Spitzek gave me a nod of recognition and told me to sit on the flat boulder with him, and so I did, cross-legged just him.

“I will teach you my knowledge… Anything else… you should do it by yourself.”

“That’s fine by me.”

At any rate, without source crystals, becoming an evoker would take a long time. And the almost depleted First-Order source crystal would be far from enough.

“What do you know… about source evokers?” he asked.

“Other than what you told me in the past, they are source users that specialize in long-range attacks?” I answered, then recounted what Tuilë had told me, “And… conjure spells through the use of source language… That’s mostly what I know so far.”

“You are… mostly on point… I notice that you’re now an enhancer yourself, no?”

“Yep. Just became one not too long ago. Say, have you just achieved a breakthrough…?”

“Indeed… I am now a Tier-3 evoker…” Spitzek pointed his finger at the ground and then a thornless rose-like plant began growing and budding in a matter of seconds. “My source element… is Dendro as you can see…”

While that was unfolding before my eyes, I swallowed a mouthful of saliva. “Wow!”

I might have exaggerated my reaction a bit over something so simple. But for me, who lived in a world where magic didn’t exist, it was something never seen before. I mean, it was a plant that grew without the need for nutrition or sun; I couldn’t fathom what effect it would have if implemented in agriculture — which just so happened to be the topic of my thesis minus the IT stuff.

“…Hold on, don’t you need to…”

“When you achieve higher level… as an evoker… Simple conjuration like I did… just now… don’t need an elaborate chant.”

“I see, I see…!” I didn’t know when, but my way of speaking started to pause now and then just like his. No, no, I should focus.

Shaking that thought aside, I watched Spitzek expound like an old, well-informed master on the difference between source evoker and source enhancer, how to become a source evoker, as well as how to harness source energy in the air. There were three main prerequisites that needed to be addressed here.

To become a source evoker, You must first be able to detect the source energy in the air as well as manipulate it. Ever since becoming a source enhancer, detecting source energy had become my second “back of the hand.” But manipulating source energy in the air…

Anyway, the second thing to do was to form a source heart and thus become a bona fide Tier-1 evoker. This so-called “source heart” was akin to a second heart that functioned to store source energy. Only then would you be able to conjure magic spells.

Last but not least, mastering the source language. Understanding it had become a natural thing for source users but speaking it to conjure spells was another. Definitely not something that could be mastered in a short period of time.

Having said that, I had to be able to manipulate the source energy in the air first before proceeding with anything else. Luckily, being a source enhancer just made this process all the easier.

“Manipulating source energy… is knowing how to imagine its flow… first and foremost. You can use… a tub of water… as an analogy… That’s your source power…”

He held out a finger of his left green hand and, as if showing what he said through a hand sign, made a circular motion.

“Now… imagine that you’re holding a bowl… With the bowl… you decide which part of the tub… to take the water from… And from the water that you took in your bowl… magic can be activated.” There was, suddenly, an almost transparent, intangible ball of string in his hand.

“Whoa!”

Basically, I only had to have a good imagination and picture in my head to do this… Easier said than done. Still, I wouldn’t know for sure before trying it myself.

Without further ado, I did as he told me to. As a programmer, I was confident in my ability to concentrate, and coupled with the fact that I was a source enhancer, it took me less than ten seconds to perceive the source energy in the air. Now what was left was to manipulate it.

By the way, source energy had different forms depending on where it was. Inside the body, it appeared like a calm wave pulsating through the body, but on the outside, it had a more chaotic and impure appearance that tended to condense into strings.

In accord with what Spitzek had shown me, I tried to move and propel the string-like energy in the air, but it seemed not to comply with my command. That many hiccups were expected considering that I had more ideas and tips from Spitzek.

My hard work wasn’t for naught.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

I didn’t know how long I’d been doing this while receiving hints from Spitzek occasionally, but now I could somewhat manipulate the source energy not unlike the one inside my body. Extending them to several times their sizes or even shrinking them to the point that they condescended into a ball, all was possible.

Strange. My perception of source energy — after being able to manipulate it outside my body — was becoming sharper. For instance, I was able to sense Spitzek’s presence through the vast greenish source power hosted in his body.

The source power inside his body that had a tint of sparkling light congregated near his solar plexus, but the one coursing through his body didn’t pale much in comparison. Guess the higher one’s Tier, the thicker the source power. As for the color, it must be influenced by their source element…

Spitzek then stated, “You’re good to go… You’ve cleared the first condition.”

“Many thanks. It wouldn’t be possible without your help.” I made a confident smile, feeling as though the path ahead was clear.

“Mhm. All that’s left is… to form a source heart. Remember… all you have to do… is to accumulate the source energy… into one central part of your body… and keep supplementing it with pure source energy… You may need… lots and lots of… source crystals. Come back to me… once you brought back the source crystals… I will guide you.”

In passing, I had implicitly asked Lunaria to record all about the knowledge that he explained in secret. So, I might not even have to ask him later… His service was seriously expensive…

“Wait,” I inquired, “is it not possible to become an evoker without the use of source crystals?”

“You can… in months or even years... depending on your aptitude.”

Shoot. That’s too long! Who would spend that much time trying to do that while sitting in one place? I wouldn’t, for an obvious reason.

In that case, the instruction session on “How to Become an Evoker” came to an end. Well, It wasn’t like I could ask him for some source crystals, could I?

***

Tuilë’s Perspective

She peeked her eyes open as she regained consciousness. Upon sobering up, she noticed that this place was unfamiliar yet familiar at the same time. Huh?

Tuilë sat up and scrutinized the place with her eyes. Without a doubt. This tent was where she first came to Aquarine — the scene was almost the same as that time.

Swept by a violent tornado that appeared out of nowhere, she crash-landed on an open plain, losing her consciousness in the process. This was where she met that eccentric hermit.

She never had the chance to ask his name because she had nothing with her to repay him at the time. In fact, he gave her the cold shoulder, but he still let her stay in this place until she was fully healed. He even went as far as to teach her the concept of source evoker. No, it would be more about her observing him. It was fortunate that she was a strong enhancer by that time, so she picked up the basics quickly.

Her homeland knew about source power, but they didn’t know that there was another way to utilize it other than becoming a source enhancer. If they had been aware of this in the past, the incident wouldn’t have caused so much trouble. Very regrettable.

Ever since she was separated from them, unaware of their situation, she always had recurring nightmares. Her family, her father, her mother, her big brother, and her little sister… she really missed them dearly.

“Where’s Maxim?”

She came to a realization that he was missing. Well, no one else was here.

Maxim was no ordinary dude that came from another race similar in appearance to hers. She figured that she had seen his race… among the pictures scattered about the high-rise buildings in the Crimson Fogland.

Although she might have known him for a short time, it was truly fun.

***

Maxim’s Perspective

Upon coming back to the tent, Tuilë was sitting up in bed while putting on a blank face.

“You’re awake?” Even though it was obvious from just looking, asking this question out of courtesy was the way to go.

“Maxxy? Is this place…” Her forefinger moved to point around.

Scratching my chin, I replied frankly, “Uh, well, it’s a long story…”

I recapped what had happened to us from when she lost consciousness to how we had to use a parachute to get away and finally come here.

“I must’ve caused you a lot of trouble, hm?”

“Of course not. Besides, um… I’m sorry that I can’t preserve your steam kite.” We would have reached here faster if I could fly it, but…

“Relax! It’s no big deal. As I said, I can make another one as long as I have the material. We can even salvage the aircraft later.”

“By ‘we,’ do you mean you and me?” By hook or by crook, I had the feeling that she was leading to something.

“Mhm! I will depend on you to help me retrieve it later.”

This girl… She definitely already had this in mind.

“Ahem. Fine, if a chance crops up.”

“Say, what do you use to pay for my treatment? Y’know, the guy here…”

“Ah, about that. I have to use the Second-Order source crystal we got from the blood mosquito to pay for your treatment as well as ‘something’ else.” I felt bad that I didn’t tell her this beforehand since it wasn’t entirely mine.

“Are you freakin’ kidding me?! Well, I don’t mind, but… what about yours?”

“Is something wrong with that?”

“A Second-Order source crystal worth like ten of a First Order one, frankly. With that much, you can buy more than three months’ worth of delicious food.”

How the hell do I know?! I was beginning to regret using it for what I did, but it wasn’t like I had much of a choice, either. Knowledge was the true power a man could withhold, after all.

“Anyways, are you fine now?” I decided to divert the topic since the longer I thought about the more it pained my heart.

“Yup!” Tuilë jumped out of bed and put her hands over her posture. “I am as good as new. I will do my super-duper ultra-mega best! Hrm, I still kinda feel bad about wasting your source crystal for my benefit. You can ask me for anything.”

Wait a minute, what the heck is she saying? I used the source crystal behind your back, you know… I creased my eyebrows in thought. She must have gone off tangent and mistook me for trading the source crystal solely for her.

At the end of the day, she was on the verge of death because of protecting me, and therefore, there was no way I would be thick skin enough to ask her for anything. In truth, I should have been thanking her for doing that. But…

“Something wrong? Are there flowers on my face?” She grinned mischievously.

“No. It’s just… can I touch your horns…” Realizing that I had taken a mile instead of an inch, I quickly waved my hands to dismiss what I said. “O-Of course, if you don’t mind it that is.”

“Ha-ha! Surely you jest… Wait, you’re serious?”

I had been suppressing my curiosity all this time, but I couldn’t help it much longer. All right!

While we had different features as two different races, she had two things that I didn’t have: a pair of horns and a tail. I wasn’t so shameless as to ask her to let me touch her tail, but if it was just her horns, she wouldn’t mind, right?