The Ascension Of The Celestial Priest

It was only a month later that Lukas gained a rudimentary understanding of the profound secret skill. The micro and macro management of his mana, body, mind and psyche continually pushed his limits that with time, he began to enjoy it instead. In fact he was so much absorbed in his own little world of magic and knowledge that he barely formed any connections, all except for his sister who routinely checked up on him once in a while when she was free from her inner sect responsibilities.

At the current stage he was in, it was all about acc.u.mulation and refining of mana. During the Apprentice* Rank, the beginning stage of every mage who embarks on the road of Cultivation, a huge emphasis was placed on fully awakening their elemental gifts while learning how to keep it under control. The next stage, Mortal Rank mainly focused in refining and acc.u.mulating enough mana inside that it transforms into a mana whirlpool which fully marks the transition from the Mortal Stage to being an Earth Ranked Mage.

The transition most times isn't fraught with any kind of danger but it can be held back by many factors, one of them being one's elemental talent. For example a Mage possessing a higher talent can refine and acc.u.mulate mana faster, allowing for much quicker strides when compared to others tested with lower talents. It was the main reason why Finian was confident Lukas will be left behind especially when he was first tested with C+ Rank Elemental Talent as opposed this sister who possessed a higher elemental affinity of A+.**

But he wasn't the Old Lukas anymore and with the presence of the Godly statue in his soul altar together with his Elemental Star he was sure his elemental affinity would jump several levels if he actually bothered to get tested again.

On the other side, there were many available resources from herbs, pills and potions that could visibly speed up the process, but it was known risk that taking such shortcuts can result in inferior foundations that can adversely affect one's future progress on the Path of magic.

Lukas on the other hand was a noble that came from a very troubled and divided family. That meant that he was forced to collect each strand of mana into his body, compress and then refine for his own use. His training regime involved everything he had in his hands so he could maximize it to its full potential. From his mana to his elemental comprehension, from his psyche and mental strength, he pushed himself again and again while still being mindful enough to set aside ample resting time, that would allow him to fully recover before he began his routine again.

And he had to admit, he was addicted to it. The endorphic high he got every time he laid in his quant bed every night was attested to his own efforts and the various muscle pains accompanied by utter exhaustion became a painful but delicious song that further prompted him forward. As much as he loved being reborn in the magical world, and discover corners of the hidden knowledge he never thought existed he first and foremost had to make sure he survives to experience all of it before he somehow finds his way back to his old home. If he ever gets the chance that is…

Sighing to himself, he emptied his mind of such thoughts before he got comfortable in his small bed. On that particular night, a full moon shone through his quant windows and he found himself looking at the stars, forming his own constellations in order to lull himself to sleep. His whole body softly glowed as usual***, which by now it was already a common occurrence. When he finally closed his eyes, he realized that there would always be a lingering connection in his heart that will yearn for his old world and he was quite not ready yet to let go of it, at least not yet.

Next morning in the midst of warming up, he found himself feeling lighter and stronger than ever, with mana reverberating inside of him in silent sloshing sounds. Surprised and confused, he physically tested him together with his spell casting before he confirmed it. Somehow last night he had a silent advanced to become a Late Mortal Ranked Mage at last. He knew that he was nearing a small breakthrough, especially with all the training he was doing; from meditation, learning of new spells and even mastering the secret skill, all of these helped him push nearer and nearer to the boundary before he automatically eclipsed it when his body started absorbing the energy of the stars last night.

Pleasantly surprised and positively radiant, he stood there tasting the new feeling that coursed through his body. The feeling of the breakthrough was like an all time high one can only experience after being intoxicated, an ecstasy that brought joy to his heart and soul, a reverberating climax one feels when they reach the final peak.

Everything flowed smoothly for him. His Radiant Feathersteps got slightly easier to perform with his current new stage as opposed with his previous one. Of course the skill still demanded a lot of his mana and psyche that he could only perform it 3 times before he exhausted his whole resources but to him it proved that the skill was still a viable method of training. After all he was firm believer in the exhaustion training method which meant he forced his body to the utmost limit every time before allowing it to recover, panning the physical and the magical boundaries of his body and psyche with each training session.

His sister Ariandel was genuinely happy for him, noting to herself that ever since that fated accident in the Evergreen forest, his brother has steadily advanced from an early Mortal Mage to a Late Mortal Mage in a matter of months. When she probed him, she found his mana was deep, purely refined and in complete control. His depth of mana was even higher than hers when she was at his current stage and all she felt in her heart was pure bliss; grateful that his brother would no longer feel like a burden to her and that they would finally be together in this magical journey.

As a present she brought him a lot of viable stuffs, and even though she was careful, Lukas ended up with a lot of mid ranked potions of various kinds, from the ones that healed his wounds to the ones meant to stabilize his current cultivation. It didn't take long for Lukas to finally affirm a certain suspicion of his that her sister was probably an alchemist, a Potioneer to be exact. But when asked, his sister was not willing to divulge the exact details. All she could tell him was that the book of sigils in his possession would prove invaluable in future especially when he finally steps into the Inner Sector of the Cathedral of Light.

With that Lukas spent the rest of his time, consolidating his new rank and affirming all that he had grasped within this past month and a few days when an unexpected missive arrived in his doorsteps, marking the 2nd time an official missive came for him ever since he reincarnated.

*for clear ill.u.s.tration, please refer to the page titled "Cultivation Rank for Mages"

** firstly talked about in "Chap 8; The 'Reunion'"

***firstly ill.u.s.trated on "Chap 17; What Entails to be a Priest"