Chapter 03

It was finally approaching that time. I was exploring the rear courtyards after cleaning up the Ancestral Hall like I had usually gotten in the habit of doing ever since I woke up with memories of another life. My goal had been to make contact and hopefully form a bond with the infant Bebe even if it was just a day sooner than in canon. Unfortunately, the baby God Eater Rat was proving to be elusive to my search, it honestly got to a point that I was fearing if the events in this world had shifted so much that I would not meet him what with things already changing with the somewhat death of the old me.

Just as I was panicking over my pessimistic thoughts, I heard a sound that gave me hope that I could meet Bebe today. I immediately masked the sound of my movements even further (as a mage of multiple elements including earth and wind my movements were naturally smoother and made little noise or disturbance). I stealthily made my way to an old abandoned store room and carefully peaked through the open door.

I was over joyed to spot an adorable black mouse that was about 20 cm long overall nibbling on a rock before suddenly speeding over to a different rock a few meters away in a flash. The little guy was really fast, way faster than anyone I know in town. I myself have reached the 2nd rank as a warrior and 3rd rank as a mage now and with the advantages of both I'm only a little slower than Uncle Hillman's top speed.

"It's so cute!" I exclaim in a whisper before continuing- "That speed though, it is much faster than me, faster than Uncle Hillman even. What do you think it is Grandpa Doehring?" I add the last part mentally, requesting for help from Grandpa Doehring even though at this point I know way more than him about all this. Taking actions arbitrarily with seemingly leaving no trace of how I know what to do could prove dangerous after all.

"Hmmm, a magical beast, here, how curious? It looks like a Shadowmouse, an infant even judging from appearances, but that speed…" Grandpa Doehring analyses the situation and informs me.

"Shadowmouse infant? That's a magical beast, like Vampiric Iron Bulls, Griffins, Velocidragons and Black Dragons? There's no way they are in anyway comparable, right?" I ask mentally as if to confirm if the cute little fuzzball before me is anything like the only other magical beasts I've seen. Honestly my surprise could be forgiven as even though I know that Bebe is far more terrifying than any Shadowmouse, no one would expect that high of a threat level when he looks like that with those cute innocent eyes and little furry paws.

"Don't underestimate them just based on their looks, Linley. Shadowmice along with Stoneater Rats are the two most commonly known and much feared rat-type magical beasts. Their strength cannot be classified in only one rank either as they represent two entire races of magical beasts." Grandpa Doehring started explaining.

"Take the Stoneater Rats for example, they are known for their incredibly tough defensive ability as well as sharp fangs that can pierce through even some of the toughest metals known. They generally start out as grey furred infants of the 1st rank, upon reaching the 4th rang their fur turns silver and the few exceptionally strong and talented of the race that reach 7th or even 8th rank will have gold coloured fur." He continued for my benefit.

"Shadowmice though are a little rarer and are known for their incredible speed and sharp fangs. Just look at that little one there and you will understand why they are called Shadowmice, they specialise in speed. Shadowmice unlike Stoneater Rats start out as magical beasts of the 3rd rank as infants with jet black fur. When they turn blue, it is an indicator that they have reached rank 5 and again the ones with the most potential will reach 7th or 8th rank with their fur being violet." He introduced both rat type magical beasts.

"Rat type magical beasts are so amazing. Does that mean that little mouse over there can become as powerful as that Velocidragon that had come to our town?" I ask with wonder.

"Not all rat type magical beasts have that potential Linley, but luckily it seems as though this one does indeed have that potential. Judging from the little one's speed I can tell that it is already comparable to an adult blue Shadowmouse even though it is so young and has jet black fur. I think it would be safe to assume that this is a child of a high-level violet Shadowmouse, but I have no idea what it is doing here in a human settlement without any adult magical beasts to guard it as magical beasts are very protective of their young, especially the stronger ones." Grandpa Doehring responds.

"Is that so? I haven't seen any other rat type magical beasts in town Grandpa Doehring, you don't think this little one ran away and we will soon be swarmed by a hoard of rat type magical beasts, do you? Will Wushan township have a chance to survive such a thing, after all the other recent disasters?" I ask in a panic, this is an AU after all and if something like that happens, I would be woefully unprepared.

"No, no, I don't think you need to worry about that, I have not detected any disasters of that sort near the town. Still, I guess it would be fair to warn you that until you reach maybe the 9th rank it would be best to flee if you are ever confronted by a horde of rat beasts." Grandpa Doehring reassures and warns me.

"Rat type magical beasts are so terrifying?" I asked in wonder.

"Linley, one thing you need to understand about these creatures is that they have a fairly high rate of growth. Rat type beasts are not only known to mature quickly, they breed just as fast as well. There is even a tale of a large kingdom's army of tens of thousands of powerful soldiers being decimated and even eaten by a single horde of rats a third of their size." Grandpa Doehring warns me of the dangers of a rat horde.

"Wow that is incredible. There are so many amazing types of magical creatures in the world, it would be a dream come true if I could also have a powerful magical beast companion like that 8th rank magus who had a Velocidragon." I say as I'm already halfway to fantasy land.

"Now Linley, who said you cannot have a powerful magical beast companion? Fate even seems to be smiling upon you as there is an infant violet Shadowmouse within reach, let me tell you a Violet Shadowmouse or Gold Stoneater Rat is considered a king amongst rats, and can command a large swarm of Shadowmice. Although Shadowmice are not as numerous as Stoneater Rats, they are still quite numerous. An infant Violet Shadowmouse would therefore be protected by many adult Shadowmice and would normally be difficult to get. Many a mage even try to catch and tame the adults themselves but because of their speed, few succeed so you can tell how prized they are among mages." Grandpa Doehring tells me about the stroke of luck that as befallen me as well as suggesting I tame the little mouse that was happily munching on rocks in the room.

"But Grandpa Doehring how am I to catch that Shadowmouse, it is much faster than me. Even if I do somehow manage to catch it, how am I to tame it? The only ways to tame magical beasts that I know of is to either forcibly subdue them or use a Soul-binding magical formation and those can only be used by full-fledged magi of the 7th rank and above. Since you had told me to not hurry with condensing mageforce and hide my strength for now, I am only a 3rd rank magus and I've only just reached 2nd rank as a warrior, I won't be able to use either of the methods." I state the problem.

Indeed, it was strange for me to only be at the 3rd rank magus after close to 5 months since I started to practice as I already had the spiritual energy to directly jump to rank 7. Even if the time to absorb enough natural essence for that was short, I should have at least been a peak 4th rank or early 5th rank by now. Grandpa Doehring on the other hand had suggested I purposely slow down and not increase my rank too much as he intended for me to join a magus academy soon, he had honestly told me that while he could teach me much about magic in general and could completely handle my education in the earth style, he was not so confident in teaching me the other elements. He also told me that like that time I had modified the spells he taught me, others may have made a lot of progress in spell craft as it has been over 5000 years since he was active and encouraged me to join an academy. My father had already planned to send me to get tested for magical aptitude the following month when I had shown an interest in being a magus after seeing that 8th rank magus and his Velocidragon when they had battled some others in our town.

Grandpa Doehring reasoned that I would attract too much attention to myself at the testing venue if I crossed rank 3. Rank 3 signified the peak of low-level magi and 4th to 6th rank were considered mid-level magi, there would be a lot of peak mid-level and even some high-level magi of the 7th rank at the testing venue and it would be very difficult to hide if I had also reached the ranks of the mid-levels. Even if I was already rank 3, it was still considered low-level magus and with a little care during the test I could even pass off as just a rank 1. That would be enough to get me into the Ernst Institute, the best magic school on the continent and even I honestly thought that it would be prudent to only do the least required for maximum benefits as sticking out too much would attract trouble.

"No need to fret my wonderful disciple. Did you forget, I am Doehring Cowart, a powerful Grand Magus Saint of the Pouant Empire who has much experience and knowledge. Taming this infant magical beast is child's play." Grandpa Doehring goes full on chuni while reassuring me.

"Really! You have a way to help me tame the Shadowmouse, please teach your ignorant disciple O-great master!" I respond with thick sarcasm to keep up the act and push it forward.

"Ahem! There was no need to go that far Linley." Grandpa Doehring responds with an embarrassed expression that he will forever deny was just him pouting.

"Sorry Grandpa Doehring, but you really have a way for me to tame this little guy?" I apologise while I scratch the back of my head. He eventually explains to me his method with quite a few grumbles thrown in about cheeky disciples but in the end, he imparts to me the details of the Bond-of-equals magical contract and how I can go about preparing so that the little Shadowmouse would feel the need to form such a contract with me.

The Bond-of-Equals contract unlike normal contracts used by Magi was different as in the former case both magi and beast would be considered equal partners rather than the magi being the master while the beast becomes a servant in the latter case. More importantly only a magical beast can initiate the former and they may only form such a contract once in their life, with the natural intelligence and mindset of magical beasts towards humans it was difficult to convince them to form such a contract with you. I doubt if even Cesar Millan the famous dog whispering trainer could get a mature dog type magical beast to form such a contract without extenuating circumstances. In short, to get a magical beast partner with this contract one would have to be considered as family to them and that is only possible if you cultivate those feelings from young or there are some extenuating circumstances where you go through thick and thin, life-threatening experiences and become sworn brothers or some such.

As soon as I get the details, I rush to the wilderness east of the town's outskirts to hunt for some wild game. I follow the same plan as canon Linley and decide to start off with feeding Bebe raw meat for a few days before going on to cooked meat. I rush back to the rear courtyard and after a few minutes of searching around I find Bebe has moved locations to a large abandoned garden a little way from where I first spotted him. I purposely made some noise to alert him to my presence which startles him into retreating, I then slowly show him the wild rabbit I had caught for him before placing it down and slowly walking away after giving one last smile.

I decide to take it one step further though as after a few more days of feeding him raw meat, I will only feed him simple roast meat for a few days before I unleash my secret weapon. I have been practicing my cooking skills over the past few months and have also added some unique herbs and spices from the forests as seasoning to my dishes along with using some new cooking techniques from the Transmigrator's experience and memories.

It took a little practice but with some effort I was able to identify and harvest some unique edible plants and fungi thanks to my affinity for Life magic and I made good use of my Fire affinity while cooking to ensure optimal heating of my dishes. At this point I was pretty confident that if all else fails I could still make a decent living off of my culinary skills, Wharton especially loved my new dishes and ate the things I served him with great gusto. All this also served to prove my theory that the stone sculpting method of earth magi was not the only way to quickly raise one's spiritual energy, fire magi could also practice with cooking to increase their spiritual energy as it took fine control of heat while cooking different ingredients and dishes to create a delicacy. If one just randomly used a fireball spell to cook meat they were more likely to end up with charcoal even at the lowest setting, using magic for cooking required focus and great effort even for simple dishes so this method was guaranteed to give one's spiritual essence a good workout.

As I had expected, Bebe was already comfortable enough to approach me after a week and when I first gave him roast chicken, he almost begged me to give it to him with his wide innocent black eyes. That made me laugh so much as he simply looked so adorable, I will definitely tease him about this for many years later. Anyway, he rewarded me by hugging my leg which was the first sign of intimacy he had shown me as well as giving me the honour of letting me pet him and I didn't hesitate much. I gently reached my hand out to him to show him I meant no harm before I started to pet and groom him, he seemed to enjoy that very much by the looks of his half-closed eyes and relaxed breathing.

Another week and a half went by and there were only two weeks left before I had to leave for Fenlai city for the magic aptitude test. That was when I brought out my secret weapon and brought Bebe a tandoori style cooked chicken covered with a rich herbal and spice mix paste of my own making. The moment Bebe just smelled what I had brought for him today he was dancing and squeaking around in excitement and when he finally sees what I had brought him, a waterfall was gushing out of his mouth. He didn't hesitate and before I set the food down, he jumped into my arms and attacked the tray of food I was holding. He finished the chicken that was larger than him in record time, bones and all, even licking the tray clean before shooting me another pitiful look as if asking for more.

I couldn't take it any more as I burst out laughing, it became all the more difficult when I spotted Grandpa Doehring off to the side also looking at the spot the tandoori chicken had been as if he also wanted a taste. 'Sigh, I at least need to look in to ways for Grandpa Doehring to be able to enjoy some of the comforts of life by sharing some of my senses. Getting a body of his own is still far away so let's take it one step at a time. Maybe Death attribute magic has the answers I need but still, that is one thing I don't want to experiment with carelessly as I have no idea where to even start for that branch of magic.' I thought before gently setting Bebe down.

"I only brought that today. Don't be sad, I will bring you more just like that from now ok." I say to the little guy as I stroke his cute furry head with a gentle smile on my face. Thankfully he seems to understand after a while and decides to let me off the hook after exacting a good grooming session out of me.

The next few days passed much the same way and I focused on mainly training my body in that time since Grandpa Doehring and I both agreed it would be safer for me to withhold training magic until after I got into an academy. Training the body was much harder, not to mention both painful and tiring but I knew the benefits of training in both warrior and mage systems. True if one trained diligently in either system they could achieve Saint rank but in my opinion that was as far as they could go with just that. As far as I was aware there was not much distinction between mage and warrior beyond Saint rank as by then they focused almost exclusively on the Laws themselves. Even their combat styles would undergo a great change and they would no longer be confined to only melee for warriors and ranged spell casting for mages.

The way I saw it, to achieve Deity rank one must have trained both their bodies and their minds along with the comprehension of the Laws. Although one might argue that the mind was more important when studying the Laws, I felt that was not entirely correct as the brain and mind was part of one's body. The better care one took of their body and the stronger and healthier they were, the better their mind would be; not to mention the body and its senses were what the mind relied on to perceive and interact with one's surrounding nature and by extension the Laws. Taking inspiration from the Transmigrator's worldview, both software and hardware must be top quality for the system to perform optimally. I really don't understand the current mindset of the people of this world where mages and warriors sort of hold the other's methods in contempt, even the old Linley understood this when the Transmigrator had explained it to him so why couldn't the so called wise and powerful experts not.

I had said much the same thing to Grandpa Doehring when he asked me why I still trained my body so much. In his opinion, with my talents there was no need for me to waste my time training as a warrior as I was amazingly talented as a mage and I could easily reach Saint level before I turned 30 even. He thought my time would be better spent learning magical theory rather than exercising my body even if I had to hold off on increasing my rank as a mage for now and that it would give me more returns in the long run. I politely explained my understanding to him and explained the benefits of what I was doing would do for me in the long run and boy was he shocked.

True it was sort of common knowledge that the Saint level was not the highest level of power in the Yulan continent and though 99.9% of the continent's population had not personally seen any of the less than handful known Deities or experienced their power for themselves, they were aware that such experts existed none the less. Grandpa Doehring and I had also discussed about the Deity level experts once in a while and now my new perspective of thought seemed to give Grandpa Doehring some new insights on that level. He did not seek to prevent me from wanting to train as a warrior as well after that and now actively supported me instead, even saying that he would be beyond proud if the disciple he had taught went on to become a Deity level expert in the future.

"What do I do Grandpa Doehring? The date of my departure for Fenlai to attend the magic aptitude tests is only a couple days away and the little Shadowmouse has still not formed a Bond-of-equals contract with me." I ask in a worried tone. I had honestly thought that with my secret weapon I could have had Bebe initiate the contract earlier and that I would have gotten a magical beast companion much sooner than in canon, but unfortunately the little glutton was proving to be a tough adversary.

"Don't worry Linley. These things take time, with all you have done for the little Shadowmouse over the past few weeks I'm sure he already considers you to be family. Maybe he just needs time or a push to finalise everything." Grandpa Doehring consoles me.

"Yes, you're probably right. He must think that I will be with him like this for the rest of our lives and that no one can threaten us. I kind of feel that he may try to follow me to Fenlai regardless of the dangers when I head out, I must at least convey to him the dangers that would pose for him in such a large city where experts could be around the next street corner." I reply in frustration as I take today's special dish of delicious pork chops that I cooked after running into a wild boar with luck.

"Squeak squeak!" Bebe greeted me excitedly upon catching sight of me and more importantly catching a whiff of the food I brought him.

"Hahaha, here you go little guy." I say as I set the food down for him, I had somehow convinced him to be a little more patient and at least wait for me to set the food down rather than pouncing on me every time. "Sigh, I won't be able to keep you company for a couple days after tomorrow little guy. I'll be going to a big city for a test and it won't be safe for you over there." I try and explain to him, he seems to understand bits and pieces of it as he cuddles up to me for some kind affection after finishing his meal. I stop talking about going away and just spend some time petting and grooming the little one before leaving for the day.

That night at the Baruch family dinner table- "Linley, I have noticed you have been taking cooked meat dishes out into the rear courtyard?" father asked me. Looks like he finally decided to ask about that, I wasn't deluded enough that I thought no one noticed. I'd recently gotten to cooking a lot and even tonight's dinner had one dish that I'd made and everyone liked the taste, I wouldn't be surprised if the thing that gave me away was the aroma of the food as I was carrying it out to Bebe.

"Yes father, I recently found a cute animal in the backyard, he's really cute and I've been taking some food out for him." I answer back.

"A cute animal? Big Bro I want to see." Wharton tells me as he found this topic to be interesting enough to pause from the action of stuffing his adorable face.

"Hmm, nobody visits the backyard or the rear courtyards much so it's natural for some wild animals to sneak in and make a home for itself there, just be careful Linley. More importantly, the next round of the annual magical aptitude tests will begin at Fenlai city in 2 days' time, the testing will be open for the next two weeks but it would be better to be early and get it over with on the first day to prevent the crowd. I trust you are prepared for the journey." Father informs me about the plans for my magic education.

"Yes father, I am prepared… father there is something else I would like to talk to you about this matter in private though. I hope you don't mind." I inform him as well as request for a private word with him, there were some things I would like to share with him so he would not worry too much, I thought that if I gave him some more hope he would not be so much of a hard ass as well as not do something stupid trying to uncover the truth of mother's death.

"Hmm, very well, meet me at my study after dinner." He responded in a strict manner after a while.

Soon I found myself alone with my father in his study after dinner and he takes a seat behind his desk while gesturing for me to take a seat before him and asking me while raising one eyebrow- "Well, what is it you want to talk to me about that has to remain private?" He is still somewhat sceptical as I have never requested for something like this before.

I take a deep breath and do a quick mental revision of the story I spun with the help of Grandpa Doehring before saying to father- "Father, do you remember that time those 2 Saints battled outside of town and I got injured in the aftermath? Well, what if I were to tell you that there was one more Saint in the town itself at that time?"

He looked surprised that I brought up the calamity that befell our town and was more shocked to find out that there was actually another Saint within the town proper at the time. He seemed to have no idea where I was going with this but just the fact that there was a Saint level combatant hidden around town that I seemed to know about was a cause for concern to him.

"Linley, are you alright? You are not hurt anywhere, is the town in danger?" he asked as his calm seems to be slipping and worry is rising.

"Calm down father. This Saint level expert seems to be on our side, though he has told me that he cannot act in the open to protect us or reveal his identity." I reassure him.

"Explain this to me Linley. Just based on what little you've told me, I cannot relax." Father orders sternly, although he has already calmed down some.

"Alright father. This person is an Earth Style Grand Magus Saint and is also very old. He said he was a friend of our ancestors who were Saint level Dragonblood warriors, he said they had helped him out in the past and now he was trying to return the favour by helping out their descendants." I feed him the cooked up plausible reason for us to be able to somewhat acquire the assistance of a great expert.

"What?!" Father exclaims before continuing- "This…but why has he not approached us before and exactly how much is he willing to help us out?" he pushes for more information.

"I asked him the same things father, he said he was previously engaged with other tasks and had even lost track of the members of all the supreme warrior families after being in seclusion for centuries. He only just found us and he told me that he will help us get stronger but will not directly fight battles for us, he has already started teaching me magic and even told me that I am very talented. He said that it would be no issue for me to even be selected for the Ernst Institute." I say as I channel some magic and chant a spell to form a small rock and make it float over my palm.

"This is…. And you say he was confident enough to say you could make it into the Ernst Institute, but why join a magic academy at all if you have a Saint level teacher?!" He exclaims in awe.

"About that father, he told me it would be better for me to join an academy as he detected I have talent for a couple other types of magic as well and he only specialised in the earth style. He also told me he might not be available all the time to give me guidance so it would be better to formally join an academy." I explain my reasoning to which father gives a nod.

I continue with the more important matter I wanted to convey to him- "He also warned me that we have to stay low and not reveal our growth much. He said that he and even our families had made enemies that would destroy us if we were not careful." I say in a grave voice.

"That explains so much… that's right Linley, you said this teacher of yours was a friend of our Saint level ancestors, by chance does he know some of our family's secret teachings like how to awaken our Dragonblood safely?" He asks with some excitement now.

"He knows father, he also told me he would help me with it as long as I improved my strength and passed a test he would give me later." I told him with a smile and continuing- "He said drinking fresh blood from a high ranked dragon was indeed the way to awaken our power but if we didn't have any Blue Heart Grass on hand to consume, the violent and rampant power of the dragon's blood will kill us. According to him, Blue Heart Grass restrains the more violent and harmful properties of dragon blood and makes it safe for human consumption."

"Blue Heart Grass… Blue Heart Grass… this is indeed good news for us Linley but that is still a very expensive herb and will not be easy to acquire. I will see what can be done about it so we will not be overly reliant on your new teacher but I still want you to work hard, if you decide to start slacking off under the impression of having a backer and don't improve, I will never forgive you. While I am grateful for your teachers help, we must not be overtly reliant on him lest we become a disgrace to our ancestors." Father lectured me.

"Rest assured father, I will not slack off. In fact, teacher also told me much the same thing and that I would let down my ancestors if always rely on external help." I told him and he seems to acknowledge my mysterious new teacher more now as in his eyes he truly was an ally of our family and knew our mindset.

"Very well, I will keep this a secret seeing as our benefactor wishes to remain hidden. If there is nothing else you may return to your room to retire for the night. I will have Hillman accompany you to Fenlai for the testing the day after." He says, dismissing me for the night as well as relaying some instructions for me. He does seem a bit more relaxed though now that he knows that there might be a Saint level expert secretly watching over them but he was still not one to grow complacent from just that and was not someone who liked to rely on external help solving their problems caused due to the family's personal failings.

"Then goodnight father, I will work hard and not disappoint you." I say before heading back to my room.

Hogg's POV-

Hogg did not know what to think when his eldest son requested for a private meeting with him. He had noticed Linley was acting strange ever since he found out about our family's heritage, his desire to prove himself only seemed to grow brighter in the face of adversity when we found out that the density of dragon blood in his veins did not meet the standards required to become a Dragonblood warrior.

He always asked me for details that would enable him to grow stronger and help the family in some way, be it the time he asked me about stone sculpting or magi, he was always seeking a path for himself. That only seemed to grow stronger after that incident where he got severely injured protecting Wharton, the sight of Linley laying on the bed injured and unconscious still haunted him to this day. He never wanted to experience something like that ever again and thus renewed his drive to grow stronger despite his limitations, if his son could not be hemmed down by the limitations put on him and sought to improve regardless then so could he.

Now he was even more surprised to find out that his son had somehow been contacted by a Saint level Magus friend of our ancestors who sought to help us. There were still many things that did not quite add up and the whole thing seemed suspect to him but he could not deny that Linley had in fact cast a spell when as far as he was concerned there was no one to teach him. Just seeing the spell being cast seemed to rekindle some sort of hope in him, no wonder he was wandering off on his own these past few days, I was afraid he was slacking off but he seems to be practicing magic.

Speaking of learning magic and his formal education in it, he would be beyond glad if Linley did in fact get admitted into the prestigious Ernst Institute but he would also not mind if it was just another magic academy either as long as he had some talent. While it was good to dream and hope he would wait until after the magical aptitude test to celebrate, he was just glad that the worst case of Linley not even having a chance due to no talent is non-existent.

The news of a way to safely awaken our dragon blood was also a boon, he just hoped that the mysterious Saint Magus would keep his word and at least help Linley even if he cannot do the same for me. In any case I need to check up on Blue Heart Grass, it won't be easy to get but I can at least get some information first. No need to hurry as even if I get the herb the chance to get my hands on fresh blood from a 9th rank or above dragon will prove even more difficult. Best not get ahead of myself here, especially if what Linley said about his teacher's warning are true, I always wondered how our family fell so far from grace despite us having produced many powerful and ageless Saint level warriors.

One step at a time Hogg, one step at a time. First ensure the best possible support and environment for the growth of the children, then on to back breaking training for you. I will not let my children shoulder this task of restoring the family on their own, what kind of face will I show to my own father and other ancestors if I only rely on them and do nothing myself.

The next two days passed by in a flash and it was time to go to Fenlai for the Magus aptitude tests. I had gotten up earlier than usual and got ready at the fastest rate possible, I packed up anything I thought of as essential in a small bundle to take with me and went to have breakfast. Other than a set of clean clothes in case of emergencies the rest of my little care package contained some preserved food rations and packets of my unique spice and seasoning blends.

Breakfast was a quite affair with father and Grandpa Hiri seeming to be sort of tense due to their expectations over the outcome despite me having given father some assurances. Only Wharton seemed to be unaffected as he ate his meal with gusto. Soon we were done and uncle Hillman came by to escort me to the city, father bid us farewell at the main gates of our estate along with Wharton and Grandpa Hiri and we were off.

"Are you nervous Linley?" Uncle Hillman asked me as we were walking past the outskirts of town after looking at my tense expression.

"…A little, Uncle Hillman. What is it like in the capital city of the kingdom?" I ask in turn, he probably thought I was nervous about the test. The test itself was of no concern to me as after I had discussed with Grandpa Doehring I knew all the details as well as how to fool it so I won't lay all my cards on the table. I was more worried about meeting some strong experts from the Church or worse their Saint level combatants, if I behave even the slightest bit out of line, I could bring their entire focus on me and I was not confident I would still be able to fool them with my paltry acting skills.

"Don't worry, Linley. It is just another city, sure the people may be more affluent and you will see many new things, but there is no need to be nervous. Besides I'm sure you will do wonderfully on the test and once it becomes known that you have the potential to be a powerful Magus no one will make any trouble for you." Uncle Hillman reassured me, after another discussion with father yesterday we had agreed to disclose some information to Grandpa Hiri and Hillman. They were told a bit about how I somehow managed to get some pointers from a powerful wandering Mage and that I was already a magus even, they were not told about my supposed teacher's rank, his supposed connection to our clan or his somewhat cooperation with us.

We had cleared the town and had made decent progress on the road when I heard a sound from behind that made me stop.

"Squeak squeak!" Bebe said, it seemed as though the little guy had followed me just like in canon and I had to try to convince him to return as it would not be safe for an unbonded magical creature of high potential in the city. Of course, he would not understand all that so most of my lecturing consisted of "Danger, alone, don't follow and go back."

"Linley get away from that thing, that is a dangerous magical beast!" Uncle Hillman exclaimed.

"It is alright Uncle Hillman; this is my friend. This is the cute animal that I said I had found in the rear courtyards and was feeding all this while." I explain, he didn't seem to completely buy it though as he was still a little nervous.

Somehow Bebe didn't seem to like being told to leave me now and as if to prove his point like a stubborn child wanting to get what he wants at any cost, he initiated the Bond-of-Equals contract between us. He almost looked smug, kind of like asking me to just try and get rid of him now. The light show from the contract forming most certainly made Uncle Hillman break out in cold sweat all over again but after some assurances from me he calmed down once more and the three of us continued the journey after I had officially named the infant Godeater Rat as Bebe.

Bebe mostly rode on my shoulders or on my head for most of the journey and I only asked him to hide in my jacket as we drew closer to the city, no point in calling attention to ourselves even if we have formed a contract. During the journey I was mostly thinking about Bebe and his potential as well as his growth, in canon I felt that the old Linley spoiled Bebe too much causing him to be a bit lazy. The little guy had tremendous potential but either due to falling to his cute charms or just seeing his scary growth despite lazing around the old Linley never pushed Bebe to train overtly. This time however I swore to not let that happen, I already felt a little guilty towards Bebe, his parents and Beirut at having tricked their young descendant into making a contract with me so the least I could do was train Bebe up to the best of my abilities. I would still spoil the little guy but no way was I going to let up on his training.

It was early evening by the time we made it into the city proper so we found some accommodations at a cheap inn on the outskirts and decided to rest before heading to the testing grounds the following morning. While Bebe did not seem to like the food at the inn all that much, he still ate it all without complaint, maybe continuously feeding him my delicious cooking was a bad move, oh well no point now, I guess. I just need to make sure that I only give him the really good stuff as a reward for doing well on training, yeah that could work. I start making more plans while waiting for sleep to take me.

We wake up early and finish our morning routines the following day before heading to the main church at the centre of the city which is the location of the magical aptitude testing. Uncle Hillman and Grandpa Doehring continue to give me some general advice and how I should comport myself according to my environment. From what I got so far both of them seem to be warning me of not to let appearances fool me and that at the end of the day my life would depend on my own efforts and power, they also warn me not to do stupid things and carelessly offend people in case I accidently mess with someone I shouldn't have. I absorb everything and nod along even if I already knew all that and actually planned to be even more cautious than they had ever imagined.

"Grandpa Doehring, I think you should be extra careful here, we are going to be in the central church of Fenlai which is the centre of power of the Radiant Church as well as the Holy Union. There might be many powerful experts and even Saints hidden around here." I mentally warn Grandpa Doehring just in case, the crazy lickspittles with glowsticks up their butts are my enemies after all.

"Right, worry not Linley. I will be on guard, though I said Saint level combatants would be able to detect me it would still take them some time and I would have to constantly be outside the ring. If I hide in the ring as soon as I sense them then they won't be able to tell as it would only feel like a slightly odd random disturbance in the natural essences, even then they would have to be actively scanning the surroundings to detect even that." Grandpa Doehring assures me and boy was I relieved to know that, I was still somewhat afraid that they would detect him and I would call un-needed attention upon myself.

We walk down one of the main streets and soon make it to the church as there was not much of a crowd this early in the morning. We enter the large Cathedral and find that there are already a few hopeful participants for the test gathered and the officials are doing the final preps to begin testing. Uncle Hillman leads me to join the line after handing over the fee for the testing to me, he asks me to have Bebe hide with him as I finish up my tests and I coax the little mouse to stick with him for some time. After much coaxing I convince Bebe to crawl down my jacket sleeve and hide under Uncle Hillman's jacket until I return, Uncle Hillman then retreats to wait on benches set around the edges of the Cathedral for the parents and guardians of the examinees.

The testing soon begins and children are called up to the examiners one by one. The test comprises of two parts, the first tests one's affinities and the second one tests their spiritual strength. I was still kind of worried about the testing of my affinities as I wanted to hide my full capabilities but after planning with Grandpa Doehring for so long and personally witnessing the tests of other people before me, I was relieved to have confirmation that our plan would work.

I quietly waited for my turn while watching one young child after another be given the sad painful result of not having enough spiritual energy to become a magus. Even after a dozen rounds only one had met the requirements even if barely, this just goes to show how much innate talent is required before one is even considered capable to start on training as a magus. Though I doubt that would apply to a lucky guy like me but still after learning under Grandpa Doehring I was of the mind that with proper guidance and education as well as some innovative methods, even those with no talents initially could match those with at least average talents provided they work hard.

Despite the abysmal passing rate of the applicants there were many who sought to test their luck as by the time my turn for testing came up the waiting line of magi aspirants already reached out the door. Just as the one in front of me was undergoing the test another official came up to me to collect the exam fees and note down my particulars in a record book. Just as the boy in front finished his test and the verdict was passed that he didn't make the cut, I was called up next. With a deep breath to calm my nerves a bit I walked up to the testing crystal for the first affinity test.

"Place your hand on the crystal ball." The bald examiner told me in a practiced neutral tone like he had done this countless times, to be fair he probably had what with how many people showed up for each round of tests.

I took one more steadying breath and focused my spiritual energy before grabbing hold of the crystal. Usually new aspirants have no conscious control of their spiritual energy and the testing crystal just grabs a portion of the aspirant's spiritual power before exposing it to the natural essences of the surroundings via its special formations to check one's compatibility with the various elements. Various other formations and enchantments then read the results of these interactions between the examinee's spiritual power and the natural essences before displaying the results as a colourful light show. The difference in colour determines the type of elemental affinity one has and the intensity of brightness of the lights is an indicator for the degree of affinity one has for said elements. Naturally everyone has some affinity for some element but in the case of magi hopefuls, the stronger the affinity the better.

I carefully controlled and channelled my spiritual energy into the crystal rather than just let it roughly grab some, this was not difficult for someone who had enough spirit energy to be a rank 7 magus and had been taught how to control it by a Grand Magus Saint. I was careful enough to only draw the elemental essences of earth, wind, fire and water for the crystal to read. Unlike in canon I decided to include water as well since I knew there were some pretty cool spells in that branch like healing and scrying in addition to the standard offense and defence spells which I wanted to learn.

The testing crystal burst forth in a bright multicoloured lightshow and displayed the heavily doctored results of my elemental affinities. The loud gasps and shocked reactions I got even when I held back a lot just proved to further firm my resolve to not overtly stand out.

"Age, eight. Elemental essence affinities- Earth and Wind, affinity level of exceptional for both! Fire affinity, high! Water affinity, average." The bald proctor announced in a quivering voice after collecting himself a little. Thank goodness I also decided to hold back while pulling on the fire and water elemental essences, who knows what would happen if I showed the same exceptional affinity for all my elements.

"Please enter the magical formation to test your spiritual power." The bald proctor actually used the word 'please' in addressing me as he was already somewhat floored by the talent I had displayed. The surrounding audience of other examinees, their adult guardians and the representatives from various magic academies were also very interested due to my results which were the best so far and by a large margin.

"Remember, when engaging in the spiritual essence power test, you must hold strong. Resist for as long as you can." The bald proctor kindly reminded me to which I gave an innocent nod with a small smile to show the advice was appreciated.

Internally on the other hand I had no desire to show even a fraction of my best on this test especially, the affinity test could somewhat be passed off but if I showed too much in this second portion I would be in grave danger. Just the thought of an 8-year-old with the potential to immediately be a high-level 7th ranked magus was beyond monstrous. I was sure I would be either assassinated or kidnapped before I even left the building if they ever got wind of it.

I stepped into the centre of the formation before the proctor and his assistants activated it, there was a glow of the power build-up before the light style magic- Overawe- activated and I started to feel a very faint and tiny nudge on my spirit. This was barely anything at all for me thanks to my high spiritual power, just the special constitution of my spirit due to the nature of it being mutated would ensure I would be able to shrug off such a weak pressure.

I still furrowed my brows though to show the audience that I did feel something significant. I had no prior experience to determine how much resistance equated to the level of my spiritual essence power so I enlisted the help of my very helpful Grandpa spirit guide.

"1…2…3…." Grandpa Doehring was calling out numbers in sequence after set intervals to indicate how much my spirit power would be judged as if I were to stop right at that time. I wanted to stop when the readings would determine that I had somewhere around 20 times the power of the average person my age. 5 times the average power for the age group was set as the very minimum to qualify to start magical education, 5 to 10 times was considered low-average potential, 10-15 times was considered high-average, 15-25 was considered high potential and anything over 25 was exceptional potential.

As Grandpa Doehring crossed 15 and approached 20 in his counting I pretended to show more of a struggle even if in actuality I only felt a light load. It had taken a lot of practice as I even needed to fake breaking out in sweat lest someone call me out for my piss poor acting. Thankfully my exceptional control over my body from being a 3rd rank warrior helped and if I cheated a bit by using my water affinity to condense water vapour in the air on my skin to look like sweat, no one would notice.

I dropped to my knees as if under a great weight when the count just touched 20, I was panting and drenched due to my act and the examiners let up immediately. "Spiritual essence, 20 times that of his peers, high-level. High spiritual essence, exceptional dual elemental affinity." The bald proctor announced in excitement.

The crowd that had been silently watching with bated breath so far went wild at the announcement. A lot of the people sought to find a way to form some ties with me already and the academy recruiters almost pounced on me trying to one up the competition and having me be enrolled with their institutes.

"Hey, everyone, please return to your seats. We need to continue the test." The bald proctor said in a kind voice. He could be arrogant towards those common folk, but he had to be courteous to the representatives of mighty magus academies.

"Linley, right? Our Ernst Institute would sincerely like to invite you to become one of our students." From far away, another voice sounded out just as I stepped aside for the next applicant to take the test. The entire hall went silent and even the bald proctor stopped speaking as they all recognised the white robed recruiting representative from the Ernst Institute.

"Exceptional elemental affinity, high spiritual essence, and dual-element. Linley, our Ernst Institute would very much welcome you to join us. I don't know if you would be willing to enter our Ernst Institute?" he offered once again thinking that I like the rest of the Cathedral had gone in to shock at hearing his offer.

As expected, I thought. If after all that I still wasn't good enough for them I don't know what kind of monsters they have at their institute. I played up the excited and clueless kid act of one trying to maintain decorum while internally freaking out pretty well, and it seemed to work. Grandpa Doehring had told me to seriously work on my acting skills if I was to have any success in fooling anyone over 10, no matter what anyone said I did not pout when I fired back that my acting wasn't that bad.

Just the Uncle Hillman rushed to my side and all but ordered me- "Linley, agree to him." as if I would somehow screw this up if he did not do something.

I took a moment to look like I needed it to pull myself together and responded to the white robed recruiter- "Sir, I would be honoured to be enrolled within the Ernst Institute." I then took the acceptance letter he was offering; he seemed a little pleased that I was able to pull myself together and act dignified.

"Linley, I will inform the Institute of your biographical details. When the time comes, just bring that letter and it will be your proof of identity to the Institute and take a second, correlating test. Then, you will become an official student of our Institute." He informs with a pleased nod.

"Each academic year is divided into two semesters, with the first semester beginning in February 9th. As long as you arrive by February 9th, you will be fine." The white robed man then tells me about the particulars and joining date before departing.

He had already started to prepare all the paperwork needed halfway through my spiritual power test and handed me the complete enrolment letter just now. He was confident that no one would decline admission to the Ernst Institute, after all they were the best magic academy on the continent.

"Thank you." I wished him with a small respectful bow before turning to the very excited Uncle Hillman- "Uncle Hillman, let's go." The crowd did not hinder us at all despite the Cathedral being packed with the inflow of new examinees and we made it outside quickly.

"Uncle Hillman, let's not delay here anymore. We must rush back home and notify father of the news." I tell him once I'm somewhat confident there are no eavesdroppers around. He gives a firm nod and we start walking towards the city gates at a brisk pace before breaking out into a full run once we were out of the city proper.