A man dressed in commoner clothing was walking down the market street and accidentally bumped into Regal. The man was undeniably handsome, people would think of him the same way as they think of Regal, that he is probably a noble. His hair was a bright blonde colour, closer to white really, but still noticeably golden.
Regal felt a strange power covering the man, it gave him the feeling that it was some form of cloaking. But the person already stood out in the first place, and even if it hides all his power, some people could still feel the spell, just like Regal. So then what was it hiding?
His eyes stared at Regal, not blinking at all. The eyes were a strong amber colour which made Regal feel like his very existence was being peered into.
"You... you are ascending..."
Ruk looked at Regal with a questioning face, but Regal only looked back with similar confusion.
"Who the hell are you...? And what are you talking about?", Regal asked, expecting an explanation from the passive looking individual.
The man looked around. Their short interaction had drawn many eyes along the street. Those who noticed the commotion went to check, leading to a larger group forming over time.
He scratched the back of his head and sighed.
"Guess this won't work anymore...", he said on the roof of a building.
'Wait... when did he do that?', Regal thought as he was still looking at the spot the man was previously standing.
There were very few people who could move without Regal noticing, and this man was none of them. He was a person whom Regal had never met nor heard of.
He looked down at Regal, opening his mouth once more.
"We will meet again after your ascendance...", he said before jumping away.
Regal wanted to capture him to question him, but he didn't even get the chance. He could create a spell quicker than most, but he didn't fancy a fight in the middle of the city. He didn't care much for civilians if the situation was important, but it wasn't. The man may not even be an enemy for all they know.
Ruk watched the man disappear, not even capable of following where he went, no less following along himself. Instead, he turned to Regal and walked over.
"What was that just now?", he asked.
Regal looked at his arm which was now fine, it was the same arm he always had, worked as it should, looked as it should, and felt as it should.
"I have no idea...", Regal mumbled.
He felt like he was closer to something... like when one is on the brink of solving a problem but is missing the final piece. The problem was, he wasn't even sure what the feeling was. Perhaps it was related to his mana going berserk earlier? His arm turning into water?
He didn't know.
***
Regal and Ruk soon arrived back at his estate. He had been using magic the whole journey back to sense whether or not the earlier individual was following them. In the end, nothing else occurred.
'What does ascendance mean...', Regal thought.
It wasn't a particularly unfamiliar word... but it isn't obvious what it meant in this context. It could mean that Regal is going to die, but then how would he 'meet' that individual after he did so? It must be some other form.
Regal let out a long and audible sigh.
"Why now of all times...", he said aloud.
But no one heard him. He was currently alone in the library, sorting the books he brought back to teach his disciple tomorrow.
He looked around at the silent library and wondered:
'This place already had a library when it was given to me... perhaps I could find something here'
The current Riverwood estate in the capital isn't the original one, instead, it was gifted to him once he became the Archmage. The estate he lived in was more than enough to be considered worthy of a Duke, and it previously was, it had in fact belonged to Duke...
'Duke... something? What was his name again? Can't have been that important', Regal thought as he walked through the shelves of the library.
He picked up a few books that seemed relevant to 'ascendance' and placed them onto a table situated near the entrance to the library. He spent a moment reading the initial contents of each book to check if they would be useful, a few were obviously not and were placed to the side. The ones that seemed at least somewhat useful remained in front of him.
'The others were just a bunch of fiction. Probably not the kind of ascendance that would apply to normal people', Regal figured.
He flicked through the remaining books, a blank expression remained throughout. A few hours passed by and the blue sky and white clouds could no longer be seen through the window, just the flickering light of a candle that Regal lit at some point on the table.
Regal looked at the pile of books he had read. It wasn't a large pile, but a pile nonetheless. A pile of useless garbage.
He let out a heavy sigh into the silent and empty library.
'Ascend to godhood... ascend to a higher race... ascend to a different world... why are there so many interpretations?', Regal wondered, annoyed.
In his annoyance, he decided to direct his attention to his mana. If there was anything special about him, it would be his power, the power of the most powerful mage in the world...
Perhaps he had so much power that he was going to 'ascend' to something else. Each book that Regal read shared the principle that 'ascendence' meant to change into something... but also implied it would be some sort of higher being, better than his current self in one way or another.
He started circulating his mana through his mana pathways.
"..."
A few minutes passed and Regal couldn't seem to figure anything out so he stood up and went to put the books back on the shelves.
'Right... my mana pathways have gotten bigger again huh...'
Regal was a genius when it came to magic, there's no doubt. An individual who is loved by mana circulates mana unconsciously, and in significantly larger amounts than a regular person could. Because of this, those loved by mana usually have larger mana pathways once they awaken to them.
After all, they still need someone to help them recognise the energy flowing within them, so they don't even notice they're becoming more powerful as time goes on.
Regal was especially talented when it came to expanding his mana pathways, at the point of his awakening, he could already release enough volume of mana to create four circles. He couldn't conjure four circles at first, but with the knowledge he would soon learn, he could eventually do it.
And it didn't take too long for him to be able to conjure each circle after the other until the fourth, and that's when he realised he was lacking in a certain department... he was able to become stronger quickly, but he wasn't good at controlling mana. It was the main reason he took so long to reach the 8th circle, despite possessing the power necessary for it.
So, as he spent years perfecting his control before conjuring another circle, the very practice he spent to control his magic accelerated the expansion of his mana pathways even further, propelling him to power any regular person shouldn't normally have at his age.
The majority of Regal's journey was him using 5th and 6th circle magic, and he continued doing so even when he could conjure the 7th.
Regal started to get a little worried as he thought about his mana pathways.
'Aren't they getting... too big?'
Mana pathways start as something like thin veins that flow through one's body, and they're exactly that, thin. They can only send a limited amount of mana around the body, and this amount increases as the pathways expand.
But Regal's are getting close to being the same size as his actual body. And that could be a problem. He isn't really sure about what problem it would cause, but there isn't any written record of someone who was in the same state as him, so he wouldn't know.
Would it simply continue to expand outside his body? Or would his body have reached a sort of limit?
Regal let out a defeated sigh and blew out the candles on the table. The entire room filled with darkness.
'Damn... I forgot to keep a candle for the way back', Regal thought as he stood in the pitch-black darkness of the library.
He somehow managed to find his way to the door and open-
"Hello sir"
"WHOA!"
Pamel was standing on the other side of the door, waiting.
'Holy- I seriously didn't expect him just now', Regal thought as he felt his heart race. He let his guard down and forgot Pamel was out front.
He usually senses his surroundings with mana at all times to a certain degree to prevent any chance of an ambush, so he knew Pamel was there earlier... but he stopped it during his concentration. It was the reason he had Pamel nearby in the first place, just not in the same room.
Pamel's face was the same as ever, but he was twitching ever so slightly as if to contain laughter.
Annoyed, Regal swiped the candle he was holding and walked off to his room. Along the way, he recalled the earlier events of the day, a more apparent question in his mind.
'Who was that guy anyway? He was powerful, or at least physically strong, perhaps an aura user. He was also in disguise... wearing commoner clothing for some reason, and yet it hardly seemed like he was hiding properly, his face stood out plenty.'
Regal shook his head.
'What sort of powerful person with good looks would use simple commoner clothing as a disguise, are they an idiot?', Regal scoffed.
***
The next day, Regal was once again wearing the green and white clothing that he wore on the day he went into the Lucus forest with the heroes and adventurers. But he also had an addition to his gear, he was now holding a staff.
Most mages have a staff to assist in channeling magic, it increases efficiency, and with a good quality, it can increase the effectiveness or output of magic by up to 25% of its original power.
Regal doesn't like using a staff unless it's necessary, if he already finds magic-related matters easy, then using a staff would make it too easy. In this case, he is joining the group mentioned by the king to exterminate demon camps and plans to conserve his mana with the staff.
'This is some short notice bullshit...', Regal thought with a vein bulging out of his head.
He agreed to do it yesterday, but he didn't know that it would take place the very next morning... though it does make sense. It would be natural to do this as soon as possible as the Kingdom isn't sure when the demons could attack.
He walked out through the training grounds, it was empty as no one was training at such an early time. He looked around hoping to see at least someone awake, but to no avail.
He sighed and looked at Pamel.
"Let them know what I'm doing ok? Tell... my disciple that I've left instructions for her to create her second circle.", he said.
Pamel looked slightly puzzled.
"Miss Anne is already capable of using the second circle, she did so as she was fighting demonic beasts the other day", Pamel explained.
"...for real?", Regal asked.
"Indeed, for real", Pamel affirmed.
"..."