17 The Early Formation of Magic Chords Part 2 (1/2)

His body felt as though it weren’t his. This was worse than torture, and worse than usage of the badge. But Saleen was smiling, because magic chords had been formed. He had finally become a qualified mage. He ran towards his home unsteadily. When he entered his room, Saleen saw Jason sitting on his bed, meditating.

”Teacher…”

Jason opened his eyes and looked at Saleen for a while, then said, ”My materials are nearly used up. Make a trip to the city tomorrow.”

Saleen was uncertain, not knowing whether he should tell Jason that he had formed his magic chords. Jason did not say anything else, and left Saleen’s room straight after.

Saleen did not know if Jason had discovered anything. He did not have time to ponder, his stomach was rumbling. He ran to the kitchen, yanked down the smoked meat hanging on the stove, and chewed it hungrily. He ate as he walked back to his room. He looked at the magic clock on his table and realized nearly ten days had passed.

Tomorrow was the mid-autumn festival!

Saleen had no energy, but desperately tried to stay focused in order to learn a Grade 1 spell – Icicle Magic.

He succeeded in his first deployment; a white light appeared between his hands. A piece of icicle with the thickness of a finger flew out and hit the opposite wall. A hole was made in the stone wall. Saleen stood up, used his finger to reach in, and felt around the hole, but could not feel the end.

He was astonished in his heart. The power of Grade 1 magic was indeed adventurous, incomparable to Grade 0 magic.

It was a pity that he lacked proficiency, and needed both his hands to cast this spell. His preparation time was as long as six seconds. According to the rules, he could cast such spells twelve times at most. It seemed like he needed to continue with the Grade 0 Acid Sputtering spell. Magicchords were a mage’s safety net, and so should not be completely exhausted.

It was a pity that he would only be able to deploy Water Magic in the future. It would be great if he could learn the Fireball skill. It caused a smaller amount of magic depletion and required a short preparation time, but was still powerful.

Facing the messy display of his magical tools on the table in the laboratory, Jason did not have the heart to continue with his experiments for now. He had felt the magic wave in Saleen’s room, but did not know what Saleen had done. Had he showed enough concern for this student of his? Saleen was still young, and could easily be deceived if Jason did not pay more attention to him.

Saleen’s appearance had changed. Something that Jason could not guess was definitely happening.

The whole night, Saleen practiced the Icicle Skill. He was surprised to find out that he could actually continuously release the Icicle Skill more than twenty times. That was to say that he had almost twice the magic chords of a Grade 1 mage. In addition, through meditation, the restoration of his magic chords was an exceptionally fast two hours.

The two hour restoration rate was an ability which only genius mages possessed. Saleen knew his capabilities were average, but did not know that the magic chord medicine had completely changed his body structure.

Only at dawn did Saleen lay on his bed to sleep for a while. His nerves were too stirred up, and his sleep this time was hardly sound. Before noon, he jumped up from his bed and approached his mirror, planning to get dressed.

At this time, Saleen was stunned to find that there were changes in his appearance.

The youth in the mirror was slightly taller, and his hair had turned from brown to black. The most noticeable thing was his pair of eyes which had become as blue as the sea.

He was dazed for a while, recalling that his master had seen his appearance yesterday, and felt a little guilty. Hence, he did not bid Jason goodbye, but immediately picked up his leather sack and left his ancestral house in a hurry.

No matter how many books he had read, Saleen was still a child. He did not know how to explain things, and so chose to avoid doing so instead.

Feeling troubled, he came to the outside of Ceylon City where a joyous sight beheld him. Wreaths of green plants were hung outside the main doors of all buildings. Three kinds of plants had been bound together – wormwood which ridded plague, millet sprays which represented bountiful harvests, and a branch of silk leaves.

This was an ancient Myers Mainland custom, and was the vestige left behind by the Goddess of Nature. Even though the Holy See had influenced more than half of the mainland, it could not change the people's customs.

Sikeqinya was an empire established by trade. There were squares of various sizes in each city, provided for small traders with no permanent stores to set up stalls. Today, these squares had been renovated, and Viscount Gugger had used his own money to invite some performance troupes to perform for the people of the city free of charge.

Strictly speaking, Viscount Gugger was a traditional nobleman. During such a festival, his biggest expense was to distribute money and food to the poor. Saleen’s life had once been saved by Viscount Gugger’s flour. Hence, despite knowing that Gugger was making use of his relationship with Jason, Saleen had still chosen to accept his proposal.

Viscount Gugger had announced earlier that the taxes for this month would be waived. There was joy on the faces of the people, coming from the happiness radiating in their hearts. On the dilapidated rooftop stage, the travelling performing troupes were putting in their best at their performances. Saleen felt a little unwell. All this felt a little surreal.

Everyone’s smiles and voices seemed to bear a layer of invisible film. This had nothing to do with him though. Saleen suddenly had a feeling of desolation as he carried his leather sack and weaved through the various sized squares. His mood was abruptly dampened.