Chapter 42: Arcane Gates (Part 2)

“Faint!” Huston thought Moss had surely gone crazy. “What now, there's still almost three months to go before the match between Iron Forest Academy and Golden Lion Academy, how could they possibly fight today. Also, you said the Golden Lion freshman beat Wilde in a single move? You said that Wilde used his famous Materialization skill Dual Blue Wasp Swords, as well as a secret skill that lets him teleport nonstop. That's actually possible, after all, I watched their matches last year. This year it's possible for Wilde to open his second arcane gate, it's possible for him to have this kind of ability. But beating Wilde in one move, no such student could possibly exist in the whole of Golden Lion Academy, not to mention a freshman.”

“I'm telling the truth...” Moss started to shout as soon as he heard.

Ayrin couldn't resist interrupting at this moment. “Teacher Huston, you haven't explained yet so far what's the deal with the seven arcane gates after condensing arcane particles. What does the second arcane gate mean?”

If it were another freshman asking this question, Huston might have irascibly scolded him already, said, don't you know to go to the library and do your own research, or maybe said don't bite off more than you can chew, you can't even condense arcane particles, but you're already thinking about this kind of issue. Wait for the second year classes, they'll naturally explain it in details.

But now Ayrin had already become a little psychological shadow in his mind. As soon as he heard Ayrin ask him this, he immediately answered in details, despite himself.

“There are seven places that can store arcane particles inside a human's body, these are called the seven arcane gates. The more arcane gates you open, the more arcane particles you can accumulate, and your ability to compress arcane particles will also become stronger. This way, not only are arcane masters able to use secret skills that are more demanding when it comes to arcane particles, but arcane masters with more arcane gates open will naturally be more powerful even when using the same arcane skills.

“Because of fighting skill and experience, bloodlines, or other reasons, arcane gates can't be fully equated with battle strength, but for the entire continent, the amount of open arcane gates still remains the sole criterion when ranking arcane masters by strength. Like you, if you can condense arcane particles and open an arcane gate, you'd be the most common beginner arcane master.

“Arcane masters with two open arcane gates can have the title of battle-level arcane masters. They're considered capable of joining some arcane master teams and be responsible for patrolling and safeguarding missions.

“Arcane masters with three open arcane gates are usually known as high-level arcane masters; they have the ability to carry missions in all kinds of wildernesses and frontier areas, hunt down monsters, or attack and kill enemy arcane master teams.

“Those who can open four arcane gates are known as elite-level arcane masters. They are powers the entire kingdom depends on, and the arcane teams they form usually carry out extremely dangerous missions concerning the safety of the entire kingdom.

“Arcane masters who can open five arcane gates are able to grasp and use a few taboo skills. They're known as taboo-level arcane masters. Further up, the arcane masters who can open six and seven arcane gates are king-level and legend-level arcane masters. This is something only historical hero figures can achieve.”

“Then, how can we open as many arcane gates as possible? Also, how many arcane gates did you open, teacher Huston? How many arcane gates did these elite teachers like teacher Ciaran and teacher Carter open?” Ayrin fervently asked.

“... I just knew you'd ask this question for sure.” Huston's face was a little green already. He might cause even more serious consequences if he didn't answer though, so he replied, very much wanting to give himself a slap, “It's the same as condensing arcane particles. If you want to open as many arcane gates as possible, you can only keep training hard, keep fighting, keep breaking through the limits of your body and your spiritual power. Only then will you be able to perceive the arcane gate's existence inside your body, and be able to compress stronger arcane particles.

“Only, the further you go, the stronger your body and spiritual power, the harder it'll be to make progress, and it'll also be extremely difficult to break through the limits of your body and spiritual power. Especially after you reach a certain age, your bodily functions will degrade and your power will stop growing, or even deteriorate. Usually, before fifty years old is the golden age for arcane masters. You power will grow as far as you can take it. Old arcane masters past fifty years old, unless they have particularly powerful secret skills, will deteriorate and won't be as powerful as they used to be.

“I already opened three arcane gates. The standard for elite teachers in the academy is at least four open arcane gates.”

“It's a difference of a single arcane gate only. Looking at numbers it's not a big difference.” Ayrin mumbled to himself, “It turns out the elite teachers in Holy Dawn Academy have at least reached the kingdom's standards for elite-level arcane masters. Even normal teachers also reach the standards for high-level arcane masters. However, an elite teacher with four arcane gates can fight two ordinary teachers with three arcane gates at the same time. Is there actually such a big gap between three arcane gates and four arcane gates?”

“A couple fewer words won't kill you!” Huston's face was filled with black lines.

“Teacher Huston, all I said is true!” Seeing that Ayrin and Huston had totally tossed him aside, Moss started to shout even louder.

“Impossible!” Huston turned his face filled with black lines his way. “To beat Wilde with a single move, to draw with Ferguillo who can play a role even in the great national tournament, that's at least a high-level arcane master with three open arcane gates. Ferguillo spent five years after Awakening before an elite Iron Forest teacher found him and brought him back to the academy. On top of that, he's someone with an extremely special innate variant bloodline to begin with, and he had to go through three years of training in Iron Forest Academy before reaching such a frightening level. What you said, it's absolute impossible for a second-rate academy like Golden Lion to produce a figure like Ferguillo, to say nothing about a freshman? Don't tell me this freshmen is my age!”