"Aaagh! It hurts!" Caelen was still in pain. The pain in his right hand was unbearable. It felt like it was about to explode.
He tried to lift his left hand, but he couldn't. It was as if the crystal fragment was sucking his hand in.
"Listen to me," Idel said. But Caelen was too much in pain to understand anything.
The Crest of Knowledge on Idel's right hand shone, and another pulse passed through the house and created a silencing field.
If anyone outside heard Caelen's shouts, it could be dangerous.
"Hey, listen to me!" he shouted this time. His injuries burned a bit when he did. "If you want to get rid of the pain, you'd better listen to me."
Caelen looked at Idel with pain in his eyes. But it was his best bet now.
"Have you ever focused on something too much and it felt like your mind worked faster?"
"What are you talking about, old man! I am in pain!" Caelen answered.
"Just answer me!"
"I-I don't remember."
"You need to remember."
Caelen thought. It was really hard to think with this much pain. But he tried his best.
"Ughh." The more he thought, the more his hand hurt. But he continued thinking.
The only thing he remembered was when he was fighting Illgorn and his arm was injured.
"Once. When I was injured, my heart pulped fast, and it felt like time was slowed down."
Yes! Idel celebrated inside.
"Try it!" he asked Caelen.
"Try what?"
"Try to recreate the moment! Don't worry about your heart pumping or the injury. They are different things.
Just focus on thinking back to the moment your mind worked faster. Try it and you will be able to make time slow down again!"
Caelen did as he was told, but nothing happened.
"Try harder! You can do it. Only focus on one thing. Your focus shouldn't be hindered by anything else!"
When Caelen tried again, the pain surged, but it felt different now. It was sharper.
Like time was dragging.
No, not dragging. Slowing.
The pain hurt more because time was slowing down.
It kept building, stronger and stronger, until...
Fwushh.
Like a dam breaking, the energy surged into his right hand.
A glowing mark of a rolled up parchment and a quill flared to life, shining blue.
"Haa... huu..." Caelen was gasping now. He was barely able to breathe. But the worst of the pain had passed.
"Congratulations," Idel said with a proud smile. "You're a magus now."
And Caelen collapsed to the ground.
---
A long and bulky man was looking at Caelen's house.
Shit, why do I have to be the one watching this dipshit.
After some careful consideration—meaning a quick game of drawing straws—he'd been the unlucky one. Out of the six barbarian warriors, he pulled the shortest straw.
The chief had ordered someone to keep an eye on the boy, just in case.
His reasoning?
No regular villager should be on good terms with the legendary Chief Illgorn.
But the warrior wasn't convinced. Caelen couldn't even activate his crest. What threat could he possibly pose?
He doesn't even train, the man thought while he watched the lights in the house go out not long after Caelen went in.
How could he know that a magus had created a concealment field?
So, after a while, he ignored the chief's orders and went to sleep. He was confident the kid wasn't worth the trouble.
---
When he woke up, Caelen was in the chair, sitting in front of the still awake Idel.
"How?" he started, since he remembered collapsing to the ground. But now, he was sitting.
"Hehe, I am not dead yet," Idel said, waving his right hand.
"What happened to me? Why did my hand hurt?" Caelen asked and lifted both his hands.
His left hand was free from the crystal fragment, and his right from the pain.
But after what he saw, his eyes opened wide.
From his left hand, three beams were coming, and from his right, one blue beam.
"What the hell!"
"Don't worry, I will explain everything. You are a lucky one, Caelen."
Caelen frowned. Saying he was "lucky" felt like an insult. But this was the first time the old man had used his name.
He didn't know why, but Idel hadn't called him Caelen before. So, he looked at Idel, waiting for the explanation.
"In short, you have a dual crest."
"What? Is it even possible?"
"Of course, it is. Our records show this happened before. And they were all strong. But... they were usually killed at birth."
"What is lucky about that?" Caelen asked angrily.
"Well, you are not dead, are you? Also, your Crest of Knowledge had been sealed. So, you were probably born in Elarith.
I am assuming someone strong sealed your Crest of Knowledge and gave you to the barbarians. Otherwise, you would be killed."
"How do you know that? What if it is the barbarians who sealed my crest?"
"Hahaha! You are funny. There is no way for a barbarian to seal it. They can't use magic anyway.
Magic belongs to the Crest of Knowledge owners. And you have the strongest two crests."
"How?" It was a scary revelation. What did all these mean? Was this the reason he had to spend the last three years of his life in this village?
"Sigh... I understand it is hard to believe. Let me guess, you are probably inferior to the other barbarians.
You are shorter than other barbarians at your age, and you probably feel behind them in many fields. That is because your body is only half barbarian. Even your level now..."
"What is wrong with my level?" Caelen asked.
"Well, your Crest of War is only at the third stage. But you must have worked much more than everyone else."
"And? What does that have anything to do with me being a dual crest owner?"
"Hmm... Let me explain this way. Your crest develops when you train and learn more. But for you, all your training was divided into two.
That is why your Crest of War is at the third stage. It could easily be fourth, or maybe even fifth. Of course, that is now. It would probably be the fourth stage when you were fifteen."
"But, my Crest of Knowledge is at the first stage..."
"Sigh... That is because it was sealed, and you didn't train specifically for the Crest of Knowledge.
Do you think moving your body will train your brain forever? Still, if it wasn't sealed, it would be at the second stage.
War strategies count, you must have been fighting in a way barbarians didn't."
Caelen remembered all the times he had been reprimanded for using a shield, running from an attack, or even using a one-handed sword.
"That is your instinct. We don't know yet, but just like you get benefits from both sides, you must also be getting the negative effects.
So, if you get injured seriously like me, if you lose a limb, your power will be weakened."
Another scary revelation had found Caelan.
"Caelen, listen to me," Idel said, getting serious. "I was sceptical before, but now that I know you are one of us, even as half, I can trust you with my research."
"Wait, wait! I don't even know what to do. The crest just showed up. What if there is a mistake? Maybe it will go back."
"Don't worry, it is real. I also would love to give you time, but we don't have it. By this morning, I will be dead.
So, until then, I want to give you as much as I can. I can't train you, unfortunately. But I can give you a path."
Caelen froze. Everything was happening too fast.
Just a few days ago, he was thinking of leaving everything, including being a barbarian, behind.
Now, he was being told he had a dual crest. That it was rare, powerful, and dangerous.
It was hard to grasp. He barely understood barbarian abilities, let alone the Crest of Knowledge.
A barbarian learned abilities after their Crest of War was activated.
If he went back to his family, maybe he could still learn to be a warrior. But now... he had no idea what kind of future waited for him.