It was early morning, and dawn had barely broken.
Inside a temporary military tent in Emerald Leaf City, Lin Mo had dark circles under his eyes and kept yawning.
He sat cross-legged on a carpet, facing the bright-eyed Grand Mage Kael.
"Holy Son, please calm your mind and sense the magical elements around your body once more."
"They are lively and flowing, circling you like a stream."
"What you must do is not capture them through brute force, but attune yourself to them and guide them with your magic power-or, in your terms, mental power..."
Kael's voice was steady and resonant.
With his eyes closed, Lin Mo tried hard to follow Kael's instructions.
Last night, after taking Emerald Leaf City, Lin Mo, unable to sit idle, had remembered that he was still a magic apprentice. He had invited Kael over, hoping for a crash course in some practical spells.
Kael had naturally been delighted and immediately offered to teach him everything he knew.
Then Lin Mo had experienced an entire night of "mental torture."
From the origins of magic to the basic theory of the elements, then the thirty-six key points and one hundred and eight precautions for sensing with mental power...
Kael taught with meticulous care, while Lin Mo listened until his head spun.
He now seriously wondered whether he had been out of his mind when he decided to learn magic.
Just as Lin Mo felt he was about to "pass away in meditation," the tent flap lifted.
The guard Wu Suowei entered and gave a military salute.
"Sir, the main Elven force has arrived."
Lin Mo's eyes snapped open, bright and alert.
He sprang to his feet, clasped Kael's hands, and forced a sincere smile onto his face.
"Teacher! Thank you so much for all your hard