Emery woke up in a room reminiscent of his own. However, the larger space, the different color of the wall and the view of the mountain range with countless waterfalls by the window wasn't in sight, ensuring he hadn't opened his eyes in his room.
Sitting up, the last thing he remembered was the feeling of an invisible hand dragging him in the air as well as a thousand needles prickling his insides. The face of a beautiful woman, paler than white with blood-red bountiful lips came into his mind, her name was Grand Magus Zenoia. She did something that caused a feeling of pain and pleasure, but, after that, only nothingness.
Then, the thought of the Magus Games entered his mind. Not knowing how much time had passed since he had been unconscious, he finally got out of bed and of the room.
Emery found himself coming out of a house. A green yard with three more houses sitting in the corners. The middle of the courtyard had a patio, there a person was sitting cross-legged on the floor.
The whole area was lighted by a sunset-stained glow, but Emery didn't have to squint hard to see who was sitting.
He walked up to him and gave a bow. Magus Xion looked at Emery and said, "Welcome to my humble domain."
"Greetings, Magus Xion, it seems I have troubled you," said Emery.
Magus Xion shook his head. "Don't worry Emery, it's not a big deal. How are you doing? Do you feel any headache or any pain at all?"
Curious as to why the magus would say that, Emery decided to examine himself. He exerted the internal energy circulating in his spirit core. He let it flow through every part of his body, but he couldn't feel any discomfort. Instead, he actually felt that his body was in optimal condition, better than what he had previously been.
Wanting to know more about himself, Emery checked his status through the symbol on his and found out the following:
[Emery Ambrose]
[Battle Power: 30]
[Spirit force: 110]
The sudden increase of the spirit force caught his eyes. That was quite a big leap, wasn't it, he thought. But then his focus was being diverted again. He got it back on track regarding the Magus Games and asked, "Magus Xion, how long have I been out?"
"Don't worry. It's no more than three hours," replied the magus.
Emery let out a sigh of relief. He couldn't imagine what would have happened if he had passed out for a day or two and disappointed his friends by not being able to participate in the games.
Now that he was more relaxed, Emery wanted to know more. He asked, "So, Magus Xion, can you tell me what has happened and why I am here?"
Still sitting, Magus Xion said, "Actually Emery, my master, the Grand Magus, showed great interest in you. Hence, she asked me to guide you in your cultivation until the games start. I am willing to abide by that, but what about you? Are you willing to accept my guidance?"
Emery immediately got on one knee in respect, saying in the most polite voice he could muster, "It would be my honor to be taught by you, Magus Xion."
The magus gave a satisfied nod and got up. "My master thinks I will be the best guide for you at the moment. She has told me how to make the best of your condition, and in exchange for this, she asked that you will show her something entertaining during the games."
Finally a sentence that rhymed well in his ear. A way to solve his problem and help to succeed at the game. How fortunate indeed.
"Okay Emery, you don't have much time left so we will start right away," said Magus Xion, walking already.
"Yes, Magus Xion," said Emery getting up to his feet and catching up to the magus.
The magus took Emery to one corner of the courtyard, next to a house field, where there were a lot of long wild grass sprouting in every direction.
"As you know already, my specialty is in infusion spells," said Magus Xion with his back turned against Emery.
He turned around and then threw Emery the same tier two sword he has used in today's practice. After that, the magus spawned another wooden puppet from his storage ring and said, "Try using the infusion spell again."
Emery called on his spirit core and executed the spell until a dark light covered the whole surface of the sword. He stared at it and somehow felt the [Darkness Infusion] was much different from earlier. Once he received the go signal from Magus Xion, Emery gripped the sword and put all his weight behind it, striking the stationary wooden puppet. To his surprise, the blade slashed a third of the wooden puppet. It couldn't compare against the inch deep cut from earlier.
"… I…" Emery was at a loss for words. What he could confirm to himself was that the obstacle he had been encountering seemed to have been open and his spirit energy was much more powerful. All he could think of doing was bowing to the magus, expressing his gratitude.
Magus Xion waved his hand. "Don't thank me, Emery. That's my master's work not mine. She opened the clogged flow of energy within your spirit core that had been created because of you having too many elements inside your body."
Clogged flow? Was that the thing connected to his dark spirit core that looked like a bridge? Emery was curious about that, but after clearing his thoughts, he asked the more pressing matter. "Does this mean I am fixed now?"
"Not so fast, Emery. Why don't you try using your water spell again. The first one you showed me before," said Magus Xion.
Emery complied. He raised his hand, focused on the water element spirit and then cast [Steam Lance], the spear-like water, thrust into the wooden puppet. The water splashed upon hitting the puppet, but after seeing it clearing out, it had only created a dent mark like before. When Emery had cast the spell, he noticed that the flow of energy, in comparison to using the darkness element infusion spell, didn't have the same power. Frowning, he asked, "What is going on Magus Xion, what does it mean?"
Magus Xion had his hand on his chin. He seemed to be thinking for a moment before saying, "It's quite simple actually. Your spirit core of darkness has made you able to cultivate faster, but when you cast a spell, as you may have noticed, they go through your dark spirit core, which in turns rejects the other spirit and affects your spell, making it much weaker than normal. In other words, except for your darkness element based spells, the spells based from the other elements you have will be much weaker."
Emery's frown deepened hearing such news. It sounded again like he didn't have a choice other than to accept what fate had given him. Not willing to give up though, he said, "Is there anything I can do to resolve this?"
"Yes, there is. But first I need you to practice something else," said Magus Xion, walking toward the long grass. He pulled one stem and cast [Darkness Infusion], making the stalk of grass shone with blackish light. The long grass then became as straight as a sword, no longer having the limp state it had. "This is what you'll be practicing for now. I need you to keep a steady flow of [Darkness Infusion] into the grass for an hour."
Emery received another stalk of the long grass, thinking this practice was going to be pretty easy. Focusing his thoughts and casting the spell, he found out that he couldn't even send the energy of the infusion spell into the grass. It startled Emery for a moment, it made him think why could he do it with a sword but not with this grass. Trying once more, he still couldn't do it. But Emery welcomed the challenge.
After the third unsuccessful attempt, he thought fourth time's the charm. He tried again and sent his dark energy to the stalk of long grass, finally achieving what Magus Xion had asked him to do. The grass glowed with great darkness and became as straight and as sharp as a sword. He was about to show it to the magus when suddenly the grass wiggled and blew up into thousand pieces.
Emery became confused but fortunately, Magus Xion explained. "This is a good practice to learn how to control the flow of your spirit. This is a crucial first step for you in mastering your elements. Transferring too little of your spirit, you won't be able to give it energy, but giving too much, the grass won't be able to contain the energy."
Emery nodded. The practice had just started, but the sky had already fallen. So, Emery decided to practice doing this all night until he fully mastered it.
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