The Unserious Mage

Young Ashura had a secret in his heart that he had never told anyone.

That secret was this—

At the age of ten, he had already awakened his magical talent.

And not just any magical talent.

It was a rare elemental affinity—

Lightning Magic!

After awakening his talent, Ashura could clearly sense the silvery magical elements floating in the air around him.

He vividly remembered the stories his mother, Qin Lan, had told him when he was little about the day she had awakened her own magical talent.

He knew that he might actually have what it took to become a mage.

But why had he never told anyone about it?

Because he was afraid that once his family discovered that he possessed magical talent, they would demand even more from him.

They would force him to work harder.

They would make him study magic every single day.

And if that happened—

How was he supposed to enjoy himself?

So Ashura had never mentioned his lightning affinity to anyone.

He had never learned a single magic spell, either.

It was not until his little sister, Ayaya, awakened her wood-element magical talent that he secretly learned how to meditate and cultivate magic while standing nearby during his mother’s lessons with her.

The first time Ashura tried magical meditation, he hid under his blanket.

As soon as he entered a meditative state, he felt the silvery lightning elements in the air happily flowing into his body.

He could clearly sense that his affinity with lightning-element magic was extraordinarily high.

What he did not know, however, was that along with the silvery lightning elements, some gray magical energy was also entering his body through meditation.

The moment the gray energy entered him, it disappeared without a trace.

As a complete novice when it came to magic, Ashura naturally failed to notice anything unusual.

And so, the boy had kept his magical awakening a secret from his family all the way until today.

It was not surprising that his family had never noticed.

On the Continent of Kings, people who possessed martial talent and could break through the Martial Novice realm to become Martial Warriors were exceedingly rare.

There were two main reasons.

First, martial cultivation required talent, as well as guidance from someone knowledgeable—often a family inheritance.

Second, cultivating martial arts consumed enormous amounts of resources.

Most poor families simply could not afford it.

The martial path was divided into nine major realms:

Martial Novice, Martial Warrior, Martial Master, Grand Martial Master, Martial Mage, Martial Grand Mage, Great Martial Grand Mage, Martial Saint, and Martial God.

Each major realm was further divided into three stages: First, Second, and Third.

The higher one climbed, the harder each breakthrough became.

Once a martial cultivator reached the Martial Mage realm, the power of their blood and qi would gain an elemental attribute.

Although this elemental enhancement was nowhere near as powerful as an actual magic spell, it could still significantly increase their offensive power.

The ratio of martial cultivators to mages was roughly twenty to one.

Mages were therefore even rarer and more valuable.

The most common magical affinities were Earth, Water, Wood, Fire, and Wind.

Other elements, such as Ice, Lightning, Light, Darkness, and Space, were considered rare magical attributes.

Mages were also divided into nine major realms:

Magic Apprentice, Magic Adept, Mage, Grand Mage, Magister, Archmage, Great Archmage, Magic Saint, and Magic God.

Each major realm was likewise divided into three stages.

Compared with martial cultivation, advancing through the magical realms was even more difficult.

The resources required were also astronomically expensive.

And the reason Ashura had received today’s beating could ultimately be traced back to something he had read in one of his grandfather’s medical books the previous day.

The book mentioned that when a mage refined an alchemical pill, they could infuse their own magical elements into the pill, thereby increasing its quality.

Ashura’s curiosity immediately got the better of him.

So today, he secretly sneaked into his grandfather’s alchemy room.

There was no one inside at the time.

Qin Zongren’s alchemy furnace was already refining a batch of calming pills designed to soothe his troubled mind after his grandson had nearly driven him mad.

But Ashura had never learned how to use magic.

He had no idea how to release the lightning elemental energy inside his body.

Just when he was completely at a loss, his brilliant mind quickly came up with an idea.

Although he did not know how to control magical elements properly, he did understand the human meridian system.

So he silently sensed the lightning elemental energy within his consciousness and began guiding it through the various meridians in his body.

At first, the lightning elemental energy obediently traveled through his meridians, exploring them one by one.

But before long—

The lightning energy began to grow larger and larger, like a snowball rolling downhill.

And more importantly—

It was becoming increasingly difficult to control.

Ashura immediately realized that he had gone too far.

Cold sweat began to trickle down his forehead.

The lightning energy was racing through his meridians faster and faster, becoming increasingly violent and unstable.

Ashura knew he could not let things continue.

He gritted his teeth, gathered all his concentration, raised his hand, and forcefully pushed the lightning energy out through the Laogong acupoint in the center of his palm.

A silver ball of light, roughly the size of a grape, slowly floated toward his grandfather’s alchemy furnace.

It alternated between growing larger and smaller.

Its light flickered in and out.

Ashura stared at the magical orb he had created, his face filled with confusion.

But at the same time, he vaguely sensed something.

Danger.

A kind of danger he could not control.

He quickly moved to the doorway of the alchemy roo