Chapter 13: The Engine Squad

Magic Reception: A spell that allows one to receive and use the body of an animal to enhance their own power.

The risk of this magic is that if you try to forcibly receive a creature that is too powerful, and your own strength or willpower is insufficient, you may lose your sanity and go berserk until you exhaust yourself to death.

The basic practice method is as follows...

Clap!

Rhodes snapped the book shut and carefully looked at the cover. It was indeed the "Encyclopedia of Magic."

Randomly flipping open an encyclopedia, and it clearly outlines methods for practicing magic?

Is this really something I can just read for free?

Thud! Worm fell off Rhodes' shoulder, landing on the book cover with a dazed look, still half-asleep and confused about what just happened.

"I can tell, you really don't like studying."

Rhodes placed Worm back on his shoulder, then left the library with the hefty encyclopedia in his arms—just to be sure, he needed to confirm whether he was allowed to read this book.

...

"'Encyclopedia of Magic'? Of course, there's no problem," Mira said. "There aren't any forbidden books in the library."

"But doesn't it have all kinds of magical learning methods? Isn't that dangerous?"

"The whole point of having those books in the library is for people to learn from them," Mira replied.

She guessed what Rhodes was worried about and reassured him, "Don't worry, any dangerous magic wouldn't just be lying around."

Rhodes nodded, "Oh... then I guess I don't need to hold back."

"That's not exactly how you use 'hold back'..." Mira muttered.

Rhodes waved her off and returned to the library to quietly resume reading.

Star Spirit Magic is categorized by its usage method into possession-type magic and by effect type into spatial magic.

It also has a history of over 400 years, originating from ancient magic.

Each Star Spirit corresponds to a constellation in the sky and has its own 'medium,' which is a key.

Ordinary Star Spirits correspond to silver keys, while the twelve most powerful Star Spirits correspond to twelve gold keys.

Since Rhodes was reading the Encyclopedia of Magic and not a specialized book on Star Spirit Magic, the introduction he read was fairly brief.

The learning method described in the book mainly detailed how to open the gate once you possess a key and the process of forming a contract with a Star Spirit.

However, Rhodes had already learned the most important parts from the guild master.

For more detailed information, Rhodes would have to look for specialized books, such as those on ancient magic or spatial magic.

He looked around at the sea of books... This was going to be quite the undertaking.

Rhodes ended up spending several hours in the library.

Worm slept and woke, then slept again, finally waking up from hunger, letting out a soft 'gurgle gurgle' to remind Rhodes that it was about time for dinner.

Rhodes stood up, stretched, and glanced at the time. "It's almost five o'clock. I'm working harder than I did when I was studying at school... At this rate, I'll be a magic expert in no time!"

"Rumble rumble~" Worm's tiny horn drooped as if urging him to stop bragging and hurry up.

Rhodes couldn't rush, though. He carefully put the book back in its place, washed his hands in the restroom, and finally headed back to the tavern for work.

As a waiter, his meal times were either earlier or later than usual to avoid being too busy during peak hours.

Like Mira and the others, Rhodes chose to eat earlier. Whenever a customer arrived and placed an order, someone had to immediately set down their bowl and attend to them, which was quite bothersome.

"Mira, we're back!"

A blue-haired girl entered the tavern with two tall, slender young men.

"Levy! Welcome back! And Jet, Troy, too!"

Some patrons chatting in the tavern greeted the trio as soon as they walked in—it seemed they were quite popular. Mira immediately put down her utensils and approached them. "Welcome back! You're two days later than expected. How was the mission?"

"Mhm!" Levy replied excitedly, "The client was really nice and invited us to stay in Xiloth Gate for two extra days to have fun."

"Ohhh~" Mira exaggeratedly raised an eyebrow. "Increasing your reward without permission is against the rules, you know."

"It wasn't really an extra reward," Levy said, hugging Mira's arm and using a slightly playful tone. "The client said it was just in case something went wrong later on... sort of like 'after-sales service'..."

Levy was a petite, cute girl, just a little taller than Mira's shoulder.

Cuddling up to Mira like this made her look even cuter, and Jet and Troy looked on with expressions of envy—envy towards Mira.

"Well... I guess I'll let it slide this time." Mira closed one eye, clearly showing they had a good relationship.

"Thank you, Mira!" Levy let go of her arm and handed over the mission paperwork for registration. "Has anything changed in the guild?"

"Things are mostly the same... though recently, we had a newcomer who wanted your help with a language issue."

Levy, standing on tiptoe, leaned on the counter and asked eagerly, "What? What's that about?"

Levy's magic was Solid Script, allowing her to write words with magic and give them real meaning.

For example, writing the word "fire" would actually summon flames.

Perhaps because of this ability, Levy had learned many ancient languages and was always interested in anything related to words and languages.

"Well..." Mira registered the mission for her and briefly explained Rhodes' situation. "I'll introduce him to you later. He could use your help."

Jet and Troy, standing behind Levy like bodyguards, immediately noticed the key detail: "He?"

Rhodes, having quickly finished his meal, was about to take over his shift.

Right on cue, Mira introduced him. "This is Rhodes. And these are Levy, Jet, and Troy."

Rhodes had already heard about them from Laki, but before he could greet them, Jet had already jumped onto the nearest table.

Levy followed, hopping onto a chair, and Troy placed one foot on a chair and one foot on a table.

The three of them struck cool poses and loudly declared:

"We are—the Engine Squad!"

The two guys drinking nearby were startled by the trio.

Rhodes, too, was caught off guard. Seeing their behavior, only one thing came to mind: Team Rocket.

Rhodes raised his hand, unsure whether to applaud or scratch at the goosebumps forming on his arms.

He covered his mouth with one hand and whispered to Mira, "Um... are they, like, the troublemaking type?"

Mira thought for a moment. "Well... compared to Natsu, they cause far fewer problems."

Rhodes already knew that Natsu was a notorious troublemaker who spent most of his mission rewards on repairing the things he broke.

If these three caused less trouble than Natsu... Rhodes sighed. That wasn't exactly comforting.

Levy, as cute and petite as she was, turned out to be a bit of a troublemaker too, huh?