Months flew unseen. Dragonspire Village was no longer desolated, and now every place was full of new trees that had shot up, and the atmosphere is that of a new spring. Renji sat directly in the shadow of the pine tree, legs crossed, and directly concentrated his mind to release some magic force. As he lay there in his meditative state, numerous specks of light, earthen-green in color, could be seen swirling about him. These minute specks were constantly entering his body to proceed into every corner; once there, they would get cleaned up and stored in his chest at the central dantian. Inside this dantian were two sorts of mist: one was smoky, earthy mist—which meant his earth element magic force; the other sort was green and meant his wind element magic force.
After some time, Renji sighed deeply and came back to the moment. He was sitting in the lotus position next to a moon-white-robed Kaiya Tanaka. Serene and smiling, Kaiya Tanaka sat listening to the peaceful airs as Renji snapped out of the meditation. "Renji, you're leaving for Keito Institute tomorrow and still you work this hard today?" he smiled at his words. "Grandpa Kaiya, if I remember rightly, it was you who once told me that a strong warrior should strive every day and never slack off for a second, right?".
Only continuous training throughout one's life enables one to realize extraordinary power. Kaiya Tanaka laughed, pretending to grumble, "Little rascal, now you're giving me instructions? " Renji responded with a chuckle. Just then, a black shadow zipped towards them from afar and landed on Renji's shoulders in an instant. It was the Umbramouse, 'Echo.' Young Echo leaned against Renji, making a chewing motion with his mouth and pointing at a nearby dead hare. By the look on Echo's face, Renji knew exactly what he was thinking.
"You want me to cook it?" Renji laughed. Echo kept nodding his head like crazy. Beside him, Kaiya Tanaka muttered her thoughts for Renji to hear, "This little Umbramouse is so strange. It's already been months, but looking at his size, it's like he hasn't grown a single bit.".
For an infant Umbramouse, you'd expect noticeable growth during the early stages." Renji could only shake his head in response.
Much better speed when Echo didn't gain much altitude.
"That really is so weird," said Kaiya Tanaka, looking at Echo rather oddly—himself obviously unaware that some kind of a spirit was scrutinizing him in a telepathic manner. Renji noticed the day wearing on and commented, "Well, this day has passed me. I should start my warrior training soon." As he stated this, he stood up, picked up the dead hare, and started down the mountain, Kaiya Tanaka floating beside him obviously not happy. "Renji, in the future you're going to be a magus. Why are you still engaging in warrior training?" Renji laughed, "Grandpa Kiya, I've found that warrior training helps increase my endurance, which in turn boosts my spiritual essence." Kaiya Tanaka was not going to be outdone by this and quickly shot back with, "Yes, but compared to your Spiritual Essence gains from meditation, those crude training methods are nothing." Renji just shook his head and didn't respond. Though it were true that fighter training could improve Spiritual Essence, it wasn't his main reason. And for that there was another reason for Renji maintaining his warrior training regimen: "Now if I get the chance to ever really drink some fresh dragon's blood, I can train from the SECRET DRAGONBLOOD TRAINING TOME.".
I should continue my exercises in the physical sense. A body is like a vessel, while battle qi is like wine. Thus, it should be strong. The sooner I start building my physical base, the quicker I will see improvements when I finally get into the Secret Dragonblood Training Tome. That fact allowed Renji to spend most of his days collecting and producing Magic force, a process made very easy by his communion with the essences. He found that it was quite tiring having to meditate for hours training his spiritual essence. The warrior training provided him not only with exercises for the body but also with rest for the mind and body, and so throughout the hours of the day, he could alternate certain activities. Everyone in Dragonspire was there the next morning, lined up on the main road, armed and waving goodbye as Renji was sent off.
That was the biggest pride of the village: to produce a magus who would study at the prestigious Keito Institute. Anyway, Keito Institute takes only a hundred students every year from all over the continent of Aerthos. At that moment Renji stood at the door to the mansion of Reshin's clan; outside waited Draven and the others. Inside there were only Kazuki, Renji, little Kenji, and Housekeeper Haruto. "Renji, today you are supposed to report to Keito Institute and join the school officially. Upon graduation you shall become the all-powerful pièce de résistance of magi. *** You will do something about it before you leave, that is, as regards your father, there is something that must be told you." Kazuki's chest was heavy with many things he wished to pour out to Renji, but after a long silence, he succeeded to maudlin talk a few simple sentences. "My son, remembers the deep desire that the elders of the Reshin clan have held burning for many centuries, and never forget the humiliation of our clan! *** "For the record, by the time you graduate, you'll be at least a sixth circle magus," he continued further, his face beginning to show a bit of greenish color.
"As long as you work diligently, it would be only natural for you to enter the seventh rank. Besides, you are a dual-element magus! There would not even be one on an equal standing as you in the entire Kingdom of Falaise!".
"You will one day find and retrieve my clan's sacred artifact. I won't even forgive you, should you fail to do so in death!" He glared at Renji, to leave his words to him. This prodding of his father dug his insides, and his heart quivered nervously.
He passed down the words as he finally left his son. "Father, I will go.
"As long as I draw breath, I will bring back the ancestral heirloom of our Reshin clan. I swear!" Sworn the boy back, eyes resolute, matching his father's own steely gaze. Kazuki's face, however steel, seemed to have a soft cast; his eyes even shone with the twinkling light of pride as he patted Renji soundly on the shoulder. "I believe in you, son.
Much later, as they rumbled down the east road out of Dragonspire Village with his family, Renji again looked backward to see the hundreds of friendly faces come to wish him goodbye. Right up in front were his father, Kazuki, and little brother Kenji. "Big brother, bye bye!" Little Kenji waved vigorously. The image of the standing man with his father and the brother of his reminded Renji of scenes that filled eyes with tears. "Father. Kenji." His heart ached with longing.undefinedNever before had Renji been away from home for such a long time, but this time, he would be gone for a significant period.undefinedPerched quietly on Renji's shoulders, Echo, the little Umbramouse, seemed to sense Renji's feelings and remained silent. Not far off, Kaiya Tanaka—whose spirit form could be seen—looked encouragingly toward Renji. "Renji, it's time to go," Draven said, already looking out for his safety from any potential bandit attack as he waited to take Renji toward the Institute. Renji turned reluctantly, pausing to take one last look at his family before forcing his back to turn away and set off toward the Keito Institute. "Farewell, family. Farewell, home," he thought.
In the year 9991, as the Aerthos calendar fell, Renji the nine years old left his home of Dragonspire Village with a young Umbramouse named 'Echo' and Captain of the Guard Draven of the Reshin clan to begin anew.