13 Let me try again!

Peng Hu and Kai began their search by walking around the village, inspecting the food stalls and observing the surroundings whether there were any suspicious behavior. Two hours passed by and nothing came out of it. Tired after making an energetic investigation at the beginning, thanks to Kai, Peng Hu and Kai decided to rest in one of the many benches that was in the park on the center of the village.

[Now that I'm maneuvering around and exploring the village in search of the spy or spies... the size of this village is HUMONGOUS for it being called as a 'village'...]

"Hey Kai. Why is the Village of Siluca called as a 'village'? The name 'village' doesn't do justice to what I have seen."

"I'm not really sure... but you can ask Aunty Alis! She knows a lot! In the past, I visited a lot of kingdoms with Aunty Alis and I only remember that it was not fun..."

[Is there a requirement...? I guess I will have something to ask when I visit the Two Words Hall again with good news.]

"So... Kai. Any idea on how to catch a spy? Is there any convenient magic that could let us identify the spy? Or... catch him without much effort?"

"I have read many books and... from what I have read so far... none."

Kai nonchalantly lifted his arms like there was nothing else he could do about it.

[Sigh... I guess even magic can't be THAT convenient huh...]

"Wait... maybe the spy has someone watching over them like how you are to me?"

"Not possible Pen. There hasn't been any newcomer in the last six months. I watched over the newcomers before you and they weren't as friendly as you... They always said that I was too annoying! That's why Kai... was very happy to be friends with you!"

[So this tension between the village and the Red Ember Kingdom started to become a considerable problem six months ago...]

"So what do we do now Pen? Do we search the all around the village again?"

"Let's take it easy. How about you teach me some magic now Kai? Then we could go grab lunch and then we could renew the search for the spy. How does it sound?"

"Heh heh! Kai will teach the best magic there is to you! Lo and behold~ Do you see that leaf over that tree? I'm going to change its form."

Kai took out his wooden magic wand from his robe. Focused on the leaf... Kai closed his eyes, and then in the next moment...

"Lea Stella Cambio Forma!"

Kai drew the magic wand with a quick draw, imitating very alike to those samurai and martial artists that were practitioners of one-shot skills. From the tip of the wand, Peng Hu could faintly see a dark green light plunging forth towards the target. Looking at the target, Peng Hu saw that the leaf had a small hole in it, which may have been caused by the fast dark green projectile. Suddenly, the leaf started to change form... into a five pointed star!

"Wow! That was amazing!"

"Mmmhhmm! The magic that I used was to change the leaf into another form. In this case, a five pointed star!"

Peng Hu could clearly see a wide smug in Kai's face. What astonished Peng Hu the most is the preparation that led to the magic changing the leaf form. This was the third time he saw Kai using magic, and each time it happened, the casting was somehow different.

[There must be some kind of rule.]

"Want to give it a try Pen?"

"Yes, please!"

"Let's do a very basic one. Do you see that rock in the ground? Let's change its form into a square. Focus on it, and imitate the movements I just did. As for the chanting... say the following: 'Petra Cuadra Cambio Forma'. Here, I'm lending you my legendary magic wand."

Grabbing Kai's wand, Peng Hu got very excited.

"Thanks! Let me give it a try!"

Peng Hu focused on the rock. Remembering all the flow of movements that Kai just did, he was confident that nothing could go wrong. With determination, he went all out.

"Petra Cuadra Cambio Forma!"

Peng Hu quick draw the magic wand and pointed it towards the rock. After waiting for a breath of incense... nothing happened.

"um... maybe I did something wrong?"

"That is very strange... there was nothing wrong. Maybe you didn't focused enough?"

"Hm possibly... let me try again!"

Peng Hu repeated the same actions over and over again. Each time, with more focus than before. After an hour of repeating the same thing, Peng Hu's throat was dry. Peng Hu could also feel that he may have built some muscles in his right hand and his eyebrows were burnt from focusing way too much. In other words... Peng Hu didn't kept going because he was already short circuited.

[Am I even going to become a failure in this new world...?]

"If it's not a problem of concentration... maybe... you don't know how to feel the mana around?"

"Hah... hah... how do I know if I'm feeling it or not?"

"I don' know... when I first practiced magic, I already knew how to feel mana..."

[Great...]

"It's lunch time now... let's go grab a bite..."

Feeling dejected, Peng Hu let his emotion of failure go away. Maybe Kai wasn't exactly a good teacher to begin with. Right now he was very hungry, and having an empty stomach is not very good if they were to keep looking for the spy...

"Don't get discouraged Pen! Even the best can fail sometimes... Maybe Aunty Alis knows why you have trouble using magic."

[Or maybe you are a crappy teacher and there's a better way to learn...?]

"Let's go visit Uncle Yuvan!"

Peng Hu nodded and they both left in direction towards Mr. Yuvan food stall.

Behind a tree not too far away from where Peng Hu and Kai were practicing magic, a hooded figure could be seen.

"So they are the ones asking around... for us. Didn't expect Kai to be in this. The chief must be very confident that they can catch us eh? Hmph."

Afterwards, the hooded figure disappeared. And not too far away from there, the rock where Peng Hu was practicing really hard on transforming... started to move. The invisible spirits of mana were lamenting over the failures of Peng Hu because Kai and Peng Hu made a mistake. It was not a rock what Peng Hu was trying to transform. It was a magical creature called Rock Turtle.