In the shed, Einar was sat down on the bed, while Rayes was leaning by the research table. Neither Rayes nor Einar knew how to start the conversation, but Einar was somewhat looking forward to it.
"Einar, you don't have any idea of what you just did? do you?" Rayes finally announced the big elephant in the room.
All Einar could do was look straight at Rayes, and shake his head.
He had invited Einar in here to discuss what he just accomplished, and why he was so shocked about it. Einar had no idea of how amazing the thing he did was. He had never heard of mana, and in his village, a mage was a myth only for the stories.
"It is simply something unheard of, at least to me ..." Rayes was pretty proud of his knowledge of the world. He had not been in touch with the world for many years, though.
"Uhm ... what exactly did I do?" Einar was still blank, he honestly had no idea of what he had just done. In his head, all he did, was do what the old man told him, nothing more, nothing less.
Rayes's eyes showed a huge amount of shock, how could he not know what he did? "You meditated! You meditated when you were only trying to feel the world!" Rayes looked like he was going mad.
Einar sat there like he was thinking about something. He was thinking about what had happened when he sat down. He had been told back then, that he should feel the world around him until he felt the flow of mana. He did exactly that, though something else happened.
After he had sat there for a while, the mana had started to enter his body. He felt It was not a bad thing, so he did not stop it. After a while, it started to hurt, and that was when Rayes was in front of him, with a shocked gaze.
"You mean that part where the mana went into my body?" Einar was looking at Rayes with a curious gaze. He was still a little confused.
"Exactly, that is meditation! It is the mana gathering technique!" Rayes pointed at Einar with an excited look. "You, my lovely disciple, just meditated without getting a technique!"
In this world, you needed techniques to do certain things. Like flying, for instance, no one could fly just like that, you needed something that helped you accomplish it. Some people are just geniuses enough to make their own techniques through trial and error.
Einar had just made his own technique, which means he is a genius among geniuses. A self-created technique is much faster than a technique you master from someone else. The reason for this is that it fits specifically to your body. While one you have acquired fitted someone else's body.
"Einar, in all seriousness ... Do you really want to get stronger?" Rayes had a serious face.
It was a face Einar had not seen before. He had many different expressions in his life, and he was a happy-go-lucky old man, who was dedicated to alchemy. This face was new, and this made Einar pay attention too.
"Yes!" Einars face also showed extreme seriousness.
"Then you should start traveling, don't stay here anymore." Rayes was still serious, but a hint of sadness made it into his eyes for a split second, before it vanished again.
"W-Why?" Einar turned a little sad now, he really enjoyed being with Rayes. He was like a grandfather to him.
"Staying with me will not make you stronger, quite the opposite! ... You need to fight others to get stronger!" Rayes looked at the sad Einar.
A few seconds went by in silence. None of them said anything. None of them knew what to say.
"It is not like you won't ever see me again!" Rayes once again looked at Einar, his eyes showed a gentle smile. He had taken a liking to his disciple in these past two months. He was hardworking, he progressed fast, and best of all Einar treated him like family. "You are still my disciple, and I will still be keeping in touch with your progress!" He said this with a small smile while comforting Einar.
"R-Really?" Einar looked back at Rayes with a hopeful gaze. He had never truly been alone, but leaving Rayes would mean that he was truly alone.
"Where should I go though?" Einar had no idea of where he was, and even less of an idea of where to go from here.
"Right now we are in the kingdom of Meath! It is a kingdom where you need to be strong to mean anything!" Rayes started by telling Einar some information on their location. "We are 100 kilometers away from their capital right now, I think you should go there!" Rayes recommended this solution because he had a way for Einar to live there.
"But, I don't have any power, wouldn't the capital be a dangerous place?" Einar looked at Rayes with a doubtful gaze.
Rayes showed a small smile "How would you feel about going to a royal academy?" Rayes was proud that he could say something like this to his disciple.
"I am not even a noble, let alone a royal ... How would that even be possible?" Einar looked at Rayes like he was some kind of an idiot. He was snot stupid enough to believe a commoner would even be able to join the royal academy.
"You don't even believe in your own teacher, that is disappointing ... I know the dean of their royal academy, he owes me a favor!" Rayes was hurt by his disciple's words, but he still told him the reason.
"Does he have the power to enroll a nobody?" Einar looked at Rayes, now it was with hopeful eyes.
"It is a kingdom of power, if one has enough strength, one can do what one wants!" Rayes said as a matter of factly. "He is the strongest man in the capital, so no one dares go against him!"
"So ... If I go to the capital, you will get me into the royal academy?" Einars' previous look had turned into one of pure excitement. This meant he could get plenty of pointers on how to get stronger.
"I will give you a letter with my stamp on it when you leave, when you then come to the capital, you should show the dean the letter you have!" Rayes looked around with a mischievous look. "I am sure he will help you!"
Einar was shocked by the reaction Rayes showed mid-sentence. Was his teacher some kind of a psycopath?
"Okay! When do I leave?" Einar was still excited.
"You really want to leave your master that battler ... huh?" Rayes just looked at Einar with a sad look. "You leave tomorrow morning!" Rayes looked at Einar and said this. These were the last words heard from Rayes, before he turned around, and walked outside.
It quickly became the morning after, as Einar had just done as he usually did every night. Except this time he packed some stuff for the journey. His master had given him a small furnace as he became a 'Novice alchemist I,' he had to bring that with him. Other than that, he brought some clothes and some food.
Einar walked outside the shed, ready to go off on his journey for strength. Outside stood Rayes, with a few things in hand. Einar recognized there was a map and a letter. There were surprisingly two more things in the passion of Rayes, which Einar did not recognize.
"Einar, I have prepared a map and the letter for you, so here, take them!" Rayes went over to Einar, and handed the two things to him before he continued.
"I have also prepared two things, that might help you get stronger!" The first thing he took out, was a sheath and a katana. The handle of the katana looked kind of plain. It was white wrapping, with a black round finger guard.
As he took a hold of the katana, he felt the weight of it. It felt light as a feather, and the balance of the blade was perfect. As he pulled the blade half out of the sheath, he saw a beautifully made blade. It shone with the purest light any steel could ever produce, he was almost entrapped by its beauty.
Before Einar could say anything, he saw Rayes pull out another thing. "This is the katana skill 'Quick Draw'!" Rayes looked at Einar with loving eyes. "It is a skill that is made for the one-hit kill, and it only works when you draw the sword from the sheath! It brings out the full potential of drawing a sword!"
As Einar took the gifts from his master, he didn't know what to say.
"M-Master! Thank you ... for everything!" He made a deep bow and went down on one knee. He was trying to show his utmost respect for his master.
"No need for that Einar, get up" Rayes hurried over to help Einar up "It was really a pleasure for me to have taught you what I could!" Rayes was almost tearing up, but he held it back.
"Now, Einar, get on your journey!" Rayes said as he pointed in the direction he should go. Again, before Einar could say anything, Rayes had already turned his back to him and gone inside the shed.
'This is the beginning of my journey!'