It originates from the Earth, drifts into Water, burns in the Fire, and returns to the Wind. Fire flickers and Water fluctuates. unlike Wind, Earth does not flow. The world exists with this conflicting forces.
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Ten youths of different ages ranging from 12 to 18 are sitting in a study room within the Arcane Tower.
The air in the room seemed denser because of thd mental energies the young invokers unconsciously released.
In this room filled with books, long tables, few chairs, a writing board, and a few posters of magic circles, it can evoke one's thirst for knowledge in the Arcane Path.
After a few minutes, the Village Invoker, dress in dark red fitting robe and a pointed hat, entered the room.
She walks to the front and placed her staff beside the chair and the stacks of paper in her table. Then, she flashed a smile towards her class and said, "Let us first congratulate our newest invoker, Relius, congratulations in successfully forming your first Arcane Rune. Keep up the good work!"
"Congratulations!" "Welcome to the Arcane Path!" his classmates further encouraged.
"T-thank you!" Relius timidly bowed to the crowd. "Thank you Mentor Cassandra for guiding me and teaching me some Arcane knowledge," he shyly added and immediately take his sit, bowing his head, This level of praise was the first for the twelve-year-old fledgeling invoker.
Invokers refer to the cultivators of the Arcane Path, another major Path aside from the Martial Path.
For one to become an Invoker, one of the criteria is having an Elemental Affinity.
Manifestation of elemental phenomenon can be felt during Illuviation which indicate a person's elemental affinity.
[Note: Illuviation is the process of accumulating mystic energy from the environment towards the body.]
Of course, one can only be an Invoker if one can successcully engrave an Arcane Rune. And to engrave an Arcane Rune, strong mental energy is required.
Comparingly, if a Martial Path formed their Martial Heart and uses Qi as their power, in Arcane Path, one must engrave an Arcane Rune in one's consciousness and harness the mystic energy into Elements.
Both of these are cultivators' source of strength and throughout their journey in their path, they must constantly reinforce, strengthen, and reforge them.
Additionally, just like how a Martial Heart can cause weakening in cultivation if one's truth is not firm enough, Arcane Rune can also lead to a similar circumstance,
An Invoker's greatest pursuit is knowledge and they use it to create their unique Arcane Runes. If one's knowledge is flawed and insufficient, one cannot advance and may lose one's cultivation ranks.
After one successfully engrave their Arcane Rune, one can be said to be an Iron-rank Arcane Apprentice.
Just like the Martial Path, the lowest stage is Apprentice, followed by Scholar as the next stage. Furthermore, it also has ten subranks which are:
Iron
Copper
Silver
Gold
Platinum
Quicksilver
Mithril
Obsidian
Orichalcum
Adamantium
People like Lex, who cultivates both the Martial and Arcane Paths, are extremely rare. Factors such as talents, opportunities and wisdom are few such factors. Their potential is limitless.
After the brief celebratory greeting, Invoker Cassandra started teaching her class.
"Since the mystic beasts are starting to be more active lately, I will teach you the weakness of beasts and how you can deal with them, or how to escape their pursuit," Invoker Cassandra added. Then, she passed to them the stacks of paper placed on the table.
It was a compilation of common mystic beasts seen in the mountain with detailed information about them including their strength level, racial trait, and weaknesses.
"Since we are talking about mystic beasts, let us know Lex's first-hand experience against a Grizzly Lunar Bear. Lex, can you help your classmates and share your insights?" Invoker Cassandra requested.
Lex stand from his seat and kindly complied to her request and went in front. "I was originally only hunting for the Wood Deer so I hid in a foliage near the marsh where the Wood Deer frequented. It was still dark so I waited patiently because most of them only become active at the break of dawn."
"Just as I spotted the Wood Deer, a Grizzly Lunar Bear came and stole my hunt. I was about to give up since the bear is a Level 15 Hazard-class beast, three levels higher than me but I suddenly remembered it strengthens only when the moon is shining so I stopped," he continued.
"When I observed more closely, I found out that it dropped its vigilance when it was wolfing down the deer. I got excited and want to try my luck in hunting the bear so i nocked my arrows and aimed at its eye," hearing this, the whole class also got excited and amazed at his bravery.
"If I hit it with my arrow, I will hunt it, if not, then I will escape. Luckily, the arrow hit its eye so I continued my attack. While it was distracted by the pain and busy looking for me, I cast a fireball to weaken its defense then fired some more arrows to finish it."
"Unfortunately, only the fireball hit while the arrows missed its vitals because I was not proficient enough with archery. Seeing that the bear wanted to pounce at me, I made the ground it was standing into a quagmire to stop it from its track."
Since the youths are required to learn the basics of other Martial Path aside from the one they are studying, Lex only has basic skills in Marksmanship. Still, that skill became handy and helping him in his hunt.
"Then, I struck hard with my sword to not waste the opportunity, slashing directly towards it. Thanks to the earlier fireball, my sword easily pierced its chest to its heart, successfully killing it. Hehe," he finished his story bashfully scratching his chin.
Even he did not think he can be successful in hunting the bear. Being a Copper-rank Martial Scholar and Adamantium-rank Arcane Apprentice, Lex, against a Level 15 Grizzly Lunar Bear, with three levels of difference, ultimately triumphed!
The class applauded him of his feat. Amazement evident in their eyes from how he descibed the battle.
"Incredible Lex! I praised you for your bravery, keen observation and ingenuity in using low tier spells. Did you heard that class, being able to determine a mystic beast's strength, weakness and racial trait can help you in killing it or escaping from it," Invoker Cassandra praised and emphasized to the class.
Lex's battle awareness and usage of techniques and opportunities are remarkable. If others of the same age are in his position, they would only be struck dead and not able to seize the moment.
"Be observant of your surrounding and never let your vigilance down in the forest since danger lurks everywhere." she further warned.
"Thank you for sharing your experience Lex," Invoker Cassandra said. Lex bowed and returned to his seat.
Their lesson went on to talk about other beasts and what to do when facing danger.
Their lesson finish just as the sun was setting. During the morning, Lex was running late so he hastily left the bear's corpse in their courtyard. Now, he hurriedly went home to take a look at his hunting spoils and process it.