Blademaster Ascension

15- Step into the World of Magic

Scarlet dust blew lazily across the ancient town, the heated air of dusk galloping through the brick-roads unhindered, making the clothes of those touched by it flutter into delicate motion; a scene that would daze a person who is unfamiliar with the atmosphere of localities in the desert. However, the pedestrians paid no heed to this unique scene as they minded their own business and the dust that passed them by, unnoticed, continued its journey through the town. It reached the other end of the town, where some half-demolished houses stood, barely holding up after all the violent attacks they had suffered from in the recent days.

One of these houses in particular looked almost uninhabitable, with only two rooms unscathed. And inside one of them sat a young boy, with a cauldron in front of him, full of stinky red liquid churning from heat induced by the dancing fire beneath.

"This potion is particularly difficult to concoct. Even though I have tried dozens of times, I only succeeded once despite the nearly perfect timing and calculations. I wonder if potions are divided into categories according to their difficulty, because it'd only make sense that this liquefied spiritleaf  potion is of a higher level than the potions I had concocted before. The success rate is terribly low."

The boy, namely Rowan, was of course delighted that he had succeeded, but the number of failures that led to his success was worrisome to say the least. Taking a clean bowl, he tipped the cauldron and dropped half of the potion into it. The hot red liquid resembled molten lava and Rowan was hesitant to proceed to the next step as he observed the steam coming out of the bowl.

"To examine my magic potential, I have to drink this potion and wait for roughly forty-five seconds  before it completely cycles through my whole body and the result shows. According to Turio's book, for a person with zero magic potential, there would be no reaction. For a person with grade one potential, their skin would turn red. For a person with grade two potential, their skin would turn purple. The later grades will show the colours violet, blue and black respectively.

The book also mentioned that this potential heavily influences a person's achievements and future limits. For example, someone with grade one potential will never exceed the rank of collector and will only be able to use spells suitable for those under archmage level, in other words the lowest level spells. Someone with grade two would reach archmage level, and the later grades beyond that."

Rowan was extremely worried that his potential would be in the lower levels, something that'd seriously hinder his rapid progression. With shaking hands, he raised the bowl to his mouth and chugged down the hot potion.

Strangely enough, despite its boiling appearance, it didn't burn his tongue as it rolled downwards into his stomach. "At least it's not as painful as I thought it'd be," Rowan consoled himself while starting to count the time. Nothing of note happened as the first thirty seconds passed by. Then a cool sensation spread through his body. After forty five seconds passed, Chip's sudden warning came.

[  unexpected change in host's skin cells detected. Should I intervene?  ]

"No," Rowan answered with relief laced in his tone. That meant at least he wasn't completely without potential !"

Then he felt a strange itch on his skin, one he was unable to cure by scratching. It increased and intensified, nearly driving him crazy. Have I made a mistake while concocting the potion? Rowan's thoughts raced as he writhed on the floor. Then it stopped suddenly. Oh so slowly, Rowan stood up and started at his hands, which were no longer brown.

PURPLE !!!

His potential was only grade two? Limited to the archmage level?
Disappointment filled him. Pessimistic as he might be, he really wanted his potential to be of a higher grade.