Whoosh!

Basil felt a strange energy surging into his body, heading toward the sea of his soul like a massive cloud. As it entered the sea of his soul, he felt it beginning to crack slightly.

Basil was surprised, but when he saw the sea of his soul starting to break, he quickly began to repair it by sending his magical energy to fill the gaps between the fractures. At the same time, he directed his magical energy toward the raging external energy cloud to control it before it could destroy the sea of his soul.

This energy was many times greater than his magical energy. If he did not control it and only focused on repairing the cracks in the sea of his soul, eventually, his magical energy would be depleted, and the external energy cloud would destroy the sea of his soul.

Once a person becomes a mage, they can enter the sea of their soul whenever they wish. That's why Basil was able to enter quickly and began to control the external energy cloud.

If Basil had still possessed the same physical build he had a year ago, the external energy would have destroyed his body before it reached the sea of his soul.

Gradually, the external energy cloud began to calm down until it completely stopped raging. After a few moments, it started to divide into numerous orbs, totaling fourteen. The same thing happened to these orbs as before; they came down above his white body and each one sent a thin thread toward him, filling all of his origin points.

Basil opened his eyes in surprise and asked his teacher, who was before him, "Master, what just happened?"

The teacher replied, "Well, I was waiting for you to finish so I could continue explaining your condition from where we left off earlier. When the seal weakened, a quantity of external energy entered your sea of soul, and as you saw, it was turbulent, unlike your own energy. When a mage reaches the peak of the seventh level, they undergo a phase similar to what you just experienced, creating fourteen energy orbs that constitute their second magical energy and form their second element, allowing them to use two different types of magic."

Basil exclaimed, "Oh, so what I just did was that? But wait, the second element?"

The teacher continued, "That's correct. The external energy that a mage acquires after breaking through to the seventh level becomes their second magical element, and now you possess two different magical elements without having broken through to the seventh level."

Basil was astonished and said, "But..." then he began to look at his hands.

When the teacher saw this, he asked, "What’s wrong?"

Basil replied, "Well, it's not quite how I expected it to feel to possess magic."

The teacher raised his arms slightly, his voice filled with excitement. "Power… power envelops me!" He continued, "Is this what you expected to happen?"

Basil answered, slightly embarrassed, "Well, yes, somewhat."

The teacher began to laugh, "Ho ho ho, don’t worry; you’ll feel the change later. Now, let’s continue my explanation; listen closely." Basil focused on what his teacher was saying, who resumed his explanation. "You’ll recognize your magical element when you concentrate on the fourteen orbs that are your magical energy. In other words, when you focus your awareness well on your magical energy, you’ll instantly know what your element is. Since you’ve deciphered the riddle of the runes, you’ll understand everything about yourself just by focusing your awareness."

When the teacher finished explaining this point, Basil quickly entered the sea of his soul and concentrated on his magical energy, recognizing its element. Then he shifted to the external energy, which took him longer than the previous one, but he was able to discern its element as well. He then opened his eyes and shared with the teacher what he had learned about his two elements, prompting the teacher to provide him with all the information about them.

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"That's right," the teacher said, "as we mentioned, when a mage's physical build grows stronger each time they rise in level, there’s a balance between their magical energy and their physical structure. When they reach the peak of the seventh level, their build is capable of withstanding the external energy, and thus it never affects them."

Basil asked, "Master, thank you for the explanation; I understand the matter, but there’s still something I want to know—what comes after the seventh level?"

The teacher replied, "After the seventh level, there are seven more levels in magic, from the eighth to the fourteenth. When a mage enters the eighth level, their life expands by twenty years for each level they rise, and their power becomes incomparable to what it was before."

Basil felt an overwhelming joy and said, "It seems that the world is much wider than I imagined. I’ve truly been a frog in a well. It seems it will be even more enjoyable to follow your guidance. I now know all these things, and there’s still much more, I believe. I think there’s no harm in being this 'Chosen One,' for because of this, I met you, Master."

The teacher laughed, "Ho ho ho, as you said, there’s still so much more. There are incredible levels, and it may take hundreds of years to see all you want. The world is truly vast, Basil. From now on, the task of protecting this world will fall upon you. You will be a leader to the people here and a role model for them. You must become much stronger if you want to protect everything you care about. Your true enemies are unimaginably powerful. Thirteen years ago, the Demon King only sent a few of his army leaders, and that was enough to bring this world under his command. If it weren’t for the swift response of the original king, all the inhabitants of this world would have been slaves by now, fighting to save their families, whom the Demon King would have taken hostage to ensure their loyalty."

Basil furrowed his brows and said, "Master, you have been honest with me from the beginning, teaching me and still teaching me many things that will help me when the time comes. Thus, instead of viewing this as my duty as the Chosen One or the guardian of balance, I will consider it a way to repay your kindness in granting me the opportunity to protect those dear to my heart. I sincerely thank you, Master." After saying this, Basil bowed slightly in respect to 'Idris the Wise.'

The teacher responded, "Well, I was impressed with you from the beginning, Basil, and this was the main reason I enjoyed teaching you. Now, let’s go and test your combat abilities after acquiring magic."

Basil replied as usual, "At your command, Master."

The two left until they reached the Deep Dark Valley. Basil and his teacher entered and headed toward a cave they had not entered before.

Silence enveloped the place. Suddenly, something fell on Basil’s shoulder. He turned to see what it was and found a snake ready to bite his neck. Basil quickly crushed its skull, killing it, then looked up to see where the snake had come from. He then saw an endless number of snakes along the cave. Before them lay four paths, and the teacher chose the middle, wider one, and they continued until they reached a spacious area inside where they heard a loud hissing sound, and in the center, two red eyes began to become clear.

It was a gigantic snake capable of swallowing an Abyssal Bear. When Basil saw it, he remembered the teacher’s words when he had said it was not yet time for him to enter here. At that moment, Basil understood that the teacher was implying he was not ready to face the monster that resided here, and it seemed he was right in his understanding.

Basil believed that if he had faced this monster a year ago, he wouldn’t have had any chance against it. The monster before him was incomparable to the Abyssal Bear; if you placed an Abyssal Bear before this giant snake, it would be devoured in an instant.

But that wasn’t all. The teacher began to speak, calling out to Basil, "Basil, this snake is called the 'Gluttonous Snake King.' It feeds on all creatures present in this valley, whether they are Abyssal Bears or crushed dogs. All the monsters here are merely snacks for it. Once it is full, it goes back to sleep. I brought you here because today is the day it will awaken. When it wakes, it is at its hungriest and thus in its most dangerous state. It can use the 'Final Division' of the second level of 'Mind Magic.' It is simply the ruler of the Deep Dark Valley."

"It is mostly in a deep sleep, but when it awakens, its first action is to eat all the Abyssal Bears, and then it goes searching for more food. You are now merely an obstacle in its path to finding its meal, and thus it will try to kill you with all its might."

Basil swallowed hard and tightened his grip, then the teacher continued, "You will fight it, and you must use all your strength. From now on, I will not suppress any monster, and you will face it without me doing anything."