* * *
At the midpoint of Luka's apprenticeship, Alectos entered his magic realm and appeared in front of his pupil. The deity noted that Luka enjoyed a growth-spurt and became several inches taller. The boy's bones became thicker, and his figure was less girlish-looking but still slender like a dancer. Luka's cheeks were no longer hallowed, and his face became more handsome.
The newcomer smiled faintly at the boy's remarkable change in physical appearance. "It's been five years since I brought you here, Luka. I returned to conduct an examination and see what you learned of spatial magic. If you pass my inspection, then I will start teaching you some light spells. But if you fail to impress me with your progress, I will boot you out of my magic realm, and you will return home immediately. However, if you pass and still prefer to leave your apprenticeship early and go home, that's also fine," Alectos explained his pupil's options carefully.
Luka shook his head. "As much as I miss my mom, I wish to learn light magic from you. So I'll do my best to pass your test!" the boy declared enthusiastically. While the child was anxious to return home ASAP, the reincarnated soul recognized that he was still powerless because of Luka's youth as a ten-year-old. Also, he understood the prestige and honor of receiving Alectos's tutelage. Therefore, if Luka may extend his magic training for several years, only an imbecile would decline this opportunity and return to the snakepit back home.
Alectos clapped. "Well said!" he nodded with approval. "Let's start! Show me what you got!" the teacher ordered.
"Touch the Horizon!" In an instant, Luka disappeared.
Alectos looked around and discovered that his pupil had teleported to a location 1,000 miles away!
The boy turned around and waved. In a moment, Luka returned and stood before his teacher again.
"Not bad!" the God of Magic praised.
"Void Step!" Luka started walking on an invisible staircase. When he reached a height of twenty feet above the ground, the boy hovered in place.
"You figured out how to teleport and return to the same spot continuously. Excellent!" Alectos praised with admiration because the caster required extraordinary control to perform this magic trick. Normal gravity would pull the mage from his height. Luka overcame this obstacle by quickly teleporting back to the same spot before his body fell.
"Displacement!" Luka switched places with Bel. Then the boy returned his rabbit to the floor.
"That's a dangerous stunt you just pulled!" the teacher admonished. "Your mass and density are much greater than your familiar. If your magic misfired, you would displace only half your body."
"I understand, teacher!" Luka nodded. He didn't realize Displacement was a risky spell, and the danger of a misfire was catastrophic. The boy appreciated Alectos's warning, and he promised to be more careful in using this magic.
"Spatial Blade!" The boy made a slash motion with his hand chop. A cut mark appeared on the ground dozens of feet away.
Suddenly, Luka waved his hand at Bel. "Spatial Lock!"
The rabbit froze in place and couldn't move a muscle!
The teacher clapped. "This is high-tier magic. If you understand it, then you already took a half-step into understanding temporal magic. If there's time after learning some light spells, I will teach you some basics of time magic," he promised.
"Thank you!" the boy responded.
Alectos frowned. "Have you learned any form of storage magic? It's essential for a spatial mage," he remarked.
Luka smiled and snapped his finger. His rabbit abruptly disappeared.
The teacher took a moment to follow the trail. Alectos frowned when he discovered where the pathway ended. "Normally, Dimensional Storage creates a link to another plane separate from the magic caster. Somehow, you created a storage space in your Inner World, where your mana accumulates. This method is hazardous because if you drain your mana pool dry, then all your belongings will disappear into the void. You'll have a hard time finding them again even if you leave a tracer on your possessions," he warned.
"I already thought of that. My Inner World is a living space, and I could bring Bel there. The normal variation of this spell only provides storage for inanimate objects. Since Bel is my partner, I need a method to keep him with me at all times. Also, the volume of space is much bigger than an unaffiliated dimensional plane. In the end, I weighed the pros and cons, and I believe that I made the right decision for myself," Luka explained with full confidence.
"As long as you understand the risks, then that's fine," Alectos replied. The teacher shifted away from this topic. "Have you learned any other spatial magic?"
The boy shook his head. "I was training Demonic Arts with Bel," he admitted with guilt. Luka spent mornings fighting with the demon and afternoons practicing his magic. This form of double training cut into his progress with magic, and both persons knew it. Thus, the pupil felt uncomfortable over this fact.
It's okay," Alectos said with a faint smile. "You're a growing boy, and you cannot neglect your physical development. It's great that you have Bel as a training partner. But your knowledge of spatial magic is still insufficient. If you go out in the world now and proclaim yourself as my student, I would feel humiliated for not teaching you other spells. So, let me fulfill the gap in your knowledge!" Without warning, the instructor extended a finger, and a beam of golden light entered Luka's head between his eyebrows!
The pupil lost awareness of the world as his mind received several visions. "Beacon!" A voice announced as Luka watched the creation of several homing signals. "Teleport!" The boy suddenly jumped from one beacon to the next; once Luka visited all locations, he returned to the first one.
"Blink!" The student witnessed his doppelganger attack Luka with a punch. Suddenly, his body disappeared before the fist reached his person. When Luka reappeared, he threw a counterattack to defeat his enemy.
When Luka's senses returned, he felt sweat dripping down his back. The boy turned toward his master and saluted. "Thank you!" Luka felt delighted by Alectos's teachings because the instructor imparted handy spells to the pupil. Luka felt an urge to practice these new spells right away. He would do so if Alectos weren't staring at the boy intently.
"You can practice those new spells later. I don't have a lot of time to spend with you. So let's start my lesson on light magic now. Here's the Divine Church of Light's motto: 'May Altima's Light guide my life.' This phrase is the essence of light magic. Hence, you must understand its meaning."
Alectos clapped his hands. "I must depart now. I'll check your progress whenever I get a chance to drop by. Good luck and work hard!" The teacher vanished from the magic realm.
Chapter 12
Essence of Light Magic
"May Altima's Light guide my life," Luka muttered this phrase repeatedly to the point of driving Bel crazy.
The rabbit launched a kick at the boy's ass. [Stop it!]
Despite Luka's preoccupation with the clue, he somehow detected Bel's sneak attack and avoided it with a Blink. Luka's proficiency in spatial magic advanced to the point where using it was no different than breathing and eating. In other words, the boy expended little effort to use this type of magic. Luka could quickly teleport and reappear behind his assailant. But he was too busy contemplating the motto to launch a counterattack at Bel.
Bel habitually attacked the boy at random intervals in a hopeless attempt to stop those utterances. But inevitably, the rabbit gave up when HE ran out of physical stamina.
While Bel flopped on the ground in despair, he was surprised to see Luka sit beside the familiar. More importantly, the boy no longer muttered the chant, giving Bel the respite he sought in the first place. Bel looked fearfully at Luka and wondered if the boy became insane.
Luka sensed the frightful stare and chuckled. "I haven't turned crazy. Not yet, anyway."
Bel patted the boy's forehead with surprising gentleness. [If you DO turn insane, I'll slap you silly until you recover your senses.] The rabbit snorted.
"What is the
meaning of life?" Luka blurted out.
Bel became fearful at this sudden inquiry. [Huh?]
The boy continued with a stream of questions. "Why do we exist? What's the point of living? Why did you persist in living despite being sealed for thousands of years?"
[I wanted to stage a comeback and make the world quake at my reappearance as a demon king! That desire helped keep my sanity despite the solitude. But now, I need time to rebuild my strength. Hence, I hitched my lifeline to yours. Altima and her followers can't touch me! Muahahaha!]
"So we're now the Two Musketeers," Luka mused.
[You could say that.] The rabbit admitted. [But conversely, you also have enemies seeking your death. The only way to avoid it is to train your body!]
"Fine," the boy sighed. "Let's start our practice. I might gain insight into the meaning of life via exchanging blows with you."
[You can't wait for another beating from this daddy!] Bel taunted. The rabbit waited for his opponent to adopt a combat stance before attacking. The animal pushed off the ground with his powerful legs and rammed his head straight toward the boy's chest!
Luka sucked his teeth because Bel was too fast to dodge! The defender crossed his arms and braced for impact!
BOOM! Despite his small size, Bel delivered a wallop!
Sissss! Luka bent his knees to absorb the collision. But his slight frame still slid back several feet before the force disbursed fully.
Bel lunged forward and circled his dazed opponent. The rabbit threw a strong punch at the prone boy's back!
The killing intent knocked Luka out of his reverie; he alertly ducked and tumbled to the left. Luka hopped to his feet and threw a fist at the rabbit's head! At this instant, the attacker activated Enragement!
Bel chuckled as he bravely met the sudden attack with his fist.
BAM! Luka's knuckles cracked upon impact with his counterpart's fist. However, his berserk status helped the fighter ignore the pain. The boy courageously continued his furious assault and punched Bel again. Luka also threw in a few knees and elbows to mess up his opponent's steady rhythm.
Unfortunately, Bel was familiar with the boy's bad habits to the point of predicting Luka's next moves! Frankly, the demon could close his eyes and defend with just one paw. However, he understood his pupil's temperament and didn't wish to discourage the young kid. Thus, Bel had to pretend to exert some effort in his self-defense.
Luka held nothing back during the exchange. He used Critical Insight to locate the weak points in his opponent's defense. But whenever Luka tried to take advantage, those gaps closed off before the human could use them. Thus, the combatant realized that it was merely a matter of time before he lost. Nonetheless, Luka valiantly continued his assault until Bel slammed a foot into his chest and made the boy fly ten feet in midair!
THUMP! Luka landed flat on his back. Since he sparred with Bel hundreds of times by now, Luka knew how much force the tiny rabbit could transmit with a single hit. Thus, the boy initially braced his body for impact. Moreover, Luka had refined his body to some degree under Bel's tutelage. Therefore, the boy quickly shook off the blow and regained his senses. However, the kick bruised his left ribs, and Luka winced in pain when he took deep breaths.
Bel landed next to his pupil and took note of the boy's physical condition. [Let's stop here for today. Continuing our spar would only exacerbate your injuries.]
Luka raised his left hand and scrutinized his knuckles because he felt their sting when the boy pressed his hands on the ground. But during his self-examination, the injured boy noticed something odd! Due to his lengthy stay within this magic realm, Luka developed enhanced sensitivity to magical essence. He discovered a bright, white aura enveloping his knuckles, and soothing warmth emanated within that radiance.
The mage watched as the aura slowly lost its brightness. At the same time, his left hand stopped bleeding, and the cuts to his skin began to close. A few minutes later, the aura dissipated, but his hand already healed! Luka suddenly had an inspiration! "May Altima's Light guide my life!" he exclaimed with excitement!
Luka finally understood the meaning of this phrase. Under the natural laws of this world, the light served as a fundamental building block of life. Hence, light equals life; this equation was the essence of light magic!
As Luka pondered this connection more deeply, he realized that light was an expression of the natural energy needed to create and sustain life. While Luka's ruined knuckles exposed to the light, his body absorbed it and naturally transformed the light aura into energy for utilization.
From this example, Luka realized that light magic manipulated the energy and repurposed its use as directed by the mage. In other words, the light served as clay for a sculptor to mold and shaped for his specific needs.
But now, the boy raised another issue in his mind. While he understood the principle of reshaping and manipulating light, how did one gather this resource? Luka instinctively thought of the answer. He raised his hand and slowly circulated the mana inside his body. The boy reached out with his magical sense and asked the light within his vicinity to accumulate in his hand. Luka watched as his left hand began to glow in brightness.
[Are you trying to make your body glow?] The demon wisecracked. Bel couldn't figure out what the kid was trying to achieve.
Luka ignored the rude remark and continued to gather light element in his hand. Then he injected his will into it and tried to manipulate light. The mage imagined a ball of light hovering above his hand. The light element slowly clustered until a ball formed.
"Yes!" The delighted boy clenched his fists excitedly. At that moment, Luka lost his concentration, and the magic ball dissipated. However, the child was not discouraged because Luka knew that he already accomplished the most challenging aspect of unlocking the secret to light magic.
Since Luka possessed an excellent memory, the task of duplicating his steps wouldn't be difficult. The child closed his eyes and took a moment to retrace his actions in his mind.
With a smile, Luka opened his eyes and gathered light essence in his hand. Then the pupil imagined his hand sucking all the elements from his surroundings and hovering above his palm. Soon, a white, magical ball appeared.
[Whoopeedo! What can you do with that?] Bel smirked.
Luka ignored the taunt. The mage focused on solidifying the light ball, and then he tossed it in the air like a baseball. Then Luka willed the magic ball to expand until it became the size of a soccer ball. Without warning, he kicked it at Bel's head!
Bam! The rabbit casually swiped at the item with his paw, and the light ball exploded! [Nice try, kiddo! As a demon king, my body possesses some innate resistance to magic.]
Luka ignored him and continued his activity. The child created two balls of light this time, then three, four, and stopped at five balls. He started juggling them in the air.
[I guess you could join a circus as a clown.] Bel joked.
Luka tossed those balls at the demon, who destroyed them easily with his paw. Pop-pop-pop-pop-pop!
The destruction of the magic balls released a bright light, which temporarily blinded the rabbit.
The boy immediately ran toward Bel and launched a sneak attack.
However, Bel sensed the incoming danger, and he issued a perfectly-timed flying kick at Luka's chest!
The assailant was unprepared for the counterattack, and Luka flew across the air before landing a few feet away. The defeated assailant winced when he tried to take a breath; he suffered a bruised ribcage. Again. Now, both sides of his chest sustained injuries.
Luka belatedly sat on the ground. He converted the gathered light into natural energy to fuse with his bones and heal his injury. He ignored the flash of pain as his ribs slowly mended. When the pain in his chest finally dissipated, Luka took a deep breath and wiped the accumulated sweat from his brows.
[Kid, we need to build up your pain tolerance. It's a disgrace that you can't handle this tiny bit of pain.] Bel complained and shook his head
.
"I'm sorry that I'm not a good punching bag for you," Luka replied sarcastically.
[You're not qualified to be one.]
Luka ignored Bel and resumed his magic practice. The mage temporarily quit sparring with Bel because the boy sensed that his familiar was in a bad mood.
Although Bel poked and taunted his pupil, Luka smartly refused to resume fighting with Bel. The rabbit finally threw a tantrum and gifted the boy a headbutt before hopping away.
Luka endured the cheap hit without complaint. He knew the familiar wanted to provoke the boy into attacking. But Luka steadfastly refused the bait. Instead, he used the peaceful period to experiment with the unique properties of light magic.
First, Luka compressed the light balls into compact bullets. He tested their explosive power until the boy found the right balance between size and strength. Luka decided to call this spell "Light Bullet." The mage discovered that he could create and control a dozen of them before losing accuracy with these missiles. Luka assumed that their number would increase once his light magic proficiency rose.
Luka created a floating shield comprised of light. He named this spell "Light Barrier." Luka discovered that he could customize the shield's size and shape from a dinner plate to a tower shield and even an immovable wall.
Next, Luka experimented with creating illusions. Since Bel still didn't return hours later, Luka nominated himself as a test subject. He magically changed his face. Each time Luka cast "Illusion," the researcher checked the result with a small knife, which the mage kept in a harness under his left armpit as a hidden weapon. After several castings of the spell, he stopped.
Luka felt delighted because he could disguise himself and appreciated its potential as a secret trump card. Therefore, he resolved to keep this illusion magic a secret. Consequently, the boy explored illusion magic to understand its parameters better. Through experimentation, Luka discovered that he could also reshape his environment. But the drain on his mana pool was much higher than changing his appearance.
The Divine Summoner: Godson of Altima Page 10