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"What brings you here today, old friend?" A heavy-set man with well-defined musculature approached Al while spreading his arms out for a friendly hug. He had a rugged face with a squared jaw and an aggressive gaze that could cause a child hiding behind a metre-thick wall to burst into tears, metaphorically.

Al reciprocated with a smile, while once again contemplating how such a brutish looking fellow could find employment as a healer. Funnily, Al fit snugly within the man's massive embrace. He didn't mind one bit how the man's undulating biceps, exposed to the environments through a coat truncated at the shoulders, crushed him at his upper back. Because Al knew that underneath the scary exterior lay a gentleness unlike any other.

"Do I need an excuse to meet a friend?" Al joked.

"Of course YOU do. There has to be a particular reason for your decision to venture out of your little hiding hole in the library, apart from your many 'cultivation walkabouts'," Goran chided jokingly.

Immediately after, though, Goran's smile faded and he added with a more morose tone, "If it's about that thing, then I'll have to disappoint you again friend. Even the most recent tests with the updated cure failed to persist past the ten-year mark."

Al nodded with a disappointed expression, and added, "I didn't have high hopes for the new formula. How could only changing the catalyst improve the efficacy of a potion? If that was the case, I would have developed a cure many years ago!"

"It didn't hurt to try. Besides, we managed to glean substantial data from this most recent trial. You wouldn't believe it, but it was my little girl who found out that we were actually pursuing a completely false lead! The drought wasn't caused purely by magic. Sure, it played a role, but the true culprits were apparently an almost imperceptible, non-sentient, primal organism."

"No way! If it were as you stated, then Formula number 103 should have completely wiped it out as it implements a targetted decay tactic. No living organism should have survived through that!"

"That's the thing! This organism is neither living nor dead. It doesn't make sense, but you need to hear how Jean described it. She said that it was similar to how the common cold affects mortals. Genius, right? Who would have thought to look there?"

"Living, yet non-living..." Al muttered in recognition. His mind started to operate at Mach speed, going through different theories and the possible implications of this new discovery. But before he could descend down that rabbit hole, he caught himself.

"Right! Before that, I wanted to ask. What was Teacher Jo Way doing here?" Al inquired.

In response, Goran sneered in derision and retorted, "I called him here because I wanted to see if he could be my girl's teacher. I heard a lot of good things about him, figured he might hold the answer to Jean's problem."

"And?"

"Hmph! He said that she didn't have any aptitude for cultivation. He said that because of the treatment from Mage Baruchel, her mind was too fractured to be able to assimilate insights. How would he know that it was because of Mage Baruchel's treatment that she is so stable now? She..." Goran's voice quivered and he started to get choked up as he progressed.

"She even tried to kill herself before, you know? Thank heavens that Josie was there, otherwise, I would have lost my little girl... Just like Nyla..."

"There is some truth to Jo Way's statement, Goran. After the treatment, she's become very... closed off."

"I know! But you were there before. You saw how she used to be. Fine one minute, destructive the next. Happy one second, completely distraught the next. She even started hurting herself, saying that she killed Nyla and she deserved to die. And Mage Baruchel was the only one who provided a viable solution. There was no other option!" Goran explained.

"At least now... she... She's fine... right?" Goran muttered as he tried to reason with himself.

"I'm sorry, Goran. I shouldn't have drawn you and Nyla into my problems," Al offered dejectedly.

Goran shook his head. "It wasn't your fault, Al. It wasn't anybody's fault. Nyla was the one that wanted to get involved. You know how she was? A true healer! When she saw just how much devastation that abomination unleashed by Ziva had caused, she couldn't stop herself. Even I couldn't have stopped her."

"But I MADE Ziva-"

"No. He made himself. I know the kind of person you are. You wouldn't have actively driven that kid to become such a... monster!"

"But I didn't stop him when I had the chance. I encouraged his behaviour. Praising him for his genius..."

As he grovelled, Al realise that he had strayed from his initial intention. And so he quickly inquired, "By the way, why are you so fervent about getting her to start cultivating?"

"The clan elders believe that she isn't capable of leading the clan. Stating that since she is a girl, she doesn't have the proper bearing of a clan leader. Instead, they want those two turds of my nephews to lead the next generation," Goran sneered.

"I tried explaining to them about her situation, but do you know what they told me in response? To get remarried and birth a boy! Ha! The only way to assure that my little girl will succeed me is if she displays her strength as a mage. And that's why I've been searching for a good teacher. Can you please reconsider your oath?" Goran pleaded.

Al shook his head firmly, but then he smiled. "To tell you the truth, I've reneged on my oath already. But I'm afraid that even I might not be able to teach your daughter."

Goran furrowed his brows and retorted, "Stop joking with me, Al. Just tell it to me straight if you don't want to teach her."

Al waved his hand and continued, "Let me finish! As I was saying, I may not be able to teach her, but I've found someone who just might!"

Before Goran could respond, Al produced the recording artefact and handed it to him. "Watch this!"

Goran took the artefact with scepticism and activated it with his mana. Immediately, a projection materialised before him, displaying a scene of two kids trading pointers.

"Isn't that Gaige Bori? He's Teacher Jo Way's student-"

"Not him! Keep an eye on his opponent," Al interjected.

Initially, Goran observed the fight without much interest. He had lived for a long time, and had witnessed and been part of grander confrontations in his lifetime. What meaning did a measly fight between two mortals, barely able to wield basic magic, hold to him?

Yet his comments were caught in his throat the moment he saw the kid cast a spell completely foreign to him.

"What was that spell?"

"Wait is that a |Fireball|? ... That's an |Earth Spike|! ... |Water Jet|! Al these spells don't look anything like what they're supposed to be, yet they seem to produce the intended results!"

Al smiled and responded, "Keep watching."

"Tsk, the kid has technique, but he's overusing his mana. He'll exhaust himself, I'm afraid."

But Goran's prediction fell flat on its stomach after the confrontation continued without any sign of fatigue.

"How is he able to sustain himself for so long? Does he have some sort of a special physique or bloodline? Or is it an artefact?"

Al denied immediately. "He's a regular, average, boy from a rural village."

"Impressive! Some of these spells are extremely potent. Especially that modified |Acid Mist| spell, and that mini-|Explosion| spell. Gaige is tiring out, I'm sure the boy will win."

Once again, Goran's prediction was proven false as Gaige unleashed a wave of darkness centred on him.

"Damn! Abyssal Wyrm Bloodline! No wonder Jo Way advanced to a teacher so quickly. He found himself a gem!"

The recording neared completion immediately after, ending with the boy's loss. Right before it ended, Goran observed the recording waver frantically, as though the person using it was rushing in distress.

"It was an impressive display, I'll admit. That boy sure used a lot of novel spells. He's definitely a good seed. Maybe with some decent backing, he'll soar! Too bad he was pitted against someone with such an overpowering bloodline. But what's your intention, Al?"

Al smiled mysteriously. "That boy's name is Markus Reva. He came from a rural village a few days away from this city. A year ago, he was stuck in the Early stage of Mana Condensation realm, unable to find a suitable cultivation method. He was the kind of student every teacher in the world would look over, saying that he had no aptitude for cultivation."

"But what if I told you that he managed to reach the Late stage of Mana Condensation realm within a year, without any boosting potions, or artificial aids of any sorts."

Goran raised his eyebrows in disbelief, "But how? I thought you said that he didn't have a suitable cultivation method. Did he find one through some form of a chance encounter?"

"It was a chance encounter alright, but not one that gifted him with a cultivation method. No, to date he remains without a cultivation method. What he found was even better: a gifted teacher!"

"Wait a minute. Did he push himself to the Late stage through brute force? Don't tell me! It was those spells wasn't it?"

Al nodded aggressively and handed Goran a folded parchment as well as a piece of coal. Upon opening it, Goran was met with an intricate design that reminded him of one he saw in the duel.

"It's almost the same as what that kid cast, but not quite... What's this coal for?"

Al instructed Goran on how to cast the spell, to which Goran complied.

After he materialised the spell circle, Goran activated it without difficulty, resulting in a small mote of fire forming in his palms.

"I don't believe it! It barely used any mana! Now I get it. If he cast this spell a few thousand times, his mana channels would widen without a doubt! Are you saying that this was achieved because of a teacher? Who is this man?"

Al chuckled mirthfully, and answered proudly, "Guy Larks!"