The Divine Summoner: Godson of Altima Page 8
Alectos' face turned serious. "During this apprenticeship, you could focus on one of two paths. First, you may become an Elementalist and master the four basic elements. Alternatively, you could learn high-tier magic and become a High Mage," he explained. "While our time together will end when you reach adulthood, you will continue to learn magecraft and expand your knowledge. If you work hard, you may become a sage someday."
"Can't I follow both tracks simultaneously?" Luka asked.
The god chuckled. "You are too greedy, child. The human body has limitations, and you can't learn both in merely ten years. My recommendation is for you to become a High Mage. That way, you could learn the spatial magic first," he suggested.
The boy's eyes lit up because Luka appreciated its usefulness to storage and transport luggage. He could also travel vast distances with teleportation spells. "Yes, I wish to learn spatial magic," he agreed readily.
Alectos nodded. "In that case, space magic will be your primary focus of study. Once you master it to a sufficient degree, you may choose a second specialty."
Luka became excited. He didn't expect the aloof god to agree to teach him willingly. In a typical apprenticeship, the master hoarded knowledge and tasked his apprentice with menial chores while sharing very little information. "When can we start?" Luka asked.
"Now," the teacher answered. He raised a finger and pointed at the horizon. "When you figure out how to touch the horizon, you will understand the essence of spatial magic." Alectos grinned. "Good luck!" The god abruptly disappeared!
"Wha~" The child's jaw dangled in disbelief. Alectos taught Luka nothing about space magic! "YOU FRAUD!" Luka screamed at the top of his lungs. His voice echoed for miles. Suddenly, he felt warm paws hugging his knee. Luka reached down and pulled the rabbit into his embrace.
[Don't fret too much, kid. I will also teach you a secret body refinement technique of the demon race. This skill will help strengthen your body. Once you learn it, no one will dare mess with you.] Bel offered his encouragement.
"Thank you!" Luka replied.
[The first thing we need to do is build up your conditioning. Since you slept for a long time during your coma, your body is way out of shape. Start running, and I'll follow you. At the same time, see if you could 'touch the horizon.'] The familiar offered his recommendation.
"Good idea!" The child took a deep breath and ran in a random direction.
The rabbit chased after him. Since Luka was out of shape, he could neither run fast nor for long. Thus, the animal easily kept pace with his master.
As the boy ran, he periodically reached out with his hand as if to touch the horizon. But Alectos' hint was too vague, and Luka failed to achieve this objective.
The realm where Alectos brought the two possessed neither day nor night. The environment also lacked a sun, moon, or stars in the sky. The rainbow sky was pervasive and continuous. Therefore, Luka relied on his internal clock to sleep and rest in a hut provided by Alectos. The place also had a fridge stocked with food and other amenities usually available in an apartment.
Whenever Luka rested, the boy's mind puzzled over the mystery of touching the horizon. It bothered him to stumble in this manner.
However, Luka's instincts suggested that Alectos offered a profound insight into the mystery of space. But the boy couldn't grasp this valuable clue. What was space? It referred to a distance between two objects which may change over time. In other words, space was dynamic rather than static. Also, Luka remembered the science from his past life involving wormholes, which used a tunnel to connect two distinct points through time and space.
The child and rabbit slowly spent their days running and resting while debating over spatial characteristics. After a week or so, Luka noticed something weird. When he jogged at his usual, steady pace, sometimes it seemed like he was traveling faster or slower. This phenomenon became noticeable when Bel was unable to keep up.
Luka took regular breaks and stopped running only because the child felt mental weariness. Thus, Luka settled on a regular schedule of two short naps and one regular sleep session. He took each break after three or four hours of training with his familiar.
Although Luka still did not resolve the riddle of "touch the horizon," the boy felt that he was close to achieving a breakthrough. He already realized that Alectos brought Luka to a unique realm with unusual laws of nature. From his previous life, Luka had some understanding of these laws, which he studied via physics.
Whenever Luka chased after Bel, the boy noticed that his familiar sometimes seemed closeby and further away on other occasions. These variations occurred even when Luka timed his chase to start with the same delay or a handicap of five seconds. Since both the hunter and the prey possessed similar speed, their distance should always be the same. However, Luka noticed this wasn't the result. Thus, the astute boy suspected that the spatial law varied in this world. And if so, could Luka manipulate it?
The next day, Luka chased after Bel just like before. But the boy's mind focused on how to manipulate the environment. A few hours later, Luka felt his soul separate into two portions. A piece remained with his body. But the other part touched Bel's back.
[Ugh!] The rabbit yelled in surprise, and he immediately stopped running. Bel learned that Luka's fingertip had poked him in the back! [How?] The familiar asked incredulously.
Luka ignored the question and closed his eyes as he mentally played back the event. The boy was chasing after his familiar like usual when Luka reached out with his hand and thought of touching the rabbit's back. At that moment, the boy had an out-of-body experience and felt his spirit extend through the void of space to reach the animal. And before Luka realized what happened, he already caught up with his familiar.
Seeing that Luka remained silent and ignored Bel's question, the demon grabbed the boy's leg and chomped on Luka's calf. The rabbit's jaws began to tighten on the warm flesh.
The sudden burst of pain jarred Luka out of his reverie. "Why did you bite me?" Luka yelled angrily and kicked the animal away.
Bel adroitly landed on his hind legs without trouble. [Because you were ignoring me.] He replied with a miffed tone. [How did you catch up to me so quickly?]
The boy decided to tease his companion. "I just reached out and touched you," he answered with a grin.
Chomp! The rabbit bit Luka again. [Tell me!]
"Augh, you savage beast! Stop biting me, and I'll tell you!" the owner yelled helplessly.
Bel glared at him.
Luka frowned at his predicament of being bullied by his familiar. "I felt my spirit enter the void of space and connect to you on the other end," he answered honestly.
The rabbit released his hold on the boy's leg. [You crossed the void.] Bel felt bewilderment. Frankly, he didn't expect Luka to learn space magic because the human mind wasn't suitable to grasp spatial intricacies. Without a special bloodline, an average human's chance of understanding this type of magic was one in a billion. But once a mage unlocked the secret of spatial laws, he had the potential to master it.
Alectos anticipated this difficulty and allotted ten years for his student to understand space.
The rabbit hopped into the boy's chest and forced Luka to hold Bel. [I'm thrilled that you discovered the secret of spatial law. But I hope that you wouldn't tell others about it when you return to Zaleron. Adventurers and merchants will seek to exploit your skill.] The familiar warned in a solemn tone.
Luka's eyes widened in surprise by Bel's caution. But after a moment of consideration, he nodded. "You're right. I have too many enemies already. I should keep a few cards close to my vest," he grinned.
[Exactly.] The familiar breathed a sigh of relief at the boy's surprising maturity. Bel understood that young kids lacked an understanding of the cruelty of humanity. But the assassination attempt on Luka's life had robbed the boy of his childhood innocence. Thus, Bel felt pity for him. [Ready for another round? I think you were lucky the last time.] Bel smirked.
"Lu
cky? That was genuine skill, buster!" Luka retorted.
A few days passed by, and Luka still encountered difficulty in catching his familiar. The problem was that the boy achieved his success only through a moment of epiphany. Unfortunately, Luka had little luck in reentering this state of mind again.
Furthermore, Bel continuously taunted and belittled the boy and called him "Luckless Luka." Nonetheless, he managed to capture the rabbit now and then. Whenever this occurred, Luka would retaliate by tossing the animal across the field like a football. To his astonishment, Bel's physical body was extremely hardy. Even though the small animal made craters upon impact with the ground, Bel eventually hopped out with little sign of injury.
After Luka tossed Bel a handful of times, the boy finally stopped throwing the rabbit out of guilt. But then again, the familiar possessed a foul mouth and didn't hesitate to curse Luka and to call him a barbarian, scoundrel, sex fiend, animal-abuser, etc. Nonetheless, Bel continued to run around and help Luka train his body.
After five months of continuous training, Luka saw the following:
Shortly after, Alectos appeared before Luka! The God of Magic had a neutral expression on his face. In Alectos's eyes, Luka's talent was average because the kid took far too long to unlock spatial magic. Thus, Alecto felt ambivalent toward the child because the teacher predicted Luka's ceiling would become relatively low.
Naturally, Luka caught the brief look of disappointment in Alectos's eyes. However, the boy was the son of a noble family, and he understood how to act appropriately despite Luka's youth.
The master's eyes flashed in appreciation of the boy's maturity, and the god decided to teach his disciple all the applications of spatial law as long as Luka could keep up. "Since you unlocked spatial law, I shall teach you directly," Alectos said in a tone of voice tinged with pride.
"Thank you, teacher," Luka replied politely with a nobleman's salute.
Without warning, the God of Magic grabbed the boy's hand and teleported! When the two materialized, Alectos said, "This spell is Touch the Horizon, and it permits you to teleport to a destination within your eyesight. But the shorter the distance, the better your odds of a successful casting."
Luka turned around, and he saw that Bel was a few feet behind the duo.
[Don't leave me behind!] The familiar groused as he hopped over and jumped into the boy's arms.
The student raised his head and looked at Alectos. "Is there a limit to the distance I could teleport?" Luka asked.
The teacher smiled as he raised two fingers. "There are two limitations. The further the destination, the more mana you will expend. Second, the distance also depends on your proficiency," Alectos explained patiently.
"How do I raise my proficiency?"
"With practice," the teacher smirked at the obvious answer. "Okay, you will practice the Touch the Horizon. When your proficiency increases sufficiently, I will return and teach you something else," Alectos said with a faint smile.
"Yes, teacher!" Luka replied with a nod. He was glad that Alectos began to teach his pupil earnestly.
The elegant-looking instructor folded his arms behind his back. With the nonchalance of an expert, Alectos started walking on air. The teacher stopped and turned around. "This spell is Void Step; it allows the caster to negate gravity to a small degree and maintain altitude. The key to using Void Step is acclimating your body to using spatial law like breathing air or drinking water. My magic realm has 10x the amount of spatial elements compared to Zaleron. Hence, this place is ideal for you to learn and master spatial magic," Alecto lectured.
"I understand," the pupil replied.
"Consider this your second stage of training. It is the foundation for the rest of the spatial abilities which you'll learn in the future. Even if your body has difficulty adjusting, don't feel discouraged. Sooner or later, you will use Void Step subconsciously. But it may take years for you to reach that kind of familiarity. I will monitor your progress periodically. Once you reach sufficient proficiency in the Void Step, I will return and teach you something else," the teacher promised. "Good luck!" With this salutation, the god vanished in thin air.
Luka sat down and sighed.
Bel hopped over and stood in front of the boy. [What's the matter?]
"I'm worried that I might need to train for several years to learn the Void Step," the owner shared his worry.
The familiar snorted. [Spatial magic is among the most difficult to learn. But once you master it, your services will be in great demand from adventurers and kingdoms alike.]
"Why?" Luka asked.
[Spatial magic is a legendary type of magic. It allows a caster great freedom to cross vast distances and even reach different planes. Also, a proficient user never runs out of storage space. Imagine if you are involved in a war. You'll be a walking treasury and food supplier. Battles are won and lost depending on the supply lines feeding armies and maintaining their collective strength. That's why space magic is handy for war and peace.] Bel lectured.
"I understand now," the boy nodded. Luka reached out with his hand and petted the rabbit's head.
[Hands off, buster!] The familiar huffed in anger.
Luka ignored Bel's complaint and continued to pet the animal.
[Why you!] Bel's eyes abruptly turned red! [Take my headbutt!] The animal suddenly jumped in front of the boy and stuffed his ass in Luka's face!
The victim was surprised by this sneak attack and left his mouth open! Luka flinched at the stinky odor from Bel's rear! He immediately spat the animal hair in his mouth! "You bastard!" he yelled in anger.
[Catch me if you can!] Bel taunted and immediately ran for his life!
Luka jumped to his feet and chased after the assailant. Seeing the growing gap between Luka and the rabbit, the boy tried to use Touch the Horizon to catch up with his assailant. Unfortunately, the mage failed to execute the spell no matter how many times Luka tried because of his poor emotional state. Eventually, the boy dropped to the ground because Luka used up all his stamina.
The familiar stopped running while maintaining a 50 feet distance between them. [You're tired already? What a weakling!] The rabbit taunted mercilessly.
Luka ignored him and remained flat on the ground. Beads of sweat dripped and began to pool on the floor.
Chapter 10
Demonic Arts
The familiar shook his head in disappointment. [Kiddo, you need to build up your stamina.]
"I know," Luka huffed between breaths.
[Would you like to learn some Demonic Arts?] Bel offered.
The boy was startled for a moment. "No!" he answered. "I'm not interested in learning evil techniques."
Bel chuckled at the misunderstanding. [No, my boy, I'm not going to teach you evil skills. Demons are renowned for their healthy bodies. You are too weak. Even if you successfully learn all the spatial magic, you might be interrupted while casting. The demon arts follow two paths: refinement of the body and combat arts.]
"In other words, you wish to make my fist bigger than others?" Luka interrupted.
[You could say that.] The familiar laughed. [We demons let our fists do the talking.]
The boy thought for a moment as Luka pondered the implications of training under Bel's guidance. Luka frowned when he foresaw a problem. "How long would it take for me to learn your Demonic Arts? Can I undergo magic training simultaneously?" he asked with great concern.
The rabbit's tail twitched. Bel had hoped that the little boy wouldn't notice this problem. But now that Luka raised the issue, the familiar couldn't dodge it without making Luka suspicious. [I'm not a mage, so I can't say it wouldn't interfere with your magic training. But when you lived in the family manor, you had sword training in the mornings and tutoring lessons in the afternoon. You could make a similar schedule to split the time for magic training and Demon Arts sessions.] Bel suggested.
[
Although you've been focusing 100% on your magic training, you still took several months to unlock spatial magic.] He pointed out. [Perhaps concurrently learning something else would help improve the speed of your magic training.]
Luka nodded in acceptance. The boy felt that he reached a bottleneck in his magic training. Thus, diverting his focus to training his body would offer a greater yield for the same amount of time. "When can we start the Demon Arts training?" he asked.
[As soon as we complete a small ceremony.] Bel grinned. Without warning, the familiar bit his left paw and forced five drops of blood essence out. The concentrated droplets briefly floated in the air before they slammed into the small space between Luka's eyebrows!
This collision knocked the boy back a few steps. The foreign substance invaded Luka's bloodstream and immediately spread throughout his entire body. The young child felt his heart racing, and inexplicable energy filled his flesh and bones. Luka's mind began to stir as belligerent thoughts appeared. His skin slowly turned blue! Suddenly, Luka felt an urge to tear the rabbit apart!
Bel noticed that angry expression on the boy's face. The rabbit jumped and planted a nasty headbutt on Luka! Then his hind legs pushed off the victim's face, and Bel used the rebound to generate a substantial headstart. In an instant, the mischievous Bel was already a few yards ahead!
Luka took two steps back to regain his balance. His eyes turned red, and the boy emitted a fearsome "ROAR!" as he gave chase!
[Hahahaha!] Bel felt delightful despite his predicament because he tricked the boy into accepting Bel's demonic blood! Since the Demon Arts was a racial skill, it required demon blood as a catalyst to activate.
But the price of acquiring the Demonic Arts was Luka's loss of purity as a human! Since Bel qualified as a demon king, the purity of his blood was unusually high. Each drop of his essence replaced 1% of a human's bloodline.