The Vastness of Magi Chapter 27 - 27 2 Growth

??Chapter 27: Chapter 2: Growth

Chapter 27: Chapter 2: Growth

“Kor, none of these pieces of information provide any insight into the horrors of Damarlinsk Castle; it seems that each Lord’s cause of death is different, yet sohow, every death is more or less connected to the eerie Damarlinsk Castle. Based on what we can glean from these docunts, it’s difficult to make any valuable judgnt. I think we were a bit reckless to decide on going there.”

Puber was a very pragmatic and stable person. The two years of study at the Phoenix Elite Academy had made his personality even more mature and stable, and his ability to think deeply and broadly about problems far exceeded that of his peers. Even Kor had to admit that his friend had an exceptional talent in administration and finance and having him around was indeed a huge help.

“Didn’t you say you’ve been there before? What are your feelings and views on it?”

Seeing that Kor did not want to answer his question, Puber beca sowhat annoyed and stared at Kor intently.

“Puber, don’t overthink it. Anyway, we’ve already reached the point of no return, whether we like it or not. Let

handle the matters concerning Damarlinsk Castle. No matter how much more you think about it, it won’t help. You’d better think about how we’re going to live once we get to Caucasus, how to solve the food problem, and how to develop this piece of broken land we’ve got. We can’t stay in that godforsaken place for the rest of our lives, devoting our beautiful youth to a bunch of swindlers, thieves, and rapists, can we?”

Kor laughed and patted Puber’s shoulder, “I have my ways, but we need to get there before anything can be settled.”

Puber cast a suspicious glance at his boss. He didn’t understand why Kor took such a relaxed stance on an issue that should have been a priority. He was starting to find it hard to understand his childhood friend, who he had grown up with.

The deaths of the forr Lords seed to have little impact on him; where others were struck silent with fear, he was oddly enthusiastic. It was almost inconceivable. Could it be that his childhood friend possessed unknown abilities? For a mont, Puber couldn’t figure it out.

However, he knew well that although his friend was unruly and wild from a young age, he never spouted nonsense or made empty promises. With this thought, Puber felt sowhat at ease.

The following period was spent waiting for the Coming of Age Ceremony for Puber and Ilot, which was equally helpless. Besides receiving a small amount of money, Puber also got a box of books from his father, and Ilot received a set of weapons and armor for a novice knight from the family, plus two war horses and a servant.

This was already considered generous treatnt. In typical noble families, those kicked out to fend for themselves were all too common, usually with just enough funds to subsist for a year or two. As for life thereafter, that was on them to strive and fight for.

This was also a thod of natural selection. Just think about those slums and back alleys in Cyprus City—how many of the commoners there could have close or distant blood relations to the Duke’s family that ruled Cyprus City?

But Kor wasn’t idle. With Puber handling the arrangents for their future in Caucasus, he set his mind at ease and refocused his attention on his own cultivation.

Each advance in his Yoga Technique brought Kor to a new awareness, whether it was an improvent in spiritual sense, a deepening of perception, or an enhancent of physical qualities. This period was the calst and most peaceful days in Kor’s life, giving him enough ti to delve into the endless exploration of magic.

Although it was only a short year, his teacher had taught him so much. Much of it Kor had to swallow whole. At the ti, he didn’t understand the anings behind it. His teacher told him that many things would gradually show their value to him during his cultivation and exploration of magic, and they couldn’t be explained clearly at the mont.

At that ti, Kor only partially understood. However, now in his current practice, Kor had already started to vaguely feel the setups his teacher had left for him.

The tranquility of his mind seed to create more opportunities for him to practice his Yoga Technique. Sotis it was in the early morning, sotis late at night, sotis at noon. Kor couldn’t predict when the best ti was for him to train, but he could always keenly sense so inner need of his body and mind, a yearning for the enrichnt of spirit and vitality.

Besides focusing on his own training, Kor was even more engrossed in studying the precious corpse he had acquired. It seed that with each study session, Kor would gain sothing new.

Kor had already thoroughly examined the corpse from head to toe, stripping off the night garnt infused with strong wind magic and a set of magical beast armor with remarkable toughness and resistance. Even now, Kor couldn’t figure out from which magical beast the skin had been taken, but there was no doubt about its property to resist physical attacks from tal objects. Inside the corpse’s hair bun, Kor also found a sharp double-edged hidden needle.

This was an extrely harmful hidden weapon, its blue, faintly glowing tip imdiately alerting Kor to its danger. A chemical test revealed that the needle had a potent corrosive poison capable of reducing a cow to a skeleton within the ti it took to eat a al.

Though ti seed abundant, as he slowly recalled the vast knowledge his teacher had imparted to him, Kor felt the shortage of ti.

From magic knowledge to spiritual cultivation, from the enhancent of Dark Arts to martial art skills, from the principles of being human to the ever-changing paths of fate, many seemingly unrelated things were perfectly integrated in his enigmatic teacher. Even Kor couldn’t fathom how such a learned and skilled magician could live out his life in obscurity in the countryside.

Had he suffered a great setback, or had he seen through the vanity of fa and fortune? Even after a year of interaction, Kor still couldn’t grasp his teacher’s thoughts, and his teacher seed unwilling to speak of his past.

Intent on systematically categorizing the knowledge and skills his teacher had given him, Kor had to abandon this idea after several attempts at analysis and synthesis. It was difficult to draw clear boundaries, as many teachings were the synthesis of multiple areas of knowledge. Kor could only deeply engrave these teachings in his mind for slow digestion, waiting for a breakthrough with future training and experience.

The verdant Stone Mirror emitted a chilling aura; its smooth edges felt exceptionally fine under Kor’s fingers. He even felt as if nurous secrets were hidden within the mirror, secrets he was montarily unable to discern.

Kor had now grown accustod to keeping the Stone Mirror close against his chest, the cool touch helping to clear his mind and soul, and even his subtle spiritual sense seed to beco more tangible.

Pursuing magic and magical practices had always been a focus for Kor. Thinking of the various possibilities ntioned by his teacher regarding Damarlinsk Castle made Kor feel an inner urgency. Although he had appeared confident and assertive in front of Puber and Ilot, the difficulty was his to know.

What mysteries lay within Damarlinsk Castle, only those who had ventured inside truly understood. Unfortunately, these individuals were either dead or mad. However, Kor could vaguely guess, as his teacher had suspected, that sothing unusual existed within the castle, possibly so anomaly or non-organic cause. Without personal experience, no one could assert the exact nature of it.

The only way was to seize every mont to enhance his abilities, especially since as a re baron, to firmly establish himself in the Caucasus swiftly, the sole thod was to move into Damarlinsk Castle safely and for the long term. Only this approach would enable him to effectively control the indigenous inhabitants made up of bandits, thieves, swindlers, exiles, and their descendants. Otherwise, he feared he might be sent to hell by those unruly mobs even if he managed to stand his ground in the Caucasus.

To avoid the fates of previous lords, the primary issue was resolving the mystery of Damarlinsk Castle, a solution largely dependent on his own power.

Kor had seriously analyzed the previous lords; aside from the original lord whose ti was too distant to verify, without exception, the successors were arrogant fools who went in unprepared.

Viscount Burke, who had brought knights and mages with him, had no personal skill and did not anticipate any issues. He brought his entourage purely to flaunt his power to the natives, utterly disbelieving in any anomalies at Damarlinsk Castle.

Yet, he died in horror in his own bedroom, and the exact reason for his terror remained unknown. The Duke’s sent mages and knights found no clues despite spending considerable ti at the castle and surprisingly, none were affected. The reasons for this remained elusive.

One thing was clear, the unprepared would inevitably et misfortune. This was a driving force behind Kor’s efforts to seize every opportunity to improve his abilities during this period.

As for its effectiveness, that wasn’t within Kor’s control. Many things required luck – if fortune was bestowed by the heavens, even lacking in so areas, one might still escape danger unscathed. But if fate wasn’t on one’s side, one could only bla the lack of blue smoke from the family ancestors’ graves. However, as long as one has tried their best, there should be no regrets.