A New Journey

Let's talk about how my magic studies were going.

I had been studying magic under Master Bradycond for nearly five years now, and I had basically gone through every Saint-tier and below-Saint-tier spell she knew. For someone born with excellent aptitude for learning magic, who also had memories of a past life and a practiced grasp of magical principles, this wasn't a very difficult thing.

Water Saint-tier magic: Cumulonimbus

O great spirit of water, son of the Thunder Emperor soaring into the sky! Grant my wish, bring forth your savage blessing, and show your mighty power to these tiny beings! Strike the anvil with the hammer of God and reveal your glory; may the floodwaters drown the earth! O torrential rain! Surge and scour, driving away all that lies in your path!

Earth Saint-tier magic: Great Earth Alabaster

O bones of ancient gods sleeping deep within the earth's veins! Let my blood be the guide, and awaken the skeleton of the land! Let mountains rise, let rifts collapse; my will shall be the law of your rebirth! May this body turn to stone and crumble to dust, may this soul merge into the earth's core and never part! Great Earth Alabaster, heed my command—reshape mountains and rivers, and erase all trace of my enemies!

Wind Saint-tier magic: Primal Veil Severance

Breath of the void, breath of morning mist, weave together into an eternal corridor of chaos! Cut! With blades of wind, cleave open the curtain of dimensions! Separate! Life and death, light and darkness, existence and nothingness! This world is not this world, the far shore is not the far shore; only the low whisper of wind remains, and all phenomena return to the ruins!

Fire Saint-tier magic: Dawn of Ignis

O fragment of the sun sleeping within the earth's core! Answer my call and burn away all decay! Let magma be blood, let embers be bone; burn the night to ash and tear eternity apart! This flame is no flame, but the radiance of creation; this destruction is no destruction, but the order of rebirth! Dawn of Ignis descends, and all things return to cinders!

There was also Saint-tier healing magic: Jade Revival

The light of jade is a blessing bestowed by heaven! Connect severed blood vessels, mend shattered bones! O fragments of life gathered in my hands! Jade Revival.

I still hadn't used this move even now. After all, I hadn't yet run into anyone whose injuries had to be treated with this magic. I heard it could heal any attack as long as the target wasn't dead, but it still couldn't regrow severed limbs.

Four Saint-tier attack spells. You could say not a single one of them was practical.

Cumulonimbus—everyone understood that one. It was magic that created downpours and lightning, changing the weather.

Great Earth Alabaster could instantly alter the terrain by controlling the energy of the earth's veins. It could create complex landforms, such as canyons and limestone caves, to trap enemies, or condense stone colossi to fight. When chanted, rune-like cracks would appear across the ground, finally forming a geological reconstruction field centered on the caster. But this magic consumed an enormous amount of mana. Master Bradycond had needed three attempts before she managed to cast it. Its actual effect, however, was very average. It was only truly useful when facing an army.

Primal Veil Severance was the most practical of the four attack spells. It could tear open a rift of wind in space, redirect attacks, and create a vacuum field. When cast, the air would vibrate at high frequency, forming a spiraling vortex of airflow visible to the naked eye. This was actually a very good defensive spell, but if you used it to attack someone, the other party could easily dodge.

Dawn of Ignis summoned the phantom of a burning crimson-gold sun, continuously releasing high-temperature radiation and shockwaves. The flames were close to the temperature of a stellar core and could evaporate mountain-scale bodies of water, but its effect was weakened against enemies with high resistance to water-body magic. It looked very powerful, but the high temperature and shockwaves did not distinguish friend from foe. When Master cast this skill, she had me cast a pile of defensive magic on both of us; only then did we avoid injury.

Of course, these weren't all the Saint-tier spells. There were other Saint-tier spells as well, but Master Bradycond didn't know them, so I couldn't learn them either.

Master Bradycond also knew how to cast Water King-tier magic, but for now she refused to teach me. She said she would only teach me after I passed a trial. She didn't tell me what kind of exam it was either, only saying I would find out after my tenth birthday.

Next, let's talk about the Water God Style swordsmanship.

My Water God Style swordsmanship had basically not improved. I had already given up on learning "flow perception." Maybe in the future I could find a way to replace it with self-developed magic. For now, however, I didn't intend to waste time on this matter.

Recently, Isolte and I had been studying the five great secret techniques of the Water God Style together.

Secret Technique One: "Flow Perception."

The flow perception learned at the advanced level of the Water God Style was the first secret technique. When flow perception reached completion, one could learn the finishing move "Flow Perception: True Mirror," which could turn battle aura into a "mirror surface," reflecting the opponent's killing intent and intentions, causing the enemy to fall into confusion from self-prediction. Reaching this realm meant one could be called a Water Saint. Of course, I had no hope of that.

Secret Technique Two: "Time Flow."

By using battle aura to accelerate one's perceived time, it could reach up to ten times the normal speed. It was an extremely powerful skill. When one studied Time Flow deeply enough, one could enter the "Yellow Millet Dream" state, gaining the insights of an extremely long period of perceived training time within a short time. When "Time Flow" was mastered to completion, one could use the flow finishing move "Time Flow: Retrograde," briefly reversing the flow of time in a local area, such as repairing one's own wounds, but it would consume a large amount of one's lifespan. For me, who could use healing magic, this skill was also chicken ribs—flavorless to eat, but a pity to throw away.

Secret Technique Three: "Counterflow."

Using battle aura to simulate the siphon phenomenon in fluid mechanics, it deflected all physical and magical attacks. Likewise, after mastering it to completion, one could learn the finishing move "Counterflow: Vortex": storing and stacking the force of deflected attacks, then finally counterattacking with vortex-shaped battle aura. In the novel, Reida Reia used this move to cut down Arumanfi.

Secret Technique Four: "Torrent."

Battle aura transformed into a continuous assault like a raging current, suitable for using offense in place of defense, but the consumption was enormous.

The finishing move "Torrent: Thousand Waterfalls" imitated the force of a waterfall plunging down. The power of each strike increased, and the final blow was comparable to the impact of a flash flood. When combined with "Time Flow" to accelerate charging, the skill became even more formidable. After using it, the meridians would be briefly paralyzed, and defensive power would drop to zero.

Secret Technique Five: "Mind Flow."

One had to merge "sword intent" into all things in nature, reaching the realm of no technique triumphing over technique. As for what exactly sword intent was, Master Reida Reia said one could only comprehend it oneself. If you couldn't see through it, you couldn't understand it, and no one could teach it.

This move was extremely difficult. In history, only the first Water God and Master Reida Reia had learned it.

Her combination skill "Sword Realm of Deprivation" was based on "Mind Flow," combined with "Flow Perception" and "Counterflow" to create an absolute defensive circle. Any movement that entered the domain would be predicted and severed.

As for the Mind Flow finishing move "Mind Flow: Still Water," even Master Reida Reia couldn't use it. I heard her say that, according to the records, this move required the gathering of all five secret techniques before it could be used. As for what it was actually like, no one knew right now.

After hearing the explanation of these five secret techniques, the upper limit and expectations I had in mind for the Water God Style were raised across the board. If one person learned all five secret techniques, then they could probably crush the Sword God and North God with one hand.

Haha, that was exaggerating. Before someone who had learned all five secret techniques appeared, no one knew what the result would be.

Generally speaking, mastering one secret technique allowed one to become a Water Saint. Mastering two secret techniques meant reaching Water King. If both of those secret techniques were trained to completion, one would reach the realm of Water Emperor. The current highest record was the Water God mastering three secret techniques.

For each secret technique, learning it didn't mean it was over. Only training it to completion counted, which meant mastering the secret technique's finishing move.

At the advanced stage of the Water God Style, the only requirement was learning "Flow Perception." Saint-tier required being able to use the finishing move "Flow Perception: True Mirror."

For now, I was preparing to focus on studying Secret Technique Three, "Counterflow." My idea was to use the element of air to simulate battle aura, achieving the deflection of all physical and magical attacks. Master Reida Reia supported me greatly, and said that as long as I could learn "Counterflow," I wouldn't need to learn the finishing move "Counterflow: Vortex." She would make an exception and confer upon me the title of Water Saint.

Living days that were fulfilling from morning to night, I soon reached my tenth birthday.

The birthday process was about the same as last time. This time, the gift my parents gave me was a deposit certificate from a bank in the Millis Holy Country for 100,000 gold coins.

I privately asked Father why the deposit was in Millis rather than the Asura Kingdom. The reply I got was also very simple: because the churches of the Millis faith had spread all over the world. As long as it was the person themselves and they presented the deposit certificate, after verification, they could withdraw money from any Millis church in the world. Of course, if the amount was larger, one needed to wait for turnover time.

They really knew how to play this smoothly. Binding churches and banking services together was way too powerful. Aside from the Demon Continent, even the Conflict Zone and the Begaritt Continent had Millis churches. Were they not afraid of being robbed?

If one encountered the Temple Knight Order of the Millis Holy Country in the wilderness, one could use the certificate to seek their protection and help. Of course, if you didn't believe in the Millis faith, these services all required a fee.

But if one became a wanted criminal of the Millis Holy Country, then all the money in the bank would be confiscated. Becoming a wanted criminal of another country would have no effect at all.

Of course, enjoying this service was not easy either. First of all, Millis only accepted deposits of more than 50,000 gold coins. In addition, they charged a custody fee of 100 gold coins every year. For 100,000 gold coins, that meant a custody fee of 200 gold coins.

Two hundred gold coins—in Asura, that was enough to cover forty families' expenses for a year. Their safekeeping fee was way too brutal. No wonder I had never seen Rudeus use that service before.

The day after my birthday ended, I went to see Teacher Bradycond. As usual, she was lazing around in bed today.

These days, when I came to see her, I did not even need to knock. She had simply given me a key. Her room was filled with the smell of alcohol, and there was still vomit in the trash can that had not been thrown out. She must have drunk quite a lot at my birthday banquet yesterday.

Lilith had already started cleaning. She had become an extremely qualified maid—cleaning, cooking, laundry, washing dishes, serving me in the bath, including warming the bed—she handled all of it very properly. Her learning ability really was strong.

After I waited in the room for close to half an hour, Teacher Bradycond finally woke up in a daze. She did not get out of bed, but started chatting with me right there from under the covers.

"Dolin, I remember you saying that the last time you ran into an assassination, you were almost shot dead by an arrow, right?"

"Yes, Teacher. It was extremely dangerous then. If not for my senior sister from the Water God Style giving me a shove, I'm afraid an arrow would have gone through my head."

"That is the greatest weakness of us magicians. If you had been a powerful swordsman back then, your battle aura would have automatically protected you. Even if you were injured, it would not have been fatal. And you lack combat experience. When fighting people, it is not as if whoever has the more destructive magic will win. You may have to deal with multiple enemies, and you also have to figure out the battlefield environment. Most importantly, your opponents will not stand in front of you and fairly count down before starting the match. They will hide in the dark and easily kill you when you are unprepared."

"Also, when magicians are outside, they basically always form parties with others to go adventuring. A magician with someone guarding them and a magician with no one guarding them are different existences. A magician of the same level cannot beat a swordsman of the same level, but if a magician plus a swordsman of the same level fights two swordsmen, most likely the magician and swordsman side will win."

"In a few days, I will be leaving this country. I have already stayed in Asura for a very long time. Five years—if I keep lying around like this, I'm afraid I will never be able to stand up again. This time, I'm planning to head north through the Red Dragon Upper Jaw, cross the Three Northern Kingdoms, and travel to the Biheril Kingdom in the far northeast of the continent. There are many newly discovered labyrinths over there."

"The trial I am giving you this time is to go there and train yourself as an adventurer. When you raise your adventurer rank to S-rank, I will teach you the Water King-class magic I know, Abyssal Eternity. This magic has the special effect of freezing time. I learned it from a scroll in ancient ruins at the bottom level of a labyrinth. I rate it as the strongest existence among King-class magic."

"The journey of adventure will be extremely dangerous. I will not guarantee your little life will be safe. If we run into an enemy we cannot possibly defeat, I may abandon you and run away by myself. Of course, as a noble heir, you can choose to refuse. You can spend your entire life here in peace. But if so, then our bond as master and disciple ends right here."

I fell silent for a long time. Ever since the last assassin attack, I had indeed reflected on it. My biggest problem was my lack of combat experience. To solve this problem, I had to fight more. I also had to experience more battles between life and death. Ordinary sparring would not solve the issue. If I ran away now, then my strength would probably stop right here for the rest of my life.

During the years when Rudeus returned from the Demon Continent to Fittoa Territory, because Ruijerd was protecting him, his strength did not grow as quickly as it later did when he was alone in the Three Northern Magic Kingdoms. Having someone protect you and having no one protect you were two different ways of living.

After thinking it through carefully, I agreed. I accepted Teacher Bradycond's trial. She told me we would set off in three days and told me to go back and properly settle anything that needed to be explained in advance.

Sitting in the carriage on the way home, perhaps because she had heard my conversation with Teacher Bradycond, Lilith knew I was about to go on a long journey. She lay across my lap and cried. I did not know what she had to cry about.

What she meant was that she did not want to part with me, and did not want to leave her master.

I thought about it. If we walked along the main roads the whole way and did not take detours through forests, the road should not be especially dangerous. After arriving in cities and accepting commissions, she could also wait in the city for me to return.

Also, if she wanted to leave my side and regain her freedom, this was a good opportunity too. So I agreed to her request.

After returning home, I told my grandfather about this matter. He did not seem to care about my safety either. He did not stop me, and thoughtfully asked whether I needed to bring guards. Since this was a trial away from home, bringing guards would be too strange. I refused his kindness. He did not have any other opinions either, told me I could take whatever I wanted from the family storehouse, and then the conversation ended.

I handed the work of preparing daily necessities to Lilith. Then I wrote a letter to Ariel, telling her that I was about to go far away and would not be able to return for several years. I also warned her to behave herself and not run around recklessly. If she really could not withstand the assassinations, she could consider going to the magic university in Magic City Sharia to take refuge.

This woman was truly troublesome, and maybe she would even find the king again to pressure me. So I arranged for a servant to deliver the letter to her after three days had passed. By then, I would already have left. I refused to believe she could still drag me back.

The next day, I went to the Water God Style dojo and said goodbye to Master Reida Reia and Isolte. After I explained the whole sequence of events, Isolte looked at me with damp eyes without saying a word. Her eyes seemed to be saying that I was a "heartless man."

Reida Reia glanced at her eldest disciple, then confirmed with me whether Bradycond was taking us to the Biheril Kingdom. She pondered for a while, then said to Isolte:

"My good disciple, if you want to become a swordmaster, it is not something you can accomplish by dull, solitary study in one place for ten or twenty years. The current Sword God, North God, and I all wandered everywhere when we were young. And the North God is still wandering outside even now. What I originally thought was that I would send you out for training when you were a bit older. Now such an opportunity has appeared. You and Dolin are also very familiar with each other, so why not follow him and go out to train together? Two people are always safer than you going out alone. Most importantly, there are some chances that, if you do not grasp them while you are young, will be lost once you grow up."

I seemed to hear something in Master's words. She had probably regretted something too.

After hearing Master's words, Isolte looked very tempted, but she was only ten years old. She needed to go back and inform her parents. Only if her parents agreed could she go with me.

And so, my life was about to welcome another journey.