Val turned to Eliana, his face serious, “I have some business with Oliver. I won’t be able to accompany you back home today.” Saying so, he handed the keys to her.
Eliana gave him a warm smile, her eyes understanding. “That’s fine, Val. Don’t worry about me, focus on what you need to do.”
Val sighed, relieved at her understanding, “Remember to hang the amulet inside the house when you get home. Although the sun is still up in the sky, it’s always better to be safe than sorry.”
She chuckled lightly at his concern, the warm feeling spreading through her heart. It was nice to see him worry about her. “I will, don’t worry.”
Then, as if remembering something, she added, “Actually, I won’t be going home right away either. I have something else to do.”
“What is it?” Val asked, his eyebrows raised in curiosity.
Eliana hesitated for a moment, before deciding to tell him. “I… I don’t want to be a burden on you, Val. I know how hard it is to get by in this world, and I don’t want to add to your problems. So… I’ll be roaming around the lower city today, looking for a job.”
Val was silent, looking at Eliana with a thoughtful expression.
The determination to be of help to him burned brightly in her almond eyes, stirring a sense of respect within him, but that was all it did.
He could see that Eliana cared for him deeply and wanted to lessen his burdens, wanting to stand on her own two feet. However, despite her sincere affection and the emotional scene unfolding before him, Val’s heart remained as cold as a thousand-year-old iceberg, unmoved.
Eliana was a graceful and loving woman. If she had chosen anyone else as her lover, they would undoubtedly have put aside their personal affairs to accompany her in her search for a job as they would have felt moved by her courage and her determination to do everything she could to lessen their burdens. But Val, he was different. He valued learning wizardry more than the blooming relationship between them at this moment.
This was in line with his character.
After all, Val was someone who prioritized knowledge and power above all else. His personal gains were of greater importance to him than the affections of a naive woman with immense potential.
In this situation, learning from Oliver held more significance to him than playing the role of a loving partner to Eliana. Hence, he made a decision that would be deemed ethically questionable by most. But Val didn’t care about such ethical considerations. Their entire relationship was built on a lie, so what did ethics matter to him at this point?
With a soft sigh, he finally said, “I wish you good luck, Eliana,” and turned to walk away, heading in the direction of Oliver.
Oliver led Val into the Verdant Deepwood Forest, his expression serious as they ventured deeper into the first region.
A sense of calm pervaded the area, disturbed only by the chirping of the giant birds that inhabited the area and the rustle of leaves underfoot.
After reaching a clearing surrounded by dense foliage, they stopped.
Val looked at Oliver curiously, “So how exactly are you going to teach me wizardry?” 𝑜𝑣𝓛xt.𝑐𝑶𝑚
Oliver glanced at him, his eyes glinting with certainty. “The same way my master taught me,” he began, a note of nostalgia entering his tone. “There are a few concepts you need to understand first.”
The wizard took a deep breath and launched into an explanation. “The first concept is the Extension of One’s Will. Wizardry begins and ends with your willpower. Your Soul Power isn’t just something you possess, it’s an extension of your own will. This means it’s influenced not only by your physical actions but also by your thoughts and intentions.”
He paused, allowing his words to sink in. “You can direct its output through physical action. And If you can firmly believe in your ability to command it and visualize it doing your bidding, you can control it. But to do so requires intense focus and concentration. Your mind needs to be free of other thoughts.”
Oliver continued, “Once you’ve mastered manipulating it, the next step is learning how to concentrate and balance it to cast wizardry. This is a delicate process, as the amount of Soul Power you use needs to be precisely balanced. Too much or too little could lead to failure or worse, the technique could backfire.”
His gaze turned thoughtful as he added, “For instance, to use the invisible shield wizardry, you would need to concentrate a large amount of Soul Power in a single spot. The concentration and balance of this power are the keys to successfully executing a technique. Master these principles, and you’re on your way to becoming a proficient wizard.”
“Ah, so that’s how it is.”
Val’s brows furrowed in thought as he mulled over Oliver’s words.
The concepts were easy enough to understand.
All that was left to do was apply them in a practical situation and experience for himself how effective wizardry truly was.
“It’s far simpler than I thought,” Val said.
“Alright then, give it a shot,” Oliver said, taking a step back.
“Sure,” Val agreed with a small nod.
He remembered that Oliver had injected his soul power into his body and found out that he had the Arcane Heart. It meant that Soul Power could be used to determine the internal structure of one’s body. It was like an X-ray machine, a concept that intrigued him. Val decided to try what it feels like.
Closing his eyes, Val visualized his soul power filling up his body. Immediately, as if in respone, his arcane heart pumped out soul energy to circulate throughout his body.
It was a unique sensation, a mixture between sight and touch. As his soul power spread throughout his body, he was able to get a look at his internal structure. He had two hearts. His hearts, one human and one arcane, pounded rhythmically, each distinct yet harmonious.
Next, he sought his blood bank. It should be somewhere in his body, right? He couldn’t locate it until he noticed a peculiar red stone forming near his kidney. A layman might take it for a disease, a learned man might mistake it for a kidney stone, but this stone was a vivid scarlet. Val realized that this must be the blood bank.
It was awe-inspiring how such a minute object could hold so much blood.
Shifting his focus, Val channeled his energy into his eye – the eye that the system had transformed into. To his surprise, there was no visible change. His eye seemed perfectly normal. If he hadn’t experienced it all himself, he wouldn’t have known that it was actually his system. Thus, he need not worry about getting caught with incomprehensible technology; it could deceive anyone, even wizards, into believing it was a normal eye.