Andar clasped his hands as a sign of respect to him and the Mayor beamed.
His gambit had worked, for it would be supremely difficult to enter Andar’s good graces after this early period, and if he could provide any assistance that he might need at this time, he would be able to sow a seed of Karma with him, and in the future, a careless word of praise from Andar could elevate his town to the heavens.
It was the reason he had also sent his daughter ahead to meet Andar, he hoped she was able to get closer to him. They were the same age and she would also be proceeding to the Black Tower but she already had a master, and she would be skipping the trials. Relationships forged with such a talent like Andar would aid her greatly.
Andar went to his Master’s side and bowed to him, looking at the other official Mage too, he also bowed.
The Mage smiled at him and turned to his Master, “Master Jonathan when they told me about the magnificent nature of your Apprentice, I thought it was mere compliments, but I see that the words do not do him any justice, he is a Titan among men. There is a reason the light blessed him with such a glorious talent.”
His master smiled, “Thank you for your kind words Silas, he is a bit who still has the smell of milk around his body, don’t overly praise him so his head would not fly off his shoulder. Please let all be seated, for today is a great day for Ikaron and all the mages, for a great star has risen among us.”
Andar blinked. I thought my master wanted me to be humble.
His master turned to him, pointing at the seated figures ” These are the representatives of the Black Tower here to collect candidates for the trials. They have come a long way, and your Awakening has drawn them here. The Rank 3 Mage here is Silas Wilsey and his younger brother disciple Daniel Redcliff, a Rank 3 Acolyte.”
Andar stood and clasped his hands towards both of them as greetings, making sure he bowed when he greeted the Mage.
They both acknowledged his greeting with a smile, he noticed that the Acolyte’s lips were white and his eyes were wild with a hidden mania, his rapid blinking eyes did not help his image, and it was impossible to hide the intense amount of jealousy, fear, and other negative emotion he tried to hide.
This boy wants to die.
Andar smiled and turned to his master, “Master you overpraise me, there is no reason why I’m that important, after all, we are all on the same journey of enlightenment.”
Jonathan Melbrooks laughed, “My dear Apprentice, the path we are on is a thorny road filled with traps and dangers, and sadly that road has a limit, the same thing applies to you, with one fundamental difference, your path has no end or not anyone I can see at my level.”
He looked at the confused face of Andar and he laughed again, it was a glorious laugh filled with pride and expectation. Andar was sure that for all the many years he had lived with his master, he had never seen this man laugh this much.
“I know you don’t understand what has happened to you, you only know that you have Awakened, but not the nature of the specific type that transpired within your body. You see my Apprentice, the Awakening Process you went through is very rare, so rare in fact that it would be difficult to catch a glimpse of something similar ever happening in the next million or even ten million years.”
“You don’t just have an exceptional talent that is extremely difficult to come across, even in an esteemed Supreme World, you are also a Spirit Body. I don’t know much about Spirit Bodies and all the hidden powers they command, but what I do know is that they are extremely special.”
His master then took the time to explain to Andar what little he knew about Spirit bodies and his unique talent grade that had gone beyond the highest Black grade, any of which would lead him to the apex as a Mage. Now and then Silas would interject and expand on some details his master had missed or ignored.
Even as Andar was listening and contemplating his words, he could see the features of Silas, who looked like he was having an issue with his Communication device.
Apparently frustrated with his communication device, he then called out, “Excuse me, Master Jonathan, but do you have any issues receiving and sending messages? I have been attempting to reach my Master, the esteemed Archmage, but for some reason, I can not get through to him.”
“Oh is that so?” Jonathan Melbrook scratched his nose, “I am having the same issue as well. This is a constant problem we have been having in this part of the world. I have sent my complaint countless times to the communication ministries but for some reason, their response is slow or nonexistent, but don’t worry, such downtime would not last for long and it will be fixed, say in three hours from now.”
Andar had lived with his Master long enough to know that when he scratched his nose, it was a tell that he was lying.
Silas cursed, “I will have those stupid bureaucrats strung up by their tendons! There are important reasons why Off Worlds Communication Arrays have to be properly maintained.”
He turned to Andar and coughed, “This should be coming directly from my Master but due to the present circumstances we find ourselves, I will have to make do. Andar what do you know about the Trials to enter the Black Tower?”
Andar concentrated and replied, “It is a trial held to determine worthy participants for the Black Tower, inside the Trial Zone there would be chances to find specialized training manuals for Acolyte, also the Aether inside the Trial Zone is very dense and would increase the chances for participants to breakthrough to Acolyte.”