At their regular dinner session Zash told everyone the things that transpired today which while surprised everyone but it wasn't too overwhelming as this freak of a kid was a god in all fields it seemed.
After dinner Edwin parted ways and went to deal with paperwork and looking over the war situation and territorial disputes.
While Estr and Havier went to get a quick sleep only Zash was awake trying to break through the boundaries of Elemental Master 7th Stages and enter Sky Mastery beginning stages. Which are bound to be quite difficult or easy depending on the situation as this new body's Meridans were too "Normal" for Zash's Standards barely half as equivalent quality as his original body's still he persistently went on trying for a breakthrough. After this he himself might be considered amongst the most strongest men at this period of time was Zash's thaught process at the time.
Piquing over the world laws Zash just marvelled his luck at finding such precious resources beforehand and have it all readily available at his moments notice.
Looking towards the piles of normalised gems and dust particles which were solid stones containing Great quantity of Essence and mana within them were almost all gone now Zash was left to only dabble in and make a Essense gathering Formation of sorts but due to lack of materials in a key aspects being unavailable he was just able to make a basic Essense gathering Formation which too barely worked at first as most of it was dispersed but slowly yet steadily more and more Essense was beginning to gather within the surrounding areas of the formation and then flowing within Zash's new body strengthening it and making him prepare for the onslaught that was about to happen.
BOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMM#
Suddenly all the arrays were distorted and destroyed and a flaming explosion occurred with Zash at its centre but Zash wasn't even momentarily unfazed and continued on as this was his first tribulation as he wasn't using dual Cultivation this time around and henceforth had to face the first tribulation in this body.
'Here goes nothing' thinking so Zash just persisted as the flames burned his clothes apart as the flames burned they started spinning and Zash was engulfed in a flaming tornado of sorts.
'haha this is a new seems like a weaker foundation triggered a semi weaker version of the tribulation. Guess I lucked out again' feeling gleeful about his situation Zash didn't had any major difficult in any aspects at this point he was halfway through to the stage of Sky Master's beginning stages which to add to the fact that at Element Mastery Stage alone makes one's flesh stronger than others making one fireproof to a great extent and due to the abnormality of their family's techniques any tribulation they go through is only making them stronger by making their bodies stronger.
Though this was dirt easy for Zash's "Standards" as Tribulations are quite Lethal but they too depended on certain situations the most Powerful Tribulations consists of Heart Demons and Thunder Strikes issued by Heavens due to a mortal going against nature's way and showing his interests in knowing more about the World.
More importantly it needs not to be said that A Martial Artist and A Cultivator might go hand in hand but they too are different fields as such both are different paths like a Swordsman obviously is more aware of his surroundings but is clueless in technical aspects while a Cultivator is by nature 'Curious' and is fully hellbent on unraveling the Secrets of the world they live in just like a Scientist.( In short term both Professions go hand in hand co-adjacent to each other and while a Cultivator and a Martial Artist or any Fighting profession bearer no matter how good he is it's like an Alchemist too can understand heating aspects similar to a Weapon craftsman but it's not necessary both can be quite as good as eachother. There's no guarantee even if they might be good at both and reach Greater heights in both fields both the fields do mix to an extent as both give ideas like say for example a pill refiner can use arrays to strengthen the Density and improve the quality of the pill similar kind of techniques can be used to craft better weapons widening one's horizons henceforth a Cultivator is like an Knowledge Thirsty Philosopher while a Strong Martial Artist is like an War God both can intertwine and a person can Excel in both fields not ultimately both are different so let's get that straight to those who consider Cultivation to only be used for fighting. )
Thunder Strikes and Heart Demons are one of the most major types of Tribulations one has to suffer bit there are still many a tribulations like Wind Tribulation, Fire Tribulations, Abyssal Tribulation, Illusory Tribulations, then comes the More normalised versions of Tribulations also there are the unfortunate cases of catching some jealous god's eyes and being specifically targeted by such bas***s and in other cases one's body being too strong and henceforth bringing a strong or lengthy Tribulation or one's Fate being so Stupidly strong Heavens are forced to make tribulations harder on the selected individuals as for the individuals fate is all up to the said individual and how strong his fate is mostly dependent on that's another matter to be dealth with in this case this was a Medium level Tribulation which only burned Zash's body all throughout the while the Essence in the Tribulation Flames were hungrily gobbled up by the Crazy Basturd who was sitting there meditating annoying the hell out of Heavens themselves as the Tribulation grew stronger and fierce it watched as nothing changed except Zash's skin getting a slight tone of dark but in similar contrast he grew even more stronger and made more sufficient progress in his Cultivation hungrily gobbling up the Flames and Essense Energy braught about by them not knowing what to do the Heavens only got frustrated at this scenario.(This was another such instance where the One going through the Tribulation himself might make the Heavens go Trigger happy. As if a serial killer was mistaken for any car robbing goon going all around the places of course similarly prideful individuals ( maybe not the perfect example but you get the meaning) will due to a force of habit punish such people which is to an extent basturds in nature but what can a mortal change ? At least Zash has to wait until he's out of Heaven's infulence )
Meanwhile The guards, King Edwin, Havier and Estr along with every single staff present rushed in hearing the sound of explosion from Epis's room and had worrying thaughts clouding their minds and prepared themselves for the worst perhaps an enemy attack or an accidental fire hoping for Epis to be safe and sound but when they got to they were mindboggled to look at the scene before them a First Tornado which grew bigger and bigger at a moment's notice while a faint outline of a small human could be seen he wasn't flinching, nor was he screaming or moving to indicate that it was in pain any way or form, he just sat still breathing in and out timely as the spectators just watched as if hypnotized by this sudden change of events all of them were like in a trance not daring to move just watched as everything happened not knowing what to do and why everything was happening everyone just watched like mindless animals staring at the fiery tornado and the teen sat in between it.
As about 15 minutes or so the tornado continue to expand and regress in timely manner and Zash in Epis's body was still in a meditative state still breathing steadily while having a golden white flaming halo around him the people in the hall experienced all sorts of events then sometimes they felt cold, sometimes they felt hot, sometimes someone felt they were sobered by sand while some experienced submerged underwater for a long while a few times they seemed to be submerged in complete darkness while sometimes under the scorching lights, as if they weren't in a palace at all and venturing out in the unknown wilds all of them felt that everything was only a dream as how can this ever be possible !
They had long since heard of the lost era and magical instances but nobody had ever experienced something as unique as this.
What the people were expecting was Zash's comprehension of the Elementary Master stages gaining Elemental Control capabilities towards all the nature's that might be suitable for him.
Fire, Wind, Earth, Water Gravity, Darkness, Light were amongst the ones most situationally suitable for him but for further progress he had to choose from the available options for the beginning of course in Zash's original body he had mastered all the natural and unnatural elements bit that was before and this is now.
Zash without a second opinion chose four Elements for further progression Gravity, Darkness, Wind and Light as these were the only strong one's in Zash's eyes currently in accordance with this body's suitability at least.
An hair had gone by and soon Zash condensed a soldier part of his Cultivation and with a Bang and a burst of air which took apart all the burnt out skin formed from him going through the Fiery Tribulation was replaced by health skin leaving all the impurities behind as Zash just sat there there wasn't any part of his shirt left only his tattered and badly burnt pants and undergarments covered him as he sat on in an meditating pose unhindered by anything else and the mass of people who continued watching this was finally coming back to reality with the sound of bang some stumbled back some fell down while Edwin, Estr and. Havier was stunned by everything happening around him.
"I-I-Is t-this"
"Magic?"
"It's Real !"
Clamours and chatters could be heard as what these people had experienced was unlikely experienced by anyone else in this day and age.
"No that's not 'Entirely' Magic !" Havier said Calmly yet mesmerisingly looking towards Zash with strange look.
"Do you have some ideas what it might be Having? Is Magic Coming back in this world after so long ?"
"Is Magic Coming back in our world ? Is our prince an Apostle !?"
"Is my son Okay lady Havier ?"
Estr couldn't help himself and continued asking while others too bombarded her with questions
"Shut Up you all !" Being bombarded with questions left and right she just screamed at all of them to shut up.
"Ahem* as I was saying this is certainly Magic but not entirely as I was saying let me tell you what I know.
"There are three of the most common types of Magical Energy braught by Either God's, Elements, Nature or Otherwise but there's no way this phenomena stands in any of the natural kinds, as you all know this magic has disappeared long ago from this world and from the looks of it it may or may not come back, my race has Many times the lifespan from normal humans and natural Treasures reminding us of the ancient times still remains so we can confirm magic is real and from that basis I can say that this is not natural at all !"
"What does that mean Havi ? It's still Magic right how is this different ?" Estr couldn't hold his curiosity back and asked the simple question to which she just blurted a Sentence solemnly.
"WITHCHES - MAGUS Neither God nor Humans or Partly God or Humans bearing the abilities to manipulate environment & natural world beyond our understanding not praying to the Heavens or Hell neither controlled or taking orders from anyone, doing as they like, abiding to their own principles & Laws."
The audience's were stunned by this revelation indeed this fits perfectly with everything that happened before their eyes.
Some looking towards Zash with fearful gazes while Edwin and Estr just couldn't believe what was happening still and whether it was a blessing or a curse in disguise.
"All of you don't have to worry about this. I know how dangerous WITHCHES are but most have to follow certain criteria to get their powers consciously or unconsciously for example most MAGUS and Witches are feared due to them taking life's and sacrificing people as such they grow more powerful and become more fearful." Havier said solemnly and continued while sighing.
"Still that is only the case of some few just like Humans some are bad it doesn't means all of them are bad, many withces and maguses gain power while doing things they like for example Planting Crops and gaining good harvest henceforth plant growing abilities abnormal to Humans and so on and on some MAGUS and Witches even Became God's in the ancient Era in fact One of our family's predecessor was a Magus and had a Wife who too was a witch later on after they became Gods they left this world and they became Gods not by killing but researching and developing potions and such... Witches and maguses are strange to an extent we can never know how they might gain their power but it's safe to say that the Prince's Awakening and solitude from time to time was an unconscious action as it seems solitary confinement increases his power along with these rocks which contain faint traces of mana." Pointing towards the mana everyone turned to look towards the Essence stone mistaken for a mana stone by Havier as she didn't know about Essense but still a vapour of smoky white light going towards Zash's body was visible to the naked eye and it continues to go towards his body and seemingly meld through.
"As I suspected he's been unconsciously gaining his power, collecting stones containing mana, drawing symbols our of pure curiosity from unknown sources even to himself, strange desire to be alone in solitude to grow his powers, Such Elemental phenomenas. Everything Fits Perfectly !" Stunned she couldn't help but marvel how lucky she was to being close to the only source of Magic still in availability which nly came from Zash alone.
Edwin and Estr were stunned by this revelation beyond belief and had a lot to take in.
"Still lady Havier is it safe to say he's a good Magician ?" Edwin asked concerned if he needed to be confined and if others can be accidentally harmed due to him.
"Haha there's no need to concern yourself with look at that murky smoke going through the environment it's Magical Energy absorbed from natural itself now look towards yourself do you see anything reddish or black substances flowing from your body towards him ? That's because mages of pure kinds have a pure white light gatherings and one would feel sick from even going near such people ! But not only is our Epis not harming us I can say for sure his Magic might even lengthen our Lifespan such is the qualitative benefits of all Mana Realtory things they improve everything in their surroundings, that's Especially True for Good Maguses !
Good Maguses have a high affinity to draw good luck, they're good in research and if everything goes well this Empire might develop a life Expanding formula even in the lightest case scenarios, under his watch that too with all naturally scientifically due to such a thing we absolutely cannot let him come to harm and must retain his purity to an extent don't let him see the bad aspects of humans or if anyone or any national might provoke him might just be wiped out from the history for good and that too just by himself ! This is not an exaggeration !"
"We have to watch over him as well. Sigh~ it seems being around him is good for us but these stressful revelations also sure are annoying yet exciting at the same time."
"Oh That's Good and assuring to hear from you except for the nation destroying part" Edwin said with a twitching smile thinking ' Did you seriously had to mention that ?'
Swish~*
Everything ended soon an Hour and a half had gone by and Zash finally stood up and yawned as if he had a very good comfortable sleep.
No one would believe this lad was within a Fiery inferno an hour ago if they didn't took a look at his clothes which were charcoaled at this point only his pants that was badly burnt till his thighs covered all his important parts aside from that he innocently looked around casually left to right first let looked towards the people and his family in this world and was shocked to see the shocking looks everyone gave him.
"U-Ummmm is everything fine ?" Striking the conversation the public was stunned speechless first you pull this stunt and ask if everything was fine !? And that too while bearing such innocent look how do we even start, how is that even Fair !?" Was the common thing going through everyone's mind.
"No worries but Epis are you okay ? You don't feel discomfort right ?" Havier was the first to say anything and asked in concern. People too aside from Havi wanted to bombard Zash with questions to when Zash in Epis's body replied.
"No Teacher nothing at all I feel rather Refreshed ! I was having a nice dream I wish I could still had stayed asleep for a bit longer " sighing a bit the public was silent once again
'So everything happened unconsciously in his case. Is he even aware of his own powers ?' Everyone present was stunned by this as seemingly every action was done unconsciously by him up till this point.
"I felt so comfortable a little while ago all my stress from smithing is gone and I feel even more energetic ! I wish the dream continued hmm ? " Looking towards his hands he 'Acted' all confused and took a look all around his body in 'Surprise' seeing Only his charcoaled pants which were only covering till his knees he excused himself and requested to change and closed the doors of his chambers while requesting everyone to go out for a while.
Nobody knew how to respond and everyone walked out with a blank look in their eyes asking eachother what do they even do in this situation.
Looking towards the burnt floor Zash sighed and thaught ' at least I did the right thing by choosing a faraway place from my bed or else it might've burnt down and things might have gone the wrong way'.
After about 15 minutes Zash used 3 buckets and cleaned himself while clearing his burnt skin and body's impurities which surfaced with his Cultivation progression after which he took about two more minutes to wear a new set of clothes and got out.
Silence
"Is everything all right ? " acting clueless Zash asked once again.
"Haa. Let me ask you instead do you feel comfort and power dwelling in your body an d surroundings ?" Havier asked the obvious.
"Hmm yes teacher I feel stronger and I- I feel connected to everything around me it feels good kind of a new feeling which is hard to describe." Zash answered everything stumblingly uncertain what words to use for.
"Okay that's fine as well come with me. King Edwin, Estr please come in we have to tell him this sooner or later and in this Stage his powers might be a bit unstable and as such might cause unnecessary harm as such let's explain everything necessary to him first.
As such everyone else present was left to do their works everyone took it as a significant blessings to their Empire even considering Zash as an apostle or an incarnation of God from that point onwards.
Zash once again went through a re-enactment of events that Havier described prior to this and Zash who obviously heard this acted genuinely stunned and asked a few questions which he wasn't able to before as that might had ruined the atmosphere.
"So I'm a MAGUS ?! Amazing !!!" Surprised and cheerful he surprised everyone from his cheerful attitude to which his family, Havier and the Guards Adoringly looked towards their prince and swore to protect him from any harm in any circumstance !
"Teacher ! Teacher ! Do I have powers ? Like can I fly? Can I cast flames from air ? Or float on water ?" Asking questions left and right Havier didn't know what to say and calmed him down.
"Calm down now silly, even I don't know the full extent of powers Maguses have you are unique I can Guaranteedly say that even amongst the common Maguses you are bound to be unique.
As for your powers they're all for you to find it's not us that can do anything to awaken them, also be careful not to hurt yourself or anyone around you while you're using them. You have to promise me Okay ?" Like a Caring elder sister she asked Epis to stread carefully on his Magus path.
"Yes Teacher I promise ! It's just that I feel empty inside for a while I feel like overexerting myself right now. As if an unconscious voice is telling me to do this it's good for your body. Is it strange ?" Questioning Havier she even wondered what was the specifics of this case and if this 'Voice' has anything supernatural to it or even speculated about an Godly being's involvement in this matter.
"Sure go ahead sweety Do anything you like but remember to use your powers wisely." Thinking about it for a while she looked towards Zash straight in the eyes.
"It is about time I ask you this, do you want to become my student ? I dare not become your Master or claim to be on the top of knowledge holders of this world and I'm only good in Herbalist and My expertise lies in the Medical field so do accept to being my student ?" Asking this she smiled wholeheartedly and accepted whatever outcome of the answers.
"Sure Teacher ! I'd love to study Medicine from you ! I hope I can save some lives while studying it." Epis shared his approval and wholeheartedly wanted to help if it was possible Edwin and Estr were happy as well Edwin although both were happy for entirely different reasons.
Edwin was happy for his son to show his affection towards Caring and saving lives while Estr was on the greater part appreciative towards Havier staying besides him within the kingdom for a while.
Days progressed and Zash started his 'training' and exceeding righteously removing the impurities from his body which surprisingly were even less than an normally health Mature teen's body which Zash didn't mind rather he was more appreciative towards it and continued hammering himself and sweating bullets all the while drinking water jugs after jugs and going to bathroom breaks time and time again.
His Exercise routine was nothing short of "CRAZY" from even abnormal point of view.
"Havier are you sure it's okay to push one's body to such an extent ?" Estr couldn't help asking
"I don't know the answer to that. I examined using body though and it's in top shape any given time. I mean just look at him he's still not tired not even wobbling to try and stay still after such a long time training."
"It seems my brother is a literal monster from any given point or prospective do you think I can catch up to him ?" Estr asked looking lost in his thaught process.
"Of course silly but it's best if you take it slow But I have to say this, don't compare yourself with your freak of a little brother in any Given circumstance ! Alright !!? I don't want to see you harming yourself now do I ?" Meekily cheering while teasing him.at the same time Havier just smiled.
As days continued to pass everything went peacefully and quietly no information was leaked at all and people even began revearing Epis like an Apostle of God.
All was good an sandy and after four consecutive days zash finally mastered forming a Ball of Light although for a few seconds he also formed a Ball of Flames scorching hot to touch using them to heat up water, he even produced small gusts of winds around him to cool himself while he also seemed to learn to manipulate objects around him much like the rumoured legendary ability known popularly as telekinesis. Everyone who got to know about his powers was stunned speechless meanwhile Havier just stood aside proud saying
"Didn't I told you so my student is Way more Abnormally talented than Normal Maguses !" All the while teaching Zash the basics of how medicines should be made as such Zash had his schedule set up in the morning he'd meditate while bathing using his powers to the fullest of their extent exhausting himself and after eating his Breakfast he'd go towards the Forgery and make equipments and accessories or anything he can get his hands on along the while selling accessories as a part time business to people as he was technically a worker as such he received part of the money he made from selling all the artistically crafted pieces of works not only metal related but also Glassworks and Flasks, Clay pots tyles, you name it even paintings were up for auction selling nationwide catching the eyes of qualified appraisers all throughout the while nobody had any idea who was the seller of these objects the Royal Treasury was getting full as the days passed on Edwin Estr and all those who knew about it grew fearfully aware to how much of a Monster Their Second Prince were not knowing even where to spend the money Zash even went out of his way to sort things out to cover the influx of money and Various strategies for hiding and benefiting the empires in the way and so on.
During the Afternoons he'd work out and spend time on his Swordsmanship profession improving at a moment's notice no longer using wooden speeds he and Estr would often trade blows to eachother and profited greatly as both had seen through their own shortcomings and improved their weakness whether it be in their techniques, defence or offensive even strategies were developed by Zash on a whim which were noted down by a butler Estr specially assigned to record them down and each strategy which some Epis even requested canceling were still up for consideration as they were literally Lifesaving tips used in a battlefield ! Nobody could win against such tactics which might bring the downfall of an Kingdom if one isn't careful enough.
The butler who previously was a loyal taction on the battlefield was stressed out of his mind as he was stationed at the important juncture of the battlefield was a bit repulsive before but after looking through everything understood and gave up any tasks he had and was eager to listen to prince Epis's wise words at any given moment.
At the evenings Epis would for the half part Only Focus on learning and scouring through books, correcting things whenever he can and for the other half part he'd be Learn Medical Knowledge from his now teacher Havier who was just as brilliant a teacher a world renowned scholar can get.
Such were the so called "Normalised" days Zash had been having this past 10 or so days.