"A Wizard?"
Rebecca's face was a complete question mark. "What does a Wizard do?"
It wasn't her fault she didn't know; in Night City, girls her age were either already standing on street corners soliciting customers or out working, struggling to make a living just like she was from an early age.
The vocabulary she dealt with was nothing more than firearm models and chip specifications.
The word 'Wizard' was completely useless in daily life.
Asa felt Rebecca's curious gaze and turned back to give her a slight smile.
This polite response only piqued the loli's interest further; she actually reached out and pinched Asa cheek.
"Wow, he's actually a natural human!"
Rebecca cried out in surprise. The genuine elasticity of his skin made it hard for her to let go.
Being teased so bluntly by the girl, Asa—who hadn't had much contact with women in this world—felt somewhat uncomfortable. He turned his head back toward the window and said,
"A Wizard is someone who helps you determine your fate. Or, you could call me a magic apprentice."
"magic? Is it like making people appear out of thin air or cutting them into two pieces?"
Rebecca made a cutting gesture at her neck, her twin tails swaying with the movement.
"Miss, you seem to have some misunderstandings about our profession."
There was a faint trace of amusement in Asa voice.
Is this guy playing hard to get? Maine watched Rebecca getting more and more interested in Asa through the rearview mirror and immediately felt something was wrong, quickly changing the subject:
"Ahem, Mr. Asa, do you know anything about the Wraiths?"
If this continues, I feel like someone else is going to leave the team.
Asa naturally knew what kind of scum the Wraiths were in the setting, but seeing Rebecca in the back seat leaning over the front headrest, looking eager to keep talking, he shook his head:
"I don't know anything about them."
"Then let me introduce them to you!"
Rebecca immediately took over the conversation, hands on her hips, restlessly kicking her legs in the back seat.
Maine sighed silently, feeling like asking that question just now was purely shooting himself in the foot.
The two vehicles left the urban area of Night City and headed toward the Badlands.
Before long, they passed the abandoned power station from before. No one in the car mentioned that night's events as they continued deeper into the Badlands, where only dead shrubs and jagged rocks remained in the desert.
After driving for about a few more kilometers, a temporary camp built from numerous vehicles and tents appeared in their field of vision.
The camp was situated on flat ground at the top of a slope, offering a wide view, with large natural boulders surrounding it to partially block the line of sight.
Vehicles and temporary fences formed a low perimeter wall, concealing the interior of the camp.
An Aldecaldos family flag was planted at the main gate, snapping loudly in the wind.
Three Nomads stood before the gate, waving for the convoy to slow down and stop.
Just as Asa pushed open the car door, a system prompt popped up.
[Discovered important plot character 'Panam Palmer'. Rewards can be obtained by establishing a bond.]
The group parked their cars at the edge of the camp and walked to the main gate, where Mitch came to meet them.
"Hi, everyone. Welcome to the Aldecaldos."
As the team leader of Maine's crew, Maine naturally stepped forward as the point of contact for communication.
Asa gaze passed over the backs of Maine and Mitch as they exchanged pleasantries, landing on the Latina girl in the center.
She had a healthy wheat-colored complexion, large and spirited eyes, and a touch of light smoky makeup that added a bit of softness.
Her black hair was tied into a sharp half-ponytail, with a few stray strands falling from the sides to below her cheekbones.
She wore a dark tactical vest on her upper body, revealing firm and well-proportioned shoulders and arms, and a pair of faded jeans on her lower body that outlined the tight curves of her hips.
Unlike Sasha's 'pure desire' style or Rebecca's brash cuteness, the girl before him carried a kind of innocent, wild beauty.
This was not meant in a derogatory way.
The remaining few were also old acquaintances: Mitch and Scorpion. Their models hadn't changed from the game.
It seemed that except for V, the other characters in this world were exactly the same as in the game world.
While Mitch and Maine were communicating, Asa glanced at Panam Palmer and found that she was actually looking at him too.
"Well, well, I guess my charm is still quite high," Asa thought, the corners of his mouth curling up slightly.
But his sensitive hearing allowed Panam and Scorpion's low-voiced conversation to drift into his ears with the wind:
"Hey, Scorpion, look. Men from the city are so pale. But he looks so frail; can he even handle himself? Is this crew you found reliable?"
Wait, seriously?
Asa almost failed to maintain his expression.
He silently pulled out his small notebook and added a new line after Sasha's name.
This time it was Panam Palmer's turn; the Book of Grudges opened a single page for her.
Mitch and Scorpion led the group into a biker bar inside the camp, converted from an old train car.
Everyone sat around a long table welded from iron plates and began to discuss the specific details of the operation.
Actually, there wasn't much to discuss.
A few days ago, the Wraiths launched a sudden attack, wounding several young men of the Aldecaldos, and after that, they sent people to harass the outskirts of the camp every few days.
There's an old saying: 'Don't fear a thief stealing, fear a thief watching.'
There was still some time before the next migration, and the tribe had to continue collecting survival supplies in the surrounding area. They couldn't withstand this endless harassment from the Wraiths.
The family leader (it wasn't Saul yet) made a prompt decision to allocate a sum of money to hire Maine's crew.
The goal of this operation was clear: give the nearby Wraiths outpost a lesson deep enough, preferably wiping it out completely.
Otherwise, once those lunatics caught their breath, they would definitely retaliate against the Aldecaldos.
Scum like that deserved to die. Meanwhile, Asa listened from the side, his mind wandering far away.
Speaking of which, the environment of the Badlands was unsuitable for human survival due to nuclear radiation, excessive metallic salts, and desertification.
The megacorporations of this world were helpless against this natural death; after all, they were only good at destruction.
On the other hand, the magic of the Wizarding World might have miraculous effects.
Without looking far, the Water Purification Spell Asa had just learned from Yennefer was a type of magic that restored water sources to cleanliness.
The impurities inside would vanish without a trace under the influence of magic.
And in the forests of the Northern Kingdoms, who knows how many elven druid mages were hidden, and there even existed Dryads similar to wood elves.
This was a race where only females existed and had no reproductive isolation from humans or elves. The elders among them were skilled in nature-attuned druidic spells.
If there was a chance, it wouldn't hurt to learn environment-restoring magic from them.
Asa touched his face and looked at the 'Inhuman Charm' on his skill bar.
Presumably, he wouldn't be killed by the xenophobic Dryads like ordinary humans or elves, right?
Thinking about doing something good for the first time, Asa felt a bit nervous.