I Became a Cub in the Elven Kingdom - Chapter 19

Chapter 19 – The Top Student Home Tutor

Intrusion?

Oh, no, no, no! Not at all!

I couldn’t be happier!

A tutor who comes to my door? Who could refuse?

Of course, I’ll open the door and welcome you warmly!

“Please, come in—” Shu Li invited Kumandi inside with particular formality.

Since fairies are winged creatures, their homes are typically built with high ceilings. The cub dormitories are standard-sized rooms designed to accommodate them until adulthood. However, to ensure the cubs’ comfort, the furniture is scaled down. As they grow, the furniture will be replaced with appropriately sized pieces.

After entering, Kumandi subtly surveyed Shu Li’s room.

The once-spartan space had been transformed with numerous additions, meticulously arranged by its occupant.

Two floral tapestries adorned the walls, a soft rug covered the floor, and four adorable wooden dolls sat on the bedside table. The desk was even more elaborate, featuring tea sets, water bottles, pen holders, notebooks, a kettle, and a small stove powered by an embedded Fire Magic Stone.

A hundred-day-old cub had already learned to keep his little home tidy.

Sperien was remarkably intelligent, far surpassing the average cub.

So why can’t he master Elven?

Kumandi approached the desk and glanced down at the open notebook lying there.

The small notebook was filled with strange symbols. These symbols were square-shaped, roughly the same size, neat and fluid, possessing an indescribable aesthetic appeal.

That afternoon, when Shu Li took the cubs to the commercial district to interact with shopkeepers, Sperien would pull out the notebook from a small pouch at his waist whenever he struggled to speak. He would quickly flip through it, find the relevant symbol, and then continue speaking.

So, these symbols served as prompts?

It was an odd learning method, somewhat useful but highly inefficient.

Because he was a cub, his conversation partners patiently waited. But if he continued this habit as an adult, they likely wouldn’t have the patience to wait for him to flip through his notebook.

Shu Li noticed Kumandi staring at his notebook and felt a jolt of panic. Oh no!

He had been too excited earlier, rushing to open the door without remembering the notebook was still lying open on the table. Now the Top Student had caught him red-handed.

What if the Top Student asked what he was writing? How would he explain?

After a moment of internal turmoil, Shu Li decided to take the offensive. Feigning composure, he casually closed the notebook, stacked it with the other four, and pushed them to the corner of the table. Then, picking up the kettle, he stammered, “I… I’ll boil water… for tea!”

They had a guest, and it was only proper to offer tea.

Before Kumandi could respond, Shu Li scooped water from the large wooden barrel filled with fresh water, poured it into the kettle, and placed the kettle on the small stove. Following the instructions given by the general store owner, he chanted the incantation over the Fire Magic Stone inside the stove.

“Great… Fire God Amafa Puches… I am Sperien of the Faerie Forest… Please grant me a spark of fire…”

After reciting the fragmented incantation, Shu Li stared intently at the stove.

Nothing happened.

The Fire Magic Stone remained completely still.

Puzzled, Shu Li leaned over the table, peering closely at the stove, and cautiously touched the Fire Magic Stone inside with his finger.

Strange, why isn’t it reacting?

The general store owner had clearly stated that even fairies who hadn’t learned magic could use this type of stove. All they needed to do was chant the incantation, and the Great Fire God would hear the believer’s prayer, descending divine power to ignite the Magic Stone.

Yet now, after completing the incantation, the Fire God was completely ignoring him.

If only I’d bought a simple stove that uses flint and steel.

Or why couldn’t they design it like a lamp? Just twist it to turn it on?

Chanting the incantation was such a hassle—that long, complicated passage! It was far too difficult for a language-challenged fairy like him!

After waiting a long while, the Magic Stone remained unresponsive. Shu Li had no choice but to give up, glancing apologetically at Kumandi.

Kumandi met his gaze, a hint of helplessness flickering in his violet eyes.

“Um…” Shu Li wanted to say something to ease the awkwardness filling the room, but his limited vocabulary failed him.

Kumandi raised a hand to stop him, and then a voice as melodious as a sung poem filled the air:

“Great Fire God Aphama Chepus, I am Kumandi of the Faerie Forest, your faithful devotee. Grant me the flame to ignite this furnace, and I shall thank and praise you daily.”

As the incantation ended, the Fire Magic Stone in the furnace poofed into flame.

Shu Li stared, speechless.

Is it too late to dig a hole and crawl into it?

He had butchered the long incantation like a dog gnawing on a bone, and worse, he’d even mispronounced the Fire God’s true name.

The Fire God was called Aphama Chips, not Amafa Puches.

Despair began to creep in.

If he couldn’t even manage a simple fire-lighting spell, how would he ever learn more complex and lengthy incantations?

I’m too tired to love anymore. I might as well just die. Waaah—

The cub drooped its ears, hunched its shoulders, folded its wings, and its eyes misted over, on the verge of tears from frustration.

Kumandi’s gaze softened as he gently placed his palm on the cub’s head. “Learn at your own pace. You’ll get there eventually.”

Shu Li looked up in surprise, staring blankly at the black-haired Fairy so close to him. Without realizing it, he had superimposed Kumandi onto his older brother from his youth.

When Shu Li was a child, he struggled with English and was mocked by his classmates. He would collapse on the sofa, sobbing uncontrollably.

His older brother, still a high school student, would kneel before him, pat his head, and say, “Learn at your own pace. You’ll get there eventually. Our little treasure is the smartest in the family.”

Through tear-blurred eyes, Shu Li would choke out, “R-really?”

His brother would nod firmly, pull a lollipop from his pocket, and hand it to him.

Shu Li would accept the lollipop, smile happily, and believe his brother’s words wholeheartedly.

Yet… by his senior year of high school, his English remained disastrously poor.

Now, someone was saying the same words as his brother, looking at him with the same gentle eyes, offering the same encouragement.

Shu Li sniffled and nodded resolutely. “Okay!”

This time, he would overcome the difficulties, conquer his own limitations, and make the words “Learn at your own pace. You’ll get there eventually” a reality.

“I’ll start with spoken Elven,” Kumandi declared, ever the man of action. He glanced at the chair, clearly meant for a cub, and settled cross-legged on Shu Li’s newly laid carpet, pulling three or four yellowed notebooks from his storage pouch. “Where’s the notebook I gave you this morning?”

Shu Li, still reeling from his earlier emotions, watched as Jingjing seamlessly transitioned into “Top Student” mode.

“It’s… it’s on the bed,” he stammered, rushing to the bedside table to grab the notebook. Mimicking Kumandi’s posture, he sat cross-legged on the carpet.

Kumandi took the notebook and flipped to the first page.

Shu Li nervously fidgeted with his fingers.

During his afternoon nap, he had accidentally drooled on the notebook. Though he’d wiped it clean, a faint stain remained visible upon closer inspection.

Hopefully Top Student Jingjing won’t notice, he thought anxiously.

Just as his anxiety peaked, Kumandi’s voice cut through his thoughts.

“Read these words aloud, using the spoken form.”

Shu Li focused his attention, lowered his gaze to the images Kumandi pointed to, and recited in Elven: “Tree, flower, grass, insect, bird…”

These were simple; he knew them all.

Kumandi pointed to over a dozen images, and Shu Li answered each one without hesitation.

He wiggled his ears, mentally giving himself a pat on the back.

“Your pronunciation is all wrong,” Kumandi said bluntly, crushing his confidence.

“Huh?” Shu Li was stunned. How could it be wrong? I specifically looked up the exact Chinese transliterations. There’s no way I could have made a mistake!

“Watch my mouth,” Kumandi said slowly, pronouncing the word “樹” (tree) clearly, allowing Shu Li to observe the shape of his mouth and the position of his tongue.

Shu Li watched intently and was shocked to realize his pronunciation was indeed incorrect.

He had only learned the superficial aspects, grasping the form but missing the essence, and hadn’t even grasped the core principles, yet he had been so smug about it.

The cub’s expression turned serious as he corrected his pronunciation again and again until he got it right.

Kumandi was endlessly patient, teaching them one by one. Once all the cubs had mastered the sounds, he flipped back to the first page of the notebook, pointed at the pictures, and conducted an impromptu test.

Shu Li’s throat was dry, his mouth and tongue nearly numb, but he felt genuinely happy.

Even the highly paid tutors his father had hired in the past had never taught with such dedication and attention to detail.

Gurgle, gurgle, gurgle—

The water had boiled, and steam was bubbling under the kettle lid.

“Ah!” Shu Li jumped in fright and scrambled to the table, fumbling to turn off the stove.

However, the boiling water splashed out in scalding droplets, making it impossible for him to touch the stove.

“Don’t move.” Kumandi had appeared beside him without Shu Li noticing. With a swift motion, he turned the stove’s knob, causing an air-insulated panel to pop up, extinguishing the flame, and restoring the Magic Stone to its original state.

Shu Li let out a silent sigh of relief.

Asking a pampered young master like him to do housework was simply too much. Earlier, while trying to hang a mural, he had nearly smashed his finger with a hammer.

Kumandi moved the kettle to the table and turned to ask the cub, “Want it in your bottle?”

“Tea! I want to make tea!” Shu Li hurried to the other side of the table, arranging the new tea set he had bought that day. He picked up an intricately carved wooden canister.

Inside the canister were tea leaves.

According to the general store owner, these tea leaves came from a mysterious eastern empire. Fairies on their training journeys had brought them back and placed them in his store on consignment.

The moment Shu Li heard “mysterious eastern empire,” he became instantly energized, peppering the owner with questions.

The owner gave him a curious look but patiently explained.

Far to the east of the continent lay a powerful and prosperous nation called the Serix Empire. Rich in resources, blessed with a temperate climate, and inhabited by diligent, contented people, it produced eighty percent of the continent’s tea.

However, the journey to the Serix Empire was fraught with peril.

Starting from the Faerie Forest, one had to traverse numerous countries, vast canyons, treacherous swamps, towering mountain ranges, and endless grasslands—a journey of unimaginable distance.

The string of long, complicated place names left Shu Li dizzy and disoriented.

In short, the nation called Serix was located 108,000 li (approximately 54,000 kilometers) from the Faerie Forest. Fairies who ventured out on expeditions to Serix risked their lives to bring back a few jars of tea leaves.

After understanding this, the small flame that had ignited in Shu Li’s heart flickered and died with a poof.

This is the Otherworld, he thought. I really shouldn’t have gotten my hopes up.

Tea leaves were precious, but they couldn’t compare to the treasures nurtured in the Nursery.

Shu Li traded a single seed with the general store Boss for a large pile of goods, including tea leaves.

He took two leaves from the wooden jar, placed them in the teapot, and nodded to Kumandi.

Kumandi poured hot water into the teapot with practiced ease.

As the hot water steeped the leaves, they gradually unfurled, filling the entire teapot.

Shu Li poured two cups of tea, one for Kumandi and one for himself.

After studying for so long, his mouth felt parched. A cup of hot tea would quench his thirst and soothe his throat.

Shu Li felt utterly content.

After all this time, I’m finally drinking hot water!

Though the dew was sweet, it was still cold, unboiled water, which he found somewhat unaccustomed to.

After finishing his tea, Kumandi set down his empty cup, opened his notebook, and said, “Continue.”

No sleep until we finish this notebook today.

Under Top Student Jingjing’s strict tutelage, Shu Li’s learning efficiency soared to unprecedented heights.

When the cub, limited by his physical stamina, began to grow drowsy, Kumandi mercifully ended the day’s lessons.

As Shu Li’s tense nerves relaxed, sleepiness swept over his mind like a hurricane. He yawned repeatedly as he saw the Top Student off, then collapsed onto his bed and fell asleep instantly.