Descendants of the False Gods

Chapter 29: Life in the Imperial Capital (7)

When the group gathered again, Little Bear and Little One were shocked to find that their martial arts abilities were not only weaker than Lan and Luo’s, but even Li Yao, who was once no match for them, was now much stronger than both of them.

A year ago, Li Yao was completely no match for them. Now, he could easily defeat both of them one-on-one, which struck both of them with a dual blow to both their physical and mental states.

Li Yao certainly lacked neither resources nor hard practice. In terms of resources, Little Bear and Little One were certainly no match for him, but in terms of time, Little Bear and Little One definitely had more than Li Yao. So, as long as they put in the effort, they were certain they wouldn’t be outpaced by Li Yao in martial arts.

Little Bear and Little One decided again to practice harder, at least not letting Li Yao leave them behind on the path of martial arts.

When they met up again, Li Yao brought something new with him.

Li Yao asked the guard for a metal sword and held it in his hand, instructing the four companions to remain quiet and wait.

Standing with the sword in hand, he closed his eyes. After about ten minutes or so, golden light began to emanate from the sword. The light wasn’t intense; it only formed a thin layer around the sword.

At the sound of their companions’ astonished exclamations, Li Yao opened his eyes, and the light on the sword dissipated. The others were astonished and asked Li Yao what it was.

Li Yao proudly told them that he had learned magic and could now manifest it on his magic sword or wand, but he still couldn’t use it yet—he could only show it.

This amazed the other four, as magic was a field they had never encountered before, something that had only existed in legends for them.

Immediately, a flood of questions about magic was thrown at Li Yao, and the previously proud Li Yao became flustered.

Li Yao had only started learning magic during their half-year separation and only understood some basic magic knowledge. Faced with a barrage of questions, he could only answer a few simple ones.

Moreover, the questions were completely disorganized, with no clear order from simple to complex, which led Li Yao to falter after answering just two or three questions. Finally, he had to bring out his trump card—his father.

Li Yao’s father was very patient with the children. To help answer their many questions, he explained the origin, formation, learning, and use of magic in some detail: “Magic originated over a hundred thousand years ago with the Elves. The Elves used magic to establish a powerful empire on this planet, until a great catastrophe struck several thousand years ago and destroyed the Elven Empire. Only a few Elves survived. To survive, they passed on some basic magic knowledge to the Dwarves and traded some wands for resources. Later, the Dwarves used the magic knowledge to forge magic weapons and wands, aiming to exchange them for different resources. Eventually, some magic knowledge spread throughout the continent. Humans and Beastfolk have shorter lifespans than Dwarves and Elves, so although they can learn magic, they can never reach an advanced level. They can only use some basic magic and magic weapons or wands to cast certain spells. Learning magic starts with meditation and perception. When you can sense the magic energy around you, you can learn to extract it for your own use. Meditation helps to increase the range of perception, which is the foundation of learning magic. The broader your perception, the more energy you can sense. The more energy you sense, the faster you can extract enough usable energy to form magic arrays. Currently, only Elves can draw magic arrays out of thin air, so other races need tools to draw them. Once the magic array is drawn, the magic can be released…”

Besides explaining, Li Yao’s father demonstrated the process.

He drew his sword, focused on the blade, and after a few seconds, the edge of the sword glowed with a golden light about an inch wide. When he lightly swept it over a tree branch the size of a thumb, the branch was instantly severed.

The children were delighted to find that the sword didn’t touch the branch, only the golden light emitting from it swept across, causing the branch to break.

Li Yao’s father explained, “This golden light is magic energy of the metal element. The properties of metal are hardness and sharpness, so it easily cuts through the branch. Everyone perceives different elements, and this is determined by their magical talents. Also, some people sense only one type of energy, while others sense multiple types. The more types of energy you sense, the weaker your talent. Of course, there are exceptions, like wind and lightning energies, which are combinations of multiple elements…”

The children, who were just beginning to learn about magic, listened attentively with admiration. Without them realizing, the sky had darkened, and the sun was about to set. It was time for them to part ways again.

They felt reluctant, whether because of Li Yao or magic, and they couldn’t shake the feeling of not wanting to leave.

With his father’s permission, Li Yao promised to bring them a book on magic meditation and perception the next time they met. This made the four children overjoyed, and for a moment, they forgot their reluctance to part, eagerly anticipating their next meeting.

On the way home, the four of them continued to fantasize about the glorious figures of magicians and magic warriors.

That evening, Lan and Luo, knowing that their second father Yian Bo was well-read, pestered him to talk about magic.

Yian Bo had read quite a few books on magic due to Yian Tie’s injury, so he did have some understanding of magic. However, aside from the Empire’s Magic Academy, there were no books available for public learning about practicing magic. Yian Bo could only share the magic knowledge he knew.

What Li Yao’s father explained mostly focused on magic weapons and wands.

True magic weapons are weapons engraved with magic arrays. By infusing them with magic energy, they can activate the effects contained within the magic array. The effects vary based on the individual’s magical attributes, even on the same weapon.

Because the gods’ physical constitution resists magic, they have no magical inheritance, and as a result, members of the divine tribes, such as the faith tribe, rarely come into contact with magic knowledge, never practicing it or using it.

Magic was a new concept, a completely new system, and the children’s minds were filled with wondrous ideas, even dreaming about the magic they had learned about.

For the next week, magic became the only topic of discussion.

The incident at the western meadow was still fresh, and to avoid trouble, the delivery service was temporarily suspended, leaving the free time filled with various magical legends.

A week later, when they met Li Yao again in the memorial forest, he brought them four handwritten copies of basic magic practice books as promised.

As soon as the books were in their hands, the four children eagerly began practicing. Whether it was the excitement of the atmosphere or their emotions, they couldn’t enter the state of meditation that morning.

Everything around them remained the same as before, and magic energy still felt elusive.

Finally, Li Yao seriously commented, “Magic energy isn’t something you can perceive so easily. Even with guidance from a special magic teacher, I needed half a year to achieve the results I have now.” This left the four children feeling a little disheartened.

Li Yao’s father watched them warmly from the side, his gaze full of affection as he observed the youthful energy radiating from the children.

That evening, the four boys tried meditation again, but the result was that they all fell asleep while sitting on their beds.

The next day, when Yian Bo saw them returning from morning exercises looking dispirited, he gave them some advice: “Do you know why human magicians are so few? Why do human magicians rarely achieve great accomplishments? Humans live only sixty to seventy years, while learning magic is a long journey. Magic isn’t something you can master in a short time. How many Elves spend their whole lives just to become advanced magicians? Let alone humans. You can’t achieve meditation, perception, and understanding from books alone; it’s a lot to ask of you. First, you must understand the content of the books thoroughly, and then you need time and patience to try. I believe you’re all smart kids and can learn anything just as well as anyone else. Li Yao was able to master the basics of magic in half a year with a teacher’s guidance, and you can do the same. Without a teacher, it may take a little longer, but there’s no need to be discouraged. If you’re committed to this path, then be prepared and keep going.”

After saying this, Yian Bo patted their heads and went off to handle his own matters, leaving them the time to think over their situation.

In the following period, the children finally settled back into their daily rhythm, only adding a period of meditation before bed.

As the days passed, every week they would meet with Li Yao, but no longer constantly talk about magic. They would still seriously ask him about how it felt when he first began learning magic.

In the four months of winter, as spring approached, Lan and Luo were the first to reach the state of meditation and perception. They could see twinkling points of light around their bodies when they closed their eyes. They weren’t sure yet if this was the perception of magical energy, but they could already feel the darkness brought on by objects with no energy around them in the blackness when their eyes were closed.

Lan could sense a large amount of white light under the earth, with small star-like points of white around his body, while the earth itself felt like a thick black screen.

Luo’s sensations were completely different from Lan’s. He could only feel black specks in the air around him, even darker than the darkness of closed eyes.

For now, they weren’t sure how to utilize the starlight, but it was enough to keep them excited for a while.

Soon, they told Little Bear and Little One, which encouraged them too, showing that at least they weren’t going down the wrong path.

Not long after, Little One also perceived his energy, which seemed to be a golden color, like Li Yao’s, though slightly dimmer.

When the school season began again, the last time they gathered before the start of the new term, everyone except Little Bear was asking Li Yao how to use the energy, while Little Bear watched them enviously but couldn’t understand a word they were saying.

Finally, they noticed Little Bear’s confused expression and surrounded him to offer encouragement.

The new semester began, and when they saw Little Bear again, he was no longer downcast but excitedly pulled his brothers over, saying he could see something different from them—small gray clouds, which should be the wind energy described in the book.

He couldn’t stop talking about it, even claiming that he might be the child of wind, though no amount of teasing could silence him.

In the new semester, Little Bear and Little One moved up to the advanced class, while Lan and Luo had just entered the intermediate class.

But since Lan and Luo had already passed the intermediate martial arts course last semester, they spent their time between required classes attending various miscellaneous elective classes.

In one such class, they were surprised to find a magic course, though it was very unpopular in the academy. Perhaps due to the long time commitment without guaranteed results, only two or three students attended the class.

Through their interactions after class, they found that the magic students were regarded as geniuses by their teachers, and their personalities tended to be introverted and calm. These kinds of students were often more receptive to friendship, and so the atmosphere among them was very harmonious.

One student, Li Xin, a four-eyed boy whose father worked as a steward for a noble family, was the quiet type in front of strangers but a gossiper in front of friends. His friends called him “the silent informant,” and at some point, he became Lan and Luo’s little shadow.

According to him, two powerful students in the youth academy had flipped the entire southwest academy’s martial arts department, and those students were named Lan and Luo. When he found out that they had come to the magic classroom, he became their little follower.