Doehring Cowart

Linley woke at noon the next day.

Sunlight slanted through the wooden window, illuminating fine dust drifting through the air. He opened his eyes, and the first thing he felt was a dull ache in the back of his head, as if someone were gently tapping it from the inside with a hammer. He tried to turn his head, but his neck was stiff.

"Don't move."

The voice came from beside the bed, but it belonged to neither his father nor Hiri. Linley turned his eyes and saw an old man with a white beard sitting on a stool. He wore a moon-white robe and was smiling at him.

There was no one else in the room.

"Who are you?" Linley asked, his voice a little hoarse.

"Doehring Cowart," the old man said. "In your present-day terms, I'm a Saint-level Magus, from the Pouant Empire five thousand years ago."

Linley stared at him, his mind working a little slowly. "A Saint-level... Magus?"

"That's right." Doehring Cowart nodded. "I slept for over five thousand years in the ring on your chest. Your blood woke me yesterday."

Linley looked down and saw that the Coiling Dragon Ring was still hanging around his neck, the blood on its surface dried dark brown. He looked back at the old man. "Are you... a spirit?"

"Clever," Doehring Cowart said approvingly. "Most children would be screaming by now."

"I'm eight," Linley said, then added, "And I saw something scarier yesterday."

Doehring Cowart laughed. "True enough." He paused. "Your little brother Wharton can see me too. When I came out last night, he wasn't scared at all. He even chatted with me for a bit."

Linley stared. "Wharton?"

"Yes. That boy is extraordinary. He's only two and a half, but he speaks and acts with a sense of order. He's not like an ordinary toddler." Doehring Cowart stroked his beard. "The Baruch Clan might produce two remarkable people in this generation."

Footsteps sounded outside the door, and Hogg pushed it open, carrying a bowl of hot soup. When he saw that Linley was awake, his expression relaxed a little. "How do you feel?"

"My head hurts," Linley said honestly.

"That's normal. You needed seven stitches." Hogg put the soup on the bedside table and sat on the edge of the bed. "Don't move around too much these next few days. Rest and recover."

Linley nodded and glanced toward Doehring Cowart. Hogg followed his gaze and saw only an empty stool. "What are you looking at?"

"...Nothing." Linley looked away.

Hogg didn't pursue it. After a few more instructions, he left, saying he had business to take care of in town. Only after the door closed did Doehring Cowart become visible again. "Your father can't see me. Only you and Wharton can, because you're the ring's owner, or have a blood connection to its owner."

Linley took a moment to absorb that. "You said you were a Saint-level Magus... Can you teach me magic?"

Doehring Cowart's eyes lit up. "You want to learn?"

"Yes." Linley sounded certain. "That magician yesterday was very powerful. I want to become that powerful."

"The path of a magician isn't easy." Doehring Cowart grew serious. "It takes talent, perseverance, and a great deal of time. Besides, you're injured now. You need to recover first."

"I know," Linley said. "But I can start learning the theory now and practice after I'm better."

Doehring Cowart looked at him with greater admiration in his eyes. "All right. But before that, I need to test your talent. The two most important things for a magician are elemental affinity and spiritual power. I can roughly sense your spiritual power, but your elemental affinity... we'll have to test with a meditation method."

"A meditation method?"

"It's a way to sense the elements of heaven and earth," Doehring Cowart explained. "Close your eyes, calm your mind, and try to sense whether there are glowing elemental motes around you. Different elements have different colors. The earth element is ocher, the wind element is cyan, the fire element is red, the water element is blue, the lightning element is purple, the light element is white, and the darkness element is black."

Linley committed them to memory. "Should I try now?"

"Let's wait until tonight," Doehring Cowart said. "Wharton should be tested too."

"Wharton?"

"Yes. He's young, but his spiritual power isn't weak, and he's precocious," Doehring Cowart said. "Since he can see me, there must be something special about him on the level of his soul. Let's test him. He might have a talent for magic too."

Linley thought for a moment and nodded. "All right."

By dinner, Linley could already sit up, though he was still a little dizzy. Hogg allowed him to get out of bed to eat, but told him to move slowly. In the dining room, Hiri set out the meal: oatmeal, dark bread, and a little salted meat as usual, though the portions were larger than normal, he said, to help the injured boy recover.

Wharton sat across from Linley, sipping his porridge and glancing now and then at the bandage on his brother's head.

"Does it still hurt?" Wharton asked.

"It's much better," Linley said. "You weren't hurt yesterday, were you?"

"No." Wharton shook his head. "You protected me."

Linley smiled but said nothing.

After dinner, Hogg went to his study as usual. As Hiri cleared the dishes, Linley gave Wharton a meaningful look. "Come to my room. I have something to tell you."

Wharton followed him into the room. After the door closed, Linley sat on the bed, and Wharton pulled over a stool and sat down.

"Grandpa Doehring said he'd test our talent for magic tonight," Linley said in a low voice.

Wharton nodded. "I know."

"You know?" Linley stared at him.

"He talked to me when he came out last night." Wharton lied without a change in expression. "He said not to tell you yet, to wait until your injury was better."

Linley believed him. "Then... are you nervous?"

"A little," Wharton said. That was the truth. He knew he most likely had a talent for the fire element, but he didn't know his exact affinity level. Besides, Doehring Cowart was an earth-element Saint Magus and might not be well versed in the fire element. What would happen after the test?

"I'm nervous too." Linley let out a breath. "If I don't have any talent, I'll have gotten excited for nothing."

"You do," Wharton said with certainty.

"How do you know?"

"A feeling," Wharton said.

Linley laughed and ruffled his hair. "I hope you're right."

After it was completely dark, Hiri came to check Linley's wound and change the dressing. He told them to go to bed early and left. Only after his footsteps had faded did Doehring Cowart float out of the ring.

No candles were lit in the room. Only moonlight filtered through the window, barely enough to make out shapes.

"Are you both ready?" Doehring Cowart asked.

Linley nodded, and so did Wharton.

"Good. I'll explain the key points first." Doehring Cowart floated between them. "The foundation of the meditation method is calming your mind. Close your eyes, think of nothing, and empty your mind. Then sense what's around you-not with your eyes, but with your 'mind.' If you have an elemental affinity, you'll 'see' glowing elemental motes. The higher your affinity, the more motes you'll see, and the clearer they'll be."

He paused. "Your first meditation may take some time, so don't rush. If you still can't sense anything after twenty minutes, your affinity is too low, or you don't have one at all."

Linley asked, "Should we sit or lie down?"

"Sit, with your back straight and your hands on your knees," Doehring Cowart said. "Wharton is young, so he can lean against the headboard."

The two did as instructed. Linley sat cross-legged on the bed, while Wharton sat leaning against the footboard with a pillow behind his back.

"Close your eyes." Doehring Cowart's voice grew soothing. "Take a deep breath. Breathe in... breathe out... take it slowly..."

The room fell quiet. Only the faint sound of breathing remained.

Linley closed his eyes and slowly emptied his mind as Doehring Cowart had instructed. At first, his thoughts were still jumbled-he thought of yesterday's battle, the wound on his head, and the magician's fire serpent. He forced those thoughts away and focused on his breathing.

Breathe in, breathe out.

Breathe in, breathe out.

After about five minutes, a peculiar sense of calm settled over him. Then points of light began to appear in the darkness before him.

They were blurry, as if seen through frosted glass. But they were unmistakably points of light, ocher in color. One, two, three... More and more appeared, densely packed like a swarm of fireflies on a summer night. They floated through the air, moving slowly, some near and some far away.

Linley's heart skipped a beat, but he immediately reminded himself to stay calm. He continued to "watch" the motes and noticed that they weren't moving entirely at random. Some were drifting toward his body, very slowly, but they were definitely drawing closer.

Are these earth-element motes?

His attention was completely drawn to those ocher motes. There were too many to count, and as time passed, they grew brighter and clearer.

He became absorbed in "watching" them.

On the other side, Wharton's experience was completely different.

He closed his eyes, adjusted his breathing, and quickly entered the right state. This wasn't his first attempt at meditation. Over the past few months, he had privately tried using breathing techniques he knew from his previous life to calm his mind. Though he had never studied them systematically, he had some foundation.

His vision darkened, and then points of light appeared.

But they weren't ocher.

They were red.

They were fiery, dancing red motes, burning in the darkness like tiny flames. There were so many of them, so astonishingly dense, that they nearly filled his entire range of perception. As Wharton "watched" them, he could even feel a gentle warmth-not an actual temperature, but a sensation on some spiritual level.

These are fire-element motes.

He tried to find motes of other colors. Ocher-there were some, but very few, scattered sparsely through the red ocean like a few grains of sand in a desert. There were even fewer cyan motes, with one or two flashing past occasionally. Blue, purple, white, black... they were almost impossible to see.

His fire-element affinity was at least high, perhaps even supreme.

Wharton had a general idea now. But he didn't move, continuing to "watch" the red motes. They were lively and restless, unlike the steady earth-element motes Linley had described. Some began drifting toward him, approaching not slowly but in little leaps, one after another.

Time passed, minute by minute, second by second.

Twenty minutes later, Doehring Cowart's voice rang out. "That's enough. Open your eyes slowly."

Linley opened his eyes first. His gaze was a little dazed, as if he had not fully emerged from that state. Wharton opened his eyes too, his expression calm.

"How was it?" Doehring Cowart looked at Linley.

"I saw them." Linley's voice was filled with restrained excitement. "Ocher motes, lots of them. An awful lot."

"How many?" Doehring Cowart pressed. "Describe them."

"Like... like fireflies in summer, packed so close together I couldn't count them." Linley struggled to find the words. "And they seemed to be drifting toward me."

Doehring Cowart's eyes lit up. "If you could see the motes moving, your affinity is at least medium. You said there were an awful lot... It might be high, or even supreme."

"Supreme?" Linley's breathing quickened.

"It's possible." Doehring Cowart stroked his beard. "But we still have to test your spiritual power. Elemental affinity is the foundation, though. With a good affinity, your training will go much faster." He turned to Wharton. "What about you, Wharton?"

Wharton paused. "I saw them too."

"What color?"

"Red."

Doehring Cowart stared. "Red? The fire element?"

"Mm." Wharton nodded. "Lots of red motes, and very few ocher ones."

Doehring Cowart frowned. "Did you look carefully? Earth-element motes are ocher. Could you have mistaken them because it was dark?"

"No." Wharton was certain. "They were red, like little flames."

Doehring Cowart floated closer and studied Wharton for a moment before sighing. "The fire element... I'm an earth-element Saint Magus, so I don't know much about the fire element. But since you could see the motes, you have an affinity, and a fire-element affinity at that."

There was a hint of regret in his voice. If Wharton had an earth affinity, he could have taught him personally. With a fire affinity, he could only teach him general theory; he could do nothing about specific spells.

Only then did Linley realize what this meant. "Wharton has a fire affinity? That's great too! Fire magic has very powerful attacks!"

"It does." Doehring Cowart nodded. "But it isn't my specialty. If Wharton wants to learn fire magic in the future, he'll have to find another teacher or go to a magic academy."

Wharton said nothing. He had expected this result. In the original story, Wharton had a talent for the fire element and later followed the path of a warrior, with magic serving only as a supplement. Now that he had the panel, he could actually teach himself, but he needed a source of knowledge about fire magic.

Doehring Cowart rallied his spirits. "In any case, having talent is a good thing. Next, we'll test your spiritual power. I can't measure it precisely, only sense it roughly. Linley, relax. I'll take a look."

Linley nodded. Doehring Cowart extended a finger and held it in front of the space between Linley's eyebrows. He closed his eyes and sensed for a few seconds. When he opened them, his face was full of delight. "Such powerful spiritual power! At least ten times that of someone your age!"

"Ten times?" Linley didn't understand what the number meant.

"The minimum for a magician is five times," Doehring Cowart explained. "Ten times is already above average. Combined with your elemental affinity... Linley, you're a magical genius."

Linley's face reddened a little, but his eyes were startlingly bright.

Doehring Cowart tested Wharton next, and his expression grew even more surprised. "Yours is about eight times as strong too... For a two-and-a-half-year-old, that level of spiritual power is extremely rare."

Wharton knew that this was the spiritual power bonus that came with a transmigrator's soul, combined with the results of his private training over the past six months.

"So... we can both learn magic?" Linley asked.

"Yes," Doehring Cowart said firmly. "Linley, I'll teach you earth magic. Wharton, I can only teach you general meditation methods and basic theory. You'll have to find a chance to learn fire magic yourself later."

"That's enough," Wharton said.

Doehring Cowart looked at the brothers and smiled. "All right, then. From today onward, you're my students. But there are a few rules-"

He raised a finger. "First, keep your magic training secret, especially you, Linley. I don't know your father's attitude toward magicians, but it's better to avoid trouble. Don't expose yourself until you can protect yourself."

Linley nodded.

"Second, your magic training must not interfere with your regular physical training and studies. You're members of the Baruch Clan. You can't neglect your foundation as warriors, nor can you go without knowledge."

Both nodded.

"Third, I'll teach you every evening. During the day, find time to meditate on your own. Until Linley's injury heals, he is only to meditate, not practice magic. Wharton is young, so he'll only meditate too. He can learn specific spells after he turns six."

"Why?" Wharton asked.

"Your body hasn't fully developed yet," Doehring Cowart said seriously. "Contact with magical power too early could damage your meridians. Six is the safe threshold."

Wharton accepted that. He still had three and a half years, which he could use to build a solid foundation while concentrating on physical training.

"What are we learning now, then?" Linley could hardly wait.

"The meditation method," Doehring Cowart said. "What you did just now was only an initial attempt at sensing the elements. Now I'll teach you a systematic meditation method that will let you absorb elements more efficiently and convert them into magical power."

He floated to the center of the room. Moonlight passed through his body, casting a faint shadow on the floor.

"Listen carefully. The essence of meditation is to use spiritual power to guide elements into your body and refine them into magical power at the chest. There are three steps: sensing, guiding, and refining."

Doehring Cowart explained everything in detail, from how to sense the elements more clearly, to how to "grasp" the elemental motes with spiritual power, and then how to grind and purify them with spiritual power at the chest, ultimately forming magical power of one's own.

Linley listened intently, asking questions until he understood every detail. Wharton listened carefully too, comparing the lesson with the panel's record in his mind. As soon as Doehring Cowart began his explanation, an entry for [Magic Theory: Meditation Basics] had appeared on the panel, and its proficiency was slowly rising as his understanding deepened.

After speaking for about an hour, Doehring Cowart stopped. "That's enough for today. Take some time to absorb it. Tomorrow evening, you'll begin formally trying to train with the meditation method."

Linley still wanted more, but his head had indeed begun to hurt again. Wharton slid off the bed. "It's time for you to rest, brother."

Doehring Cowart nodded. "Right, the injured come first. Wharton, you should go back to your room and sleep too."

Wharton walked to the door, then looked back. "Grandpa Doehring, will you be living in the ring from now on?"

"Yes," Doehring Cowart said. "I'm a spirit. I can't go more than three meters from the ring. But you can communicate with me through spiritual power whenever you like. Just call for me in your mind, and I'll hear you."

Like this? Linley thought.

"Yes, just like that." Doehring Cowart smiled. "All right, go to sleep."

Wharton returned to his room, closed the door, and leaned against it, taking a deep breath.

The test results were as he had expected. He had a talent for the fire element, and his affinity probably wasn't low, though its exact level was unknown. Doehring Cowart couldn't teach fire magic, which meant he would have to find a way himself in the future.

But with the panel, as long as he could get hold of knowledge about fire magic, he could master it through study and practice. The problem was finding a source of knowledge. There might be some in the Baruch Clan's study, but not much. For something more systematic, he would have to attend a magic academy or find a fire magician to take him as a student.

In three and a half years, he would be six. He could have his bloodline concentration tested and also take a magic aptitude test. If his fire-element talent was high enough, he might be able to enter a magic academy. Even if it wasn't the Ernst Institute, an ordinary academy could still provide basic instruction.

But he also had to follow the path of a Dragonblood Warrior. Pursuing both required time, energy, and resources.

Wharton went to the bed and sat down in the dark without lighting a lamp. He tried the formal meditation method Doehring Cowart had taught him.

He closed his eyes and slowed his breathing.

The red motes appeared again, clearer and denser than before. He tried to "touch" the nearest one with his spiritual power. It was a marvelous sensation, like cupping a tiny flame in invisible hands: warm, but not hot.

His spiritual power enveloped the mote and slowly drew it toward his body. The instant it entered his skin, he felt a faint prick, like a gentle jab from a needle. Then the mote merged into the area around his chest.

That place had been empty before, but now it held a tiny red speck of light, so faint it was barely visible.

[Fire-element magical power (first conversion)]

[Total: 0.001 standard units]

[Purity: extremely low]

[Notice: Continued meditation can increase total quantity and purity]

The panel's notice was brief.

Wharton continued guiding the second point of light, then the third... With each one he guided, the patch of light in his chest grew a little brighter, and his total magic power increased by an almost imperceptible amount. The process was slow, yet it consumed a fair amount of spiritual energy. By the time he guided the twentieth point of light, he felt a wave of exhaustion, as though he had been running for a long time.

He stopped and opened his eyes.

The room was still dark, but he could feel a faint warmth in his chest. That was Fire Element magic power, the first trace of power that belonged to him.

There was very little of it, too little to cast even the most basic level-one spell. But it was a start.

Wharton lay down and pulled the blanket over himself. His body was tired, but his mind was wide awake.

Linley had Doehring Cowart teaching him personally, and his Earth Element talent was of the supreme grade. His future path had already been paved. Wharton himself had Fire Element talent, but he lacked a mentor and could only rely on the panel and figure things out for himself.

That was fine too, though. The path of self-study was difficult, but every step would rest on solid ground, and he wouldn't become dependent on anyone.

Outside the window, the moon rose to the middle of the sky. Silvery light streamed in, cutting a bright square across the floor.

Wharton closed his eyes. This time, he really did fall asleep.

In the next room, Linley was still awake.

He leaned against the head of the bed, reviewing the key points of the meditation method Doehring Cowart had taught him over and over in his mind. The wound on his head still throbbed faintly, but it couldn't suppress his excitement.

A magus.

He really could become a magus.

He remembered how the gray-robed magus had stood on the black dragon's back yesterday, and those fire serpents that had destroyed everything. Power-that kind of power to control everything-he wanted it.

Grandpa Doehring, he called in his mind.

"What is it?" Doehring Cowart's voice sounded directly in his mind.

"When can I cast my first spell?"

"That depends on your progress," Doehring Cowart said. "If you keep meditating every day, you can accumulate enough magic power to cast a level-one spell in as little as a month, or as long as three months. But magic power alone isn't enough. You also have to learn magic models-how to use magic power to construct a specific spell."

"Is it hard?"

"It is." Doehring Cowart told him the truth. "But you have talent and perseverance, and you have me to teach you. As long as you're willing to put in the effort, you'll succeed."

Linley clenched his fists. "I'll put in the effort."

"I believe you." Doehring Cowart's voice was gentle. "All right, go to sleep. Starting tomorrow, your life will be different."

Linley lay down and closed his eyes. In the darkness, he seemed to see those earthy-yellow points of light again, densely packed around him like a starry sky.

He slowly drifted off to sleep.

Inside the ring, Doehring Cowart floated in his Soul Space, stroking his beard with a smile on his face.

After sleeping for five thousand years, he was lucky to wake up and find a student like this.

Linley had extraordinary talent and a resilient character. As long as he didn't stray from the right path, his future achievements would be limitless. That child Wharton was even more mysterious, precocious to an unbelievable degree, and his Fire Element talent probably wasn't low either. It was just a pity that Doehring couldn't teach him.

Still, the two brothers supporting each other was better than either of them walking the path alone.

He raised his head and looked toward the empty heights of the Soul Space. There was nothing there, but he seemed to see the sky from five thousand years ago.

The Pouant Empire was gone, and everyone he had known had turned to dust. He was still alive, in this half-dead state.

But at least he could still do something.

For example, teach a student who could become famous throughout the continent.