After that dramatic lunch in the formal hall, two days have passed.
In that time, Jiro had barely left the study chamber assigned to him. Scrolls and bound volumes about the previous Sages covered his low table and half of the floor in front of him. He is currently reading a weirdly beautiful-looking large book, with a confused look on his face,
Most of the records about the gifts of those past Sages seemed to look like they followed a clear pattern, healing, restoration, the mending of flesh, and the easing of pain and such things.
‘So, the reason behind their saying I’ll also have a healing-based power is only according to this pattern?!’
Everyone around him, from the Pope to Tsunade to the few scholars of the Temple allowed near him, fully expected his own gift to fall into the same category for some reason. And now he finally understood why this was the case. Even being from the village, everyone knew Sages had healing-type abilities, but nobody back there had the surety of belief about this matter more than these people. Now that he read the actual records, questions after questions were coming, making him doubt if that was enough to claim for sure he would also have a healing ability. After all, there were only thirteen Sages before him.
More than all of this, what really surprised him more was how complicated the nectar method actually was.
If these books were to be believed, even without a mana core, using a gift through pure nectar crystal required pages of breathing techniques, hand seals, mental frameworks, and careful risk thresholds. If even one thing is not perfectly performed, it might do more harm than good. It was not the simple “hold the crystal and wish” process he had imagined when Tsunade told him about it back at the village.
“But what is this? Most Sages really had no cultivation potential? I thought all of that stuff was a lie made by Temple people to hide the Sage’s real power from bad people! Well, I know most of the Sages came from common birth, but can that be the only reason they never had the potential to form mana core?”
Tsunade had said to him at last night’s dinner, sitting across from him with yet another stack of reference scrolls. “They had no choice but to master the nectar path. But as you have the potential to form mana core, you do at least have a choice. Forming a core and learning to channel your gift through cultivated mana will be slower at the start, but once the foundation of your core becomes better, the power will become more cleaner and far stronger. Learning to control your gift through the nectar method first means mastering two completely separate systems. Better to walk the single stronger road from the beginning.”
Jiro had nodded at the time. He had listened carefully. Only now did he realise the truth behind her saying that to him. If he learns the way to use his gift through the nectar method, as the Pope asks of him, then he will have to learn two different methods. First, this nectar method only uses his gift; then, when his mana core forms, he will have to abandon this method completely and once again learn a new method from scratch. The method of cultivation. As the way of cultivation is better than these cheap replica nectar methods, he will eventually have to switch to it sooner or later. This chapter is updated first at g.com.
After reading through more books for a couple of hours endlessly, by evening, he had reached a firm conclusion.
Why choose only one path when both existed?
The pure cultivation route would take two to five years before he could use his gift with any real strength. The nectar method, according to the records, could produce usable results in under 6 months. Though this method had a faster result-producing ability, he had a different idea about all of this.
After going through almost 10 of these books, his thinking was, ‘If both methods will take about months to years, then why don’t I just build something new, suited for only me?’
If he could find a way to blend the early stages of both, using nectar to awaken and temper his mana veins while simultaneously building the foundation of a core, he might just reach the 1st stage of cultivation in no time.
But there was a huge catch. It was quite simple, too: almost no one knew what the older Sages had actually tried by themselves. As there weren’t many sages capable of cultivating to begin with, their records were almost nonexistent, given there hadn’t been one with such capability in almost 2 centuries.
Jiro leaves his study room and goes out to search for the Pope. After searching through the halls and corridors for several minutes, he finally found the guy. He was sending off some nobles who came to meet the Sage.
For the past two days, Jiro had been cooped up in his room, studying; the Pope had been doing only this. It seemed like he was even more in need of the Sage’s ability than the Sage himself.
When the Pope turns back and sees Jiro standing in the half-lit corridor, with Roland behind him as escort, he asks Jiro what he was doing here at this hour.
Jiro reveals a portion of what was in his mind. He wasn’t thoughtless enough to blurt out the fact that he was not going to take the usual shortcut route to unlock his ability. The old man might have a flip of nature entirely. Visit novelping . com for the full chapter.
As Jiro carefully poked the Pope about the things he learned, and whether he knew more about this subject, the Pope admitted he also had only reliable records for the last three Sages. Every one of them either lacked cultivation potential or died before completing the process. How those deaths happened, or whether any of them had experimented with hybrid methods to shorten the time, was unknown even to him. “But there are some older accounts”, he said. “However, they exist only in the forbidden section of the great library. Access is restricted even from him. Only the reigning Sage and members of the royal bloodline can enter it. So, I have not seen or read them yet. If you want to know more about this matter, then I guess I should have someone escort you there.”
“Oh, that would be great, Your Holiness. I was also lacking in books here. I found only 10 books, and only 5 of them actually related to the sage and their abilities. Why is there so little knowledge recorded about this matter?” Jiro asked the pope.
“Hmm, our Temple indeed has very few books present. As this is a place for prayer and healing the illness of the people, we don’t necessarily have any collection of books here. The little books you have found at that study might be the work of Tsunade. She always used to read books as a child. And after reaching adulthood and earning money by herself, she had stopped going to the great library and just bought whatever she needed. Those books are hers. It’s not like most people here know how to read and write. Let alone have any interest in any books. But I gotta say, sage-sama, I was a little shocked to find that you not only knew how to read and write, but also were interested in books and researching so much. You seem more like a scholar than an apothecary, sage-sama. Why have you not pursued the way of the scholars like others? You could’ve had an easy life at the capital all along. Why stay in a rusted village?”
Jiro stared at the guy with wide eyes. He was a little surprised to find the old man spout so many words with just a little poking.
Seeing Jiro’s expression, the pope thought he might’ve hurt sage-sage’s feelings by saying bad things about his home village. He immediately bowed his head a little. “Forgive me, sage-sama. I spoke without thinking. Hmmm, I guess I’m a little tired today. Forgive me, I shall take my leave for the night. Oh, Roland, take Sage-sama to the great library tomorrow. Take extra precautions before going out. Nothing should happen to our Sage-sama.”
“Yes, Your Holiness. I will personally see to it.” Roland replied with a hand to his chest.
“Hmm.” Saying that, the Pope turned back and left.