“I want to rely on my own strength to protect my family and my friends.” I resolutely replied.
“Very good. I will accept you as my disciple. You are my sole disciple as well as my last.”
“What kind of strength do you possess to not have a disciple?” Baffled, I asked.
Teacher Di sighed. “Currently, there are very few people who wish to learn light magic. And those that wish to and have the talent are ever rarer. This is the reason that I wish to receive you as a disciple.”
“Then don’t you need to test me? I heard from my previous teacher that all of the powerful mages require their disciples to pass many tests before they would be accepted.”
“Foolish child, the previous event with your magical beast is already the best ordeal to test you with.”
“Thank you. Teacher, I will definitely earnestly study magic under you in the future. In the past I was very lazy, but this time’s bloody lesson has awakened me. It is only with strength that one can protect others as well as themselves.”
“Your way of thinking is very good. Almost like a small adult.” Teacher Di couldn’t help but laugh.
“Teacher, when will we begin studying?”
“Look at you being so anxious, it seems you really want to immediately begin improving yourself. Actually, I want to start even more than you, but I have one request. That is for you to become a legendary Grand Magister.” Teacher Di seriously said.
“You can be at ease, I will definitely become a Grand Magister.” I issued out an oath.
“Oh that’s right! Teacher, I haven’t attended class is so many days, what am I going to do?”
“You can rest assured, I have given you a leave of absence. You can be at ease and rest here.”
“The academy is actually so kind?” I can’t help but have some doubts.
“I forget to tell you, I am the headmaster of the Royal Intermediate Magic Academy. Hehe.” Teacher Di revealed a devious smile.
“What?” I was obviously stupefied by this information. “Then what mage rank are you?”
“Magister. I’m also the honorary vice-president of the Magic Union. How about that, am I capable of being your teacher?”
“Wow! You’re so powerful! You’re one of the top ten Magisters in the continent!”
“That’s right. Within the top ten mages, I am ranked number 4.” Evidently, Teacher Di said this with some regret.
“You don’t need to be disappointed. You’re already so strong. What’s more, although you’re only ranked fourth, in the future you will have the number one student in the continent. You’ll have so much honor and glory. Hehe.”
“The number one student in the whole continent? Who is that?” Obviously he still hasn’t reacted properly.
I pointed at my own nose, “It’s me!”
Teacher Di suddenly hit me, exposing a chestnut sized bruise. “You brat, you’re really thick skinned! You must put forth great effort for me. My education is very strict, you better not let me lose face, or else, hehe…..”
Although I haven’t begun studying magic under him, I could already sense that Teacher Di is a very benevolent and humorous senior. He wouldn’t teach me like the Old Devil.
I earnestly stood up. “You can be reassured that I absolutely won’t let you lose face!”
“You don’t need to attend class at the academy anymore, I have already told your teachers. From now on you will live here. I will teach you magic by myself. For this time’s affair, you must not blame Hai Ri. He also couldn’t control the situation. Moreover, I hope you won’t tell others about resurrecting your magical beast, but instead it would be better to let them believe that Xiao Jin is dead. Wait until he can defend himself before you reveal him.”
“Yes.” Xiao Jin didn’t die, so I don’t blame Hai Ri anymore. If I really wanted to blame someone, then I ought to blame myself. It was me who summoned Xiao Jin after all!
“You rest here properly then. Currently your body is still extremely weak. After all, you have already spent half of your life energy. I have already used advanced light magic to treat you, but it doesn’t seem to have much effect. Perhaps I am treating the wrong illness. Even I don’t know what residual effects will be left by the spell you used this time.” Teacher Di said somewhat sadly.
“Teacher, it doesn’t matter. This is what I did voluntarily. I will assume responsibility for any matters in the future.” I said to console him.
“Zhang Gong, you truly are a good child. How come light element constantly assembles towards when you’re sleeping? The speed is also very astonishing.”
After hearing teacher ask this, I felt somewhat embarrassed. I explained to him from start to finish about my lying down meditation.
“Foolish child, I don’t know whether to call you a genius or to call you a lazy slob. I didn’t expect that would’ve accidentally obtained the light element’s approval. I only obtained this when I was 60 years old!”
I could only giggle in return.
29
Volume 2: Chapter 18 – Magic Power Compression
After about a month of rest, my body finally recovered to its original state.
“Zhang Gong, You’ve just about fully recovered. Today we’re going to start class.”
“Alright. Teacher Di, what do you want to teach me?”
“First, I want to see what level of magic you are currently at. I want to teach in alignment with your level.”
“I don’t know what level I am anymore.”
“What level can your magic power reach when you meditate?”
“I haven’t made any progress with my magic power for a long time. Right now, I feel like my magic power has already reached a bottleneck. No matter what I’ve tried, I can’t break through this bottleneck.”
“Then your magic power should be at the level of an intermediate mage. Not bad. Do you know why your magic power is incapable of progressing?” Teacher Di asked with a smile.
I scratched my head puzzlingly. “I don’t know.”
“I’ll give you an analogy. How much water and air can one bottle hold?”
“Depends on how big the bottle is.” Teacher Di had asked what seemed to be an idiotic question.
“Then can a similar bottle hold the same amount of air and water?”
“Of course. It has the same amount of space. It just holds different things.” Even this genius couldn’t grasp such a simple riddle.
Teacher Di nodded with approval, “You are correct. Similar bottles can hold the same amount of air and water. But if you take the water and turn it into steam, can the bottle still hold the same amount?”
Right then I had seemed to understand, but Teacher Di’s words were still a bit vague.
Teacher Di saw me fall into a state of contemplation so he didn’t disturb me.
“Good. This is the subject of today’s class and tonight’s homework assignment. Think about it thoroughly. The question I just asked is related to your bottleneck. Magic knowledge is mainly something that should be comprehended by one’s self. That is why a master’s closed door cultivation is an individual effort. How much you can learn will depend on yourself. I will leave first. This semester still has two months left. You will be train here with me for a month. After that, you will return and attend class with everyone else. The main purpose of the training that I’ve given you is to allow you to participate in the magic academy’s end of semester tournament.
“Ah! Participate in the tournament? Teacher Di, am I capable enough?” After having experienced Hai Ri’s magic, I had lost confidence in myself.
“How are you not? You are my disciple after all. You mustn’t let me lose face. Be sure to practice diligently.” Teacher Di turned around wanting to leave.
“Is it possible to not participate in this tournament, teacher?”