[Beginning! The Devil's Path!]

[Beginning! The Demon's Road!]

A genius!

This man was absolutely a genius in magical research!

Du Wei had already formed an assessment of the captive mage before him! If this man continued his research, perhaps one day he might become a founding grandmaster of his generation!

But what concerned Du Wei most now was still the question of how to use magic through potion-making.

Having mentioned the fruits of his countless efforts, the mage could not help growing excited. Before, he had only been able to keep such achievements hidden away, unable to share the greatest accomplishment of his life with anyone, and that had inevitably left some regret in his heart. Now that he could finally speak without restraint, light shone from his eyes. His face was full of pride, and he even began gesturing with animated excitement.

"Someone like me has enough spiritual power—magic power. But my sensitivity is too poor. I can't sense the magical elements in the natural environment around me. So I thought, it's like someone with bad hearing. If the sounds around him are too faint, naturally he won't hear them... but if the sounds around him are loud enough, noisy enough, then perhaps he can hear them!"

Du Wei's eyes lit up as well, and he immediately said, "So... you found a way to use substances refined through potion-making to increase the concentration of magical elements around you?"

"Yes! The most basic thing in fire magic is the 'fire element.' Yet even the greatest mages do not know what this so-called 'fire element' actually is, because everyone only knows how to use it, not what it truly is. And those potions that can burn—since they can burn, that means they must contain 'fire elements' too! I made a hypothesis: my sensitivity is too poor, so in the same environment, someone with stronger sensitivity can perceive the magical elements around them, while I cannot. Then... if I could increase the magical elements in the surrounding environment, increase them to a certain proportion, then even someone as insensitive as me should be able to sense them, right? Wouldn't that mean I could use magic?"

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

"Yes!" the mage said solemnly. "I conducted many, many experiments. My main field of study was fire magic. I assumed that flammable potions contained fire elements. But how to extract those fire elements took me a great deal of time. I left my teacher and came south alone. I had a small magic laboratory, where I made many extraction tools myself. After several years of research, I finally found it."

Du Wei could not help becoming excited as well. "You found the fire element... What exactly is the fire element?"

"...That, I don't know either." The mage sounded a little helpless. "I tested at least a hundred formulas and over three hundred extraction methods, until some time ago... after finishing an experiment, I used one formula to extract substances from more than a dozen plants and combined them into a powder. A black powder. Then... afterward, I suddenly sensed it!"

"You sensed it?" Du Wei raised a brow.

"Yes! I sensed it! My magical sensitivity had always been incredibly dull; I could not sense any magical elements around me at all! But when I created this powder, and followed my experimental procedure by using a wind-blower I made myself to scatter the powder into the air... I finally sensed them! I tried a fire spell, only to discover that I could actually feel the fire elements in nature pulsing with complete clarity! I... I actually succeeded!"

As he spoke, the mage grew agitated. "I set foot upon the path of magic at thirteen, and went through a full twenty years! At last, I was able to use magic... though it was only the most insignificant, lowest-level Fireball spell! But when I watched that fist-sized fireball shoot forth through my magic, I was almost happy enough to die."

Looking at his face, Du Wei could not help sighing. "So the Fireball spells you used when you fought my men in the tavern that day were also..."

"Yes." The mage nodded. "I carried several sealed bottles with me. Those bottles contained the powder I refined. Whenever I needed to use magic, I would use the hand hidden in my sleeve to quietly open a bottle and expose the powder within... Then I could sense the existence of fire elements and use magic."

What a strange method... but this fellow really was a genius!

Only... Du Wei suddenly thought of another problem, and his expression became somewhat strange. "You used this method to pass your mage qualification examination?"

The mage flushed. "I know this method amounts to cheating. But my desire for the title of mage was something even I could not control."

"I can understand that." Du Wei said, "But what I find strange is why you only tested for the lowest-level Grade One Mage rank. Since you have magical talent and have now solved the problem of sensitivity, you should have been able to qualify as a higher-ranked mage, shouldn't you?"

"No, I couldn't." The captive shook his head. "Although my method solved the sensitivity problem, it immediately brought me face-to-face with a new difficulty. And I pondered that problem for a long time without finding any solution."

"What problem?" Du Wei cared deeply about this... after all, whether he himself could learn and use magic depended entirely on this man.

"I conducted experiments. Although I refined that yellow powder containing abundant fire elements, because my sensitivity was truly too poor, even with such rich fire elements, I could only use the lowest-level Fireball spell." The mage gave a bitter smile. "Do you think I didn't want to use higher-level magic? I even imagined that, since I could use my own method to increase the fire elements in the surrounding environment... then theoretically, I could continuously increase the concentration of fire elements around me! In the end, perhaps I could even use the ultimate forbidden spell of fire magic, Inferno Burns the City! To become a Forbidden Spell Mage—what glory, what an achievement would that be? I could practically leap in one stride to the pinnacle of mages across the continent!"

His expression was animated, but by the end, his tone had fallen into gloom. "Unfortunately, my problem is... my sensitivity is very poor. So if I want to use higher-level fire magic, I can only use methods to increase the concentration of fire elements around me, more and more! The higher the concentration, the higher-level fire magic I can use. But you must understand, that yellow powder I refined already contains fire elements at a very high concentration! I truly cannot think of any other way to further increase the density of fire elements... And I even made a rough calculation... Even in an environment with such a high concentration of fire elements, I could only use the lowest-level Fireball spell. Then if I wanted to use intermediate fire magic, the fire element concentration around me would need to increase by several dozen times more! Several dozen times! What kind of concept is that? Unless I were thrown directly into flames! Only in flames could there be such dense and abundant fire elements! But if I did that, I'd be burned to death first."

"So... although you overcame the barrier of sensitivity, you can only use the lowest-level magic." Du Wei gave the final summary.

"Yes."

"Then what about your instant-casting?" Du Wei remained interested in the way this man could fire Fireballs continuously without chanting.

"That is merely a trick of potion-making." The mage looked a little embarrassed. "My magic isn't used by commanding the magical elements in nature, but through magical elements I created myself... When ordinary mages cast magic, they must use incantations to summon and seek out the magical elements in the air... But I don't need to summon them or seek them out, because at the time, the fire elements are already in my sleeve..."

Du Wei's expression finally changed!

If that was the case... then... if... hypothetically!

If they could overcome the current problem and let this man successfully use higher-level magic... he could still cast instantly!!

Just imagine it: a mage capable of releasing high-level fire magic... while also needing no incantations and able to cast instantly... how powerful would such a person be?!

Afterward, Du Wei spoke patiently with the mage for a long while. He deliberately shifted the topic toward magical potion-making. What astonished the mage was that this not-yet-grown youth, this young noble of high status—though the mage had not known Du Wei's exact identity at first, seeing this young man own such a great castle on the Roland Plain, he was most likely a descendant of the renowned Roland Family—

A noble of such high standing was actually so knowledgeable about magical potion-making, a field looked down upon by people of status... that was truly rare.

But this young noble genuinely had deep knowledge of magical potion-making! His breadth of learning even made the mage secretly admire him. Then, after the atmosphere between them had become somewhat more amicable, Du Wei finally revealed his own experience: how he had once wanted to become a mage, only to be judged talentless and fail...

That experience immediately stirred the captive's sympathy! A feeling of fellow sufferers sprang up in his heart.

This young noble had gone through something similar to himself! Both had been filled with yearning and desire for magic, both had discovered they lacked talent, and both had been born with outstanding magic power yet terribly poor sensitivity!

Under such circumstances, although there had been unpleasantness between them before, and although he was now the other man's captive, deep down, the mage's disgust toward the young noble before him had already diminished considerably.

The other party had only thought of capturing him because of his yearning for magic.

At the very least, their determination to become mages was so alike.

"Solskja." Du Wei softly called the mage's name—during their earlier conversation, Du Wei had already learned the name of this genius mage. He looked at him. "Let me ask you something... Why exactly do you want to become a mage? Once you become one, what do you hope to gain?"

"...That." Solskja thought for a moment. "A mage's duty seems to be exploring the ultimate mysteries of magic, striving to study magic, and immersing oneself in its mysteries for an entire lifetime. But I am destined never to become a high-level mage, so exploring the ultimate mysteries of magic has little to do with me... Therefore, I only want to obtain the things I desire."

"You mean a mage's status and treatment?" Du Wei smiled. "Your answer is quite honest. And you are not wrong. Mages have always received excellent treatment. No matter where they go, a skilled mage is always someone the powerful and influential wish to recruit, receiving the finest treatment and respect... But don't forget that you are only the lowest-level Grade One Mage! No great figure would pay a high price to recruit a low-level mage of poor ability."

Solskja fell silent... He knew very well that Du Wei was speaking the truth. Though he had received official recognition as a mage, as the lowest-level Grade One Mage, he had discovered everywhere he went that he was nowhere near as welcome as he had imagined.

At first, when people learned he was a mage, they would be full of surprise and respect! But afterward, once they found out he was merely the lowest-level Grade One Mage, their enthusiasm would immediately drop tenfold.

That was also why Solskja had ultimately been forced to swallow his pride and join Ruolin's lowly little adventurer team! He had very much wanted to join a large mercenary corps, but they did not think much of him either.

Seeing Solskja's helpless expression, Du Wei knew the time was ripe. He smiled and said, "Solskja, since your dream is to receive the treatment and respect due a mage, why not pledge loyalty to me? You can become my privately retained magical adviser. I will give you excellent treatment! The respect, status, and everything else you need—I can satisfy all of it. I believe you already know that I am a member of the Roland Family. The Roland Family name should not disgrace you, should it?"

Solskja's heart thumped fiercely!

Throwing in his lot with this young noble... seemed like a pretty good choice too. Though they had clashed before, it was only because the other man had been obsessed with magic. Besides, their conversation just now had been pleasant enough. More importantly, this young noble, like himself, had found no hope on the path of magic and had turned instead to the study of magical pharmacology... Such a shared fate made Solskja unable to suppress the feeling that he had found a kindred spirit!

And he could become a magical consultant under the Roland Family and receive generous treatment... What was there left to hesitate over?

"I..." Solskja thought for a moment. "I am willing to accept your recruitment. However, I need to make a trip back south. My laboratory is in the south, and I still have many essential tools there. There are also many precious materials in the laboratory, as well as all kinds of powders I have refined, and they all need to be moved back. I must handle these matters myself... As you know, a magician's laboratory cannot be moved by ordinary people. That would be very dangerous."

Du Wei considered it briefly. Letting him return south was not really a problem... But could this fellow be planning to use the opportunity to run away?

Besides, this man who had cheated his way into the title of magician was now worth his weight in gold in Du Wei's eyes! There absolutely could not be the slightest mishap!

Du Wei immediately made his decision. "How about this? I'm also very interested in your laboratory. I'll go south with you!"

From this day onward, the future Roland demon's path began.

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