Armad woke up early that day. He didn't know how but he had overslept. Maybe it was the bed, or the enchanted stones at the corner that moderate the temperature of the room.

His home on the Third World was pretty big, and because the only Wilberforces living in it were him and his mom, his living quarters were insanely big. But the enchantments here were far superior.

He went straight into the bathroom. There was a bathtub already filled with a warm water. There were several enchantments on the bathtub that would moderate the temperature of the water to your needs.

Armad jumped inside. It had already been several weeks since he did this.

An hour later, he was clean. He went to the wardrobe and pulled a long sleeve shirt and a white pant extending from the waist to the knee.

He came back to the bedroom, no longer smelling like shit.

Knock.

"Come in." Armad said.

Three maids came in carrying plates. They greeted him, set the food down and left.

Anyone who had tamed a Djinn would have a reduced need for food. The more powerful your Djinn was the less food you would need. People who enslaved a Djinn but weren't using its powers required more food than those using it.

Armad took a bite from each plate. The food was good and more importantly it wasn't an ordinary food.

You have gained 0.01 year from eating an energy food.

An energy food wasn't something you got to see everyday. Just like how you could use Meditation to absorb nature energy and change it to longevity, you could do the same with an energy food. They contained a high density energy that could be easily absorbed and processed by the body. Other options included taking the longevity directly from beings who had it in them, for example, mages and beasts. If you killed a mage you would gain a portion of their stored longevity. And that was why few people cared about Meditation.

Besides the bedrooms and bathroom, there was an alchemy garden, a pool, a library and a large balcony. He could see the entire mansion from there. Apparently, his quarters were in direct contact with three others, probably belonging to Cokali, Iliyasis and the Duchess. He could see people walking in and out of the mansion. He could see a symbol from a building next to the mansion reading Alchemy Association.

Armad sighed. It wasn't a prison after all.

He stood and headed into the library.

'Djinn Soul' was the first book he saw in the library. He wondered why everyone loved that book. It described the different elements and powers a Djinn would manifest from birth to adulthood, and how to use them.

Seven Worlds

Before The Descent

The Five Jinzidal Kings

Ayrid Coins

Longevity Studies

So many books which Armad had already read. In fact, the only book which was new to him was Humans Before Djinns. The author did a good job in describing how magic system worked before humans began to enslave Djinns. He argued that humans were more powerful before the Djinns. The Wilberforce family had a similar opinion but very few people shared that opinion anymore. Nowadays, few people developed their own powers, most were busy relying on their Djinns for pretty much everything.

Knock. knock.

Armad looked toward the door with an annoyed face. "Who is it?"

"It's your brothers and sister." Aish answered. The excitement in her voice was almost palpable.

"Come in."

The first person to step in was Cokali, the man who had earlier knocked him out.

Armad glared at him. "You are the guy from yesterday who shamelessly knocked me out with a borrowed power."

"With a borrowed power? What are you talking about? Listen, that was the power of my Djinn, Marid Rukishista." Cokali said, looking even more aggrieved than Armad.

"That was what I mean by 'borrowed'." Armad said. "I don't understand you guys, why do you depend so much on your Djinn? It obviously exposes your weakness."

"What is he talking about?" Cokali asked, perplexed.

"I'll agree with younger brother Armad." Aish said. "Depending on your Djinn all the time is pretty stupid. That was what kept me in that force field for a whole year. The enemy has studied my Djinn for a long time and they created a force field to counter it. I would have died if not for Armad's help."

Iliyasis shook his head. "I don't agree. Utilizing the power of your Djinn is the best way to success. I have several points to back my claim."

Cokali always hated the theories so he helped himself to Armad's table and started bingeing on the food.

Whereas the discussion had reached an entirely new level.

Generally, a mage's carrier began with enslaving a Djinn and gaining a class. From there they could either follow the majority and be a Djinn Master or they could create their own path by learning spells to be a Magician or learning swords to be a Sword Master.

Every fifteen levels, a mage would get a spell slot, and, every twenty-five levels, they would get a sword slot. A Djinn Master would sacrifice his slots for their Djinn, which would give them a better control of their Djinn. A Sword Master would use their sword slot to create sword techniques. Whereas a Magician would use their spell slot to create spells.

Some mages were a combination of two: either a Sword Master and a Djinn Master, or a Magician and a Djinn Master, or Magician and a Sword Master. Like Armad was a Magician and a Sword Master. But most mages chose to be exclusively Djinn Masters because of how difficult it was to get a spell or a sword technique. Cokali, Iliyasis and Nusi were mainly Djinn Masters. Each had its downsides.

Some mages chose to be Djinn Masters because their Djinns were exceptionally powerful. A very few mages managed to be all-round: Magicians, Djinn Masters and Sword Masters. They called them archmages.

Iliyasisi hit the table and pointed at Aish furiously. "If you didn't use your Djinn you wouldn't have become a Duchess. How exactly would you get spells and swords strong enough to rival a Djinn?"

"That's what I am saying." Armad shouted. "Djinns are useful but you have to build yourself first. Reach your limit before depending on any outside help. Think about it, to use any Djinn ability you need to sacrifice a spell slot or a sword slot. To become a Sword Master you need to have at least four swords at level ten before you reach level 100. And to become a Magician you need six spells at level ten before you reach level 100. If you were to sacrifice a single slot to your Djinn before level 100, then you will never be a sword master or a magician."

"Haha.. That's what we teach the students, but we both know it's not true. There are ways to use your Djinn without sacrificing any slot." Iliyasis said proudly.

"Stop boasting about your position in the academy. This has nothing to do with it." Aish said.

"Even if there are ways to use a Djinn without sacrificing a slot, it's totally unwise, considering each title gave attributes benefits."

"You think it's unwise? How did Cokali knocked you out with a single attack? Lemme show you how unwise it is." Iliyasis transformed into a hundred owls and flooded the room. Each owl opened its beak and fired a laser beam of brown light.

Armad created one hundred mini bolts and fired them at each laser.

The room shook and some of the books caught fire.

"Yes, that's the spirit, brothers." Aish shouted, her body trembling with excitement.