Path of Power

After Leus got up the next day, He wanted to talk to Blaze about a couple of things, So he went to the lobby and found Blaze talking with Amethyst

"Hey Dad"

"Hello Leus, How are your studies going?"

"I finished The Archivist's Atlas!"

Blaze became a bit surprised when he heard that, The book seemed big, He thought it would take at least a couple of days

"Already? Are you sure?"

"Yes, The book is actually very small, If it's closed then it looks like it has many pages but if you open it and flip the pages it's only just a few"

Blaze chuckled

'Magicians and their fancy tricks'

"Is that so? Well then, Did you find out what you were looking for?"

"Yes, Actually I have some questions to ask you"

When Blaze heard that he asked Amethyst to go and play with Merlin for some time and then looked at Leus

"I'm listening"

"According to the book, We're in the west of the Eastern Continent, And this is the most dangerous area in the entire continent, Is that correct?"

Blaze nodded

"Yes, That's right, Because of the Strife Zone"

"How dangerous is it exactly?"

Blaze looked at Leus for a couple of seconds but didn't answer

Leus wondered

'Did I ask a hard question?'

After a bit of time, Blaze spoke

"It depends on how powerful you are and how you choose to live

Inside the city, As long as you are relatively powerful or you have a good job then it's safe, otherwise, you'll have to live in the Slums, And it's dangerous there

As for outside the city, Things are a bit complicated

For example, It's suicidal for Mortals and Soldiers to wander outside the city, It's even risky for Mages/Knights too, But it's manageable

Outside the walls of the city, there are different dangers, From Bandits to Beasts, And even inside the cities, If you live in the Slums you might get killed on a whim"

Leus nodded

"So it is safe inside the city?"

"Yes, Battles only happen in the Strife Zone to the northwest of the city"

"Do you think it'll be like this always? It's written in the Atlas that the Vice Kingdom's King wants to invade this Kingdom?"

Blaze replied

"It's been safe for more than 200 years, And only skirmishes happen in the Strife Zone, I don't think anything like that will happen"

Blaze suddenly called Leus' name

"Leus"

"Huh? Yes Dad"

"If you choose to walk on the path of power then you must resolve yourself"

Blaze spoke in a solemn voice

"I've seen many people chasing power without realizing the risk. Always remember, Leus, if you live by the sword, you may die by it, You must resolve yourself."

During Blaze's life, He has seen so many young kids evolve to be Soldiers or Knights then quickly volunteer to work in the military, Looking for money and power, Only to die in their first battle

'I don't want my son to end up like that'

'Those who never consider death as a possibility end up either dead or hollow from the inside when they see others die'

Leus was taken aback by the sudden seriousness of Blaze

'He's never been so serious with me before'

But he replied in a serious tone as well

"I understand Dad"

"Good"

Leus took Blaze's words to heart and then went back to his room to think about what to do next

'I think I should start training on Magic now' 

'If I am powerful I'll be rich too hehe'

'And being able to defend myself is nice as well'

Leus remembered when Blaze almost paralyzed him with his killing intent and felt chills going down his spine

'I think power is very important in this world'

"Whew"

Leus took a deep breath then went and opened Arno's book

The book contained various spells which Leus skimmed through

(Water Magic:

Blob: A simple water bubble that can be used to intercept fireballs or to choke someone to death

Hydraulic: An extremely pressurized bullet of water that may penetrate your opponent

Fluid-Smoother: An advanced level of water magic, Allowing you to use small amounts of water to make your moves more fluid or make your opponent trip)

'Choke someone to death with a blob? ... That's ...'

'A strange concept for sure'

Leus continued

(Fire Magic:

Flame: A flame used for utility purposes

Fire Ball: A ball of fire

Earth Magic:

Spear: A spear that can be used for defense against swords or simply launched at opponents

Shield: A wall of rocks that can be used as a shield

Ice Magic:

Icicle: An icicle that can be launched at enemies

Ice Wall: A wall of ice that can be used as a shield

Wind Magic:

Boost: A strong gust of wind that can be used to increase your speed or jump height

Light Magic:

Mana Vision: A way to use your mana to see in the dark)

'No darkness or Life Force spells huh'

'I guess it makes sense that there are more Water spells because Arno is an Elite Water Mage'

'And I already know of that Light spell'

Leus scratched his chin in thought

'I think it will be easy to master this book in less than two years'

A smile appeared on his face

Leus spent some minutes thinking about the best way to train until he came to a conclusion

'As far as I know, The more I spend Mana the bigger my Mana Pool becomes' 

'This means that all I have to do is keep using the spells'

To do that, Leus decided to keep Mana Vision active all the time while he was training

Leus also noticed something 

'The spell consumes less mana than I first used it' 

Leus didn't know if that was because he used the spell a lot so he became familiar with it or it was because he evolved 

'Well, Ultimately, It doesn't matter, Let's just focus on what's important'

'I'll start with Wind Magic, It should be the easiest to handle if something goes wrong'

Leus opened the Wind Magic chapter and began reading the details.