Above the mage

Chapter 329 Techniques and Breathing Methods

Tap, tap, tap.

Gao De's steady footsteps echoed within the art gallery, quickly spreading through the quiet space.

The interior of Collingwood Academy is extremely spacious, like an indoor training hall, with a gleaming floor that reflects the dappled light streaming in from the long, narrow windows high above.

In the Vandrone district, where land is incredibly valuable, the fact that the Sea Sentinel has such a large art museum is not only due to the Sea Sentinel's own rich heritage, but also has some historical reasons.

—Before the Vandroren district became the mage district it is today, when land prices were still relatively cheap, the Sea Sentinels had already established the Collingwood Magic Hall here.

Because it was still early, there was no one else in the Collingwood Academy.

Gao De looked around and, confirming that his mentor had not yet arrived, was not in a hurry, since he had arrived ahead of time.

Just wait a moment.

He didn't have to wait long; about five minutes later, footsteps echoed through the art gallery again.

Gao De looked in the direction of the sound and saw an old man wearing a dark black robe, with white hair and beard, and looking somewhat tired.

"You are Gaode?" The old man seemed to be walking at a leisurely pace, but in reality, he moved extremely fast. In the blink of an eye, he arrived in front of Gaode, looked him up and down with sharp eyes, and spoke.

Before Gao De could answer, the old man continued to introduce himself: "None of the three mages you chose wanted to be your mentors, so Captain Merrick assigned me to take on this task. Nash Frank, you can call me Mage Nash or Warrant Officer Nash, either is fine."

Gao De's heart skipped a beat. He was somewhat surprised that all three of his "choices" had been rejected, but he naturally did not show his emotions on the surface. Instead, he bowed slightly to show his respect and said, "Greetings, Master Naxi."

The Naxi mage's expression remained calm and composed as he said, "From today onwards, I will guide you in your battle mage training."

After a slight pause, he continued, "Before I give you my guidance, let me ask you a question: In your opinion, what factors determine the outcome of a battle between mages?"

That's a good question. Gao De thought about it carefully, organized his thoughts, and then answered, "Force, method, technique, specialization, tool?"

"Oh? Tell me more." His answer surprised Naxi Master and successfully piqued his interest.

Gao De was not intimidated and explained according to his own understanding.

"Power" refers to strength, but it doesn't refer to physical strength. Rather, it refers to one's own strength in a broader sense, such as the mage's level.

This is the foundation of everything.

Just like a second-level mage, even if their other stats are terrible, they are unlikely to lose to a first-level mage due to the absolute advantage of their mage level.

Magic refers to magical power, which is a mage's "mana bar". The more magical power a mage has, the more spells they can cast in battle, giving them more options and allowing them to fight their opponents for longer.

Just like a soldier with plenty of ammunition, the higher the chance of winning on the battlefield.

Spells are the magic that mages master. The more spells a mage masters, the more powerful their spells are, and the more adept they are in battle, able to counter any move, gain the upper hand, and change strategies.

Specialization refers to expertise, and the blessing and uniqueness that a master possesses is unmatched by any other aspect.

Cultivation techniques can be the same, spells can be the same, and mage levels can be the same, but specialties cannot be replicated, just like each person's unique genes.

Therefore, when two monks are otherwise identical, their specialization often determines the final outcome.

The term "equipment" refers to all extraordinary equipment, including rune constructs; its importance is self-evident.

After listening to Gao De's explanation, Master Naxi was slightly surprised, and then said, "You have summarized it very well, but it goes beyond that."

"Another very important point is that it can determine the outcome of a battle, and its weight is no less than the five points you mentioned."

He said slowly, "This sixth point, according to your definition, I will call it 'skill'."

"What is skill?" asked the Naxi monk.

Without waiting for Gaode's reply, he continued on his own:

"In a battle between mages, victory is not guaranteed by who has more mana, more spells, or stronger spells. It also depends on the timing and the use of spells during the battle."

"From a practical point of view, spells need to be cast through spell models, but this process is invisible. You can't tell from the surface whether the opponent is manipulating spell models. In addition, the casting of spells is often just a blink of an eye. Therefore, combat is a great test of a mage's experience and judgment."

"If we can accurately determine whether the other party is casting a spell and what kind of spell it is, we can interrupt it in time and predict and dodge it in advance."

"Of course, this is only a small part of 'skill,' which covers a wide range of aspects."

"It also includes how to quickly adjust tactics in complex combat environments, how to deal with various enemies, how to combine your spells, and even how to use the surrounding environment to enhance the effects of spells, etc."

"The purpose of initial training is to improve your 'skills'."

"In this first lesson, I will teach you the most basic and most important point about battle mages."

At this point, the Naxi monk finally stopped, looked at Gao De, and said no more.

Gao De hesitated for a moment before reluctantly saying, "Naxifa."

Before the word "Master" could even be uttered, Naxi Master's right arm instantly rose, his right hand clenched into a fist, and with a muffled "boom," accompanied by a sharp gust of wind, it slammed straight towards Gao De's face.

Caught off guard, Gao De's pupils contracted sharply, he blinked instinctively, and at the same time made a backward dodge motion.

But Naxi's fist stopped abruptly.

Then, he shook his hand and put his palm down.

"When you see a fist coming at you, you instinctively close your eyes. This is a natural human reaction, and it's not surprising," said the Naxi monk in a calm and deep voice.

"This is just a punch, it's nothing, but what if it were a spell? With the power and speed of a spell, it could plunge you into an abyss of no return in the blink of an eye."

"To become a qualified battle mage, the first thing you must do is to be able to face any attack without blinking and to be able to look directly at any spells cast by your opponent."

"Secondly, it means having the courage to face any enemy, regardless of the environment."

"Of course, that's what we say. To actually achieve that level is impossible. We're just trying our best to get closer to it."

"The first lesson in the Battle Mage training course is to train your courage. It's about overcoming your instinctive fears and obstacles, and subduing distracting thoughts. Only then can you unleash your full combat power in battle, or even perform beyond your normal limits."

"Have you mastered the Feather Fall Technique?" Master Naxi suddenly asked, changing the subject.

"Not yet." Gao De was slightly taken aback and answered honestly, not understanding why the other party suddenly asked this question.

"That's good," Naxi Master nodded, then said, "Come with me."

After saying that, he turned around and led Gao De up a narrow set of steps.

The walls on either side of the steps were slightly mottled, and the dim light cast long shadows of them that swayed erratically on the walls.

Walking up the steps to the end, you'll find yourself in a long, dark corridor.

At the end of the path, the Naxi monk pushed open the iron gate. With a creak, sunlight surged in like a tidal wave, dazzling the eyes.

This turned out to be a small rooftop.

The Naxi monk walked to the edge of the rooftop.

For some reason, there are no guardrails here.

"Do as I do," said Naxi Master calmly.

He raised his right leg, adopting a "one-legged stance," his body standing firmly on one leg like a tall pine tree.

Gaode arrived at the edge of the rooftop and looked down. It was about seven stories high, with a bustling street below.

He wasn't afraid of heights; compared to the forty or fifty stories high buildings he used to live in, this height was nothing.

The problem is, this thing doesn't have any safety railings.

However, Gao De gritted his teeth and, following the example of the Naxi monk, began to stand on one leg.

It was a little wobbly at first, but after a few wobbles, it finally found its balance and managed to stand up.

It's just that we don't know how long they can hold on.

"Does it seem easy?" Naxi said in a steady tone after Gaode steadied himself. "Now, close your eyes."

Gao De silently closed his eyes.

The instant he closed his eyes, his body, which had been steady, began to shake violently.

The next moment, Gao De opened his eyes again, put his feet down, and took a deep breath.

"Should we try again?"

Gao De gritted his teeth and nodded slightly.

Then he closed his eyes again, but this time it was even worse than before. Before he could even lift his foot, his body had already begun to sway slightly.

Gao De reluctantly opened his eyes.

"How does it feel?" Naxi asked.

"I'm panicking," Gao De said honestly.

Is it difficult to stand on one leg?

"It's not difficult."

"But why is it that you can't do something so simple in a different environment?" Nasi pointed to his head and explained, "It's because you know you're in an extreme and dangerous environment, and that's the brain's instinctive reaction."

His gaze deepened. "If even something as simple as standing on one leg is so difficult, imagine if you were in a dangerous situation, could you still make the right choices and think things through as usual, and cast spells quickly?"

"I'm afraid it will be difficult." If this were before, Gao De might have thought it was nothing, after all, he had been through battles before.

But now that I think about it carefully, the main reason should be that the battles he had fought before were not really dangerous, and he was confident, so he was able to act in an orderly manner.

Just now, before he mastered the [Feather Fall Technique], if he fell from the rooftop, he had no way to avoid getting hurt. Under such circumstances, he would inevitably start to panic.

"This is instinct. What we need to do is to overcome this instinct through certain training so that no matter how the enemy or the external environment changes, it will not affect our performance."

"Of course, you must understand that what we are pursuing is overcoming instincts, not eradicating them, and there is a big difference between the two."

"Because instinct is very important to us, the benefits of suppressing it are far outweighed by the drawbacks," said the Naxi monk, crossing his arms over his chest.

He looked at the handsome young man in front of him and said slowly, "Today, what you need to do is try to stand on one leg for more than a minute with your eyes closed on the edge of the rooftop."

"Okay." Gao De nodded seriously.

"Let's begin then."

Gao De took a deep breath to calm himself down.

He lifted his foot again, standing on one leg on the edge of the rooftop. Gao De tried to dispel the distracting thoughts and fear in his mind and attempted to close his eyes.

But the feeling of panic lingered, and my body began to sway uncontrollably.

Every second felt incredibly long.

After gritting his teeth and holding on for ten seconds, his body began to sway violently involuntarily. Sensing danger, Gao De subconsciously opened his eyes.

"Again." He gritted his teeth and tried again.

"Thirty-nine, forty-four, fifteen," Gao De counted silently in his mind with his eyes closed.

Suddenly, a gust of wind howled up from below, making his clothes flutter and instantly shattering the composure he had managed to maintain, causing him to open his eyes again.

However, Gao De was in high spirits: "It was so close! If it weren't for this gust of wind, it would have succeeded."

"Alright, that's enough for now. For the training sessions to come, arrive half an hour early every day and start with this. Don't stop until you can walk on it with ease." Instructor Naxi, who had been observing quietly for a long time, slowly spoke up.

"Okay." Gao De breathed a slight sigh of relief and left from the edge of the rooftop.

"This first lesson, besides building your courage, will also teach you a method of harnessing strength."

"The method of transportation?" Gao De was curious when he first heard this term.

"It's normal that you haven't heard of it. This is an advanced technique that is only passed down among battle mages. It is not usually passed on to outsiders. Only a powerful force like the Sea Sentinels would have a systematic method of maneuvering energy to teach."

"The method of energy transfer is its essence, and it is often referred to as the breathing method."

"To cast a spell, you first need to channel the mana here," Naxi pointed to his abdomen, where the mana begins to gather, and then to his head, "to the spell sea, activate the spell model, and then release the spell from the spell sea."

"Throughout this entire process, the magical power follows a predetermined path and undergoes a certain degree of attrition."

"First, you must understand that the predetermined path that magic power takes is actually the main magical energy pathway within your body."

In reality, they are just meridians. However, in this world, they are called magical meridians.

Gao De thought to himself.

"Everyone's main magical energy pathways are different, but what they have in common is that they are all winding and not a straight line. This detour not only prolongs the casting time but also increases the consumption of magical energy."

"But in reality, magical energy channels are everywhere in our bodies, but most of them are too small and fragile to serve as pathways for magical energy to pass through."

"The purpose of breathing techniques is to open up the tiny magical energy channels within your body through the rhythm of your breathing, and then guide magical power to penetrate into them, continuously strengthening them, so that they become new pathways for the flow of your magical power," Master Naxi explained.

This is equivalent to building a shortcut because the original road was too long. Gaode transforms complex concepts into easy-to-understand explanations.

At this moment, the Naxi monk took out a small medicine bottle from his bosom and handed it to Gaode with his monk's hand.

"What's this?" Gao De took the medicine bottle.

The liquid in the medicine bottle was dark green, so green it seemed to glow, and it looked somewhat like some kind of poison.

"Pulse-Opening Tincture"

"Mastering the breathing technique requires the use of the Meridian Opening Tincture. First, use the Meridian Opening Tincture to stimulate your body so that you can feel those tiny, imperceptible magical meridians. Then, use the breathing technique to open them up, and continuously strengthen and expand them, gradually transforming them into new, usable main magical meridians."

"However, Kaimai Ding is very stimulating to the body, and the medicine is potent and has a lot of toxicity, so you can only take a maximum of twenty bottles a month. Any more than that will harm your body."

(End of this chapter)