Chapter 24: The Flat Blade School
A few days later, at the Ernst Institute.
One morning, after eating breakfast, Linley set out for the back mountain to begin his training.
Walking along the paths within the institute, the little Shadowmouse stood on Linley’s shoulder, looking around in all directions. In the Ernst Institute, quite a few people possessed magical beasts, so no one paid any attention to Linley having a Shadowmouse. Just at that moment—
“That’s Linley, the true number one mage of our first year.” A crisp voice came from not far ahead.
Linley couldn’t help but look toward the source of the sound. He saw two cute little girls whispering to each other, occasionally glancing at Linley. When Linley looked over, the two girls covered their mouths and giggled softly.
“So I’ve become a celebrity too,” Linley thought to himself with a self-deprecating smile.
Over the past few days, whenever he encountered people, he often heard them discussing him. Having defeated Rand, the champion of the year-level competition, Linley was now vaguely regarded as the top expert of the first year.
“Ah, who’s that ahead?” Linley’s gaze suddenly locked onto a thin, small figure in the distance.
Short golden hair, a slender build similar to Reynolds, and an icy-cold demeanor as he walked indifferently along the path.
“Dixie?” Linley’s pupils involuntarily contracted.
Dixie was also nine years old now, and by the calendar, he was even a month younger than Linley. Yet this nine-year-old child was already a third-grade mage. Although it was true that the higher one advanced in magic, the harder it became, being a third-grade mage at nine was still astonishing.
“That’s Dixie, you know. I heard that in yesterday’s year-end test results, Dixie has already reached the fourth-grade mage level.” Some seventeen- or eighteen-year-old girls nearby were chatting among themselves.
In the third year, most students were over sixteen, except for Dixie, this super genius.
“Fourth-grade mage!”
Linley felt his heart clench painfully. Both were nine years old, and Dixie was even a month younger than him, yet he was already a fourth-grade mage, while Linley was only a second-grade mage.
Dixie’s face was cold and expressionless as he walked past Linley.
The peerless genius “Dixie” — among his peers, no one could compare to him.
A streak of light flew out from the Coiling Dragon Ring, and Doehring Cowart appeared beside Linley, laughing. “Linley, the gap between you isn’t that big. When this Dixie enrolled, his spiritual energy was 68 times that of an average person his age. That means even before he started training, his spiritual energy had already reached the level of a third-grade mage. So in his first year at Ernst, he only needed to accumulate enough magical power to reach third-grade. Now that he’s been here for nearly two years, reaching fourth-grade is only natural.”
Linley understood in his heart.
The other party’s talent was too high. He was born with such strong spiritual energy, and with his super-grade elemental affinity, accumulating magical power was certainly very fast.
“He’s advancing quickly now, but from fourth-grade to fifth-grade, I estimate it will take him three to four years. And from fifth-grade to sixth-grade, probably four to five years.”
“You’re a second-grade mage now, and he’s a fourth-grade mage, but I have confidence that I can help you catch up to him within ten years,” Doehring Cowart said confidently.
Linley wasn’t so sure.
“Grandpa Doehring, the higher one’s talent, the faster they train. His talent is far greater than mine, and he’s already two full grades ahead of me. How could I possibly catch up to him in just ten years?” Linley wasn’t foolish. His studies at the Ernst Institute had taught him how difficult it was to advance even one grade as a mage.
Doehring Cowart had once said he could get Linley to sixth-grade within ten years, but Linley had his doubts about that too. After all, his current rate of progress was right there in front of him.
As he spoke, Linley had already walked out the back gate of the Ernst Institute and entered the back mountain. Moving swiftly through the forest, Doehring Cowart suddenly said, “Linley, find a place against a mountain wall.”
“Against a mountain wall?” Linley was puzzled.
“Don’t ask so many questions. When we get there, I’ll tell you,” Doehring Cowart said with a smile.
The back mountain was mostly covered in vegetation and wild grass, with towering trees everywhere. But after searching for a while, Linley found a spot that met Doehring Cowart’s requirements. There was a protruding peak several hundred meters high, and Linley stood at the base of this peak.
“Grandpa Doehring, why did you bring me here?” Linley asked, confused.
Doehring Cowart laughed. “Linley, you don’t believe I can help you catch up to him in just ten years? Haha… Linley, as a Saint-level Grand Magus, I actually have a method for improving spiritual energy.”
“A method for improving spiritual energy? Isn’t meditation training enough?” Linley looked at Doehring Cowart doubtfully.
Doehring Cowart said with a faint smile, “Linley, I admit that meditation training is quite effective, but after meditation training, a person becomes very exhausted.”
“Of course they’re exhausted. Meditation training involves constantly using spiritual energy, consuming it down to a baseline, and then letting it recover on its own. How could it not be exhausting?” Linley frowned.
Doehring Cowart said proudly, “My method is different. It doesn’t consume spiritual energy at all. Instead, it’s a form of entertainment.”
“Entertainment?” Linley was stunned.
“Yes, this entertainment is—sculpting!” A hint of pride appeared on Doehring Cowart’s face.
“Sculpting?” Linley exclaimed in surprise. “You mean the kind of stone carving like at the Prux Guild Hall?”
Doehring Cowart smiled and said, “Exactly. Others might expend a lot of energy when sculpting, working up a sweat, but my sculpting method might be tiring at first, but in the middle and later stages, the results are extremely good.”
“Really?” Linley was skeptical.
Doehring Cowart glared. “Linley, you don’t believe me? I, Doehring Cowart, was a Saint-level Grand Magus of the Pru Empire. Back then, several of my stone sculptures were sought after by nobles willing to pay a million gold coins each. But as a Saint-level Grand Magus, how could I give away my proudest works?”
“That impressive? How come I’ve never heard of a master sculptor named Doehring?” Linley asked, puzzled.
Doehring Cowart said awkwardly, “Well, my works were all hidden in an underground chamber, unknown to anyone. Over five thousand years have passed, and I don’t even know where that underground chamber is anymore.” Five thousand years—seas changed into mulberry fields. The old capital of the Pru Empire had been razed to the ground. Who knew where his underground chamber was?
“Oh, so no one knows about them,” Linley said with a grin.
“You don’t believe me?” Doehring Cowart glared again. “Back then, that young punk Prux came running to me, begging to see my works. After studying them, that kid Prux had a breakthrough and eventually became a master. You could say he was my disciple.”
Linley was stunned.
“Prux?” Linley was truly shocked.
Throughout history, the foremost figure in stone carving, “Prux,” could actually be considered Doehring Cowart’s disciple.
“Of course, if Prux’s works pursued perfection, mine pursued an extreme. My stone carving technique, I named it the ‘Flat Blade School.’ The Flat Blade School is completely different from any other stone carving technique, heading toward another extreme. This method of carving will be very tiring and troublesome at first, but in the later stages, you’ll taste the real benefits.” Doehring Cowart’s face radiated absolute confidence.
His gaze swept over Linley, and Doehring Cowart smiled. “Of course, the Flat Blade School used to have only me. From today onward, it will also have you.”
Linley had deep trust in Grandpa Doehring in his heart, so he naturally decided to learn sculpting.
Besides…
If it really worked as Doehring Cowart described, not only would his strength grow rapidly, but he could also become a master of stone carving. Just by carving, he could earn enough to support his younger brother’s tuition.
“Written records only go back tens of thousands of years, but in the long ages before that, writing hadn’t truly formed, yet stone carving already existed,” Doehring Cowart said with a sigh. “Tracing back hundreds of thousands of years, millions of years, our ancestors would carve what they saw and thought. This is the oldest way to pass down civilization.”
Linley nodded.
No other art form could match the antiquity of stone carving.
“From ancient times to the present, among countless art forms, none are older than stone carving, and none can better express what people see and hear, or the joys and sorrows in their hearts. This is why stone carving art has flourished for millennia without decline.”
“Stone is hard and difficult to carve. To form a unique spirit and charm is even harder. The greater the difficulty, the more precious the successful work.” Doehring Cowart sighed.
Linley agreed in his heart.
For example, in painting, you can easily make a natural stroke, but to carve a very natural stroke is extremely difficult. Because stone is too hard.
“The shape, texture, grain, and color of stone contain not only concrete images but also beauty itself. Using a carving knife to cut away the excess parts of the rough stone, allowing the graceful image within to naturally emerge and reveal itself—that is stone carving.”
“The method of carving is actually a way of handling form and space. When carving, you work from the outside in, step by step removing waste material, gradually outlining the ‘form.’ As you remove waste material again and again, the ‘form’ becomes clearer and clearer, allowing the creator to naturally experience the wonderful feeling of the work ‘breaking out of its shell.’”
…
When Doehring Cowart talked about stone carving, he could go on and on.
But Linley could also feel Doehring Cowart’s reverence for stone carving.
“Common carving methods require many tools, such as: round knives, flat knives, oblique knives, triangular knives, jade bowl knives, axes, saws… and many others. The reason for so many tools is that stone itself is quite hard. They use round knives for arranging, flat knives for cutting, triangular knives for…”
Listening to the explanation, Linley gained a general understanding of the principles of stone carving.
Doehring Cowart suddenly laughed. “However, my carving method is completely different from everyone else’s, because my method uses only one tool—the flat knife. So I call my method the ‘Flat Blade School’!”
“How is that possible? How can you carve with just a flat knife?” Linley immediately objected. “What you just mentioned, like fish scales—how can you carve them with a flat knife? It’s impossible, right?”
“No, it’s impossible for others, but we earth-style mages can do it.”
Doehring Cowart said confidently, “An earth-style mage can fully sense the stone itself. With enough wrist strength, you can carve using only a flat knife. Of course, the Flat Blade School isn’t that simple. Your task today is to buy a sufficiently sharp flat knife. Starting tomorrow, I will spend three hours each day teaching you stone carving.”