Wizard Of Cosmos

22 - He is A Dangerous Person

Jason sat inside the small stone house with Master Merlin.

The living room gave a slight scent of herbs and he felt some intense mana coming from one of the rooms. He didn’t care much about that since it wasn’t very useful to him at the moment. Magic stones were good to increase the opening rate of magic nodes in a person’s body, but not until he reached the novice level. 

“Jason, before teaching you the magic, let me give you the knowledge about how magic works and what it is.”

“Yes, Master.”

“Very well then. Listen, my young student.”

Jason saw a content smile on Master Merlin’s face. 

Of course, he knew many things about magic, but he wasn’t lying when he told Master Merlin that he was ready to learn. What he knew was the knowledge that came out during a time of catastrophe, and he never had a high enough position to learn everything. 

He would listen to everything even if there was no change in his knowledge.

…

Jason tried his best to add what he knew and listen to what he learned while concentrating. However, all the basics looked the same.

The magic energy known as Mana was in the atmosphere of Yuriel, and to date, there was no discovery of it being reduced or increased. However, not every person could utilise this magic energy. The basic requirement to use the magic energy was unlocking the magic nodes within the human body. 

Magic nodes were like a second system of nerves that spread throughout the human body. These could circulate the magical energy, and each node was like a pivot within this system. 

The basic requirement to reach at least the basic magic was to unlock the first 20 magic nodes within the body. 

This was considered as reaching the Apprentice level. Once a person reached this level, they could manipulate the magic energy in the air to cast the most basic spells. 

The Wizards of Yuriel had invented a key to increasing the casting speed. 

It was the word of power that could accelerate the casting speed. The spells are naturally named using these words. 

These main nodes were important for warriors as well. The so-called Aura came from mana. 

However, there was a way to cast these basic spells without the first twenty magic nodes. 

He learned this when he learned magic without one hand in his previous life. He obviously lacked ten basic magic nodes, but he was able to cast the basic spells. The casting speed was extremely slow and he was like a child when he did those, but it was possible. 

The Novice Wizards had a magic sphere that gave them power. Because spells above Novice level didn’t come from manipulating the Mana in the atmosphere. They directly came from the relevant sphere. Magic spheres were things that no one had ever seen.

…

Master Merlin finished his long lecture before teaching him the basics of Mana breathing. He then gave Jason several books with magic knowledge. 

“That is all for the basics, my young Apprentice. I am honestly impressed by your enthusiasm.”

“I learned a lot, master. Thank you very much.”

Jason honestly appreciated the lecture and he wanted to read these books that he never touched in his previous life. Even though the written language of Yuriel was different, the armband solved everything related to language. He could easily read all the words without a problem. 

“Master… I have a question.”

“Ask away, Jason.”

Jason actually had more questions about magic spheres because he was honestly nervous. 

‘What if I fail in this life as well?’

He didn’t want to know the outcome, and he knew nothing would come with haste. 

“Master… I am wondering about the new technique you invented for Mana Breathing.”

“Oh ho, it is nothing impressive, Jason. I actually tried to develop a method that could be utilised without sitting in the same position. Although I developed a method that could work while standing, it is not that much of a difference.”

Jason felt a slight disappointment in this great man’s voice. This theory was the base for the future Mana Breathing.

“Interesting… I guess… It is about the rhythm of one's body.”

He slowly whispered.

“What… What did you say, Jason?”

“Ah… Nothing master, I was thinking that it should be related to the rhythm of the human body.”

“Rhythm? But, my young apprentice, each human has their own rhythm.”

“Of course, Master. But I thought all those rhythms are deviations from a single norm. Forgive me, I thought it was what you were researching.”

He realised Master Merlin was in deep thought. 

Honestly, this was the truth behind the development of Mana breathing. The rhythm of the human body. This was the reason he could use it while doing anything.

“It is… My Apprentice. Why don’t you practice here? I have something to do.”

“Yes, master.”

“Good!”

He saw Master Merlin rushing inside with brightened eyes. 

‘I hope you succeed, Master.’

…

Jason stretched his body before going to a corner of the living room of Master Merlin’s house. 

From now on he didn’t have to hide his magic nodes and didn’t have to worry about someone finding them being unblocked. 

‘Three weeks. I should try my best to unblock everything within that period.’

He thought about reading these books when he got time, to improve his knowledge. As for the basic magic, he knew all the basic spells. Before reaching the Novice level, all Apprentices could use six basic spells. Enchanted Weapon, Enchanted Armour, Basic Dispel, Arcane Shield, Concealment, Illuminate. 

After these Apprentice level spells, the Novice level spells would depend on the Magic Sphere that bonded with the wizard. 

‘I have a long way to go.’

He sat on the ground cross-legged and closed his eyes. The mana leaking into the living room made it somewhat easy to concentrate on his mana breathing. 

He was now considered a Wizard Initiate. A potential seed that was chosen by a Wizard as their apprentice. 

‘I wonder what Master Merlin’s Magic Sphere is.’

…

‘Sigh.’

Logan wiped the beads of sweat off his forehead, taking a glance at Dawn. 

He never thought it would be this tough to practice a sword. Just the first skill, stab needed a huge amount of concentration and practice. 

‘I shouldn’t slack off.’

He already saw his stab skill on the skill tree lighting up a bit, and there was a pair of eyes watching him and Dawn all the time.

In the morning, they had to go with Amelia to find suitable wooden posts for practice. With the help of a few other enthusiastic villagers, they erected these poles in the backyard of Amelia’s house. 

The village carpenter soon delivered them a couple of wooden swords that were almost heavy as Jason’s sword. When he swung it, a new skill tree for the swords appeared on the skill tree window. 

Their instructor, Amelia then marked the positions of the ground and demonstrated the first skill, stab. Since then, he and Dawn had been practising tedious movements. 

“Do you think… Jason practised like this?”

Dawn eyed the man who was by her side.

“Huh?”

Logan stopped his movements for a moment. 

“I don’t know. Honestly, don’t you think we know nothing?”

Amelia didn’t talk much. Other than showing them the first move and correcting them several times, she didn’t do much. 

He finally turned his head toward the woman who was cutting some fruits while sitting on the pavement. She looked like a common housewife. However, she had a beautiful figure and a dignified look. 

“What are you looking at?”

Amelia didn’t lift her head.

“Ah… Ms Amelia….”

“Call me teacher.”

“Yes. Teacher… How strong are you?”

Logan actually wanted to know this. 

“Me?”

Amelia still didn’t lift her head, but she picked up a small leaf from her winnower. She coated it with her aura before sending it toward her new students. These two looked like they had experience in battle, and she admitted they were brave. Last night their performance was a sign of their courage, but they were nothing compared to the man named Jason. 

“Swish!”

Logan saw a blue flash passing over his head.

“Crack.”

A cracking sound came from behind him and dust fell on his head. He turned around fast to see the hole in the post. It was just above his head and had pierced all the way through to the other side.

He saw Dawn looking at this sight with her mouth wide open. 

“That is called Aura. There are five levels of warriors. Apprentice, Novice, Elite, Master, Grandmaster. When you learn the basics, you guys will be at the Apprentice level. Right now you guys are nothing. As for Aura, you need to reach the Master level to get that.”

“Te… Teacher… Are you at… Master level?”

Dawn was also startled by this display of power. This was like using a gun, but with no weapon or bullets. If she could use aura, anything could be a weapon. She almost forgot that this was a game.

“I am at the Grandmaster level.”

“Gulp!”

Logan swallowed hard. 

‘Doesn’t that mean she is at the top of the food chain? No wonder Jason asked for her help.’

He felt elated by this piece of knowledge. Amelia was actually among the strongest warriors in the game, and he was learning from her.

“Then… Why doesn’t Jason want to learn from you… Teacher?”

“Hm… What do you two know about Jason?”

Amelia finally looked at her two students. She always wanted to ask this question.

“I mean in your world.”

She changed her question accordingly. 

‘Damn… I always forget this is a game. I mean… NPCs asking about our world? Isn’t this just too much?’

Logan failed to answer Amelia.

“I don’t know much about him, teacher.”

Dawn answered with the same amazement as Logan. It was already beyond her expectations for NPCs to ask questions like this. 

“Ah… He is from my country, teacher. But I also don’t know much about him.”

Logan finally managed to give an answer.

“Hm… He doesn’t need my training. He can’t use aura, but that doesn’t matter. From his skill alone he can be considered an Elite.”

“An Elite?”

Dawn and Logan looked at each other with complicated looks. They never revealed each other's identities, but they could gauge the training they went through. However, both of them were not even at the lowest level. On the other hand, Jason was considered an Elite, which was in the middle of the classification.

“Yes. But if he could use Aura, he would at least be a Master.”

The moment Jason realised she was stronger than him, he kept his safe distance from her. A person like this was far more dangerous than an enemy that jumped at her head-on. A person like Jason would never make a move or show his true colours unless he had the absolute advantage. 

It was too early to tell what kind of person he was, and he already won the grace of a Wizard.

“He is a dangerous person.’

Amelia wanted to keep an eye out for Jason for the time being.

‘Does this make any sense?’

Logan looked at Dawn for a second before looking at the deep hole left on the post. A person who could do such damage considered Jason a danger. 

‘Aren’t they too real?’

He eyed Amelia who seemed to be in deep thought. 

An NPC categorised a player who just started playing the game as dangerous. He never heard of such a thing in any game. Although he wasn’t a gamer, he knew enough about games. 

“Alright. Five hundred more perfect stabs. Don’t even think of coming here tomorrow if you can’t complete it.”

Amelia’s voice brought Logan back to his senses with a bitter taste. A perfect stab was very difficult to achieve. 

‘Sigh.’

He gripped the wooden sword with his shaking hands, turning back toward the post.