A Sorcerer's Journey - Chapter 97

Chapter 97: Natural Force

The Infinity Eye experiment program might be a subject of study throughout his life and naturally Grimm would not waste too much time researching this during this crucial period before the Tryout.

However, the knowledge of Infinity Eye had to be learned.

More than four months had passed since Grimm began to learn about the basic knowledge of human eyes and some other methods of human exploring the world. During this time, Grimm’s daily life had a regularity. In the mornings he would listen to Peranos’ instruction on the 79th floor of the Black Tower, and in the afternoons and evenings he would stay in his place to work on Fire Blast Sorcery, and occasionally, he would hang out with Robinson and Lefay for relaxation.

One day, Grimm arrived at Peranos’s lab as usual, but the huge scroll had been curled up.

Catching sight of Grimm’s puzzled eyes, Peranos said lightly: “Take it, I’ll pass on this Infinity Eye scroll as your mentor. When your Infinity Eye experiment is complete, add the new discoveries into it and then pass it on to your disciples. I’ve taught you the basics of the Infinity Eye, and now you’ll have to experiment to prove how it actually works.”

Grimm’s face turned serious as he took over the heavy scroll respectfully with both of his slightly trembling hands. For the first time in the sorcerer world, he had a sense of responsibility and knowledge inheritance. Taking over the scroll seemed like a solemn, sacred ceremony where Grimm did not have any distractions.

Only through the inheritance of knowledge from generation to generation, would the sorcerer world became stronger and stronger. Those scrolls from ancient times were also precious carriers of knowledge which were complemented to perfection by the later generations after their creation.

After having taken over the scroll, Grimm asked: “Mentor, what will I learn for today?”

“The three methods to become a sorcerer.” Peranos replied, emphasizing every word.

Excitement crossed Grimm’s face. To advance to become a sorcerer was the dream of every student, but every so often only a few among the hundreds of them could realize it, while the vast majority died and was buried as years passed by.

A normal student would face the threat of death after three or four hundred years of growth, but upon advancement and becoming an official sorcerer, there would be a sublimation of life and their actions would no longer be restricted by physical decay. The soul would become the fundamental part of element sorcerers. In other words, before the advancement to a sorcerer, flesh supported the soul, and after the process was complete, the soul would become immortal. Flesh might decay but the body functions would remain at a normal level.

“What are the three methods to become a sorcerer?” Grimm asked nervously.

“Power, wisdom and luck.” Peranos said seriously. “Power is the factor that matters the most. If you can be the best in the Tryout, then you’ll have access to a mystery of the sorcerer world. With it you’ll assuredly become a sorcerer! Luck, or some would say fortune, plays the least part, or are even denied of existence. But sometimes the fathomless world would favor the most ordinary men.”

Grimm didn’t answer.

He had learned about that mystery of the Tryout, but the fact that it was categorized into the class of power saddened him.

Peranos continued. “Anyway it would be a waste if not used. So it might as well be given to the winner of the Tryout. This is a rule or special phenomenon of the sorcerer world.”

Sadness on Grimm’s face intensified before it was gone completely.

“Mentor, you said luck meant somebody was destined for something, something beyond control, then what about wisdom?”

Grimm had ruled out the possibility of relying on luck to become a sorcerer. He had a rational mind, as most of the sorcerers did, and thus wouldn’t rest his future on something invisible and intangible.

“To use wisdom, you need to know what distinguishes a sorcerer from a student.” Peranos threw a glance at Grimm.

The next second Grimm felt that he was being winded up and squeezed by Natural Force and soon he had been encased by the force.

Grimm stayed cool because this was not the first time that he had been restrained by Natural Force. He knew that was a reason why higher-class sorcerers were at the upper hand.

Peranos pulled out a crystal ball and instructed. “Attack it.”

Grimm nodded and produced his Fire Bat. The bat hit the ball and flame scattered everywhere.

Grimm put out the Eternal Flame and read the crystal ball. “39 points of assault? My battle strength has been diminished to only five times of the basic assault power!”

But still Grimm didn’t activate his Body of Flame, otherwise the attack degree would certainly be much higher.

Peranos put away the ball and said to Grimm. “This is how things should be. If it was a Stigmata sorcerer who pulled off the Natural Force, you wouldn’t be able to produce your Fire Bat at all. Of course if it were a lower level of sorcerer who restrained you, your attack would be stronger. This is about the control over Natural Force. The difference between a sorcerer and a student.”

“The control over Natural Force? What do we students use to pull off sorceries?”

Peranos shook his head. “The sorceries you students were cultivating were just an initial application of the Natural Force in the sorcerer world exploited by the ancient sorcerers. One worked with his or her magical force as the source of power, and pried into the laws of the Natural Force by using the Magic Matrix as the lever. The Magic Matrix was created by making use of the Natural Force in the sorcerer world and if you’re in a foreign world that is so different from ours, the students might not be able to carry out the simplest sorcery.”

Grimm became stunned. He remembered the time when he was almost frozen back in the mirror.

“Perhaps, I was frozen because I was in a fragment that kind of belonged to the sorcerer world. If I were in a foreign world, it’s very likely that I wouldn’t be able to pull off sorceries.”

Peranos continued. “Sorcerers’ obtain their power from the Natural Force, driven by the Magical Force, and with himself or herself being the lever, to pry into the rules of the world. This way, once sorcerers diminish a student using the Natural Force, he or she wouldn’t stand a chance to win no matter how strong he or she is.”

Grimm became enlightened.

Students were just people created by ancient sorcerers using their wisdom to serve as a transition to become real sorcerers. They were only able to achieve something locally.

To sum up, students explore into and use the Natural Force while sorcerers control it.

Seeing Grimm was thinking, Peranos proceeded. “So a student has to use wisdom to observe the Natural Force and see how the matrix reacts, and to feel the nature using your soul. This is a sure path for Bright Sorcerers, but many of the Dark sorcerers fail, and this is one of the reasons why the former outnumbers the latter.”

Grimm robbed his brows and asked. “How to feel the Natural Force?”

What Grimm could think of about Natural Force was when he was in the First-years Trial at the mirror dropping place. He was warned by some sorcerer right before he was entering the reward house. He didn’t know a thing about how to feel, not to mention how to gain insights.

“It’s a tough, uncertain road for me to use wisdom to become a sorcerer.”

Peranos guessed out what was in Grimm’s mind and said. “Power, wisdom and luck was what holding the sorcerer civilization back. The three factors were hard to attain and use to become a sorcerer, which will restrict the civilization from developing limitlessly. ”

Grimm defined the evolution using the above-mentioned methods as active evolution and the constitution-building sorcerers and most of the foreign world creatures were defined as passive evolution.

One disadvantage about active evolution was like the phenomenon that there were extremely powerful creatures in a certain foreign world which would hunt,kill and thus reduce the total population.

However, the ancient sorcerers had been using their wit to break this restriction. That was why students were “created”.

Peranos continued. “Grimm, when you become a sorcerer some day and you still intend to go on the road of body-strengthening, I’d suggest you stop cultivating your mental strength at the cost of consuming your body. I know this method will help you reinforce your mental strength in a shorter time, but it won’t do anything in the long term. And your body will stay old by then. Or you can even weaken your mental strength and use the spared strength to nourish your body, and then you can meditate to replenish the lost mental strength.” Peranos looked at Grimm. “But remember, when a student becomes a sorcerer, the body functions and soul will be communicating without blockage and at that very moment, those two properties become interchangeable.”

Grimm gulped and then nodded. “I see.”

No wonder many sorcerers looked all aged. That was because they chose to strengthen their mental strength at the cost of degenerating their body functions. And many of them lost interest in improving their body since body and flesh were no longer a factor determining one’s longevity.

Peranos’s speech was to remind Grimm of that so that he would not make the wrong choice when the day came.