CHAPTER 14
"That was truly impressive, and I can see you growing strong in the near future, but it isn't enough.
So I'm here to tell you to grow stronger quickly because they are starting to make their moves," the mage stated gravely.
"Making their moves? Who are they?" Grey asked, raising a brow in concern.
"The Otherworlders," the mage replied.
"Otherworlders? Who exactly are they?" Grey questioned, his posture stiffening as he felt the room grow tense.
"I just informed you who is making their move. It is not yet the appropriate time for you to learn their background," the mage retorted sharply.
Grey didn't press the matter further.
He understood that regardless of how much he pried, the sorcerer wouldn't reveal more unless he deemed the boy ready.
Instead, he pivoted his focus to the next pressing issue.
"You say you need me to grow stronger, but how am I supposed to achieve that when I don't even know my remaining affinities, how to unlock them, or possess any spell books to help me progress?
So, unless you have manuals or something similar, there's nothing I can do to accelerate my development." Grey folded his arms, waiting for a definitive response.
The mage leaned back in his chair, stroking his white beard thoughtfully.
"Actually, I think I can provide assistance with that." He clicked his fingers together.
"How so?" Grey asked, his curiosity piqued.
"By providing you with the necessary tools." The mage smiled, snapping his fingers once again.
In an instant, several leather-bound volumes materialized before Grey.
He counted them—five in total.
As he flipped through the parchment pages, his eyes gleamed with excitement upon realizing their immense value.
"These books contain skills, spells, and instructional guides.
They will help you advance in your training, awaken your dormant affinities, master new techniques, and learn how to utilize them effectively in the heat of battle," the mage explained.
"You're… you're giving me all these for free?" Grey stuttered, his gaze darting between the books and the mysterious man.
The mage burst into a sudden fit of laughter.
"For free? Hahaha! No! I expect tangible results. But given the velocity at which you progress, that shouldn't be a significant problem."
Grey frowned, wondering just how dangerous these Otherworlders truly were to make the mage so serious and urgent about his evolution.
He knew the man before him was incredibly powerful, so the fact that these enemies had him so worked up was deeply unsettling.
'Whatever. As long as I get stronger, I don't care who his adversaries are,' Grey thought, skimming through the texts again.
"I can see you've unlocked both wind and fire affinities. Your wind attribute is quite high, but your fire affinity is still relatively weak," the mage observed, staring intensely into Grey's eyes.
"How… how do you know that?" Grey asked, his brow furrowing.
"Oh? You haven't unlocked that ability yet?" The mage smacked his forehead in frustration.
"Unlocked what?" Grey asked, growing impatient at the prospect of acquiring a valuable new power-up.
"You possess a special attribute, just like I do. And one of its inherent abilities is called Appraisal."
Grey's eyes widened. "Special attribute? You mean..."
"Chaos, space, time, and so on," the mage confirmed.
"Correct. These unique attributes are exceedingly rare. To my knowledge, only you and I possess them. And with them comes the Appraisal skill."
"What does Appraisal do?" Grey asked, intrigued by the name.
"What is appraisal? It is a skill that allows us to perceive the statistics of other mages. We can see how many elements they command, how powerful they are, what their specific elements are, and lastly, the color grade of their affinities," the First Mage explained.
Grey's eyes lit up with wonder.
"That sounds so cool!"
"It is. The best part? It doesn't require mana to function, just your intent."
"So how do I unlock it?" Grey asked eagerly.
With a sigh, the mage stood up and walked over to Grey, who remained seated on his bed.
Closing his eyes, the elder performed intricate hand signs and began chanting in a low, rhythmic tone.
Trusting the mage, Grey remained perfectly still, allowing him to continue the ritual without any interruption.
Moments later, the mage placed a cold finger directly on Grey's left eye.
A sharp, searing pain shot through Grey's socket, and he instinctively tried to pull away.
"What the hell?! Have you lost your mind, old man? Are you trying to make me blind?!"
"Stop moving! Stay still, or you really will lose your sight!" The mage snapped.
Grey hesitated but eventually complied, though his face twitched in agony.
After a few harrowing minutes, the mage stepped back, his work finally complete.
"You can open your eyes now," he said calmly.
"Are you sure? What if I open them and find out I'm permanently sightless?" Grey asked skeptically.
Just then, a crackling sound echoed through the room, and he sensed the familiar, humming presence of mana nearby.
Alarmed, Grey snapped his eyes open, only to see the mage sitting before him with a sinister grin, a massive, roaring flame swirling around his palm.
"Are you insane?! Do you want to kill me?!" Grey shouted in anger, a vein protruding at the side of his head as a deep frown settled on his face.
"Are you blind?" The mage asked casually, extinguishing the fire with a flick of his wrist.
Grey touched his face and blinked several times.
Not only could he see, but his vision was noticeably sharper than before.
He exhaled a long breath in relief.
"Now, how do I activate Appraisal?" Grey asked.
Suddenly, his left eye's vision darkened, then transitioned to a brilliant blue.
A floating screen materialized in front of him, filled with strange symbols and glowing text.
Grey's heart pounded against his ribs as he looked around, seeing mana flow through the air as if it were a tangible, liquid substance.
But what intrigued him most was the sight of the mage himself.
Runic symbols appeared over the mage's body, and Grey prepared to analyze his power levels.
"Time to see how strong you really are," Grey murmured with a confident smirk.
A second later, his smirk vanished instantly.
All of the mage's information read as a series of '???'.
"What the hell?!" Grey exclaimed.