Sunders gave Angor a neutral nod. Angor knew that the teacher did not really care about manners. Flora was always making mischief in front of him, and Sunders never minded it. Still, Angor’s past education told him not to go beyond his border. At the very least, not before he got to know Sunders better.
“Do you have any new ideas after reading all these books?” asked Sunders even though he did not ask what exactly Angor had read.
Angor tilted his head and gave it some time before he expressed an answer, “Not any new ideas, but I do have some thoughts.”
“Such as?”
“The only truth I’ve learned from these books is that it’s really difficult to become a wizard.”
Sunders did not comment on that answer. “Do you know what is a wizard now?”
Angor shook his head without a second thought. “No, I don’t.”
Sunders smiled. “Keep looking then until you find an answer.”
…
Another week passed. The cloud whale was still gliding on the sea.
Naturally, flying was a lot faster than sailing. However, it had been two weeks now, and they still had not reached the Fey Continent. Angor felt both surprised and glad about it.
He was surprised at the size of the sea. It was probably bigger than the five oceans from Earth combined, and he had only seen a portion of it. He could not imagine how big this world was.
He was glad that he did not stay on The Redbud or it would probably take a year or longer to reach Fey Continent, in which case, the five-year plan he had for saving Jon would be impossible.
Sunders did not disappear this week. Each time Angor finished his reading, Sunders would ask him the same question: Any new ideas? What is a wizard?
And Angor always gave him the same answer.
One day, when Angor told Sunders “I don’t know” again, Sunders did not tell him to “keep looking until finding an answer”. Instead, he smiled at Angor in satisfaction.
“To not know is the best answer. I hope you’ll find your own path towards wizardry soon.”
Angor was shocked.
Sunders continued, “I checked the books you were reading. Good choices. To start from the very basic, instead of aiming high from the beginning, was a wise decision.”
Sunders complimented, “Do you have anything to go by, about how to become an apprentice wizard?”
Angor considered for a while. “Building a model out of spiritual power and use that to stabilize mana flow determines that one has become an apprentice.”
“Correct. Do you know how to build a spirit model?”
Angor answered, “The channeling method helps one construct a stable spirit model in his or her mind. Models built by different methods have varied stabilizing effects, and thus, different mana flow speeds.”