Weasley eyes perked up upon hearing his mother's words and he immediately inquired why.
Seemingly taken aback by his ignorance on the matter, Sylvia turned to Henner with a questioning expression.
Henner suddenly found the tree bark very interesting and was examining the bark with a fascinated expression.
Signing and shaking her head, Sylvia turned away from Henner and reverted her gaze back to Weasley.
" The Wall Of Culmination is unlike other bottlenecks. While normal bottlenecks can be seen as walls erected that limit one's progress, the Wall Of Culmination is instead a spring that propels one to the next level. It's also commonly accepted as the most easy bottleneck to overcome.
Weasley had a perplexed expression on his face.
What he had been doing for the last hour didn't feel like it was it was easy. It didn't feel like it was propelling him anywhere either.
His confused expression deepened which made Sylvia was confused as well. What was it that her son found so hard? It was just a Wall Of Culmination. It should be the easiest part!
"Ahem!"
Henner cleared her throat loudly, attracting the attention of the other two.
" Milady, I think it would be best if you knew that the young master had tried to breakthrough while he trained on the training field. I'm sure you would understand why he found it difficult now." She explained.
Sylvia's eyes widened in realisation while Weasley got even more confused.
The land's the problem? What?
" What does the land I do it on have anything to do with my ability to breakthrough or not?" Weasley asked, he was completely not following anymore and his voice carried a small hint of frustration.
Flashing her son a guilty smile for leaving him out, Sylvia slowed down and finally explained the situation to him.
" You see Darling, the Wall Of Culmination has another requisite condition other than simply reaching the requisite level of mastery."
" It requires a certain level of mana density in the surroundings as well. When a being breaks through to another level, they essentially unravel whilst strengthening their soul to unleash the latent power hidden within."
" The requirement for this to occur is that the user has to take in mana from the surroundings to elevate his being to a higher plane as well as to ground himself in the essence of reality."
Sylvia was using a lot of big words but Weasley got the gist.
" That means that I was unable to breakthrough while in the training grounds due to the low mana density here right?" Weasley clarified
Sylvia looked slightly taken aback which made Weasley slightly annoyed.
'I may have the body of a 2 year old but mentally, I'm 15! I'm not that dumb!'
" Yes darling..that's correct."
Sylvia then looked over to Henner for an explanation but ended up only more perplexed when the latter gave her a helpless yet knowing look that seemed to say: 'I get how it feels'.
" More importantly .." Weasley butted in, wanting to steer the topic of conversation away from the subject of his intelligence.
"… are there any such places around here that we can go to? Like, places with dense enough mana?"
" Oh uh… let me think for a second darling."
Sylvia who was snapped out of her daze by Weasley's words earlier sat in deep contemplation.
" There is one place. We can reach by night time if we fly but…"
A hesitant expression appeared on Sylvia's face which told Weasley all he needed to know.
" It's dangerous?" Weasley prompted in a knowing tone and Sylvia only nodded in reply.
She pursed her lips, about to say something but Weasley didn't give her the chance.
'If she develops her argument and becomes actually convinced that I can't handle the experience, she might not let me breakthrough at all. I must convince her, and fast!'
Thinking on his feet, Weasley decided to bullshit his way through.
" Mom, let's face it. Even if I were to wait several more years, my strength won't change. Maybe I'll be a little bigger, a little smarter perhaps."
" But what will that change do against a level of danger that I don't even yet know about?"
Step 1, book of bullshitting: Stick as close to the line of logic as you can!
To do this, Weasley held back all the bubbling excitement in his chest and tried to sound as logical and clearheaded as possible.
Sylvia was silent so Weasley persisted, pushing his 'advantage'.
" Besides, you guys will be there with me right?" He declared in a confident voice.
" With a Grand Mage and an Arch Mage by my side, what can go wrong! I'm sure that anything we will encounter will simply be child's play for you!"
Step 2: Stroke their egos! This will succeed in at least partially clouding their line of thought! Use as often as possible!
Sylvia was still silent so Weasley played the forbidden hand at the opportune moment!
Step 3: The pity act!
Weasley dropped to his knees and looked deep into his mother's eyes. While clasping his hands together, he made the most pleading face he could muster, and with the utmost emotion..
" Please mom, I'm sure it will be okay. You are the best mom in the world afterall!"
If Sylvia's final wall of resistance had finally collapsed, she didn't show it.
Sylvia raised her head and fixed Weasley with a firm and stern expression.
" I want you to promise that you won't leave my side. No matter what."
Her voice was uncompromising but Weasley had no intention to stray off in the first place.
" I promise." Weasley said while nodding and beaming brilliantly.
" Thanks mom! You're the best!"
Henner who had watched from the sidelines hurried to cover up her schooled expression. It was brief but, the feeling was potent and she was sure that she hadn't imagined it.
Eyeing her student warily, she resolved that she would never let such a talent fall into the wrong hands.
" A two year old successfully manipulating an Arch Mage." She murmured under her breath, soft enough that no one heard.
" What a scary kid."
Several hours later, the trio were zooming through the skies at supersonic speeds. Having successfully convinced his mother to take him along, Weasley was currently racing through the skies in thanks to Sylvia's spell, his heart pounding in excitement as adrenaline pumped through him.
Both for the thrilling journey he was currently enjoying and for what awaited ahead.
Weasley's silver hair flapped and billowed out backwards against the strong torrents of wind, his eyes which would usually be dry as a result of the wind was protected by a small barrier of mana cast by his mother.
The landscape at the sides blurred around Weasley due to the speed that they were travelling at but if he looked straight forward, it was like sitting on the front seat of a race car.
In other words, it was completely clear.
Weasley saw Acres and acres of forest below him, stretching outwards like an undulating sea of green. The majority of the trees resembled pine trees and their peaks were so high up that they looked as if they were almost reaching his legs. Weasley couldn't see anything in the forest other than the occasional and fleeting glimpse between of the sights in between the dense canopy.
However, beyond all the beautiful scenery was something Weasley found even more fascinating.
It was the boundless sense of freedom and liberation that flying through the air invoked in him. As someone who had spent a whole, albeit short, lifetime trapped within the constraints of his body, the feeling was something he could appreciate much better than most.
' Maybe that's why I've got the same affinity as mom. Because I innately longed so much for the freedom of being as unfettered as the winds.' Weasley mused to himself.
Ever had that moment where you felt philosophical and wise all of a sudden? Yeah, Weasley was feeling that right now
The trio flew in silence for several more moments when suddenly, Sylvia broke the silence. She had been busy navigating the journey so Weasley hadn't said anything as to disturb his mother for the past few hours.
" We're here."
Hearing this, Weasley looked around, momentarily confused.
They were still within the confines of the forest, hovering above the treetops and with a endless expanse of green in all four sides to as far as the eye can see.
" Uh..mom? What do you mean by ' We're here'"?
" I mean that we've arrived , silly."
Henner replied as she began lowering everyone to the ground, descending from the skies. Powerful gusts of wind parted the tree canopy and provided them with a clear landing ground.
Weasley shook its head.
" That's not what I meant. I mean that if we were going to enter the forest in the first places why must we come all the way here? The entrance of the forest was ages ago. Why didn't we just descend there?"
The group landed on the ground with a soft thud. Sylvia made a quick scan of the surroundings before turning back around and answering Weasley's question.
" That part of the forest is the outer sanctum of the forest. It is low in mana density and we wouldn't get much done there. The area is mainly used for hunting and the like."
Gesturing to their surroundings, Sylvia continued.
" Here is the of the end of the outer sanctum. A bit further in is the first layer of the inner sanctum where mana density is just what we need and it's not that dangerous either. That's where we're going."
Weasley nodded, but not before another question surfaced.
" Then why don't we just fly in? Wouldn't that be faster than walking?"
Before Sylvia could open her mouth to answer, a ear splitting roar resounded through the skies.
Weasley's hands instinctively flew to his eyes and he crouched down close to the ground and shivering in instinctual terror.
After awhile, the roar faded and the overwhelming feeling of terror disappeared along with it as well.
" We didn't fly in, because of that." Sylvia said as matter of factly.
She pointed in the direction of the roar almost nonchalantly.
Sylvia hadn't felt the same fear as Weasley and she seemed dismissive of it as well.
Weasley however wasn't in the state of mind to notice this. His mind was well fixated on something else.
He had read about such a creature in mythology back on earth. A creature of legend and unparalleled power, often borrowed to be the symbol of royalty and sovereigns who often wished to their subjects would treat them with the reverence and fear they would have if they had met one of these creatures.
Unparalleled Strength. Unchallenged Power. A roar that made the lesser cower in fear just at the sound of it.
There was but a single creature capable of such a feat.
" Was that a..dragon?" Weasley asked in a shaky voice.
Sylvia's eyebrows shot up and she ticked playfully.
" Close. It was a wyrm. If a dragon was here then I wouldn't have brought you here in the first place. It takes at least 3 Arch Mages or more to even take one of the weaker one of those down."
Reaching out her hand, Sylvia said.
" Well come on. It's almost nightfall already. Let's go in, breakthrough, and get out shall we?" Sylvia hoisted her son up on to his feet and helped dust him off.
Weasley nodded. The fear was completely gone now and he could think clearly.
Gazing towards the deep green woods, it was like destiny itself was beckoning to Weasley as Weasley and Sylvia with Henner in tow, walked into the the direction of the roar, through the thickly forested woods.
' Let's do this.' Weasley thought.
' Time culminate the last 5 months of work.'