Clashing wooden swords dulled the sound of flipped papers. The morning's gentle rays balanced out the chilly air; a perfect time for a friendly spar, as Lysander and Rowena seem to think so too.
Despite the little girl's bandaged arms and legs, she moved as if she was in perfect health. Her wide grin contrasted with the older brother's stoic expression, though they still seem to enjoy themselves greatly, judging by how they'd been trading strikes until sweat soaked their clothes.
Zeke let out a relaxed yawn as the Witch's Codex hovering before him turned to a new page. It had been five days since the kidnapping incident, and his eyes healed up nicely. Although the physician still suggested rest, he felt caged staying cooped up in his room all day, thus he decided to come out for some fresh air.
“Ah!” A surprised gasp from Rowena followed a sudden noise. Zeke remained fixated on the Witch's Codex even as she shouted at him, “Silas! Watch out!”
A rogue wooden sword flew towards the bleachers. Lysander swiftly moved across the field, though Zeke's Mana Barrier outsped him. The sword bounced harmlessly off the shield and onto the ground, only another yawn escaped Zeke's lips throughout the entire ordeal.
“That thing got flung so fast, it probably could have killed someone…” He glanced up at Lysander, noticing his heavy breathing from built up fatigue, “You didn't put too much force behind that, right?” His gaze swayed away from Lysander, his attention shifting to Rowena, “Are you hurt?”
“Ah, nope! I'm perfectly fine!” As proof, the little girl flexed her dominant right wrist. Zeke studied her smile carefully, and concluded that she stayed truthful. “What about you? I heard you're alright now, but didn't the doctor say you should still rest?”
“I'm not really exerting myself…and I usually read here,” Zeke let the book flip itself to a new page, “Besides that, I'm bored laying around doing nothing in my room, Lady Ruelle also told me she'll stay at her estate for these last few days.”
“Huh? Why?” Zeke had asked Circe as she helped him take out his bandages. His widened eyes met with her casual smile, and he couldn't help but feel oddly frustrated by it.
“...I need to prepare for the trip to the academy,” Circe's response back then came after a few seconds of hesitation. Zeke couldn't tell if it meant anything, so he let it slide, “It's a girl thing. You wouldn't understand~”
“That makes no sense. What could you be doing for two days?”
“What? You can't even be apart from me for two days?” Her chuckles didn't move him at all. Seeing that, Circe let out a sigh, “I just thought I should get myself used to Ruelle's family. That's all…I just…got a little curious.”
Zeke closed his eyes and huffed, snapping himself back to the present, “She was trying to make it sound casual…but it seems she found something worth taking note of…I'll just ask her later when we get to the academy.”
“You said you found that book in the dungeon?” Lysander inquired as he picked up a towel and a water can on the bleachers. His clothes stick to his skin as if a downpour had swept across the training ground briefly. “The entire thing is in Ancient Oriens, when did you even find the time to learn a dead language?”
“...Ancient Oriens? Isn't this just English?” As the thoughts passed his mind, Rowena had grabbed the Witch's Codex from the air and began flipping through its pages. She had an excited look on her face, but it quickly faded the moment she realized she couldn't understand a single word. “Either the language changed to look like English from my perspective…or the game's designed it so that English itself is Ancient Oriens…I'll have to find out about it later.”
In response to Lysander's question, Zeke simply shrugged, “Eh, it's not that hard to learn,” he feigned a smirk, “Maybe it's because I'm a genius.”
“Maybe.” Lysander didn't even question him, nor did he notice a hint of doubt on his face. He sincerely took his words as the most viable truth. “Ancient Oriens…I heard that only people in the single digits could read it. The language itself is deeply rooted in magic, apparently.”
Rowena returned the book to Zeke, eyes sparkling in curiosity, “Speaking of! I've read that translations from Ancient Oriens to Central caused most spells to lose their original strength…what do you think, Silas?”
The Witch's Codex floated up above Zeke's palm, opening its pages once more. As it stopped at the exact content he'd been reading up until now, he spoke, “Mana is the energy that gives words power. So to be honest, I don't think the difference in language is what causes spells to lose strength.”
“Then are you saying the lack of mana; the fact that mages had gotten weaker than the past, is the real cause?” Rowena seated next to him, craning her neck as she asked with deep interest.
“Nope,” Zeke shook his head, “I believe it’s the error in translation. To clarify, the modern spells are ‘incomplete’. Specific words in Ancient Oriens may have an entirely unique meaning that the Central language cannot fully express. If it's really the words themselves that give a spell its strength, then Chantless should be a technique that completely cripples a mage's combat prowess.”
‘Clap, clap, clap!’
All three heads turned to meet with a familiar face walking closer to them. The Grand Magician still wore his usual pearly robes, though he had his silver locks tied up in a ponytail today. “What an excellent understanding of magic you have, Silas!” Solren's calm smile couldn't cover up the excitement in his voice, “Your words aren't wrong, though we can’t be sure if it’s entirely correct either. It's only a theory on paper, one that I wrote myself.”
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“...What brings you here, Lord Solren?” Lysander stared at the mage with a blank face.
“Oh, do I need a reason?” Solren's smile grew wide, his gaze landing on Zeke, “I'm simply here because I heard the young master has recovered~ You see, I've been so restless about the offer I gave last time that I couldn't wait another day to hear his answer.”
A master-disciple relationship with the Grand Mage himself. Any Dungeon Regime player would drool at the thought of getting such a rare opportunity, after all, Solren was an NPC notorious for being extremely picky. He wouldn't accept anyone less than his skyhigh standards.
Zeke had mulled over his choice for the past few days, and he came to a conclusion after Circe gave him her opinion about it.
As the silence around them grew heavier by the second, Zeke stood up and looked Solren right in the eyes. For a brief moment, he saw a hint of anxiety flashed across the man's face, though it quickly got buried beneath his gentle smile. It made his lips twitch in amusement, though he hid it well by giving the Grand Mage a graceful bow. “I accept your offer, Lord Solren—No, Teacher. It is my honor to be a disciple of the Grand Mage.”
When Zeke straightened himself, he saw Solren put on the brightest smile. He looked as if the sun shone away from the sky, letting the silver mage outshine the star itself. “You scared me for a moment! I should be thanking you, Silas. I thought I was never gonna find someone who's worthy to teach until the day I die!”
“...That's because your standards are way too high.”
“Now!” Solren clasped his hands, “Apart from that, I'm also here to modify your academy handbook. I already did that when I entered the estate…so let's move on to something more exciting!” Solren peaked his head over to take a look at the Witch's Codex, “I've had my eyes on this book ever since I saw it that day…the dungeon's energy is very prominent in this one…and everything's written in Ancient Oriens as well. It's such a shame that I can't read any of these~”
“The Grand Mage doesn't know Ancient Oriens?” Rowena blinked, her widened eyes riddled with surprise.
“As you know, not only is it a dead language, it's also very difficult to learn,” Solren replied with a smile, though his expression still held a slight solemn look. “There isn't a book left in the empire—in the entire world that could help in deciphering the language. Only a few people that have Ancient Oriens passed down from the past generations could still speak it today. They're all well-protected individuals working under the royal family and the Magic Tower.”
Solren smiled at Zeke, “But now we have another person who could read Ancient Oriens. Truly, Silas is born to walk a mage's path.” He sat next to Zeke, “What were you reading, by the way?”
“...” He hesitated for a moment, “I'm trying to learn a spell…it's called ‘Meteor Shower’.”
“Oh? Are you choosing the Star's Path?” Solren sounded intrigued.
“I'm not sure yet,” Zeke focused on the contents of the Witch's Codex. As he held out his palm, mana swirled around like dancing embers, “I don't even know what element I'm most proficient at. I'll find that out once I return to the academy so I'll start properly pathing later.”
Solren crossed his arms, “You have your great master sitting right next to you…Why not just ask me to evaluate your element compatibility?”
“Oh,” Zeke glanced at Solren, closing his palm and extinguishing the sparkles, “I had no idea you could do that…” His expression remained blank, “If you please.”
Despite his pouty sigh, the Grand Mage still did as he asked. He held out his hand and conjured a magic circle. It didn't appear complicated, with only the lines on the outside spinning and turning while the middle circle had nothing in it.
Soon, the blank canvas turned electric blue. Sparks flew around the circle before converging in the middle, filling the empty spot with the symbol of a thunderbolt. “Your element is electricity,” Solren announced with a smile, “I honestly expected ice since the circle became blue. This means—”
Suddenly, the cyan light began turning purple, dyeing the lower half of the magic circle a mesmerizing indigo. Drifting, star-like particles flew towards the center, their beautiful shine occupied the empty spaces next to the lone thunderbolt. Solren's face couldn't hide his confusion and awe as his entire body quivered. “...This…I can't believe it…You're a dual-element mage.”
“Really!?” Lysander and Rowena shouted at the same time. That only left Zeke, who could only sit in silence, too dumbfounded to speak. “That only appears in one in ten thousand cases! Lord Solren is the only living dual-elemental mage right now!” Rowena jumped up and down in her seat, more excited about the news than the ‘rare’ mage himself.
Solren steadied himself and sigh, though his lips had broken into a proud smile, “Lightning and Star's Path. At this rate, you could become a ruler of the skies, Silas. It's kind of ironic since your name means ‘forest'.”
“So electric and space…” Zeke had finally caught up with the entire situation, returning his expression to neutral calm, “That's probably why it was so difficult to learn magic of other elements…I plan on going for a Support Mage build, but at this rate, I could probably deal a ton of damage from debuff stacking too.”
“That's good news. I've heard a star element magician is especially rare.” Zeke looked at the Witch’s Codex.
“...” Everyone simply stared at him after that reply. Eventually, Solren spoke, his hand shooting to his forehead the moment he canceled the magic circle. “All that for: ‘That's good news’? As expected, even if I have the talent, I could never hold a candle to a genius.”
Zeke had barely been listening up to that point. After learning his compatibility, he became more eager to learn a skill. He gathered mana into the palm of his hand, swiftly yet carefully forming them into a magic circle. Lines of mana spun around it like woven silk, and if one took a closer look, they would see tiny letters etched in those very fabrics.
[
Zeke closed his palm before extending it outwards. The magic circle had disappeared, yet the mana still lingered. In response, the sky suddenly turned purple, and rocks fell onto the ground like a rain of meteors.
[You've gained the Active Skill: ‘Meteor Shower’.]
[The Tier of the Active Skill ‘Meteor Shower’ has increased due to the Aptitude ‘Mana Overlord’]
< Skill Description >
Name: Meteor Shower
Type: Active Skill
Tier: A
Cost: 100 mana
Cooldown: 60 seconds
Description
* The user calls upon a meteor shower at a designated location.
* When the skill hits a target, it creates a pulse that radiates outwards for up to 20 meters, dealing 10% of first hit's damage.
* Anything coming into contact with the wave will be inflicted with
<<>>
< Status Description >
Name: Astrality
Type: Buff | Debuff
Element: Space
Parent Status: None
Upgraded Status: None
Description
* Ally Effect: Enhances all stats by 5%. Grants healing over time up to 50% of the target's max HP. All attacks made by allies bypass 10% of their target's defense.
* Enemy Effect: Reduce all stats by 5%. Any healing effects gets negated or reduced depending on the rank of the skill that had inflicted
*
*
<<>>
“Haha…” Solren let out a dry laugh as Lysander and Rowena stared at the ruined training ground speechless. Zeke faced the Grand Mage, meeting with the slight horror in his eyes. “Maybe you're not a genius after all…You're a monster.”