Mage Legend

Following the direction of Lynch's finger, Zilvra and Morgan had already noticed that no fewer than fifty different-sized stones were rolling down the stairs. The dwarf jumped off the rock spirit's head and retreated back to the mage's side.

"No matter how you look at it, this must be where the Gem River is located," Morgan said. "At least it proves that the adventurer's log isn't wrong."

Lynch's magic wand flashed with light, and he extended his arm in a halting gesture. The group of stones stopped moving as they reached the last step. Both groups faced each other, waiting for the other to initiate communication.

Lynch began testing the languages he knew, from the most likely Tribe Language, Dragon Language, and Underground Common Language, all the way to Abyss Language and Heavenly Language. None of the languages resonated with both parties. The rock spirits seemed to have their own way of speaking, hitting different parts of their bodies to create distinct sound combinations to express meaning.

"At this rate, we'll never understand what they're saying," Zilvra said. "Lynch, can't you use magic to directly figure out what they're saying?"

"These rock spirits are clearly elemental creatures or constructed creatures, and their way of thinking is vastly different from humans," Lynch replied helplessly. "If we establish a mental connection with them, we might get lost in an endless mental maze and end up going mad. I don't want to try that."

"Is there any other way?" Zilvra asked. "Climbing the stairs by hand is impossible, and turning back obviously yields nothing. Solving problems is your job, so use your brain."

Lynch paced back and forth on the empty ground before the steps, scratching his chin and frowning. Zilvra sat on the ground, watching the rock spirits' movements, while Morgan seemed eager to communicate with the stones again and was unwilling to wait in boredom any longer.

Suddenly, the mage stopped his steps and walked to the front of the stones. He took out a gemstone and shook it, then pronounced "gemstone" in the Tribe Language. For rock-structured creatures, the deep and slow Tribe Language was evidently easier to mimic.

After a few attempts, they finally established the first word they both understood. Then Lynch took out more gemstones and began forming simple arithmetic formulas on the ground. "One plus one becomes two"—such things, through repetition, were also understood by both parties. The rock spirits could now express numbers and the simple concepts of "plus" and "equals" in the Tribe Language, and Lynch learned the corresponding tones in the rock spirits' language.

Once simple mathematical concepts were established, they could use "greater than" and "less than" to express comparisons, thereby forming an entire system of adjectives. Even though the vocabulary was relatively limited and expression of meaning was difficult to be precise, it was still a significant step forward. Lynch continued using illusion techniques to demonstrate the names of objects that might appear in this cave and finally understood words like "door," "window," and "passage." Combining these with some practical actions, they eventually achieved the ability to communicate simply.

Lynch wiped the sweat from his forehead, now nearly exhausted. This mutual learning process went on for an unknown time, but it certainly passed the interval of two meals. The mage took the elf cookies Zilvra handed him and devoured them. The rock spirits apparently didn't need to eat anything and, without the slightest fatigue, began using the simplified Tribe Language that Lynch had just taught them to communicate.

"They say, 'You coming here makes us equal to a hundred compared to one,'" Lynch translated. "It means they're very great, very good, and in a happy mood."

Zilvra exclaimed, "It's amazing that you could even establish such a strange way of speaking." Then she laughed and added, "But it seems there's still a long way to go before you can normally express your meaning. The conversations you're having now could be a secret language; outsiders definitely wouldn't understand it, haha!"

Lynch sighed and said, "I don't have time for a more detailed explanation, but at least we've learned a bit of their language. The only pity is that I can't hit my body to make different sounds like they do, and using spells to create illusion sounds is too troublesome. So I have to use this awkward Tribe Language to express thoughts. But the learning ability of these rock spirits is indeed astonishing, comparable to elders among elemental creatures."