12 Switching Roles

Next Day

Waking up to be faced with his roommate's snoring and smell of animal's piss, Exia subconsciously exhaled a defeated sigh and forced himself to rose from his lying posture. Ever since he was transmigrated into this world, it's like the body he possessed had this natural alarm that always makes him stir in his sleep just before the dawn arrives.

Leaving the room quietly, Exia starts doing his routine by heading to the river to freshen up. As he walks, Exia tries to get rid of his hunger by using the orb's ability but ended up failing with only his stamina recovered. However, it didn't disappoint him since he already quite expected this. Moreover, if he could solve his hunger issue just by utilizing the orb, wouldn't his stomach feel full all day? Rather bringing him happiness, such a result would undoubtedly sadden him. Obviously, its because he can't taste delicious food anymore! Like the saying, 'Food may taste better when you're hungry.'

Besides hunger, he got plenty of experiments waiting for him to carry out. For example, is the orb capable of healing wounds or bruises? Is it also able to refreshing mind tiredness? He really wanted to do these experiments immediately, but the time and place didn't allow him to do so. Thus, leaving him with no other choice other than living at his normal pace for the time being.

...

"Knock! Knock!" Sounds of door repeatedly knocked echoed within the Smith's Blacksmith's area.

After waiting for a few seconds, the door opened as Ardelt's muscular figure holding a sheathed sword revealed into Exia's eyes.

Flashed a smile, Exia greeted him, "Good morning, teacher!"

As he greeted, his eyes involuntarily fell on the sheathed sword in his right hand.

Giving him a neutral-response, Ardelt greeted back, "Good morning too. Let's go inside."

Following him inside compliantly, Exia was amazed by the appearance of a crafted wooden little desk and chair, which previously wasn't there the day before. With eyes glittered like stars, Exia lifted his head to Ardelt, "Did teacher bought this for me?"

"Who? You? Why should I? I only brought these utensils from my warehouse since practically they were useless before." Ardelt elaborated casually.

Pursing his lips silently, Exia marched toward the chair and began to sit atop of it, "What should I do when first learning to read?"

The first time he learned to read was in kindergarten. Hence Exia couldn't help but slightly forget about the whole process.

Ardelt, who was in the middle of inserting his sheathed sword to the basket, immediately struck dumb. Turning his head around stiffly, he replied with an unnatural expression, "That...I also don't know!"

!!

Watching Exia's expression turned into unsightly, Ardelt said in matter-of-fact, "You see, I'm a certified Blacksmith, not a teacher. So, blame Bernard, who carelessly handed you over to me. He's the one who responsible for all of this."

Suppressing the desire to facepalming himself, Exia exhaled a deep breath before speak while recalling his memories, "Ummm...Try to scribble letters and pronounce them vividly, teacher. That might work."

"That sounds reasonable," Ardelt nodded his head in agreement and proceeded to grab a piece of paper and quill from his desk.

Based on Exia's instruction, Ardelt began to write letters and pronounce each of them a few times before Exia successfully comprehended it. They repeated the whole process until an hour passed by.

Fortunately, because the body he possessed still had his brain remains pure fresh, Exia was able to think faster and more clear than he used to on Earth, resulting in him understanding the letters in a short amount of time. In addition, his current body could already speak the language in this world expertly. Thus, learning the pronunciation of each letter wasn't too difficult for him.

"Didn't expect you to be a quick learner," Ardelt said out of nowhere, making Exia confused about his intention for a moment.

'Is he really praised me or just being sarcastic?' Exia mused inwardly before replying, "I'm also surprised by my progress. Anyway, should we continue to the next steps?"

"What's the next step?"

Upon hearing Ardelt's response, Exia felt that their role as a student and teacher was reversed. Scratching his forehead, Exia contemplated for a moment before asked, "Can I borrow your quill, teacher? Let me write the letters by myself."

Accepting Ardelt's quill and paper, Exia starts jottings the letters according to his memory. At first, it was a bit awkward for him to write a completely new language, but gradually, his body and mind accustomed to it, and he managed to fill a quarter of the paper by his writing in few minutes.

"Done!" Exia exclaimed joyfully as he wiped the perspiration beads that formed already on his forehead due to the focuses and nervousness.

"Allow me to examine your work," Ardelt said as he grabbed the paper.

"How's it?" Exia asked eagerly.

"Most are miswritten, but some of them are well done enough."

As Ardelt explained, Exia listened to his voice attentively. They spend half an hour correcting the mistakes Exia made and go to break after Exia request it.

"Here, drink this water," Ardelt ordered while placing a cup full of water.

"Thanks, teacher," Exia quickly lifted the cup and consumed it directly as he was in dire need of water to refresh his brain and dry mouth.

Gulping all the waters, Exia returned the cup into its original position and wiped the remaining water on his lips by licking it. As he did, his wandering eyes fell on the same sword Ardelt previously held, "Teacher, did you practice a sword?"

In Exia's eyes, holding a sword looks totally cool, especially if you got yourself a knight armor, that would be a point plus to your appearance.

"Yes, did you took an interest in it?"

Nodding his head, Exia asked hesitantly, "May I touch it?"

"Of course, it's just a normal sword anyway. No curses or magical thing would happen," Ardelt joked.

Rolling his eyes silently at him, Exia saunter toward the basket and attempted to pull the sword off from the basket.