Chapter 48: What’s Wrong With Cupcakes?!

The words remained suspended above the Magic Cube while the three of them stared at the result.

Zishan read the remark once, then again, making sure he had not misunderstood anything. He’d expected the Cube to show his race, Level, and Stats, but he hadn’t expected it to judge him afterward.

The Sergeant seemed to have forgotten about the Demonic Magic issue for a moment. His attention remained fixed on the projection, particularly on Zishan’s Stats, while the Lieutenant had gone unusually quiet beside him.

Zishan noticed both of their expressions.

A smile began to creep across his face again. "Well, I like this thing now..."

He leaned back in his chair afterward, looking far more satisfied than he had any right to be, while neither officer appeared interested in encouraging him any further.

The Lieutenant checked the Magic Cube again before turning toward the Sergeant. "Those Stats are far beyond the usual range for someone at Level 50."

The Sergeant nodded. "Especially for someone Unascended."

Zishan’s grin became wider.

The Lieutenant glanced at him once the reading disappeared. "Your race is Human. At the very least, this Cube found no indication that you’re a Demon."

"At the very least?" Zishan sat forward again, already looking offended. "What else do you want from me? Blood? Hair? Do I have to piss on some enchanted rock next just to prove where I came from?"

The Sergeant’s expression changed at that last suggestion, while the Lieutenant simply stared at him long enough for Zishan to realize how ridiculous that had sounded.

The Lieutenant ignored his remarks and asked another Soldier to keep the Magic Cube on the table for now.

Zishan was still staring at it.

He had encountered enchanted equipment before, along with Magic Weapons and Larper’s slave collar, yet this was the first time he had seen an object capable of directly reading someone’s race and Stats.

"Who made this thing?" he asked.

"These were made by Cyrune’s famous Magic Engineers."

Zishan picked up the cube before the soldier could stop him and examined the symbols on one side. "They can make something like this out of stone?"

"Magic Stones," the Sergeant corrected him.

The Lieutenant explained that a Magic Cube started as a Magic Stone before being processed by a Magic Engineer. The carvings and internal Mana pathways were created so the stone could detect certain information from whoever touched it and display the result.

Zishan turned the cube around in his hands. "So Magic Engineers have Metal Mana Affinity or something, I guess?"

"Some might," the Lieutenant acknowledged. "But that isn’t the Affinity mainly used for creating artifacts."

Zishan looked up. "Then what is?"

"Artifice Mana Affinity."

"Artifice?"

The Lieutenant explained that Metal Mana Affinity and Artifice Mana Affinity were fundamentally different. Metal Mana Affinity allowed a person to interact with metal itself, while Artifice Mana Affinity focused more on how different things were constructed and how their individual parts worked together.

A Magic Engineer with Artifice Mana Affinity could understand structures, components, Mana pathways, mechanisms, engravings, and the way those things interacted with each other.

Zishan looked down at the Magic Cube again. "So if someone has Metal Mana Affinity, they could manipulate the metal parts of something."

The Lieutenant nodded.

"And someone with Artifice Mana Affinity would understand how the whole thing works?" Zishan continued.

"Hmm. But it would still depend on their knowledge and ability, although that is close enough."

"Ohhh!"

Zishan became interested at once. ’That actually sounds useful!’

If somebody could understand how artifacts were put together, then there had to be all sorts of things they could create. Weapons, armor, strange tools, maybe even machines powered by Mana.

He stared at the cube. ’Could they make a cupcake machine?’

To him, that sounded like music to his ears.

Zishan was about to ask about it when another question entered his mind. "Wait. Can this thing read anyone?"

"No," the Lieutenant answered. "Magic Cubes also have limits."

The quality of the Magic Stone and the ability of the Magic Engineer who created it affected what the Cube could read. Lower-quality ones would fail against powerful Mages, while higher-quality versions could identify targets at much greater Levels.

The military also possessed stronger Magic Cubes for special cases, although even those had a limit.

"There has never been a recorded Magic Cube capable of reading someone who has reached the Levels preceding the final Ascent," the Lieutenant explained. "At that stage, the difference in power becomes too great for any existing Cube to properly interpret."

Zishan nodded.

His own Appraisal Skill had also encountered people and objects it couldn’t properly read before. The difference was that a Magic Cube allowed other people to perform a similar inspection without having the Skill themselves.

Then, he remembered something else. "Wait."

The Lieutenant looked at him.

"Wait, if Demons are smart enough to disguise themselves, wouldn’t they also know about these Magic Cubes?" Zishan continued.

"They do know about them. After all, it’s already public knowledge that the races had found their own identification artifacts of their own," the Sergeant replied this time. "And they have Magic too."

"Then, couldn’t they make something that could fool this Magic Cube thingy?"

The Sergeant’s expression became more serious.

Zishan looked between them with discerning eyes. "They can, can’t they?"

The Lieutenant nodded. "There have been cases where Demons managed to interfere with a Magic Cube’s reading. Their civilization also has researchers, Mages, and intelligent beings capable of developing Magic of their own. They’re not mindless monsters."

Zishan raised a brow. "Then, how can you trust this?"

"The Cubes used by the military are heavily protected. Access is restricted, and they’re checked for tampering. We also make sure they’re kept away from enemy hands whenever possible."

Zishan stared at the Magic Cube. That still didn’t sound perfect.

’If Demons can look exactly like Humans, what stops one from joining the military as well?’ he thought, his mind wandering between cupcakes, leveling up, and the issue with demons.

The Sergeant snapped his fingers in front of him.

He woke up from his trance and glanced around the tent. He seemed to have realized something. There were several soldiers and officers inside.

’Fuck... what if there are already Demons here?’ He narrowed his eyes at the Sergeant.

The Sergeant noticed. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

Zishan looked away. "Nothing."

He then returned his attention to the Magic Cube and used Appraisal on it instead.

’APPRAISAL!’

A familiar panel appeared.

[Item: Magic Cube]

Zishan waited.

"..."

That was all.

He tried again.

[Item: Magic Cube]

He had Perfected Appraisal now. He had expected to see its quality, the type of Magic Stone used, its maker, or at least something about whether the Cube could be tampered with.

Instead, the Skill had basically told him the same thing the Lieutenant had said several minutes ago.

’System, is there a Skill better than Appraisal?’

[Yes.]

Zishan waited for more, though nothing else appeared. After several seconds, his expression slowly soured as he realized the System had answered his question in the most literal way possible.

’You know damn well that wasn’t the only thing I wanted to know. What’s the Skill called?’

[The Dumb Host does not need that information.]

His eyebrow twitched.

’Why would I ask if I didn’t want to know?! You could have just told me the fucking name instead of making this difficult!’

The System remained silent.

Zishan clenched his fist and glared at the empty space in front of him as though that would somehow intimidate it into answering.

’Petty. You’re fucking petty.’

[Noted.]

That somehow annoyed him even more.

The Sergeant watched Zishan fidget in his seat, looking as though something had crawled into his trousers. But the officer decided not to ask.

After the Magic Cube was placed back inside its chest, the Lieutenant returned to Zishan’s reports. "At present, the Cube confirms that you’re Human. As for Demonic Magic, we still have no proof that you’ve used it. Your growth is still unusual, although the Magic Cube does confirm that your attributes are abnormally high for your Level."

Zishan nodded proudly.

The Lieutenant gathered several of the reports together before asking, "What do you intend to do after this?"

Zishan looked at him. "What do you mean?"

"You’ve gained thirty Levels in a very short period of time, awakened several abilities, acquired two Sovereign-tier Skills, and reached attributes that most people at your Level wouldn’t possess. What are your plans from here?"

"Oh! Of course, I’ll grind more!"

The Lieutenant stared at him.

"There are still enemies on the battlefield, right?" Zishan continued. "Then I’ll keep fighting. I need EXP, and stronger enemies give me more EXP. I’ll keep getting stronger until people like that Level 99 bastard can’t kick me across the battlefield anymore."

The Sergeant crossed his arms. "You almost died several times yesterday."

"That’s why I need to get stronger!"

Zishan genuinely didn’t understand what was confusing about this. If strong enemies nearly killed him, the most obvious solution was to become stronger than them.

He also had his original Bloodline and Physique to figure out, more Skills to obtain, more Levels to gain, and whatever other ridiculous rewards the Precedence System would give him in the future.

Then he remembered something far more important. "Oh! And I need to find a bakery."

The Lieutenant stopped moving, while the Sergeant looked at him again.

Zishan continued, "I still haven’t found one since coming here. I don’t even know if people in this Kingdom know how to make proper cupcakes. Well, it’s reasonable I haven’t seen one since we’re on a battlefield, but Ollie told me that his aunt works at a bakery."

Neither officer said anything. They simply looked at Zishan, who seemed to be talking more to himself than to them.

"If there’s no bakery near the battlefield, I’ll find one somewhere else later. Or I’ll find a baker and teach them."

Then, he paused.

He scratched his chin as his eyes slowly sparkled. ’Wait... wouldn’t it be easier if I just got a Baking Skill?’

The Lieutenant remained silent; so did the Sergeant.

Zishan’s eyes lit up. "Yeah! That should exist, right?! There are Skills for fighting, healing, moving around, taming beasts, and all sorts of shit. There has to be some kind of Baking Skill!"

The Sergeant stared at him.

Zishan was already thinking about the possibilities. Maybe there was a Basic Baking Skill. Or an Advanced Baking Skill.

Perhaps higher-tier cooking professions had Skills that could make food taste better through Mana. ’HOLY SHIT! WHAT IF THERE’S A CUPCAKE SKILL?!’

He looked at the Lieutenant with complete seriousness. "So that’s the plan. I’ll grind on the battlefield, get stronger, gain more Levels and Skills, then find a bakery or a baker. If that doesn’t work, I’ll find some way to get a Baking Skill and make the cupcakes myself."

"..."

"..."

Both officers stared at him.

Zishan frowned. "What?"

The Lieutenant looked down at the reports in front of him.

Those reports contained information about a young man who had gained thirty Levels during a single battle, obtained multiple rare abilities, defeated a Level 99 enemy Corporal, acquired several tamed Magic Beasts, and possessed Stats high enough for a military Magic Cube to call an era-defining prodigy.

Then, he looked back at Zishan. "Cupcakes?"

"Yes." Zishan nodded enthusiastically.

The Sergeant slowly rubbed his forehead.

Zishan crossed his arms. "What’s wrong with cupcakes?!"

Neither officer answered him.