Book 02, Growing Up Read online

  “You really are a rich guy. My dad only gives me two hundred gold coins a year.” Reynolds mumbled. “And he even said that he wants me to spend my time focused on studying magic.”

  “Just a hundred for me,” Linley laughed. “But for a simple life, it’s enough.”

  “Bah, bros, my money is your money. If you run out, just come find me! In the future, we’ll probably be living together for decades. We’ll be bros for decades. Why quibble about ‘yours’ and ‘mine’?” Yale was extremely expansive, but just as he finished speaking…

  Linley and Reynolds both started.

  “Decades?” Linley stared at Yale in shock.

  Yale said casually and naturally, “Linley, you can only graduate from the Ernst Institute if you reach the rank of a magus of the sixth rank. For a magus, the higher you progress, the harder it becomes. For most people, it takes a couple decades to become a magus of the sixth rank.”

  Linley frowned.

  Decades? He was going to be a fiscal burden to his father for decades?

  “Grandpa Doehring, why didn’t you tell me this?”

  Doehring Cowart’s voice rang out in his mind. “Linley, relax. For most people, decades will be needed to reach the sixth rank, yes. Under my tutelage, I can let you become a magus of the sixth rank in just ten years.”

  Ten years.

  In ten years, Linley would only be nineteen years old. Only now did Linley relax.

  “Is everyone here already?” A clear voice rang out, as a child walked into the room. Approximately the same height as Reynolds, this child looked a bit more mature. “Hello, everyone. My name is George [Qiao’zhi]. I’m ten, and I’m from the Yulan Empire.”

  Yale, Reynolds, and Linley all gave basic introductions about themselves to the newcomer.

  “The Yulan Empire?” Linley was startled.

  The Yulan Empire. The most ancient of the empires of the Yulan continent. When the Yulan calendar was first started, ten thousand years ago, the Yulan Empire controlled the entire Yulan continent. And then, as time passed, the Yulan continent began to fall into war, causing the Yulan Empire to fragment as well.

  By this era, the Yulan Empire had become just one of the Four Great Empires.

  But despite this, the Yulan Empire was still the most economically powerful of the empires, and it was also filled with magi. The magus academy of the Yulan Empire was second only to the Ernst Institute.

  “George, the magus academies of the Yulan Empire aren’t that bad. Why did you rush all the way here?” Yale said in amazement.

  George smiled. “Although the magus academies of the Yulan Empire are very good, they are still a bit weaker than the Ernst Institute. If you’re going to go to school, you should go to the best. Although the journey was a bit long, it could be considered a form of training as well.”

  “George, you are ten? But you look the same as me.” Reynolds said to the side.

  George immediately began to laugh.

  The eight-year old Reynolds and the ten-year old George were of the same height. Both were the shortest in the group. Linley was half a head taller than them, while Yale was the tallest of them all.

  “Enough of that topic. I just found out from the admissions office that every one of the hundred new students have at least high levels in both elemental affinity and spiritual essence. I even discovered guys who have ‘exceptional’ levels in both elemental affinity and spiritual essence. What monsters.” George seemed to have good inside information.

  Yale pursed his lips. “That’s very normal. Which student in the Ernst Institute is weak? Myself, my elemental affinity and spiritual essence are both high level, putting me towards the bottom of the pack of our one hundred. If it wasn’t for the fact that my old man has a special relationship with the Radiant Church, I probably wouldn’t even be able to make it in.”

  Linley couldn’t help but stare at Yale in shock.

  This Yale fellow’s dad surely was something quite amazing, to have a special relationship with the Radiant Church.

  “The person in our dorm with the highest natural talent is Linley. But have you guys heard of the unmatchable talent who is studying at the Ernst Institute?” Yale glanced at the other three.

  Linley and Reynolds both shook their heads.

  But George smiled as he nodded. “I’ve heard of him. The number one genius of the Ernst Institute, ‘Dixie’ [Di’ke’xi], a talent that appears once in a century. He is a dual-element magus, and has exceptional levels of elemental affinity and spiritual essence. But his spiritual essence is especially amazing; 62 times that of others his age. Usually, reaching 30 times is considered ‘exceptional’ level, so his precise level should be ‘super exceptional’, but since the highest level is ‘exceptional’, that’s what he is classified as.”

  Linley understood.

  Dual-element. Exceptional elemental affinity and spiritual essence.

  “I’m just ten-something times that of other people my age, but that genius has 68 times the spiritual essence of people his age.” Linley sighed in amazement.

  The Ernst Institute really did have as many talents as there were clouds in the sky. It could also be said to have congregated all of the magical geniuses of the Yulan continent. Here, Linley could only be considered above average. However… behind Linley, there was a five-thousand year old Saint-level Grand Magus!

  *

  Book 2, Growing Up, Chapter 15 – The Bros of Dorm 1987 (part 2)

  Most of the students of the Ernst Academy would stay at the Institute for decades, so usually by the time of graduation, fellow dormmates would be extremely close friends. Although Yale, Reynolds, Linley and George were all more mature than most others their age, at heart, they were still children.

  After just chatting for a short period of time, the four of them immediately grew very close.

  “Everyone, let’s spend the day getting to know our campus better. Tonight, I’ll treat you all to dinner! Haha.” Yale slapped his chest and said enthusiastically.

  “This guy even has a magicrystal card. If we don’t take advantage of him, who else would we take advantage of?” Reynolds laughed.

  George and Linley were both still children, and they immediately grinned evilly.

  “Squeak squeak!” At this moment, the little Shadowmouse, ‘Bebe’, suddenly popped his head out from within Linley’s clothes. Having just woken up, the little Shadowmouse was feeling lonely, so he popped his head out.

  “Whoah, what’s that?” Reynolds was so startled he jumped.

  “Bebe, you woke up?” Linley laughed as he stroked Bebe’s little head. Bebe closed his eyes in contentment, and then opened his little eyes and peered at Reynolds, Yale, and George. His little nose snorted three times, as though he looked down at them.

  “Magical beast, it’s a magical beast! I’ve seen them in books.” Yale suddenly shouted.

  “Linley, you have a magical beast companion?” Reynolds and George were also shocked.

  They were all children. How could one of them make a magical beast submit to them?

  “Bebe is just a baby magical beast. I just gave him some food, which made him like me. So I entered a soulbinding contract with him.” Linley laughed.

  “Good heavens, that’s a magical beast! Linley, you are really formidable. I’ve dreamed of having one since I was young.” Yale stared at Bebe, his eyes shining. “Although I have access to soulbinding formation scrolls, I don’t have the ability to force a magical beast to submit to me.”

  Yale said in a depressed voice.

  “You aren’t able to subdue a magical beast? Not even an infant?” Linley laughed.

  Yale shook his head. “I’m not even a magus of the first rank yet. Based on my strength, maybe I could train a magical beast of the first or second rank, but what would I do with such a weak critter? And the infants of magical beasts of the seventh or eighth ranks are extremely hard to acquire. What’s more, the infants of those beasts are more powerful than me, even as b
abies.”

  Linley agreed with him silently.

  The little Shadowmouse, ‘Bebe’, currently was as strong as a magical beast of the fifth rank. He was far stronger than Linley. But having been together with Bebe for half a year, he could tell that Bebe didn’t grow larger at all. This was what confused both Linley and Doehring Cowart.

  “Linley, this little Shadowmouse is named Bebe? Can you have Bebe allow me to cuddle him?” Reynolds gaze was glued to the little Shadowmouse.

  “Bebe?”

  Linley immediately asked Bebe through their soul link.

  “No, no way.” Bebe could also express some simple intentions to Linley through their soul link. At the same time, Bebe flashed his fangs towards Reynolds. “Squeak squeak!” He squeaked loudly, clearly very angry.

  Reynolds couldn’t help but pucker his lips in disappointment.

  “Reynolds, I’ll tell you a secret. Bebe loves to eat roast meat. If in the future, you can feed him some roast ducks or roast chickens, I believe that he won’t be very hostile to you.” Linley laughed upon seeing Reynolds eyes shine.

  “Can do.”

  Reynolds suddenly frowned as he turned to Yale. “Yale, if in the future I run out of money, you’ve got to lend me some. When Grandpa Lomu comes, I’ll pay you back.”

  “No problem.” Yale said magnanimously.

  “I bet everyone hasn’t had a chance to get a good look at the campus yet, right? Let’s go for a stroll and familiarize ourselves, shall we?” George smiled as he spoke.

  Of the four bros, George was the most amiable and steadiest boy. Reynolds was the most childish one of them. Yale… was the playboy type. As for Linley, in the eyes of the other three boys, he was the most mysterious.

  Dual-element magus, exceptional affinity, and a magical beast companion.

  He really was mysterious.

  The ancient Ernst Institute was filled with countless buildings which were thousands of years old. In front of some of them, there were even introductory placards.

  The youngest of them eight, the oldest of them ten. The children stared worshipfully at each famous name, especially at the histories of the Saint-level combatants, which caused their hearts to beat faster. All of them dreamed of one day becoming a Saint-level combatant.

  But a voice right next to Linley’s ear kept on grumbling. “Nothing more than some promising latter-day youths. This guy is actually bragging about killing a Violet-Tattooed Black Bear? A Saint-level combatant who can only kill ninth level magical beasts and not Saint-level magical beasts can only be considered a newbie Saint-level.”

  Many famous graduates of the Ernst Institute were bashed by Doehring Cowart as not worth mentioning.

  … .

  The four bros of dorm 1987, along with the little Shadowmouse ‘Bebe’, strolled about the entire campus, gaining a basic level of familiarization. That very night, the four of them went to a lavishly decorated hotel next to the dormitory area and had themselves a feast. But of course, all they drank was juice.

  The next day. February 9th. School started.

  There were no classes this day; those would start on February 10th. February 9th was meant to go and listen to the exhortations of school management to work hard. This group of six-to-twelve year olds filled the auditorium. They didn’t know exactly who the people speaking to them were, so many of the children began to daydream. When the ceremony concluded, all of them happily departed.

  After dinner, the four bros of dormitory 1987 were all seated on chairs inside the dorm and discussing their classes.

  “It’s so easy here. Just one class a day. Oh, Linley is dual-element, so he has two.” Yale sighed. “But the Ernst Institute is really relaxed. If you want to attend class, you can. If you don’t want to, you can skip.”

  George calmly smiled. “Yale, don’t grow complacent. Although there aren’t formal requirements for students, every year, there will be an ability test. Only if you advance a rank in power can you advance a grade. If you don’t work hard, do you plan to stay here for a century? What’s more, the Ernst Institute has a rule that if one does not become a magus of the sixth rank in sixty years, one will be expelled, no exceptions.”

  Reading the various regulations of the Institute written on the introductory packet, Linley nodded silently.

  Although the school had lax supervision, allowing one to not study at all for sixty years, once you reached the end of those sixty years, if you still had not become a magus of the sixth rank, you would be directly expelled.

  “Expelled?” Yale stared. “If I really were to be expelled, my old man would probably kill me.” Expulsion by the Ernst Institute would result in an unbearably humiliating reputation. No one would be willing to shoulder it. After all, to have been accepted meant they were all talented people.

  “Class starts tomorrow. I wonder how the teachers are. If they aren’t even as good as my Grandpa Lomu, I’ll have come for nothing.” Reynolds mumbled.

  “Reynolds, your Grandpa Lomu is a magus?” Linley asked, somewhat surprised.

  “Of course. On the long road from the O’Brien Empire to the Ernst Institute, Grandpa Lomu had already begun to teach me magic.” Reynolds said proudly.

  When Linley and the other three were chatting with each other, they all felt very excited.

  “The earth element class isn’t that important. In terms of understanding the earth element, how could any of the teachers at the Ernst Institute compare with Grandpa Doehring? The most important class is the wind element class. I wonder what wind magic is like?”

  The day had already begun to grow dark, but the sounds of laughter and chatter continued to sound out from the four children within dormitory 1987.

  *

  Book 2, Growing Up, Chapter 16 – Wind-Style Magic

  For the academic calendar of the Ernst Institute, every month, the first twenty eight days had classes. Only the last two days were free.

  Earth magic classes were taught from 8:00 AM to 10:00 AM in the morning, fire magic was taught from 10:30 AM to 12:30 PM in the afternoon, water magic from 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM in the afternoon, wind magic from 4:30 PM to 6:30 PM in the afternoon, lightning magic from 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM at night, and light magic from 9:30 PM to 11:30 PM at night.

  But since the majority of students were single element, they only had to take two hours of classes a day. Linley was dual-element, which meant each day he had just four hours of classes. But because these classes were on a voluntary basis, if you didn’t want to go, no one would force you.

  The school of earth magic was divided into six classes, with each class having its own building. New students and first rank magi attended the first grade class, magi of the second rank attended the second grade class, magi of the third rank attended the third grade class… and so on, up until the sixth rank who attended the sixth grade class.

  Magi of the sixth rank could choose to graduate at any point in time. But naturally, if they elected not to, they could continue to study.

  February 10. Within the classroom of first grade classes.

  The classroom for first grade earth magic was extremely large, and was capable of seating hundreds of students. Twenty students had already arrived, and Linley selected a seat located relatively in front, sitting down. At 8:00 AM, there were around fifty students present.

  “I expect only part of the students present are new. I wonder how long the others have spent here.” Linley wondered to himself.

  After all, for a new student to reach the second rank, usually they would need to train for several years.

  “Greetings, everyone.” An amiable, kindly looking brown-haired middle aged man stood in front of the class. “My name is Wendi [Wen’di], and I will be your instructor in earth magic. Today, we have approximately twenty new students. So, same as always, first we are going to have our new students introduce themselves, so that we can all get to know each other.”

  Immediately, one new student after another began to introduce themselves.


  “My name is Gerhans [Ge’er’han]. I come from the great grasslands to the far east.”

  Upon hearing Gerhan’s self-introduction, Linley was shocked. “The students here really do come from all over the Yulan continent. There’s even someone from the great grasslands in the far eastern part of the Yulan continent.”

  In the great map of the Yulan continent…

  The Holy Union and the Dark Alliance were located west of the Yulan continent’s Mountain Range of Magical Beasts. East of the range were the Four Great Empires, but even further east of the empires was a vast grassland, which contained three kingdoms of its own. The distance between the great grasslands and the Ernst Institute was unbelievably great. A one way trip alone would take at least three years!

  “My name is Linley. I’m from the Holy Union.” Linley as well walked to the front of the classroom and gave a basic introduction of himself.

  After the self-introductions were complete, the earth-style magus Wendi began to brag about earth-style magic’s power. Only in the second hour of the class did he actually begin to instruct in earth-style magic.

  Linley and the group of students just listened quietly. Next to Linley, Doehring Cowart appeared as well.

  “This fellow has a very solid foundation. Although he isn’t very strong, in terms of teaching magi of the first rank, not even magi of the eighth or ninth rank would necessarily be a better teacher.” Doehring Cowart nodded as he sighed in praise.

  Linley knew a great deal about earth-style magic by now, so listening to the lecture was very easy for him.

  “But Grandpa Doehring, although his foundation is solid, he isn’t able to distill the profound into simple words like you. He seems to make it more complicated.” Linley said.

  Doehring Cowart laughed self-confidently. Stroking his white beard, he said, “Naturally. A Saint-level Grand Magus’ understanding of magic is far greater than that of a magus of the eighth or ninth rank. The Saint-level is a totally new realm of existence. Naturally, my teachings regarding magic are more profound and point more directly to the underlying nature of magic.”