Chương 143: Book 3 Chapter 21 - Jaden's Tests

Jaden sat nervously in front of Victor. They were in a room in one of the guesthouses at the Yountal Estate in Portish. Jaden had known the man was a tier 5, but hadn't realized he had advanced to tier 6. Or maybe he had always been a tier 6, and had simply been hiding his true power, Jaden wasn't sure. Before today, he had only ever sensed the man as a tier 5, but once they were face to face, something had shifted, and Victor's true strength had suddenly become apparent.

He explained it was necessary for him to get an in-depth understanding of Jaden's situation, something about his 'domain'. Jaden had never heard the word before, but he had also never met a tier 6 before. In the Portish Magic Academy, years ago when Jaden attended, they really only taught about progressing through tier 4 and the basics to work towards tier 4. There were enough tier 4s in Portish that Jaden knew what an aura was, especially after his brief interactions with Kane months ago.

From Victor's comments, Jaden gathered that a personal domain was something similar, only attainable at some tier above tier 4. Victor didn't explain much about it honestly, just mentioned that Jaden might 'feel some pressure'. And he really did feel some pressure. It wasn't painful or debilitating, just… odd. Unique. Something Jaden had never experienced before. It was like he was suddenly immersed in water, except the water had a will of its own, and was pressing and probing at him.

And not just physically, either, he could feel the domain analyzing his very soul, picking apart what concepts he had, how developed his mana channels were, how large and condensed his mana core was. It was all laid bare. Victor hummed and nodded to himself a few times as his domain encapsulated and immersed Jaden. The experience only lasted a few seconds, but it left a lasting impression on Jaden. He had never felt so small and insignificant in his life. And Jaden wasn't a weak mage by any means!

While he wasn't as strong as some exceptional tier 3s, Zoey specifically came to his mind as a comparison, he wasn't weak, either. He considered himself quite a bit above average, and had been on the verge of breaking through to tier 4 for years now. It was true that the extra time in tier 3 had helped him improve his mana control and cast times, and he was quite a bit stronger now than he had been even just a year ago. Even so, he wished he could have broken through already.

He had attempted the breakthrough process many times now, and each time ended the same. He began with secluded meditation, somewhere that he could remain focused. He worked on infusing his concepts into his core, and by this point had even gotten quite good at it. Once infused, the breakthrough was supposed to happen, but for Jaden, it just never did. Normally, that would indicate that someone had likely reached their peak, and they simply lacked the spiritual roots required for further advancement.

In Jaden's case though, something else was missing. He could break through, he was certain of it, he simply hadn't found the root cause of his issue yet. Victor didn't seem concerned by any of that when Jaden had told him, simply nodded and wrote a few things down in his notes. After that, he'd asked if he could use his domain to analyze Jaden, which Jaden had agreed to. That brought them to this point, where he was awaiting Victor's analysis.

Kiara was sitting patiently in the corner, watching the proceedings silently. Victor stroked his chin thoughtfully. His own chin, not Jaden's. A worthwhile clarification, in Jaden's mind.

"How many times would you say you've attempted the breakthrough now?"

"Five or six," Jaden replied. He was starting to lose count, and couldn't remember the exact number anymore.

"Your advice to Zoey, which she shared with me, helped with the process of infusing my concepts into my core, but didn't give me that final push that I needed to break through." Victor nodded.

"I see. You only have two concepts, have you considered working toward getting a third before you advance? It would increase your potential and power at tier 4 dramatically." Jaden frowned.

"I've tried. Multiple times on that front, too. I've worked on a few different types of magic, and feel quite close to developing my third, fourth, and even fifth concept, but I simply can't. It's very similar to the tier 4 breakthrough, in fact. I get right on the cusp, and feel like everything is about to spill over, but it never quite clicks." Victor made a few more notes.

"Fascinating. It has long been my theory that although our growth is limited by our spiritual potential, that potential is not fixed. I believe it can change and grow, although that process is incredibly slow. For most people, even if they live for a thousand years, they would not likely see any noticeable change in their spiritual potential during their lifetime.

"For someone who is on the verge of pushing through to that next level, however, they may in fact feel stuck at one point in their life, then find that years later they are finally capable of breaking through one more time." Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. Jaden furrowed his eyebrows in thought.

"You believe this to be my scenario?" Victor shrugged.

"I'm not sure yet, but a few tests might help elucidate the facts. I should warn you up front though, that many of these tests will likely be quite painful. Very unpleasant at the very least. If you would rather take the long approach, you could simply attempt a breakthrough once per year over the next decade or two, and see if the scales slowly tip towards a successful tier advancement." Jaden looked to Kiara for her thoughts, but she simply shrugged.

"It's up to you, Jaden. Whatever you think is best." He turned back to Victor.

"Will I be in any serious danger? I can deal with it if it's just temporary pain and discomfort." Victor pressed his lips together.

"I can't claim that any of the tests are truly safe. There are inherent risks, I'm afraid, if we decide to go down this road. I would hazard a guess that the risks are very unlikely, but not something we can avoid entirely. Unlikely as it is, death is the most likely of the unlikely outcomes. A crippling of your mana channels or mana core is even less likely, but still a possibility.

There's also a slight risk of induced chronic illness or injury, but at your current tier, I don't think you'll need to worry about those." Jaden gulped, swallowing hard. That list wasn't very comforting. Victor continued, "I do, however, believe that I can prevent many or all of those outcomes, given that you undergo the tests here, where I can oversee the process."

"Uh…," Shian muttered to herself from the corner. She was clearly less accepting of these so called 'tests' now that she knew the risks. Victor shrugged.

"Like Shian said, nobody will force you to do any or all of the tests. Even if you begin, you may stop at any point, should you wish. I do think we could get to the root cause of your obstacles, though, if you diligently press on through each of the tests." Jaden thought in silence for a moment. Did he want to wait a decade or two? What if Victor's theory was wrong, and waiting a decade wouldn't help at all? If these tests could pinpoint the issue for him, he was willing to give it a try. He nodded.

"Let's do the tests." Victor smiled like a young child who was about to open their birthday present early.

"Great! Let's start with something simple, then. Attempt the breakthrough process here, while I observe." Jaden raised an eyebrow.

"That will take a few hours…" Victor turned to Shian.

"Don't feel the need to stay if you have other matters to attend to, Shian. I can stay here with Jaden and keep a watchful eye on him." Shian glanced at Jaden, and he gave her a reassuring smile and a nod. He would be fine on his own if she had other places to be. She returned the smile, then stood and bowed.

"Thank you, Victor, as always." He waved his hand dismissively.

"Not at all, not at all. This is a rare research opportunity for me, I'm very much inside my happy place right now." Shian left, and Victor gave Jaden a nod.

"Proceed whenever you are ready." Jaden closed his eyes, and began calming his breathing and his heart rate. Victor's domain wrapped around him again, but this time it felt like a warm blanket. Less invasive prodding was happening, replaced by more supportive cradling. It actually felt quite nice. Once he had settled into a deep meditation, Jaden began the process of strengthening his core walls and condensing the mana in his core.

He had already done this multiple times before, but some of his progress always dissipated after his failed breakthrough attempts, as if the breakthrough to tier 4 itself would be the final supporting knot that held the whole thing together so it didn't fall apart. With his core walls reinforced, and the mana in his core condensed, he began infusing his concepts into his core.

One at a time, he filled his core with each of his two concepts, threading the concept through the entire core wall once the core was full of that mana type. With all of the steps complete, he held everything together for as long as he could. Sweat formed on his brow, and his body began to shake from the exertion. Something should have happened by now. With each of his previous breakthroughs, finishing that final step had always simply worked, pushing him through to the next level.

The steps involved in breaking through were supposed to automatically push him over the edge. He let out a deep breath as he lost control over the process. The concepts quickly unravelled from his core, after which the condensed mana began leaking back out. Within a few days, he would be back to the same state he'd been at before starting. It felt like only a few minutes had passed, but he knew the attempt had taken hours. He opened his eyes.

Victor was in the same spot he'd been in from the beginning, taking notes. He smiled gently at Jaden as their eyes met.

"Very good attempt! How are you feeling?"

"Quite drained," Jaden said honestly. Victor nodded.

"Excellent. That means we can proceed to the first test, then." He pulled a small vial of murky liquid from one of his storage rings and held it out to Jaden. It was mostly silvery in color, with hints of brown and green swirled throughout. Jaden eyed it distrustfully. Victor wiggled it, still holding it out.

"Drink this. Down the whole thing in one go."

"What is it?"

"Concentrated Dreamweaver Essence. Once you drink it, begin venting all of the mana from your mana core, empty it completely. As your core refills, the Dreamweaver Essence will diffuse into your core as well. You will experience intense hallucinations for the next hour or two, some so vivid that you may lose sense of reality. Rest assured, I will make sure you stay safe throughout the process." Jaden gingerly plucked the vial from Victor's fingers and uncorked it.

The smell wafting out of the bottle was acrid, and he could already tell that it would burn his throat going down. He blinked a few times, steeling his nerves. He tilted his head back and held his breath while he downed the liquid. It was viscous enough that it slid slowly down his throat, burning the entire way down. He coughed uncontrollably, gasping for air. It felt like his throat was on fire.

"Vent your core, now!" Victor said urgently.

"Before the essence kicks in."