Chapter 12: The Entrustment
Time flowed on, and in the blink of an eye, several months had passed. It was now February, and many trees on Wushan Mountain had already sprouted new buds. A hint of spring had quietly arrived.
Beneath an ancient tree.
Linley sat cross-legged, meditating to refine his magical power.
In his meditative state, Linley could clearly sense a large number of earthy yellow specks and cyan specks swirling around his body. These two types of specks continuously entered his body from all over, passing through his limbs and torso. After being purified, they eventually gathered at the 'middle dantian' in the center of his chest.
Within the middle dantian, it was filled with a thin, earthy yellow mist and a thin, cyan mist.
The earthy yellow mist was the magical power of the earth element. The cyan mist was the magical power of the wind element.
"Huff." Letting out a slow breath, Linley recovered from his meditative state.
Dressed in a moon-white robe, Doehring Cowart smiled as he sat cross-legged on the ground, gazing at the surrounding scenery. Seeing Linley awake, he couldn't help but chuckle and say, "Linley, you're leaving for the Ernst Institute tomorrow, yet you're still working so hard today."
Linley, however, curled his lip and laughed. "Grandpa Doehring, you yourself said that a strong person trains diligently every single day, never relaxing for a moment. Only through long-term cultivation can one gain astonishing strength."
"You little rascal, now you're teaching me." Doehring Cowart scolded with a laugh.
"Hehe." Linley grinned.
"Whoosh!" A black blur flashed past in the distance, appearing and disappearing in an instant. The next moment, it was already on Linley's shoulder. It was the Shadowmouse 'Bebe'. Little Bebe was baring his teeth at Linley while pointing at a dead wild rabbit on the ground.
Linley took one look at Bebe's expression and understood.
"You want me to roast it for you?" Linley said with a smile.
Bebe nodded repeatedly.
"Linley." Doehring Cowart transmitted his thoughts telepathically. "This little Shadowmouse is really quite strange. It's been several months, but looking at its size, it hasn't grown at all. During the juvenile period, growth should be very noticeable."
"I don't understand it either." Linley shook his head.
The Shadowmouse 'Bebe' wasn't growing in size, but its movement speed was increasing quite rapidly.
"How bizarre." Doehring Cowart glanced at the little Shadowmouse 'Bebe'. At that moment, Bebe had no idea that a soul was scrutinizing him.
"It's getting late. I still need to do my evening training in a little while." Linley stood up, grabbed the dead wild rabbit, and headed down the mountain. Doehring Cowart floated beside him, dissatisfied. "Linley, you're going to be a mage in the future. Are you still training as a warrior now?"
Linley smiled. "Grandpa Doehring, I've found that warrior training improves perseverance, and increased perseverance can also enhance mental strength."
"Of course I know that." Doehring Cowart said discontentedly. "But how can that primitive training method compare to a mage's 'meditation' in terms of improving mental strength?"
Linley fell silent.
Training as a warrior could indeed improve mental strength, but that was just an excuse.
The real reason Linley still trained as a warrior was: "If I ever have the chance to drink fresh dragon blood and cultivate the 'Dragonblood Secret Code', I still need to train my body. The body is the vessel, and battle qi is the wine. The body is very important. By building a good foundation early, I'll be able to cultivate the 'Dragonblood Secret Code' much faster in the future."
In fact, given Linley's elemental affinity, he only needed a relatively short time each day to refine magical power.
Most of his time was spent meditating to train his mental strength.
But meditating to train mental strength all the time was exhausting. Warrior training served as a form of diversion and rest.
...
The next morning, many residents of Wushan Town gathered on the town's streets. They had all come to see Linley off. For Wushan Town to produce a mage who would attend the Ernst Institute was an incredibly glorious honor.
Across the entire Yulan Continent, the Ernst Institute only admitted one hundred students per year.
At this moment, Linley was still in the Baruch family estate. Hillman and a group of guards were waiting outside the estate gate. In the front courtyard, only Hogg, Linley, Wharton, and the butler Hiri remained.
"Linley, today you are going to the Ernst Institute and will officially become one of its members. When you graduate from the Ernst Institute, you will be a great and powerful mage! Before you leave, your father wants to tell you—" On the eve of their parting, Hogg had a thousand words in his heart.
But after a long silence, Hogg only managed to say a few simple sentences: "Linley, remember the wishes of our Baruch family's ancestors over these past few hundred years. Remember the shame of our Baruch family!"
Hogg's face was slightly pale.
"After you graduate, you will be at least a sixth-grade mage. As long as you train diligently and seriously, becoming a seventh-grade mage won't be difficult. And you are a dual-element mage! A seventh-grade dual-element mage is a major figure in the Kingdom of Fenlai. You will have every confidence to reclaim our family's heirloom. If you fail to reclaim it, even if I die, I will never forgive you." Hogg stared intently at Linley.
"Even if I die, I will never forgive you!"
These words made Linley's heart tremble.
This was his father's entrustment to him before their parting.
"Father, rest assured. Within my lifetime, I will definitely reclaim the heirloom of our Baruch family. I swear it!" Linley looked his father in the eye and gave a solemn promise. His clear eyes held nothing but determination.
Hogg's eyes lit up. He placed his strong hand on Linley's shoulder and patted it.
"I believe in you, son!"
...
On the small road east of Wushan Town, Linley turned back to look at the hundreds, even thousands, of fellow villagers who had come to see him off. At the forefront were his father and his younger brother, 'Wharton'.
"Brother, goodbye!" Wharton waved vigorously.
Looking at his father and brother, Linley waved back with all his strength, his eyes growing a little red.
"Father, Wharton." Linley's heart was filled with reluctance.
Since he was a child, Linley had never truly left home for an extended period. This time, he would be away for a very long time. Even the Shadowmouse 'Bebe' was behaving quietly on Linley's shoulder, not making a sound, as if he knew Linley was in a bad mood. Beside him, Doehring Cowart, existing in the form of a 'soul', also looked at Linley with encouraging eyes.
"Linley, let's go." Hillman said. There might be bandits on the road, and Hillman was also there to protect Linley on his way to the institute.
Linley looked reluctantly at his loved ones, but in the end, he resolutely turned around and set off toward the Ernst Institute.
"Goodbye, my family. Goodbye, my homeland."
In the year 9991 of the Yulan Calendar, nine-year-old Linley, carrying the little Shadowmouse 'Bebe', left his hometown of Wushan Town together with Hillman, the captain of the Baruch family guard.