I wasn't able to learn anything by myself. I decided to visit the village chief's residence today.

It was inevitable but it was time for me to get a magic teacher. I wanted to try and see what this spirit magic was but didn't get very far. That technique the goddess gave me was the only spirit related skill I had.

"I oftentimes see blue lights roam around my body when I near a pond."

"Those are called water spirits, boy."

'I knew it.'

Inside the village chief's residence, the old elf lady gently explained to me. I bought a book once and it explained that elves are naturally born spirit users.

This woman is the village chief of our village, Solphia.

I came to her when I heard about elves possessing spirit magic.

"It was smart to come to me first. Humans with spirit magic are rare on this continent."

Solphia drank the tea Brielle brought earlier.

"It's important to keep this a secret between those you can trust. Has a mage arrived to check your aptitude yet?"

I shook my head.

"Hmm... I will explain to your mother that this will be necessary. She should contact a mage from the tower instead of the court mages."

"Why the tower?"

"Clyde boy, do you know how many nobles have their claws sunk into the court mages? I say this because they can forcibly take you away from your parents when they find out about your magic potential. I have never seen anyone through my thousand years of life have this much mana."

She looked at me with both shock and amazement.

"Were you really able to achieve intermediate rank magic by seven years old?"

"Yes."

"Truly outstanding talent. Haa… if only you were an elf... We need such power in that kingdom."Solphia took another sip and leaned back on her chair. "Only the Great Sage and our god, the Spirit King were users of both arcane and spirit magic."

"That name again… Can you tell me of this spirit king, Lady Solphia?"

"Hmm… what would you like to know?"

"Can you tell me everything about him? No matter where I go, no shop has books that explains who this Spirit King is."

"Goodness. Would my memory be able to remember our scripts…"

Lady Sophia then leaned back on her rocking chair.

"Some of the things related to him may not be true so you'll have to choose what to believe. One fact stands though and that was that he did exist–"

The Spirit King was a being who was sent to this world to become the ruler of all elements and protector of nature.

He possessed powers strong enough to shape oceans or form mountains with a single call to his spirits.

A being of his might was sent here for a reason.

To stop the evil god who invaded this world. Many believe his goal was to conquer this world.

One night when the red star that was always blinking in the night sky disappeared, HE appeared.

They say the star was actually a planet which was the home world of dragons. They say the evil god destroyed the planet and sought to get rid of its inhabitants as well.

No one knew who this being was that was powerful enough to slay the god of the dragons and chase away the true dragon lords from their own world.

What made it possible for the true dragon lords to come to this world was the phenomenon known as the Red Abyss. Many mysteries surround that dungeon. They call it the Labyrinth of Worlds because there are millions of worlds and portals inside the dungeon. Many disaster class monsters roam the dungeon as well.

It was suspected that the evil god came from one of those worlds as well.

"Did he manage to kill it?"

Solphia nodded.

"With the help of the Dragon Lords of course. He was just too powerful to take on alone. His power made the gods question why the Primordial would allow such beings to roam around our universe."

"Wow."

"We don't know what actually happened to him. The four heroes of the past were able to fight alongside him. They say he disappeared after the Red Era ended."

"What was the Red Era?"

Solphia smiled awkwardly.

"Not a very good period to be born in, that's for sure. Since you have done research on magic, you probably heard of the Red Abyss?"

I nodded.

"Well, at the beginning of the Red Era 40000 years ago, the red abyss dungeon formed it our world. It was a giant hole spamming thousands of kilometres across. During its formation, strange creatures poured out of the dungeon wave after wave. There was no end to them. I was a child back then when the first demonic monster attacked our village. It was so powerful that just one killed thousands of our people. That was when the heroes first appeared."

"The four heroes?"

"Yes. Odette, the most powerful magic caster, Saintess Merlin, Alucard the Sword King and another hero who never named themselves to the public. The heroes saved the continent, but the real damage was what happened after the Red Era ended. Hunger struck from the damaged caused by the invading monsters. Many were also left homeless.

Ten nations were destroyed by the Great Sage. The Saintess killed herself and there was also discrimination against those who can use magic. Magic was banned for a certain period because of the power Odette showed out of revenge."

"What happened to the other hero and Alucard?"

"Well, both of them disappeared. People have been saying they see Alucard roam around the continent acting as an adventurer and saving people using the Light Sword. What a bunch of crap. At least we could receive new heroes after they disappeared."

"Do you mean the White Order?"

The White Order are an organization who protect the continent against underworld monsters which pour out of the Red Abyss.

"I've been meaning to ask, how did they get so strong? I thought it was impossible for anyone to ascend past 7th grade mana stage."

"That is why it is a good thing the Red Abyss appeared when it did."

"Huh? What does that mean?"

Didn't she just say that dungeon was the cause of the continent's suffering during her childhood?

"Many don't know this. It is because the reason they are so strong is because of the runes found in the Red Abyss. The first rune discovered was able to force a person's growth to abnormal heights. The current leader, Iris is the only person in the continent to reach power similar to Alucard. That is excluding the power of the Light Sword. Well, Alucard was strong even without the sword."

Solphia took another sip from her tea.

"Each of the three nations on this part of the continent has three members of their race part of the White Order. It was done like this so all of us would be equal in strength. This prevents the nations from attacking each other using the super soldiers we have. Although it is so, we recently lost one of our race's members during a mission."

"Let me guess, it was the Red Abyss."

"Yes. Even to people of their strength, that dungeon poses a threat to them as well. Only Laura and Eredhel are still part of the Order. They have yet to fill the eigth and ninth seats." Solphia then smirked, "We might have one right under our noses."

She nudged me with her elbow.

"I wouldn't want to take such a responsibility…"

"Oh, come on~ If you work hard then you can be part of our continent's heroes. Her Highness, Miya might also become your wife. She's one of the only living high elves, you know? A real beauty."

Before I could retort, I heard the neighing of horses outside.

"What's that?"

Solphia and I looked out of the window.

"A white carriage?"

I saw an extremely luxurious carriage outside our house.

"Hmm… Duke Luxembourg's crest."

"Luxembourg?"

I frowned.

'Why are they at our house?'

"They must be visiting a noble territory nearby. Before I forget...take this."

The old lady gave me a thick book.

"What's this?"

"That's what I'll give to you as an early birthday present. It's a book with high ranking spells inside of it. It is from hundreds of years ago and recorded spells not written down in today's scripts. That means that no one else has a book like this other than you."

"You're giving me something this precious?"

"You kept this old lady company so it's the least I can do for you. Now run along now. I hope you find the book useful for your path as a mage."

◇◇◇

"Who's that?"

While I was walking, Arthur came running towards me. He was making friends with the other village children. It's a relief that he wasn't shy to approach others.

"That's my distant relatives' carriage."

"Ah..."

Arthur looked like he realized something.

"What's wrong?"

"Oh, n-nothing."

'What a strange reaction.'

We walked past the carriage and avoided the red carpet strewn on the lawn.

"We're back! Huh?"

When we opened the door, I saw a head of whitish silver hair. The person was standing in the middle of the room.

"Do you not have any shame!? You dare ruin this dress!?"

She threw the juice inside the glass in Brielle's face.

"I-I'm sorry."

"You ought to be disciplined, servant!"

The girl lifted her hand.

"Oi!" I stood between the silver haired and Brielle. "What are you doing to Brielle?"

"Hm? This servant spilled the juice on my dress. Do you know how much this costs!? Are you her young master? You better pay up soon or else!"

It looked like the silver haired girl was about to slap me even though I didn't do anything.

The door to the living room opened.

"Oh, my. It seems Arielle met the boys."

A woman with silver hair and green eyes came out with mother.

"Huh?" I looked towards the girl again. "This is Arielle?"

I wasn't expecting a rude brat like this.

"That's right! I am the second daughter of Henry Luxembourg! Humph!"

The girl flicked her hair and arrogantly harrumphed.

The woman laughed softly and patted Arielle's head.

"Yes. This is my and lord Henry's daughter. My name is Kimberly. The two of you must be Clyde and Arthur!"

She pulled both Arthur and I into a hug and kissed our cheeks.

"Such cute boys! I want to eat them up!"

'Slow down now, lady.'

"There's someone I brought over after I received a letter from your mother."

I looked at my mother with curiosity.

"Mister Francis. May the boy come in?"

–Of course. I set everything up.

An old man's voice came out of the living room.

"Wait..." The girl, Arielle spoke up, "This is the kid with magical talent in our branch family? He doesn't even look strong."

She looked at me with a strange expression.

"No need to be rude, sweetheart. The three of you will be living in the same house after all. El asked us if we could educate the boys at our residence. The three of you must get along."

We quickly moved towards the living room.

I saw an old man wearing a long wizard robe sitting on the couch drinking tea.

By the way, the tea cup was actually levitating. The old wizard was reading a book and drinking the tea.

"So this is the talented mage I heard so much about from little El?"

◇◇◇

The old man's name was Francis Hadley. He was a former professor at Graponia Academy and later became the head wizard at the magic tower.

Eleanor and old man Francis seemed to know each other quite well. My mother explained that he was the one who employed her to enchant items at the magic tower before she left.

"Thank you, Kimberly. I appreciate your support."

Mother said to aunt Kimberly as Francis set up the magical aptitude orb.

"No need for thanks. We are family after all. I was originally planning on sending Clyde to a school to learn politics with your permission. To think a mage would be born in our families."

"Are mages rare for our bloodline?" I asked her.

"Yes. There hasn't been a mage in the Luxembourg bloodline for quite a while. They say it's like a curse since the first ancestor wielded a sword instead of pursuing magic." She smiled at me. "But you are one of the few children to be born this way. It might be Eleanor's blood. I think the last mage to be born was two hundred years ago. "

She then patted my head.

It seemed the only way for them to have mages in the family bloodline was to marry nobles capable of magic. Aunt Kimberly seemed to be a capable mage herself.

Mages are ranked based on the color of their mana and are given a ranking. 1st grade mana is the weakest while 9th grade mana stage is the strongest. There are at the moment four 8th grade mages and four people who reached Master rank, in the Order. They are the people who protect the nations.

As Solphia has mentioned before, they are called when adventurers and the Holy Knights cannot defeat a calamity that came from the Red Abyss or even the Demon Realm.

"Now, then. Francis, please proceed. I will trust your husband's judgement on Arthur's talent for the sword, Eleanor."

So it seemed my aunt brought a Magic Tower senior mage today to measure my exact stage of mana. It's funny how my mother thought this far ahead. Solphia was planning on telling her to do it anyway.

"Certainly, Madam. Please prick your finger with this."

The old man took an orb onto his wrinkly hands. He then stabbed a sharp little needle into my index finger. The pain subsided after a few seconds.

GLOOP

A sound similar to water-dropping came from the orb.

WHOOOSH

"…Huh?"

The old man looked at the orb sharply.

"Francis? What's the matter?"

My aunt asked.

"H-He… he has…"

The old man had sweat drippingping down his face. His face was painted with disbelief.

"Francis!"

"Yes! Just a moment, madam!"

The old man grabbed my shoulder.

"Boy, you said you've recently started using magic, right?"

"Y-Yes."

I was confused at his vigor after checking my mana.

"Hold on. I'll quickly disperse the barrier."

A barrier forms around the orb when someone's aptitude is checked. Only tower mages can see the orb's reaction.

"What!?"

"Two cores!?"

Both mother and aunt Kimberly, jumped from their seats.

"Eleanor, your boy's potential…"

"I can't believe it…"

**

"Two cores?"

I asked the old man when we sat down.

'Does that mean what I saw inside the domain where my core was is real?'

That second core wasn't my hallucination after all.

Arthur was looking at me with sparkling eyes while Arielle was looking at everyone's faces in confusion.

"That's correct," Francis wiped the sweat on his face with a handkerchief. "You are capable of both regular arcane magic and spirit magic. The other core besides your mana core is what we call a spiritual core."

"Spirit magic? What is that?" Arielle spoke up with a clueless look on her face.

"This boy has the same power as the Great Sage that lived 900 years ago. In summary, he has power that will someday be able to change the state of war." The old man laughed heartily. "To think such a splendid mage was born out here. His potential is indeed limitless."

He then looked at everyone seriously.

"For now, keep this a secret. Many complications might arise while this boy is still in his growing phase. His spirit mana grade is 8th grade stage indeed, but it's still in the Imperfect form. I suggest not using those two together even if your regular mana is in the 4th-grade stage. Difficult obstacles shouldn't be a problem for you since your mana pool is by far one of the largest I've recorded to this date."

"El, you can trust that Francis will keep this a secret."

My mother looked unsure. Noticing that, aunt Kim reassured her.

"Yes, please trust me. I'll do a Slave ritual if it's what you require to gain my trust."

He stuck out his chest.

"N-No. Thank you, senior Francis. I trust you."

The conversation switched to Arthur after Francis wrote down my mana readings in a magic diary. A magic diary is something that only opens if the user who bought it infused their mana inside of it. Miss Solphia was right. The tower mages are indeed trustworthy.