The event here occurred before Winter’s fishing trip with Adria around the Lir river.

xXx

Ronald Hanover was reading the news section. There were surprisingly a lot of informative news when it came to Royal Road. Some were, however, just baffling.

Take this one as an example.

“An unidentified creature was spotted! Isn’t she cute?”

It came with a picture of a tiny purple-haired humanoid with bored-looking eyes, wearing a maid headband and a frilly, whitish purple shirt, with a very broad collar and puffy black skirt, that almost covered her black shoes with alternating black and white socks..

Shaking his head, Ronald move to other sections. He skipped the economic and trade section, and moved to the tutorial section which he checked on frequently. It taught him quite a lot regarding how to utilise skills properly and manage mobs and crafts. The small details mattered.

Idly browsing, he came to a video that had a strange caption in the Mage Section, which was why it attracted him. It said “Biscuit System”. Curious, Ronald loaded it. He was not really surprised to see the same blond presenter, though this time, she was dressed with some furs around her arms and shoulders, something quite associated with rogue. The sloped hat was quite telling too.

Opposite of her was a man, a different one than Ronald saw the last time. This time, it was a bespectacled man with thinning light brown hair. Everything of him oozed “scholarly” and “professor”. At least he was not fat. He looked quite thin, but it was a virtual setting, so everything could be a little deceiving. He had a rod on his lap. They were seated on a very comfortable-looking pair of red sofas.

“Welcome, Professor Drek. We thank you for your willingness to share with us your knowledge.”

“I thank you too, Miss Saunders.”

*Light clapping around the background*

“I believe you are the person responsible for developing Royal Road’s advanced skill system?”

“Yes. I did, and still do. I am grateful to be allowed to work with Unicorn Corporation.”

“Why is that, Professor Drek?”

“It allows me to advance my own research by probably twenty years or so. Their resources and technology are really ahead of everyone else.”

“Truly, Professor Drek?”

“Truly, Miss Saunders.”

*Oohing and ahhing at the background*

“Now. Getting back to the topic, if I recall correctly, you are not a programmer, are you, Professor Drek? In fact, your resume says that your area of expertise is not even computers.”

“That is right, Miss Saunders. My specialty is not computers.”

“Please tell everyone here what is your specialty, Professor Drek.”

“I am known in the medical field as the foremost researcher of brain activity.”

“How does it go with Royal Road, Professor Drek? I am puzzled here.”

*Mild laughter around the background*

The professor also chuckled.

“Okay. I think it is faster with a demonstration.”

“As everyone can see here, I am dressed as a Wizard. Fireball.”

A sphere of fire floated above his open right palm. Miss Saunders looked unimpressed.

“I think everyone will acknowledge you are a Wizard, Professor Drek.”

*A lot of laughter*

The professor, however, looked pretty smug. He dismissed the fireball by murmuring “Cancel”.

“Why, everyone, thank you. But bear with me for a minute, Miss Saunders. The explanation will be interesting.” The blond presenter nodded.

“Now, every mage, priest, warrior, archer, any class. They speak the <> in order to activate their skill. I believe that Mister Caine, my colleague, already mentioned about the Macro that players can use.”

*A nod from Miss Saunders*

“But, what if you do not need to speak at all?”

“What do you mean, Professor Drek?”

As a reply on its own, the mature man with a balding pate, opened his palm again, and this time, a single bar of flame sprouted, and split into four fireballs that bobbed lazily. Miss Saunder’s eyes nearly popped out in surprise. It seemed they never warned her of this possibility, or she was one hell of an actress.

“Is that <>, Professor Drek?”

“Yes, it is, Miss Saunders.”

Professor Drek closed his right hand, and the whole floating balls of fire consumed itself. He reopened his palm again, and this time, a ball of pure blue light floated a few inches above his palm. Closing and reopening it again, this time, an electric ball of white lightning danced around.

“How are you doing this, Professor Drek? I definitely did not hear you chant any <>.”

“It is all in here, Miss Saunders, all in here.”

Professor Drek tapped his head a few times with his right hand’s index finger, that was done playing with the ball of lightning.

“You must be talking about your brain, I assume.”

“I am, Miss Saunders. I will explain now.”

There were not cue for laughter. Everyone was truly interested.

“It is called this BISCUIT System. Brain Interface Sympathetic Circuit System. Biscuit for short. As to the comical name, I will leave that to Mister Caine who coined it.”

*Laughter*

“Now. Royal Road users sign a written permission that allows their individual capsules to scan their body to make the basic avatar. Generally, everyone thought that the muscle control in the virtual world is based upon this technology. They were half right, but everything begins from your very thoughts.”

Miss Saunders was paying attention raptly.

“The scan here, includes the brain too, specifically the patterns when you move and such. Since basic human movements use the same brain functions, the system can immediately immediately assign a basic pattern that allows your avatar to move immediately in-game.”

“But magic and skills? That is something else.”

Professor Drek stopped a few seconds to draw out the silence, also collecting his thoughts.

“I am sure, you, Miss Saunders, moved with ease a few hours after you first entered the game. Am I right?”

“Yes, Professor Drek.”

“That is the capsule continuously performing a scan, that then interprets the fine motor movements of your body. The more you play, the better your movements will get.”

“I am still waiting, Professor Drek. I think the audience will agree with me that they are getting impatient.”

*Cheers of encouragement could be heard*

“Bear with me a little longer, Miss Saunders. I am getting to my point.”

“Now. Speech is a little harder to be measured compared to muscle movements. Each person associates words differently in their brain. You breathe, walk and move, approximately using the same section of the brain responsible for that. But speech is a learned function, not a natural one, which is where I come in.”

“In my study, I hypothesised that the brain speech function can be separated into specific patterns, that is then translated into a basic universal language. Mister Caine was not allowed to tell you that, but I can. It is actually how you can talk with players that speak a language you have never learned, because you and him, or her, have the speech pattern interpreted from continuous scans. Of course, Mister Caine was right too, we have a compilation of languages that translate back and forth, but only at the beginning, when your brain pattern is not yet fully recognised by the server. Once you are recognised, the Xenoglossia System, the basic system that translates languages back and forth, will then be shelved for the Biscuit System here.”

“So, this is the culmination of that research.”

Professor Drek opened both of his palms now, while seated. A sphere of ice began collecting between his hands. He clapped, and it shrunk into the void before the surface of his hands could touch it. Even Ronald could tell Miss Saunders was impressed. Hell, he was!

“You think... I can learn that, Professor Drek?”

Her attitude was now a little soft. Ronald could see the lowered eyelids and parted lips. She was flirting with the professor! (Author: Age of the geek, baby!)

“Of course, Miss Saunders. Though I intended the research to go beyond Royal Road, it begins there. Officially, the system is already included the moment you create your character. There is no set benchmark, since each person has differing focus and concentration, but the benchmark set here is three hundred scans, best performed under various situations.”

“Is that so, Professor Drek! This is delightful! I have to try it later!”

’Miss Saunders! You are now giving him the big signal!’

Winter was chuckling. The pretty blond presenter had moved her knees to angle them to the Professor. Aside from serving him up with her nice legs, it also closed the distance between them a little.

“You are welcome to, Miss Saunders. But I will warn everyone not to try this early, as you need a minimum focus and properly documented brain patterns. If you are trying to do something you are not used to....”

Professor Drek stood up with his rod in his left hand, drawing lazy circles on the air with a look of concentration. He was looking at a magical circle that began forming a little in front of the rod’s head, that extended from the hand holding it. If something was supposed to happen, Ronald did not see it. He moved his head closer to the digital screen of his device.

If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

*Bang!* *Plop*

“Oh my god! Are you okay, Professor Drek!”

Miss Saunders rushed to the Professor that was suddenly propelled backward to his chair, even toppling the whole thing. His extended legs with leather boots peeked out for a second, before disappearing behind the toppled sofa. He quickly stood up with a smile. It surprised the bejesus out of Ronald, too. He swore a little and righted his seat, that had also shifted from the sudden surprise.

“I am okay. Just a little demonstration,” Professor Drek waved the helping hands away.

“What happened there, Professor Drek?”

“That, was a <>.”

“A <> Professor Drek? What did you cast?”

“I call the fiery breath of destruction. Flaming Breath.”

A jet of fire, that shot from the rod all the way to the edge of the screen, came out of the formed circle in front of the rod. The screen panned out quickly to show the jet of fire, which probably hit some 20m length for six seconds or so, before the screen panned back after the spell terminated.

“I have never seen that spell before, Professor Drek. Is that a new spell?”

“I guess you can say that, Miss Saunders, though it is not. You need to be a Wizard to learn it. Since Royal Road is not even two months old, there should be nobody that has reached that level yet. I assure you though, eventually someone will learn it.”

After righting the toppled sofa, both of them sat again. Winter noticed that the sofa that Miss Saunders helped to right now sat closer than before it was toppled.

“Now, where was I. Oh yes. A miscast.”

Nodding to himself, Drek continued,

“That happened because the system has not fully scanned my brain patterns, you see. I had only tried this spell ten times, unlike all the previous demonstrations, where I tried it hundreds of times, thousands of times, to make sure it worked perfectly. Those spells you saw previously was the beginning, where I perfected the system, which is why I am most familiar with them. Therefore, my recommendation to players, if you are not sure, it is better to use <> just to be safe. Can’t have you blowing yourself backward in a fight because you want to show off there, right?”

*Loud gales of laughter*

Ronald could love this old professor. He knew his stuff,had good demonstrations and knewhow to draw out explanation and jokes. The video had ran over six minutes, already a minute longer than Caine’s segment. That said how well-received he was.

“Okay. So, Biscuit System. It is useful, in a limited way. Best works for spells you are most familiar with, but does not mean you cannot use other spells that you are not good with. It will take time, but keep at it, and you can be a real wizard in Royal Road, casting spells without speaking. Oh. I forget to mention. The cast time and delays still apply. The system takes your fastest cast time in this case. All of you are warned.”

“Thank you for the warning, Professor Drek. Is there anything else you wish to add before we close this segment? I just received word that we are already over the time limit.”

“Be very careful when you cast unfamiliar spells using this method. The greater the spell, the greater backlash when you <>.”

Ronald was thinking that the lecturing tone was appropriate.

“Can you give an example, Professor Drek? Before we end the segment? The producer is a fan of the game too, and would love a good demonstration.”

“Sure, Miss Saunders. A moment, please.”

Professor Drek typed something, and the scene changed to a mountainous, rocky, earth, with jagged peaks of rock instead of the pure white world. The sofas disappeared, too. The still seated Miss Saunders was now seated on a bench of rock. She stood quickly in surprise, checking her surroundings.

“I am sorry, Miss Saunders. I am asking the technicians to change the scenery for a proper demonstration. I think your producer will like this very much.”

A rock the size of a three story building rose at a distance with a loud grinding sound. The virtual camera shook a little, too.

“I shall begin now, Miss Saunders. Please stand behind me.”

He was raising the rod on his left hand, and the open palm of his right hand was like the olden image of doing a grand magic gesture, when he turned his head back to Miss Saunders.

“Do not panic.”

“Professor Drek!”

Miss Saunders annoyingly exclaimed. Grinning a little, Professor Drek’s head faced to the tall, rough stone, ten meters in height. Ronald gripped the screen tightly, and he recognised the spell. The Professor spoke in a crisp, clear, unhurried voice.

“Heed the contract and serve me, O’ King of the skies! Come forth, blazing thunder, slayer of Titans! Hurl down lightning one hundred, and even one thousand times! Thousand Bolt!”

It went pretty close to how Ronald experienced it during this fight in the Forest of Lasem, except instead of taking over five minutes, it took Professor Drek probably a little over ten seconds to cast the whole sequence of spells. With every cadence, the spell circles were building up, until he spoke the name of the spell, and bolts of thunder pulverized the rock. It left a crater too, like the time he used it. There was no target lock or <>, or even mana sacrifice. Everything was internalised. Ronald was greatly admiring the roguish grin the balding professor was displaying to Miss Saunders, who had clutched his back when the spell crashed down.

The screen went white for half a second, before booms of thunders were heard for a full second, as if a thousand strikes of lightning was compressed in a single second or two.

“That is.... Impressive, Professor Drek! Magnificent!”

Miss Saunders was caught in the excitement Ronald felt, of being in contact with a spell that powerful. It felt even better for him, since he was doing the casting, only he was not expecting it, and thus ruined all the fun himself. Miss Saunders stopped for a second, it seemed like she was receiving a message. She did.

“The producer loves it, Professor Drek. He personally thanks you for showing him such a nice piece of magic. He promises to be a Wizard even if he has to restart his character.”

Professor Drek took the praises coolly.

“By the way, if I made a <> there, there will be nothing left of me, Miss Saunders.”

She blinked twice in reply, her face blank.

“Oh yes. It happened to Mister Caine once. He misspoke the <> and blew himself up magnificently. Unfortunately, I am not allowed to show you the recording.”

He winked at her, which set her chuckling.

“Oops. We really have to go now, Professor Drek. I once more thank you for being such a great guest for today.”

“You’re welcome, Miss Saunders. I will appreciate it if you are willing to meet me for dinner when you are free.”

’Damn, Professor! That is smooth!’

“I...I.... What should I do... This is the first time I have been asked out in front of camera.”

Out of all things, Miss Saunders blushed. She suddenly looked very cute to Ronald. Got to love unexpected things in life.

’Dammit, woman.... you were flirting with him earlier and now you are hesitating? Make up your mind!’

Ronald’s inner caveman was roaring and beating his chest.

“How about ‘Yes’, Miss Saunders. I look forward to hearing from you again in near future.”

“Ah. Yes.”

She recovered as quickly as possible. But everyone had seen the fumble.

“This ends the segment for this week, everyone. Thank you for watching.”

The video ended, showing Miss Saunders with a little blush on her cheek, and the smiling Professor,who suddenly looked really good. Damn.

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Author's Note:

1. Thank you to -The Slacker- for the diligent PR

2. The credit help for this chapter goes to no one but me sadly.

3. This is my last chapter for the next two weeks. Details on why can be found in the Couch section.

4. Do leave comments for anything you can think of. I appreciate reading them, even for punctuation mistake!

5. Enjoy, folks!