Needless to say, Klee—the daughter of a witch, and a little witch herself—was thrilled by all the fish-blasting fun and had no intention of leaving. After casually greeting Gong Qu and Jean, she stayed behind without hesitation.
Lisa, on the other hand, was the magical heavy-hitter of their planned assault on the Fire Dragon.
Originally, Gong Qu hadn't factored her into the team. That position had been reserved for a certain wind god, whom he'd planned to lure with a few bottles of dandelion wine.
Lisa accepted the scroll and flipped through the spellbook with trembling fingers.
So this was… magic from another world—magic that required no price to cast?
No, not quite. There was a price: she'd have to bear someone ten or so children.
At the thought, a rare blush tinged Lisa's cheeks.
But soon, the lure of new arcane knowledge fully absorbed her.
Cradling the spellbook, Lisa gently pointed her finger at Gong Qu.
"Blitz!"
A light tingling sensation followed.
Out of trust for Lisa, Gong Qu didn't resist.
A faint, translucent shield materialized around him.
"It works," he nodded. "Keqing, hit me. Let's test it."
"Okay!"
Keqing summoned her enchanted diamond sword and gave him a whack with the flat of the blade.
Thud!
Keqing felt like she'd struck a brick wall—she was immediately bounced back by the impact.
"You call that testing? Let me try!" Lumine, never one to go easy on Gong Qu, drew her Blunt Sword and aimed directly for his lower half.
"Hey! That's not where you're supposed to hit!"
Gong Qu twisted out of reflex as a chill shot down his spine.
Shhrrrk!—
The edge of the sword scraped against the shield, releasing an ear-splitting screech.
Vrrrmmm~~
Lumine silently withdrew her still-vibrating blade, face blank, and gave her assessment: "Solid shield. Just a bit too thick—I didn't even scratch him."
"Hah~ Lumine, considering we're facing a dragon tomorrow, I'll let it slide. But once we're back… don't blame me if you can't get out of bed for three days."
"Pfft. Three days? You're only bold with soft girls like Keqing to puff up your ego. Ever heard the saying? 'Only bulls die of exhaustion—never the fields from over-plowing.'"
Lisa glanced at Keqing in surprise, as if to ask: Are they always this… explicit?
Keqing facepalmed, then quickly reached over to cover Klee's ears.
"This kind of talk is not for kids."
But she forgot there was another not-quite-kid who still soaked up everything like a sponge.
That day, Paimon felt like a new world had opened before her.
Pop!
A crisp sound echoed as Gong Qu's shield finally shattered.
He and Lumine immediately ceased their antics and turned to Lisa.
Miss Lisa, the walking spell calculator, presented her research findings.
"In terms of strength, this shield should be able to withstand a full-force blow from something like a Hilichurl Berserker. As long as it's not continuous damage, the internal magic loop can regenerate. Based on its self-repair cycles, the shield will last between three to five minutes."
"So in theory, as long as it doesn't take more than its maximum damage threshold, it can survive multiple hits for up to three minutes?"
"Exactly. But judging from the sorry state Lumine and the others were in this afternoon, the dragon's attacks are likely way stronger than a Hilichurl. Conservatively, I'd say the shield will only last a minute—four or five hits max."
"That's pushing it… Lisa, can you improve or strengthen the spell?"
"Unlikely. With only two runes to work with, there's not enough material to derive new spell models."
"I see. Hold on."
Gong Qu left the dining table.
Everyone was curious but waited patiently.
Soon, he returned holding a book—deep violet with gilded edges.
"Lisa, take a look at this beginner's spell manual."
Lisa opened the unusual tome with growing curiosity.
Unlike the diarrhea-inducing info-dumps of in-game spellbooks, this one genuinely laid out the fundamental theories of magic.
It delved into rune magic's origin, logic, and basic applications. It was the kind of academic reading you wouldn't even browse for fun.
The only formula it contained was the method to upgrade the beginner's spellbook into a mage's grimoire.
The same applied to the Stellaria Codex, which taught Starlight Magic—a mind-numbing blend of astronomy and metaphysics that looked like nonsense at first glance.
That discovery had been a harsh splash of reality for Gong Qu when he first excitedly tried to learn magic.
All he had were hazy memories of crafting mana jars, imprinting presses, and astral altars.
With no game UI to guide him, no normal person could remember all the recipes, let alone learn magic from scratch.
If he had that kind of free time, he'd be better off crafting artifacts or developing his Vision to enhance his abilities.
...
Back at the table—
Lisa, top graduate of Sumeru Akademiya, frowned deeply. Her legs, wrapped in her signature purple thigh-highs, crossed and uncrossed in thought.
Roughly ten minutes later, she snapped the book shut with a decisive clap.
"Well? Can you work with it?"
"Yes—but I'll need at least half a month. The Level-1 runes described here are feasible to replicate, but… eating runes to absorb knowledge? Isn't that a bit… crude? Or is this just how your world works?"
"It is a feature, yes. But the synthesis station is unusable for you guys. When it's time to learn, we'll need to do it together. I do remember a few formulas though—should give you a head start."
Having settled that topic, Gong Qu decided not to dwell too long on shield enhancement.
In the original game, careful positioning and kiting made even early-stage dragon hunting possible.
No reason three Level-90 characters, each armed with legendary weapons and relics—plus one overly prepared dad—should ever lose.
That Fire Dragon was going down.
Especially after how it manhandled Lumine earlier. Gong Qu had a personal grudge now.
Still, considering Lumine and Lisa's reduced physicality due to this world's constraints—and the lack of armor—the team's formation would need some tweaks.
"Lumine, you can use a bow, right?"
"I dabble. Why?"
"Perfect." Gong Qu began assigning roles: "Keqing and I are tankier, so we'll take turns holding the front and drawing aggro. You and Lisa stay in the rear to maintain the magic shield. As soon as the dragon takes flight, focus your attacks on its wings."
"Once it's grounded, I'll deploy water buckets around the field. Infinite water will heavily weaken its fire breath. After that, it's a simple matter of healing, restoring mana, and unloading all your damage."
Of all the dragons, the Fire Dragon was the easiest.
Its fire breath was hard-countered by water.
Unlike the Ice Dragon, which left impaling spikes across the terrain, or the Thunder Dragon, which caused the ground itself to collapse—
The Fire Dragon was manageable.
Once it was down, they'd harvest its blood to forge the Flamefang Bloodsword, granting a damage bonus against the Ice Dragon.
And from there, it'd be smooth sailing.