Chương 58: Chapter 61: Minionship (II)

Ember's understanding of bloodlines was minuscule. He took her word for it, though casting that spell might be more complicated than it seemed to the naked eye. After all, she could cast Tier 5 or even Tier 6 spells without much fanfare, whereas Sunburst took a while and left her in such a vulnerable state.

"Do you already have a class?" he asked, unable to contain his curiosity. Dawn merely smiled.

"Why? Do you think what I displayed is impossible without a class?"

"Well, it might be impossible for me."

"It might just be, yeah." She spared him a glance, deliberating.

"Your mana foundation seems adequate for your age. But your racial tier..." She didn't complete her sentence, but that insinuation alone gave Ember all the information he needed. His shoulders slumped.

"Not every one of us is born at a high tier or with superior talent." He shook his head. He was not going to fall into depression once again because of his initial starting point.

"Well, I'm only a couple of thousand points shy of making it to Tier 6." A momentary silence fell between them. While Tier 6 might be remarkable among his clansmen, Dawn's expression barely shifted. It was nothing extraordinary in her eyes.

"That's good," she said after a while.

"With some dedicated training, you can easily make it to Tier 7 before your trial."

"You make it sound like Tier 7 is nothing impressive." She paused.

"Hmm, it might be because I'm used to everyone my age being Tier 7."

"Where exactly are you from?" Ember asked. He had already dismissed the possibility of her being a Killjoy after her display against the assassin.

"To have everyone your age at Tier 7, it must be some place."

"Suncrest City." Ember blinked.

"You haven't heard of it, have you?" Dawn smiled.

"How about Songrise Academy? I've been studying there for a few months."

"Who hasn't heard of Songrise Academy?" Then he suddenly froze in his tracks.

"I thought Songrise didn't admit anyone without a class."

"Wrong. They don't admit anyone weak or unimpressive." And most unclassed Ascendants usually were weak and unimpressive in comparison. But Dawn was surely an exception. Ember believed that with her healing alone, she might have gained admittance, classed or not.

"Also, my family might or might not have pulled some strings to get me into the academy ahead of time." They continued along the path, stopping to converse now and then. Dawn even seemed more talkative now that there were no threats weighing on her mind. Even after moving for half an hour, they still found nowhere to take shelter. Well, at their pace, they hadn't even covered a mile.

"That reminds me," Ember said.

"You were talking about my mental skill before the assassin assaulted us."

"Oh, the reason you might have acquired the skill unintentionally." Dawn paused.

"You said there can be two reasons I have gotten it."

"There could be more, but I can only think of two. The more convincing one is that you have a great affinity with mental skills, an Empath of some kind. The psionic attack you faced is likely the necessary catalyst to awaken the skill." Ember shook his head.

"I don't think I have much talent in this regard. I've barely managed to get it to +6 in all these years."

"Mhm, the other reason is much more... extraordinary?" She contemplated for a moment.

"There are times when, under certain situations and a great deal of stress, when their mental faculty is unavailable, some Ascendants tend to acquire skills without knowing it themselves. There are various theories, though the more accepted one is that the Ascendant's unawakened soul briefly stirs into wakefulness to accept or awaken the skill." A frown creased his brow.

"What do you mean by an unawakened soul?"

"An unawakened soul is..." Dawn tilted her head.

"A soul that's not awakened." Ember gave her a flat stare.

"Believe me, that's as apt an answer as I could give you," she said, smiling.

"I'm not an expert on this topic by any means."

"That I can see."

"Hush, you. It hasn't been a minute since I have taken you as my underling, and you're already mocking me. No, I can't let you look down on me for something so simple." She contemplated for a moment.

"To explain an awakened soul... You know that anything that exists has spirituality to it? For inanimate objects, it's minuscule, barely noticeable even to a necromancer's gaze. For living things like us, it's a wee bit higher, but not so high that we can sense it. Does this make sense?" Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"A little."

"So, when you can sense your soul, visualise it properly, it means your soul has awakened. But that day might be far away. It's usually impossible to build a Soul Foundation in the lower nine tiers." Ember hummed. That gave him so much to think about. I got prompts for two soul-related skills. Doesn't that allude to something? He wanted to inquire about them immediately, to get his hands on any explanation he could.

Dawn said it herself: she was no expert, but she was more knowledgeable than him, perhaps even more than some of the elders in his clan. She also seemed trustworthy enough, though he barely knew her. After hesitating for a while, he still decided to keep the information about Gold skills to himself. After all, Gold skills were considered the pinnacle below the Ascension Realm. Someone his age and station didn't usually get prompts for such skills for no reason.

"You shouldn't worry about all that," she advised.

"At your age, you should put all your effort into training your skills."

"Unfortunately, I will have to." Ember let out a sigh.

"I mean, the few skill slots I saved up for a Silver skill are now wasted because I had to survive that blasted basilisk's toxins."

"Eh, that's gotta hurt."

"Tell me about it. Just for two skill slots, I may have to wait until I reach Tier 7 or beg someone for the Magic Apprentice title to rectify the mistake."

"You haven't become a Magic Apprentice yet?" Dawn cocked her head.

"Your mana tiers seem to meet the requirement. Don't tell me you've abused your foundation with elixirs and other experimental potions."

"No, nothing like that." Ember was quick to correct her.

"I simply haven't found a mage who'd like to take me under their wing."

"You need someone to take you as their apprentice to receive the title?" Dawn faltered in her stride, turning her head to shoot him a piercing gaze.

"Oh right, I forgot the mentor-apprentice culture around here."

"What do you mean?" Ember gazed at her quizzically.

"Is there any other way to get the title?" She snorted.

"Of course there is. Why else did you think the first mages came to be? Or how someone reached the station of a mage without a mentor?" From confusion, Ember immediately became alert. Even with her allusion, he dared not hope, because the conditions might be too high for someone like him to meet in any acceptable amount of time.

"I always thought it was the class that aided one in becoming a mage."

"A class surely helps, but we are merely talking about Magic Apprentice. It isn't like Knight Squire, which needs to be handed down from a proper knight. The conditions aren't even..." She froze, blinking.

"They aren't too high. Your Mana tier is more than enough. You merely need to learn a few spells. Well, six, to be exact."

"Are you speaking the truth?" Ember asked. Why had nobody told him about it? Or had he simply never happened to read anything like this? If what she said were correct, he needed to leave everything behind to earn himself an apprenticeship, because the skill slots the title would give him would not only save him from his predicament, they would even leave him with a surplus to acquire an Iron skill. Dawn nodded.

"Of course, you need to have the necessary mana skills like Mana Shaping, Mana Weaving, Spellcrafting, or the like." Ember couldn't control himself anymore.

"I have Mana Shaping and even learned a Tier 3 spell."

"And it is?"

"Kinetic Push. I also tried to learn Mana Bolt, but haven't figured out the acceleration yet."

"What about Kinetic Pull, Force Shield, or Haste?"

"I haven't awakened the Kinetic Attunement for long," he said, his face flushed in embarrassment.

"Force Shield should be easier than Mana Bolt," Dawn continued.

"So is Kinetic Pull. It's a different story for Haste, though."

"Do you know all these spells?"

"What do you think?" she said with a smile. Dawn was about to surge up her mana to display them, but then a groan escaped her lips, reminding her of the backlash.

"Abyss devour me. I can't even show off an elementary spell."

"I believe you." So far, from what he had seen, it wasn't difficult to believe she knew some more kinetic spells as well. Still, Ember hesitated to ask her for some pointers. After all, the path of magic was one of the most closely guarded secrets. He already owed her for healing him and lending him the Tier 6 sword; adding more favours might not sit comfortably with his conscience. Yet, to his astonishment, Dawn spoke up.

"I can teach you, you know. You just have to agree to one thing."

"What is it? You're not going to sign me into lifelong servitude, are you?" Dawn shot him a meaningful glance, her lips curling into a grin. He even glimpsed a dimple on her right cheek that he had not noticed before.

"What do you think of my proposal from before? About becoming my minion." He merely stared at her, completely stupefied.

"Just think about it, if you become my henchman, I can't keep you so weak and adorable, can I?" Ember was still speechless.

"Still not agreeing?" She sniffed.

"Since you have helped me, I'll do you one better. How about you become my apprentice? You seem younger than me, so it's only right."

"Not going to lie, you had me at minion."

"Then it's settled," Dawn said.

"I will teach you some elementary spells, and in return, you will become my henchman. My very first one. Wow, Grandpa would be so proud of me."

"For how long exactly?" She hummed, continuing ahead of him.

"How about... hmm... forever?"

"Forever seems a little too long," Ember played along.

"What if I grow stronger than you in that time?"

"Then wouldn't that be a whole lot better?" She snickered.

"I will have such a powerful minion so cheaply." Dawn really was too carefree for someone with her power. It was also to be noted that she was from a bloodline clan, a high noble, and her nobility was no lower than that of Oberon, Killjoy, the Sha'azar, or the others. Ember had never talked to a high noble so freely. Well, there was Lady Evelyn, but he had always maintained a respectful distance from her. But with Dawn, he felt like he could converse unguardedly.

"Still reluctant?" Dawn asked.

"How about this? I will only accept you as my underling if you become stronger than I. I'll give you two centuries, no, three centuries, to close the gap." Well, she sure was confident. Why wouldn't she be? After all, not long ago, Ember had seen her burn a Tier 6 classed Ascendant to ashes.

"So, what do you think?" He burst out laughing.

"You certainly know how to make it enticing. But I'm thinking, is there any benefit in becoming your minion?"

"Of course, there is. Who do you take me for?" Ember was just about to quip when she abruptly perked up, her eyes darting around, a line forming between her brows.

"Looks like we have to leave the negotiation for later. We have company." As soon as she finished speaking, a pack of goblins burst towards them.