Chapter 217 “A pretentious p.r.i.c.k” (part one)
Wide and vast, even the light reflecting off the surface is as smooth as satin. No matter where you search in the Desa province, only at this Loulan Lake will one find such attractive greens. Filled with Poplar trees on top and lush shallow gra.s.s on the bottom, only here will one not be plagued by the piercing winds of the Northwest.
It was supposed to be nothing but wilderness, yet on this spot; a taste of the southern fertile lands can be felt. Best of all, the large lake is comprised entirely of freshwater and abundant with fish, both a rare commodity in this barren landscape.
However, just a few days ago, an order came down from the Duke himself that none is to fish or sail on this lake in the coming month. Normally what would be a bustling scene of boats moving about is now replaced by a serene and peaceful image that could calm even the hardest of hearts.
Under this blue sky filled with the blazing red evening clouds due to the setting sun, Du Wei is the only person that could be found here.
Floating atop of the lake water, he used ice magic to create a circular ice disk covered in thick leather pads so he could relax on it with ease.
Considering Du Wei’s magic ability at the moment, he would normally be unable to pull off such a feat due to his lack of magic powers. Nevertheless, his ability to manipulate magic far exceeds those of his level because of the magic research he stole from the academy. In addition, Alley taught him a magic array that allows him to continuously infuse energy in his spells.
Placed under this ice disk of his is a six pointed star diagram with a magic crystal at each star point. By doing this, a constant stream of magic energy will continuously flow into his little ice island and keep it from melting.
With his black robe fluttering in the wind and the reddish hue of the setting sun, Du Wei looked like someone out of this world. Accompanied by a bottle of fine wine next to his body, anyone seeing this would certainly be envious.
Letting a relieving sigh, Du Wei reached out a hand for the bottle and lets out a satisfying tone as he sipped away at the wine: “Amazing…. Aigh, why didn’t I think of this sooner after coming to the Northwest for so long?”
With that, he suddenly started to rummage through his gown as if searching for something. The reason for this is because he redesigned the storage bag given to him by Gandalf into a pocket for his wizardry robe…..
“Hmm, just like Doraemon.” Du Wei laughs at himself for what he has done.
(Anyone that doesn’t know what Doraemon is can just look at the blue cat picture on my main page)
What he pulled out is an instrument. Spanning a meter in length with 18 strings, the entire body is a dark red shade.
Even if he gathered all the musicians across the continent, it is likely not a single one of them would recognize this thing because the object in his hand is a zither!
This instrument is something Du Wei made by having several luthiers craft it for him. Originally, the Roland continent never had something like this because the majority of the string instruments are only comprised of harps and etc. Through his continuous effort in explaining the features of a zither, he finally managed to create three to five models. Out of the batch, he only took the timbre model because he thought it was the most beautiful.
At this moment, Du Wei straightened his back and started to gently caress the strings. Through the movement of his fingers, a series of long notes began to break out into the world…….
In order to explain why he would know how to play this stuff, we would have to go back.
In his previous life, the entrance exams for the educational inst.i.tutes’ could literally leave anyone speechless. It should have been only a paper exam to test one’s knowledge, but by hiding behind the hollow slogan of “quality education”, the higher ups came up with something called a beauty specialist. If one manages to land such a t.i.tle, the person in question is rewarded with extra points in the examination process for universities.
(For anyone that doesn’t know, entrance exams for universities are done nationwide in china and the points you get decides what grade of universities you are allowed to apply.)
Under this fine-sounding name of “overall development”, the threshold was thus raised even further. For something like music, unless you are placed in the regionals top compet.i.tion, you can absolutely forget about getting bonus points in your examination results.
Yet, Du Wei just so happens to be an oddity in his past life. Since he was little he was forced to learn the zither by his parents, nonetheless, he inexplicably landed a spot on the top three and was thus awarded bonus points in his overall university entrance scores. Through the extra boost, he even managed to get into a very good university.
It’s just that zither’s are something too time consuming. Unless you put in the effort, it’s impossible to play it well. Despite the elegance of this instrument, there really isn’t that many around even in his past life that could truly understand its beauty.
After being forced to learn it since he was small, Du Wei never really went back to it after his university years…… The reason for this is due to the reception from the girls. Unlike the zither, the playboys in his cla.s.s only need to learn the guitar for a few days before running off to impress the girls in his dorm. Worst of all, these guys would even be rewarded with a ‘flirtatious scholar’ name, so how can Du Wei put up with such humiliation?
Have you ever seen someone standing outside a girl’s dorm playing a zither?
Of course not!
If he really did such an outlandish move, others might really call him an idiot.
Its true Du Wei held some hate towards the zither, but even so, during New Year and other festivals, he would still bring it out to practice once in a while. He may have been forced to learn it, but this habit has already become an undeniable part of his life.
So why did Du Wei suddenly revisit this part of his life and go through so much trouble? The answer is simple: the first dragon that’s supposed to be coming for him is on its way!
According to the news brought back by Hussein, this eldest son of the dragon patriarch is equipped with immense magical talents and is well versed in draconic magic. However, his weakness is actually very easy to spot and that is:
He’s pretentious.
Pretending to be something you are not is fine if you can pull it off, but if you don’t do it well, then you are nothing but a pretentious p.r.i.c.k.
Despite his many merits and great lineage, this dragon prince seems to be extremely obsessed with music. From rumor, he even copied his father and quietly sneaked into the human world. Visiting every famed musician he can find, this dragon became fluent in just about every instrument there is in existence. In particular, he is exceptionally skilled with the strings.
The Prince’s fascination with music can be regarded as an anecdote within the dragon tribe and is even said that music is his life. Humans and dragons are biologically different because humans are born with five fingers while ordinary dragons like the green and red variants, only have two claws at best. Even for the dragon king known as the gold specie, they only have four claws! Yet fate likes to play games. In music, four fingers just so happens to be the perfect number to play the harp.
From what is known, the dragon tribe is stuck guarding the north from the exiled races because they are being punished by G.o.d. Whenever a member of the exiled races attempt to cross over into the south, the outcome would always result in bloodshed.
In the midst all the death and cold, this dragon prince somehow perceived a glimmer of understanding that only he can grasp. Due to this, he would often sit on top of the iron mountain and look towards the south as he played the harp. Entranced by his music, his peers eventually gave him a nickname “King of the harp”.
Among the Dragon race, this eight-fingered harp king is not an ent.i.ty that would make every dragon yield, but he most certain can earn their respect.