Rise of the Arcane Heir

The Clocktower (3)

"What the" Maya blurted out when she felt the temperature around them dropping. "How? It's not even been an hour yet!"

Callum chuckled at her expression which looked like she had eaten something sour. He swore a smirk on his face as he shrugged.

"It's not that difficult. I'm sure Master Gurung wouldn't have asked me to do something he didn't think I'd be capable of."

It was a loaded statement. After all, Callum was certain it was something that should be beyond the level of someone who didn't have the answers. He only said it like that to see what reaction the old man would have. 

However, Master Gurung didn't even bother opening his eyes as he nodded. Damn. Either Grandpa told him what our legacy is capable of or he already had his suspicions. If it's the first then it's not a big deal. But if it's the second...

Callum chewed on the implications of that question for a moment. Then he's testing the limits of The Magician by using me as a test subject.

He could only trust his Grandpa's judgement for now and hope he hadn't made a mistake. Hmm, come to think of it. Fire is linked to my Power stat. Should I try increasing it?

A quick glance at his stats told him he'd already filled the single point of fire mana his body could hold. After consulting the Archives, he decided to go ahead and break through his limit.

Luckily this should be the easiest to increase. He took a deep breath in anticipation. First, familiarise myself with the full amount of fire mana in my body.

It took him a few minutes to grasp the exact amount of the fire element flowing through him. Next, seize the same amount of mana from my chosen source. This step took a bit of effort to sense and then isolate the element from the others.

 As the air around them became colder, Maya sensed the temperature between Callum's hands rising. Don't tell me! She gulped.

Callum's expression scrunched up as he proceeded to the next step. Now, I need to mix the fire element with my arcane mana. This was the difficult bit. He had to imprint the command he wanted the fire element to do into his arcane mana.

It sounded like it should be easy. However, reality begged to differ. When he felt the temperature rising without adding more of the fire element he knew he had succeeded. Ok! Now pull it in!

Callum clenched his jaw as sweat appeared all over his body. His temperature rose as though he had a fever while he concentrated on trying to sense what it was doing to his body. Although it seemed to last for some time only a minute passed.

[Ding!]

[Mana Vessel has been refined. Power, Fire, and Arcane have been increased by 1.]

Several sharp breaths escaped Callum's lips while he stared at his trembling hands. Damn, that was intense He could feel his t-shirt sticking to his back and it was rather uncomfortable.

"Monster..." Maya whispered.

"Hmm?" Callum noticed her complexion had paled as he raised an eyebrow.

"That was vessel refinement, right?" She placed her hand over her heart to try and calm it down. "How did you figure it out on your own?"

Callum tilted his head with a frown. What's she talking about?

"Not every legacy is like yours, Cal." Master Gurung said with a sigh. "Maya, don't ask him anything about this. Even if it goes against your common sense. Think of it as a mixed speciality between his bloodline and The Magician."

"Cal," Master Gurung said with a stern tone as Cal felt mana fill the space between them. "I've silenced this conversation so Maya doesn't hear what I'm about to say. Do you understand?"

"Yes."

"The Magician, that ring of yours, uses mind magic to store your entire bloodline's magical research and present it in a way for you to understand. Whatever form it takes in your mind is due to your influence. There are very few legacies that do the same thing."

"Wait, then how are the other Arcanas passed on?"

"By teaching and studying the family legacy." Master Gurung sighed. "I've had to teach Maya everything she knows and she's had to put in the effort to memorise it. Whereas you can think of your legacy as having a shared eidetic memory with your ancestors."

Master Gurung clicked his tongue making it clear he thought having The Magician's Legacy was cheating.

"Most of the Major Arcana either contain powerful spells or effects that are specialised towards a certain type of magic. Yours is highly versatile in comparison, which is why many will want to get their hands on it. No matter what, try not to show anything too far beyond what The Clocktower teaches you."

"Then, why did you ask me to do something that should have been beyond me?"

"I was testing your wisdom." Master Gurung's eyes narrowed as he stared at Callum. "I wanted to see if you'd take a risk. You barely know me but you showed enough for any decent mage to know you have something of value on you. While I can appreciate you may have done it because of your trust in Felix, you need to be more careful in the future."

Callum got the sense Master Gurung was seriously concerned for him. He's right. I'd already considered the possibility he may have had an ulterior motive, but I threw caution to the wind because I trust Grandpa's judgement.

"Well, it seems you're taking what I've said seriously. For now, refine your vessel with fire, light, and air as much as possible with what time we have left. You need to be ready in case The Clocktower issues you with an admittance test."

Callum nodded and thought about their conversation for a bit before continuing with the fire element. It's my weakest one so it makes sense to raise it first. With the mention of a potential test, he felt like he finally understood why Master Gurung had him focusing on mana refinement and storage.