"I must kill that guy." Rody, looking at the golden light shooting from a distance, had his eyes full of anger and hatred.

"The enemy is too powerful, a direct confrontation now would be futile. Let's wait until your mental strength recovers..." Chris sent the mermaids down to the lake and then pulled Rody to jump into the water. In the sky, a sword qi slashed through the air, creating a huge gash on the surface of the lake. Clearly, the Sword Emperor had discovered Rody and Chris, but they were too far away for him to reach. By the time he flew over, Rody and Chris had already disappeared.

"Damn it, let's see how long you can hide! You will pay for this!" The Sword Emperor roared in anger, his sword qi crisscrossing, slashing the lake surface into thousands of sword marks, stirring up towering waves.

Suddenly, thick smoke started billowing from the ship; Rody had set it on fire just moments before.

When the Sword Emperor flew down, the fire on the ship was beyond control, driving him even crazier. He chopped down the mast and several decks to let the people trapped inside escape, while summoning reinforcements with a magical device. The one-armed emperor was so enraged that he looked almost cannibalistic, terrifying all the soldiers and servants to the point of trembling and turning pale.

At the deepest part of the lake, in the coral palace of the mermaids, Rody and Chris were being warmly welcomed by the mermaid tribe.

The mermaid wearing the crown turned out to be the princess of the mermaids.

Her maid had gone ashore to exchange goods with humans and was captured. To rescue her maid, the Mermaid Princess went to negotiate, not expecting the temple's representative, Terry, the fair mediator, to be the first to attack. Outnumbered, she was caught in a net that suppressed water magic, leading to the entire mermaid tribe emerging daily to fight fiercely with humans, even singing sorrowful songs for help, which attracted Chris and Rody, who understood the ancient Elvish language.

The mermaids had always lived in harmony with humans for generations, but now even the people of the temple had become hunters, which greatly angered the mermaid tribe.

However, they were very welcoming towards Rody and Chris.

Especially Chris, who could converse with them affectionately in the ancient Elvish language, was treated like a relative by the mermaids. They curiously surrounded him, asking questions, and when Chris spoke of battles, they couldn't help but clap and praise.

Rody found these mermaids to be like innocent children, not knowing whether to laugh or be angry.

Even the young mermaids were one thing, but the elder mermaids and the priestesses were not much different. They were so naive, almost like human girls. Of course, this was very beneficial for their peaceful coexistence and happy lives, but for battle, it was definitely a bad thing. Innocent warriors, no matter how strong, would be defeated by weaker but more cunning foes on the battlefield. No wonder they were not weak, yet humans could easily overpower them.

What intrigued Rody was the magic of these mermaids.

They could construct beautiful coral palaces under the water and even separate the lake water into three layers.

The top of Mirror Lake was fresh water, the middle was still water, and the bottom was seawater. The fish living there included both lake fish and sea fish, which was quite peculiar. Moreover, inside the coral palace, they even separated the water up to the sky, forming palaces like those of human castles.

Inside, not only could one breathe freely, but it was also very dry and comfortable, even with breezes blowing occasionally.

"Honorable Mr. Rody..." The way the Mermaid Princess addressed Rody gave him a headache. She, a mermaid princess, calling him 'honorable' - was that appropriate? After Rody corrected her, she changed her address to 'dear', and upon another correction, it became 'beloved'. Rody really wondered if Chris had taught her to mock him.

"Just call me Rody! You can dispense with 'Mr.' and other prefixes." Rody waved his hand.

"But calling someone by their name directly is very impolite," the Mermaid Princess said, reminding Rody of Dorla, which sent a shiver down his spine.

"Call me whatever you like... Do you need something from me, Princess?" Rody asked.

"Dear Rody, I have heard about your deeds and am delighted to see you. I am even more grateful that you saved our tribe." The Mermaid Princess's face blushed slightly as she curtsied gracefully and nodded shyly: "If you are willing, I am prepared to give you our tribe's secret magic book! Dear Rody, would you refuse it?"

"No, of course not." Magic books were Rody's favorite.

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If it were some treasure, Rody might have refused, as he hadn't saved people for the sake of treasures. But when it came to magic books, Rody simply couldn't resist, whether he could learn the mermaid tribe's magic or not, he always wanted to understand more.

Moreover, the secret magic of the mermaid tribe would definitely be of great help to the new battle song he had come up with.

It was like a thirsty person seeing a source of water; he would be strange to refuse.

"Thank you, dear Rody. Before I give you the magic book, please stay with us for a few days. I need to teach you our mermaid language first, so you can perform our magic. Normally, I could use memory inheritance, but my magical power is greatly depleted, so please wait a few days." The Mermaid Princess's face turned even redder upon hearing Rody's words, her neck blushing as well.

"No, I should be thanking you!" Rody quickly gave a small knight's salute, saying, "Please forgive my greed, I only need to borrow your magic book for a few days."

"How can I ask for something back once given? Besides, this book is merely a personal token from me. Just like this magic book, every generation of mermaid princesses has one," the Mermaid Princess replied gracefully, then happily twisted her beautiful waist and swam away. Seeing her slender waist, Rody felt a bit stirred. He felt he had really grown up; now he seemed to enjoy looking at women's bodies, which was quite different from before.

At night, as usual, Chris came to disturb him before going to sleep.

After chatting for a bit, Rody suddenly remembered that Chris not only hadn't taught him natural magic, but he also hadn't taught him the Elvish language, which was really not enough for a friend. He remembered Chris saying he would teach him, but it never happened. Rody had shared quite a few magic insights with him, but Chris was keeping secrets from him, which was really infuriating.

"Hey, why don't you teach me the ancient Elvish language? You're not even talking about natural magic. Forget it, I know you're a miser. How about we exchange? You teach me natural magic, and I'll teach you mental magic!" Rody suggested.

"I can't learn mental magic, no deal," Chris flatly refused.

"That's not right. Last time you were clearly interested, but I wasn't in a good mood then... Now you're playing hard to get?" Rody said annoyedly.

"Do you think magic can be taught to just anyone? You, you big lecher, get dizzy at the sight of a beautiful woman, with absolutely no resistance!" Chris's words baffled Rody. If anyone was a big lecher, it was Chris, who was laughing and frolicking among a group of mermaids. Yet, now he was the one accusing Rody.

"Now I know what it means to be accused by the guilty party first..." Rody was almost speechless.

"Anyway, you're in the wrong. I only say this because there's a reason. If you weren't lusting after beauty, why did you agree to the Mermaid Princess's magic inheritance?" Chris seemed a bit angry, upset that the Mermaid Princess's magic inheritance wasn't offered to him.

"I just wanted to learn more about magic, how is that lusting after beauty? Are you jealous? How about I teach you after I learn?" Rody laughed.

"Pighead, don't you know? Magic inheritance can only be passed to a husband!" Chris, infuriated, threw a book at Rody, leaving him stunned.

"Ah? It's over, I misunderstood!" Rody quickly got up and said urgently, "What do we do now? Run away? I swear I have no improper thoughts about the Mermaid Princess, I just wanted to look at the magic book, God knows... I only saw her for the first time tonight, why would she offer me magic inheritance? Isn't this a bit too frivolous? How can mermaids be so casual?"

"How are mermaids casual? They reproduce asexually, giving birth only to girls. Haven't you noticed there are no males? Only to the man they like the most in their hearts will they marry themselves off like human women. What do you take the Mermaid Princess for?" Chris seemed not to blame the Mermaid Princess, but rather Rody.

"I'll go and explain to her right away... right now!" Rody realized the misunderstanding was huge.

"Go ahead! Once you explain to the princess, she'll turn into foam and disappear from this world tomorrow," Chris said coldly. "Mermaids are extremely faithful in love. Once abandoned by their loved one, they die of a broken heart and turn into a pile of foam."

"This is completely over!" Rody never imagined that just out of greed to peek at someone's magic book, he ended up agreeing to a marriage proposal.

"Congratulations, dear Mr. Rody!" Chris said mockingly.

"Why didn't she make it clear? If she had, this misunderstanding wouldn't have happened. Right, it's just a misunderstanding between us. Can you help me explain to her? How could I possibly marry her? We just met today, and there are no feelings..." Before Rody could finish, he was horrified to see the Mermaid Princess, who had come in with desserts, change from smiling to crying, dropping the plate in her hands with a crash.

"Wait, he loves you, he just can't say it." Chris punched Rody down and hurried after the crying Mermaid Princess as she left.

"Dizzy." Rody wanted to follow, but he didn't know what to say if he caught up, especially not wanting the situation to turn out as Chris had described, with the Mermaid Princess turning into foam the next day.

Half a day later, Chris returned.

He drank several glasses of water in one go before letting out a long sigh.

Rody, anxious, watched him, fearing he would say something like the Mermaid Princess turning into foam the next day. But Chris, after making Rody suffer, stretched out his hand and said, "Give me your token. What are you looking at? How can I comfort the princess's heart without exchanging tokens of betrothal?"

"I thought you were going to persuade her, but it turns out you were just making things worse!" Rody was outwardly furious but secretly relieved.

"Fine, I won't bother with you anymore. Let your Mermaid Princess turn into foam before the sun comes up tomorrow!" Chris lay down comfortably and ignored Rody.

"I, I don't have anything..." Rody couldn't think of what to give to temporarily appease the Mermaid Princess's heart.

"Just give one of the Mithril bracelets on your wrist." Chris suggested.

"They were gifts from Heidi and Haini. I can't give them to someone else. Besides, these two are linked together and can't be separated." Rody flatly refused. The Mithril bracelets were memories of the succubus sisters, reminding him of the times he spent with them. They were a token of their affection and couldn't be divided. Moreover, if their facial scars healed, they would surely come back to him. How would he explain then?

"Rody, how many women do you have? There's the female boss, Jill, and now Heidi and Haini. You, you big philandering lecher, you've gone too far!" Chris raged, going crazy.

"They're just my friends, good friends." Rody was puzzled, was this guy really that jealous?

"How can there be just good friends between men and women? You're fooling no one! I don't believe you, and even a three-year-old child wouldn't believe you!" Chris flatly disbelieved.

"At least, it's like that for now..." Rody thought of the succubus sisters who used to cling to him every day and couldn't help but feel a sweet sensation in his heart. At the time, he found them quite clingy, like sticky candy beans, but now, recalling those moments, he found it very sweet, feeling a sense of being loved and entwined. Although this seemed a bit different from love, the feeling was very pleasant.

A soft cough came from outside the door, barely audible.

Upon hearing it, Chris extended his long hand to Rody, first hitting Rody's arm hard, then whispered, "Whatever it takes, first appease the Mermaid Princess. Later, I'll settle the score with you! Hurry up, she's waiting outside right now."

"Next time, you must clearly tell me about any racial rules. It's okay with the Mermaid Princess, but if a Minotaur girl took a liking to me, I'd have no choice but to commit suicide!" Rody took out a wooden carving of his mother from his childhood, speaking softly, "I really don't have anything else, do you think this will do? If not, there's nothing I can do..."

"Wait!" Chris glared at him, snatched it, and ran out, returning shortly after with a string of extremely smooth pearls, speaking in a feigned casual tone, "This is the Ice Crystal Tear Pearls that the princess gave you in return. Congratulations, the deal is done. Now, hand over the one million gold coins for the errand!"

"Chris, I feel like you're doing this on purpose..." Rody recalled the events and was highly suspicious.

"Even if I were crazy, I wouldn't do such a thing!" Chris snorted affirmatively.