Four Elements Affinity

The potion was clearly a liquid, but it felt like jelly in his mouth—cold, smooth, and completely tasteless.

Just as he tried to chew it, it silently slid down his throat.

Only after a few seconds did Raven finally taste it.

A hint of sourness, accompanied by a burning pain, spread from the tip of his tongue to his entire mouth, then down his esophagus, the heat permeating through it and into his lungs.

"Hiss—"

A low groan of pain escaped him. The muscles in Raven's shoulders began to twitch, as if he had eaten something he shouldn't have. Even his internal organs felt like they were churning with pain, making his face pale and causing cold sweat to break out.

Amidst the agony, a wave of coolness suddenly spread from his lower abdomen, radiating outwards. Wherever it reached, the pain subsided, and the refreshing sensation seeped into his internal organs, soothing the invisible, intense pain.

Raven felt as if he were slowly being submerged in ice water. The coolness continued to creep upwards, reaching his chest, his throat, and then his lips and teeth. The tension made his breathing unconsciously quicken and deepen.

"Hoo... hoo... hoo..."

Buzz.

The moment the coolness passed over his brow, the Eye of Truth was quietly activated. Immediately after, the icy sensation penetrated Raven's brain.

He lowered his head and, through the Eye of Truth, could clearly see silver star-like specks, identical to those from the second-tier potion, swirling and exploding within his chest and abdomen.

With each exploding speck, a wave of invisible energy carrying a chill swept through him, intensifying the cold sensation.

Raven felt as if he had swallowed a large tub of ice cream. The veins on his forehead throbbed, but he felt no warmth, only waves of cold pain.

And... a feeling of fullness!

This had reached the limit of what his body could endure.

Two streams of tears silently flowed down his cheeks, and a faint scent of blood permeated his nostrils.

He reached out and wiped his face, only to see a trace of blood on his palm.

In an instant, Raven made his judgment—this awakening attempt had failed!

Without a moment's hesitation, Raven opened his mouth and let out a long breath.

A failed awakening could be tried again next time, but he only had one life.

The icy sensation seemed to find an outlet, flowing back up his esophagus and erupting from his mouth. An invisible energy diffused into the air. With every explosion of star-like specks in his abdomen, more energy was squeezed out.

The pressure on his body gradually lessened.

"Whoosh!" Raven breathed a sigh of relief.

At least his life was no longer in danger.

But as soon as this thought crossed his mind, his eyes suddenly tightened. The Eye of Truth began to operate, and the energy that had diffused into the air was drawn by an unseen force and surged towards his brow.

"What's going on!?" Raven's heart leaped in alarm. He tried to close the Eye of Truth.

However, the expected pain did not come. Instead, his eyes felt a sense of comfort, just like the first time he had activated the Eye of Truth.

And so, in this secret chamber, Raven passed through a strange cycle. He felt like a humidifier, constantly exhaling energy from his mouth and having it absorbed by his brow.

After an unknown amount of time, when the last speck of stardust exploded, all the energy in the room was also absorbed.

"Is this... a success or a failure?" Raven scratched his head. He didn't feel any different.

After all, he had no mages or teachers around him to tell him what a successful mage awakening should be like.

If he didn't know, he could only try.

Raven picked up a scroll he had brought in and opened it. It contained the wind-elemental magic spell, [Wind Wall], and a short incantation for testing a mage's elemental affinity.

"Ubiquitous wind element, heed my command and gather in my palm."

Chanting the incantation, as described on the scroll, Raven channeled a power he didn't even know he possessed into his palm, using it to "attract" the wind element.

After a brief silence, Raven suddenly felt a coolness in his palm. Then, the hem of his clothes lifted for no reason, and a faint gust of wind echoed in the secret chamber before disappearing without a trace.

"S-success!?" Raven still found it hard to believe. He reached out and made a grasping motion, feeling a current of air flowing between his fingers, as comfortable as sticking his hand into a spring breeze.

Distracted for a moment, the airflow in his hand vanished.

Wind was ultimately rather ethereal. To ensure this wasn't an illusion, Raven picked up another scroll, this one containing the fire-elemental spell, [Fireball].

The scroll also contained instructions on how to test elemental affinity.

After chanting the incantation, Raven guided a certain power to his fingertips with his mind.

As Laxus had said, a mage typically had affinity with only one element. It wasn't that other schools of magic couldn't be used, but their efficiency and power would be greatly reduced.

In Raven's understanding, it was like a diesel car running on gasoline—it could barely run, and it was damaging and wasteful for both the car and the fuel.

Given how smoothly the wind element test had gone, Raven hadn't expected any success with the fire element test. However, the moment his attention focused on his fingertips, a small flame ignited on them!

"Huh?" Raven's eyes widened. He slowly brought his palm up to his face and blew gently.

The flame extinguished with a puff.

He chanted again, his mind concentrating the power once more, and a flame suddenly burst into existence on his fingertip, nearly setting Raven's hair ablaze.

"It worked again! Could my fire affinity be even better than my wind affinity?"

That would indeed be quite good, as fire magic was known for its destructive power, and it was much more flashy than that of wind mages.

Raven didn't hesitate to try the remaining two after testing the first two.

A few minutes later, Raven stared blankly at the dust on the ground and the water rippling in his palm.

Raven swallowed, a hint of surprise in his voice: "It's Earth, Water, Fire, and Wind, four-element affinity."

Earth, Water, Fire, and Wind, along with Holy Light and Darkness, were the six fundamental elements that formed the world; all other elements were derived from these.

With affinity for the four elements of Earth, Water, Fire, and Wind, Raven could cast spells of any school with virtually no additional cost.

Raven calmed his emotions and chuckled to himself, "So, I've truly become a mage."

But a question surfaced in his mind.

Where was his Magic Power? Where was it, and why couldn't he feel it?

He blinked and suddenly saw something flash by.

"Huh?"

Slightly startled, Raven closed his eyes again. This time, the Eye of Truth didn't look outward but began to observe himself from a condescending, almost soul-leaving-the-body perspective.

He could now clearly see a faint silver screen shimmering within his mind, representing his spiritual power, the most crucial energy for a mage besides Magic Power.

And further down, between his eyes, at his brow, an invisible energy was condensing—this, it seemed, was his Magic Power.

"So this is what it looks like," Raven opened his eyes, a smile still on his lips, and sighed, "Now, I'm finally a true Baron!"

Why, despite Raven spending a large sum of gold to help him awaken, did neither Old Gordon nor Denise object?

Because while there were many extraordinary individuals who weren't nobles, there were few nobles who weren't extraordinary.

Raven becoming extraordinary was a good thing for the entire Griffith Family.

When the Empire was first founded, there was a rule that only those who were extraordinary could be ennobled. Now, with the Empire's decadent decline, many rules had been abolished or existed only in name, but this one remained unchanged.

Of course, it wasn't for the Empire's strength but due to the inherent arrogance of the noble class.

If you weren't even extraordinary, how could you distinguish yourself from those common peasants?

Furthermore, the promotion of titles was closely linked to one's own rank and strength. In the Empire, no Viscount was below Third-tier.

Becoming a mage meant Raven was one step closer to becoming a Viscount, albeit a small one.

But weren't all paths in the world walked one step at a time?

"Moreover, I've gained some clues towards unraveling the secret of the family curse," Raven closed his eyes, fingers brushing over his brow.

He could now clearly see a crimson, dim energy entangled around him like a spiderweb. It wasn't dense yet, but it gave him a sense of fatal danger, like a tightening noose.

His intuition told him this was the shackles of the Griffith Family's bloodline.

Although Raven had heard that everyone in the family died before forty, he had never seen it himself and was half-believing about such an elusive matter.

Now that he could clearly see it, it was already progress, at least giving him a clear hint.

For some reason, Raven thought of Donald. His good-for-nothing uncle had died as a Second-tier Bloody Knight.

"Could it be that you saw this too, which is why you were driven to those crazy and cruel actions?"

He suddenly understood Donald a little. No one could remain rational when watching death creep closer and closer.

Shaking his head slightly, he gathered his scattered thoughts and opened a nearby box.

During this period, Fili had been sending him Magic Cores every few days, and Raven often produced half-monsterized domestic pigs to process their hides. Currently, there were 63 complete monster hides stored in the warehouse.

Raven hadn't used all the Magic Cores for leather production either. He had kept five: Earth, Water, Fire, Wind, and Holy Light attributes.

This was to test whether he could absorb more energy from the Magic Cores once he became a mage.

Picking up a Magic Core containing the power of storms, Raven applied slight pressure with his fingers. A crack spread across the core's surface, and it quietly shattered, releasing its contained energy.

"What is this...?" Raven's brow furrowed.

This time was different from before. Previously, the energy in the Magic Cores was pure and clean, but today, it was laced with wisps of twisted, purplish-black aura, like rotten flesh, evoking a sense of disgust.

"Could it be that Magic Cores also go bad?"

Raven chuckled at his own thought.

To be on the safe side, he didn't absorb the energy. After it dissipated completely, he picked up another Magic Core with Fire Power.

This time, it also contained that purplish-black, rotten-looking, disgusting substance.

"Strange, these were delivered just a few days ago."

More than ten minutes later, he shattered an Earth-attribute Magic Core, and it still contained that substance.

By now, even if Raven was slow to react, he knew the problem wasn't with the Magic Cores themselves.

"The Eye of Truth evolved after I became a First-tier mage, allowing me to see things I couldn't before?" Raven stroked his stubbled chin. "It's very likely, especially since I didn't have that 'internal vision' state when my eyes were closed before."

If that was the case, there was no reason why he couldn't absorb the Magic Core energy he could before.

He activated the power of the Eye of Truth, "Come."

The misty, earthy-yellow energy in the air surged towards his brow. Raven could feel that the Magic Power he had consumed had been replenished.

The purplish-black aura also infiltrated his brow.

The moment it touched his skin, Raven felt the familiar sting and itch.

"I get it, this is what made absorbing the Magic Core's energy so painful," Raven's eyes flashed with a hint of brilliance. As he absorbed the energy from the Magic Core, he tried to keep the purple-black corrupting aura at bay.

As the thought formed, an invisible barrier, or rather a sieve, materialized before Raven. The Magic Core's energy flowed unimpeded, but the purple-black aura could not break through.

Raven's eyes would occasionally close for a short while.

He could clearly see that as the Magic Core's power surged into his body, his physical strength hadn't increased significantly, but his Magic Power, after being replenished to its peak, began to expand bit by bit.

Although the increase wasn't large, the total amount was steadily rising.

"It seems the Magic Core can replace meditation and increase my Magic Power. I just don't know how efficient it is compared to meditation."

Saying this, he opened his eyes and focused on the scrolls beside him.

These four scrolls, in addition to detailing spells and methods for testing elemental affinity, also contained a general meditation technique.

"Ouch...!"

Suddenly, Raven felt a wave of fatigue, as if he hadn't slept for two days straight. He closed his eyes slightly, only to see that the silver color representing his mental strength in his mind had become extremely thin.

He quickly abandoned the absorption of energy, and his mental strength finally stopped being depleted. The purple-black aura, which had been rushing towards his forehead, also stopped, swirling around in confusion.

Absorbing the Magic Core's energy itself hardly consumed mental strength, but blocking that strange corrupting aura was quite taxing on his mental strength.

"Hmm... this aura is so strange. Does that mean it's also the culprit behind the berserk farm pigs?"

Raven muttered to himself as he added another goal to his schedule: verifying the feasibility of this plan on the farm pigs.

Picking up the scrolls, Raven's face broke into a smile as he thought of Laxus.

These scrolls were written in both Imperial and Elvish languages. While the meaning was similar, the syllables used in Elvish were shorter.

This meant that for mages of the same tier, whoever mastered Elvish could cast spells at a faster speed, greatly enhancing their combat and self-preservation capabilities.

"It seems she had already anticipated this day. The conditions she proposed weren't just to make things difficult for me," Raven sighed, "Have I been bullying her too much?"

"Living alone in the church must be very boring, otherwise she wouldn't have read so many books."

He made up his mind. Even if it wasn't to pay off his debt, he had to accelerate his learning of Elvish.

On one hand, it would benefit his magical abilities. On the other hand, it would be an opportunity to spend more time with Laxus.

This innocent and kind Priestess had already done a lot for him, and he deserved to protect her.

Holding the scrolls in his hand, Raven brushed his belt, and the scrolls immediately disappeared. He said casually, "Hey, I can finally use the spatial belt without a Magic Core."

Pushing open the door of the secret chamber, Raven walked with light steps towards his bedroom. Through the window in the corridor, he could clearly see the rising sun.

In the bedroom, Patti was cleaning the carpet. Seeing Raven return, her face lit up with surprise. "Lord Baron, you've finally finished your training! I've been worried sick these past two days!"

"Two days?" Raven blinked, then chuckled, "Then this counts as 'closed-door cultivation' for me."

Raven said the latter half in Chinese, which Patti naturally couldn't understand, nor did she want to ask.

The Lord's side was never short of beautiful women. Although she had some charm, if she wanted to serve the Baron long-term without being disliked, she should always remember her place.

"My Lord, breakfast is about to begin. Will you be eating in your room, or...?"

He hadn't felt anything before, but hearing the question now made Raven's stomach rumble. "Tell Bolo to prepare a more substantial meal. Let's eat together in the dining room, and I can also catch up on the situation of the territory these past two days."

"Understood, my Lord!" Patti curtsied and withdrew.

Half an hour later, Raven was seated at the dining table as the maids served the prepared breakfast.

The golden-brown croissants were cut in half, revealing beautiful, fine air pockets on the cut surface; the smoked pork was pan-fried until slightly crispy on the outside, with the fat becoming translucent; the fried eggs were cooked on one side in the rendered pork fat, remaining half-runny, quite appetizing; and there was a bowl of potato and sausage chowder that looked and smelled delicious.

This meal was undoubtedly sumptuous, with the perfect balance of carbohydrates, protein, and fat, leaving Raven feeling full but still wanting more.

Western food was good, but it always fell short in terms of satisfaction, giving Raven the feeling of being stuffed yet not fully satiated.

After all, no matter how well bread was made, from an Eastern perspective, it couldn't be considered a staple food.

This made him a little nostalgic for Chinese food.

Rice was hard to find, but steamed buns, mantou, and noodles were still worth a try.

He needed to find an opportunity to teach Bolo a thing or two.

"Lord Raven...?" Old Gordon called out Raven's name.

"Oh, I was just lost in thought," Raven swallowed his saliva and looked up. "Is something the matter?"

"I was calling you." Even after finishing breakfast, Denise's makeup was still exquisite. She asked directly, "Raven, did you succeed?"

After she finished speaking, everyone looked at Raven.

The latter leaned back in his chair, smiled, and uttered a few syllables. With a sudden pop, a cluster of flames ignited on his fingertip.

"May the Griffith family be blessed..." Old Gordon stared, his slightly clouded eyes glistening with tears. "My Lord, you've succeeded!"

"Heaven blesses the benevolent," Eric flattered, "I knew it! With your nobility, sincerity, kindness, and bravery, you were bound to become a mage!"

Denise looked at Eric with a strange expression.

How had she never noticed before that this outwardly gruff fellow could flatter so naturally?

Nobility, sincerity, kindness – how could you even say those words?

Even though she thought this, Denise didn't underestimate Raven's achievements in the slightest.

Mages were synonymous with mystery and power.

Every mage was an extremely precious asset to the empire, their status far exceeding that of knights of the same tier. Especially fire mages, whose killing power and destructive force on the battlefield were crucial. A high-tier mage could even turn the tide of a battle with a single high-tier spell.

If reclaiming Shining Gold Town was just a starting point, then Raven becoming a mage was the first step the Griffith Family took towards a resurgence.

"It seems my investment wasn't in vain," Denise said with a smile. "This money wasn't spent in vain either."

"Oh?" Raven raised an eyebrow. "Could it be... the samples we talked about last time have arrived?"

"Mhm." Denise nodded. "They're stored in the workshop's warehouse."

"Then let's go," Raven said, slapping the table and standing up. "I hope their quality is good. Whether we can truly turn Angel's Tear into a luxury item depends on this."