Linley spent seven days recovering from his injury. On the day his stitches were removed, Hogg carefully examined the wound. It had healed well, leaving only a pale pink scar hidden in his hair.
"Don't scratch it," Hogg cautioned. "Wait a few more days before getting it wet."
Linley nodded, his thoughts already elsewhere. During those seven days, he had recovered during the day and learned meditation from Doehring Cowart at night. He could now gather a small clump of earthy yellow Magical Power in his chest. It was faint, but it was really there.
As soon as his injury healed, he couldn't wait to resume training. He practiced the Energy Gathering Stance at the training ground in the mornings and magic on Wu Mountain in the afternoons. His days were so full he hardly had time to think about anything else.
Then one afternoon, Linley made a mistake while practicing Earth Spike on Wu Mountain, sending a piece of stone flying that grazed the back of his hand. The wound was small, but it bled a little. Doehring Cowart told him to go back early and treat it, so Linley headed home ahead of time.
As he passed the old houses in the backyard, he heard a faint crunching sound, as if something were gnawing on stone.
Linley stopped and looked toward the sound.
In the courtyard of a half-collapsed old house, a black mouse was gnawing on a slab of bluestone. The mouse was small, only as long as an adult's palm, with glossy fur and a fluffy tail. But it moved absurdly fast-as soon as Linley got a good look at it, it darted onto another stone several meters away and continued gnawing.
It was several times faster than the fastest child at the training ground.
Grandpa Doehring, look, Linley said in his mind.
Doehring Cowart floated out of the ring and followed Linley's gaze. His eyes lit up. "A Shadowmouse!"
"A Shadowmouse?"
"A kind of magical beast." Doehring Cowart floated closer and examined it carefully. "Look at its pure black fur. That's a characteristic of a young Shadowmouse. Adult Shadowmice below the fifth level are black, turn bluish-green at the fifth level, and purple at the seventh level and above."
Linley's eyes widened. "It's a magical beast? But it's so small..."
"That's what makes it valuable." Excitement colored Doehring Cowart's voice. "Shadowmice are known for their speed, and this one is already as fast as a fourth-level adult Shadowmouse. That means its bloodline is very strong. It's quite possibly a Purple Shadow Mouse's offspring!"
Linley's heart beat faster. A Purple Shadow Mouse was a Seventh-Level Magical Beast, even stronger than a Velocidragon.
"Can I tame it?" he asked.
Doehring Cowart considered it for a moment. "At your current strength, forcibly taming it would be impossible. But there is a way-an Equal Contract."
"What's that?"
"A contract initiated by the magical beast itself. It doesn't require a magic formation, only that the beast willingly accepts you as its master," Doehring Cowart explained. "Young Shadowmice aren't very intelligent, so it's easy to build a bond with them. If you feed it and play with it every day, eventually it may come to see you as family and initiate a contract."
Linley understood. "Like raising a puppy?"
"A bit smarter than a puppy," Doehring Cowart said with a smile. "And Shadowmice grow up fast. It'll reach adulthood within ten years. Then you'll have a Seventh-Level Magical Beast as a companion."
Linley looked at the little Shadow Mouse still gnawing on the stone and was tempted.
"What should I do now?"
"First, catch a wild rabbit," Doehring Cowart said. "Shadowmice are omnivores, but they love meat most of all. Don't rush, though. Feed it raw meat first, and wait until it's familiar with you before giving it cooked meat. That way, it'll be more grateful."
Linley took note. Without disturbing the Shadowmouse, he quietly slipped out of the courtyard and headed back up Wu Mountain.
He was quite skilled at catching wild rabbits now. The first-level spell Earth Spike wasn't very powerful, but it was enough to ambush a rabbit. Half an hour later, he returned to the old house's courtyard carrying a fat rabbit, but the Shadowmouse was gone.
Linley placed the rabbit in the middle of the courtyard, stepped back a few paces, and hid behind a broken wall to wait.
After nearly twenty minutes, a small black head poked out of a hole in the corner of the wall. The Shadowmouse warily looked around, and only after making sure no one was there did it dart over to the rabbit. It sniffed the rabbit, then opened its mouth-its teeth were frighteningly sharp, and it tore open a rabbit's leg in just a few bites.
Linley watched with his breath held.
The Shadowmouse ate quickly. In less than ten minutes, only fur and bones remained of the rabbit. It licked its paws in satisfaction and glanced toward Linley's hiding place. It seemed to have noticed something, but it didn't attack. Instead, it turned and darted into the hole, disappearing from sight.
"A good first step," Doehring Cowart said. "Keep it up tomorrow."
At dinner, Wharton noticed a new little wound on Linley's hand.
"What happened to your hand, big brother?"
"A stone chipped it while I was practicing magic," Linley said casually, breaking his bread and dipping it into his soup.
Wharton glanced at him but didn't ask more. He remembered this part of the story-Linley should have discovered the Shadowmouse by now. In the original story, he encountered it in the old houses in the backyard not long after his injury healed. Judging by how distracted Linley looked, he had most likely seen it.
"Father," Linley suddenly said, "what were those old houses in our backyard used for?"
Hogg was looking over the account books and didn't raise his head. "Our ancestors lived in them when the family was large and flourishing. After the family declined, we couldn't afford their upkeep, so we only lived in the front courtyard."
"Could there be any... animals in there?" Linley asked tentatively.
"Rats, I suppose." Hogg turned a page. "No one's lived there for decades. It's normal to have rats. Why, did you see one?"
"I saw a black one. It ran pretty fast."
Only then did Hogg look up. "A black one? How big?"
"About the size of a palm."
"Then it's nothing." Hogg lowered his head again. "If you see a silver or gold one, remember to tell me. Those are Stone-Eater Rats, magical beasts. They generally don't eat people, but they damage houses."
Linley acknowledged him and lowered his head to continue eating.
After dinner, Linley said he was going for a walk to help his digestion and went to the backyard alone. Wharton didn't follow. He knew this wasn't the time to interfere. Feeding the Shadowmouse was a task that required patience; it couldn't be rushed.
He returned to his room, closed the door, and began his daily basic training.
Push-ups, squats, wall sits, and stretches. After three months of persistence, he had become much more proficient at them. The records on the panel were steadily increasing:
[Basic physical fitness overall proficiency: 4.7%] [Strength increase: +18%] [Endurance increase: +15%] [Coordination: +12%]
The numbers weren't high, but considering he was only three, his progress was already frightening.
After his physical training, he sat cross-legged and began to meditate.
The Fire Element particles were as active as ever. Three months of meditation had grown the clump of Magical Power in his chest from the size of a pinhead to the size of a soybean, its red spot of light bright and steady. Doehring Cowart had said he couldn't learn specific spells before he was six, so Wharton only accumulated Magical Power and didn't practice spells.
But the panel had given him another idea.
[Fire Element Magical Power control (basic)] [Proficiency: 1.3%] [Effect: Allows fine adjustments and compression]
Although he couldn't cast spells, he could practice controlling the Magical Power he already had. For example, he could move the clump of Magical Power around in his chest or try to compress it more densely. The process consumed a great deal of spiritual energy, but it improved his control and laid a foundation for the future.
An hour later, Wharton stopped meditating, a thin layer of sweat on his forehead. He wiped it away and heard footsteps outside the door-Linley was back.
Wharton opened the door and went out, finding a smile on Linley's face.
"Did something good happen, big brother?"
Linley paused, then lowered his voice. "Come here."
The two went into Linley's room and closed the door. Only then did Linley speak. "I found a magical beast."
"Really? What kind?"
"A Shadowmouse. It's black and only this big." Linley showed him with his hands. "Grandpa Doehring said it might be a Purple Shadow Mouse's offspring and could reach the seventh level when it grows up."
Wharton played along, putting on a surprised expression. "Can you tame it?"
"Grandpa Doehring said I can, but I have to take it slowly." Linley sat on the bed. "I fed it a rabbit today, and it ate it. I'll keep going tomorrow."
"Do you need my help?"
Linley thought for a moment. "Not yet. Once it's familiar with me, you can show yourself. I don't want to scare it."
Wharton nodded. He knew how it would go-Linley would feed the Shadowmouse for about ten days, going from raw meat to cooked meat and gradually building trust. On the tenth day, the Shadowmouse would approach him of its own accord, and then... Doehring Cowart would suggest using the "three in the morning and four in the evening" strategy to win it over further.
"Oh, right," Linley added. "Father said there's a magic test and admissions in the royal capital, Fenlai City, next month."
Here it comes, Wharton thought. In the original story, Hogg had brought it up at this point. Linley had hesitated at first, but Doehring Cowart persuaded him to go.
"Do you want to go?" Wharton asked.
"Yes." Linley answered without hesitation. "Grandpa Doehring said I'm very talented and can learn more systematically at a magic institute. Besides... Wushan Town is too small."
As he spoke, he looked out the window at the outline of Wu Mountain.
Wharton understood the feeling. After seeing a battle between Saint-level combatants and witnessing world-destroying power, who would still be content with life in a small town?
"Then go," Wharton said. "I'll train hard at home and wait for you to come back and teach me."
Linley smiled and ruffled his hair. "When I'm strong, I'll take you to the royal capital for a visit."
"Okay."
Over the days that followed, Linley's life gained a regular task: hunting every afternoon and feeding the Shadowmouse.
A rabbit on the first day, a pheasant on the second, a wild rabbit on the third... He followed Doehring Cowart's advice strictly, leaving only raw meat and departing as soon as he put it down, never lingering. The Shadowmouse went from being wary at first to poking its head out of the hole when it heard his footsteps. By the eighth day, it darted out as soon as Linley put down the food and began eating right in front of him.
"Almost there," Doehring Cowart said. "Tomorrow you can try cooked meat."
On the ninth day, Linley brought a roasted wild rabbit. When its aroma wafted out, the Shadowmouse burst from its hole faster than ever. It circled the roast rabbit twice, sniffing it again and again, then looked up at Linley, its little eyes full of confusion-the previous meat hadn't smelled this good.
"Go on, eat." Linley took two steps back.
The Shadowmouse hesitated for a few seconds, then couldn't resist taking a bite. It froze, then began tearing into the meat even more frantically, squeaking with satisfaction as it ate.
Linley smiled.
On the tenth day, as soon as Linley entered the courtyard, the Shadowmouse ran over to him on its own and circled his feet, its little nose twitching as it sniffed the cloth bag in his hand-today's meal was roast pheasant.
Linley crouched and put the pheasant on the ground. Instead of eating right away, the Shadowmouse moved closer and rubbed its head against his knee.
Doehring Cowart floated beside them, his eyes narrowed to slits. "You can touch it now. Gently, don't scare it."
Linley reached out and slowly placed his hand on the Shadowmouse's back. Its fur was soft and smooth, pleasant to the touch. The Shadowmouse stiffened for a moment but didn't dodge, keeping its head down as it gnawed on the pheasant.
After it finished eating, Linley stroked its fur a few more times. The Shadowmouse narrowed its eyes in comfort, a purr rumbling in its throat.
"That did it," Doehring Cowart said. "It already sees you as one of its own. Now all you have to do is wait until it's willing to form an Equal Contract."
"How long will that take?"
"Hard to say." Doehring Cowart shook his head. "Maybe a few days, maybe a few months. Shadowmice aren't as intelligent as humans, but they have little thoughts of their own. Keep feeding it and playing with it. When the time comes, it'll act on its own."
Linley nodded, reassured.
At dinner that day, Hogg formally brought up the magic test.
"Admissions in Fenlai City begin next month." Hogg looked at Linley. "If you want to go, I'll have Hillman take you."
Linley put down his spoon. "Father, how much... does the test cost?"
"The registration fee is ten gold coins," Hogg said. "If you're accepted, the Ernst Institute charges no tuition. Other institutes cost several hundred gold coins a year."
Linley fell silent. Ten gold coins was no small sum for the Baruch Clan now.
Wharton spoke up beside him. "If big brother wants to go, he should go. If there isn't enough money, I can eat a little less."
Hogg glanced at him. "Generous of you." He turned back to Linley. "You don't need to worry about money. I'm only asking whether you want to go."
Linley looked up. "I do."
"Why?"
"Because..." Linley weighed his words. "Wushan Town is nice, but I want to see bigger places. I want to learn more powerful magic and become stronger."
Hogg looked at him for a long time before finally nodding. "All right. You can go. But remember, whether you succeed or not, you're a member of the Baruch Clan. The blood of the Dragonblood Warriors runs in you. Don't disgrace the family's spirit."
"Yes."
After dinner, Linley returned to his room, and Doehring Cowart floated out.
"Your father is right," Doehring Cowart said. "Wushan Town is too small. The Yulan Continent is vast. It has four great empires, countless experts, ancient ruins, and mysterious magical beasts... You shouldn't be confined here."
"Grandpa Doehring, have you been to many places?"
"Five thousand years ago, I traveled almost everywhere." Doehring Cowart's gaze grew distant. "The O'Brien Empire in the north is frozen for thousands of miles, the Yulan Empire in the east is splendid and prosperous, and the Rhine Empire in the south has harbors scattered like stars... Then there are the Mountain Range of Magical Beasts, the Dark Forest, the Sunset Mountain Range... Dangerous, but magnificent."
As Linley listened, that world unfolded bit by bit in his heart.
"A magic institute can teach you the latest magic, introduce you to other geniuses, and give you a broader stage," Doehring Cowart said. "I'll go with you and continue teaching you Earth Element magic. But you'll have to learn about the other elements yourself."
"I'll study hard," Linley said.
Outside the window, the sky darkened. From the distant training ground came the noisy sounds of children dispersing. Another day had ended in Wushan Town.
Linley walked to the window and looked toward the old houses in the backyard. What was the little Shadow Mouse doing now? Sleeping? Or gnawing on stone?
Wharton's footsteps came from downstairs. The little fellow was probably going back to his room to sleep. Linley lay down on his bed, closed his eyes, and began his nightly meditation.
The earthy yellow specks of light arrived as expected, densely packed, warm and weighty. He guided them into his body and refined them into Magical Power. The spot of light grew slowly, at a rate barely perceptible to the naked eye.
Linley grew calm as he meditated, his breathing steady.
In the next room, Wharton was meditating too.
Red specks of light danced like flames. He carefully guided and refined them, while diverting a sliver of spiritual energy to try to compress the clump of Magical Power in his chest. Under his control, the soybean-sized spot of light slowly changed shape, flattening from a sphere into an oval and becoming slightly denser.
[Fire Element Magical Power control proficiency: 1.4%]
A panel notification popped up.
Wharton stopped and opened his eyes. In three months, his total Magical Power had more than tripled, and his control had improved as well.
As for the warrior path-he had never missed his daily basic training, and the numbers on the panel had risen steadily. The warmth brought by his Dragonblood bloodline had grown increasingly noticeable. He could even feel that power slowly transforming his body. It was slow, but it was indeed happening.
Dual cultivation was difficult, but he had time. Three and a half years was enough for him to build a sufficiently solid foundation.
Moonlight shone brightly outside the window. Wharton lay down and closed his eyes.
He recalled what happened in the original story after Linley went to the Ernst Institute-the trials in the Mountain Range of Magical Beasts, the legacy of a master stone sculptor, Doehring Cowart's sacrifice... It was a path filled with glory and pain.
Now that he had become Wharton, how would the story unfold?
He didn't know.
But at least he wouldn't be just a bystander.
Wharton rolled over and went to sleep.
Among the old houses in the backyard, Bebe, the little black Shadow Mouse, was hugging a stone and grinding his teeth on it. He had eaten his fill today, and the aroma of roast pheasant still lingered in his memory.
Would that boy come again tomorrow?
Bebe looked up at the moon, then lowered his head and resumed gnawing on the stone.
Crunch, crunch, crunch.
The faint sounds carried far through the silent old houses.