The dense jungle filtered the sunlight, grudgingly casting a few sparse rays.
The forest exuded a pungent mixture of moss and decaying wood, with tangled roots and jumbled rocks covering the ground. Amidst this, four people were making their way forward with difficulty.
The one at the front could be considered the most mature among them, but he was far from being truly grown-up. The three following behind were nothing more than children, making the whole group look like a party out on a picnic.
However, this "Illusory Forest" was no place for a leisurely outing. The eldest boy at the front wielded a machete, hacking through vines and shrubs to clear a path. The youngest boy at the back carried all their luggage. The boy and girl in the middle of the group seemed to be taking it easy.
"It doesn't look like it'll be easy to find a new campsite before sunset."
"Jestan, climb up to the treetops again and see if there's any flat open space nearby," Oliver instructed the boy with empty hands.
Oliver considered himself the leader of the group, or at least he thought he was.
"Again?" Jestan grumbled, looking extremely reluctant on the surface but actually feeling quite proud inside. After all, he was the only one in the group who knew how to float. "Spirits of the atmosphere, heed my prayer. By my covenant with the god of winds, free me from the shackles of the earth."
As he chanted the spell, Jestan slowly rose into the air and floated towards the treetops, disappearing into the dense canopy in a moment.
"Southeast, five miles, there's a hill," Jestan's voice came from the top of the tree. "I'll go and take a look first."
"Another one sneaking off ahead."
"Relying on his ability to fly."
"We'll give him a good beating later."
"Let him eat raw meat on his own tonight."
"Make him stand guard alone at night."
In the absence of the defendant, the other disgruntled team members had already passed judgment on Jestan's crimes, and the poor Jestan was still completely unaware of it.
It took the group a full two hours to reach the hill. The road was really not easy to walk on. By the time they arrived, the sun had already set.
Before it got completely dark, the travelers had to set up tents and prepare enough firewood for the bonfire. Of course, the three members of the trial jury didn't need to do it themselves. A condemned prisoner could reduce their punishment by doing hard labor. This was the most basic right granted to a prisoner by the laws of a civilized society.
"So tired! My feet are sore to death."
"Bena, you're still talking about being tired. You don't need to scout the way, nor do you need to clear the path. Even your luggage is carried for you," Jestan protested.
"Get to work. No talking."
"Bena, behave like a lady, okay?"
"Ladylike behavior varies from person to person."
"..."
"Those two guys actually still have the energy to argue. It seems their burdens are too light," Oliver whispered to Ryan.
The latter nodded in agreement.
Night fell. A bonfire was lit in front of the tent. Of course, Jestan picked up the firewood. And it was Oliver's task to light the fire. Oliver studied fire magic, so throwing a small fireball was nothing for him. At this time, Bena was preparing the pheasant that Jestan had shot.
Looking at the crackling bonfire, Ryan's thoughts suddenly flew back to his hometown.
His hometown was Severna, a small town located upstream of the Dosler River. Although the town was small, it was quite prosperous because it was close to the second-largest city, Newnara.
His father ran a grocery store in the town. When he was a child, his father often asked Ryan to help serve guests or help with the accounts. These tasks made Ryan completely lose his playtime.
Whenever this happened, his father would say to him, "Son, I will pass this store on to you in the future." Therefore, his childhood wish was to open a large department store in Newnara when he grew up.
This was entirely because there were often merchants from Newnara coming to Severna. They all came in beautiful carriages and then switched to horses or camels to continue their journey in the town. Ryan was extremely envious of these people from the big city. Ryan liked to listen to those merchants talk about things happening in Newnara, such as the construction of the central grand theater and the grand carnival celebrations. But he had never left Severna until he met his teacher.
His teacher's name was Victor, and he was a magician.
Before the teacher came, there were no magicians in Severna. Therefore, the arrival of the teacher really excited the people in the town because there was now a magician in this small town.
However, people's enthusiasm soon waned because the teacher was not like an ordinary magician, or rather, he didn't have the awareness of being a magician.
Not only was the teacher lecherous and a heavy drinker, but also wizards, though not required to strictly abstain from alcohol and lust like monks, need a high level of concentration when reciting spells. Therefore, most wizards are steady and serious, and their lives are extremely self - disciplined.
The teacher's lechery and heavy drinking were not his greatest drawbacks. The teacher's biggest shortcoming was that his magic was very poor. His control over magic was very bad. Sometimes he used too much magic power, sometimes not enough, and sometimes he couldn't even summon magic at all.
Since the teacher had brought about several disasters to the town, no one dared to ask him for magical help anymore. Those wealthy families in the town originally wanted to get to know other wizards through the teacher and then establish connections with the Wizarding Association. But soon they gave up.
Rumors had it that the teacher's reputation was not good. He not only embezzled the funds of the association, but also seduced his employer's wife, and even stole the statue of God from the church. What was even worse was that he deceived girls by using his identity as a wizard, and - anyway, there was at least one evil deed that Ryan knew very clearly - he didn't pay back his debts.
Finally, Ryan's father couldn't bear it any longer. When the teacher came to the store to buy things (of course, on credit) again, his father asked him to settle the bill.
The teacher argued with his father for a long time. Seeing that his father was immovable, he had no choice but to agree to settle half of the debt owed, and pay back the other half after he received the allowance issued by the Wizarding Association every month.
His father had no choice but to agree and turned around to get the account book.
Taking this opportunity, the teacher walked up to Ryan and asked with a smile, "Little friend, do you want to learn magic?"
"Yes," Ryan answered without hesitation.
"Good. I will take you as my student," the teacher announced immediately.
Thus, Ryan became the teacher's first and only disciple. Of course, the teacher's credit was also wiped out. And from then on, whenever he needed something, he would send Ryan back to ask his father for it. As a result, for many years, Ryan's father had always been puzzled as to why the teacher was a wizard instead of a merchant, because the teacher had the makings of a sly merchant.
Ever since he followed the teacher, Ryan just got up regularly in the morning to clean up, and went to the tavern regularly late at night to drag the teacher back. Occasionally, he ran errands for the teacher (most of the time he ran back to his family's store to pick up some things. Fortunately, the teacher only asked him to pick up some daily necessities and never asked him to take more valuable things). Life was quite idle.
The teacher generally wouldn't get up until the sun went down. Sometimes Ryan really thought that this guy might have the bloodline of the vampire clan.
Most of the time, after getting up, the teacher would go to Uncle Todd's tavern to drink. Uncle Todd was the only person in town, apart from Ryan's father, who was willing to let the teacher run up a tab. However, unlike his father, Uncle Todd seemed to think highly of the teacher and had never asked him to settle the bill.
Before Ryan became the teacher's disciple, sometimes when the teacher got drunk, he would sleep in Uncle Todd's store. Of course, the teacher also had the experience of sleeping on the street.
Now, whenever it was late at night, Ryan was responsible for bringing the teacher back. At first, Ryan carried him back on his back several times. But since the teacher vomited all over Ryan, Ryan switched from carrying to dragging him. If he wanted to vomit, he could just do it on himself.
The teacher's teaching method was mainly self-study. He had never taught Ryan any magic. He just threw his magic books to Ryan, told Ryan to memorize the spells in them, and meditate according to the methods in the books.
After Ryan could recite those spells fluently and had a general understanding of those meditation methods, he tried to cast several spells, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't summon any magic.
Finally, on a rare occasion when the teacher was sober, Ryan raised the issue of his inability to use magic, and the answer he got was shocking.
It turned out that Ryan's aptitude was simply not suitable for practicing magic.
In this world, most of the magic used by wizards relies on their own mental power to gather magical elements and present them in a certain way. The stronger the mental power, the faster the speed of gathering magical elements, the greater the binding force on magical elements, and the more precise the control over magical elements. Therefore, there are differences among so-called probationary wizards, lower-level, middle-level, upper-level wizards, great wizards, and archmages.
There are two types of people who are not suitable for practicing magic. The first type has too weak a mental power. Most people fall into this category, which is why there are so few wizards.
Another situation is that some people, although having relatively strong mental power, have a divergent type of mental power that cannot be concentrated. Therefore, although they can gather magical elements, they are unable to maintain the gathered state of the magical elements. Ryan belongs to this kind of people.
After knowing the reason, Ryan no longer felt worried. After all, his original wish was just to be a grocery store owner. It was not too difficult to accept that he couldn't learn magic. However, Ryan didn't tell his father that he couldn't learn magic. He still continued to do the meditation exercises that were meaningless to him and maintained his original peaceful life.
In Ryan's impression, the teacher seldom got up early. But there was one day every month when he would get up early, tidy himself up a bit, and never drink alcohol. This day was the gathering day of the Magic Association. On this day, the teacher could also receive the allowance that he had been looking forward to for a long time.
As usual, the teacher rushed to the Magic Association through the transmission magic array set up in the second-floor laboratory early in the morning, looking very excited. But different from usual, he came back before noon.
Something made him give up the regular feast of the Magic Association's gathering. That was a grand banquet hosted by the kingdom at its own expense to show respect for wizards. This was also one of the reasons why the teacher looked forward to the gathering day.
"Teacher, why are you back so early? Has the banquet been cancelled?" Ryan asked doubtfully.
"Quick, pack up and follow me!" The teacher issued a brief order.
"But -"
"Stop talking. If you want to know what's going on, ask on the way. Hurry up and pack."
"How many days will it take?"
"It's uncertain. Prepare well and go quickly."
Under the teacher's urging, Ryan quickly ran out of the door, crossed the street, and ran all the way home.
Seeing his son running home in a hurry, Ryan's father left the customers waiting beside him.
"What's wrong?" The father asked nervously. Ever since his son followed that rogue wizard, he had been worried that something would happen.
"Oh - no, Dad, don't worry, it's nothing - I'm just back to pack up my things. The teacher is going to take me on a long journey." Ryan replied breathlessly, which at least reassured his father.
"Where are we going?" The father asked.
"I don't know. The master neither said where we were going nor how long we would be gone. He just told me to be fully prepared." Ryan told his father everything he knew. In fact, he didn't know much himself.
After speaking, Ryan began to pack his luggage by himself.
Seeing that he couldn't get much information out of Ryan, his father had no choice but to help pack the luggage. Fortunately, the town of Severna received many travelers every day, and the grocery store was well-stocked with travel gear and supplies. As a result, it didn't take long to prepare all the necessary items.
Ryan picked up his luggage and walked out the door. Although his baggage wasn't extensive, it was sufficient to meet the needs of most journeys, including essentials for traveling through deep mountains and deserts.
Although Ryan had never traveled far from home, he had grown up helping his father manage the store and had interacted with many travelers. As a result, he could be considered an expert in selecting equipment.
Standing under the eaves at the entrance, Ryan set down his luggage and turned to bid farewell to his father. Watching his son, Ryan's father suddenly felt as if Ryan was leaving him and the grocery store forever.
The son before him seemed like a natural-born traveler; the confines of the grocery store could no longer contain him.
Ryan picked up his own luggage and ran back to the teacher's laboratory.
"Lock the door and come directly to the second floor," came the teacher's voice from upstairs.
With a sense of trepidation, Ryan ascended to the second-floor laboratory.
There was a teleportation magic circle on the second floor, made of bronze and featuring five circular discs in its center.
Victor, the teacher, was seated on one of the discs, beckoning Ryan over. "Come here, sit here," he said, pointing to a disc beside him.
Ryan sat down in the same manner as his teacher.
The moment he sat down, he felt as if he had entered another world. Everything around him seemed to quiet down suddenly, but then a myriad of images flooded in—oceans, deserts, mountains, jungles, cities, and wilderness.
Ryan, like a bird in mid-air, swiftly skimmed over these landscapes. The scenery became increasingly wondrous, with sunrises, sunsets, snow-capped mountains, and glaciers—
After an indeterminate amount of time, Ryan finally snapped out of the illusions.
"How do you feel?" the teacher asked, having been watching his student closely. Seeing Ryan come to his senses, he inquired.
"I'm sorry, I got lost in the illusions," Ryan said sheepishly.
"These are not illusions. The scenes in the images exist somewhere on Earth. What you are seeing are memories of this magic circle."
Seeing the puzzled expression on Ryan's face, Victor continued, "This magic circle has traveled to various places in the world, adding a memory with each visit. Some people dismiss these images as illusions and drive them away, while others experience them as a form of communication..."
Seeing that Ryan was still struggling to understand and had fallen into deep thought, Victor hurriedly reminded his student, "Stop thinking about it. We've already wasted a lot of time. Let's get ready to depart!"
After listening to the teacher's explanation of the meditation technique, Ryan immediately closed his eyes and adjusted his mind according to the method. Once Ryan appeared to be stable, Victor sat upright, formed a hand seal with each hand, and recited a spell: "Fei—suo fei—fa—fa—suo—fei—fa—ka—na—da—"
Ryan immediately felt a violent tremor. After a while of upheaval, there was another intense vibration.
"We've arrived." Hearing his teacher's voice, Ryan opened his eyes and found himself standing on a platform.
He stood up and looked around. The platform was made of white marble and was circular in shape. The farthest distance between the two ends was about a hundred meters. There was a huge magic circle engraved on the ground, which was more than ten times larger than the teleportation magic circle in the laboratory, but the two magic circles looked completely different.
"Quick, help me up!" The forgotten teacher grumbled angrily.
It was at this moment that Ryan remembered the poor Teacher Victor. He half-dragged and half-pulled the teacher to his feet. After taking a short rest, Ryan picked up the luggage on the ground and followed closely behind the teacher towards the city.
As they walked, the two of them talked as they went. Teacher Victor briefly explained the situation to Ryan.
Apparently, the Magic Association stipulated that every magician, after taking on a disciple, must register with the Association. A year later, the Association would propose a trial. Those who passed the trial would be granted the qualification of an apprentice, officially registered with the Association, and allowed to receive magical teachings. Those who failed could come back to try again the following year, and if they failed again, their qualification would be revoked.
Last year, Teacher Victor had enrolled Ryan for the trial the following year without permission. This year, according to the regulations, candidates had to be present in person.
"Now, you have two options. First, you can give up the trial and go back to help at your father's grocery store. Second, you can sign up for the trial and go back to help at your father's grocery store if you fail." Victor said, clearly not optimistic about his student.
"...I want to give it a try..."
Hearing his student say this, Victor was not surprised. After all, having been together for two years, he had come to understand his student's character.
As they talked, the two of them arrived at the Magic Association.
Passing through an arched gateway, Victor led Ryan to a long auditorium. There were already three people sitting inside.
"You can sit here for a while first and say hello to your trial companions. If you have any questions, you can ask them," said Teacher Victor before leaving Ryan and walking away.
In the unfamiliar environment, Ryan felt a sense of loneliness for the first time. He didn't know how to interact with strangers.
After a moment of silence, the oldest of the three people opposite walked over: "Hello, my name is Oliver." After speaking, he extended his right hand in a friendly manner.
Ryan instinctively extended his right hand as if by reflex, shook hands, and said, "I... I'm Ryan. Nice to meet you."
After breaking the ice, the atmosphere became much warmer. After introducing themselves, they got to know each other better.