***
The next few days.
Byrone River.
[Magic Element: Fireball]
Aiden summoned the magic circle rune on the tip of his right hand, then unleashed the attack forward until it hit the cliff wall near the river.
Unlike before, the fireball seemed to have successfully pierced the cliff and caused the rock avalanche that occurred.
Aiden suspected that the effects of the intense barrage of magic attacks had caused such a thing to happen.
This was the fourth magic Aiden had cast today. Luckily for him, Sylas had given him 5 MP potions so that he could practice many first-level fire magic spells freely.
'Out of the total four magic spells I've learned, I can cast at least twice for each spell,' Aiden explained.
'The number has increased compared to the other day, I don't know if it's related to my body and magic energy slowly getting used to it or what,' Aiden replied.
Now, Aiden's attention was back on the front, focused on the rocky cliff he was practicing on.
Fire magic spells such as Fireball, Fire Wave, and Fire Shield had been mastered by Aiden. He could cast them without any difficulty.
However, moving on to the fourth of the seven fire magic spells in the tome, Aiden had to increase his focus. The fourth magic spell type was fire arrows, there weren't many of them, only two.
Master Sylas had told Aiden to learn the Fire Arrow magic spell. Aside from the fact that it was the initial gateway to the manipulation magic attack form, Fire Arrow's attack power was much more powerful and painful than Fire Ball.
Again, Aiden focused his mind on what the arrow should be. To perfect this magic spell, Aiden even had to buy an arrow so that the magic form could be created.
[Magic Element: Fire Arrow]
From the top of his palm, Aiden brought forth a medium-sized arrow that flashed in bright red light and blazing fire.
Two arrows immediately appeared, which Aiden aimed at using the fire magic on his fingertips.
The arrows successfully pierced the cliff, shattered rocks, and killed fish in the river. However, Aiden didn't know if the arrows could be used against stronger monsters.
In less than 5 minutes, Aiden suddenly felt weak and his effect on the flaming arrow faded. His breathing was ragged, his head felt dizzy with his body temperature rising warmly.
'I... can't maintain that magic for more than five minutes,' Aiden said.
He opened the MP potion and downed it. His condition gradually recovered, there were four MP potions left that Aiden could use later.
Aiden looked back and saw Aurora sleeping in the peaceful shade of the trees. Right around her, there were fish caught by Aiden as the dragon's favorite food.
"I haven't tried to perform the two-magic synchronization again with her. Maybe I should start trying," Aiden replied.
The young man jumped off the rock and stepped closer to the ice dragon. Aiden's footsteps on the riverbank rocks were not heard by Aurora, so they did not disturb the sleeping dragon.
Right in front of Aurora, Aiden put down his right hand and let the two-magic synchronization panel appear.
[Two-magic synchronization begins]
[Warning! The process of two magic synchronization can be varied. Differences in the abilities of the Tamer and the Beast are affected]
[Progres Two-Magic Synchronization:]
[0,1%]
'I didn't expect the process of two-magic synchronization to be so labor, time, and mind-consuming.The progress I was able to achieve with it was only 0.1%.'
'Looks like it's true, my magic level is the main bottleneck of the two-magic synchronization process,' Aiden said, annoyed.
After about 10 minutes of Aiden synchronizing with Aurora, the progress shown on the panel indicated an improvement, though not significant due to the difference in level between the two.
[Two-Magic Synchronization Progress:]
[0,1% -> 0,3%]
'Only increased by 0.2% from the initial status? This is too slow, I can't keep spending time with this,' Aiden explained.
'I need to get strong quickly,' Aiden emphasized.
***
One day before the academy entrance exam.
City Library.
A short battle took place in the backyard of the library, between Master Sylas and Aiden. Adel came to judge the fight.
[Magic Element: Fire Arrow]
Aiden immediately brought up two fire arrows above his right hand, Master Sylas smiled with satisfaction to see that his disciple could be skillful in manipulating magic energy.
"Good, your spellcasting rate is fast and your magic manifestation is strong. That's a good sign, Aiden," said Master Sylas.
"I'll accept your praise after I defeat you," Aiden replied.
He moved his finger forward, sending the fire arrow forward to at least injure Master Sylas. The man might be old, but his movements were so agile and fast, it was almost hard for Aiden's eyes to follow.
To overcome the enemy's agile movements, Aiden had to stop him with an Area of Effect type magic spell, Fire Wave.
[Magic Element: Fire Wave]
Aiden conjured up a fire spot on his hand, then pointed his hand forward.
The fire magic energy crashed straight ahead in a huge blaze, burning and blackening the ground in the backyard where they were practicing.
Master Sylas jumped, dodging two attacks at once. However, the situation was complicated. He had not expected Aiden to be able to corner him to this point.
"Well done, Aiden. I'm really impressed!" said Sylas.
The man's two hands stretched to the right and left, creating a shield ball of light that was able to block Aiden's fire arrow and fire wave attacks.
A small explosion occurred that pushed Aiden backwards, throwing him out of focus and making the two magics vanish.
Adel raised her hand, calling for the fight to end. There was no winner in their fight, Aiden was good at offense and Sylas was strong at defense.
"You did great, Aiden. At least, you managed to withstand a few attacks and put Master Sylas on the back foot," Adel replied, coming over to offer him a drink.
"Thank you."
Master Sylas walked over to Aiden, then patted his disciple lightly on the shoulder.
He had three spells of first-level fire magic left to learn, but Aiden's skills were already far better than Sylas had expected.
"Tomorrow is the academy's entrance exam, you'll be up against noble children who have already practiced magic. It won't be easy!" said Sylas.
"But you're clever, able to see the slightest opportunity. Use that to your advantage, most of them are reckless," said Sylas.
"I understand. I will listen to your words, Master."
"Good luck."