[A Different Path]

[An Unusual Path]

Outside the castle dungeon, Du Wei met Ruolin, the first female knight he had recruited under his command. Ever since arriving at the castle, Ruolin had taken it upon herself to guard the captive mage.

After all, that mage had once been her companion. Though she had pledged loyalty to Du Wei, she still had to spare some thought for their old friendship. The mage had originally joined them because he had been drawn by her beauty, and they had only worked together for a few short days. Ruolin did not dare disobey Du Wei by secretly releasing the man, but by personally watching over him—at least she could take care of her former companion as much as she was able, and repay a little of that old bond.

At the very least, after arriving here last night, the mage had been allowed a full meal under Ruolin's care. He was still forbidden to sleep, and meditation was absolutely out of the question. Ruolin's two retainers—the bull-like warrior and the archer—took turns guarding the mage, giving him no chance to recover his magic power.

When Du Wei arrived at the dungeon, he found himself deeply uncomfortable with its damp, sinister stench.

Ruolin, on the other hand, had changed into knightly attire, making Du Wei's eyes light up! This long-legged girl had originally possessed a seductive, bewitching face, but she had apparently altered her appearance somewhat. Her hair had been cut shorter, a silk band tied around her forehead, and her eyebrows trimmed. It reduced some of her soft allure, but added a touch of heroic spirit.

Especially now that she wore knightly clothes, she looked far more dignified as a whole—though she was no longer wearing her short skirt, and those plump, lovely long legs were no longer on display. Still, with a slender sword at her side and a light knight's breastplate over her upper body, she did cut something of a knightly figure.

"Honored Master." The moment she saw Du Wei enter the dungeon, Ruolin hurried forward. "You are..."

"I came to see my prisoner." Du Wei's expression was cold. He was in a rather foul mood, and he glanced at Ruolin. "Have you been guarding this place all night?"

A troubled look appeared on Ruolin's face. "Master, the man inside was once my companion. I thought..."

"Pleading for him?" Du Wei shook his head. "There's no need. I have no intention of making things difficult for him. As long as he obediently answers a few questions, I'll release him at once."

With that, Du Wei walked past Ruolin, leaving behind one instruction: "I'll speak with him alone. All of you wait outside. Do not come in without permission."

The room holding the mage had originally been the largest cell in the castle dungeon. By the time Du Wei entered, the mage's face was already deathly pale, and he could barely keep his eyes open.

A mage's spiritual power might be strong, but during the previous journey, he had fought everyone at the inn and cast spells, exhausting a considerable amount of spiritual power. After being captured, he had never been given a chance to meditate and restore what he had spent. On the contrary, he had been forbidden from sleeping these past two days. By now, he was already at the end of his rope.

After being locked in this dungeon, every time he had just closed his eyes over the course of the night, a bucket of cold water had immediately been poured over him. Ruolin had treated him with some courtesy, but her two subordinates had not been polite in the slightest.

Back in that little adventuring party, the bull-like warrior and the archer had already disliked this mage intensely. Since the mage had joined because he was attracted to Ruolin's beauty, the warrior and archer had often looked down on him. Their relationship had never been harmonious.

Now, seeing this young noble enter the dungeon cell, the mage felt that he was about to break down. There were no chains on him; after all, a mage who had lost his magic power was not even as strong as an ordinary person. But the dungeon was damp and gloomy, and he had no idea how many buckets of water had been dumped over him. His lips had turned white with cold. When Du Wei entered, the mage was hugging his knees on a stone bed, while the bull-like warrior beside him was still barking, "Hey, don't you close your eyes! Or I'll splash you again! I've made who knows how many trips hauling water this whole night!"

The moment he finished speaking and turned to see Du Wei enter, he promptly shut his mouth. Du Wei waved him out, then walked over to the mage. "Well? Respected Mage. Has everything here been satisfactory?"

Satisfactory? Do I look like I'm "satisfactory"? the mage grumbled inwardly, but his face showed a pleading expression. "Sir, why must a noble of your standing make things so difficult for me? You are the eldest son of the Roland Family's Count. If word gets out that you have treated a mage so harshly, I'm afraid your family will find it difficult to make friends with mages in the future!"

Still trying to threaten me?

Du Wei curled his lip. "Oh, really? Then what would happen if word got out that a mere Level One mage had mastered instant casting?"

The mage's face went pale, and a flicker of panic appeared in his eyes.

What would happen?

The consequences were simple! If other mages learned such news, he would swiftly become prey hunted by every mage on the continent! Every mage yearned to learn an ultimate skill like instant casting! And when a mere Level One mage had somehow mastered such an ability... did the outcome even need to be asked?

It was like a three-year-old child carrying a fortune worth hundreds of millions, completely defenseless!

"Tell me." Du Wei smiled. "Actually, I know that your so-called instant casting isn't genuine instant casting. You must have used some clever shortcut to achieve it, right? I'm not a mage. Even if you tell me, it won't cost you anything. I merely want to satisfy my curiosity."

The mage lowered his head, a look of struggle crossing his face.

"What is there left to hesitate over?" Du Wei sighed. "You are merely a Level One mage. Though mages are rare and respected in this world, that only applies to mages above the intermediate ranks. A lowest-of-the-low Level One mage like you—even if I killed you here, or locked you up here for the rest of your life, I doubt anyone would care. Even the Magic Association would not offend a great noble over an utterly insignificant lowest-of-the-low Level One mage, would they?"

"You..." The mage's gaze finally wavered. His psychological defenses began to crumble, and he bit his lip with difficulty. "You... if I tell you, you must swear that you won't reveal it. Because... this concerns my status as a mage!"

"Fine, absolutely." Du Wei immediately raised a hand and swore, "I, Du Wei Roland, swear here that everything you tell me today, I will keep in my heart and never pass on to anyone else. Otherwise, may the Goddess of Light punish me!"

"..." The mage's expression was complicated. A trace of guilt appeared in his eyes, then his lips moved a few times. "I... actually, I'm only a magic apprentice."

"...What?" Du Wei froze. "What do you mean?"

"I..." The mage seemed to have spent tremendous effort forcing out the words. "I mean, I'm actually only a magic apprentice. My true magical ability is only at the level of a magic apprentice. I obtained my Level One mage qualification through certain tricks."

"Tricks?" Du Wei's interest was immediately piqued!

He had tricked his way into mage qualifications?

From what Du Wei knew, the Magic Association's examinations on the continent were not something one could easily bluff through! If mage qualifications could be obtained by deception so easily, wouldn't that be a joke?

"I began studying magic when I was young. My master was a low-level mage. He believed I had magical talent and took me as his apprentice. When I was thirteen, I earned my magic apprentice qualification... that part wasn't difficult." The mage's tone was somewhat resentful. "There are only a few hundred true mages on the continent, but several thousand people hold magic apprentice qualifications. Unfortunately, the road to becoming a true mage is simply too arduous. The overwhelming majority of magic apprentices cannot pass the Level One examination even if they strive for an entire lifetime. They can only remain magic apprentices for the rest of their lives. And I... am one of those pitiful wretches."

"Every mage takes on several apprentices. But mages themselves know perfectly well that not all of those apprentices can become mages—and it is very possible they will go their whole lives without teaching even one apprentice who becomes a mage. Yet every mage on the continent still takes in many disciples. Because... people with the status of mage are so lofty and revered. How could such people lack attendants? Thus, every mage keeps a varying number of magic apprentices by their side. Most of those apprentices cherish dreams and longing for magic, but in the end, only a tiny handful can realize those dreams. The most hateful part is that many mages clearly know these magic apprentices have no possibility of becoming mages, yet they do not tell them... because mages need obedient apprentices at their side. They need people to conduct magical experiments for them, people to do their grunt work, serve as assistants, even as servants... and they do not have to spend even a single gold coin on such servants!

"That was what I went through. When I was thirteen, I met my master. He told me I had talent, took me away from home, and said he would train me into an outstanding mage. I followed him with boundless hopes, but... later, I discovered it was simply a dream that could never come true. My master had more than a dozen disciples, and every one of them had passed the magic apprentice examination. Master merely used us as free servants, free assistants.

"He continued deceiving us with false promises, yet he clearly knew that many of those disciples would never become mages in their entire lives. He knew! But he simply would not say it!

"I spent ten years as a magic apprentice before finally realizing that I had no talent in this area at all. My spiritual power had indeed been a little stronger than that of ordinary people since childhood, and I could sense a tiny trace of natural power... but that was already my limit. My talent was limited.

"Later, with no other choice... I... studied magical potioncraft."

Magical potioncraft?

Du Wei's eyes lit up!

This fellow's experience was rather similar to his own!

Except he himself could not even pass the examination for the lowest-of-the-low magic apprentice... Du Wei laughed bitterly inwardly.

In truth, even Du Wei himself did not know that things were not as he imagined.

Mages were a strange group. Most were solitary and proud by nature, seeing themselves as people standing above all living beings. They were those who could summon wind and rain, who could borrow the power of gods. In the eyes of most mages, the teeming masses were no more than ants to be used at will.

Many of the magic apprentices mages accepted actually possessed even less magical talent than Du Wei! But mages needed attendants. Though mages had money, they could not spend it to recruit servants like ordinary nobles—what would that look like!

As sacred mages, as mysterious mages, their servants naturally needed to possess the identity of magic apprentices! How could they use ordinary people? Wouldn't that be far too beneath them?

But after all, those with a talent for magic were a minority. So most mages, in order to keep a few magic apprentices at their side, would not hesitate to lower their standards when taking apprentices! Even people whose talent was plainly insufficient—even if they were only the tiniest bit stronger than ordinary people—would be taken in by mages tempted with the promise, "I'll teach you to become a mage."

After that... those people whose talent was never enough to become mages would simply wait to serve as their teachers' cheap labor for the rest of their lives!

This had made the assessment of magic apprentices across the continent extremely chaotic! Their standards varied wildly.

However, the assessment Du Wei underwent last time in the Imperial Capital had been conducted according to genuinely strict standards! Because... Mage Clark did not dare deceive the eldest son of the Roland Family's patriarch, the second-most powerful figure in the Imperial [***] military!

Precisely because of Du Wei's status, Mage Clark had not dared trick him into becoming cheap labor.

Otherwise, if Du Wei had been an ordinary person... then that day, when Mage Clark saw that he possessed mental strength beyond that of normal people, he would have taken Du Wei in long ago!

Even knowing perfectly well that Du Wei had no talent for magic, Clark would absolutely have accepted him as an apprentice! After all, having a magic apprentice with outstanding magical power nearby would make many things more convenient when conducting magical experiments in the future.

In truth, many mages across the continent did exactly this. If Du Wei had not been an earl's eldest son, he probably would have been tricked away too—dreaming of becoming a mage while serving as a mage's cheap labor, perhaps even wasting his entire life and ruining his own future.

"It was by sheer chance that I learned a fact: my teacher had long known that I could never become a mage." There was a trace of bitterness in the captive's voice. "Even when he took me away from my home, he already understood that clearly! It was only because he saw that I had decent talent for magical power and thought that having a free servant like me at his side would make future magical experiments more convenient. Quite a few of my teacher's disciples were like me. Some had very strong magical power, while others had excellent sensitivity. But all of them had grave flaws, yet they remained by the teacher's side because of a beautiful dream woven for them, wasting away their lives!"

"...And then?" Du Wei sighed.

"Just as I said... after learning the truth, I was furious at first. Later... I decided to change my fate. Since I could not learn true magic, then... I decided to study magical potioncraft." The mage captive sighed. "Because magical potion masters are also a kind of mage explicitly recognized by the Magic Association. Although... most people find that notion laughable, and although most people believe magical potion masters cannot be considered true mages at all."

"...And then?" Du Wei felt his heartbeat begin to quicken!

Could it be... this man...

Like himself, he had no talent for magic! Yet he had now become a mage! And in that tavern, he had truly been using magic!

Since he, someone without talent, had somehow ultimately learned magic... then as long as he could explain how he had done it... perhaps Du Wei could do it too!

If he could find a way to learn magic, then...

Wouldn't he be able to learn the astrology Semel had left behind in the castle's secret chamber, the star magic Semel had spent his entire life researching?!

"Mastering magical potioncraft can make one a mage?" Du Wei looked at the captive. "But as far as I know, the Magic Association's qualification assessment for magical potion masters is completely different from that for other mages."

On the continent, true mages were divided into ten ranks. With every rank examination passed, the difficulty rose tremendously! Thus, the higher a mage's rank, the more formidable their strength naturally was.

But although magical potion masters were called "a kind of mage," their assessment was far simpler.

So simple that it seemed perfunctory!

Magical potion masters had no ranks!

Just one rank!

As long as you passed the assessment, you became a magical potion master! Then the Magic Association would issue you a badge, symbolizing official recognition that you were a mage.

Though most people did not acknowledge that recognition.

Moreover, even the badges issued by the Magic Association itself carried a certain degree of "differential treatment"!

Magical potion masters received a round copper badge, crudely made, and... without any magical anti-forgery enchantments.

Perhaps the Magic Association itself knew that hardly anyone would be interested in impersonating a profession that few people respected.

A magical potion master, commonly known as a poison master, had a social standing even lower than that of an ordinary physician.

True mages, on the other hand—even Rank One mages—received silver badges! A Rank One mage had a Silver Leaf Badge.

Du Wei certainly had not forgotten that among the things he had seized from this mage captive after the fierce tavern battle was a genuine Silver Leaf Badge!

In other words, what he had passed was not the magical potion master assessment! It was the assessment for a true mage!!

How exactly had he done it?

Learning magic had seemed like a dream already shattered, but at this moment, hope surged anew within Du Wei's heart!

"My talent was outstanding magical power. I was born with mental strength a little greater than that of ordinary people. For a normal person, it would only show as having more energy than others, being less prone to fatigue, and so on... But I lacked sensitivity. No matter how I meditated or how hard I tried, in the beginning I could not sense even the slightest ripple of natural power." The captive spoke slowly. "Later, after studying magical potioncraft for ten years, I suddenly began to wonder... what exactly was this so-called natural power? My teacher told me it was everything! Everything in this world! Wind, fire, water, even every tiny, minute thing. But that explanation was still too vague. A thought arose in my heart... if I could understand what this so-called 'natural power' truly was, then perhaps I still had hope."

Du Wei listened quietly, carefully pondering the man's words in his heart.

"For example, fire magic. Mages can use incantations to draw upon the fire elements in the natural world, then use magic to create flames! And magical potioncraft also has more than a dozen methods that can create flames with potions! Take the simplest one..." At this point, the mage captive glanced at Du Wei. "Do you understand what I'm saying?"

"Please continue. I understand." Du Wei smiled faintly. "I've read some books on magical potioncraft as well."

"All right." The mage continued, "In magical potioncraft, more than a dozen methods can accomplish the same basic principle as fire magic... making fire! For instance, with the most basic method, a powder ground from Fire Phosphorus Grass can combust on its own! So I began to wonder... Fire Phosphorus Grass can make fire, and a mage's fire magic can also make fire. Could it be... that Fire Phosphorus Grass contains the magical elements of so-called natural power? Or rather, does Fire Phosphorus Grass contain something that is itself a fire-element magical element?"

Du Wei's heart stirred, as though he had thought of something too, but for the moment he could not quite grasp it.

Then he heard the mage captive continue, "I discovered something else, something subtle. Every magical spell! I mean every single one! Though incantations vary in power. Take fire magic again: the simplest Fireball spell and the legendary forbidden spell Blazing Inferno Burns the City, capable of destroying heaven and earth! Though their power differs by countless times, their principles are actually the same! Both use flames to burn! But... here is the subtle part... everything every school of magic can accomplish can also be accomplished by magical potioncraft! Take fire magic: though potioncraft cannot produce the large-scale, fearsome forbidden-spell power of Blazing Inferno Burns the City, the principle of making fire is the same! And wind magic, water magic, and so on... every school of magic can be replicated through potioncraft! Though it can only achieve the most basic principles, it can achieve them all! Why is that? Perhaps... I thought, perhaps those precious potioncraft ingredients actually contain the so-called 'magical elements' of each school of magic! Don't they?"

A trace of pride appeared on the captive's face. "Since I could not extract magical elements from nature through meditation... then I would use a potion master's methods to extract magical elements from potions!!"