DAO MAGUS

Lynne sat cross-legged, his eyes closed, inside a small, squared room atop a shimmering, jade bed. The room was windowless, with only source of light being a small candle atop a nightstand next to the bed. After leaving Principal Seed’s place, he was led to the small courtyard and a house at the outskirts of the sect’s grounds. Shortly after, as per Principal’s promise, two batches of pills arrived: ‘Soulstones of Mana’ and ‘Wisps of Mana’. Soulstones were used for direct purification, while Wisps were used for indirect. Upon receiving the batch, he immediately took one Soulstone and swallowed it. The pill had rather sour taste, but it quickly dissolved as it swept past his throat and entered into his blood stream. Chilly sensation permeated his entire body, but it wasn’t uncomfortable.

After examining the workings of the pill for a short while – and realizing that it wouldn’t harm him – he had shifted his focus back onto the ‘Elemental Blade’, attempting once again to reach advanced understanding of the ‘Spell Art’ and break through to become a Dao Magus. Comprehension of the ‘Spell Art’ was extremely slow, regardless of one’s talent. It wasn’t simply about understanding what the higher level will be capable of – after all, Lynne already knew that – but it was about understanding the simplicities within the compound of complexities. As such, Lynne had to understand all of the ‘Advanced Arts’, as ‘Elemental Blade’s’ advanced understanding was directly connected to them.

He first began with ‘Blood’. ‘Blood’, at its most complex, refers to continuous process of life energy within all living beings. He needed to break that complexity into strands that he could visualize and understand; as so, he focused on the flow of the blood from within him. It chugged through his veins vigorously, ceaselessly pouring into his heart. Blood was also directly related to life energy – that is why Mages who followed the ‘Blood Path’ had exceedingly long lifespans, even if they never stepped beyond the rank of an ‘Archmage’. They would continuously refine their blood, strengthening it and purifying it to the point of perfection. However, Lynne didn’t need to go as far; as he already had relatively deep understanding of the Magic of Blood, he pricked his finger slightly and let out a few drops that hovered above his finger. They then danced around each other, forming into a spiral, then into a sphere, then into a blasting ray… he manipulated it over and over again, gaining understandings within it. The few droplets then changed into a miniscule ‘Elemental Blade’. They carried vigorous energy and were seemingly capable of penetrating through the thickest of walls.

Satisfied with the result, he moved on onto the ‘Mind’; ‘Mind’ was the most complex of all Magical Arts, and to this day, there has never been a single record in the history of anyone even truly mastering it. ‘Mind’ was like the origin of all other arts, as all other arts are channeled directly with a thought – that is with the Arts of Mind. Lynne’s understanding was bare-bone, but no one would find it odd, as even the monsters who had lived for centuries wouldn’t have gone much further than him in the comprehension of it. The most basic understanding is often related to defending one’s mind against soul attacks – Lynne had already comprehended that, and quickly moved on from it.

‘Summon’ school of art was another than Lynne had no interest in. It used fragments of souls of the dead to form a sentient slave, and those at the pinnacle could even forcibly tear person’s soul out of their bodies to form a mindless warrior. ‘Summoners’ were usually the least feared and also the most feared of all the paths. During their growth stages, they were not stronger than even ordinary soldiers who barely practiced Magic. All their slaves could be killed with a single strike, and their physical bodies were akin to the withering branches of a tree. However, at their pinnacle, they had hordes of slaves that could consume Kingdoms within a fortnight. Still, training to the pinnacle was nigh impossible, and only two were ever recorded in the history books. While both were revered by masses and had achieved astonishing accomplishments, one could only imagine frustrations they had to go through. Lynne was already capable of creating a miniscule slave out of soul’s fragments, so he didn’t bother further with the art.

The last one was ‘Space’, the one he was most versed in. Per its name, ‘Space’ refers to any spacial conducts within the world. Due to the Celestial Void Dagger that he picked up from the Royal Treasury, Lynne’s understanding of ‘Space’ has soared when compared to his peers. ‘Elemental Blades’ that he would summon through the spacial attribute could flex and bend and even tear the space whenever they passed, covering hundreds of meters distances within a blink as they passed through spacial rifts.

With these four understandings, he finally perked his mind to the optimal state and began visualizing ‘Elemental Blades’ formed from all eight elements – Basic and Advanced ones. One of fire had explosive power, capable of tearing through mountains; one of water was flexible to the point of being able to bend in any way as it passed through obstacles; one of wind was fast and could pierce through hardest of steels, while one of earth was durable to the point of seemingly being indestructible. One of blood had corrosive elements, and when it pierced a living body, it could suck the blood right out of it; one of summon could split itself nigh-infinitely as it soared through the skies; one of mind had its own sentience, and Lynne wouldn’t even need to control it, while one of space could hide anywhere and come from nowhere.

As these eight blades danced within his mind, he felt his understanding expand. Bit by bit, he formulated essences of these eight swords as they swirled and danced within the endless abyss. They interacted and clashed with one another, creating one strange phenomena after another. Then, there were sixteen blades – two of each. Their clashes created even stranger phenomenons, as the sky seemingly got eclipsed by their shine. Sixteen turned to twenty-four, but that was as far as Lynne could understand at the moment.

Suddenly, within his soul, he could hear a faint ‘crack’ sound, and as if the floodgates opened, his Mana surged outwards and passed through each of his veins, reaching every part of his body. His mind was cleared of the fog and his eyes shone with strange brilliance as he opened them. His body silently roared with the shouts of Dragons, as veins came in and out of existence atop his muscles.

“Ah, finally,” he muttered lowly as his lips curled up in a smile. “Advanced understanding of the ‘Elemental Blade’ as well as reaching ‘Dao Magus’ rank. Hm? Looks like the pill is actually working. Although my Mana reserve hasn’t increased by much, I can control it much easier, as if half its weight has been lifted. Not bad Principal, not bad…”

“What are you talking about with yourself? Have you finally gone crazy?” a familiar, mocking voice came off from the corner of the room. Lynne glanced towards the source and saw small monkey sitting, chewing on some strange fruit.

“Who gave you premision to enter? Get out you furry ball of stupidity. Go back to your mom and suck her ‘till you grow up.”

“I’ll smear my shit over your face, you rotten brat!” the monkey scowled. “Anyway, I have good news.”

“Good news?” Lynne arched his brow slightly.

“You won’t believe what’s currently somewhere in this sect.”

“Manual for the ‘Spellweaving Celestial’ path?” Lynne asked boorishly.

“Eh? What?! How did you know?”

“… ah, you’re too slow monkey. You brain is all foggy and fuzzy. If even I can discover treasures before you do, what’s your worth exactly?” Lynne’s words seemingly struck the monkey pretty hard as his expression sank. Lynne realized that the monkey was having existential crisis, and he couldn’t help but chuckle lightly. “Relax, I met up with the Principle yesterday and he told me.”

“WHAT?!” the monkey roared after a few moments of silence, as realization dawned on him. “Damn you rotten brat! I nearly broke out in tears right now! Who raised you, huh? Lead me to them so I can give them a proper lecture on parenting! Damn it, rotten brat!”

“Ha ha,” Lynne laughed out loud before he spoke. “Come on, aren’t you supposed to be the ‘grandpa’ of the group? How can you be the ‘grandpa’ if you lose your shit the moment I tease you a little bit?”

“Goddammit, I’ll get back at you for this brat.” the monkey scowled, clearly angry due to Lynne’s words. “Ugh, forget it for now. So, why’d the old fart tell you?”

“Not just tell me, he even offered me the manual.” Lynne spoke calmly.

“But of course he would never just give it to-- wait, what?!” the monkey seemed even more surprised than when Lynne teased him, his small eyes suddenly doubling in size, ready to pop out of their sockets.

“Of course, there are strings attached. And, according to him, I’m not ready yet, so he’s basically just grooming me at the moment.”

“… of course you’re not ready, you imbecile,” the monkey mocked. “Even I, a creature who barely uses Mana, have purer Mana in me than you.”

“Damned monkey, you were sucking on that Mana Spring for god knows how long! Of course you’d have purer Mana!”

“Humph, whatever,” the monkey crossed his tiny arms across his chest as he spoke. “So, why’s he helping you?”

“Eh, that’s a secret,” Lynne spoke mysteriously, angering the monkey even more. “Anyway, he ordered me to participate in the upcoming competition between the sects next week. He also told me that I have to get in top ten if I want to get any more resources outside the ones for tempering my Mana. Luckily, I managed to break through to the ‘Dao Magus’ rank with days to spare.”

“There’s no way you can get even within top fifty, you imbecile.”

“Eh?”

“Disciples from sects usually train since they are young kids. Even if they are at the same rank as you, they’ll have fifty times your Mana reserves and ten times the purity. They’ll also have countless treasures. What do you have? Nothing. Zero. Big, stinky bleagh.”

“Shit, you’re right!” Lynne suddenly leapt onto his feet as it dawned on him. “I haven’t been training in Magic for a year, yet they’ve probably trained for over ten years. Shit, that old fart really blinded me this time around. Eh, whatever. I’ll just do my best.”

“Eh, not even for a year?” the monkey muttered into his jaw. That’s impossible… right? To have trained for under a year, at his age, it would have been virtually impossible to even reach ‘Master Magus’, let alone ‘Dao Magus’. Damn, this kid’s talents are too scary.

After breaking through the ‘Dao Magus’ stage, Lynne rested briefly before taking another Soulstone pill and closing his eyes, following and observing the changes occurring within his Mana reserves. Although he was reluctant to learn Magic ever since the day he was born, he found himself enjoying the feeling of breaking through, of gaining larger understanding of all things within and outside. He was even looking forward to the competition, even if he was going to lose in the very first round. He was yet to truly fight anyone close to his rank and go all out, and was quite curious as to how will he fare against the children of renowned sects. I’ll probably lose if I fight them head on… but, he he, will any of them be as shameless as I am? Spacial Elemental Blade here and there, and they’ll be standing naked on the stage, too ashamed to continue fighting… he he…