a follower. Where would he get a messenger bird?

“At one of Sun’s bases. It’s a gift from a friend.”

“Is it a man or a woman—wait, you’ve been to their base?” she asked in disbelief. Moonlight was eyeing him, and now Sun? What about Death and Darkness? Had their followers made a move on him as well?

“Yeah, I was there just yesterday. They were way too friendly,” Wayne snarked, then he took that chance to say, “Master, you won’t let me try elemental magic, but what about messenger bird magic? Why don’t you teach me during the break?”

She adjusted her glasses and didn’t answer, realizing that the situation was more complicated than she had expected. She felt threatened. Her apprentice was so talented that many were vying for him. Perhaps the Sun’s followers had already gotten their hands on him.

How shameless of them to steal someone else’s apprentice so openly!

She didn’t know that Wayne was only short of becoming persona non grata at the gym. She imagined him getting lured by Sun’s most devout and decided to do something about it. He was her apprentice and a talented disciple she was cultivating for Nature. He could very well become an apostle in the future. She could not allow him to be taken away.

After some deliberation, she perked up and lifted her dress with a smile, revealing her smooth calves. “Tell me, Wayne, what does my brand lack?”

Are you still on that?

“Let’s talk about messenger bird magic, Master!”

Wayne glanced at her and suppressed a sigh. A pretty master was good to have, but her beautiful knowledge and sexy competence were distracting during class. That was why he would have preferred an old scholar with a white beard. An old man like that would draw no attention from him and allow him to fully focus on his master rather than his master’s body.

“Talk to me about clothes, or you’ll get no more magic lessons from me.”

“Stockings,” he said in resignation. “Nylon stockings.“

He didn’t play dumb this time. Silvia had meant nothing to him before, but now she was his mentor and guide in his pursuit of magic. The lessons she had given over the past three days alone had enlightened him substantially. He wouldn’t mind giving her the patent to stockings as a student’s gift to his teacher.

Besides, it was too difficult to get a patent, and even if he secured one, he wouldn’t be able to keep it. Things were different for Silvia. As the District High Reverend of Londan, she had both money and power. By latching onto her, he could at least get a piece of the pie.

To demonstrate what stockings could do, he asked a maid for a piece of charcoal and started painting on his leg right in front of Silvia.

“Stockings can shape legs, keep the body warm, prevent bloating, shield the skin from sunlight, and absorb sweat...”

“Moreover, they look nice and can cover up blemishes. And the silky texture can make the legs more appealing by enhancing their elegant appearance.”

Now Wayne was the teacher, explaining the benefits of stockings to Silvia.

“I think stockings for summer should be ultralight, thicker for spring and autumn, and thick and warm for winter.”

“High-quality stockings should be breathable so that the humidity and heat can escape, avoiding that sweaty, sticky feeling and allowing the skin to breathe.”

“In addition, the stockings should be flexible and sufficiently tight to compress the legs and make them look more shapely. A snug fit will help the fabric cling to the skin and make it appear smoother and more lustrous.”

“The texture should also be durable and resistant to friction...”

He grew increasingly excited as he pointed at his blackened leg and rattled off his ideas about stockings. As the saying went, never leave the house without stockings, never go out without a hat. He didn’t remember whose quote it was, but he knew the person was quite a big fish in the fashion industry. That was why he believed stockings would be a lucrative business[1].

Silvia could barely contain her excitement after his explanation. As a woman and a fashion designer, she immediately recognized the prospect of the stockings business. It didn’t even matter if it would be lucrative; she needed a pair in her closet!

She lifted her dress and immediately used the charcoal on her legs, even asking him to do the other leg at the same time for efficiency. He turned her down. He wanted to respect his master, so he would appreciate it if his master would stop tempting him.

She was very tempting!

Silvia changed into an evening gown and checked her reflection in a mirror. She had painted her calves black. Although they weren’t stockings, she could tell the effect the actual product would have.

Wayne was curious where she got a gown that fit her so perfectly, but he supposed it made sense for mages to have magical storage.

The more she looked at her reflection, the more pleased she got. She couldn’t wait to get her hands on the first pair of stockings. “Worried about nylon’s patent, Wayne?”

“Yes, to my knowledge, the patent is owned by a company in Londan. I haven’t looked into it, but I know most of the nylon produced is used for military goods at the moment.”

“What a waste,” she scoffed. “It’ll be better served as materials for stockings.”

“It won’t be so easy. It’s all theoretical right now. There are technical difficulties to overcome. We can’t just start producing stockings after paying for the patent.” He sighed. “And the patent is key. The patent holder may cut us out as soon as the products hit the market and become successful.”

“Ha, that won’t happen.”

Silvia was confident. However, since it concerned her bastard husband, and she wanted to keep her identity as Veronica’s mother a secret for now, she said instead, “Wayne, are you interested in being a designer for my brand? You’ll be a shareholder for your technical contribution, and half of the revenue will go to you.”

That much? Are you volunteering to be my patron?

He was surprised by her generosity. He wondered if she didn’t understand the value of stockings. He was only her student. That much money would be enough to buy undying loyalty. What was she after?

He didn’t know how talented he was or how threatened she felt. He signed a roughly drafted contract under her urging and suddenly became the number two designer for her brand, Silvia Valentine.

Silvia was number one, the founder and chief designer.

What was done was done. Although Wayne didn’t know fashion, he could declare with confidence that no one in this era knew stockings better than he did. The reason was simple: familiarity.

Yes, he admitted his ignorance in fashion design, and he hadn’t worn stockings himself, but he had seen his fair share of stockinged legs from all the NSFW images shared by fellow netizens. Black ones, white ones, skintone ones, long ones, medium ones, and ones with garters. There were also the fishnet and patterned varieties...

He would be unrivaled in designing stockings in this era. If even he failed, it could only be attributed to insufficient manufacturing capability.

That led him to think of female undergarments and swimsuits, and it dawned on him that he had gone down the wrong track when he thought about inventing practical items. Oh, how wrong he had been! He would succeed with the knowledge accumulated from all the lewd pictures he had seen alone!

Perhaps he would even be considered women’s ally of the year and the fashion designer who knew ladies the most in the Chosen Land, thus becoming Mr. Right for hundreds of millions of women. Most importantly, it would earn him a fortune!

Thank you, my horny friends!

He could almost see the countless banknotes raining down on him already. He kept dodging, but what did you know? The raining bills were too numerous for him to avoid.

He lowered her head and cackled. Then he stopped.

Why are there two laugh tracks?

He looked up to find Silvia smiling at him.

“What is it, Master?”

“Nothing. I laugh because you’re laughing.”

She covered her mouth. What an inexperienced young man, falling for such a simple trick.

Do your best to earn money, boy. My daughter does not even know what frugality means, evident in how she paid to work for you. If you don’t earn enough, you won’t be able to support her.

1. It’s a quote from Coco Chanel. ☜