Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Jason’s words were calm and peaceful, but there was also a force that was never present before. Many people were stuck at grade-8 and could never advance to grade-9 for their entire lives, yet Jason dared to say that he would be able to advance quickly just by using his own power.
Lex could only admire him. She knew that she would definitely need the Six Elements’ Space because advancing to grade-9 had become an urgent matter. The people around her were not strong enough. Bain had been sent out and her teacher needed to stay and guard Bitter Water Prefecture. Other than the black metal grand swordmaster, the rest were mostly grand mages of grade-4 and grade-5.
In the past, the group of people would have been considered as formidable, but then the humans of the entire Mainland were becoming more and more powerful. Whoever could advance faster would have the advantage.
“It seems that Saleen is about to return. I will wait for him here. Lex, just go ahead. Based on your abilities, advancing to grade-9 shouldn’t be too difficult. This Six Elements’ Space is best utilized by the strong. The more talented you are, the faster you can advance. You should not waste any more time.”
“Yes, teacher.” Lex was extremely respectful to Jason, not because he was Saleen’s teacher, but because of what he had just said, that he hoped to depend only on his own abilities to advance to grade-9.
Lex knew that Jason was not someone who was stupid or impulsive. He must have had a certain level of confidence in order to say what he said.
The difference between grade-9 and grade-8 was huge. Since Jason was able to resist the temptation of advancing quickly, that could only mean that he was almost on the cusp of advancing and that there was nothing else standing in his way.
Lex brought five sorcerers with her and left for Rafael’s magic tower via the teleportation portal. There was an enclosed magic array outside of Rafael’s magic tower, but it was not an obstacle for the six incoming sorcerers.
The sorcerers walked up the levels and came straight to the Six Elements’ Space.
After becoming a sorcerer, Lex’s understanding of the Six Elements’ Space had deepened greatly. The Space was not a rarity in the ancient times. After all, there would always be people who were less talented in every dynasty. The Six Elements’ Space was invented just for that group of people.
In that Space, the six elements were abnormally stable and in harmony. Embedded within it were the rule to advance to grade-9.
In the ancient times, the human body was strong and resilient, so there was no restriction on the grades that could enter the Space. In their time, in order to enter the Space without damaging one’s body, one must at least be a sorcerer first.
Six colors were floating around in the mysterious Six Elements’ Space, but Lex still entered without hesitation. Since she possessed the God’s Ring, she had no reason to be afraid to enter at grade-6. It was just that she had to wait for the arrival of the people of Sregl Island, otherwise all the wealth in the interdimensional space could not have been preserved.
Meeting Jason again had allowed Lex to completely let go of her worries. Since Jason called her by name and not by her title, that meant that he had recognized the relationship between her and Saleen. It would have been a blow to her if Jason had not recognized their relationship.
Jason might look gentle and restrained, but he actually possessed the confidence and pride of the ancient powerful people. The man could not be controlled, not by Alchemy City, nor by her.
The moment Lex entered the Six Elements’ Space, she was immediately unable to sense the locations of the other five sorcerers. Nevertheless, she was not worried because she knew that it would be difficult to leave the Space unless one had advanced to grade-9. All the sorcerers had prepared enough food to last them for a few years.
In actual fact, to advance to grade-9 from grade-7 would only take a short while in the Space. These sorcerers could vanish for a few months when they were at usually training in the magic tower.
Lex decided to sit down on her spot and took out some restorative water from the God’s Ring. Then, she began to recall the slight hint of rule that she had felt back when she was advancing to a sorcerer.
The rule that Lex could sense came from a secret technique of her clan, the seventh magic chord, and not from the six elements. Now that she had entered the Six Elements’ Space, the thing that Rafael had left behind was big enough for six sorcerers to advance at the same time. There were a number of rules embedded in the Space, but they were permanent. Other than the rules in the Six Elements’ Space, the sorcerers training in there would not be able to obtain anything else.
That was also the reason why Jason refused to train in the Space. His aspiration was to become the strongest person in his generation. If his understanding of the rules was too little or narrow when he was at grade-9, it would definitely affect his path in the future.
Other sorcerers did not think that way because very few people would even think about advancing to grade-18 when they were still only at grade-9. It was just too far-fetched.
On that dimension, grade-10 was probably the ceiling.
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Fortunately, Lex already had her own path to take. Her seventh magic chord would not be affected by the limitation of the Six Elements’ Space. In fact, new rules would be developed when it transformed under the influence of the Space.
There were different levels of rules, but that did not mean that low-level rules were useless. A mage would only go far if they understood more. If a mage only understood high-level rules, then they would just end up as a fool that only knew how to fight.
Lex had little understanding of grades beyond grade-9 even though she knew Joey very early on. The tradition of mages was such that they never strived to become the best in combat, that was usually what swordsmen strived for. There must be a reason behind that. Lex remembered very well, that when she was still very young and was still learning how to read and write, she also gave her all in her learning. Her father never allowed her to give up on anything and that was how she grew up.
She dared not claim to be the most hardworking mage, but as a member of the royal family, she was definitely the one that was willing to sacrifice the most.
When Lex advanced into a sorcerer, she already understood many of the essential questions behind the transformation of the six elements, deepening her appreciation of how the world was formed. Amidst the strange and faint colors in the Space that was filled with the six elements, the elements were still continuously transforming.
That time around, Lex used her eyes to observe what was happening. It was as if her eyes were now able to differentiate between the elements.
That was not an illusion, rather it was given to her by the Six Elements’ Space. At the same time, her seventh magic chord grew out of her body and began to absorb the elemental power within the Space.
Lex had never gone through training at such high speed before, so much so that she was afraid of it. The accumulation of magic chords was a complicated process and within the Space, the speed of the process has increased by at least thirty times. Lex estimated that the ten years’ worth of time she would have needed to advance to a grade-8 sorcerer could be shrunk to about three months at that rate.
The Sregl Island mages should be able to advance faster than her since she possessed an additional magic chord, which would affect the speed of her advancement.
Since Lex no longer needed to worry about the increase in magic chords, she could use the rest of the time to fully focus on sensing the rules and mastering the technique of controlling the elements.
As Lex gradually sank into a shallow state of meditation, she began to dispose of the knowledge of all the spells that she had learned since her youth.
The rainbow magic chords spun gently outside of her body and gradually became more cohesive. This cohesiveness was a unique rule that did not belong to the Space and only Lex could sense.
Her God’s Ring was slowly absorbing the elemental power as well, but at a lower rate than Lex. It was as if it was afraid of affecting Lex’s training. Ancient runes on the interior of the God’s Ring became clearer. The ancient writings were made up of long syllables as each word was rich with meaning. It was also the reason why the ancient writings were lost over time.
Eight ancient words appeared on the God’s Ring. They were left behind by humans at the beginning of civilization, even earlier than the first dynasty.
The eight words gave out a soft sound continuously. Only Lex could hear the sounds and she could not help, but allow them to occupy her mind. The syllables of the eight words were long and repetitive. Even if Lex forced herself to memorize them all, they could be rearranged in any order and that made it difficult for her to fully comprehend their meaning. To a mage, it was incredible.
Lex was not in a hurry. She had more than enough time in the Six Elements’ Space. If she needed three months to advance to grade-8, then she would probably need at least six months to advance to grade-9. She had no other choice since she had one more additional magic chord than others.
While the training in the Six Elements’ Space was boring, Metatrin City was full of excitement. That was because Saleen had finally returned. In the middle of September, Saleen has returned to Metatrin City with Sika on his pan’s turtle alchemical boat.
He was in such a hurry to return purely because he was worried about the defense of Metatrin City. All the Dragon skeleton combat vessels had gone to the Oceanic Ice Block. Aside from a magic cannon, Metatrin’s port was practically defenceless. If Cloudflow fleets appeared, they would be able to reach shore after probably sacrificing about only ten main combat vessels.
Based on the speed of the magic cannon, that was the best that they could have hoped for.
Once Saleen returned, he knew of Jason’s arrival immediately. He was not as emotional as the previous time. He only brought Sika along with him to Jason’s room to greet him.
Any ritual would have been meaningless because Jason was like a father to Saleen.
When Jason saw Saleen, he was overcome with emotions. His student had finally grown up. The woman by his side was pregnant and was smiling at him without any fear. She was a very powerful warrior! No, not a warrior, or a swordsman, or an assassin, or any archer.
This Caucasus woman had become a powerful Priestess!
“Teacher, you have finally come.” So many feelings and words were condensed into a simple sentence. Saleen had endured a lot while waiting for Jason to come over. In the past, he would put up with everything because he was afraid that his kingdom would be wiped out. Jason was there and Metatrin City was at least secured. Even if Fyrco came, surely there was nothing he could do against thirty-six magic towers.