Episode 2 – Growth Chapter 24 – The Flat Knife School

Several days later, the Ernst Academy.

In the morning, after eating breakfast, Linley set off to the back of the mountain to prepare for his training.

Walking on the path within the academy, the little shadow mouse stood on Linley’s shoulder looking around in all directions, there were quite a few people who owned magical beasts amongst the Ernst Academy, so Linley owning a shadow mouse wouldn’t bother anyone else in the slightest, and just at this moment – “That’s Linley, our first year’s true number one magician. ”

A crisp voice came from not far ahead.

Linley couldn’t help but look towards the source of the sound, only to see two cute little girls speaking quietly to each other, still looking towards Linley from time to time, and when Linley looked over, these two little girls even whispered to each other and covered their mouths as they laughed.

“I’ve also become famous.”

Linley smiled to himself in his heart.

Over the past few days, when running into some people one would often hear others talking about themselves. Being able to defeat Rand, who was number one in the grade competition, Linley was already vaguely considered to be the number one expert in the first year nowadays.

“Ah, in front?”

Linley’s gaze suddenly locked onto a thin figure in the distance.

Short blonde hair, a thin figure comparable to Reno’s, the entire person cold, just walking indifferently on top of the roadway.

“Dixie?”

Linley’s pupils couldn’t help but shrink.

Dixie, who was also nine years old now, was even a month younger than Linley if calculated according to months. But it was this one nine year old child who was now a third level magus. Although it was said that the higher up a magician went, the harder it was to cultivate, but to be a third level magician at the age of nine, it was still amazing.

“It’s Dixie’s yea, I heard that yesterday’s end of the year test results, Dixie has already reached a fourth level magician.”

Some seventeen and eighteen year old girls next to them spoke to each other.

Most of the ones in the third year were over sixteen years old, the only one who was a super genius was Dixie.

“Fourth level magician!”

Linley only felt his heart twitch viciously, he was also nine years old, and Dixie was still a month younger than himself, but he was already a fourth level magician, while he was only a second level magician.

That Dixie’s face was ice-cold as he walked past Linley.

The absolute genius ‘Dixie’, there was simply no way to find someone in his age group who could match him.

A stream of light flew out from the Ring of Discordant Dragons, and Derinkelwalt laughed beside Linley, ”Linley, the gap between you guys isn’t that big, when this Dixie enrolled in school, he had 68 times more spiritual energy than his peers. This means that he hasn’t practiced yet, and his mental power stepped into the third level magician level. So his first year at Ernst Academy, he just accumulated enough magical power to reach third level magician. Now that he’s been enrolled for almost two years, it’s only normal for him to reach a rank four magician.”

Linley also understood in his heart.

The other party’s talent was too high, born with such strong mental power, plus his elemental affinity was also superb, and he must have accumulated magical power very quickly as well.

“Right now, he’s cultivating quickly, but from a level four magician to a level five magician, I estimate that he’ll need three or four years, and a level five magician to a level six magician is estimated to take four or five years.”

“You are now a level two magician, and he is a level four magician, but I am confident that I can make you catch up with him within ten years.”

Derinkelwalt said confidently.

Linley, however, didn’t quite believe it.

“Grandpa Delin, the higher the talent, the faster you can cultivate. His talent is much higher than mine, and he’s now two whole levels higher than me, so how could I possibly catch up to him in just ten years?”

Linley wasn’t a fool, his studies at the Ernst Academy had made him understand how difficult it was for a magician to advance one level at a time.

In the past, Derinkelwalt had said that he would allow Linley to reach level six magician within ten years, but at the bottom of Linley’s heart, he was also somewhat skeptical. After all, his own rate of progress was here.

While speaking, Linley had already walked out of the back door of Ernst College and directly entered the back of the mountain. Rapidly scurrying through the mountains and forests, Derinkelwalt suddenly said, “Linley, go to a place that leans against a mountain wall.”

“Against a mountain wall?”

Linley was somewhat puzzled.

“Don’t ask so many questions, I’ll tell you when we get there.”

Delinquent Corvette laughed.

The back of the mountain was mostly covered in vegetation and weeds, with all sorts of sky-high trees growing, but Linley had also found a place attached to Derin Corvette’s request after searching for a while, and there was a protruding hundreds of meters of mountain peak right there, and Linley stood at the foot of this mountain peak.

“Grandpa Delin, what did you ask me to come here for?”

Linley inquired suspiciously.

Derlin Corvette laughed, “Linley, don’t you not believe that I can allow you to catch up to him in just ten years? Haha …… Linley, as a Holy Realm Magus, I, Derinkelwalt, actually have a set of ways to increase my spiritual power.”

“Ways to improve spiritual power? Isn’t meditative exercise possible?”

Linley looked at Derinkelwalt in confusion.

Drinkwater smiled faintly and said, “Linley, I admit that the effect of meditative exercise is very good, but after meditative exercise, the entire person will be extremely tired.”

“Of course it’s exhausting, meditation workouts are about constantly using spiritual energy, consuming it to a bottom line, and then letting it recover on its own, it’s only strange if you’re not exhausted.”

Linley frowned.

Derinkelwalt proudly said, “This method of mine is different, it’s not consuming spiritual energy at all, it’s a recreational activity.”

“Recreational activity?”

Linley was a little confused.

“Yes, this recreational activity, is – carving!”

A hint of pride spread across Derinkelwalt’s face.

“Carving?”

Linley said in surprise, “The kind of stone carvings in the Proulx Guild Hall?”

Derinkelwalt smiled and said, “Yes. Other people’s carvings may require energy and be busy and sweaty, but my method of carving may be tiring at first, but in the middle and late stages, the results are very good.”

“Really?”

Linley was somewhat disbelieving.

Drinkwater glared, “Linley, don’t believe me? To think that I, the Holy Realm Magus of the Puang Empire, had a few stone carvings at the time that many nobles offered millions of gold coins to try and purchase. But how can I give someone else a few pieces that I’m a proud Saint Realm Magus?”

“So powerful, how come I’ve never heard of Grandpa Delin’s name among the carving masters?”

Linley queried.

Derlin Corvette said awkwardly, “This, my works were all hidden by me amongst the underground chambers, no one knows about them, and more than five thousand years have passed, and I don’t know where my original underground chambers are anymore.”

More than five thousand years had passed, the sea had changed, the past imperial capitals of the Pu’ang Empire had all been razed, who knew where his underground secret chamber was?

“Oh, no one knows.”

Linley said with a smirk.

“You don’t believe that?”

Derinkelwalt glared, “Back then, that brat Proulx even ran to me and pleaded with me to let him see my work, and it was only after studying my work that this brat Proulx made a breakthrough and eventually became a generation of masters, speaking of which, he should be considered a disciple of mine.”

Linley froze.

“Proulx?”

Linley was truly stunned.

Throughout history, the number one person in the stone carving world, ‘Proulx’, could even be considered Derinkelwalt’s disciple.

“Of course, if Proulx’s work, is the pursuit of perfection, my work pursues an extreme. My technique of stone carving has been named the ‘Flat Knife’ school by myself. The Flat Knife School, completely different from any other school of stone carving techniques, goes to the other extreme, a method of carving that can be tiring and troublesome at first, but in the later stages, you will taste the true sweetness.”

There was absolute confidence on Derinkelwalt’s face.

Sweeping his gaze towards Linley, Delinquent Corvette revealed a smile, “Of course, there was only me in the Flat Knife School in the past, and from today onwards, there will be another you in the Flat Knife School.”

Linley’s heart was very trusting of Grandpa Delin, and naturally, he decided to learn carving.

What’s more, ……

If it was really possible to be as Derin Corvette had said, not only would his own strength grow rapidly, he could likewise become a master of stone carving, and by relying on stone carving alone, it would be enough to support his own brother’s tuition.

“There are written records that can be verified history is only tens of thousands of years, and in the long years before that, the text has not really formed, but the stone carvings have existed for a long time.”

Derinkelwalt sighed, “Going back hundreds of thousands of years, millions of years, our ancestors would carve out what they saw, what they thought of, and this is the oldest way to pass on civilization.”

Linley nodded as well.

No matter what kind of artwork that was, it couldn’t catch up with the ancientness of stone carvings.

“From ancient times to the present, among the countless forms of art, there is none that can be older than stone carvings, and there is none that can express what people see and hear, and express the joys and sorrows in their hearts better than stone carvings. This has made the art of stone carving thrive for countless years!”

“Stone stone is hard and difficult to carve. And it is even more difficult to form a unique charm. The more difficult it is, the more precious the successful work becomes. ” exclaimed Drinkwater.

Linley agreed in his heart.

For example, in painting, you could easily make a natural stroke, but it would be very difficult for you to carve a very natural stroke. Because the stone was too hard.

“What is contained in the shape, texture, grain, and color of a stone is not only a concrete image, but beauty itself. Using a carving knife to cut away that extra part of the stubborn stone makes the beautiful image in it naturally bare and visible. This is stone carving.”

“The method of carving is, in fact, a method of dealing with image and space. When carving, from the outside to the inside, step by step, subtracting the waste material, step by step, to outline the ‘form’, in the process of subtracting the waste material again and again, the ‘form’ will become clearer and clearer, which will make the creator naturally experience the work of art. This will give the creator a natural sense of the wonderful feeling of the work ‘coming out of its shell’.” ……

Derinkwater couldn’t stop talking about stone sculpture.

But Linley also sensed that Derinkovot held stone carving in high esteem.

“The general method of carving requires many tools, such as: round knives, flat knives, beveled knives, triangular knives, jade bowl knives, axes, saws …… and many other tools. The reason why there are so many tools is also the reason that the stone itself is relatively hard, they would use round knives to align, flat knives to cut, and triangular knives to ……”

Listening to the narrative, Linley also gained an understanding of the general principles of stone carving.

Drinkwater suddenly laughed, “However, my carving method is different from all the others, because, my carving method only uses one tool – a flat knife, so I call myself my carving method ‘Flat Knife Flow’ !”

“How is that possible, how can you carve with a flat blade alone?”

Linley immediately retorted, “What you just said, like the scales of a fish scale, how do you carve it with a flat knife? Is it simply impossible?”

“No, it’s impossible for an onlooker, but we earth system magicians can.”

Drinkwater said confidently, “Earth system magicians, can completely feel the stone itself, and as long as they have enough wrist strength, they can carve with a flat knife alone. Of course this flat knife school, is not so simple, your task today is to go and purchase a sharp enough flat knife, from tomorrow, I will spend three hours a day, to teach you stone carving and sculpting.”