Ryne bobbed his little head and sat on the rock that his master was pointing at.
He tried to do everything the same and to do this, he planned on imagining the same things as well.
But with the soothing sounds of flowing water, chirping birds, and moist ground touching his bare feet, he couldn't imagine the starry night like he did the day before.
When his thoughts started to drift erratically, his state of mind started wavering.
Gradually, he became even more nervous and in panic, he didn't even try to think of other ways to interact with nature, just wanting a miracle to happen so that it could all be over soon.
Golver knit his brows together after five minutes 'Was it just a fluke? Does he not even possess magic affinity?'
Although there was a lot of doubt in Golver's mind, he still considered the possibility of the child being nervous, "There's no hurry, we'll be staying here for a long time. Focus your thoughts in a single direction and let your spirit reach out."
Still, with his eyes closed, Ryne pecked his head lightly, little red from embarrassment, "I'm sorry, master,"
This time, Ryne tried to think of nothing at all but how could 'nothing' come to exist in an anxious mind? The disappointment was beginning to take shape and he couldn't just shake it off.
At long last, when nothing he did helped him make any significant improvement and his worries still kept coming into his mind, he decided he might as well think of something that interested him.
He didn't understand anything by 'spirit reaching out, and he was nervous and anxious enough to not disturb Golver further. Therefore, both the master and disciple kept sitting near the picturesque stream, waiting for something to happen.
Soon Ryne's mind was occupied by the thoughts of runic language as he remembered the letter that he had found back when he was struggling to survive.
That was also a clear stream, like this one. He was also indebted to it as it had given him hope when he was on the verge of giving up.
The note was covered in weird symbols, which he guessed were the multi-purpose 'Magic Runes'. But those symbols radiated a primal, more ancient sensation.
Perhaps they were mutated, perhaps they weren't runes at all. No matter what, now that he was imagining them, he found himself increasingly enticed by the mysteries they contained within, giving him an urge to forget everything else about the world and put his entire heart into them.
Strangely, even though more than a week had passed since that time, he still remembered how some of those symbols looked.
His familiarity with those symbols rapidly increased even though he understood very little of what they were.
In a way like most adults remember, 'Mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell' without understanding what either of those words mean, he had a hunch that he'll never forget those symbols again.
Unbeknownst to Ryne, the ancient-looking symbols that he still remembered floated in his sea of consciousness like a glowing chain, illuminating and adorning it in a strangely systematic manner.
The sea of consciousness of a mage is even more crucial to him than his heart or soul as it's the place where his mana core, through which he utilizes runes and casts magic spells, resides.
It unlocks after one becomes a grade-1 mage, and grows thereafter in a unique direction, influenced periodically by one's decisions and his magic affinity.
Intangible and illusory at first, it comes into physical existence in higher grades, granting the magic cast by a mage, a soul, and the trait of 'permanence' unlike it being a fleeting illusion.
That would be a stage where a mage truly qualifies to defy the physical laws.
Ryne's sea of consciousness wasn't even opened yet but his interest in the ancient magic symbols that he stumbled upon while searching for a way to survive managed to influence it through a stroke of fate.
Golver picked up some minor shifts occurring in the natural mana flow of the world, 'Hm? What's happening? Is someone casting a spell? Then why can't I sense anyone nearby?'
As the chaotic phenomenon died down within Ryne's 'sea of consciousness, he suddenly felt something within him break free. Like an insomniac feels after sleeping soundly at once - he could now perceive the moment that he was living in. The rising and falling of his breath felt clearer and he had a faint sensation that with enough effort, he could cause some permanent change in the world around him.
It was a fleeting sensation, and Ryne was aware of it too. Therefore, he let himself be submerged completely into it, letting himself be driven by the environmental mana.
It wasn't a breakthrough, but something of a higher grade. His 'origin' and 'soul' had evolved, although no one understood what it implied for now.
Keeping his eyes closed, he reached his hand out and waved his palm in reverie. Suddenly, a branch started shivering, before growing and sprouting two little petals. Ryne jerked his eyes open as he felt light-headed and muddled after this.
His vision blurred further as he looked around. The last thing Ryne remembered before fainting was his new master flying towards him with something in his hand. 'Master? oh, something went wrong it seems.'
Golver, on the other hand, received the shock of his life as his heart trembled ruthlessly.
At first, he was just doubtful about the chaotic flow of the natural mana but when he saw Ryne waving his hand, he noticed a slight cheerfulness in the natural mana, as if it was excited to be guided by Ryne.
'Is this… resonance? This signifies… too much. How…?'
He thought of a remote possibility that he was about to discard but before he could even think deeply, he saw the two little petals thriving at an impossibly quick speed.
'How is this possible!?' Never could he have imagined that it was possible in such a desolate area.
'No, this isn't a resonance of magic affinity but… something peculiar about the element of affinity itself. Is it life elemental affinity–no it's… DIVINE?' He recalled how, back in the day, his master had given him a theoretical book to read which he had found by chance.
Its contents flipped the entire world view of young Golver upside down. It talked about the possibility of there being a third kind of element, which, unlike the primary and secondary elements, were unrelated to the other two.
The author had termed these unique elements - Divine elements, as anyone with an affinity to these elements had a minuscule possibility of subverting the divine order of heavens and replacing it with an order of their own!
'Divine element, divine element, no wonder his magic affinity test happened like that. There is no way the subpar runic mediums could accurately perceive the divine elemental mana.'
After carrying Ryne in the plain wooden shed and lying him on a stone bed, Golver fed him a mana recovery pill that he wouldn't give to anyone who was not closely related to him and sat beside him in silence.
Shortly afterward, he remembered how he thought the kid would be incompetent as his disciple but now not even a day had passed, yet he was certain that he was unqualified to be the master of a kid with a divine element.
'With how quick that growth was, it should be… time…'
With a complicated expression, he stared deeply at the little kid sleeping peacefully on a stone bed and made a silent vow to himself, 'I must keep it a secret. All I can do as an incompetent master is to make sure that no one knows of his talent and affinity and no harm comes his way.'
Chapter name - Divine Element Affinity