Coiling Dragon

by welyjesch

  In fact, just looking at spiritual energy, Linley would be an above-average magus of the seventh rank.

  “Fourth Bro, you should know by now that Third Bro doesn’t care about this sort of stuff at all. If he cared, then he wouldn’t have skipped the annual competition every year.” Yale chortled. “Right, Third Bro, when this school semester just started, your Uncle Hillman came looking for you.”

  Linley started. Looking at Yale, he immediately asked, “What did Uncle Hillman want?”

  In the past, Linley had always gone home for the New Year. This previous year was the first and only year in which Linley spent the end of the winter and early spring in the Mountain Range of Magical Beasts.

  “Nothing really. Most likely, he was wondering why you didn’t go back for the New Year and was worried something had happened to you.” Yale said casually, then added, “Right. Something else we have to tell you. That same day your Uncle Hillman came to visit, the managing director of the Proulx Gallery came as well. The purpose of his visit was to see sculpture of yours, ‘Awakening From the Dream’.”

  Linley coughed in shock. “The managing director? How did he know about ‘Awakening From the Dream’?”

  Somewhat embarrassed, Reynolds said, “It’s all my fault. When Yale instructed people to carry your sculpture out of the mountain, I figured nobody knew how valuable it was, so I just had them leave it in our dormitory. That way, we bros could admire it from time to time. But I didn’t expect that Austoni would come looking for you, and came directly to our dorm. He managed to catch a glimpse of ‘Awakening From the Dream’, and then he informed the managing director of the existence of this sculpture.”

  Linley nodded slightly.

  “Linley, the managing director wants to know if you’d be willing to auction off your sculpture within the Proulx Gallery? If you aren’t willing to auction it off, he still hopes that you would be willing to put it on display in the Proulx Gallery. Will you agree?” Yale looked at Linley.

  Without hesitating in the slightest, Linley shook his head.

  “For now, I don’t wish to publicize the existence of ‘Awakening From the Dream’. And I don’t need money either.”

  To Linley, ‘Awakening From the Dream’ represented a period of love and loss. But of course, after completing this sculpture, Linley had mentally transformed as well.

  Especially during this period of time within the Mountain Range of Magical Beasts. He had experienced the siege of over a hundred giant dragons, then watched two extremely powerful magical beasts battle to the death, and then nearly died himself before successfully drinking dragon’s blood and transforming into a Dragonblood Warrior.

  After having experienced so much, the affairs of him and Alice seemed to be nothing more than a distant memory.

  Linley had also learned to cherish the present.

  “If Father knew that I could now assume Dragonform, how excited must he be?” Linley thought of his father.

  Hogg’s greatest lifelong desire was to see one of his son’s become a Dragonblood Warrior. Little Wharton’s density of Dragonblood in his veins was sufficiently high, true, but Linley was capable of Dragonform, and even of reaching the eighth rank of power in Dragonform.

  If this news reached Hogg, that his son had become a Dragonblood Warrior, he would be bursting with pride, no doubt.

  …….

  Linley could guess as to how much this sculpture, ‘Awakening From the Dream’, would be worth. He also knew very well that storing such an enormous sculpture in Wushan township would not be safe. This was why he asked Yale to help him safeguard this sculpture.

  To the enormous Dawson Conglomerate, this was nothing but a trifle.

  After leaving the hotel, Linley and his bros were walking on the Shady Grove Street.

  “Boss Yale, Second Bro, Fourth Bro. There’s something that I must inform you about.” Linley spoke after a period of silence.

  Seeing how serious Linley looked, Yale, George, and Reynolds all focused their attention on him.

  “Within these next few days, I intend to apply for graduation.” With difficulty, Linley forced out these words.

  Graduating meant leaving the Ernst Institute and leaving his three bros behind. Linley had entered the Ernst Institute when he was nine years old. He was now seventeen. He had spent eight years here. Friends made during these innocent years, without any consideration of gain or ulterior motives, would always be true, genuine friends.

  Linley couldn’t bear to part from his bros.

  But in life, one must have some accomplishments. Upon graduating, he would have the chance to begin to gain titles, writs of nobility, a fiefdom, and perhaps an army. By then, he would be able to advance himself in leaps and bounds.

  “Graduate?”

  Yale, George, and Reynolds were all stunned. Yale was the first to recover. “Third Bro, why are you in such a hurry to graduate? What’s the big deal about graduating from the Ernst Institute early anyhow? Isn’t it great, we four bros being together here? And the Ernst Institute is far more peaceful than the outside world.”

  George and Reynolds also hurriedly tried to dissuade Linley.

  Linley shook his head. “Nah. We can’t always be hiding within the walls of the Ernst Institute and not interact with the outside world.”

  “Third Bro, right now, you are only a magus of the sixth rank. Although a magus of the sixth rank is considered an expert in the outside world, there’s many people who are stronger than you. How about…you wait until you reach the seventh rank, and then you graduate.” George suggested.

  Based on what George knew, there were two major hurdles for a magus to overcome in his training. The biggest hurdle, of course, was crossing from the ninth rank to the Saint-level. But the second biggest hurdle was from the sixth rank to the seventh rank.

  From the ninth rank to the Saint-level, even if one had sufficient spiritual energy and had a powerful reserve of mageforce, one could still spend countless years without being able to break through that last hurdle. It was something which required luck and opportunity, a stroke of luck which allowed someone to suddenly comprehend the way.

  And from the sixth to the seventh ranks, even geniuses would normally need ten or so years.

  “I am already a magus of the seventh rank.” Linley told them directly.

  “A magus of the seventh rank?”

  The three bros of Linley stared at him, seemingly thunderstruck. Even a genius such as Dixie only became a magus of the sixth rank upon turning sixteen. If he worked extremely hard, perhaps when he was around thirty years of age, he would reach the seventh rank.

  But Linley…

  Linley was only seventeen years old!

  “Third Bro, did you just say that you’ve reached the seventh rank?” Yale couldn’t believe it at all.

  “Third Bro, you better not be tricking us.” George was also in disbelief.

  Reynolds was silent. He only stared at Linley, not saying a word.

  “Squeak squeak!” Bebe, on Linley’s shoulders, began to squeak excitedly towards Linley’s three bros while baring his fangs. Linley could hear Bebe’s voice in his head. “Boss, these three punks think you’re lying! Boss, use a spell of the seventh rank on’m, show’m!”

  Linley glanced at Bebe. “Bebe, enough.”

  A ‘wronged’ look on his face, Bebe glanced at Linley then fell silent.

  “Bebe’s performing skills are pretty good, actually.” Linley secretly laughed, and then he looked at his three close friends. “Boss Yale. You three don’t believe me. When I go tomorrow to apply for graduation, you’ll see.”

  Yale, George, and Reynolds all knew what sort of person Linley was. Linley wasn’t the type of guy to lie.

  “Third Bro, you really accomplished it?”

  Linley nodded slightly. “How about, I show you the Soaring Technique.” Linley began to mumble the words to a magical incantation, while Yale and the others quietly watched. After a while, wind-type elemental es
sence began swirling around his body, lifting Linley into the air.

  Linley rose very slowly, hovering perhaps only twenty centimeters above the air. Someone looking from far away wouldn’t be able to tell that he was in mid-air at all.

  “This is the Floating Technique.” Reynolds said.

  The Floating Technique only allowed one to rise up and down.

  “Watch closely.” Linley suddenly shot up into the air at an incline. Upon reaching the height of several tens of meters, he suddenly dropped down at high speed again. But once he reached the height of 20 centimeters, he once more came to a halt, maintaining a hovering height.

  After maintaining this state for a few moments, Linley landed.

  “The Soaring Technique?” Yale and the others were truly astonished.

  Although this demonstration of Linley’s was seemingly simple, it also showed one thing very clearly. Being able to rise at an incline was definitely something only the Soaring Technique would allow.

  “Hey, Linley! Long time no see! Didn’t imagine that I’d find you here, showing off your jumping skills.” From far away, a young man laughed as he walked over. From far away, Linley’s movement did indeed seem like he was jumping in the air.

  To a very powerful warrior, jumping several dozen meters was not too difficult.

  And a large majority of the people at the Ernst Institute knew that this genius, Linley, was not only a magus, he was also a mighty warrior. There had been people who had seen him easily carry a thousand-pound boulder inside his dormitory.

  Linley, Yale, and others exchanged pleasantries with the fellow, as he was a neighbor living next door to them.

  “Third Bro, you’ve really become a magus of the seventh rank. This can’t…can’t be possible? But just now, I…” George was the first one to say excitedly after the neighbor left.

  “A seventeen year old magus of the seventh rank. My heavens. Has there ever been such a genius in the entire history of the Yulan continent?” Reynolds was getting excited as well.

  Looking at Linley, Yale’s eyes were shining. “Even I am starting to look forward to Third Bro’s graduation ceremony. I want to see the looks on the faces of those test givers…”

  ….

  The next morning. On the empty magical ability examination fields of the Ernst Institute, thirty instructors were standing in a line. In truth, four magus instructors were enough for a graduation test, but most instructors at the Ernst Institute had a lot of free time. Upon hearing that Linley was going to apply for graduation, they all came over to watch the fun.

  After all, generally speaking, most students would only apply for graduation after being confirmed as a magus of the sixth rank. After spending some time at the sixth rank, only then would they apply for graduation. In a situation like that, there was no need for an actual graduation examination. Thus, a graduation examination was quite a rare event.

  Thirty instructors, plus three students – Yale, George, and Reynolds.

  Amidst the thirty or so instructors, there was even Vice Chancellor Deland [De’lan’te], who came here out of interest. As Deland had put it, “If one of the two greatest geniuses of our Institute is applying for graduation, of course I must be here to witness it.”

  “Linley, utilize the earth-style spell, ‘Earth Spear Array’. Based on the size and speed of the earthen spears, we will be able to assess your level.” One of the test-givers spoke.

  If his spell power had reached the sixth rank, then naturally he would be able to graduate.

  Linley slightly shook his head.

  All of the onlookers couldn’t help but feel suspicious. Vice Chancellor Deland spoke out. “Linley, aren’t you applying to graduate? What is going on?”

  “I want to use wind-style magic.” Linley said with a smile.

  Vice Chancellor Deland and the onlookers all laughed. They knew that Linley was a dual-element magus of wind and earth. But the test of magical strength was primarily a test of spiritual energy. It made no difference which element was tested; the underlying spiritual energy wouldn’t change.

  “Go ahead.” Vice Chancellor Deland and the thirty odd instructors all grinned at Linley.

  Linley immediately began to mutter the words to the seventh-ranked wind-style spell, ‘Soaring Technique’. After a while, a gust of wind began to swirl around Linley’s body. Linley’s body soared into the air, and then he began to agilely glide about in the air, sometimes turning, sometimes diving, sometimes flying straight at high speeds.

  “So…Soaring Technique?!”

  The thirty odd magus instructors were all shocked. They all knew what was implied by the usage of the Soaring Technique.

  “A seventeen year old, dual-element magus of the seventh rank. This…” Vice Chancellor Deland immediately understood that the quiet Ernst Institute would perhaps no longer be quiet for a long, long time.

  Book 5, The Godsword, Bloodviolet – Chapter 7, Second in History

  A dual-element magus of the seventh rank, compared to the Yulan continent as a whole, could only be considered someone who had just stepped into the field of the powerful figures.

  But if you added the words ‘seventeen year old’ in front of the words ‘dual-element magus of the seventh rank’, the effect was totally different. The Radiant Church probably wouldn’t care too much about a dual-element magus of the seventh rank; after all, there were plenty of powerful figures in the Yulan continent.

  However…

  A seventeen year old dual-element magus of the seventh rank? Leaving the Radiant Church aside for now, perhaps each and every major power on the Yulan continent would be jealous to possess this.

  “Genius. Genius!” Vice Chancellor Deland, a magus of the eighth rank, was extremely excited.

  All of the watching magus instructors were in shock as well. All of them understood exactly what a seventeen year old dual-element magus of the seventh rank represented. This was a miracle! At the very least, it was the Ernst Institute’s miracle!

  “Heh heh.” Yale, George, and Reynolds all started to snicker.

  They had all been anticipating the expressions on the faces of these magi. And it was as priceless as they had hoped.

  In terms of power, Vice Chancellor Deland couldn’t even rank amongst the top three, here at the Ernst Institute, but he had significant amounts of experience. He quickly was able to tamp down his excitement, and was the first to walk to Linley’s side. “Linley, do you know what being a seventeen year old dual-element magus of the seventh rank represents?”

  “Heh, does he have to ask?” At this time, Doehring Cowart flew out of the ring, delightedly stroking his long, white beard. “How could the pupil of I, Doehring Cowart, not be outstanding?”

  All of the teachers currently present were quite far from the Saint-level. Naturally, none of them were able to detect the presence of Doehring Cowart’s spirit.

  “Seventeen years…” Deland sighed with praise. “In the entire history of the Ernst Institute, based on age, amongst all of the students to attain the seventh rank, you, Linley, are the youngest. The previous record holder, a genius who attained the seventh rank at age 19, went on to become a Saint-level Grand Magus.”

  A silver-haired elder next to him spoke out. “Let’s not discuss the Ernst Institute for now. If we look at the Yulan continent as a whole, and look at the records of the continent as a whole, you are the second-youngest genius in all of recorded history to reach the seventh rank.”

  The Yulan continent as a whole had been around for countless years, and also covered a huge amount of territory. There was no way for the Ernst Institute to match it in terms of records.

  “The second in history?” Linley was rather surprised as well.

  How many countless geniuses had the Yulan continent produced, over these years? For himself to be able to be the second youngest in history was a terrifying accomplishment.

  “The youngest magus in the entire history of the Yulan continent to reach the seventh rank was a
Saint-level Grand Magus who lived over 8000 years ago. He became a magus of the seventh rank when he was 16 years old. The previous second youngest, who has just become the third youngest, became a magus of the seventh rank when he turned 18. In the end, he topped out at the ninth rank. This was because afterwards, he suffered a huge setback, and his personality changed. We can put it like this…aside from you, of those top ten young geniuses who reached the seventh rank earliest, six of them became Saint-level Grand Magi, while the other four became arch magi of the ninth rank.”

  Generally speaking, a magus of the seventh rank was given the title of ‘Senior Magus’.

  A magus of the eighth rank would be respectfully titled ‘Master Magus’.

  A magus of the ninth rank would be honored with the title of ‘Arch Magus’.

  And a Saint-level magus could be venerated as a ‘Grand Magus’.

  “Put another way…based on your talent, becoming a magus of the ninth rank is going to be virtually no problem at all. All you need is time. But if you continue to strive hard, you have the great potential to become a Saint-level Grand Magus. After all, you are the second youngest magus of the seventh rank in all of history.” That silver-haired elder looked at Linley solemnly.

  Linley had some degree of eagerness towards eventually becoming a Saint-level magus, but that eagerness wasn’t too excessive.

  This was because Linley knew very well that it was even harder for a magus to advance in power than it was for a warrior.

  True, warriors and magi both needed spiritual energy. But they had different requirements as to how much spiritual energy was needed.

  Magi didn’t train their bodies, focusing exclusively on spiritual energy. The vast majority of their time was spent building up their spiritual energy, because spiritual energy impacted their ability to gather mageforce, as well as to direct and control elemental essences. A mighty magus also needed a terrifying amount of spiritual energy.

  But warriors were different.

  To a warrior, the most important thing was still their body. Spiritual energy and battle-qi were both secondary. Only once they had a powerful body would they be able to contain lots of battle-qi. Spiritual energy was only used to more finely control the usage of that battle-qi.