Small Success

As far as Ervin knows, Noble Mage families are determined by how many powerful Mages there are and just how long their lineages have been around the city. 

One-star families like Robert and Carylas are more common than one would think. They are a clear separation from families that have Mages in them. But they are still a part of what many other calls the lower class of Nobles. 

To even think about moving up on the requires a lot of planning and careful work that Ervin never really cared about to study. The workings of a noble would be nothing more than a distraction to his magical path. 

With those thoughts in mind, Ervin focused on winning a few sets of games before hurrying up here to further his magical art. 

...

The night flew by. 

The beautiful sun rays of the morning warmth soon engulfed Lightwall City. 

On another good morning such as this one, Ervin had spent the entire night once again comprehending Telekinesis Control. 

It was an especially rough session for last night. When morning had come, Ervin groggily opened his eyes while feeling a trail of cold liquid run down from his nose. 

That cold liquid was of course his blood from the extraneous comprehension he did. 

Ervin cared little about letting his body rest or taking his mind off the stress by doing something else after hours of mock patrol. He desperately wanted to reach further with Telekinesis Control. 

Studying at an intense pace could be good or it could also be a complete waste of time. At times, studying a magical art so hard can lead to zero progress being made since the mind cannot be calm during their comprehension. 

An uncalm mind was the worst anyone could have when studying the magical arts. 

However, for Ervin, for just as much as he was determined, he was also incomparably calm. His focus was never ruined even from intense work. 

When he finally woke up with a pounding headache aching his head, a small smile filled with immense satisfaction curled his lips. 

Another 1% of comprehension was achieved. Everything around Ervin turned slightly brighter. His eyes could see more details features of objects if he strained his magical mind. Details such as small lights of Mana glittering from everything around him. 

Another 1% increase was already changing his perception of the world. 

Ervin was excited to see just how much everything would change at later Mage Realms. For now, even as he was a bit lethargic with a headache, 

Ervin knew he couldn't skip a day of mock patrol. Otherwise, he'll paint a negative image of Dylan's group, which will lead to his opportunity to advance severely limited. 

Ervin took a few minutes to calm his pounding head with a flow of magical energy. It didn't completely alleviate the pain, but he soon felt considerably better than when he was waking up. 

With just this alone, Ervin began the same routine of first washing up and absorbing white magical crystals.

His greater magical comprehension allowed him to have an easier time controlling the flow of magical energy to fuse into his magical core.

He made sure to add this to his routine before going out to meet Dylan's team. 

This routine of magical art comprehension, magical energy absoprtion, and mock patrols soon became the regular for Ervin. 

He already got enough white magical crystals to advance his magical core so it was not necessary for him to go back to the gambling den.

For today, the next day, and over the course of several weeks, Ervin immersed himself into this routine. He didn't care enough to really get closer to anyone on Dylan's team or Harvey. 

That's not to say that Ervin did not manage to form some type of familiarity with them. He had engaged in light conversations, mainly talking about the aspects of Mages and the perception of the magical arts. 

Other than that, whenever it concerns other hobbies, daily life, goals or dreams, or even just light-hearted random conversations, Ervin rarely participates. 

There simply wasn't anything interesting said for him to pay attention to, nor did he really find anyone in his group different from what he had seen before. 

His quiet type of living didn't weird out the others since Ervin proves that time and time again, he's more than dependable in combat. 

Nobody has to pick up the slack for him. And he even helped Harvey kill some Demonic Beasts that were giving him trouble. 

For others, Ervin could even see how his way of living was a bit too methodical. 

On the days of his time off, he simply spent the entire two days intensely studying the Telekinesis Control Art. Naturally, what could put others in a rut did not bother Ervin in the slightest.

His methodical routine finally paid off. 

After a month of comprehension and mock patrols, Ervin reached a critical step in Telekinesis Control. 

The fog when comprehending this art considerably cleared up. His magical mind could see a clear path to step on. Through Complete Invisibility, Ervin was able to thoroughly study the magical principles to make the first step on this path. 

The meaning of using Telekinesis extends from having perfect control over one mind, soul, and Magical Energy. All three factors needed to be completely understood, granting any person the ability to grip anything with just a thought. 

Telekinesis did not only extend to small objects and the weak flow of Mana. 

The true potential of Telekinesis includes gripping entire large mountains, ripping apart powerful buildings made from magical metals, and stopping a magical force that can destroy several cities at the same time, it is a power that can cause anyone to be utterly unbeatable! 

Ervin felt a click within his soul. The understanding of how to fully grasp objects with just a simple thought reverberated throughout his magical mind. 

'Chi!' 

A blinding light rippled out Ervin's eyes. Sensations rippled through him, causing his body to move on natural instinct. 

Mana spewed out of his hand and instantly connected to the chair close beside him. There was a slight force weighing down on Ervin's mind. But it wasn't anything that could obstruct his thoughts or stop his movement. 

Raising his hand, Ervin instantly caused the chair to levitate off the ground! 

Ervin instinctively knew the limits at this moment. His thoughts controlled the chair to float all the way to the ceiling, which was several meters high off the ground, and then slowly floated the chair right back on the ground. 

Ervin awoke from his trance at this point. The wide grin spilling on his face was probably the happiest he'd been in what seemed like months. 

He finally did it. What would take other red-color talents months, perhaps even a couple of years to do, he took only a month to achieve. 

He entered the Small Success stage of Telekinesis Control! 

Now of course, the reason Ervin was able to go so fast was because of the specific of Invisibly Control granting him the ability to study the magical principles closer than any other red-color talents. 

But it was also Ervin's mighty perseverance that brought him to reach this stage at an insane time. 

As he was finished with the Small Success stage, Ervin also sensed he was close to reaching the Middle Stage of the Novice Realm. 

The intake of his Magical energy had also increased because he was studying a Noble Mage Art. He only needed a little bit more time. 

Ervin was quite excited at both prospects. But he was more eager at the prospect of finally being able to use true Telekinesis, it would give him a superior edge in combat. 

Unlike many other magical arts, there was no clear telling when Telekinesis was being used. The lights that shined from one's eyes can just be taken as one simply activating their Mana power. 

Most foes could be taken by surprise. Ervin would be able to slow his enemy down by grabbing on their limbs or if they use a magical attack, grip on their flow of Mana to also slow the attack down. 

Just a single second can decide any life-or-death battle. 

All of these prospects were fantastic. However, Ervin did not let his mind run wild. He knew it was far too risky to show that he had this art yet. 

The mock patrols did grant him white magical crystals to spend money on another low-grade Common Magical Art. But there was no low-grade art that was Telekinesis or had a similar effect to Telekinesis. 

Thus, Ervin could only use his improved Mana control from studying this art in battle for now. 

This didn't discourage Ervin, however. As he knew today was finally the time he would form a real patrol team and gain more resources from being on their own.