by Unknown
Under the guidance of Grandpa Vitus, he had no need to continue to follow the path of the warrior. He would now embark on the more mysterious, more powerful way of the magician.
“Come, let’s begin the test of the strength of your elemental affinities. Sit down with legs crossed, close your eyes, and enter a meditative state.” VITUS Caecilian said gently.
“Meditative state?” Mathias felt his heartbeat quicken.
How would his affinity rate?
“Don’t worry. Just carefully try and see what you can sense, and whenever you sense something, just tell me.” VITUSCaecilian smiled encouragingly towards Mathias. Mathias immediately closed his eyes and tried to force himself to calm down.
“Don’t worry. Just do as I instruct.” VITUS Caecilian said in a gentle voice.
…..
Meditation was one of the basic underpinnings of all magician’. It was needed for both absorbing elemental essence to transform it into magic, and for improving one’s spiritual energy. The first time entering a meditative state was the most difficult and dangerous one, but of course, under the guidance of a Guru-level Grand Magician, Mathias wouldn’t find it too difficult.
After half an hour of instruction, Mathias finally entered the meditative state for the first time.
Seeing Mathias in a meditative state, VITUS Caecilian let out a faint smile, then waved his hand.
Immediately…
A large amount of earth essence began to swirl around Mathias. Normally, most places only had an ordinary density of earth essence, but right now, VITUS Caecilian was using his powerful spiritual energy to increase the density of earth essence near Mathias by a hundredfold.
“If he still can’t sense any earth essence around him even under these conditions, then there’s no hope for him at all.” VITUSCaecilian said to himself.
Even a totally ordinary person should sense something, given that the density of earth essence was a hundred times greater than normal.
Right now, Mathias, still in a meditative state, felt extremely happy and excited. He had never realized…that around him, there were so many amazing things. Countless earth-colored specks of light were floating around him, in such a high density as to be shocking.
Chapter 23 – Spring Ends, Autumn Comes (part 2)
“Mathias, can you feel it?” VITUS Caecilian’s voice gently sounded in Mathias’s mind.
“Grandpa Vitus, I can feel it. There’s so many specks of earth-colored light. So many…too many. They are clustered so densely, thousands, no, tens of thousands. A hundred earth-colored specks of light just floated past my hand. There’s too many.” Feeling the large amount of earth-colored specks of light floating around him, Mathias felt extremely happy.
Hearing this news, VITUSCaecilian was immediately ecstatic.
“Very good. Now, slowly, do as I say. Don’t think about anything. Quietly…” VITUSCaecilian droned almost hypnotically, helping Mathias to depart the meditative state. At the same time, he released the control he was exerting over the earth essence. Immediately, the earth essence density around them returned to normal.
After awakening from the meditative state, Mathias felt as though he was full of energy, totally different from before. Even while fully awake, Mathias felt as though he could still sense some of the oscillations from the nearby earth essences, even though he couldn’t sense them as clearly as when he was in the meditative state.
“Grandpa Vitus, I can still feel the movements of those earth-colored specks of light. Really! Even though it’s not as clear now, I can still somewhat feel them.” Mathias was feeling extremely excited.
This was his first step into the world of magic. Mathias was filled with amazement.
“What did you say? You can still sense it?” VITUSCaecilian was very astonished, because the nearby density of earth essence had returned to normal now, and Mathias was no longer in a meditative state. If he could still sense the nearby earth essence, even while awake…then his affinity for earth essence…
“Grandpa Vitus, why aren’t you talking? How is the strength of my affinity for earth elemental essence?” Mathias said nervously.
Mathias didn’t know if he had done well or poorly.
“Good. Extremely good. Your affinity for earth elemental essence is extremely high.” VITUS Caecilian’s face was wreathed in smiles. “Based on what I know, only perhaps one in a thousand magi would have as strong an affinity for earth elemental essence as you. Truly.”
Mathias felt his heart began thumping frantically. He was so excited he didn’t know what to say.
“But naturally, elemental affinity is just one part. Spiritual energy is the most important of all! After all, given enough time, magic will naturally strengthen. But it’s extremely difficult to improve the spiritual energy of a magician.” VITUSCaecilian said solemnly.
Mathias took a deep breath and nodded.
“Now, it’s time for the second test, to test your spiritual energy.” VITUSCaecilian looked at Mathias solemnly.
Mathias also knew that this test of spiritual energy was an extremely important one.
“Grandpa Vitus, what do I need to do?” Mathias stared at VITUSCaecilian, mentally preparing himself.
“Nothing at all.” VITUS Caecilian laughed.
“Uh…” Mathias was startled.
“I am the spirit of the Red Demon Ring, while you are the master of the Red Demon Ring. I am totally capable of sensing the strength of your spirit! There’s no need to test it at all. I can tell you right now!” VITUSCaecilian smiled at Mathias.
“I…how is my spiritual energy?” Mathias held his breath.
The strength or weakness of a person’s spiritual energy determined one’s destiny.
“Your spiritual energy is ten times stronger than the average person of your age.” VITUSCaecilian smiled as he spoke.
Mathias felt a sense of excitement in his heart. Ten times!
That wasn’t a small number.
But VITUSCaecilian continued, “Generally speaking, only one in ten thousand can become a magician, principally because there’s a high requirement when it comes to spiritual energy. The absolute minimum requirement for a magician is having five times more spiritual energy than someone of the same age. Ten times puts you roughly in the middle of the pack, as far as the average magician goes.”
Mathias’s earlier excitement was immediately dampened.
“If it was anyone else instructing you, at most you could become a magician of the fifth or sixth grade. However, since the person instructing you is me, the situation is now different.” VITUSCaecilian stroked his beard contentedly, a look of self-confidence in his eyes.
Mathias suddenly came to the same realization.
Right. VITUS Caecilian was a Guru-level Grand Magician!
“As long as you work hard, Mathias, I am fully confident that you can reach the eighth grade. But as to whether or not you can become a magician of the ninth grade, or even a Guru-level magician? That will depend on your own comprehension and your experiences.” VITUS Caecilian said seriously. “If you do not work hard, I’m afraid you might not even become a magician of the sixth grade. At that point in time, you’ll have no one else to blame.”
A good instructor in magic was just one part of the equation.
The most important part was still one’s own effort.
“Grandpa Vitus, please don’t worry. I won’t disappoint you, or my father, or the Tulare clan.” At this moment, Mathias’s mind was filled with the image of the spirit tablet in front of the ancestral hall, and those illustrious names and stories engraved on the back.
To renew the former glory of the Tulare clan!
Mathias’s chest was filled with boiling heat!
“Good. Starting tomorrow, I will begin to instruct you.” VITUSCaecilian looked at Mathias, his eyes gleaming. Right now, VITUS Caecilian’s body was once more emanating the self-confidence and pride which a Guru-level Grand Magician possessed!
….
Starting the very next day, Mathias began to live an extremely tough, arduous life.
He couldn’t reveal the existence of VITUSCaecilian to his father. Every morning and evening, he still needed to attend physical training, while later in the morning, he would have his lessons with his father on politics, religion, religious rites, warfare, geography, art…and all sorts of other lessons.
Only in the afternoon, during his previously spare time, would Mathias run towards Mt. Comox, east of the township, hide in a quiet place, and begin to learn the basics of magic under the guidance of VITUSCaecilian. He studied hard, while entering the meditative state to absorb and process magic.
In addition, each day, after eating dinner, Mathias would spend a large amount of time in the meditative state.
Every day, Mathias would spend only six hours sleeping. All of his other time was spent in physical training, intellectual studies, magical instruction, and meditation. Six hours of sleep a day, gravely speaking, was simply not enough. In truth, entering the meditative state was extremely taxing, far more tiring than most people’s lives. Every day, Mathias entered a very deep sleep for those six hours.
Filled. His time was absolutely filled.
With each day passing like this, day after day, Mathias’s improvement was very evident, to the point where it wasn’t just improvement, but a form of transformation!
As he was hard at work training…
He experienced, for the first time, the joy of absorbing elemental essence into his body, and then transforming it into magic.
He experienced, for the first time, entering so deeply into the meditative state that he almost became unconscious.
And he experienced, for the first time, the excitement of performing earth-style magic, even if it was nothing more than generating a tiny ‘Earth Spike’ that was only twenty centimeters high.
…..
Hard work, day after day…
Mathias’s effort and the speed of his improvement caused even VITUSCaecilian, that five-thousand-year-old Guru-level Grand Magician of the Fabia Empire, to sigh with amazement.
Due to his daily physical training exercises, Mathias’s body was growing sturdier and sturdier. Because he often entered the meditative state and absorbed earth essence, Mathias became calmer and more tranquil. Mathias’s transformation caused his father Alistair and Davis to both be amazed and overjoyed.
….
Spring ended, and autumn came. In the blink of an eye, it was now autumn.
There was only one month remaining before the magician affinity testing and recruitment event.
In the ancestral hall within the Tulare clan manor.
“Whew. All done cleaning. Time to go do some more magical training. Yesterday I actually managed to successfully execute the ‘Earth Tremor’ technique. That was wonderful.” Right now, Mathias was in an extremely good mood. He quickly strode out of the ancestral hall and closed the door.
Walking on the blue tiled steps of the stone walkway, Mathias’s footsteps were firm and swift, but made little sound.
This was an ability that virtually all earth-style magi possessed. Because their power was derived from the earth itself, they could mask virtually all sound from their footsteps.
“Eh?” Mathias frowned.
His ears twitched as he turned and stared towards a far-off building. “I heard something?” He immediately stealthily walked in that direction. His footsteps made almost no sound. Normally, just while walking ordinarily, he could mask his footsteps. Now that he was intentionally trying to hide them, he made even less noise.
He crept closer, step by step.
When Mathias reached the door to the building and took a peek inside…
“What’s that?” Mathias’s eyes widened.
He saw a 20-centimeter long black parrot chewing on a piece of stone rubble. And then, in the blink of an eye, the black parrot appeared tens of meters away in a different direction, and began to nibble on a piece of blue tile. The black parrot’s fur appeared very soft. Its eyes were guileless, and its paws were furry. In a word, it looked very cute.
It even hopped around just on its two hind legs for fun.
“What an adorable little parrot. And how amazingly fast!” Hiding by the doorway, Mathias exclaimed silently.
Most parrots wouldn’t reach such a size, and most parrots were loathsome creatures, but this parrot seemed particularly adorable. Its eyes seemed to be full of meaning, as though they could speak. Most importantly of all…it was astonishingly fast.
“Such speed…I bet even Uncle Davis, a warrior of the sixth grade, can’t catch it. How can it be so fast?” Seeing the cute parrot move tens of meters in just the blink of an eye, Mathias felt astonished.
VITUSCaecilian flew out from within the Red Demon Ring. Standing next to Mathias, he looked at the black parrot with some surprise. “A magical beast, a Shadow parrot? And judging by its size, a Shadow parrot infant.”
“A magical beast? Shadow parrot? It is so big! How can it be an infant?” Mathias stared at VITUSCaecilian in surprise.
Aside from the Stone Iron Bull, the Griffin, the Purple Demon, and the Black Demon Magical Creatures he had seen, this was the first time Mathias had seen any other magical Creatures. This adorable black parrot was actually a magical beast? A magical beast, with magical abilities?