It's been a month, and I still haven't been able to defeat Galahad, but it seems like I am improving. What used to be a few seconds of sparring now lasts a couple of minutes. He nags at me for some mistakes I make, but that's just to improve me. Apart from that, I have gotten close to the mages that serve under the king, sometimes hanging out with them or borrowing some books on magic.
By reading those books, I learned that there are elements to magic, and the average mage can only cast one of those elements. The elements are fire, water, wind, and earth, these are the basic elements. There were two more that only a handful of people could utilize in the history of this world, which light and dark magic.
These elements had subcategories as well, and it is quite rare to stumble upon such person who could wield these sub-elements. The mages had told me that each sub-element was much harder to manipulate than the basic elements. The only elements that didn't have a subcategory were light and dark, but that could be due to only a few people being able to use such magic.
Fire had the subcategory of thunder and lighting. The mage who could use such magic could summon thunder and lighting from the skies, even on a clear day, striking their foes with incredible force, leaving them burnt to a crisp.
Water has ice as its sub-element, allowing the mage to case spells of ice. Some mages use it to freeze their enemies in their tracks, while some use it like a bullet of sorts, shooting small dart-shaped ice to their enemies.
Wind had the subcategory of healing, which is the rarest subcategory for an element, and plays a crucial role as a support in parties of adventurers who would go out on a mission or to hunt monsters.
Earth has plant control as its subcategory. This subcategory is rarely unlocked by humans, with most of its users being elves who dwell in the forests. It is known that the users could make plants and trees bend to their will, and being able to increase the size of said plant.
I also read something about magic swords, which had caught my attention, as I was a wielder of a sword myself and a mage. While looking through the book, I saw that there were ranks for such weapons, ranging from tier 4 to tier 1, with tier 1 being the strongest. These weapons were usually created using a monster's bone, and core, then enchanted by an enchanter.
Throughout the days after reading about the magic and their elements, I went out to the training field of the mages to see what elements I could use. I started from the basics, casting a fireball, which I had already learned, then moved to water. I guide my mana to my palms, collecting it, then envision a ball of water appearing. Doing this took quite the while, but in the end I was able to use some simple water magic.
Next was wind, which I had already used a few times, by using it to shoot myself towards the golem in the forest. There were other spells, like wind bullets, which weren't visible to the naked eye.
For earth magic, I was quite confused on why it was only used for shielding, as it could have been such the devastating element. But now, I learned how to use 'rock wall', which basically creates a wall of stone rising from the ground in front of you, shielding you from incoming attacks.
I am quite perplexed, as it had said in the books that most mages could only use one or two of the elements. It must be due to the trait of the Wizard that gave me such aptitude with all elements. As I wipe off the sweat I had accumulated and head towards the sleeping quarters in order to wash up, I am stopped by one of the king's personal butlers, saying the king wishes to meet me.
Opening the doors to the Great hall, I am met with the gazes of Galahad and the King. Both having some materials that seemed like parts of a beast. As I redirect my focus to the king, he calls on me to come closer.
"My lord, I was told you would like to speak to me?" I say as I get closer, slightly bowing my head.
"Yes, that is certainly true Lex, I've called on you for an important matter" He tells me as he signals something to Galahad, who picks up what seems to be like a crystal and a large fragment of bone then starts trotting towards me.
"I would like you to give you these materials to create a magic sword for yourself, there is an exceptionally great smith in the south of this City you could ask to create this weapon." He says as he tosses a pouch of coins and an emblem my way, saying I would need these.
"Thank you, my lord, but could I ask what beast this bone comes from?" I say with confusion as I stare at the material in hand.
"Don't worry about such matter, they are just from a beast slain a couple decades ago." He tells me with a slight smile forming in his face, I look at Galahad, but he turns he just has a smile decorating his face as usual.
I let out a slight sigh before heading out of the grand hall. It was getting quite late, so I planned to explore the southern parts of the kingdom tomorrow.
"Quite the beautiful sky" I say as I stare into the stars before heading towards the sleeping quarters.
....
Earlier, before Lex had entered the Great Hall.
"My lord, I see great potential in our new recruit, Lex." Galahad says with a serious expression covering his entire face.
"I have noticed that too, I've seen you guys sparring, and he amazes me with how much he is able to adapt and change, not to mention his affinity to magic being able to utilize all four of the elements." He says as he gets up off of his throne.
"I believe that if he had a reliable sword, he could rise in ranking quite quick" Galahad says as he gets up as well.
The two both enter into the treasury, where there were many jewels and weapons, but they pass each and every item before reaching a piece of bone and crystal encased in glass. It was enchanted with high levels of magic energy. The king raises his hand over the glass and chants a few words, dissipating the spell and breaking the glass.
Galahad had a confused look on his face, "Are we really going to give such item to him?" he questions, as he is handed the items.
"There is no point in having it pile up dust here, we might as well put it to good use." The king says as he heads back to the Great hall before sending a request to meet Lex.
....
As usual, I wake up and take a few laps around the castle before my morning spar with Galahad. As I finish up the sparring, I have seen quite the noticeable changes in myself. Unlike before, I could hold my footing when defending against Galahads force, as well as predict his swings before they even happen.
"Hey, I'll be leaving to see the smith now." I tell Galahad as I start casting my wind magic, lifting myself into the air, darting towards the South.
As I look at the Kingdom from the sky, I see the sheer size of it. I was floating above the capital of this kingdom, Plaiver, A river split the capital into two sections, the Northern, and the Southern. There were many more cities, each being ruled by nobles who had sworn their loyalty to the king.
The city was split into two when it was attacked and invaded long ago by groups of barbarians, eventually making the residents move into the Northern side. It is now the district that houses many of Plaiver's residents. It's filled to the brim with mostly houses, with a few shops scattered throughout it. The southern side was the shopping district, many of the larger shops were opened there, like potion shops, armories, and countless smithies.
I descend as I reach the south of the city, It was quite easy to find the smithy the King was speaking of. It had quite the line full of people of wealth, they had vibrant clothes and luxurious goods like gold jewelry that was enchanted with magic of defense.
This is a long line, good thing the king had given me his emblem. I ditch the line, looking back at it with a slight smirk as the others look towards me with their eyebrows furrowed and a face full of anger.
I turn back, showing the emblem to the worker of the smithy. The worker looks at the emblem with a very shocked face, his eyes widen, and he turns towards a drunken old man, who was quite short and had a large beard that was unkept.
"Smithy master, Please take this order yourself!" He says as he rushes to wake up the drunk old man.
"Huh, what happen!?" The old man shouts as he is awoken from his drunken slumber.
"Please take that man's order, sir!" the young man says as he rushes towards me to let me in.
The old man staggers towards a room at the back, then looks back at me, signaling me to come in. I take my step into the room, looking around, it was filled with many swords, finished and unfinished. All of these swords seemed to be of high quality, shown by its shine and the material that was used. There was a large forge in the center that many more of the workers used to forge the weapons that were ordered, heating up metal, then pounding it down with a hammer till it makes a sword like shape.
"It seems you were sent by the king himself, what might you be requesting?" The man says as he heads towards the back where there was a large station with equipment and a personal forge that seemed to burn through the energy that was provided by crystals from monsters.
I hand him the material, "I would like you to forge a magic sword for me." The oldie observes the material, then places it down on his table before asking me to unsheathe my sword and swing it around a few times.
"Why would you want me to do that?" I tell him with a face full of confusion, what would swinging my sword do?
"Just do what I tell you!" He says in a stern voice with his arms closed.
I unsheathe my sword then swing a few times before stopping then staring at the old man, he seems to be taking some mental notes. He then tells me to cast a few magic spells, which I comply with.
"I will need a few more materials to create your weapon, with what you gave me right now would only create a weapon that can't unleash your full potential." He says as he writes something down on his notes before tearing it, then handing it to me.
"These are the other materials you need to provide me" He says before saying I could come back when I have the materials.
Back into the skies, I head back towards the castle. "Hmm, Ether Gems? Where do I get that?" I let out a deep sigh as I increase my speed.