113 New Ability (1/2)

”You're finally finished!” Greyson heard his sister's familiar voice call out to him. Turning towards the origin of the sound, he saw that the group all exited the Altar already. The twins also completed their business with the Amians and regrouped with the rest. Laughing joyfully, he was about to Rosalie the good news of his advancement.

*SMACK*

Before he could even get a word in, Rosalie's smiling expression quickly turned to anger as she whacked him on the back of the head.

”Ouch! What was that for?”

”What was it for? I can't believe you are actually asking. Is it impossible for you to just be like everyone else and come out after half a day? Do you know how long you were in there for?!”

”...A day?” Greyson guessed warily.

”A day? A day you say. No, if it were a day, at least I could still expect it. It has been almost 2 days!”

”2?” To an ignorant listener, one more day would not seem like a significant difference. However, with the altered time inside the altar, one more day was a long time. Anything could have happened in that time. Even Greyson was surprised by this answer, but after thinking about it, he assumed it was when he passed out after passing the fourth level. He did not keep track of how long he was out. With no mana, heavy injuries and the spell backlash, he was probably unconscious for a good number of days. Without purposeful meditation, the natural absorption of elements is extremely slow.

”Alright, alright. Rosie, calm down. He did not even do it on purpose. Once one is inside it is too challenging to try to keep track of the real time going by.” Aeos cut in with a small chuckle. Rosalie bit her lip before finally reining in her anger. Greyson noted this short interaction, and, for the first time, perceived something unusual. There was something odd, yet he could not quite place his finger on what it was. The thought came as quickly as it went and he soon threw it to the back of his mind.

”Hey, but isn't there something different about you, Grey?” Hayze chimed in. From earlier on, Greyson saw her observing him as if something had changed.

”Hehe, I advanced!” Broadly grinning, Greyson announced the happy news.

”Already?!” Almost in sync, the group yelled back in surprise. Once one reaches the magister level, breaking through the stages gets considerably harder. Each stage requires a much more extensive time to break through. It had only been around a few months since he broke through and he already felt like he is on the cusp of the fifth stage. At this rate, it would merely take one more push before he could attain the next stage. All that desperate fighting really brought out some latent potential and sped up the process. There was still a little over half a year before he turned fifteen and he was hoping to become a great magister before he turned twenty. Honestly, it was an unrealistic goal, but if he did not push himself he would never know if it was indeed impossible or not.

”That's excellent! You'll be catching up to me in no time.” Rosalie wrapped her arm around his neck and pulled him into a tight hug. Warmth filling his heart, Greyson hugged her tightly back. For all one knows, it could be these small things were the best part of having family.

”Ah, heartwarming family scenes~” Cerul remarked. Then, glancing over at the twins, ”how come you guys never congratulate each other this way?” Both Fervis and Ferno's expressions became odd as they looked at each other. Seemingly picturing a scene like that with the two of them, they suddenly shuddered and looked away in disgust. No way.

”Brothers congratulate each other a little differently, alright?” They retorted in unison.

Hearing their little banter, everyone broke out with laughter. Camaraderie was difficult to find, but Greyson felt he had found his own little circle of friends.

Cerul broke the chatter and transformed into his dragon form.

”Where to next guys?”

”Well, the Water Altar is on the other side of the empire. Let's go to the Wind Altar first.” Rosalie suggested while looking over at Greyson. He just shrugged leaving the decision-making up to the people who understood the geography better.

...

It seems that they were never meant to fly peacefully. All eight of them soon sensed another group tracking them. Cerul had the best long-distance vision, so he concentrated to look at their appearances. Many miles away, there were many flying magic beasts with their riders following after them. His eyes narrowed as he recognized the familiar Lightning Ravens. There could be such a coincidence, but he did not think this was an instance of chance.