Traveling

After Magnus told the apprentices to get all their stuff ready, they left the room in unison, leaving Ray and Magnus behind.

Magnus waited a couple seconds, then broke the silence by saying, "You don't need anything?"

"I already have everything." Ray replied.

"I was surprised when you came in here with your level 2 apprentice status." Magnus said. After seeing Ray say nothing to his remark, he continued, "Then I noticed how powerful your body is. Being able to reach that level within a year is… extraordinary."

"I worked hard day and night, this is simply the result of my hard work." Ray replied without a change in expression.

"I will be honest, you have a lot of potential to represent me in the royal capital. The only problem is your level, but that can be fixed by me." Magnus grabbed a bright yellow potion from his pocket and handed it to Ray. "This potion is filled with dense light energy, it will be very useful for you. This is a little difficult for even me, an official magus, to obtain. You should understand its value."

"I understand." Ray said while taking the potion. "I will fight hard for you in the capital."

Magnus nodded in response.

Ray opened the cap to the potion and took a sip. The potion wasn't pure energy, otherwise it couldn't be in a liquid form. But it was still extremely dense, it felt like he swallowed molten rock.

He had the immediate reflex to spit it out, but he forced himself to calm down and swallow the potion. He could feel the liquid as it passed through every part of his body. He started to get worried, but once the liquid hit his stomach, the energy from within the liquid started to automatically release itself.

Magnus was standing by the side, watching everything happen. Once he saw the energy start to release, he immediately said, "Absorb it now. Make sure not to be delayed, or the energy will go to waste."

Ray quickly reacted and started using the energy to strengthen his soul. If the energy density in the forest was 6 times that of outside, the energy within the potion was 6 times higher than the forest. That meant it was 36 times the normal energy density!

"The energy will slowly release. Keep focusing on absorbing all the energy until nothing remains." Magnus said.

Ray didn't respond since he was too busy trying to soak all the excess energy up. Not only was the density much higher than normal, but it was only light energy. That meant he didn't need to slow his training down to filter out the light energy from all the other elements, he can train without reserves!

An hour passed by in which Ray managed to absorb the entire sip he drank.

"Well done." Magnus said after noticing he finished. "Get ready, we will be leaving about now." He said as Zack and his group entered the building.

The group of boys were all holding shining swords and backpacks. They had a serious look on their faces, as if they were ready for anything.

"Follow me." Magnus said while walking out of the building.

He walked with the apprentices through the school until they exited the gate.

Once they exited the school, Magnus said, "Come close to me." In a demanding tone.

The apprentices quickly walked closer to Magnus, until they were only a few inches apart.

Suddenly, Ray watched in amazement as his feet left the ground. He realized he was floating in the air, as were Magnus and the other apprentices.

The apprentices all had surprised looks on their faces, but Magnus could only chuckle. He had been in the same situation as them, and he remembered the feeling of flying for the first time very clearly!

"We'll be flying till we reach the capital in a week. It's not often that apprentices get to enjoy the wonders of flying, enjoy it while it lasts." Magnus said.

Within a second, their speed went from standing still to blasting through the air at the speed of a plane. The wind around him was going by so fast, Ray suspected he would be injured if Magnus hadn't put a shield around him.

It was truly a sight, flying in the air above everything. After a few minutes they passed by a town. Ray could see the people of the town pointing towards him, but they were quickly left behind in the dust as Ray sped past them.

After he regained his previous calmness, he drank more of the potion and closed his eyes while focusing on absorbing the contents. The other apprentices were also entranced with the view of flying, but they started training again too; after all their teacher had just revealed they would be fighting under his name soon, they had to get ready for the event.

Days passed by quickly as they continued traveling at high speeds. The potion that Magnus gave Ray was already completely used up, and Ray had become a level 3 apprentice not too long ago.

The difference between a level 1 and level 2 mage was pretty small, but Ray could feel the gap being much larger with a level 3 apprentice. If before he had 4 energy, now he has 7.

A feeling of satisfaction arose within him as he reached the next level. But before he could enjoy it further, a giant fireball that blocked Ray's entire vision slammed into the shield protecting them.

The fireball came at such force and velocity, Ray didn't even realize its existence until it dissipated from the shield. For a second, he truly thought he was dead.

He quickly came back to his senses as he saw the shield ripple a little, but still stood strong.

"Greetings, Magnus. It's been a while." A booming voice resounded from the sky.

The fireball's after effects dissipated, revealing a burly man with bright orange hair. He had a cruel look on his face as he stared straight towards Magnus.

"Is this how you greet your old friend, Barton?" Magnus called out.

Barton snorted, and revealed a group of apprentices behind him.

"Look at this, I got 4 level 2 mages, and a level 3 mage." He said with a grin.

Magnus had a bored expression on his face as he replied, "I too have a level 3 mage, you're not that special."

Barton's face turned into a frown as he zoned in on Ray to confirm Magnus's words.

"Hmph. So what if you do have one? Mine will do much better than yours, it won't be the same as last time!" Barton said angrily.

"Still angry about that?" Magnus said with a chuckle. "Thanks to that, I reached the ninth level."

"Ninth level?" Barton said, the frown on his face grew deeper.

"Oh, I forgot to mention that." Magnus said in an exasperated tone. He let his aura out completely, so everyone could feel it for themselves.

After feeling Magnus's aura, Barton's face became increasingly uglier. "That- that doesn't matter. Everything will change this time." He shouted angrily while leaving the scene.

The apprentices quietly watched Barton speed away into the distance. "Watch out for him, he's an old enemy of mine." Magnus said while watching the figure retreat into the distance. "Although, he is a fool."

A few hours later, the enormous capital city came into view.