Magic Awakening

Looking down at the grand and majestic academy below, Hissell's aged face showed a proud expression. When he turned his gaze to Sordil and Zeref and saw them staring blankly in midair, his pride deepened. After all, not every academy could astonish dragons. Though Sordil was only a newly born hatchling, he was still a dragon, wasn't he?

Just as Sordil was about to descend into the academy, Hissell stopped him in time. Under the astonished and puzzled gazes of Sordil and Zeref, Hissell cast a spell on Sordil. Sordil's body began to shrink, only stopping once he was the size of a sparrow. The two immediately understood. If Sordil entered the academy in his true form, it would certainly cause a commotion. That was why Hissell had stopped them and changed Sordil's size.

Sordil hurriedly apologized to Hissell for his recklessness, praising the old man's calmness and wisdom, while Zeref quickly chimed in. Hissell then led them to a stone palace and told them that this was the academy library. Every book collected since the academy's founding was stored here for its members to consult and read. If they wanted to look up any information in the future, they could come directly here. Upon hearing that it was the library, Sordil immediately urged Hissell to take him inside. The old man had originally wanted to show the two of them around, but once Sordil saw the library, he did not want to waste a single moment before going in to read.

In the end, the old man complied with Sordil's wishes and brought him into the library before taking Zeref to the teaching building for the entrance examination. Soon afterward, the old man was stunned by Zeref's astonishing magical talent.

Although Sordil had said that Zeref was his friend, Hissell had no intention of lowering the assessment standards. After bringing Zeref to the admissions office, Hissell had been ready to leave. But thinking that Zeref had been brought by Sordil, the old man decided to stay and observe Zeref's results so that he could relay them to Sordil later and let him read in peace.

Following the admissions instructor's arrangements, Zeref began testing his magical affinities. Taking the wind-element magic stone handed to him by the instructor, Zeref began channeling his magic power into it. As Zeref's magic flowed in, the stone emitted a soft azure glow, but it was not particularly strong. Seeing this, Hissell shook his head, feeling that Sordil's friend would likely disappoint him. However, Zeref was not affected in the slightest and instead asked the instructor to test his other affinities. This made Hissell think that perhaps the young man still had some potential worth cultivating. Next, the lightning, earth, fire, water, and wood magic stones lit up in succession, with the fire-element stone shining the brightest.

At this point, Hissell could no longer sit still. He felt that before long, Mildian Magic Academy would produce a top-tier master mage, and that Mildian Magic Academy would follow in his footsteps to reach new heights of glory. Hissell had never imagined that a momentary act of curiosity would bring such a tremendous opportunity to Mildian. In his heart, he became convinced that Sordil was Mildian's benefactor, the finest gift heaven had bestowed upon him.

While Hissell was thinking about this, Zeref began the practical examination. Unlike the theoretical work of studying magic, Zeref had almost no experience using magic in battle. As a result, he switched between different spells somewhat stiffly, and his spells lacked a little power. Overall, Zeref's practical combat ability was merely average. There was nothing outstanding about it, but he made no mistakes either, so he barely passed. Thus, Zeref's overall score only just passed the test, which made him breathe a sigh of relief. After all, he did not want to waste Sordil's goodwill. Besides, he truly needed a place to study magic, though his purpose for learning magic had changed from hunting dragons to resurrecting his family.

Under the guidance of the admissions instructor, Zeref then completed all the enrollment procedures and received a moon-white robe made especially for him. Once everything was finished, the two returned to the library. Aside from picking up Sordil, Zeref also needed to discuss his future living arrangements with him. While registering, Zeref had been told that the academy could assign him a room, or he could arrange his own accommodations, so he wanted to hear Sordil's opinion.

When the two arrived at the library and were just about to go inside to find Sordil, they saw a streak of seven-colored light fly out of the academy at tremendous speed. Zeref did not understand what was happening, but Hissell clearly saw Sordil within the light. He immediately grabbed Zeref and hurried after him. The three flew out of Mildian Magic Academy one after another. Sordil sped toward the northeast, with Hissell closely pursuing him from behind. About ten minutes later, Sordil stopped inside a canyon, closed his eyes, spread his arms, and allowed the magical particles in the air to enter his body. Gradually, all the magical particles in the surrounding air were drawn in, forming a milky-white vortex.

At that moment, Gilkunis, who was hunting prey in the valley, also noticed the strange sight in the sky. Gilkunis did not see Sordil arrive, but upon seeing Hissell and Zeref in the sky, he had already guessed roughly what was going on. Still, to confirm the truth, Gilkunis flew to Hissell's side and asked what had happened. Hissell told Gilkunis that he did not know the exact details either, but Sordil had become like this after leaving the library. Therefore, he guessed that Sordil had found some clue in the library that caused the magic suppressed within his body to awaken ahead of time.

Hissell's guess was precisely the truth. After Zeref and Hissell left, Sordil found a book on how to absorb magical particles from the air and convert them into magic. Sordil tried the method recorded in the book and, sure enough, was able to absorb energy. Yet instead of being stored inside his body as the book described, the energy was absorbed by his body itself. The hidden power within him became extremely active and began drawing in the magical particles in the sky on its own. To avoid causing a commotion, Sordil left the library, leading to everything that followed.

As more and more magical particles gathered, the energy within Sordil's body began merging into him at an accelerated pace, transforming his body. The crystal-like scales on Sordil's body began to fall away, replaced by layers of seven-colored scales. His soft little horns began to grow and curve, while his dark golden pupils gradually turned violet-gold. Sordil also began to grow, rising from a little over ten meters to more than twenty meters tall, looking even more majestic and imposing. The milky-white vortex around Sordil gradually transformed into a magic vortex that was purple on one side and transparent on the other, before Sordil drew it into his body.

Only then could Gilkunis and the others on the outskirts finally see Sordil clearly. For a moment, the three of them could hardly believe their eyes. After all, it was rare—indeed, practically unheard of—for awakening magic to cause such a huge disturbance. And for a magical awakening to alter someone's appearance was something they had never seen before.