Ernest
“A rank 6 warrior? How about my father? What rank is he? Is he rank 15?” Leylin appeared very innocent and vulnerable. After all, in the hearts of children, parents were unequalled.
“Rank 15?! Cough cough…” Jacob almost choked on his saliva, “Esteemed young master, Professionals above rank 5 are already valued by nobility. Those beyond rank 15 are treated with excessive respect even among the highest strata of society. There are very few of them on the continent…”
“Is that so?” Leylin stroked his chin. He’d heard about this ranking while he had still been a soul seed, and it seemed like after borrowing a medium to use, the strength of his soul seed was not half bad.
Of course, no matter how powerful he was, he was still a foreigner. Nothing could be hidden from the glory of the gods, and he would easily have been destroyed.
“Uncle Jacob, what happens after rank 15? Are there more powerful beings?” Leylin was like a little guy filled with curiosity.
“After rank 15… ah…” Jacob’s eyes were dim, “Then there are only the Legends! Legendary beings can make whole kingdoms retreat, and are the most powerful forces of the continent…”
“Legends?” Leylin’s eyes flashed.
“Alright! Let’s start training today. First is long-distance running!” At this moment, Jacob realised that Leylin’s questions had pushed him off topic. He turned grim.
“Fine, fine…” Leylin began to run around cheekily like a little cheetah full of energy, his smooth motions causing Jacob’s eyes to brighten.
……
Deep in the night, in the baron’s study room.
Jonas sat behind the work desk, arms crossed as he looked deep in thought. “You’re saying Leylin’s body has good potential, and if he were to go through warrior training, he he has high prospects?”
Jacob stood before Jonas, speaking sternly. “Yes, my lord! The energy in young master Leylin’s body flows very smoothly. On top of that, with a great body from birth, I’m certain that the young master will gather fighting energy and break through to become a rank 5 warrior in ten years if he perseveres with warrior training!”
“Alright. You may leave,” Jonas waved his arms tiredly. Only after Jacob bowed and left could he laugh wryly. “Outstanding literary talent and an outstanding physique! Leylin, you truly are a gem gifted to me by the gods!”
Jonas grabbed at his hair in frustration. Every parent hoped their child would be a genius, but when Leylin was outstanding in both of these respects, Jonas grew distressed as to how best to nurture the boy.
“It’s obviously necessary to continue the cultural lessons, but what about the warrior training?” Jonas knew Jacob’s strength well, and if Leylin truly had talent, it would be a waste for him to be training under Jacob.
On top of that, warriors had low status in the World of Gods given how common they were. While they could grow extremely powerful at the higher, more profound realms, one would unavoidably be treated like cannon fodder in the beginning. Jonas was hesitant about it.
“What are you worrying about?” At this moment, a gentle voice was heard from outside the study room, and Jonas’ eyes brightened.
“Ernest! Welcome!” Jonas stood up while beaming sunnily, watching a figure walk out from the shadows.
The figure had a head of long, soft, silver hair. His eyes were filled with wisdom, and while he looked young he had a great aura. He wore a yielding gown similar to those of scholars, and had a mysterious golden decorative motif on his chest. Powerful magical force twined around his body, giving him a very menacing aura. Evidently, Ernest was a powerful magician.
This was a magician! The spellcasters of the World of Gods grasped powerful abilities in magic, and were existences that could control the natural elements around them. More importantly, every spellcasters was extremely well-learned. Their breadth of knowledge was above that of many famed scholars.
Of course, due to the great amount of resources and time that had to be poured into magic, magic was a Profession of nobles. Regular commoners definitely couldn’t pay the expenses required to study and conduct experiments.
“We meet again, Jonas!” Ernest smiled gently, giving his friend an enthusiastic hug.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t get here in time when your child was born. Experiments that probe the abyss are too complex and time consuming…” Ernest looked sorry.
“Treat this Ring of Light as my belated gift!” He passed a glimmering silver ring to Jonas, “Though the light spell in this can only be used thrice, it’s not bad for a child’s toy…”
“Thank you very much, on behalf of Leylin as well!” Jonas took the ring carefully, moved by the present. With his knowledge, he knew that even a temporarily enchanted item like this could easily fetch ten gold coins.
Magical items were that expensive! Often times, they could not even be sold due to their exorbitant prices.
With the Faulen family’s background, they would at most befriend a few useless magic scholars, and it was impossible to make connections with powerful spellcasters like Ernest.
Meeting him was a pure coincidence. After finding out his true identity, Jonas had spent much effort to build up a great friendship with him.
After they sat down, Ernest continued his query, “Jonas… What’s worrying you?”
“Well…” Watching the powerful spellcaster, Jonas had to conceal the glimmer in his eyes. He laughed wryly, “You know Leylin is already five, right? His talent is worrying me. I’m worried he’ll lack the guidance he needs, which will cause him to walk the wrong path and not be able to show his outstanding talent…”
Jonas mentioned Leylin’s display in detail. It had to be said that even while he was hiding a lot of information, Leylin’s was definitely a talent amongst the natives here.
As Jonas continued, Ernest’s eyes brightened, “Tomorrow! Let me see the child tomorrow. If he really has talent, I can consider taking him in as my student!”
“Thank you so much!” Jones stood up, elated.
“It’s nothing!” Ernest smiled slightly. He had already noticed Jonas’ objective, but he didn’t particularly mind. He had gotten a huge sponsorship from Jonas before, and taking a child in as a student wasn’t much in return. Of course, the child needed to have talent in magic, even if it was at a low level.
The next day, Leylin was informed that all of his classes were postponed, and that he was going to meet someone important.
“Leylin, my child!” Jonas stood before Leylin, looking extremely serious.
“I will bring you to see a powerful magician later. Even in the entire continent, he is a very terrific person, so you must be respectful. Is that understood?”
“Yes, father!” Little Leylin nodded vigorously, looking forward to this. ‘A magician? A spellcaster in this world? I can finally walk the path of the elements again…’
Leylin was more than aware about whether he had talent in casting spells. In addition, he didn’t have plans on choosing a different profession having restarted his life. He was a Magus, and it was much easier for him to reach the peak of the path of magic.
Of course, he had not considered becoming a Warlock once more. He had gone through a great number of trouble to break his bloodline shackles in the past, and wanted nothing to do with it again. Hence, becoming a magician was currently Leylin’s best choice.
“I hope you’ll become a powerful magician. If that happens, our Faulen family…” Jonas’ tone held hope and anticipation as he rubbed Leylin’s head, bringing him to the drawing room. In there was a magician with long silver hair, gazing over him with eyes as intense as lightning. Goosebumps arose on Leylin’s skin.
“Ah!” A low hum could be heard from his lips.
“Come! Leylin, this is your uncle Ernest!” While perplexed by Ernest’s expression, Jonas immediately hinted at Leylin to greet him.
“Good morning, Uncle Ernest!” Leylin bowed respectfully, his bright eyes full of curiosity.
“Good child, come here.” Ernest’s eyes were filled with excitement. Even Jonas could tell that he was holding his emotions back.
“Hold this!” Another silver ring appeared in his hands. Unlike the previous one, this looked like an exquisite work of art, and had a glistening gem embedded at its crest. Jonas could tell at first glance that this was a magic item with a permanent spell inside. Compared to the one from before that could only be used thrice before it was rendered useless, it was at least ten times the value.
“Thank you, uncle!” Leylin respectfully took the ring, while he held it with contempt in his mind.
‘A magic artifact that can be used only when my spiritual force has reached a certain level? What a primitive method of sensing…’
The moment he held the ring, the energy pathway and structure within was laid bare before Leylin’s eyes. ‘I’ll take this chance to show off my ability then!’