Chapter 85 - Closer Inspection

"I've called Markus over, he should be here soon. The fact that he was able to achieve perfected resonance without having a cultivation method is unheard of in the mage community," Al explained.

"I mean, it's a fact that most mages are aware of, but there is actually a reason behind it as well. How is it that mages are able to manifest such extraordinary powers? How are they able to bend, what you call, the truth of this world in such unbelievable ways?" Al paused for dramatic effect.

Al pointed towards the side of his head, and explained, "It is the mind! That is the key that allows mages to play with reality according to their whims. The first step, of course, is for them to comprehend their reality because to modify something without breaking it, one needs to first have an in-depth understanding of it. A thorough cultivation method offers the mage certain insights into their reality that ultimately helps the mage achieve this goal. As the mage gains more and more insight into what they consider their reality, the stronger they get!"

Guy nodded before asking, "Then what about cultivators specialising in physical arts?"

"The reality to those cultivators is different. For a body cultivator, their reality is confined to what exists on and within their bodies. To a large extent, their environment matters not! As they gain more insight into the way their bodies work, the more their world expands and the stronger they get," Al explained.

"Isn't there only so much you can know about a confined topic such as that?" Guy retorted.

"Yet body cultivators do not limit themself as such. Somebody cultivators practice bestial assimilation, in which they modify their bodies by ingesting magical beast blood or parts and integrating their properties into their own bodies. Some sword cultivators train in armoured combat in such a way that their armour becomes a part of their bodies. There are no limits to what mages can do, and how they cultivate. But this does not mean that just about anyone can come up with a new cultivation method. It is always possible to trace back a new cultivation method to one that already exists because most novel cultivation methods are derivations or improvements."

Right as Al finished his explanation, Markus knocked and entered the room.

"Markus!" Al exclaimed with a smile.

"Teacher Larks," Markus greeted in return, following it with a deep bow.

Al gestured towards Goran and Jean, and introduced them, "I want you to meet my close friend Goran Rasmus, and his daughter Jean Rasmus."

Markus greeted the other guests with equal reverence. After that, he looked towards the only other person in the room, who was unintroduced, "Ma'am?"

Josie looked around curiously, and realised that Markus was talking to her, "Me?"

Markus nodded and then waited for her to respond.

"Oh! Uhm... I am Josie. I am Young miss' attendant," Josie offered.

Markus bowed and reciprocated, "Pleased to make your acquaintance, Miss Josie."

"Just Josie is fine..." Josie retorted with a wry smile.

"I cannot do that, Miss Josie," Markus denied immediately.

Before Josie could say anything further, Al interrupted the back-and-forth with an irritated growl, "Enough of this! Markus, I called you in so hastily with a very important purpose. Quickly now, remove your shirt!"

Markus' eyes widened in surprise. His head swivelled around in embarrassment as he observed the expression of everyone else in the room. His eyes immediately landed on the two female guests in the room, and he muttered with uncertainty, "Now? In front of everyone?"

Jean noticed his pointed gaze and her cheeks started to redden spontaneously.

The question pulled Al from his stupor. He looked around and took note of everyone's awkward expressions. Al wasn't specifically a prideful person, but he knew that his place in Jean and Markus' hearts wasn't trivial. Correcting himself after committing so fervently would simply lose him too much face!

"*cough* Of course! Don't worry about Jean, she's training to be a healer so she needs to get used to seeing things like these! Right, Jean?" Al expertly redirected the conversation to the heavily flushed girl.

"Huh? S-Sure..." Jean answered with a low voice.

Markus cautiously acquiesced and proceeded to remove his shirt. As he did so, he unleashed a sight that would cause many young women to swoon from overstimulation. His chest had expanded markedly and looked more whole, as opposed to before where they had an emaciated look. His lower torso had tightened slightly, highlighting six distinct bulges, perfectly ordered in a three-by-two grid. Due to his young age, these imposing features had an air of immaturity to them that indicated room for growth. From the side of his hips, two large grooves snaked down, straddling his abdominals, towards his...

Jean quickly averted her gaze and looked down, attempting to catch her rapid breaths.

"Goodness! What happened to you? You look so thin! Has Guy been starving you?" Al asked while throwing an accusatory gaze towards Guy.

Markus chuckled, while casually responding, "Much worse, Teacher Jeeves! Master has me fetching multiple pots worth of clay from the nearby spring every day..."

Guy looked towards Markus with a feigned betrayed gaze and laughed amusedly.

"The boy's development has tinges of mana ingrained into it," Goran commented with a light hum.

Al followed Goran's observation and inspected Markus' physical body with his mana sense.

"It appears to be the case... This isn't unlike the results obtained through regular cultivation if I'm not wrong," Al commented.

"What does that mean?" Guy asked.

"Well. There aren't really many cases documenting the advancements of mages purely through brute force. After all, cultivation is many times more efficient and effective. BUT, there do exist some reports on this matter through rogue mage experimentations. I came across these notes very recently while I was searching for possible solutions to Markus' predicament. In it, it stated that when a mage advanced through brute force, that is by spellcasting, the development of the physical body often gets stunted. The best way to explain it is by considering a house."

Al traced certain sections of Markus' body with an extended finger as he continued, "Advancing through brute force is akin to changing the foundation of the house and reinforcing it with stronger materials. However, if the externals remain the same, it will succumb just as easily to the environment as before. Cultivation ensures that during advancement, both the body and the mind grow together. And as you can see here, although not evident through a cursory glance, Markus does not show any signs of disjointed growth."

Al proceeded to nudge and squeeze the various muscle and bone segments on Markus' body and commented, "They boy has clearly been cultivating. He is literally bursting; he is on the cusp of advancement!"

Markus frowned and said, "But I don't have a cultivation method."

"That's what your Master said as well. Either you two are hiding something from me, which I don't think is the case, or you have been cultivating without realising it, which would be truly remarkable! Nonetheless, our doubt can easily be solved through an inspection of your core. Before proceeding with it, I require your consent," Al added.

As established, a mage's core is the accumulation of the mage's cultivation. It isn't a physical construct, more of a spiritual one. Well, that is at least until they break into the Core Formation realm and reconstruct their bodies, in which the core becomes akin to an additional organ. Yet, even till that point, the shadow of a mage's core exists within their spiritual space, often located at their anatomical core.

Now, the reason why Al asked Markus for his consent before prying into his still nascent core was that it is considered a sign of hostility for a mage to do so forcefully. The core holds many secrets regarding a mage's cultivation. To tamper with it could result in dire circumstances for the mage as it could very easily collapse their entire cultivation resulting in deviations, damages, or worse, death. One can gain partial insight into a mage's cultivation through mana sense, given that there is a difference in realms between the inspector and the target, and the difference favours the inspector. However, to gain a more thorough understanding, one needs to delve at a more spiritual level.

After Markus readily offered his consent, Al proceeded to place an open palm on the boy's built abdominals and channelled his mana through. He expertly navigated through the spiritual barriers that were natural borne deterrents within every mage. Thankfully, he had Markus' consent and the deterrents admitted him through, otherwise, this would have been more of a challenge, and he would have had to force his way through them. Not that he would have done that, because the result would be the utter crippling of Markus!

Once he reached the area where Markus' core should be in the spiritual space, he settled his blurry senses to gain a clearer visual. What Al was relying on right now, was his spiritual sense. Spirituality was a branch of magic that was accessible to all mages but has very few uses. In the early stages of cultivation, there is little purpose to it apart from conducting inspections of one's own or other's core.

However, this field gains importance once a mage reaches the Core Condensation realm. This is because spirituality plays a huge part in their venture to advance into the Tesseract Transformation realm. Essentially, to bridge the gap from longevity to immortality, one must merge their will and cultivation, represented by their core, with their spirit, represented by their soul.

However, delving into that topic was for later. Because the moment his senses regained clarity, Al was greeted by a sight that left him completely befuddled.

"This...."