Buzz!
A burst of bright white light erupted directly from the ring on Leilin's hand.
The blinding flash was so intense that Baron Jonas, caught off guard, experienced a momentary flash of blindness.
"Haha… Excellent! Boy! Leilin! You've done very well!"
By the time Baron Jonas had rubbed his reddened, tearing eyes and finally broken free from the blinding effect of the light spell, what he saw was a wizard so overcome with excitement that he could barely contain himself.
Was this really the same wizard he had known before? Everyone knew that wizards were supposed to be embodiments of wisdom and composure — very few things could make them lose their poise, let alone reach this state of flustered excitement.
"Ernst… are you saying… Leilin, he's passed the test?"
But Jonas had no time for other thoughts. Reading the expression on the other's face, a possibility suddenly struck him.
"Passed? Ha! Of course! His talent — even among the Wizards' Association, he'd rank among the best. Even my own mentor would be jealous that I've taken on such an outstanding apprentice…"
Ernst slowly calmed himself and spoke to Jonas with gravity.
"Jonas! My friend! I must tell you most responsibly — your son, Leilin, possesses extraordinary talent on the path of the wizard! Even now, his Spiritual Power already far exceeds that of his peers. With proper guidance, I believe he could very possibly break through to the Master rank, and perhaps even…"
Ernst's body began to twitch involuntarily again.
"All right, all right! So, Ernst — will you take my son as your apprentice?"
"Of course! Why wouldn't I?" Ernst had already come to regard Leilin as his legacy student. Even if Jonas had been unwilling, he would have insisted.
"That's wonderful! I'll announce this wonderful news to everyone and hold a celebration!"
Baron Jonas's face flushed red with excitement.
If the heir of the Farlan Family were taken as an apprentice by a powerful spellcaster, it would surely boost the family's standing and influence within the Kingdom enormously.
Jonas could hardly contain his eagerness. "So — are there any procedures or tuition fees for the apprenticeship ceremony?"
"We can discuss all of that later. For now, please give us a moment of privacy…"
Ernst waved his hand politely, and an invisible force pushed Jonas right out the door, which then shut automatically.
"Don't be alarmed — that's just the Mage Hand effect. A little wizard's trick!"
Ernst turned back around, wearing what he believed to be his most kindly smile, and tried to reassure the slightly frightened boy before him.
"Y-Yes, sir!"
Leilin shrank back as if frightened, but deep within his eyes lurked a hidden composure. "Chip, you've recorded everything?"
Spellcasting process recorded. Data storage in progress! The Chip responded almost immediately.
"Good. But — this kind of spellcasting ability?" Leilin had clearly noticed something different about Ernst. That near-instantaneous casting was a technique that even many advanced wizards in the world of Warlocks needed years of practice to master.
"No — it's not instant casting. The feeling I'm getting is that he had the spell prepared well in advance and stored it, then activated it using specific gestures and commands…"
Leilin was, after all, an expert in spellcasting himself. He quickly grasped the mechanism behind this approach.
"The underlying principles aren't entirely clear to me yet, but this appears to be how spellcasting works in this world of the Gods. Compared to the world of Warlocks, there seem to be quite a few differences…"
"Is… is this a spell?" A child's thin voice trembled slightly, tinged with unmistakable curiosity.
"Yes! This is a spell! With just a flick of the fingers, you can harness the power of nature!"
Ernst rubbed his hands together, and a wisp of flame appeared from thin air, morphing into birds, little figures, and various other shapes before finally bursting apart into a small shower of fireworks.
Seeing that he had successfully piqued the boy's curiosity and admiration, Ernst allowed a hint of self-satisfied pride to curl at the corner of his lips.
Yes — just a flick of the fingers could summon tremendous power. No need to be like those warriors and other physical-class professionals, sweating and bleeding like fools, steeped in vulgarity and violence.
Moreover, even the most lowly wizard could earn a handsome income by copying scrolls and participating in alchemical enchanting.
Compared to those lower-class professions that only the common folk would choose, the wizard's path — mysterious and noble — was clearly far more captivating to a child's heart.
Ernst felt very pleased with himself, of course, conveniently ignoring the astronomical costs and brutally strict talent requirements of wizard training.
"Then… could I become a wizard?"
At last, Leilin's hesitant voice reached Ernst's ears, and it made the wizard feel as though he were floating on clouds.
"Of course you can, my boy! You have the talent to become a splendid wizard! And I — Ernst of the Burning Shadow — would be honored to serve as your guide on the path of wizardry!"
Ernst tried his best to look solemn.
"However… there is one thing I must warn you about. Even with your extraordinary talent, you must put in far more effort than others. The path of the wizard allows no slacking whatsoever…"
Ernst straightened his face and began Leilin's wizard initiation lessons…
Soon, word spread throughout the entire port city that young Master Leilin of the Farlan Family had caught the eye of a powerful wizard and become a wizard apprentice.
In the world of the Gods, wizards represented power, mystery, and irresistible force.
For the Farlans to have produced a wizard apprentice — and a talented one at that — meant that this family could very well produce a formidable wizard in the future!
This subtle, pervasive influence immediately caused many to overlook the fact that the Farlans were merely upstart nobles. Old and established families began to acknowledge the Farlan Family's existence, and some even harbored intentions of extending an olive branch.
Baron Jonas skillfully leveraged the occasion, securing greater benefits for the Farlan Family and significantly broadening the family's room for survival and growth.
Of course, none of this had much to do with Leilin personally — he was still far too young to involve himself in family affairs.
The only thing that concerned him was accompanying Ernst to a banquet, where he received the blessings of everyone in the fief.
Even the high priest of the Knowledge God, Oghma — Tabris — came in person to express his regret.
Strong Spiritual Power signified not only talent on the path of the wizard, but also that if Leilin were to accept the Knowledge God's teachings and devote himself wholeheartedly, his path as a priest would surely be much smoother, and he might advance far more quickly than other priests.
Now that this promising seedling had been snatched up by a wizard, Tabris naturally felt quite disappointed.
Unfortunately, he would never know that Leilin had absolutely no intention of turning to the Knowledge God, nor could he ever obtain even a single rank of priestly power.
With the master-apprentice relationship formally established, Leilin's wizard lessons began.
Yes — thanks to the enthusiastic hospitality of Baron Jonas and his wife, Ernst decided to remain at the estate to complete Leilin's wizard initiation.
In truth, Ernst was a wanderer by nature, without a wizard's tower or anything of the sort. According to the intelligence Leilin had quietly gathered — gleaned mostly from his mentor's own careless slips — Ernst's actual wizard rank was only around level nine, far short of the level fifteen required for the Master rank, to say nothing of the legendary wizards beyond that.
Building a wizard's tower, unless one was a favored prodigy backed by a massive power, required even a Master to save up for hundreds of years.
In the back of Leilin's mind, with a touch of dark amusement, he suspected that Ernst might simply have nowhere else to go and was merely mooching off the Farlan Family for food and lodging.
Still, even a ninth-level wizard was a figure of considerable stature on Farlan lands, so he and the Baron and his wife were a perfect match — both sides content.
The spellcasting lessons were scheduled for the mornings, which meant that Leilin's cultural tutor,
As for Jacob, who had originally been slated to train Leilin in martial skills, he could only be relegated to the sidelines in frustration. Had Leilin not insisted on setting aside half an hour each day for physical training under the pretext of conditioning his body, Jacob would have been left with nothing to do but resume patrolling the port.
"Spells are, in truth, gifts bestowed upon wizards by the gods. The
During the very first lesson, when Ernst delivered this line with such grave solemnity, Leilin nearly spat out his water.
"Spells? Gifts from the gods? And a Weave?"
"Indeed!" Ernst's expression was deadly serious — it was clear this was what he genuinely believed.
"Understood!" Leilin nodded earnestly, all the while silently scoffing.
"Power that comes from within, yet you shackle it with chains of doctrine — how should I even begin to evaluate that…"
Through Ernst's lectures, Leilin's understanding of the wizard profession in the world of the Gods continued to deepen.
The spellcasters of this world — or wizards, as they were known — essentially increased their Spiritual Power through meditation, established a connection with the omnipresent Weave, constructed Spell Models which they then stored, and ultimately formed spell slots for use.
This conclusion left Leilin quite speechless.