"What a rare find… A hidden water source here," Ronan sighed in comfort, soaking his feet in the cool stream.
"Better mark this spot. I'll make sure to pass by here on future runs."
Normally, Ronan fetched water from the lakeside, filling two large containers that could last him three to five days.
Suddenly, a rustling noise interrupted his thoughts.
"Rustle… rustle…"
Ronan immediately turned his head toward the sound, his eyes locking onto a slightly trembling bush.
Must be a startled animal, he thought.
Still, a twinge of unease crept into his mind. After drying his feet and putting on his shoes, he cautiously walked toward the source of the noise.
Carefully parting a cluster of low shrubs covered in red berries, Ronan walked about ten meters further, only to find a small dark green treehouse tucked away in the woods.
"Someone's living here?!"
Ronan froze, his eyes wide with surprise. He instinctively halted and took a few careful steps backward.
Encountering other sorcerers in the treehouse district was not uncommon. On previous occasions, Ronan had noticed signs of habitation and always kept his distance. But he hadn't expected anyone to live in such a remote area.
"Guess I won't be coming back here... I'll have to modify my route."
Having made up his mind, Ronan quickly retreated and returned home, drenched in sweat. After a brief rest, he glanced at the time—it wasn't even nine in the morning.
His training continued.
"Meditation is the only way I can improve my strength at this stage. The book says that meditating right after draining your mental energy boosts its effectiveness significantly."
Ronan sat beneath his oak tree, chewing on some wild fruit he had gathered from the forest while flipping through a meditation manual.
The manual described how a person's soul gets stronger the more it is drained of its content, and mental energy is the content within it. By draining mental energy first and refilling it, the soul gets more resilient and its capacity could expand over time.
The problem was: how to quickly deplete his mental energy.
"All sorcerer activities require mental energy—alchemy, enchantment, forging, rune crafting… But the most effective way to drain it is through spellcasting."
Ronan set down the meditation manual and picked up another black-covered book titled Basic Zero-Tier Spells. This book was another relic from his days at Hoddam Academy.
Despite its grandiose title, the book only documented five spells: Fireball, Ice Sphere, Energy Missile, Charged Weapon, and Detection Spell.
Ronan read through the descriptions of each spell carefully.
His greatest weakness right now was his lack of combat ability. No, to be precise, he had no combat ability at all.
Learning an offensive spell was an urgent necessity.
After carefully weighing his options, Ronan decided to focus on mastering Energy Missile.
Given his non-elemental affinity, spells like Fireball and Ice Sphere, which required elemental alignment, were immediately ruled out. Charged Weapon required a weapon, and Detection Spell was a utility spell—not very useful in battle.
Energy Missile, a long-range attack spell with no elemental requirements, was the perfect choice for him.
The principle behind Energy Missile was relatively straightforward—by reciting a chant and performing specific hand gestures, mental energy would resonate with free-floating energy particles in nature, forming a missile of pure energy.
But execution was another story.
"Uru...Bazidam...Erdamu..."
The chant wasn't particularly long, but each syllable had to be perfectly synchronized with the corresponding hand gesture. Ronan kept stumbling—when he focused on the chant, he'd mess up the hand gestures; when his hand movements were right, he'd forget the chant.
After hours of practice, Ronan was drenched in sweat, his mouth dry, and his mental energy barely touched. He still hadn't managed to successfully cast Energy Missile even once.
"Damn it! This is way harder than I thought!"
He stared at the thick spellbook in frustration, wondering if he was doing something wrong or if he had missed a crucial detail.
In reality, having a mentor beside him would have made a huge difference.
Hoddam Academy offered this exact kind of guidance. Signing up for the Energy Missile class would have ensured an experienced sorcerer walked him through every step, saving him from countless mistakes.
But Ronan was broke.
The class cost ten low-grade magic stones, a fortune that he simply couldn't afford.
"Guess I'll just have to figure it out on my own..." Ronan sighed and resumed his practice.
Skipping lunch, he alternated between practicing and meditating to recover his energy. He didn't stop until late afternoon, around four o'clock.
"Uru Bazidam Erdamu!"
The strange, awkward syllables rolled off his tongue smoothly. His chubby fingers moved in precise synchronization with the chant, rapidly forming a sequence of hand gestures without a single mistake.
As the final syllable left his mouth, Ronan felt a powerful vibration in his ears.
In an instant, a significant chunk of his mental energy drained away.
The air in front of him rippled, and a glowing sphere the size of a ping-pong ball materialized out of thin air. With a mere thought, it shot forward with a sharp whoosh, slamming into a nearby oak tree.
"Boom!"
Splinters flew everywhere as a large chunk of bark exploded from the tree's trunk.
"Did it work?"
For a few moments, Ronan stood in stunned silence. Then, a surge of joy and accomplishment washed over him like a tidal wave.
"It worked!"
He rushed forward to inspect the impact site. The thick oak tree now bore a deep crater where the Energy Missile had struck.
"This… This is stronger than a shotgun blast!"
He couldn't help but marvel at the spell's power.
For the first time, Ronan felt like a true sorcerer—a wielder of extraordinary power far beyond ordinary humans.
And with that power came a newfound confidence, a firm belief in his ability to survive in this harsh world.
Ronan let out a long breath, a rare calmness settling over him.
Instead of indulging in his victory, he resumed his practice.
At his current level as a Level 1 Sorcerer Apprentice, Ronan could barely cast Energy Missile twice before exhausting his mental energy.
But that was enough.
His plan to quickly deplete his mental energy was finally working. Everything seemed to be falling into place.
After a hasty dinner, he returned to practicing under the flickering light of fireflies in the forest.
Strangely, after his first success, subsequent attempts became much smoother.
His chanting grew faster and more precise, his hand gestures increasingly fluid. He only failed once—due to sheer exhaustion.
By midnight, Ronan dragged his weary body back into his treehouse. The moment he collapsed onto his bed, he opened his system panel.
---
[Character Panel]
Name: Ronan Damien
Age: 16
Talent: Non-elemental Affinity
Level: Level 1 Sorcerer Apprentice (88%)
Skills:
Basic Meditation (Novice, 11/100)
Energy Missile (Novice, 14/100)
---
A satisfied smile crept onto Ronan's face as he drifted into a deep sleep.