Kingdom’s Bloodline

To Ashida's surprise, Thales raised his right index finger before their class started, signaling to ask questions.

The magician raised his eyebrows slightly and nodded to him.

"Six years ago, I asked you the same question: what is a magician," Thales' throat groaned, carefully observing the expression of the magician, even though he knew that in the conversation, Ashida was rarely moved Shi: "But then you said you couldn't tell me the answer to my question."

Ashida narrowed her eyes: "Continue."

"You also said that you can't tell me what you understand as a magician," Thales said puzzledly, "but now you..."

The prince looked at the magician suspiciously.

Ashida stared at him for a while, and finally nodded when Thales felt his scalp go numb: "I have a good memory."

Thales raised his eyebrows and lowered his head subconsciously.

yes.

Six years ago, on that heart-stirring day, everything is vivid in my mind, and I can't forget it even if I think about it.

But Thales, who held his breath waiting for the answer, received an unexpected answer.

"So," almost in an instant, Ashida crossed her hands, her ten slender fingers overlapped perfectly, her expression was indifferent, her voice was indifferent, as if she had turned back into the rational and ruthless Qi magician : "Today you have to tell me what a magician is."

Taylor's eyes widened slightly, a little surprised: "Me?"

"Yes," Ashida nodded, making people uneasy as always: "This is especially important what do you think a magician is?"

Especially important?

Catching the strangeness in the other party's words, Thales asked subconsciously, "Why is it so important?"

Ashida's eyes moved slightly.

"It's too early to say this now," he glanced at Thales with calm eyes, with a hint of scrutiny and reminder in his eyes: "But I need you to answer my question first."

The prince looked suspiciously at the air magician.

But the other party still stared at him seriously and calmly.

After three seconds,

Thales finally suppressed the doubts in his heart and took a deep breath.

"Well, I've had some thinking and reasoning, and some research." He recalled six years of reading and searching in the library, although there were still many books he hadn't had a chance to really look at.

What is a magician...

"I've only met two magicians," Thales lowered his eyes, stared at the motionless chessboard, organized his words while recalling, and tentatively said: "You and Giza, you can control the air as you like, Giza can even manipulate flesh and even plants unbelievably."

Ashida was noncommittal.

"So, I have a guess. Your so-called threshold name explains the essence of your power, doesn't it?" Thales' expression became more and more serious: "Qi and blood?"

Ashida still didn't respond, but continued to clasp her hands. This reminded the prince of the bald Grand Duke Lecco in Jieshou City. He also liked to put his arms on the table and clasped his hands.

"A magician can fundamentally control things in a certain category, such as qi, blood, etc., as long as it is an objective existence covered in this category," Thales continued his words cautiously: "For example, the blood The magician can control the roots and flesh, maybe because the category of 'blood' includes..."

But Thales' voice gradually became smaller, and at the same time, he was full of doubts. He suddenly remembered the book "The End of War: Heaven and Earth Cracked" that he had read a long time ago in Mindis Hall, and a certain page in it.

[The most famous record... was destroyed overnight after the appearance of the magician of power. 】

But... the magician of power?

Just when he was confused by his own words, Ashida spoke softly.

"The ultimate form of objective existence."

The handsome man in the blue robe said in a gentle and pleasant voice: "A long time ago, when the first batch of magicians were born, many mages thought the same way, the most famous of which was the 'Material School' of the Alchemy Tower. "

Thales frowned slightly: "The first batch of magicians?"

He even forgot to ask what the "Material School" was.

"Yeah, electricity, water, blood, and many other examples. The threshold names of this group of magicians are very convincing." A faint blue light appeared in Ashida's eyes: "Some mages even came to conclusions. : 'Magic energy is what we finally obtain after we see through the objective truth and the laws of all things. It is the highest form of our control over external objects, and the threshold name is the representative of it'."

"We once thought this was the truth about magicians."

Thales nodded and pursed his lips.

But in the next second, the light in Ashida's eyes disappeared.

His voice became cold again:

"Until those two people showed up."

"It broke our initial and shallowest understanding of magicians."

"Two people?" Thales was taken aback: "Who?"

Ashida turned to the street outside the terrace with a serious expression: "Two mage apprentices from the Tower of Ascetics."

"The Tower of Ascetics?"

Thales' heart skipped a beat.

On the way north from Black Sand Territory to Dragon Clouds City, he once heard Ramon introduce it in the camp.

"Um."

"The first of the three towers, the magic tower with the longest history, the most mysterious appearance, and the most detached status." The magician's eyes seemed to drift into the distance again: "It is also called the obelisk."

Thales was about to ask about the Tower of Ascetics, but Ashida seemed to know what he wanted to say: the magician raised a hand, beckoning him to be quiet, and suppressing his curiosity.

"The two mage apprentices are orphans adopted by the Pagoda of Ascetics since they were young. Under the hands of those careless old mages, they don't even have normal names. They only have one letter as a pronoun."

"For example, one of them is code-named 'l'."

"They even laugh at themselves about it: the name is like the truth, no need to repeat it."

Thales frowned heavily.

l.

The magician turned his head slowly, looking directly into Thales' eyes, and his words gradually became dignified: "So, when the two apprentices who have made good friends both find the threshold name and become magicians, my colleagues Just gave them a funny nickname."

"Brother Truth."

Brother Truth?

Thales was puzzled when he heard this: "Why do you say they broke your understanding of magicians?"

"Because of one of the Brothers of Truth." Ashida looked at him quietly and spit out a strange word: "His threshold name is Idea."

"Idea magician, l."

In that second, Thales was stunned.

reason……

In the chess and card room, Wyah behind them complained to Rolf in a low voice, but Thales had no time to pay attention.

"Idea?" He subconsciously repeated the other person's words in a low voice.

It's not an easy-to-understand existence like qi, or a term with profound meaning like blood...

It's... the idea.

What the hell is this?

Thales' eyes widened, and without knowing why, he immediately raised his right index finger, trying to interrupt Ashida.

"It's hard to imagine, isn't it?" Ashida seemed to have expected his reaction, slightly curling the corners of her mouth, indicating that he could ask questions.

"What kind of magician is he... what can he do?" the prince asked eagerly.

"You can freely imagine the appearance and abilities of an idea magician," Ashida shook her head: "But even I, even my colleagues who have seen L himself countless times, can use the most absolute and certain tone Tell you: even if you exhaust your brain power, you can't imagine it."

Ashida said with a little deep meaning: "Because we are not l, and you are not l."

Thales hesitated again.

So that means...they don't know either?

Just listen to the magician of qi say quietly: "If the magician is the ultimate form of some objective existence, then how can the appearance of l and the appearance of the idea magician be explained?"

"Now, try to rethink my question."

"What is a magician?"

Thales let out a breath, and his brain, which had just had some thoughts about the magician, became a mess again.

"If magicians are not limited to objectively existing things..."

"That is, a collection of related concepts?"

The worried Thales frowned: "Existence, qi, blood, can be said to be a concept...but..."

Ashida snorted again.

The prince was interrupted by this soft hum, and he couldn't help raising his head.

"So, what exactly is a magician?" Thales, who didn't want to guess anymore, asked a little eagerly: "Qi and blood, and ideas? This is too far away."

Ashida looked at the prince quietly, and three seconds later, under Thales' gaze, he still spoke.

"The appearance of l shows that our understanding and imagination of magicians is still extremely superficial, and the explanation of the 'Material School' has been severely beaten."

"But he's not the only one."

"It is no exaggeration to say that the appearance of every new magician has more or less advanced our understanding of ourselves." At this moment, Ashida seemed to be a accountant who carefully calculated the numbers, patiently and seriously : "L is not the most amazing magician yet, when you know b, Jilai and Solovsky, and even the Twins of Destiny...you will be even more amazed that the world of magicians is so interesting."

"Every magician is different, and even the world in the eyes of every magician is different." The next moment, Ashida returned to his rational and indifferent expression: "The magician There are very few commonalities among capable teachers."

"It is undoubtedly far from enough to just classify us into the same category of 'people' or 'life' or even 'existence', just to understand us in this category, and to try to sum up what a magician is."

"And the reality has repeatedly overturned the models and theories we have established to explain the magic power and understand the magician." He seemed to be a little emotional: "In history, anyone who thought he had mastered or understood the whole picture of the magician and the magician Anyone who has the truth, who thinks he can explain 'what an enchanter is', both mages and ourselves, has been shown to be childish."

"If you hold the idea of ​​'ask what a magician is', you will be disappointed. This is an example."

The magician looked at Thales again: "Do you understand?"

Looking at the other person's appearance, the prince couldn't help biting his teeth.

The doubts in his heart only grew stronger.

"not understand."

Thales said with deep suspicion. "You didn't answer my question."

Ashida shook her head: "On the contrary, this is what I intend to tell you."

Thales still can only be puzzled.

"First of all, I'm not here to answer questions 'for you', but to 'help you' answer questions."

"Secondly, you still haven't seriously thought about every word I said as I said." Ashida's eyes tilted slightly: "I have shown you what a magician is to the maximum extent."

The prince opened his mouth to speak, but he couldn't get out of his mouth.

Think carefully about his every word?

What's the meaning?

In the end, the prince stared at the other party for a full ten seconds, but gave up the idea of ​​asking for a clear answer.

"Just like six years ago, you just don't plan to tell me what a magician is, do you?" Thales held his forehead weakly, and said a little discouraged: "You want me to express my opinion, I say but you said it was wrong and told me that it wasn't the right answer..."

Thales' words suddenly stopped.

etc.

Think carefully about every word he says...

The prince's pupils began to shrink slightly.

A thought came to his mind.

"I seem to understand a little bit."

"You didn't tell me what a magician is," Thales put down his hand on his forehead, stared blankly at Ashida, and subconsciously said: "But you told me what a magician is not."

The magician of Qi's eyes lit up.

"Your progress is much faster than I thought," Ashida nodded with satisfaction, "Your comprehension is also good."

Thales was encouraged to start thinking again.

"You said, my opinion is very important, and you also said, taking l as an example, every magician is different, and even the world in the eyes of every magician is different..." He muttered Repeating the other party's words in a murmur: "So, Ashida."

"What does the world in your eyes look like?" The prince raised his head and looked at Ashida solemnly: "What is the difference between the world in my eyes?"

At that moment, Ashida raised her eyebrows slightly, as if she couldn't hide her surprise: "Oh, it seems that the progress is a bit too fast."

Thales stared at him eagerly.

At that moment, Thales thought of nothing else, but the last moment when he faced Giza and the blood mage six years ago.

It is his experience of "knocking on the door".

kind of...

That amazing feeling.

That... the feeling that he himself is the whole world.

"I can't tell you," Ashida's tone suddenly became mysterious: "But this time, it's because of the first appointment with the magic power."

At that moment, Thales' originally restless heart seemed to become silent in an instant.

Thales narrowed his eyes, feeling as if he had heard these words somewhere.

etc.

Thales looked at Ashida, who was obviously expressionless but gave a sense of dignity, and began to think back to six years ago.

It was that night, after the thrilling duel in the Palace of Heroes, Ashida paid him a sudden visit.

That night, he also learned for the first time the existence of the Magic Energy First Covenant.

[Magic masters have three rules that must be followed, known as the three major covenants...the first, the first contract of magic power...]

[Never, never, never ask another magician for his understanding of magic power...]

[This is 'not to get to the bottom of each other'...]

So, Ashida can't tell me what the world looks like in his eyes...

It is because of the prohibition of the first covenant of mana, because of...

Because of……

"Ashida, you are the magician of Qi," Thales looked at each other solemnly like a drowning man grasping at straws: "I remember, six years ago, we were at the first place on Red Square Street. When we met for the first time, you said that you could feel all the air in the whole block, such as everyone's breath."

"In Dragon Clouds City six years ago, you could even track our breathing across an entire city..."

Ashida narrowed her eyes slightly.

"Those people...their breathing, those airflows, if you can clearly perceive them all accurately," Thales said incoherently at that moment, "Is that the world in your eyes?"

He searched eagerly for words, "Like, like everybody's... breathing air inside you?"

Ashida's expression changed.

"As I said, metaphors and analogies are not welcome." The magician of qi said coldly.

ah.

this child.

It exceeded some expectations.

Thales stared blankly at Ashida, and the other party's reaction had already given him some inspiration.

That is to say...

Those who breathe... those who...

"Gisa Trilman, the blood magician," Thales continued in a daze, "What does the world in her eyes look like?"

Ashida frowned, which was a great move to him.

And during the time of knocking on the door... the world in his own eyes...

"Also," at that second, Thales suddenly remembered Giza's words before she was sealed, and asked softly, "She told me that becoming a magician is not a blessing, but a curse. Why?"

This time, the magician was silent for a long time.

"Ahilda?" The prince raised his head and looked at Ahilda who had a different expression in doubt.

"Power always has a corresponding price, the question is how do you view this price." The man in the blue robe said silently.

"A person holding a long sword, a person wielding a spear, and a person swinging a chain hammer all bear different weights. The range that the long sword, spear, and chain hammer can touch, and the people they face The enemy is also different, and the people who wear the crown and hold the scepter, what they have to bear is another kind of weight, and they are in another environment..."

Ashida's eyes were a little dim, and the blue light in the depths of her eyes surged slightly:

"As for the weight the magician has to bear, you can imagine for yourself."

What a magician has to bear...

The prince was stunned.

Thales took a deep breath: "You just said that using metaphors and analogies to explain issues is not welcome."

"Oh, that rule," Ashida raised her eyebrows lightly, and snorted coldly without the slightest bit of embarrassment: "It only applies to you."

Thales was taken aback.

"Now, you should have some ideas, Thales," Ashida's eyes began to become oppressive: "Magician, this is not something you can refer to precedents, just ask clearly 'what is a magician', You can 'learn' or 'teach' the knowledge and power."

"What is a magician?" His tone was very light, but there was an inexplicable heaviness in what he said: "This question can only be found by each magician, answered by himself, and finally confirmed by himself. What is your threshold name?"

"I can only guide you carefully from the side."

"Because, when you really understand what a magician is," Ashida paused for a long time, and finally said: "You are already a magician."

Or almost a magician.

The magician looked at the young man in front of him and said silently in his heart.

Both ends of the chessboard fell silent again.

Thales lowered his head and began to think about this sentence.

"During this process, don't let what you've seen and heard, such as me and Giza, or even l's example, constrain your thinking, Thales," Ashida said lightly: "Be more humble, don't be like Like the mages of the School of Materialism, let arrogance and self-righteousness weigh you down."

at this moment.

"Ashida," Thales took a light breath, and said in a puzzled and serious manner, "How did you become a magician? How did you find the threshold name? Have you ever 'lost control'?"

The air seemed to freeze in an instant.

"This issue has exceeded the scope of our discussion today." The magician of Qi said with a blank expression, "It's time to change the topic."

"The position and position of the magician."

Thales looked up in astonishment, and spread his hands to express his confusion:

"But this topic is not over yet?"

"Even without knowing what we are, we are about to start looking for positions and positions?"

Ashida snorted coldly.

"That's how this world is, isn't it?" The magician said coldly, "People often start to act self-righteously before they recognize their own position."

"Regardless of humans or other races, it is obvious that we cannot even know ourselves very well, but we can distinguish between enemy and friend without hesitation, and start confrontation and killing."

"It's sarcastic and funny."

Thales frowned: "What you say is always so boring."

Ashida ignored his words.

"Why do you think we are called a disaster?" The man in the blue robe put down his crossed hands and leaned back on the seat: "Why are we hated by the whole world?"

Looking at Ashida's appearance, Thales couldn't help but think of the first time he saw him.

"Because you almost destroyed the world six or seven hundred years ago?" The prince recalled what Gilbert had told him, and said softly, "Sound the death knell for the final empire?"

Ashida was silent for a while.

"Ah, the battle of the end, an unavoidable topic," he said silently, "Speaking of which, I have to mention another person among the brothers of truth."

"Brother Truth again?" Thales asked strangely, "Another person besides l?"

"If it is said that l has broken our understanding of magicians," Ashida nodded, and began to speak slowly, "then his brother has completely changed the status of magicians."

"Nearly seven hundred years ago, he was the one who led the other five magicians to set off the final battle."

At that moment, Thales took a tight breath.

This was the first time he heard news of the End War from a place other than books and legends.

and……

"Which side in the final battle has only six magicians?"

"Who is it?" Seeing Ashida nodded slowly, Thales said in shock: "L's brother, who is it?"

Ashida's usually indifferent face became serious for the third time today. His back left the seat, his hands were closed again, his chin was slightly closed, and his eyes were sharp as if he was facing the most terrifying enemy.

"He is the most powerful magician in history after Thoros."

"It's also the first magician to be dubbed a 'disaster'."

"The destroyer of the three magic towers."

"The Undertaker of the Last Empire."

"The culprit of the 'Great Crack'."

"The enemy of the holy day, the nemesis of the gods."

Hearing the above titles, Thales involuntarily widened his eyes and opened his mouth.

Just listen to Ashida's incomparably dignified and authentic:

"There are magicians, b."