“To heal father permanently requires at least tier 4 healing magic which only a Wood Attribute Magic Master can accomplish.”
In this case, Magic Masters were Mages of the fourth tier. They were already knowledgeable enough to receive the title of ‘Master of Magic’ with the three previous titles before that being, Magic Pupil, Magic Student and Magic Teacher. Most young people who studied magic were only qualified to be called Magic Pupils with only a few adults becoming Magic Students. A rare number of people in the Zika world became Magic Teachers which made them eligible to teach others magic.
However, most people never managed to get past the level of Magic Pupil their entire lives due to their low affinity for magic. At most, a Magic Pupil could only activate and use magical tools but could never cast their own magic. After-all, they were just pupils in the field of magic. Magic Masters on the other hand, could be said to have already mastered magic and if they went a step further, they could become Grand-Masters!
“So strong?”
“Yes and no. The village should have one or two Magic Masters but the problem is how rare wood attribute mages and healing magic are.”
“Then we would have to look outside the village or can’t the Magic Masters in the village ask for one?” Jana continued asking but by this point, he already knew the answer.
“Too expensive! In this world, Fighters and Warriors are everywhere but Doctors are too rare. A Wood Attribute Magician is even rarer since it means they have elemental affinity for at least 4 of the 7 great elements with water, earth, wind and thunder intermixing to birth life out of their natural and magic energy. That is what Wood attribute energy is.”
“How can someone have affinity for 4 elements?” This was a huge shock to Jana.
“Rare didn’t I say, extremely rare!” Mwana could only say with a sigh.
He knew full well that the village couldn’t afford such a cost, at least not for his family. This meant that he would have to do it himself. Putting aside his uncle, his mother was also sick with a similar ailment. While his uncle’s problem was due to injuries on the battlefield, his mother’s body had started deteriorating suddenly with no warning. Her bones, muscles and nerves were all deteriorating at a fast pace; it was likely genetic.
And he was even more worried for his little sister Pendo, who had been deemed unfit for The Way of The Warrior. Although most women in the village did not pursue strength to the very end of the road, every child had to at least get started in the basics otherwise it would be difficult to survive even going out on a casual stroll outside the village.
Pendo on the other hand, had a weak body since she was born which Mwana suspected was due to inheriting their mother’s genetic condition on a more severe scale as her body was weak from birth. While there weren’t any severe issues now, who knew what would happen ten years from now, twenty years and so on. These were all things Mwana had to think of at his young age.
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“We will have to do it ourselves!”
When these words were blurted from Mwana’s mouth, Jana was shocked, after all his cousin was telling him how hard it would be just a few moments ago.
“Can we really do it?”
“Two should endeavor so that if one fails along the way, there’s still another to succeed”
“Pweh, I’m not asking about that, none of us are of the wood attribute,” Jana could already hear his cousin about to start speaking like a motivational speaker.
“Hahaha, okay okay, naturally there is another way,” Mwana’s solemnity was washed away in an instant. This always happened when he spoke about his goals, his passion, his ambition and conviction.
“Another way. What way?”
“We just have to become Crystal Warriors,” the last words were enunciated loudly.
Pang! It was the sound of utensils being dropped into the floor. The sound shocked the two boys greatly and they turned only to see their third aunt looking at them incredulously.
“Good morning third mother”
“Good morning, you boys sure have big dreams. You’re waking up in the morning to have such big talks.”
From her voice it was clear how shocked she was. After all it wasn’t easy to be a Crystal Warrior and Jua village had barely produced any in the last century. Jua village was a blacksmith village while Crystal Warriors mainly came from Warrior villages. Out of thousands of warriors, there might only be one Crystal Warrior produced. This was because one had to reach the peak of Mortal Body Forging, the 10th level, early in their life in order to become a Crystal Warrior. To become one, the body needed to be embedded with natural, elemental or magical crystals. It was important for the body to be strong enough to handle the Crystal infusion otherwise the warrior would just end up exploding from the infusion process.
The barrier was even greater since a warrior who did not reach the Apex of Body Forging before they were 16, almost had no chance of ever becoming a Crystal warrior. This was basically an impossible goal to achieve. After all, the higher one went on the martial arts ladder, the harder it was to ascend. Most people only reached the peak of Intermediate Warrior, the 6th level, in their late teens or early twenties. It would take even longer to become Senior Warriors while most Young Elders at the peak of Body Forging were already in their forties. To become as strong as a Young Elder before the age of sixteen was like a dream.
Mwana was aiming to reach the 10th level before the age of 16 yet one had to be a genius just to reach such a level at 30, let alone 16! Mwana was hardworking, more-so than anyone, and he was also talented but definitely not talented to such an extreme extent.
However, even if one achieved this, there was still the second and the biggest hurdle. One had to become a Core Warrior of the tribe to be eligible for Crystal Baptism after which ones body could integrate Crystals. Even if a warrior reached the Apex, they still wouldn’t be eligible for Crystal Infusion.
A Mortal Body, even at the peak, was still too weak so the entire Jemedari tribe held a competition where these young geniuses would compete for a limited number of spots to undergo Solid Body Casting and strengthen their bodies even further in preparation for the infusion.
Their bodies were forged and cast by expert blacksmiths, as if swords. A period of recovery was needed and the growing bodies of these young warriors would heal the after-effects of the casting. The forging and casting of the body involved destruction and reformation. This was the main reason the age limit was 16 since an adult going through this process would never be able to heal these after-effects. Their adult bodies had long since stopped growing. It was like comparing the severity of broken bones in children to adults; a child could take weeks to heal to their top shape while an adult took months and still retained complications.