Anthony on Magic

!

Dawn.

The shadows beneath the trees swayed faintly. In the morning light of the eastern dawn, Xia Ming began his new round of magical training.

This time, Xia Ming had chosen Azure Flame Academy's magic training ground, a place countless Azure Flame Academy students feared like a tiger. The training ground was enhanced by a gravity field and gale spells. Every syllable spoken here was exceptionally difficult, and one also had to withstand terrifying winds and gravity.

Thus, very few students chose to train their magic here. The training ground was nearly empty in the early morning, and Xia Ming was the only one in this area.

Beneath the mottled morning light, sweat had already soaked through the back of Xia Ming's mage robe, with more trickling down his forehead. He panted lightly and muttered, "Sure enough, practicing magic here is still rather difficult." Then a faint smile appeared on his face. "But the gains are pretty good too."

The results of training here were naturally tremendous. Xia Ming could practically see his own progress—his magic power was not only being tempered into greater purity, but even the speed of his spell chanting had improved significantly.

Under the sunlight, Xia Ming's silhouette appeared especially resolute.

"Again!"

Xia Ming seriously began chanting Flame Demon Hand once more. With his eyes tightly shut, he used all his strength to feel every syllable of the chant. Low, rapid syllables rang out like a sudden downpour. In that instant, Xia Ming abruptly discovered that two of the thirty syllables in the Flame Demon Hand spell had somehow fused together!

Boom!

Vivid flames refracted brilliant light as endless fire blasted across the training ground, scorching the earth.

At the same time, a burst of starlight suddenly spread around Xia Ming. One magical rune after another formed a dazzling silver six-pointed star, appearing at the tip of his staff...

"What's going on?"

Amid his delight, Xia Ming was also baffled. His chanting speed had suddenly increased, merging two syllables in the Flame Demon Hand spell and bringing his chanting speed to an entirely new level.

Moreover, while he cast the spell, silver six-pointed stars had inexplicably appeared at the tip of his staff, gleaming brilliantly and drawing the eye!

An improvement in chanting speed was certainly a good thing, but Xia Ming had no idea what was happening. After some thought, he opened the magic notes Anthony had left him, yet even after flipping through them for a long while, he found no clues. Anthony's magic notes did not mention this situation in the slightest.

"Flame Demon Hand!"

Frowning, Xia Ming once again chanted the spell with all his might. This time, Flame Demon Hand was still released as swiftly as before, a notch faster than Xia Ming's usual chanting speed for this spell. Likewise, mysterious silver six-pointed star runes appeared at the tip of his staff.

"I should ask my teacher."

Xia Ming shook his head. He vaguely felt that he had touched upon a new threshold. When it came to unknown fields of magic, Anthony naturally came to mind.

Fortunately, Anthony was at the back mountain of Azure Flame Academy, not far away.

Xia Ming arrived at the back mountain and saw dense magical elements within the wooden cabin, accompanied from time to time by strange sounds. His heart stirred. It seemed Anthony was conducting a magic experiment.

Even before this, Anthony had often devoted himself to all sorts of magic experiments, and in this field, Anthony could absolutely be called an expert.

"Teacher!"

Xia Ming called out from the bottom of his heart. Then Anthony kicked the door open with a bang. It seemed that fiery temper of his was as unchanged as ever.

The moment he saw Xia Ming, Anthony immediately grinned and cursed, "You brat, what brings you here? So early in the morning—aren't you afraid of disturbing someone's sweet dreams?"

Xia Ming curled his lip. Did mages even need sleep?

"Teacher, are you conducting a magic experiment?" Xia Ming asked curiously, glancing at the various magical instruments inside the room.

Anthony smiled broadly. "Just tinkering with a few little gadgets. This brat has actually become a fifth-level mage now. Mm, not bad, not bad!"

Before Anthony, Xia Ming did not deliberately conceal his aura, so Anthony spotted Xia Ming's progress at a glance.

Xia Ming smiled. "Teacher, after advancing to a fifth-level mage, I feel somewhat different from before."

"Oh? How is it different?" Anthony asked with meaningful interest.

Xia Ming said nothing. He merely raised his staff with a wave of his hand and cast Flame Demon Hand once again. A string of six-pointed star magic runes reappeared at the tip of his staff.

The next second, fire elements burst forth. Flame Demon Hand transformed into a giant hand of flame, and surging magic power shook the air.

Anthony suddenly fixed his gaze on the silver six-pointed stars at the tip of Xia Ming's staff. His expression shifted repeatedly, his face extraordinarily animated...

"You..."

Anthony pointed at Xia Ming, only managing to utter a single word before closing his mouth again.

"Teacher, what is it?"

Trying his best to sound calm, Anthony asked, "When did the silver six-pointed star runes at the tip of your staff begin appearing?"

"This morning."

Only then did Anthony calm down slightly. He let out a long breath and said, "All right, stop standing there like a fool. Come inside and talk!"

Xia Ming obediently followed Anthony into the cabin, but he could not suppress his curiosity. Why had Anthony acted so strangely after seeing the silver six-pointed stars at the tip of his staff? He could not help asking, "Teacher, what exactly were those silver six-pointed stars just now?"

The old mage scratched at his beard in some irritation, then gave Xia Ming rare praise. "With your talent, I'm not surprised that you became a fifth-level mage. But for Heaven-Bestowed Divine Runes to appear while you cast spells... you truly are a magic genius."

It was the first time Anthony had given Xia Ming a title like magic genius. Xia Ming was somewhat flattered, and even more puzzled by the reason behind it.

"Teacher, are the Heaven-Bestowed Divine Runes you mentioned the six-pointed star runes at the tip of my staff?"

Anthony stroked his beard and nodded. "That's right."

Seeing Xia Ming's puzzled expression, Anthony patiently explained, "Heaven-Bestowed Divine Runes are a rather advanced field of magic. I had originally thought you would not come into contact with them for the time being, but I never expected you to touch upon the threshold so quickly."

"So-called Heaven-Bestowed Divine Runes are a term passed down among mages. Once certain conditions are met, mysterious runes naturally appear while one chants magic. These mysterious runes can no longer be explained by ordinary reasoning, so we call them 'heaven-bestowed'!"

Heaven-Bestowed Divine Runes!

Xia Ming felt as though a brand-new door had opened before him. He pressed on, "Master, what are the conditions for attaining Heaven-Bestowed Divine Runes?"

Anthony smiled. Rather than answering Xia Ming directly, he asked in return, "You've studied magic under me for several months now. What aspects do you think determine a mage's strength?"

"Magical power, spiritual power, and incantations!" Xia Ming answered without hesitation.

Anthony nodded approvingly. "That's right. Magical power is a mage's root; spiritual power is the means by which a mage meditates and perceives; incantations are the combat foundation every mage must master—the necessary conditions for forging a powerful mage.

Xia Ming gradually became engrossed in the explanation as Anthony continued guiding him.

Anthony said slowly, "And Heaven-Bestowed Divine Runes affect precisely the aspect of incantations!"