Genius Mage in a Cultivation World

'I think we have strolled for long enough,' thought Layn while turning his head towards the girl. 'It's great to cuddle with her like that,' his thoughts strayed for a bit, only to return with double the force. 'It's not the right time. It's not why we are here in the first place.' Regaining his composure and coming to a mature decision, Layn gently pushed Irea away before grabbing her hand.

"You know what, how about we go to see the city?" Layn smiled endearingly to the girl. He then tightened his grasp over the girl's hand. "It just occurred to me, that ever since I came to this place, I was confined to the academy grounds." Layn entangled his fingers with Irea before bringing her hand up to his lips and placing a gentle kiss atop her palm. "How about we go for a city date right now?"

Layn's suggestion wasn't rational. It wasn't the modern era when life in cities never went into slumber. As great as exploits of the ancients could be, without electricity and production-based magic, achieving the towns of eternal light was simply impossible.

Yet, even though it was currently the middle of the night, Layn still proposed it.

"Well, it's not like we are not allowed to leave. But what's the hurry?" Irea leaned her head to the side while sending a questioning look to her man. "Wouldn't it be better to walk around the city during the day?"

Layn sent a wink to the girl instead of giving her a proper answer. Only when she stabbed him in the side in retaliation did words started flowing out of Layn's mouth.

"During the day… it will be busy. Streets will be crowded, the air will be full of shouts, talks, and other noises." Layn shook his head. "I think the atmosphere will be better…"

Just as Layn wanted to finish his opinion, a strange, subliminal feeling coursed through Layn's veins. It took someone with the sensitivity of archmage like Layn to even notice it. But once this occurrence caught Layn's attention, he had no problems analyzing it.

"You know what, you are right. Let's not go right away, but aim for your home first." Layn instantly started walking, pulling the girl along. "I actually would love to change my clothes. As fancy as they are, my old stuff is way more comfortable." Layn sent a wink to Irea once again before focusing on his movement.

If someone were to watch them from a distance, then they wouldn't be able to notice anything strange about the duo. Just a man and a woman enjoying each other's company during a nightly stroll. But if one were to calculate the distance they conquered and divide it by the time they required to do so, the true marvel of Layn's speed would come into the light.

While acting as if he was just strolling, Layn was actually using his magic to compress the space in front of him. 'It still is as taxing as ever,' thinking to himself, Layn gritted his teeth as his entire pool of energy continued to dry at a worrying rate.

'I never thought that it could be useful, so here comes the lack of optimization to bite me back in the ass,' given how Layn's method of compressing the space was useful only… at parties, he never paid any mind to improve it. And what made for a great way to show off while accompanied by fellow mages, was a surprisingly good way to move around without attracting too much attention.

Before long, the duo left the confines of the inner academy. Now alerted as to what to look at, Layn could feel how something washed over him when they crossed the gate of the inner academy, reaching the lands of the outer part.  From there to Irea's house it took them just a few moments even though Layn ceased to use his costly spell.

"Why  are we in such a hurry?" While Irea noticed that something was going on, she wisely decided not to pry into it out in the open.

"They started cracking the treasure," Layn said as soon as he made sure that the doors closed behind him. "Grab all the important stuff and we are out of here. While I could make great use of it, there is no way the core members of the academy won't notice it. It's too dangerous to stay in the academy right now."

Layn didn't waste any time. Out of everything, the remaining stones were the only thing that he was pressed to secure. And thankfully, they were right in the place where he left them.

"Okay, I'm done." Irea's hands were… empty. With just a single coat hanging from her shoulder, she didn't seem like someone holding all her valuables.

"Are you sure?" Layn raised his eyes to the girl, only to shake his head when he saw her eyes. "Never mind, let's go."

Getting out of the house, Layn directed his steps towards the central part of the town. 'Given how the academy will be going down… I guess I should at least inform him.' As much as Layn wished to just get away from this place and start working towards his first real project in this world of ancient, there were still some things that held him back.

"Oh." By the time the two of them reached the inner city only to be stopped at the gates, Layn suddenly stopped. "I just broke through to the awakening rank…" Staring down at his hands, Layn moved his fingers around to test their strength.

With the cultivation of merging the flows of his inner energy now done, it felt as if the aura that he was used to as a mage… Now became something tangible. 'It's as if I could touch the mana itself…' Bending his fingers in a failed attempt to grasp this strange something, Layn ultimately shook his head before looking towards Irea.

"You are a monster…" Staring wide-eyed at her partner, Irea only managed to whisper. But soon, her immunity against Layn's everyday breaking of common sense kicked in, allowing her to shake her shock away.

"Ignoring the part of me being the monster, would you like to tell me what should I do next? I'm still pouring my energy into my flow like before but well, should the new rank look somewhat different?" Raising his head properly this time, Layn looked at Irea.

"I didn't expect you to catch up to me so quickly… But well, the awakening stage is also called an empty stage. In other words, it doesn't matter how hard you try to become even stronger. As of now, you have reached the absolute limit of what you are capable of." Irea was quick to pour cold water on Layn's excited soul. "It's not like the energy you are pumping into your cultivation is going to waste…"

This time, Irea took a lot longer to finish her words. As if conflicted over something, she even went as far as to rub her chin while thinking.

"You could say that all the cultivation you did so far, only applied to your psychique. While you infused a lot of energy into your own body, this energy refined your muscles, cleansed them from all the flaws and impurities, and allowed them to live off the mana alone." Pulling up her sleeve, Irea pointed at her own, slim arm.

"You can say that by reaching the awakening stage, your body is improved beyond the point of what your mind is capable of controlling. And this is where the hardship begins." Biting her lips, Irea looked away as if ashamed of something.

"Hardship? What kind of hardship?" Seeing how troubles Irea was over this matter, Layn couldn't help himself but pry a little deeper.

"You see, there are some manuals that allow one to learn how to kickstart the cultivation of one's mind. But they are all mediocre without exception. If you want to truly stand on a path that only strong will tread on…" Irea paused while looking up to Layn's eyes. "then you need to find your own idea of what mind cultivation is. You know, since it will be your idea, it will be perfectly aligned with your mind, making it the most fitting and wholesome technique of cultivating you could ever use."

Shaking her shoulders, Irea turned around only to mutter something that actually escaped Layn's ears. But as he looked at her distraught face, the archmage was pretty sure he could guess what was plaguing Irea's mind.

'Still… To cultivate one's mind… It's no different from cultivating one's brain and guts, isn't it?' Asking himself, Layn attempted to recall every last detail of what he knew about brains. And surprisingly, it wasn't limited to just the brain alone!

'How was it? According to some scientists, while one's brain is responsible for one's actions, it's one's gut that is responsible for one's character?' In that theory that Layn just thought off, a certain genius of his age put forward simple reasoning.

And it outlined how the body itself determined what was its preferable course of action… by pushing its owner to situations where it deemed it the most likely to obtain the food it was accustomed to. Just by eating a certain type of food over long periods of time, one was supposed to develop an internal craving for it, which would alter his decision whenever its outcome would affect the accessibility of given food.

And ultimately, while the brain required to take action to fulfill its role, the gut was doing its part just by being here in the way it was developed so far.

'Does that mean that I only need to reinforce my brain with cultivation, or should I do both?' For a moment, Layn was confused. Then, after comparing the profits of conscious choices and ones he would be unaware of…

He didn't hesitate any longer.

POP!

As if some kind of barrier suddenly broke, the mana in Layn's body suddenly surged upwards, infusing itself into his brain.