Chapter 17 Full Compensation (Special thanks to the Alliance Master, Ai Lubao)

Dual-wielding? Are you kidding me? Did you wander into the wrong universe? What is a wuxia technique doing in a fantasy world?

Mei Mumu felt utterly vexed, but the mechanical voice's explanation brought him a measure of relief: "Detected that this world's magic mechanics are relatively traditional; 99% of spells require gestures. Even if you can cast spells instantaneously, gestures still enhance their overall effectiveness. 'Dual-Wielding' is a prerequisite skill for 'Multiple Large-Scale Spellcasting.' Does the host choose to accept or refuse?"

Damn it!

This 'Dual-Wielding' skill costs three full Destiny Points, and you want me to give it up? Are you messing with me?

"Accept!"

He remembered how, in the old novels, Old Mischief Zhou Botong could use different techniques with each hand to battle his enemies. That kind of effect was definitely not as simple as one plus one equals two; in Mei Mumu’s view, it was at least three, no less than the combined force of two telepathic twins.

As for its effect in the field of magic, surely it wouldn’t be any less impressive!

Gritting his teeth, Mei Mumu began reading the 'Dual-Wielding Tutorial' in his mind.

"Please begin your practice. First, draw a circle with your left hand and a square with your right," the mechanical voice instructed.

"But...my hands tremble!" Mei Mumu protested miserably. His hands were anything but steady.

"No problem. The system will automatically filter out the effects of hand tremors and provide accurate assessment in your mental sea."

Gnashing his teeth, Mei Mumu complied.

This was no simple task.

The human brain is divided into left and right hemispheres. The left brain controls the right side of the body, the right brain, the left. In theory, the two hemispheres can coordinate but are also distinct.

From infancy, as we learn to crawl, walk, run, jump, and throw, it's all a process of training the brain, forming neural circuits, and developing muscle memory.

Practicing 'Dual-Wielding' now was a complete subversion of everything his body had learned.

Only when he began did he realize how difficult it truly was. Either both hands drew circles or both drew squares, or else both hands produced shapes that were neither square nor round.

Yet after Mordo left, before it was time for bed, he persisted.

He kept practicing, following the trajectories set by the balance system projected onto his retinas.

He had no idea that everything he was doing was seen by the Ancient One and Mordo.

This was no surprise; as the Sorcerer Supreme, the Ancient One was the greatest master of spatial magic in the world. Kamar-Taj was her sanctum, and theoretically, she could observe any corner of it at will.

Of course, there were special spells that could temporarily conceal certain areas when she wasn’t paying attention. For example, last time, Kaecilius exploited her absence to raid the library.

Obviously, Mei Mumu didn’t know those spells.

"What is he doing?" The Ancient One was curious about Mei Mumu’s actions.

"Some kind of neurological rehabilitation? Didn’t he injure both his hands?"

"No. He knows very well that modern medicine can do nothing for his crippled hands," the Ancient One replied with certainty.

"Then...could it be…he’s preparing to study magic?"

A sudden intuition struck her, and the Ancient One sensed that Mordo's guess was correct. "Perhaps so. An interesting young man..."

Mei Mumu continued training until he was utterly exhausted.

Before bed, he took out his phone and entered the wifi password.

He immediately discovered that his Twitter and email inboxes had been flooded.

First was Christine, who had sent several anxious voice messages: "Mei Mu, are you alright? Blackwater Security called me several times, and then they showed up in the ER. They asked if I knew what kind of trouble you’d gotten into. The two security guards you hired in Kathmandu were killed. My God! For heaven’s sake, if you’re still alive, send me a message!"

There were several more messages, all growing increasingly frantic.

Mei Mumu sighed. He had no idea how Kamar-Taj had handled things, but it seemed to have been done poorly. After some thought, he decided to send Christine a voice message.

"Because of my crippled hands, I hired bodyguards. Unexpectedly, I really did encounter danger—it was a terrifying robbery. The attackers killed my two guards, but fortunately, I was saved by benefactors from Kamar-Taj. I’m very safe now, don’t worry about me. I’ll handle things with Blackwater myself."

Kamar-Taj was an odd place; it had wifi, but no cell signal. Even though Mordo insisted that people here weren’t primitive, the lack of cell service left Mei Mumu feeling hopeless.

But that wasn’t really Kamar-Taj’s fault.

Nepal was a backward place—poor economy, poor transportation, poor communications. Apart from satellite phones, there was no signal to speak of.

Still, Mei Mumu managed to reach Blackwater via email.

Blackwater was, unsurprisingly, furious.

A low-level security job had cost them two veterans, and nobody knew what had really happened.

When Mei Mumu repeated the excuse he’d given Christine, Blackwater fired back with a barrage of questions.

"Mr. Mei, you have not been honest with us. You provided false information, causing us to severely underestimate the difficulty of your security needs. You requested the lowest level of protection and had no negative history, so we assigned you ordinary personnel. Still, the two of them were more than capable of handling petty thieves."

"The people who attacked you were definitely not ordinary. As a professional surgeon, you should know that no normal person can split a human skull in two with a blade. That wasn’t even done with a chainsaw—a chainsaw could never leave such a smooth wound."

"Please clarify the identity and motive of the attacker as soon as possible. We urgently wish to meet with you to re-evaluate the situation. If it was our security failure, per our contract, we will not hold you liable for the deaths, and will compensate you accordingly."

Blackwater didn’t mention the rest: if Mei Mumu had withheld information, the liability was his.

Mei Mumu reviewed his contract again and found it wasn’t that expensive—even if he paid the full sum, it was only a hundred thousand dollars.

After all, it was the lowest-tier security contract. And Americans cared most about commercial insurance—pay the premiums, and you’re covered for anything. For example, any American soldier killed on duty would have a $250,000 life insurance payout.

Blackwater’s people were called “security guards,” but in reality, they were mercenaries.

Back in the Iraq War, the US, worried about losing too many soldiers, actually hired tens of thousands of “security contractors” to fight alongside them—because these desperadoes were dirt cheap.

After thinking it over, Mei Chastity decided to pay up in full... Not a chance!

He promptly shifted the blame to Kaecilius.

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PS: I’ll say it here—thanks to the two longtime supporters for their continued rewards. I’ll add more chapters after launch.