บท 58: Chapter 58: Irigal
Li Xiang found dancing much harder than mastering the Spear Techniques.
His brain and body seemed completely out of sync.
Whenever he thought of lifting his left leg, he instinctively raised his right.
The more he practiced, the stiffer his body became.
In the end, he couldn't even distinguish left from right and ended up moving awkwardly with both arms and legs out of sync.
Hishiri Adashino finally admitted defeat.
She gave up without hesitation.
Li Xiang could only retreat to the buffet table alone.
Grabbing a glass of red wine, he downed it in one go.
He smacked his lips, "It's nowhere near as good as the happy shut-in drink."
(T/L: Refers to a popular soft drink, often dubbed as the drink of choice for introverts or "shut-ins").
Setting the glass down, Li Xiang turned his attention to the feast.
The ballroom was filled with people gracefully dancing, but he alone was indulging in food.
The joy of being a foodie was boundless.
Since coming to this world a month ago, today was the first time Li Xiang got to enjoy top-tier Western cuisine, which rivaled the flavors of Sichuan cuisine from his previous life.
Though the style of cooking was different, the flavors were intense.
Speaking of gatherings, enjoying food and drink together always brought people closer.
Hotpot, for instance.
"Hey, why are you sitting here all by yourself? Feeling lonely?"
Dressed in a sharp suit, his hair styled neatly, and his thick brows and bright eyes full of energy, Louis suddenly appeared from the dance floor.
"Why do I get the feeling you're enjoying this too much?"
"Come on, it's not every day I get to see you struggle with something." Louis sat down beside Li Xiang, picked up a glass of wine from the table, and swirled it. "To be honest, since I've known you, you've seemed nearly invincible."
"I'm not Doraemon." Li Xiang rolled his eyes. If he had a time machine, an anywhere door, or a what-if phone booth, then maybe he'd be unstoppable.
"You watch Doraemon too?" Louis's eyes lit up. "I thought you were always studying or on your way to study."
"You're overestimating me. I'm just a lazy student pretending to be diligent."
"A lazy student? Come on, if you're lazy, then what am I? An amoeba?"
"Amoeba? Can you do aerial splits?"
"Huh?"
"Never mind that. Believe me or not, I'm an old-school anime fan. I keep up with all the latest shows every season."
Before coming to this world, Li Xiang's interests outside of school were playing games and watching anime.
Though most of the anime he watched were recent, he knew the classics from 2003 well enough.
"Slam Dunk, Hunter x Hunter, Neon Genesis Evangelion, and of course Fullmetal Alchemist that we talked about when we first met."
"That's amazing!" Louis grabbed Li Xiang's hand, eyes wide in admiration. "Teach me your ways! How do you manage schoolwork and still keep up with so much anime? Your time management skills are next-level!"
"Let go! Two grown men pulling on each other like this, what does it look like?"
"Ah, you don't know how much I've suffered!" Louis sighed deeply, starting to vent, "You see, my family just recently rose to prominence—only three or four generations. I'm the sole heir, but my talent is mediocre at best. From childhood till now, I've been forced to put all my effort into studying our family's magic and preparing to inherit our magical crest."
"That's pretty normal for a mage family, right? So, what's the problem? Is it that you have no time to watch anime?"
"Do you know what my family's magical crest is?"
"What?"
"Electric magic." Louis's face was a picture of sadness.
"Pfft." Li Xiang couldn't help but laugh. "Sorry, I didn't mean to."
"It's fine. Laugh all you want." Louis raised his glass and downed it in one go, letting out a heavy sigh.
The path of magic was always harsh.
Take the Matou family for example: to make sure Sakura inherited their family's magic, Matou Zouken altered her body with crest worms.
In Louis's case, inheriting the family's electric magic likely meant enduring constant electrification from a young age, like some sort of extreme internet-addicted teen treatment.
Li Xiang even suspected Louis's thick brows and eyes were a result of his electric magic training.
Surprisingly, his hair wasn't frizzy.
"I've had it rough! My battles with my father could fill volumes. One day when you have time, write my story—maybe I'll be the next *Harry Potter* of the magic world. My dad would cut the power while I watched anime to train me. So, there I was, watching shows while powering the TV with my own magic!" Louis raged as he bit into a drumstick.
"Truly powering for love." Li Xiang patted his shoulder in sympathy. "But hey, now that you're at the Clock Tower, your dad can't control you. You can watch all you want."
"No!" Louis's eyes welled up. "I'm about to graduate and go back to inherit the family business."
"Uh, that does sound rough."
"My passionate youth! Beautiful girls and adorable lolis—all gone!"
"..."
Li Xiang gave him a side-eye. "You shameless idiot, you just want their bodies!"
"How dare you slander me!" Louis pounded his chest, wiping the drool from his mouth. "I'm simply appreciating beauty! You wouldn't understand."
"You've got the desire but no guts."
"I have principles! And besides, 2D and 3D are not the same!"
"Typical shut-in, only likes waifus."
"I'm very popular in real life, okay? I was just dancing with a junior a moment ago!"
Li Xiang raised an eyebrow. "And where is she now?"
"I came over because I saw you looking so lonely. Touched, right?"
"Speak the truth."
"Fine, Hishiri Adashino stole her from me." Louis shot him a pitiful look.
Li Xiang shivered. "You're that afraid of her?"
"Aren't you?" Louis asked, "She's got access to all your personal information, she's stronger than you, and has more authority. If you piss her off, it's a one-way ticket to exile."
"...You've got a point."
Li Xiang's mouth twitched slightly. "Why doesn't she just dance with you? Isn't dancing usually between a guy and a girl?"
"Because I'm too tall. She said looking up at me while dancing would hurt her neck."
"Pfft." Li Xiang burst into laughter again.
Louis, standing nearly two meters tall, dancing with the petite Adashino, would indeed look like a scene straight out of *Beauty and the Beast*.
"Don't stress. Dancing is tiring. Look at this steak, this Australian lobster—isn't it way more satisfying?"
"Lonely single!" Louis sneered.
"Say that again?" Li Xiang retorted loudly. "Do you even understand? Life is too short to waste on love!"
"Are you stupid?" Louis looked at him in disbelief. "Mages can easily live two or three hundred years. Besides, if you don't date now, when you graduate, your family will force you into arranged marriages. You really think post-graduation dating will be better than finding someone at the Clock Tower?"
"..."
So even in the magic world, things were this brutally realistic?
Li Xiang decided to pull out his trump card. "Do you really think a face like mine would end up single?"
Louis was instantly speechless, forced to retreat.
After a moment, Louis continued, "Honestly though, I think Adashino is a great match. Good family background. Marrying her could land you a share of her family's magical crest—saving you decades of effort."
"She's too young."
"She is a bit small." Louis glanced over at Adashino in the dance hall and nodded in agreement.
"What are you thinking? I mean, she's too young in age."
"Huh?" Louis blinked in confusion before clearing his throat. "Yeah, her age is a bit young."
Li Xiang rolled his eyes. "And besides, she's not my type."
"What's your type, then? I've been at the Clock Tower for seven or eight years. I could easily introduce you to ten or so girls."
"..."
The things this guy wasted his talents on...
Li Xiang gave a small burp and said, "Enough of this. I'm heading to bed."
"You're not going to wait for the others?"
Li Xiang glanced at the crowd still dancing, maintaining their graceful, aristocratic composure.
For as long as magic had existed, mages had always been synonymous with nobility, but he still hadn't quite adapted to this world.
At this moment, he could clearly feel that he didn't belong in their world.
"No, no point staying any longer."
"Alright then
."
After bidding Louis goodbye, Li Xiang returned to his room.
"Damn that guy!"
Suddenly, Irigal appeared, her voice full of frustration.
"What's going on?" Li Xiang scratched his head in confusion. "You talking about Louis?"
[Hmph!]
"???"
What's going on with this system?
Why are you suddenly angry at your Master?
Out of instinct, he checked the system logs.
A series of random characters appeared, almost like someone had mashed the keyboard.
The time matched when he was discussing Adashino with Louis.
Weird...
Li Xiang couldn't make sense of it.
He was beginning to feel that this system was becoming stranger by the day.
No, not stranger...
More human.
Could it be that the system had some hidden feature where Irigal's intelligence increased as Li Xiang's strength grew?
---
Oh yeah, as Irigar (its Ereskigal if you havent found out already, blud just made up name from AI, Artificial Irigar) grow, it will slowly transition from [] to "". the System message will be the same though
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