Chapter 0102

Cardis eyes began to twitch. When he was a young boy, the antics of the silly animals he was raising at the foot of the mountains vexed him to no end, yet he couldn’t get angry at the animals. Animals follow their instinct. They don’t know about the trouble they put their human caretaker through, nor do they care about the trouble they caused.

He had to learn to reign in his temper. His anger was useless on a bunch of dumb animals. The young boy he had been had trouble expressing his emotions. Cardis traded instant outward explosive anger for a conceal inward explosive anger. The eyes twitches develop during this time.

As he fought harder enemies, survives dangerous odds, and lives through the most turbulent time in the history of the Cardinal Realm, he’d learned to bury any tells lest his enemies catch hold of his weakness and exploit it.

Once he stood at the top of the cultivation world, he relaxed his guards but the tells never reappeared since few could move his emotions, until a certain little girl destroyed his dream and burned it all to ashes.

Tempest was bound to destroy his dream even if she failed his test. She already hunted down a Sundered Lion with a group of mercenaries. Along the way, they were even attacked by a pack of Iron Clawed Wolves. Cardis childish attempt to torment Tempest would be nothing but a foolish dream. It is best if it ended before it started.

“Your grasp of the wind spirit’s language is impressive.” Cardis praise. It was the only reason he can think of for her to grasp the difference between the two spells he cast. She had no clue when he has used [Fireball] as a demonstration yet when he used [Wind Blade] as the core, she was able to comprehend the underlying concept and explain it back to him.

“I’ve always been able to communicate with the spirits in all forms.” Tempest tried to make light of her experience with her spirits. Cardis was able to tell there was more to her skills. He didn’t pursue the matter. If she wanted to tell him, then she would. He didn’t believe for single moment she told him everything about herself, amnesia or no.

“Communicating and grasping the concept of the elements are two different things. Knowledge is gained through communication. Grasping the concept is understanding the knowledge imparted to you and applying it to real-life situation.” Cardis patted her head as if he was comforting her except he used too much power. Tempest nearly shrunk ten centimeters as Cardis played whack-a-mole with her. “You’ve grasped the wind elemental concept. Dig deeper and wring out every bit of information you can from your spirits.”

Tempest stood there and took the head pounding, ah no, the good girl head pats. She couldn't says she never grasps the concept he was always harping about. The information she had is gathered through research done by thousands of scientists in the last hundred years.

“Now that you understand complexity, then we can move onto control.”

Cardis cast a seven circle spell in red, orange and yellow. The fourth circle he cast was a little different. The first two circle shown green, however the other five circle shown yellow.

“The function of the this seven circle spell is to test a mage ability to control their spells. A mage can move up in color when they can make all the circle shine in a uniform color. The first stage is called Mage Apprentice. When the Mage Apprentice can cast this spell and make every circle shine red, then the Mage Apprentice can officially be called a Red Mage. When the Red Mage can empower the seven circle spell to shine all yellow, then they can be called a Yellow Mage. If a mage was to cast the fourth circle, two green circle, five yellow circle, then they failed the test to move up to a Green Mage. Memorize the image and test your strength.”

Tempest tried to read the symbols instead of memorizing it as Cardis told her except everything came out as gibberish. After spending ten minutes deciphering the gibberish, Tempest gave up and instead memorized the spell.

Tempest thought back to the first time she cast the two circle spell [Vibrating Wind Blade]. A spell circle is a paragraph. The first spell circle, also referred to as the core spell, is the topic sentence. Every other line in the paragraph supports, clarify or modifies the topic of the paragraph to give a clear view of what the mage wants to cast.

Topic sentence done.

Second sentence done.

Third sentence done.

Fourth sentence done.

Fifth sentence done.

Sixth sentence done.

Seventh sentence done.

Tempest release the spell.

“How do you feel official becoming a Red Mage?” Cardis asked a sardonic tone tinged with envy. A True Child of the Spirits is truly loved by their spirits. They are blessed with high intellect, amazing intuition and a cultivation speed that no one can rival. Even the monstrous genius of the large clan or sect, supplied with the best resources can’t compare with a True Child of the Spirits in cultivation speed.

A Son of Inferno such as himself can’t compare to the pinky on the little girl’s hand. Cardis remembered it took him three years before he can officially become a Red Mage and he was considered the most talented mage of his time.

“It’s nothing much.” Tempest said after a thought.

Cardis wanted to vomit blood at her nonchalant attitude. Nothing much after a day of officially studying. Give me back three years of my blood, sweat and tears!

“I think I can become an Orange Mage if I knew how to empower the spell circle after it became red.”

Damn you little monster! Modesty is a virtue for a reason. It saves a man’s pride. The very same pride you are stepping on like it was dust on your road to cultivation.

“There are two ways to cast an orange spell circle. The first method is to imbue the spell circle with enough power that it lights up orange. The second method it to empower the spell circle until it is completely red then go back to the first spell circle and inject more mana into it until it shines oranges.” Cardis explained through gritted teeth.

He swore to himself, “Don’t let me catch you making a mistake. The punishment will be brutal.

Cardis waited. And waited. And waited.

“Aren’t you going to attempt to become a Yellow Mage?” The frustration was evident in his voice.

“I don’t think I have enough control to complete a yellow seven circle spell.” Tempest lied without a qualm. Attempting the spell in front of Cardis right now is like waving a red flag in front of a bull. He’s going to charge in and eviscerate her when there is an opening. Tempest rather retreat than take the chance. The disciplinarian looks like he’s dying for a chance to punish her.

Tempest might be oblivious to societal norms and value but she has a good self-preservation instinct. She refused to listen to her instinct in the past and it lead to the greatest regret of her life. Since then, she was all ears when her instinct warns her and it is telling her Cardis is out to get her. He won’t intentionally harm her but he’d take a layer of skin off her hide.

“Tempest listen to me well.” Cardis said in a solemn voice. “If you take anything out of the lesson today, it should be this: never fight with anyone above your color grade. It rarely ends well for a mage to fight anyone one level above them. I’d rather you live to be called a coward than see you a dead hero.”