Chapter-02

While Linley and I were now locked in the process of a unique Soul fusion-mutation that would make us a one of a kind being capable of using all 11 natural essences and their combinations, the outside world of Linley's bedroom in the Baruch estate of Wushan township had a very tense atmosphere.

Hogg Baruch POV-

Hogg Baruch, the current head of the Baruch clan sat on a chair holding a bowl of soup beside the bed with Linley propped up on it and looking as if he fell asleep sitting up. He had a very worried look on his face as he gazed upon the face of his eldest child, he was experiencing a whole rush of mixed emotions chief of them being regret and worry. He had not felt so down since the kidnapping of his wife. 'Why… why must fate be so cruel to our family?' He thought as he caressed the head of the sleeping boy.

"Big brother is ok, right? He will wake up soon, right?" Wharton who was being held in House-keeper Hiri's arms as he stood next to the bed asked. He did not really understand much as he was just around 4 years old, the only thing he did understand was that his awesome big brother had saved him from being crushed by a boulder and was now injured.

"Of course, young master. Linley is a strong boy and a descendent of the mighty Baruch clan, there is no way he is not alright. Just you wait, he will be healed up in no time and ready to play with you like always." House-keeper Hiri reassured little Wharton though it looked more like he was reassuring himself more. He still remembers the day rocks rained down on their little town due to the battle of two Saints nearby, his helplessness to protect his charges as he witnessed young Linley rush head long into danger to save Wharton would forever haunt him.

"He will be fine. He already healed from the physical wounds and as the town healer said, he has only entered into a state of deep sleep for recovery. He will wake up soon and will be good as new." Hogg said aloud. Initially he was not so sure, when he first saw his injured son, he was overcome with grief at the sight of the fatal wound.

He still clearly remembers that day and could not believe that it was only 2 days ago- he had seen his eldest son rush to save the younger one and get hit by a large boulder in the process. He had immediately rushed over and dug his sons out of the rubble only to find a grievously injured Linley who had managed to protect Wharton under him. He had asked Hiri to have Linley placed on a comfortable couch in the main hall and ignored Hillman's report about the status of the town and ordered him to call in the town's healer here immediately.

The next few moments for Hogg went by in a flash as he somehow managed to get a distraught Wharton to sleep in his room before heading down to the main hall to check on Linley and wait for the healer. He was in a constant state of worry as he didn't know what he would do next, the healer was taking too long and even though they had staunched Linley's bleeding head it did not look good. He didn't care if he sold all of their possessions and bankrupted the family, he would not let his son die before him.

As he was praying for his son's survival and waiting for the healer there was a strange disturbance in the room. A strong wind picked up and swept the room and upon closer inspection, Linley seemed to be at the centre of it. It stopped just as abruptly as it started not long after and both Hogg and Hiri found themselves kneeling before the couch and checking up on Linley. As they peered around the bandages and his body in general a brief sense of relief seemed to wash over them when they found out that Linley seemed to have miraculously healed from his grievous injuries, while he was not fully recovered just yet he seemed to have gone quite far on the road to recovery. Hogg sent a brief prayer of thanks to whichever deity listened to him and prayed for their continued support.

The town healer who was an old bald man with a long white beard arrived not long after accompanied by Hillman. It was a testament to how much both the healer and townsfolk respected the Baruch clan as they didn't make a fuss when the town's best healer was prioritised by Hogg even in this state of emergency.

The old healer did a quick check up on Linley and honestly reported his findings before getting to work- "While the injury looks severe it could have been a lot worse. Moreover, I've always known that the people of your family have been very hardy folk Lord Hogg and I have full confidence that young Linley will make a full recovery." He finished up after applying some medicinal paste over the various injuries and wrapping up some bandages.

"The only real problem I can see is that he seems to have suffered quite a heavy blow to the head, thankfully I have detected no signs of any troublesome internal injury and while the physical injury seems as though it will recover just fine, he may remain unconscious for a few days. I urge you not to worry as these things are quite common with head injuries, think of this as a sort of long recovery sleep. Anyway, I will provide you with some medicine paste later that you can apply to his wounds when changing the bandages as well as some others to be ingested. Just mix it up in a thin soup and feed it to him in small portions over 5 to 6 times a day until he wakes." He informs the others in the room before starting to pack up his things.

"Thank you so much for rushing here Healer Jerry, I know it was not easy for you and you will definitely be busy for the foreseeable future. On behalf of my family, I humbly express my gratitude, how can I ever repay you?" Hogg expresses his sincere thanks as Hiri and Hillman let out a breath of relief they didn't know they were holding.

"None of that now, Lord Hogg. I don't believe I've done that much, why knowing your family's history of producing strong folk I believe little Linley could have pulled through even without my assistance. You have already done so much for me and the town, I could not possibly ask for more in these dire circumstances. I can only request you to continue to support us and protect our home as you've always done." Jerry humbly responded.

"Very well, thank you once again Healer Jerry. I won't keep you any longer as I'm sure you must be busy, do not hesitate to ask for anything you may need to ensure the health of the people." Hogg bid the old healer farewell.

"Farewell, Lord Hogg. Keep me updated if there are any changes to Linley's condition and you have need of me." And with that Healer Jerry left to see to the other injured people of the town. Little did anyone know, if Linley had not miraculously healed up just a while ago, Jerry would have had a different diagnosis to give. If he had not magically healed, Jerry would no doubt have been forced to declare there was nothing he could do to save Linley as their only hope then would be to have a powerful magus versed in healing magic help out and that would have been impossible even if they were not constrained by time.

With the emergency situation under control Hogg had Linley shifted to rest comfortably in his room while he got to managing the town's situation and the clean up after the calamity.

Back in present, Hogg finished carefully feeding Linley the small portion of a thin medicinal soup before putting away the utensils to be washed later. He sat their observing his eldest propped up with pillows on the bed for some time while taking Wharton into his hands and holding him in a tight embrace. Hiri gave him a book on general knowledge of the Yulan continent and he proceeded to give his younger son an impromptu lesson. He had been doing this every day since Linley's accident, every moment he was not busy being the town's leader and managing the affairs, he spent with his sons.

Just as he was in the middle of lecturing about the details of the various kingdoms of the Holy Union a mysterious wind picked up in the room. This, while strange, was not anything new to the people of the room. Incidents like this had happened intermittently over the past couple of days and was even a sign of good fortune of sorts as it heralded the not only the sign of Linley being alive but also that he was recovering.

Unlike previous times however the intensity of the winds continued to grow stronger and despite everything that happened before they got worried. Hogg had Hiri take Wharton away before he moved closer to check up on Linley. He discovered nothing wrong and only noticed the few scrapes and wounds still remaining on the unconscious boy start healing at a visible pace which was a welcome. He waited a while longer for the winds to die down like it always did but it did not do so this time and nor were there any signs of it ending soon.

Hogg really felt out of his depth here as he had never seen anything like it. He was also thankfully smart enough to know that spreading word of these events or even trying to seek outside help could doom their family to an even worse fate than what they were currently in. The only saving grace was that this while stronger than any previous occurrence, it again only seemed to aid in his son's recovery so he let it be. He gently laid Linley to sleep on his back after being sure he would not be in danger of choking on the soup he was fed earlier and proceeded to exit the room unaware of the other silent watcher still present within it.

Doehring Cowart POV-

The Spirit of the Grand Magus Saint- Doehring Cowart silently looked upon this scene of earth element essence flooding the room and being drawn into the injured child who lay on the bed. To say he was amazed by this sight was an understatement and no matter how many times he had seen it before he was still amazed. His Soul had long been imprisoned within the World Ring, a treasure among treasures he had found over his life of exploring that was not only a great focusing aid for his spells but seemed to have many other functions and mysteries as well.

That ring was the very same reason he was still alive and free- well somewhat- when he was ambushed by his enemies and his body was destroyed. He had managed to have his Soul take refuge in it and escape his foes all the while hoping to one day, in the future see the outside world again when the ring got a new owner. He just hoped the new owner would be a decent fellow who would not seek to destroy him or worse yet be his enemies.

After an unknown amount of time spent in isolation his desire was finally realised when he felt someone's blood splash on to the ring signifying the ring being bound by a new owner. As soon as he made sure there was no one outside who could detect him let alone be a threat to him, he materialised outside the ring for the first time to see what had become of the world and take stock of his surroundings as well as greet the new owner of the ring and build a favourable impression for the future.

Imagine his surprise to find out that the new owner of his ring was a little boy. That wasn't so bad, in fact, one in his state of being could even argue that this was the best outcome as not only would he be able to pass on his legacy but would have more sway in moulding the young one into something he could be proud of. Unfortunately for him, the situation was also not good in some ways. It could even be classified as very bad as the kid who was the ring's new owner was fatally injured and might not be long for this world.

He now found himself in an intense moral debate internally as he was caught between trying to do something to save the kid and just remaining quiet and let nature take its course. On one side his conscience and moral thoughts said that he had lived a long and full life, way longer if the time spent in the ring was taken into account and it would not be a bad way to go if he died trying to save a young innocent kid. His self-preservation and rational thoughts on the other hand told him that not only would he die if he used magic in his present state but also that his actions would not amount to much. Though he could wax-eloquent on the greatness of the earth style of magic to all and sundry, even he had to admit that it was not so great in healing others. So even if he resolves himself and casts a spell, it would not amount to much in saving the boy's life.

Before things came to a head and he did something stupid, he suddenly felt the earth essences within the room become active and rush into the injured kid. In all his long life he had never seen anything like it, the earth essences seemed to flock towards the kid and to his enormous and happy surprise, it was healing him. He had always known that the earth style was able to reinforce oneself and even heal them slightly but he never knew it could do so much.

Under his surprised and amazed gaze Doehring Cowart saw the earth element essence heal the boy and pull him out of Death's grasp before going quite again. That was by no means an isolated incident as events like that continued to occur sporadically over the next couple of days though if not as intensely as the first one, it was still building up. Take the incident happening now for instance, the intensity and concentration of earth elements right now could put all previous events to shame. He could in fact liken what he was seeing right now to those precious few moments of enlightenment he had experienced over his life.

Regardless of everything, he believed that the kid- named Linley he had found out- would be a remarkably talented mage in the earth style and he just could not wait for him to regain consciousness so he could immediately snatch him up as a disciple. Just the ability to call on the earth element like he was doing spoke of great talent in the field and the strength of his Spirit was nothing to scoff at either. The latter of which was essential for a magus, was something the kid had in spades and it seemed to grow exponentially each time he absorbed earth essence, in fact if he was not wrong, he already had enough Spiritual energy to be classified as a peak rank 2 Magus and if this time's event is to be taken into account, he will reach the requirements of rank 3 soon.

Doehring Cowart watched this spectacle unfold and was once again surprised when he saw that unlike before where the kid would only absorb earth essence for a short while before stopping, now it looked like he would be at it for a long while. If that in itself was not surprising, his spiritual energy was also continuously increasing at a phenomenal rate. This continued for hours, overnight, the following day and the day after that; it was truly something frightening for the old Saint. He was just thankful that the boy's family seemed to have some sense about them and decided to keep the events going on here a secret, it wouldn't do to have word of this spread and the child to be assassinated or worse taken advantage of before he matures.

This latest session lasted for 5 full days with the speed of him gathering earth elements and his spirit energy growing steadily increasing over the entire period. The old Saint had no words as he could clearly detect that the kid's spirit energy had now grown to such a monstrous degree that if he spent the time from now on into only gathering Mageforce, he would enter the ranks of the high rank magi of the 7th rank within a few months. A 7 or 8-year-old magus of the 7th rank, what a frightening notion that was; he simply had to get the kid to become his disciple no matter what.

So, after a total of 7 days spent in a deep coma like state, on the morning of the 8th day since the calamity that befell Wushan township, Linley Baruch woke up. He was now fully recovered, in fact he felt much better than he had ever felt, but none of these changes were the most shocking; the most shocking change was not his miraculously healed body or the insane spirit energy levels that Doehring Cowart had detected. It was the change in his very Soul itself that was the most shocking, for Linley's Soul had not only mutated, he now had another complete set of memories from life as a youth in another world in addition to his own. He could in fact now be considered a completely different person from before as he did not particularly feel like just one of the original 2 Souls that had fused.

His coming into the world of the wakeful ones was first noticed by the Spirit of Doehring Cowart who had continued to watch over him but before he could say anything the door opened and Hogg came in to the room carrying a bowl of thin medicinal soup for his eldest son.

Hogg froze at the sight of Linley sitting up on his bed, wide awake. The tray with the bowl of soup clattered to the ground forgotten as he rushed to his recovered and awake son and pulling him into his arms with a hint of tears gathering in his eyes.

"Thank the gods, Linley. I'm so glad you are awake; don't you ever scare me like that again young man." Hogg is caught up in his emotions as he hugs his now recovered child and caught between celebrating, being grateful, caring and reprimanding all wrapped into one. The image of a strict and unflappable father from his memories is completely shattered.

"Father… What happened? Is Wharton safe? Is the rest of the house and town safe?" I asked though I'm pretty sure everyone else from our household is fine and though parts of town and many of its people didn't make it they were largely intact. I was for all intents and purposes out cold for quite a while so it would be understandable if I was unaware of the events since that day.

"It's alright now Linley, with you now awake everyone from of our household is alright. There were many townsfolk that didn't make it and there are still many injured but we will make it through, and whatever damage was done to properties can be repaired with time after all." Hogg reassures me as he gently pats my shoulder.

"Well, I better call Healer Jerry to come take a look at you since he asked to be notified once you were awake. I'll also have Hiri cook up something more substantial, you must be hungry after waking up." He slowly gets up and exits the room while his eyes remain mostly on me with a lingering gaze filled with love, care and worry. I can tell that he is afraid that this is all his wishful thinking, he is scared if he leaves, he will return to find me still comatose or worse.

"Alright father, but please hurry back." I gently reply to him with a soft reassuring smile and with that he leaves the room in a hurry to finish his tasks as soon as possible so he can rush back.

I was left alone in the room by father but little did he know that there was still the Spirit of Doehring Cowart present and he now decided to make himself known as there were no other disturbances- "Hello kiddo, my name is Doehring Cowart and I am an Earth style Grand Magus Saint of the Pouant Empire." He introduced himself.

I gape at him a bit as honestly, even if I expected his appearance, it was still a shock to see an amicable old grandpa in white robes with a long beard like Gandalf the White suddenly appear before me. Naturally my response was- "Huh..whaa…?!" Very intelligent and sophisticated, I know.

"Hahaha, now Linley was it… I must say that you have shown immense aptitude to learn earth style magic and I would like to offer you a chance to be my personal disciple." He proudly stated like it was something amazing, and it truly was since there was no way I was going to get any other chance to learn under a Saint Magus without being taken advantage of.

"You… you're a Saint grand Magus, from the Pouant empire? No way Gramps, the Pouant Empire fell over 5000 years ago." I responded in order to play along. No need to break the illusion of me being anything but a 7- or 8-year-old brat just yet after all.

"Hmmm… over 5000 years, the Empire has fallen? I knew a lot of time had passed but that is still quite much, I can't really even gauge time accurately from within the World ring after all." He mumbled to himself and forgetting I was there for a moment.

"Gramps what are you talking about? I'm confused." I try to get his attention back so we can move on to the good stuff.

"Alright kid, let me explain. That ring you bound when your blood fell upon it is an extremely powerful and mysterious Divine artifact I once used, the World ring!" He started explaining while pointing to the Coiling Dragon ring that was set beside me on the bedside table.

"World ring? That is the Coiling Dragon ring left by my ancestors, since I found it, I get to name it and it is the Coiling Dragon ring." I reply stubbornly.

"Hahaha, Alright, alright. Even I only found it while adventuring and despite researching I could not figure out its history and gave it a name myself. Figures you would want to give it a different name now that it is yours." He did not even put up a token resistance against a kid's argument.

"Gramps, are you telling me you came out of the ring?" I asked to get us back on track.

"In year 4280 of the Yulan calendar, I encountered an old foe of mine, a Saint-level Grand Magus named Hamelin, and the two of us began to fight. I didn't expect yet a second Saint-level combatant to ambush me and sneak attack me. In the end, I was defeated, and my body was destroyed. I didn't wish for my spirit to be captured and tortured by my enemy, Hamelin, so I sealed myself within this Worldri-, ahem, this Coiling Dragon Ring." The old man explained what had happened in the past.

"The Coiling Dragon Ring is an extremely amazing object. It doesn't appear to emanate any magical aura, but in usefulness it can even compare with Divine artifacts and can also amplify spells better than any Magic Staff. When I sealed my soul within the ring, Hamelin and the other one searched a long time for me, but weren't able to find me. This, too, is thanks to the Coiling Dragon Ring." The old man smiled as he spoke.

I nodded along with wide eyed awe at his story and I didn't even have to act too much as I truly was in awe. I continued to ask him- "Gramps you said you are a Saint and you've been inside the ring since the year 4280, how did you seal yourself and why did you only appear now?"

Laughing, the old man explained- "Actually, when I sealed my spirit within the Coiling Dragon Ring, I interwove my very existence into the Coiling Dragon Ring. Only when a person becomes the new owner of the ring and binds it by dropping their blood on it would I be allowed to depart it."

"Oohh, dropping blood on it? It must have happened when I got injured, I remember I was wearing the ring on a chord around my neck so some of my blood must have gotten on it then. So, I am now the new owner of the ring, right?" I voice out for his benefit.

"Right. Now what do you say about becoming my personal disciple. With your talents and my guidance, you can become a Grand Magus Saint before you reach 50, maybe even before 30 I'd wager." He asks again.

I remain quiet, as if I'm thinking it over intensely before answering- "Ok Gramps. I'll become your disciple."

"Good, good. Now get some rest and eat all the breakfast your father brings you; we will begin later. No use rushing it especially as you have only just recovered." He tells me.

I decide to make some more small talk as we won't be getting started in magic training just yet so, I ask him- "Hey Gramps, are you going to be bound to the ring forever unable to be free? Can anyone else see or hurt you?"

The old man smiled and nodded before saying- "Linley, you must know that when most people die, their spirits will enter the Nether Realm. But because I was a Saint-level Grand Magus at the time of my death, my spiritual energy had obtained physical form. That was the only reason why I could temporarily resist the call of the Nether Realm and seal myself within the Coiling Dragon Ring. Right now, there is only one way for me to leave this ring – exhaust all of my remaining spiritual energy causing me to dissipate entirely. As for your second question, will be able to see me other than you, only people with strong spiritual energy like Saints will be able to detect me or pose a threat to me but if I hide in the ring even they would not find me."

"You will dissipate if you exhaust all your remaining spiritual energy?" I ask to confirm, I knew what happened to him in canon, how there was no possible way to revive him after he sacrificed himself. I swore to myself that I would not let that happen now and that I would find a way for him to regain a body, there was bound to be some way to make that happen. I remember another fanfic from my life in the other world where the fact that one could get a new body when becoming a deity was taken advantage of and Grandpa Doehring got a body for himself by ascending to the deity level. I was not sure if that works here but I thought to suggest that to him eventually when the topic of levels beyond Saints come up. I was not up for leaving him with no hope of freedom.

"Spiritual energy, also sometimes referred to as Mental energy, I will teach you more about it eventually as it is vital for spell casting and Magi in general. Anyway, when a person's Spiritual energy is utterly exhausted, his Soul would naturally dissipate. In other words…when my Soul dissipates, it will leave the confines of this Coiling Dragon Ring." The old man said calmly before continuing- "But the current situation is also fine. Although I am confined by the Coiling Dragon Ring, preventing me from wandering more than three meters away from it, this isn't too bad."

"What, Soul dissipating? No, I won't let that happen! I swear Grandpa Doehring, I will find some way for you to be free from the ring with a body of your own so you may be free. It's a promise!" I state and kind of feel like Naruto going 'Datteboyo!' at the end but I meant what I said.

"Hahaha, thanks kiddo, you have no idea how much that means to me." He tells me with a warm look, as if he was indulging his favourite grandchild or something. He might not believe I can do what I said but I intend to try and better yet I have actual ideas that might work.

We look at each other for a while and make some idle chatter before my father returns along with Grandpa Hiri and Wharton who immediately rushes to give me a big hug while crying- "Big Brother!"- after seeing me awake and fully healed.

I then spend some time consoling my distraught little brother and just as I got the kid to relax a little, Healer Jerry walked in to give me a check-up. It seems as though he was not called in even once after that first time on the day of the accident but it seems as though my father did not want to risk news of my odd state of absorbing the natural essences getting out. Anyway, Healer Jerry gave me a clean bill of health and cleared me for more solid foods albite with a high protein content. In the end he still recommended I take it easy for the next couple of days and not exert myself and father ended up excusing me from the daily exercises as well as any chores for the following week.

After I had eaten my fill of food everyone cleared out but father still reminded me that though I will be excused from physical activities for a week he will restart the academic lessons from the following day and have me focus on it. Now there's the strict father I had always known, I was beginning to wonder if something was seriously wrong before as he was too soft.

I again was left with only Grandpa Doehring for company so I decided to see if I could get a leg up and start my magic training at least. I must confess I was kind of disappointed not being allowed to exercise immediately as I knew that I was perfectly fine and resting for a week not only had no benefits but also wasted time.

"Grandpa Doehring, can I start learning magic right now. I don't want to feel that weak ever again and make my family worry. I also want to have enough strength to be able to protect the people I care about so I will not have to worry about them either." I state with a firm resolve once I'm sure no one is listening in on us.

"Hmm, very well. Normally I would recommend you rest some more but something tells me you will not appreciate that. Sigh, well I suppose it wouldn't hurt as I can confirm that you are perfectly healthy, in fact I would say that you are healthier than you were a week ago." He responded.

"Healthier than before? What do you mean?" I ask, I obviously knew my own condition and I was feeling better than I ever had before but I wanted his feedback on what he could tell about my body and more importantly if anyone else of a suitably high level can tell as well.

"Well for starters, your spiritual energy has grown to a monstrous level, it is already comparable to a high-class mage of the 7th rank. That and your incredible affinity to the earth element is what actually prompted me to so strongly want you as a disciple." He explains.

Upon seeing me acting confused he proceeded to explain more about the requirements of a mage and to cast spells, being- Spiritual essence, Mageforce and natural essence- and their co-relation to each other. Spirit essence was by far the most important as it was the main controlling or driving force and set a hard limit on one's power and rank, it was like a king or emperor, the highest authority in a kingdom he explained. The natural essences were like the people or subjects who naturally occupy and live on the land while the Mageforce which was nothing but refined natural essence stored in a mage's central dantian, was like the ministers, nobles and generals chosen by the king (Spirit essence) from the people (Natural essence) to help the king rule (cast spells).

He also explained that high powered magi, even Saints did not have enough Mageforce internally for many of their spells and relied on getting the natural essences available in the environment to form most of the power of the spell. The Mageforce (generals) acted as a guide for the natural essences (common soldiers) to relay the intention of the spirit (king). The amount of natural essence (number of soldiers) gathered in the spell was dependent on the quality of the Mageforce (competence of the generals) which in turn was dependent on the power and ability of one's spirit (wisdom and charisma of the king) to refine it to the best of its capability.

That was a really simple and easy way to understand it I thought and it made a lot more sense to me who remembers reading about all this in a novel of all things. He then continued to tell me about the massive advantage I had with my high-powered spirit energy and that he already confirmed that I had a good affinity for earth magic as I was absorbing it to heal myself while I was unconscious.

I was not aware that my actions in my mindscape had such a profound effect outside as well, that will teach me to be more careful in finding a secluded place to practice from now on as I don't want people to get a grasp of my full abilities just yet. Better to be underestimated I thought and surprise any would be attackers who wish me harm, if I had my way, I would try to keep my power hidden at least until I become a Saint, even longer if I could manage it.

He eventually started teaching me how to meditate so that I could start absorbing and refining the natural earth element essence around me into earth style Mageforce in my central dantian after confirming that I could in fact identify earth element essence. Though I knew how and had in fact meditated before, the method Grandpa Doehring taught had some key differences. Where what I was doing before could be called meditating to mostly sense and observe the natural essences and haphazardly absorbing them to strengthen the body. Grandpa Doehring's method focused on simply identifying the essences before absorbing them into oneself via special pathways in the body and finally storing the refined essence in their central dantian as Mageforce.

I followed his lessons and started to refine Mageforce, I obviously gathered the other essences besides earth as well. He obviously couldn't detect that but he could still feel the disturbance I caused which was just like what I was doing when I was unconscious apparently, if only not that intense. Definitely need to find an isolated place to practice magic from now on, for now Grandpa Doehring decided to act as a lookout for me as I meditated so I got busy without worrying.

After a while I observed that Grandpa Doehring's method seemed to be highly specialised to gather Mageforce it seems. There was a little bleed out of the natural essences that would be absorbed by my bodily tissues proper to strengthen them but in the grand scheme of things it was a small quantity. There was also the fact that since I was only drawing them in and circulating them only through specific pathways, there seemed to be a large amount of the essences outside my body queuing up as only so much could pass through the pathways at a time. My desire to experiment reared its head again as I tried to somewhat incorporate my old meditation method as well but I soon lost focus and my meditation session ended.

"Is something wrong Linley?" Doehring Cowart asked as his new disciple stopped meditating. If you were to honestly ask him, he would admit to being a bit frightened by his disciple's talents. He was really surprised at how easily the kid had entered into a meditative trance although it should have been his first time. Seeing him make a mistake and end the meditation actually gave him some hope that despite everything the kid he had taken as a disciple was in fact also human and not some old monster.

"Nothing Grandpa Doehring. I seem to have made a mistake is all." I respond before trying again.

"No matter, just be careful from now on. Though this is not very dangerous, it would not do for you to become careless and cripple yourself." He chastised.

That got me to take this more seriously and made me more cautious. I was a lot more careful and slower in trying to integrate my method of meditation to Grandpa Doehring's so that I won't make a stupid mistake and ruin myself. After a few more failed attempts I gave it up as a bad job and just followed one meditation method at a time and alternating whenever one got too boring.

I took regular breaks for food and to use the chamber pots (right I forgot about those, sniff, goodbye comforts of modern plumbing). I also made time to play with my cute little brother when he showed up and also to just spend time chatting with father and Grandpa Hiri when they popped in to check up on me.

In the time after dinner before going to bed I took some time to make a rough outline a plan going forward, made a mental note of all the important events that would happen as well as how to best take advantage of them. My high spiritual energy made it countless times easier to remember even more details that I was afraid I had forgotten as well as helped me order and retain my thoughts better without needing to put them on paper or something.

I also checked out the details of the beginning of the Stellar Transformation technique I got from my wish and made a plan to start practicing it. I unfortunately could not get to it right away as like in canon one had to have achieved the peak possible strength of a mortal with their bodies alone to even get started on the Stellar Transformations technique, in this universe that unfortunately might translate to peak of 9th rank with just the strength of one's physical body, I was so hoping the base requirement was only a 6th rank body strength which was the known limit. Still while reaching 9th rank only through body strength seemed like an impossible goal to anyone else, I had faith I could do it. What with my heritage of being a member of the Dragonblood warrior clan with innate tougher bodies, my Blood Essence Refining technique which was also something I got as part of my wish would help and finally even if I did not have something as broken as the Meteoric Tear like the MC of Stellar Transformations novel, I had the next best thing, I had a high aptitude for Life Magic so even if I pushed past my body's limits while training I was confident I could heal myself up to be stronger than before.

With a plan of action set I went to bed for the day, eagerly looking forward to what tomorrow would bring me. Honestly, my great expectations all came crashing down the next day when my dear father showed just how much of a hard ass he could be. He saw my need for physical rest as no excuse to stop my education and development of the mind, I was completely inundated with lessons on politics, religion, economy, warfare, geography, history, art and so much more that after a few hours in I was getting dizzy and had half a mind to flip the table we were sitting at over in frustration. I honestly don't know how I made it through that hell but I persevered.

Sigh, whatever free time I got- which wasn't much- where father was off seeing to his other duties as the leader of our township, I used it up for meditation and so what I would normally have achieved in just a few days, took me the whole week and only now I was finally able to call myself a rank 1 mage. Now with my week of rest (if it could be called that) was over I re-joined the rest of the town's kids for the daily morning and evening exercises which was honestly way better than that hell of unending books. The academic lessons still continued though but at a decidedly more leisure pace, turns out that thanks to my mutated Soul, memories of the transmigrator and high spiritual power I had shown remarkable progress and was way ahead in academics so Hogg was forced to relent for nothing else than there was not much else he could get his hands on that I hadn't already learnt by the end of the week.

With my new found free time due to my drastically reduced academic lessons I naturally spent more time on magic and meditation and when I got bored of that I practiced the Blood Essence Refinement to further strengthen my body. I also made sure I spent a great deal of time with little Wharton who was quite frankly in my opinion the cutest kid ever! I knew that we would eventually separate what with me going off to magic school and him going to warrior academy all the way in the O'Brian Empire soon so I made it a point to spend more time with him whenever possible. I also slipped in some yoga asanas and other methods that I found which boosted my speed of gaining power in the guise of games where I asked to see if he could copy his cool big brother or other games like treasure hunts and puzzles that helped improve his mind. I really don't want him to continue doing stupid things like clean the cutlery with the same rags he used to clean the chamber pots a little while ago after all.

My relationship with Grandpa Doehring continued to progress just as well as my lessons in magic. He was impressed to say the least when I took off my shoes to better feel the earth element before our first official lesson in earth style magic in the remote and isolated Mt. Wushan located east of the town. I continued to surprise Grandpa Doehring with my antics like when I started doing yoga from the second week of lessons. Hey what can I say, I remembered from the Transmigrator's memories that yoga and their brand of meditation was taught to the kids at the orphanage he grew up in just like Wushan's daily exercise for kids and even in that old life I had kept at it as I had found that it helped keep my mind and body fit.

I also discovered that yoga just like the meditation technique from that world had an amazing effect on my body here. Yoga seemed to be something of a magic warrior's training method as performing the various asanas helped stretch out my body, improve breathing and blood circulation while also calming and clearing my mind overall; in this world it also had the effect of drawing in the natural essences to me and helping me strengthen my body by enabling me to temper and baptise it under the influence of the higher-than-normal natural essence concentrations. All in all, I was easily able to break through and achieve 1st rank as a warrior as well within a week of me picking up yoga again.

If that wasn't enough, I thought that I somehow managed to break my dear old Grandpa Doehring during our first lesson on actual spell casting three weeks into my magical education. I may have gotten a little carried away at the thought of actually casting spells as this was a new experience both for the old Linley and the Transmigrator. We were alone at our secret training spot on Mt. Wushan and he had just given me the go ahead to cast some rank 1 spells after teaching me the proper incantations and giving me a detailed explanation on each spell along with the theories of their structure. They were the basic spells like- Earth Spike, Earth Tremor, Shattered Rocks, Earth Wall and Earth Shield. The whole thing should have been fairly straight forward and even if I was only capable of performing a couple of them now, it could be excused as it was my first time.

Alas, that was not to be, as Grandpa Doehring's eyes widened and eyebrows shot up when I performed them all perfectly on the first try itself. It didn't end there though as I spent a few moments analysing the structure of the spells and the effects they caused as well as the general feel of how my spirit energy and mageforce behaved to form the spell before unleashing a second round of spells, only these were all new and improved, modified versions of the spells I had cast before.

My Shattered Rocks were not only faster but were conical shaped like artillery shells unlike the standard rough jagged rocks, they were also spinning and thus had better penetrative power. I even managed to curve the trajectory of a few shots. Earth Tremors now had the added danger of sharp earthen spikes popping up from the unsteadily shaking ground as I had combined it with Earth Spike. My Earth Walls and Shields now had a more robust and sturdy form than the standard and I again threw in the surprise of it being able to grow Spikes or shoot out rocks on demand to give them a bit of offence after incorporating both Earth Spike and Shattered Rocks to it.

Grandpa Doehring's jaw dropped open so wide that you could probably fit a whole apple in it. The real icing on the cake though was that now that I had a taste for how spell casting went about and had an example of how spells were worded in general, I jury-rigged some simple spells for some other elements too and ended up tossing out a couple fireballs, wind bullets, water balls, water whips, made my hands crackle with electricity like a taser and such. I swear that if Grandpa Doehring still had a body right now he would have done a glorious spit-take trying desperately not to choke on his saliva, he still managed a passable impression of it though.

"You…you…" As he was sputtering and staring at me with a ridiculous expression, I wondered if I had taken that a bit too far. Upon recalling how awesome it was to fire spells and the funny reaction I got out of Grandpa Doehring I thought- 'Nah! That was not overboard at all. Not one bit, hehe.'

"Was that no good Grandpa Doehring? Did I do something wrong?" I asked with an innocent smile on my face, like butter wouldn't melt in my mouth.

Grandpa Doehring POV-

"You…you…" he was at a complete loss for words. He the Grand Magus Saint Doehring Cowart who had seen much in his long life was rendered speechless by the actions of the little brat he had taken as a disciple. He simply had no words to explain what he had seen and was now staring stupidly at his disciple who had the nerve to smile back at him with that innocent smile, the little rascal.

"Was that no good Grandpa Doehring? Did I do something wrong?" the brat had the nerve to ask me that after that display.

"That was impressive for a first try, though I would appreciate it if you didn't go around modifying spells like that without consulting with me first. Granted they were simple ones and you succeeded, I feel as though I must warn you that carelessly altering spells like that can be somewhat disastrous and even lethal if you make even a small mistake." Although he somewhat recovered and gave some pointers like the wise old man he was, internally he was pulling out his hair and banging on his chest in frustration- 'What impressive first try? That was nothing short of the work of a genius. Who knew simple rank 1 spells could so easily be modified to such great effect? True a couple of those spells might not be called rank 1 anymore as they were lengthened to the standards of some rank 2 spells but still, that was only for a couple of them and they still had the power to compete with rank 2 spells. That modified Shattered Rocks and defensive spells in particular could rival rank 3 spells in terms of power and utility.'

'All that did not even take into consideration of the sheer number of spells the kid was able to cast in such a short time span. A normal rank 1 mage would exhaust his mageforce and spiritual essence casting just 4-5 spells back-to-back, this brat managed nearly 2 dozen spells and doesn't look winded in the slightest. I know that the Worldring can increase a mage's spell casting efficiency by a factor of 6 but this is ridiculous.'

The esteemed Grand Magus Saint Doehring Cowart felt that he had lived his life in vain after seeing such a brilliant display from such a young child who had only been given minimal guidance in spell casting. Before he could descend further into some ridiculous combo of a pity party cursing his own bland talents compared to a little kid and celebrating wildly at having found a genius disciple that only appears maybe once in 10,000 years; another thought struck him as his mind re-booted and he remembered that modified earth spells was not all that I had shown him.

"You can cast spells of other elements as well? Where did you even learn the spells for them?" He asked in amazed curiosity.

"Uhhh… I found out that I could feel other specks of light like the earthen yellow ones and I thought that they might be just like that but for other elements, so I was absorbing those too. After observing a bit, I could even identify what coloured speck each element was, and after you showed me how spells were worded as well as to cast for the earth style, I wanted to see if I could cast spells of other elements as well by slightly altering the spells again." His disciple honestly answered while nodding his head.

He had to give some props to the kid as the structures of some of his spells like the Fireball, Water Ball and Water Whip bore some resemblance to the corresponding actual spells of their respective styles he vaguely remembered from his time alive but the ones for that blast of wind and lightning dancing on his palms he had no idea. Then again, he was no expert in those elements and only had a passing understanding of them. In the end this just caused him to rub his head in worry while also being somewhat pleased with the continued display of his disciple's talent.

"Well, I wish you had told me all of this sooner. Looks like I will have to change up my plans a little but no harm done, but seriously Linley I want you to promise me that you won't cast any modified spells from now on without discussing with me first. It was ok this time as they were only weak rank 1 spells and granted, I might not be of much help with spells of other elements but I would like to think that my age and experience still mean something and I will help you to the best of my abilities." He honestly gave his input while at the same time gently chastising the boy. Things may have worked out this time but spell modification and creation were very dangerous and he did not want his disciple to hurt himself of worse kill himself due to his own hubris.

"I promise to be careful Grandpa Doehring and I will always discuss any new ideas with you before trying them out from now on." His disciple solemnly answers with his head down like a scolded child.

"There there Linley, I'm only telling you this for your own good. There is no need to feel down. Anyway, I believe we may have overstayed here a bit, run along now lest you be late for your other lessons. I will return to the ring to change up your lesson plans, call for me if you have need of my assistance." He says before ending the lesson and returning to the ring to ponder his next actions.

He had always known that his disciple was hiding something and each time the kid revealed something new and amazing the mystery only got deeper. This new display of affinities and ability to cast spells of other elements was just the latest in a long line of unexplained wonders his disciple seemed to be capable of.

In retrospect he probably should have expected this when the kid not only managed to somehow recover from what was obviously a fatal injury when he first laid eyes on him, he even managed to turn the whole situation into a blessing when his spiritual energy grew exponentially to what it is now. At this rate he might not even need to teach his disciple his own personal secret technique to rapidly grow one's spirit in the form of stone sculpting. Oh, who was he kidding, he had already resolved long ago to make the kid his personal disciple in every way and not passing on something like the techniques of his Straight Chisel School of stone sculpting did not sit right with him. The kid was a true genius and with his guidance had a good chance of becoming a Saint Magus before he hit 20. A 20-year-old Grand Magus Saint, just the thought of it sent goosebumps down his spine, now if that wasn't a legacy he could be proud of leaving behind, he did not know what was.

He continued pondering on the oddities of his disciple some more while also making and discarding new lesson plans one after another. He had even suspected that the kid was some great expert in disguise but he seemed a little too innocent and green sometimes and he was confident he would be able to spot an act when he saw one. Naturally he had spotted the kid sometimes try to hide how smart he was, like that time he just brushed over the fact that being barefoot while practicing earth style magic gave much better results. It was such a simple idea that gave incredible results honestly, he didn't know why he never thought of it himself before. He also didn't understand the need his disciple felt to hide his brilliant mind, he didn't know why he bothered with the act though as his acting skills were amateurish at best and would not fool someone of his calibre. Still, everyone was entitled to their own secrets he thought.

The other possibility was that just like him there was someone else teaching the kid in secret and he thought this idea was just as unlikely as even if there was someone else, they would not be able to hide from him. The only exception to people he could not detect were Deity level experts but surely there were none around and even then, he somewhat doubted they would take the time to teach the kid no matter how talented he was.

The probability of his odd techniques being some family exclusive secret also did not hold water since as far as he has seen, his disciple was the only one in his family who knew that funny dancing form of meditation (his understanding of yoga) and he was the one teaching that to his little brother to boot. Lucky kid doesn't know what an amazing technique he is being taught in the guise of playing games, he knew many people who would pay a fortune to learn that miraculous technique with him being among them and here his disciple was imparting it to his little brother while passing it off as a game. He shook his head in bafflement and put the mysteries of his disciple aside in favour of drawing up a lesson plan that would bring the best out of his charge, the way he saw it the kid's secrets were his own and since they didn't seem dangerous, he would let it be. Who knows Linley may share his secrets with him eventually of his own accord when they had grown closer and a firm trust was built between them? For now, he would wait and stick to doing his best to impart his legacy to his disciple.

Time passed and Linley continued his routine of daily physical training with the other town kids under Hillman, Academic pursuits under Hiri and Hogg and studied magic under Grandpa Doehring, the remaining leisure time, he spent pursuing any hobby that took his fancy like exploring around town and the forested hills, hunting and foraging for edible animals and plants and cooking them in new ways for his family or just spend time playing/training with his little brother Wharton. Day after day passed and seasons changed from spring to summer and now autumn.