After eating, Andrew played with his younger sister Ling'er for a while longer. He adored this little sister of his; he had even given her her name. Howard had gone out early, as usual. As the head of the household, he had to earn money to support the family. After finishing the housework, Janice began making magical implements for things such as Spear of Flame, Spark Spell, and Illumination Spell. In this small town called Maple Forest Town, these things could be exchanged for quite a few household supplies.
After coaxing Ling'er to sleep, Andrew went to find Janice. Janice doted on her mature, well-behaved son. She put down what she was holding and looked at him. "Andrew, is something the matter?"
Andrew said solemnly, "Mom, I want to learn magic."
Janice thought for a moment after hearing this. "Learning magic is even harder than training as a warrior. You're still young. How about waiting another year or two?"
Andrew smiled wryly to himself. Janice was very much a loving mother, especially toward him. She had always spoiled him and could not bear to see him suffer. But in this world, strength determined everything. If he did not endure hardship now, he would surely suffer in the future.
"Mom, I'm old enough to understand things now, and I'm not afraid of hard work. I like magic. Please teach me," Andrew pleaded.
Janice had no choice but to say, "All right. But learning magic requires talent, and I only know fire magic. Let's test your aptitude for fire magic first. Sit down, focus your attention, enter meditation, and sense the air around you."
Janice then waved her hands, summoning the surrounding fire elements around Andrew so that he could sense the magical elements more easily.
Andrew meditated as Janice had instructed and quickly entered the proper state, much as he had the last time he practiced the Qi-Nurturing Stance. Before long, he seemed to see countless red specks of light gathering around him. Besides those, there also seemed to be tiny bolts of lightning darting among them. Familiar with Coiling Dragon, he soon understood that these were the elements in the air.
Delighted, Andrew began slowly trying to control these elements and draw them onto his body. The red specks were manageable; he could pull them around. The tiny bolts of lightning, however, refused to obey him at all. Just then, Janice's soft voice reached his ears. "Andrew, can you sense them?"
Andrew also spoke softly. "Yes, Mom, I can. There are countless red specks of light surrounding me, with some tiny bolts of lightning among them."
Beside him, Janice was delighted to hear this. The red specks were fire elements, while the lightning, needless to say, was Lightning Element.
"All right, Andrew, wake up. I'm very happy. You have an aptitude for cultivating fire magic, as well as lightning magic. And the fact that you can sense the elements under these conditions means your spiritual power isn't low, either. You should have no trouble learning magic. Unfortunately, I can't teach you lightning magic." Janice guided Andrew out of meditation, feeling both joy and regret. Judging by what Andrew had sensed, his aptitude for both fire and lightning magic was quite high. With such talent, he could receive very favorable treatment at a magic academy. Unfortunately, they did not have the money.
Andrew was clever and could tell what Janice was thinking from her expression. He smiled and said, "It's all right, Mom. I'm still young, and I have warrior training to do, too. Learning one kind of magic will already be quite an achievement."
Janice thought that made sense, and her mood improved. She set aside the magical implements beside her and found a book in the chest at the head of the bed. Looking at it, Janice sank into memories, her gaze complicated. For a long while, she said nothing. Andrew stood quietly to one side, knowing better than to disturb her.
After a while, Janice came back to herself and gave Andrew an apologetic smile. "My teacher passed this book on to me back then. It records fire spells from the first through the sixth rank, from the simplest Fireball Spell to the sixth-rank spell, Flame Serpent. My aptitude for magic wasn't high, so I could only reach the fifth rank. I thought I would never have any use for it again. I never imagined that one day I would use it to teach my own son."
Andrew could see that this book seemed to hold a special meaning for Janice, but he did not ask any more questions. Who did not have painful memories?
Afterward, Janice began teaching Andrew fire magic.
Familiar with Coiling Dragon, Andrew knew very well that magic was, in essence, a manifestation of the laws. To gather faith, the Sovereigns had compiled the laws of the various elements into magical incantations and spread them across countless planes. Thus, these incantations were merely a means, not an end. Here, comprehending the laws was still the most important thing for anyone who wanted to become powerful.
Conversely, magical incantations originated from the laws, so they were also a path toward comprehending them. If one could fully comprehend the magical incantations of an element, one could reach the laws behind those incantations and, in turn, touch the threshold of godhood.
The latter was the legendary Saint-level!
Although this knowledge was of little use to Andrew in the short term, it held great value in the long run. The reason many Saint-level experts, even Peak Saint-level experts, could not take that step toward godhood was precisely that they did not understand this principle. By paying attention to these things and striving to comprehend the laws from the very beginning of his cultivation, Andrew would surely avoid many detours in the future.
Time passed quickly as Andrew diligently studied magical theory with Janice at home. It turned out that while Janice might not have had much talent for cultivation, she was very well suited to teaching. Through her clear explanations of complex ideas, Andrew's understanding of magic changed greatly.
"All right, Andrew, that's enough for today. You've already learned the Meditation Technique. From now on, you need to meditate often, absorbing fire elements and improving your spiritual power. You can have this spellbook. I hope you'll master it soon. If you have any questions, come and ask me anytime."
In the space of half a day, Janice discovered that her son was far more intelligent and mature than she had imagined. Back then, it had taken her two or three months to learn these things, yet he had absorbed them in half a day. This was already no less impressive than the legendary magical geniuses. She felt only joy at this. What mother did not hope her child would succeed?
Andrew excitedly accepted the spellbook and solemnly promised, "Mom, don't worry. I'll work hard at my cultivation and become a true mage as soon as possible."
After a moment's thought, Janice added, "You need to study magic, but don't neglect your warrior training, either. Otherwise, your father won't be happy."
Andrew nodded without hesitation. He had planned to cultivate both magic and martial arts from the start, so that was naturally no problem. Just then, Ling'er's voice came from the bedroom. Clearly, she had woken up.
"Big Brother, Big Brother, where are you?" Ling'er called tearfully.
Hearing this, Janice smiled helplessly. "Even her own mother isn't as close to her as her big brother. Hurry and go see Ling'er."
Andrew smiled, put away the spellbook, and turned to leave.
Spring passed and autumn came. In the blink of an eye, three years had gone by.
Outside Maple Forest Town, to the east near a stream, a boy dressed in black was swinging a long saber, chopping again and again. Before him, a blue-green boulder the size of a millstone had nearly been chopped apart, with chunks of stone scattered over the ground. Amid the broken stones, a human-shaped sculpture gradually emerged. It was unmistakably a chubby little girl.
"Big Brother, come home and eat!"
The boy finished his final stroke, completing the stone sculpture. Just then, a girl came running from not far away. She was five years old, with little braids and bangs, and was utterly adorable.
The boy was none other than Andrew, who was now eight years old. However, he was far taller than others his age, about the height of an eleven- or twelve-year-old. Putting away his saber, Andrew lifted Ling'er onto his shoulder and handed her the stone sculpture.
Ling'er accepted the sculpture and deliberately pouted. "Big Brother, I'm not that fat, am I?"
Andrew laughed. "That's what you looked like when you were three. You were just that chubby back then, like a little pig."
Ling'er was displeased. "You're lying, Big Brother. I'm not a little pig."
The siblings exchanged remarks back and forth and soon arrived home.
In three years, the little courtyard had not changed at all. Howard was still burly, and Janice was still beautiful.
At the dinner table, Howard suddenly asked, "Andrew, how strong are you now?"
Andrew paused. "Dad, do you mean as a warrior or as a mage?"
"Strength is strength. Why distinguish between warriors and mages?"
Andrew understood and said, "I already have the strength of a warrior of the fourth rank, and I can cast third-rank spells."
Hearing his words, Howard and Janice exchanged a look, both astonished. Neither had expected Andrew's strength to improve so much in just three years without anyone guiding him. At that thought, they both felt a little bitter. There was no doubt that Andrew possessed exceptional talent. Had someone with such talent been born among the nobility, he would certainly have received special training. Yet the two of them could offer him no help at all.
Even Ling'er could sense the change in atmosphere at the dinner table.
Andrew understood what his parents were thinking and said easily, "You don't need to worry about me. I have my own views on cultivation. As things stand, I can't receive very good training in this little place. But I feel that it suits me better here. Only here can I devote myself wholeheartedly to cultivation without being affected by the outside world. Look, haven't the results been good?"
Perhaps his words had worked, for Howard and Janice stopped dwelling on the matter. Then Howard brought up something else.