Iya Continent: Card God

As the sun sets and the sky is ablaze with color, a tavern in Sandel City.

Commoners who had worked hard all day and guests who had come from afar were all drawn to the sumptuous feast on one particular table.

A variety of stewed vegetables and meat dishes, roasted pork chops with a crispy crust, and side dishes made with this pork were piled up on the whole table.

There were only two guests at that table, a young man and a young woman.

"This guy really went all out to win this girl's heart."

"Tch, what a mess. If you're really rich, give me jewelry. Instead, prepare a feast of meat dishes. What are you trying to prove by being so extravagant?"

"But it seems this trick actually works..."

The guests were naturally whispering about Linta and Abilgay.

Before heading to the Adventurers' Guild, Linta brought some of the finest Red-Maned Boar meat to this tavern. He'd known the tavern owner for a long time. Since this was a tavern frequented by the goblin Stone, the owner had brought him along, and they'd gotten to know each other over time.

However, Linta was genuinely dissatisfied with his family's cooking. The cooking techniques were too rough. It wasn't bad, and it was even somewhat delicious. It just didn't do justice to the ingredients, failing to fully bring out their natural texture and flavor. This wasn't their fault. It was a problem with the basic cooking methods of the entire continent of Iya. It was different from the best cuisine that had been refined over thousands of years since he transmigrated here and experienced various extreme cooking methods. He had even fantasized about opening a tavern; after all, he had enough silver coins to start a business. But then he thought better of it. He wouldn't make much money, and it would be tedious and a waste of time.

"Wow, what a feast!" Faced with the table full of food, the female magician Abirgai's previous resentment vanished. Of course, as long as she didn't bring it up, her anger wouldn't reignite.

She had figured this out. Aside from her own account, there was no way to force Nabald to confess in front of everyone. Her only way to get revenge was to attack him privately. But that was difficult. Nabald was also a mid-Bronze rank cultivator; although his combat strength was lacking, he was extremely cunning. If she rashly challenged him, she would definitely suffer the consequences.

As for asking Linta for help, that was not on Abilgai's agenda. Linta had already helped him enough; he didn't want to trouble him further.

"Eat more, we can't finish this even if we pack it up and take it home," Linta said sincerely.

"Package? What does 'package' mean?" Abiergai paused for a moment, then asked curiously.

The man in front of me, Linta, always used words I'd never heard before, which was puzzling.

"It's about taking away the food we can't finish," Linta explained, reminding herself again to use as few words from her world as possible—they wouldn't understand! Explaining all the time is exhausting.

“Oh.” Abirgay nodded. “I’ve learned it.”

"Why learn this? It's useless." Linta muttered, cutting a slice of roasted meat and putting it in his mouth.

Abilgay's thoughts stirred slightly as he thought of something.

"Linta, you're not a magician, are you?"

“No,” Linta replied while eating.

“As expected…” Abiergay nodded to himself.

"I practiced my Fireball spell for a long time before I could fully convert my magic into the power of a bronze-level fireball. I don't have the talent," Linta replied.

Abirgay said, "You can be a magician even without talent. I just don't have any talent."

"Oh?" Linta frowned and looked at the seemingly ordinary female magician.

Abirgay exclaimed excitedly, "Can someone become a magician without talent? Yes, of course. But it will be much harder than for someone with talent. What the other person cultivates with ease, you will have to put in hundreds or thousands of times more effort."

"However, their final achievements may not necessarily be inferior to those with greater talent."

Hades, one of the seven founders of the Delos Magic Society, was a magician with no magical talent whatsoever. Yet his achievements are beyond the reach of countless genius magicians.

Linta frowned. This claim had long been proven to be misleading and harmful.

The reason I persisted in practicing the Fireball Technique was not because I wanted to become a magician, but simply to better control my magical power and solidify my Bronze Realm.

"So, what you're saying is...?"

Abierge smiled wryly and said, "That's not what I meant. I just meant that it would be easier for you to take other magical paths. I can't; I can only take the path of magic."

Linta understood somewhat that the other party could indeed only cultivate magic, making it too difficult for her to engage in close combat.

However... this kind of...

"How long have you been cultivating magic power?"

Abiergai said, "About three years."

Linta: "You figured it out yourself?"

“How could that be? I’m not a genius. I have a master who taught me. But I don’t know where my master is now. He always wore a tattered black robe and a topped hat,” Abilgay said with emotion.

Linta: "So, he left you in Sandel City to wait for him?"

Abilgai shook his head. "No, I'm just traveling around. I don't know where my master is or when we'll meet again. He said we'll meet eventually."

Linta then asked, "What did he teach you? Did he ask you for anything?"

“My master taught me how to cultivate magic and had me buy magic skill books and a staff,” Abirgay recalled.

"Whose money?" Linta's eyes widened.

“Of course it’s mine,” Abirgay said.

Linta: "He took you there?"

Abirgay: "No, not at all. My master bought the skill book, learned it from it, taught me personally, and then gave me the staff."

"Oh..." Linta nodded slightly, understanding in his heart.

A charlatan, always looking for a fool, would teach anyone, regardless of their talent, to become a mage. The victim would genuinely believe he was doing them a favor. Then, the charlatan would use this as an excuse to ask for money, ostensibly to buy skill books and staves. In reality, he would teach the victim basic bronze skills he had memorized countless times, and then give them a worthless, broken stave.

Finally, I guess they even checked their travel expenses and ran off, spouting nonsense about meeting again someday!

"What's your master's name?" Linta asked as a final question.

Abiergai frowned. "Just call me Master..."

Linta took a deep breath. "You don't even know his name! No wonder you were fooled by Nabald."

"Delicious!" Abirgay said happily as he ate the stew.

Linta was conflicted about whether or not to tell her that it was wrong to force herself to become a magician if she didn't have the talent.

Although Master Gul's theories were strange, he consistently adhered to the principle that one should cultivate according to one's talents. For those magic users who forcibly followed a single path, even if they succeeded, the probability was extremely low. Therefore, he chose the path of a melee mage, using magic to engage enemies at close range.

However, Linta gave up the idea of ​​telling him.

Before meeting that fraudulent magician, Abirgay might never have become a magic user in her entire life. Although her current cultivation path is wrong, it's at least better than before. Besides, what's the point of telling her the truth? She still won't have time to choose another path of cultivation. And I don't have a better path for her to follow.