Chapter 28

"... That's incredible, Desmond looks like he's only about 19 and he already has 500..."

"Do you find that surprising? I have over 1000 and look how young and beautiful I am," Sigrún twirled, showcasing her exquisite beauty and alluring figure.

"...Yes, you're right, master. I should've seen it coming from the start..." Erik began to reflect, but a thought quickly crossed his mind, prompting him to ask his teacher, "By the way, master, how old is Master Eleonora?"

"Hehehe, she's over 5000 years old."

Erik looked at her in astonishment, then fell silent, lost in thought, when she cheerfully interrupted him.

"Don't worry too much about that, Erik. You'll get used to it. We have a long life ahead of us after all, hehehe."

Sigrún briefly hugged Erik, then let go to return to the board where she wrote something else.

"Well, we got a bit sidetracked, but let's continue with the basic techniques. The third one is known as the Mana Pool, and this technique allows you to expand your Hugstjarna or what you called the dantian. It goes by various names depending on the magical system. In the Aegis system, like mine, we call it Hugstjarna. Those of sacred geometry refer to it as the Golden Nexus, and in the Zazen discipline, they call it dantian. Essentially, it's the point in the body where mana gathers, located below the navel, so you can call it whatever you prefer."

Erik found the talk intriguing and posed a question.

"Master, what's the name of the place where energy gathers in the head?"

Sigrún looked slightly taken aback by Erik's question, but she simply shook her head with a wry smile and answered.

"That point also has different names depending on the magic system. In the Aegis system, it's called Hugljos; in sacred geometry, it's Luminarium; and in the Zazen discipline, it's known as Niwan. It's a point directly linked to thought, intuition, and spirituality."

"But tell me, Erik, how did you come to know about Hugljos?"

"Well, it was actually during my early years on the island, master. I've always had something like a sixth sense that warned me of danger, and since mana was useful for everything, I wanted to enhance it even further. I sent a lot to my head, and there I found it. I discovered that if I channeled mana into it, I could sense others' presences. So, I started doing it all the time, and it became a habit."

Sigrún could only put her hand on her forehead as she listened to Erik's words. He made mastering such an advanced technique sound so easy— and a very dangerous one at that. Many had ended up with severe physical and mental issues trying it, and there were those who even died.

Sigrún let out a long, tired sigh and gently scolded, "Erik, don't try such experiments again. What you're describing is an advanced technique called Mystic Awareness. It's very dangerous to master, and many have harmed themselves attempting it."

"Really?! I never felt anything wrong, even when I flooded my head with mana..."

"That's because you have a top-tier mana control. But if it weren't for that, you could have died. From now on, you need to inform either me or Eli if you want to try anything crazy like that. Understood?"

"Yes." Erik nodded several times as he responded, seeing his master's quite terrifying expression.

"That's better. For reference, Mystic Awareness can also speed up thought and enhance the ability to sense Myst."

"Ah!!! So that was it." Sigrún's words made many things clear. Erik had always thought he saw everything slowly in a fight because of adrenaline, and he genuinely never paid attention to sensing the Myst since it became natural for him over time.

"Well, let's continue then. The fourth technique is known as Focusing, which is essentially learning to concentrate mana to amplify the power of a spell or attack. The fifth and final basic technique is Mystic Sensitivity, which is learning to sense the Myst around you."

Sigrún breathed a sigh of relief that Erik didn't mention any other wild experiment and calmly asked him, "Which of these techniques do you think you still need to learn, Erik?"

"I'd say the Mana Pool and Focusing."

"You're right. More than learning them, you need to perfect them. You already use the basics of the Mana Pool and Focusing, although in a very superficial way. We'll need to improve that."

"Of course, master."

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In a spacious and beautiful alchemy workshop with walls made of warm aged oak, engraved with intricate protection and enhancement runes that twinkle with a gentle amber glow. Carved wooden shelves line the walls, brimming with glass jars containing exotic and mysterious ingredients. Each jar is meticulously labeled with precise calligraphy.

At the center of the workshop stands a large dark oak desk, worn from years of use but still sturdy and robust. Resting on it is a big bronze cauldron, tarnished with age, emitting a soft red glow as it's heated by magical flames.

Surrounding the cauldron are various workstations for assistants, each with its set of alchemical tools: stone mortars for grinding, silver knives for cutting, precision scales for measuring.

"Alright, everyone, starting today, every Saturday, my disciple will come here and assist me. I expect all of you to help him with whatever he needs and treat him with due respect."

Sigrún joyfully announced to a group of four men and women dressed in dark blue robes, looking both comfortable and protective while allowing ease of movement. They gazed back with serious, professional expressions.

After hearing Sigrún's words, the assistants looked at Erik with surprise. Quickly, a beautiful woman who appeared to be about 19 years old, with wavy copper-red hair and vibrant blue eyes, approached Erik. Unlike the others, she wore on the right side of her chest a brooch with the emblem of a flame intertwined with a tree. She bowed respectfully.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, chief disciple. My name is Valeria Fenixara, and I am Master Eldurdóttir's lead assistant. I look forward to working alongside you."

"It's a pleasure to meet you as well, Miss Fenixara. My name is Erik, and I hope to learn a lot from you."

"I hope to be of help to you, Disciple Erik, and I'm already married, so there's no need to use 'Miss.' Call me whatever you find easiest."

Erik looked a bit surprised at the beautiful woman. After all, it was the first time he met a married woman at the university. Then again, he didn't know many people, and for some reason, the assistants in his masters' mansions were all single.

When Erik discovered that they were all single, he became a bit concerned and pulled them aside to ask if their masters had any objections to them being in relationships. To his surprise, that wasn't the case. It was just uncommon for someone to get married while at the university, which is why they remained single. As a side story, Eleonora and Sigrún teased him about it for a whole month. That was until one day he started to ignore them, and they finally left him be.

"I apologize, Mrs. Fenixara. I'm new here, and I'm still trying to figure things out."

"Don't worry about it, Disciple Erik. And you can simply call me Valeria."

"Alright."

Sigrún was holding back laughter as she observed the expression Erik was giving Valeria. It looked as if he were facing a strange creature, and she knew precisely why. In the time Erik had lived in the Arcane University, he had never left the mansions of Sigrún or Eleonora and knew no one apart from the assistants and disciples, all of whom were single. So, meeting someone who was married for the first time was quite an eye-opener for him.

"Alright, Erik, there are some things I want to explain to you first."

"Of course, master."

Erik quickly took out his notebook, ready to listen to Sigrún, but she just shook her head and said,

"It's nothing crucial, just some general knowledge about how things work here at the university."

"Alright." Erik didn't put his notebook away and just waited for his master to speak. Sigrún finally gave in and began.

"What I wanted to discuss was about the assistants. Firstly, why do you think I need assistants for my work as an alchemist?"