?

Andar was listening to his Master while watching his surroundings, curious about where this river led. 𝘯𝘰𝘷．𝑜𝘳𝘨

They had already moved past hundreds of miles by now as the boat was speeding along in that uncontested stretch of water with no obstacles inside the river to slow or delay them. This was the farthest place he had ever traveled to since being brought to this planet by his mother. Andar had never left the town.

This underground river was lit by bioluminescent corals and algae that made them almost feel like they were traveling above ground while beneath the stars.

The Alchemist began speaking more quickly as if he wanted to impart more information as fast as he could,

“There are many beneficial aspects to the change brought on by your Awakening, but for the most part it is random, it also depends on the talent of the awakened how much changes would be made in the body, and even the awakened who received the best benefits still had some areas in their bodies that remained unchanged, so it may appear as if their bodies were totally changed on the surface but inside, there would still be remnants of their old self.”

He looked over to see if Andar was following his explanation and he nodded with satisfaction to see that was the case, he licked his lips and continued, “Over time as they ascend from Acolyte to Mage and hopefully Archmage, they would slowly perfect the rest of their bodies. To my knowledge, the best degree of change created by an Awakening was at 25 percent. I have not studied you deeply enough Andar but from what I can tell, your body’s change is as high as 90 percent, maybe even higher.”

“Is that number significant?” Andar asked

The Alchemist laughed in a self-deprecating manner, “It all depends on your talent, but I am a glorious Rank 4 Mage and my percentage of change is just a mere 61 percent. This is the limit of my talent and the end of my road. With my words, I think you understand what this change means.”

Andar nodded, “This is the path for a Mage. We change our bodies to become closer to Aether. My body as a Mortal is almost equal to a Mage or maybe even greater, perhaps an Archmage”

The Alchemist’s eyes were shining at his deduction and he nodded his head,

“Now I suspect it is because there has never been anyone with your talent before in recent history or perhaps even ever. This leads me back to the reason we are escaping, which should be obvious to you by now.”

Andar gulped, he was silent, but that silence was enough acknowledgment. He began thinking that perhaps he may have gone a bit too hard on the body modification.

” I told you we were lucky, that is because Silas was the one that discovered you, and he is ultimately a young Mage and he could not fully grasp the frightening nature of your talent. He has been blown away by your Spirit Matrix grade and your Spirit Body, but he did not bother to investigate your body, possibly it was because of my presence or might be he must have thought you would never reject his offer. He knows you are a great talent but he does not truly understand what makes you great. This would not last for long, for he would soon realize his mistakes and he would return to inspect your body and I would not be able to refuse him. If we fight, I will lose. But that is just a small part of a larger problem.”

The river they were on began to curve and the water began getting rougher as the waves began to increase around them, the sound of the river was growing, but Andar could still catch every single word said by his master, who became a bit more focused on their oath, but still left the navigation to the boat.

The Alchemist looked at Andar and sighed, “I don’t think even I can understand all the intricacies of your talent, nevertheless, this undoubtedly places you in danger. You are still young with no powers or influence of your own, which means you can be easily controlled. Your mind can be taken over and your body seized. No great power would love to see you grow unchecked without placing you under their control. If not for seeing it with my own eyes, I would never believe a Mortal can have such talents.”

His master paused for a while as if he was in deep thought and Andar waited for him patiently to continue, and he did after he seemed to have arrived at a conclusion.

“My Apprentice, If you would ever hope to have a chance to be able to grow then your only opportunity would be at the Trials. Yet, you must be strategic to arrive at the best outcome for yourself. In the Trials, you should reveal all your brilliance without fear, and when your name has resounded all over the Black Federation, every great power would take an interest in you. Ultimately you would be a public figure and anyone who wishes to take you under their wings would be wary of tampering with you else they would draw the ire of the entire Black Federation. Your talent would now be your shield against the world, instead of a curse.”

As his master continued speaking, Andar began to shake in a complex blend of excitement and fear, he swallowed back a question he wanted to ask, as he wanted his master to finish talking. When the Alchemist saw his reaction, he smiled and rubbed his hair.

“All is not all bad my apprentice, you just have to get through this obstacle at the start of your journey. These are the trials all mages must go through at every step in their lives, for the moment we stop having problems, that is the time we have stopped growing, and if so, we are better off dead.”