Book 02, Growing Up Read online

  “Grandpa Doehring.” Seeing Doehring Cowart, Linley felt himself calm down.

  “In the magical aptitude test, the elemental essence affinity test is secondary. The spiritual essence test is the main one. After half a year of meditation, your spiritual essence should be sixteen or seventeen times that of most people your age.” Doehring Cowart chuckled at Linley. “For you, this test will be extremely easy.”

  In a short period of time, the youth in the middle of the magical formation could no longer hold on.

  “Spiritual essence, two times stronger than the average person of the same age. Not qualified to become a magus.” The bald elder coldly announced as the magical formation deactivated, and the youngster quietly departed.

  A burst of noise from nearby.

  “Silence.” The bald elder coldly said, and immediately a large group of nobles no longer dared to speak. “Next.”

  Doehring Cowart watched with interest from the side.

  One after another youngster was tested. Of the first ten, none met the requirements. Right now, there was a young lady in the magical formation, who had been able to hold out for longer than any of the ten before her.

  “Hrm?” The bald elder’s eyes shone, and he immediately increased the power of the magical formation.

  After a long period of time, the young lady finally dropped down to one knee.

  The bald elder nodded in a satisfied manner. A hint of a smile on his face, he said, “Spiritual essence, eight times stronger than most people your age. The minimum qualifications for becoming a magus have been met. You also possess average elemental essence affinity. You can become a magus!” The judgment of the bald elder had just determined the fate of this young woman.

  “Oh, how wonderful!” The first person to shout with joy was not the young woman. Rather, it was the young woman’s father, a bald, middle aged, gentlemanly looking person.

  “Quiet!” The bald elder snapped in a cold, unhappy voice.

  Immediately, the ushers came and escorted the girl and her father to where the line of magus academies recruiters sat.

  Many envious eyes were cast towards the young woman.

  As time went on, the people in the main hall grew more and more numerous. The magical testing event would go on for seven days, so most people didn’t see the urge to come right away at the beginning. When Linley’s turn came, the line of test-takers had already stretched out the main doors of the cathedral.

  “Next.” The bald elder said again.

  Linley calmly walked into the center, with Doehring Cowart remaining by his side. In Doehring Cowart’s eyes, only a Saint-level combatant could, just barely, detect his presence. These ordinary magi definitely couldn’t detect him.

  Linley placed his right hand on the crystal ball.

  Instantly!

  The crystal ball suddenly burst forth with light, as though it were the sun! Earthen rays of light intersected with green rays of light, and there were even some thin lines of red spaced in between. That eye-piercing brightness forced even the people nearby to squint their eyes.

  Seeing the sun-like brightness emanating forth from the crystal globe, everyone in the great hall was stunned.

  The bald elder quivered as he stared at the piece of paper in his hands. It was written clearly on top that Linley was eight years old.

  “Age, eight. Elemental essence affinities – Earth and Wind, affinity level of exceptional for both! Fire affinity, average.” That bald elder felt his heart thumping wildly. Most magi had average elemental essence affinity. Even high elemental essence affinities were quite rare, and as for exceptional affinity… exceptional affinity was ridiculously rare!

  By way of explaining, an ordinary magus might take ten hours to produce a certain amount of mageforce, but Linley would only require a single hour to get the same result.

  “Ooooooo.”

  The entire hall was shocked. Not only was the kid’s elemental essence affinity of the exceptional level, it was for two different elements! This was simply too terrifying.

  “Exceptional affinity for the wind element?” The nearby Doehring Cowart was shocked.

  “Whoah, I, I have affinity for the wind-style as well?” Linley was stunned. He couldn’t help but turn to look at Doehring Cowart.

  Doehring Cowart squeezed out a smile. “Linley, I did tell you early on that I could only test for the earth elemental essence affinity. Right. When you absorbed natural elemental essence, did you never sense any wind essence?”

  “Wind elemental essence?” Linley was stunned. “The first time you taught me to process elemental essence, you told me to not be distracted, so although I did notice some green-colored specks of light around me, I didn’t pay any attention to them. But later on, when I began to absorb earth elemental essence, I would be surrounded by earth essence and the green specks would no longer appear.

  Doehring Cowart now understood.

  When training mageforce, especially dual-element mageforce, if one only focused on training one element such as earth, all the nearby earth elemental essence would be drawn near while all other essences, including wind, were pushed aside.

  “Afterwards, whenever I trained, I only sensed earth elemental essence nearby. I didn’t think about those green specks of light.” Linley was feeling extremely happy as well.

  Because he knew how powerful a dual-element magus was; far more powerful than a single-element magus.

  After the elemental essence affinity test, the spiritual essence test!

  *

  Book 2, Growing Up, Chapter 9 – The Magical Aptitude Test (part 2)

  “Remember, when engaging in the spiritual essence test, you must hold strong. Resist for as long as you can.” Doehring Cowart said solemnly. “I don’t know much about the wind-style, so you absolutely must go to a magus academy. With such strong elemental essence affinities, it would be an absolute waste for you not to train in the wind-style.”

  Linley understood this as well.

  “Please enter the magical formation.” The bald elder actually used the word ‘please’ in addressing Linley.

  Even the nearby nobles began to look at Linley with a new light in their eyes. For a person to have exceptional elemental affinity meant that they could generate mageforce in an extremely short period of time. The rest of the time could be spent on cultivating spiritual energy. His future prospects would therefore be unlimited.

  Linley stepped into the magical formation.

  The magical formation immediately glowed with a white aura, and then a sense of pressure immediately flooded into Linley’s spirit.

  Light-style elemental magic – Overawe!

  “How weak. Compared to the overawing presence of the Black Dragon from half a year ago, it simply isn’t even close to being on the same level.” Linley was relaxed enough to even think about that.

  As time went on, the aura of the magical formation grew stronger and stronger, and the overawing presence grew stronger and stronger as well. Everyone in the great hall held their breaths, as everyone watching knew very clearly that in the future, this plainly dressed youngster would definitely become a powerful magus.

  “Does anyone know that youngster? What clan does he belong to?” The nobles in front were all whispering to each other.

  If they had made friends with this youngster of amazing potential, they would have acquired, in the future, an extremely formidable ally.

  “His name is Linley?” Some of the magus academy recruiters learned his name from the test administrators.

  The entire group of magus academy recruiters, who had previously been sitting there, smiling, all ran over enmasse to watch. Which magus academy would not want to recruit a genius such as this?

  Standing alone in the magical formation, Linley continued to resist the overawing presence.

  Linley was breathing heavily, and at the moment, his entire mind felt hazy. That powerful spiritual pressure was pressing down on him like a mountain, and the strength of th
e pressure was continuing to rise. But Linley was continuing to persevere… .

  “The longer I can hold on, the better an academy I can enter.” Linley gritted his teeth.

  And then, when the pressure had reached a certain height, Linley finally could no longer resist. He dropped to one knee, his hands clenching into fists on the floor.

  Everyone’s gaze turned to the bald elder.

  His face suffused with happy red glow, the bald elder announced in a clear voice, “Spiritual essence, eighteen times that of his peers, high-level. High spiritual essence, exceptional elemental affinity.”

  At this point in time, all of the magus recruiters charged forth. “Hello, Linley. I come from the Lander [Lan’de] Magus Academy. Our Lander Magus Academy sincerely would like to admit you into our school. As long as you enroll with us, your entire tuition will be free, and every year we will even provide you with a thousand gold coins for living expenses. We will also invite an especially skilled magus teacher to personally train you.”

  “Linley, I come from the Welling [We’lin] Magus Academy. We… “

  … ..

  Seeing the swarm of people around him and how warmly they were treating him, Linley was stunned for a long moment, while in his heart, he sighed with amazement. In the blink of an eye, so many recruiters had learned his name. This was really too amazing.

  “Hey, everyone, please return to your seats. We need to continue the test.” The bald elder said in a kind voice.

  He could be arrogant towards those common folk, but he had to be courteous to the representatives of mighty magus academies.

  “Linley. Our Ernst Institute would sincerely like to invite you to become one of our students.” From far away, another voice sounded out, and when it did, the entire hall went silent. Even the bald elder stopped speaking.

  Linley turned around.

  A white-robed middle-aged man walked over. Smiling, he said, “Exceptional elemental affinity, high spiritual essence, and dual-element. Linley, our Ernst Institute would very much welcome you to join us. I don’t know if you would be willing to enter our Ernst Institute?”

  Hillman, nearby, had been staring in stunned silence. He immediately ran over next to Linley, so excited that his hands were quivering.

  The Ernst Institute?

  Enter the Yulan continent’s number one magus academy, the Ernst Institute? What did that represent?

  That represented that immediately upon graduation, even if he was just an average student, he could easily become an earl in any of the nearby kingdoms. If he was a superior student, even the four great empires would sincerely welcome him to join them.

  Across the entire massive Yulan continent, each year the Ernst Institute only enrolled a scant hundred students!

  A hundred students a year. What did this mean?

  Every single student who enrolled into the Ernst Institute could be described as a genius!

  “Linley, agree to him.” Hillman excitedly said.

  Linley also felt extremely excited, but his head was extremely clear, and he also looked very calm on the outside. Linley knew very well that upon becoming a member of the Ernst Institute, and with the guidance of Doehring Cowart, in just a few decades, it would not be too difficult to become a magus of the seventh or eighth ranks.

  His clan would once again flourish.

  “Sir, it would be my honor to enroll within the Ernst Institute.” Linley said courteously.

  Surprised at Linley’s equanimity, the white robed man still smiled. “Linley, I will inform the Institute of your biographical details. When the time comes, just bring your proof of identity to the Institute and take a second, correlating test. Then, you will become an official student of our Institute.”

  It was pointless to try and get someone else to take the test for you, because each school would do a backup test as well.

  “Each academic year is divided into two semesters, with the first semester beginning in February 9th. As long as you arrive by February 9th, you will be fine. This is your proof of identity. It can also be considered your proof of admission.” The white robed man withdrew a sealed red envelope from within his sleeves.

  In fact, immediately upon knowing Linley’s test results, he had recorded Linley’s details into the paperwork in the envelope. Because the white robed man believed without a doubt – no one would refuse an offer from the Ernst Institute!

  “Thank you.” Linley accepted the envelope.

  Linley didn’t look too excited on the outside, but Hillman was uncontrollably excited. A student at the Ernst Institute. Who amongst them were not venerated? Linley’s future accomplishments could already be predicted.

  “Uncle Hillman, let’s go.” Linley placed the red envelope into his clothes, and then left the main hall with Hillman.

  Despite being packed, everyone in the main hall, from the commoners to the nobles, all discreetly made way for him to move through. Even those nobles who had previously scorned Linley as a country bumpkin were all now smiling at him in a friendly manner. Their attitudes were amazingly good.

  This was a simple demonstration of the status which an Ernst Institute student held!

  Watched by a crowd of nobles, commoners, and church officials, Linley and Hillman departed the cathedral.

  “Squeaaaaak!” After exiting the cathedral, the little Shadowmouse shouted out, sensing Linley’s excitement.

  Only now did Linley let the excitement he felt show on his face. His hands suddenly clenching into fists, his eyes shone with energy. Turning to look at Hillman, he rapidly said, “Uncle Hillman, let’s go, let’s go back! Back to Wushan township! I’ve gotta let my father know the news!”

  *

  Book 2, Growing Up, Chapter 10 – The Secret Dragonblood Training Tome (part 1)

  Wushan township. The Baruch clan manor.

  Hogg had just finished lunch not too long ago, and was currently sitting down, relaxed, on a sofa, while leisurely reading a book.

  Two shadowy blurs suddenly entered the manor. It was Linley and Hillman, who had rushed the entire way back from Fenlai City. At the moment, both their faces contained uncontrollable excitement, and Linley began to shout from far away, “Father, I’ve returned!”

  “Lord Hogg.” Hillman was very excited as well.

  Hogg raised his head. Seeing the wild excitement on the faces of Linley and Hillman, he had a positive premonition. He immediately stood up. Staring at Linley and Hillman, his voice quavered as he said, “How did the magus assessment test go?”

  The Baruch clan had been in a downward spiral for too long. This ancient clan needed a mighty personage to restore it to its former glories!

  “Lord Hogg, the Ernst Institute! It’s the Ernst Institute! Linley was accepted by the Ernst Institute!” Hillman said excitedly.

  Hogg seemed to have turned into a statue. At the moment, Hogg felt as though his brain had suddenly been deprived off oxygen, as everything went blank for a moment.

  “Ernst… lord? Lord?” Hillman called out twice.

  Hogg, slowly regaining his mental faculties, suddenly hurried walked towards Linley and Hillman. In a disbelieving tone, he said, “Ernst, did you just say, Ernst Institute?” Right now, Hogg’s eyes were bulging and round.

  “Father, here’s the acceptance letter from the Ernst Institute.” Linley directly handed the admissions envelope to his father. Hogg was stunned for a moment, then quickly accepted the red envelope and removed the letter from within it. He carefully scanned the letter.

  Several names in bright red particularly stood out – “Ernst Institute” “Linley”.

  “Haha, hahahahaha! Elders of the Baruch clan, there is hope for our clan again!” Hogg suddenly lifted his head to the sky and laughed wildly, so hard that his entire body was trembling, so hard that tears began to flow. “There is hope for our Baruch clan again!”

  That wild laughter and those coursing tears absolutely stunned Linley.

  “Father… ” Linley said in a soft voic
e, as though afraid to disturb his father.

  Linley had never seen his father act so wildly before, and his father’s tears made Linley’s heart quaver as well.

  Housekeeper Hiri came over as well. He was also stunned by Hogg’s reaction. Hiri had no idea what had just happened.

  Hogg took a deep breath, then looked at Linley, his eyes filled with boundless excitement. “Good, good.”

  “Hillman, Uncle Hiri!” Hogg looked at the two of them. “Tonight, I am going to host a banquet. Quick, make the arrangements! Tonight, I am very happy, extremely happy. To have such a son, even if I die, I will be able to proudly face the elders of the Baruch clan.”

  “Yes, Lord Hogg,” Hillman and Hiri responded.

  “Squeak squeak!” Suddenly, the little Shadowmouse ‘Bebe’ scurried out from within Linley’s clothes. He hopped onto Linley’s shoulders to stare at Hogg, his little eyes filled with anger.

  Mentally sensing the little Shadowmouse’s emotions, Linley didn’t know whether to laugh or to cry.

  As it turned out, the little Shadowmouse had fallen asleep next to Linley’s chest, but Hogg’s explosive laughter startled him awake. An infant Shadowmouse spent a great deal of time napping, and hated being awakened. At this moment, naturally he was extremely furious.

  “Shadowmouse. A magical beast, Shadowmouse?” Upon seeing the little Shadowmouse with Linley, Hogg’s facial expressions changed dramatically.

  “Father.” Linley was afraid that his father would strike, so he hurriedly said, “The little Shadowmouse and I have already entered a soulbinding pact.”

  Hogg seemed to have been thunderstruck. He stared dumbly for a long moment. “You, you subdued and tamed this magical beast Shadowmouse?”

  The two ways to tame a magical beast were 1) Subduing it by force, and 2) Setting up a soulbinding magic formation.

  Hogg naturally knew very well that Linley’s physical strength was very weak. And even the weakest Shadowmouse was of the third rank of power. And in addition, there was no way for Linley to set up a soulbinding magical formation, so that couldn’t have happened at all.

  “Yes, father, I’ve tamed him.” Linley said seriously.