Several months passed in the blink of an eye. February arrived, and fresh buds appeared on the trees of Mount Wushan as the first hint of spring quietly settled over the land.

Beneath an ancient tree, Linley sat cross-legged in meditation, refining Mana.

In that meditative state, he clearly sensed countless yellow-brown and green motes drifting around him. Earth- and Wind-element particles entered through every part of his body, flowed through his limbs and bones, and were refined before gathering in the middle dantian at the center of his chest.

Two thin mists filled that dantian. The yellow-brown mist was Earth-element Mana; the green mist, Wind-element Mana.

Linley exhaled and opened his eyes.

Doehring Cowart sat cross-legged nearby in his moon-white robe, smiling as he admired the scenery. “Linley, you leave for Ernst Institute tomorrow, yet you’re still training this hard today?”

Linley grinned. “Grandpa Doehring, weren’t you the one who said the strong are made through daily effort? That a person must never relax, and only years of steady training can produce astonishing power?”

“You little rascal. Now you’re lecturing me?” Doehring laughed.

Linley chuckled.

A black blur flashed in the distance and instantly reappeared on his shoulder. It was Bebe. The little Shadow Rat bared his teeth at Linley and pointed insistently at a dead wild rabbit on the ground.

Linley understood at once. “You want me to roast it for you?”

Bebe nodded again and again.

“Linley,” Doehring said through their mental link, “this little Shadow Rat is truly peculiar. Several months have passed, yet he hasn’t grown at all. At his age, the change should be obvious.”

“I don’t understand it either.” Linley shook his head.

Bebe’s body had not grown, but his speed had increased rapidly.

“Very strange.” Doehring studied the little Shadow Rat, who had no idea a spirit was watching him.

“It’s getting late. I still have my evening training.” Linley rose, picked up the rabbit, and started down the mountain.

Doehring floated beside him, displeasure on his face. “Linley, you’re going to be a magus. Why are you still doing warrior training?”

“I’ve found that warrior training strengthens my perseverance,” Linley said. “And stronger perseverance helps improve my Spiritual Force.”

“Of course I know that,” Doehring grumbled. “But such primitive training develops Spiritual Force far less efficiently than a magus’s meditation.”

Linley fell silent.

Warrior training could strengthen his will, but that was only an excuse. The real reason was the Dragonblood Manual.

If I ever have the chance to drink living dragon blood and cultivate the Dragonblood Manual, I’ll need a strong body. The body is the vessel and Battle Qi is the wine. The better the foundation I build now, the faster I can cultivate the Manual later.

With Linley’s exceptional elemental affinity, refining his daily Mana took very little time. Most of his day went toward meditation and training his Spiritual Force. But endless meditation was exhausting; warrior training offered both a change of pace and a kind of rest.

* * *

The next morning, residents from across Wushan Town crowded the streets to see Linley off. For their little town to produce an Ernst Institute magus was an incomparable honor. Across the entire Yulan Continent, the Institute admitted only one hundred students a year.

Linley was still in the front courtyard of the Baruch residence. Hillman and the other guards waited beyond the gates. Inside stood only Hogg, Linley, Wootton, and the steward Hiri.

“Linley, today you leave for Ernst Institute and become an official student. When you graduate, you will be a great and powerful magus. Before you go, there is something your father must tell you...”

Hogg had countless things he wanted to say, but after a long silence, only a few stark words emerged.

“Remember the wish our ancestors have carried for hundreds of years. Remember the Baruch Clan’s shame.”

His face had gone pale.

“By the time you graduate, you will be at least a Sixth-rank magus. If you train diligently, reaching the seventh rank should not be difficult—and you are a dual-element magus. A Seventh-rank dual-element magus is a major figure in the Kingdom of Fenlai. You will have every chance to reclaim our ancestral treasure.”

Hogg stared hard into Linley’s eyes.

“If you fail to recover it, I will not forgive you, even in death.”

The words shook Linley to his core. This was the charge his father placed upon him at their parting.

“Father, I swear that within my lifetime, I will reclaim the Baruch Clan’s ancestral treasure.” Linley met his father’s gaze, his clear eyes unwavering. “You have my word.”

Hogg’s eyes brightened. He gripped Linley’s shoulder with one powerful hand.

“I believe you, my son.”

* * *

On the road east of Wushan Town, Linley turned to look back at the hundreds upon hundreds of townspeople who had come to bid him farewell. At their head stood his father and his little brother, Wootton.

“Goodbye, Brother!” Wootton shouted, waving with all his strength.

Linley waved back just as fiercely, his eyes reddening.

Father. Wootton.

His heart ached with reluctance. He had never spent long away from home, and this time he would be gone for years. Even Bebe sat quietly on his shoulder, seeming to sense his sadness. Beside him, Doehring Cowart watched in spirit form, his gaze warm with encouragement.

“Linley, it’s time,” Hillman said. Bandits sometimes preyed upon travelers, so he would escort Linley safely to the Institute.

Linley took one last look at his family. Then, with sudden resolve, he turned and started down the road to Ernst Institute.

Goodbye, my family. Goodbye, my home.

In the year 9991 of the Yulan calendar, nine-year-old Linley left Wushan Town with Bebe and Hillman, captain of the Baruch Clan’s guard.