4 Chapter 3 Part II
“I’ve finally become a first-level neophyte. But this is not enough. The power is still too weak.”
Neophyte was the first level in the mage ranks. In general, people would start training to become first-level neophytes when they reach the age of twelve. Thus, Arias who had only just begun at the age of sixteen could be considered an opsimath.
Becoming a neophyte meant taking the first step as a mage and all mages had to select a grimoire that fit their elemental power. Grimoires were magical skills of sorts, used to nurture power and also served as the foundation for each mage’s pattern of magical power circulation. Grimoires, as well as other types of magical skills, were classified into 7 levels; low, middle, high, terrestrial, celestial, heavenly, and legendary. They could be further categorized according to their usages. A skill’s level affected the strength of its users and the higher-level ones were more difficult to learn. In the city of Bernier, the strongest skills were high-level skills owned exclusively by the great clans. However, rumor had it that the Hargen Clan had a terrestrial-level skill in their possession. Coven, leader of the Hargen Clan, was the king’s younger brother as well as the ruler of Bernier. So it would not be a surprise if he were to have a powerful magical skill in his possession.
“The grimoires that I have are the Skyward Thunder and the Thunder God’s Path. I must only choose one to learn.”
Arias began to weigh his options. Selecting a grimoire would certainly dictate his fate and even the slightest error in this decision would be difficult to fix. The Skyward Thunder was a celestial-level skill that Arias had learned in his past life, so to learn it once again would be simple. This skill would take a short while to learn and it was a very powerful skill as well. On the other hand, the Thunder God’s Path was a legendary level skill that Arias incidentally got his hands on when he was a grandmaster mage but passed away before he got the chance to learn it.
Taking some time to make up his mind, Arias finally chose to learn the Thunder God’s Path. Although learning this would be both risky and difficult, it was worth a try. In this life, he aimed to become a mage that could surpass even his old self.
Those who successfully mastered a legendary level of skill would be rewarded with unfathomable power. However, it was an excruciating task that even Arias himself was not sure he could accomplish. While he did remember the grimoire’s details, there were several things about it that Arias had not quite understood. Legendary skills were quite a mystery.
“The fact that I’ve become a mage should probably be hidden until I become strong enough.”
Although he had parents who looked out for him, they would not be able to keep watching over him all the time. If he were to die, his parents would not be able to bring him back to life even if they took revenge. ‘Only trust in your own strength.’ This was his principle in the past and it would remain unchanged.
The “Cloud-Shrouded Dragon” technique was a terrestrial-level defensive skill and one of the several hundred skills that Arias remembered. It was the skill that allowed users to conceal their aura which became incredibly useful during an ambush. However, its other function was overlooked by most people, that was, its ability to conceal one’s mage rank.
Since he needed to keep his magical power a secret, Arias decided to learn the Cloud-Shrouded Dragon skill first. The goal was to learn it before morning came. If anyone were to read his mind now, they would surely think he had gone crazy. To learn a terrestrial-level skill within a single night was nearly impossible as even prodigies took months to grasp the basics of such skills.
“I finally did it.”
It was nearly dawn when Arias finally opened his tired eyes but inside, he was exhilarated. To be honest, he was not confident that he would be able to learn the skill successfully within one night but this body was surprisingly gifted, probably even more than his old self. This made him very excited.
Three days passed since Arias first woke up. Every day, Arias found himself going through the same routine that he had now become accustomed to, that was, Maria and Albert coming to take care of him. He felt an indescribable warmth from the pure love which he had never before received in his life.
Every night, Arias would spend time mastering the Thunder God’s Path. It was truly a complicated skill that he had yet to fully understand. He had spent more than three days with it and still had not succeeded. At that moment, his body was covered in sweat, his eyebrows furrowed, and his mind was deep in concentration.
Suddenly, the circulation of magical power in Arias’ body began to change. Inside the spiritual realm, the flow of power abruptly caused the mist at the core of magic to gather together in a concentrated mass. The mist then began to switch back and forth between shrinking and expanding without a pause. Finally, something that looked like palm-sized lightning appeared at the center of the mist, its light shining brightly like a miniature Sun. Although the size of it was several times smaller, its inside was filled with a powerful force far greater than the mist. Like a starving child, it began to vigorously consume the mist at the core of magic. The situation was beyond Arias’ expectations. He furrowed his brows, sweat covering his body as he clenched his teeth. The pain caused by the turbulent flow of power felt like his body was being torn apart. Suddenly, something peculiar occurred. The magical energy surrounding Arias’ body vibrated before it was forcefully absorbed by the lightning. Every time the energy was being sucked in, the lightning would slowly expand in size. It took around an hour for the flow of power to calm. The magical energy within several meters around Arias had become so thin that it was difficult to sense. Inside the core of magic, the once-small lightning had grown to be around a foot in size, radiating a strong and raging power of thunder.
“I finally did it. What a powerful grimoire. I didn’t expect that the turbulent flow of power would make me skip to the fourth level of neophyte, almost to the fifth level, even. The Thunder God’s Path sure is strong. With my power now, I could probably hold my own against upper-level neophytes. But that thunder is such a perplexing force. Without control, even I could be absorbed by it.”
Arias smiled with delight. Fortunately, he was able to control it. The turbulent flow of power, if went out of control, could lead to unpredictable outcomes which would include either death or years of being bedridden. However, he was curious about the lightning which was the source of his power. It was so powerful and a bit peculiar.
After recovering from his fatigue, Arias continued to nurture his power for several hours. However, he felt that he was progressing rather slowly. This must be due to the thinning of magical energy around here and it would take several hours for it to return to normal. It was then that Arias realized something.
“Training by absorbing magical energy like this is time-consuming. If I had more materials, my training would progress much faster. For someone like me who is the clan leader’s grandson to lack resources like this...damn it! Even the guards might have more training materials than I do!”
Arias cursed bitterly. As the one who was thought to be powerless, he was not given any resources to nurture his power despite him being a part of a great clan. What he had was only some monthly allowance that he had received from the clan.
Aside from magical energy, mages could also absorb power from magical quartz, herbs, potions, and other relics. In fact, absorbing power from these items was a much more efficient way to accumulate power.
Unable to rely on his clan for support, Arias began to think of ways to get his hands on more resources. Anything he could gather would be a big help at this moment. Suddenly, a cunning smile appeared on Arias' face as his eyes gleamed with delight.
“This will surely solve my problem.”
