Well, this is not the first time that I find myself in a position like this. If anything this scene that I am in so familiar to me it almost funny. I have to stand here in the entry of my master's castle a couple of times every year at least. Sometimes the old man is with me, many times he is absent. Still, I have to stand here to meet up with and escort whatever teacher the man finds me to their quarters.

  There is a long history of me and my teachers. After all, the man has been looking for teachers for me since I came to this place. That is the thing that he does that is the closest he has come to teach me.

  Most of these teachers he picks for me do not tend to stay with me for more than an year. Either they complete teaching me in that year or they give up in frustration. The man has found teachers for me tasks as mundane as drawing, dancing or singing. He has also found teachers for complex magics such as elemental magic, summoning magic and so on.

  There is no particular logic that I can see for why the man makes me do all of this. He claims that all of the things that he is making me do will make me a better formation mage. The only thing that is consistent in what he makes me do is that he never let's me learn formation magic.

  I can say that I have wasted quite a bit of my time in such classes. Well, I can't really blame my teachers for this now. After all they have spent a significant amount of their time and energy in my training. My teachers have never given me less then their full effort.

  They also tend to be experts in their fields, so it is not like they don't know what they are doing. The problem is that I am just a very bad student. Most of the things that he picks for me usually end up being useful. Still, they are certainly not as useful as the effort that it takes to learn the said thing. So yeah, my point with this monologue is that it is not the first time that I find myself in such a position.

  Right now, I don't know where the old man has gone to. The man is naturally busy. (I am not allowed to know much of what the man is doing.) Well, it is not like this is the first time he has disappeared like this. Nobody will mind it. The master of the formation corps is one of the busiest man on this mountain. He certainly can also afford to be rude with any group on the continent.

  Thus I can say that I have quite a bit of experience in waiting at the door like this. The sense of nervousness that I feel while standing here has also never changed. After all, I can't help but wonder what type of person could be coming here.

  After all, this person is going to be deciding how annoying the next few months are going to be for me. If the other party is particularly strict, then I will have to forget about formations for a bit. Let's hope that doesn't happen. I have too many tasks as it is. Well whatever I need to learn will at the very least be related to cultivation. So it shouldn't be too much of a waste of time. Whoever this person is also should be a scholar.

  Well, speaking of my teacher I wonder why they are not here already. I have spent about half a day waiting for them already. Whoever the other party is, they should have already reached here. Well I shouldn't judge too much, getting up to my master's palace can be a bit of challenge. You really need to have a very good control over external mana to be able to come up here.

  Even as I am thinking this, I can feel a foreign mana in the distance. Well, there they are finally. beyond being able to tell that they are there, I am not really able to tell where or who it is. My master's environmental formations are basically a barrier. It prevents me from using my mana sense properly.

  Well, I won't need to wait for long. At most it will take the other party about ten minutes or so. I will continue this log then.

  (After about ten minutes.)

  Well, I will be honest. When my master said that I am going to be escorting a scholar, I was certainly not expecting the scene in front of me. Standing in front of me is a beautiful lady.

  I am trying to find the correct word to describe the lady's beauty. Somehow the word beautiful doesn't seem enough for this task. Right now she is entering into my master's castle while using her mana to resist the ambient mana. The flow of her mana looks like a dance. The way her mana flows about serenely through her body as if she is not using to stop a literal storm of mana.

  Well, I think the word serene is actually a very good word to describe her. She has a serene beauty to her. There is calm kind of confidence to her as she makes it through my master's defenses. Granted the defenses are not active at all. Still, it is not so easy for people to make their way through the place. They are strong enough to hold back my master's enemies. Let's just say that it has a presence.

  Stolen story; please report.

  "How long are you going to be standing there?" Her voice echoes out. That snaps me out of my thoughts.

  "Sorry, I will open up the barrier." I reply, feeling my face heat up.

  With that, I quickly manifest a couple of control strings. I modify my master's formations as I open up the final barrier. What I do is the equivalent of pulling a lever and even that took my master a couple of days to teach me.

  Anyway, the barrier is finally open as the lady enters into the place. I discipline myself even as she enters the place. There is no use in looking like a fool in front of her now, is it?

  "Greetings, may I enquire your name?" I ask.

  "You can call me Searcher Evelyn, young master." She replies. "Were you not informed of my arrival here? You certainly look shocked to see me here."

  There is a calmness to her voice that makes me just want to keep listening to her.

  "Well, my master did tell me that you would be coming. I was expecting somebody much older than you though." I reply. "Come in by the way."

  With that the two of us make our way to guest room that I had picked. I wonder for a second if the lady can hear my heart beat. It certainly seems loud enough for her to be able to hear it. We reach the guest room within a few minutes in which I calm myself.

  The room is a simple affair, meant more for negotiating deals than to welcome guests. That is why there is only a table in the room. We both take our place as the room breaks into an awkward silence.

  "Do you know why I have come today, young master Antonio?" The lady finally breaks the silence.

  I don't reply for a few moments, unsure of what to answer to this.

  "Well, my master was not particularly clear about that, searcher." I reply. "He just told me that you shall be helping me with my cultivation."

  "Well, it is not as simple as that, young master." She replies. "Do you know what the path is?"

  Well, I rack my head trying to remember everything about it. I have heard about the path. All the elite of the three factions are speaking about it. Everybody is always raving about how it is supposed to be a great boost to your cultivation. Nobody ever seems to know how exactly though.

  "Well, I have heard of it, searcher. I don't know what it is supposed to be though." I admit.

  "Well, that is fine. I had expected something like that to be the case anyway." She replies. "Well, The Path is a collection of documents, young master. A collection of very important documents."

  "What does it contain?" I ask, a curiosity takes the lead in my head.

  "Well, the path contains all of our findings on the great elven path." The lady replies. "Every single detail that we know about the elves and the magic that they have created."

  Even as I listen to this, I can feel my mind being blown. If what the lady is saying is true then the document could be the solution to the ban my master has put on me.

  "So will I be allowed to read them?" I ask her. Even as I do so I can imagine myself breaking into the path to read up on the path beyond.

  "Well, do you think we will bring such a vital documents to such a insecure location.", the lady replies. "The documents are in a safe place. I am going to be transfer it's access to you in a bit."

  Even as I wonder how the lady plans to do so, she opens her hands as she weaves a complex little spell. Runes flow put of her hands like a stream of of water as they arrange themselves to form a complex little book.

  "This is the book of the watcher." The lady explains. "You can say that it is a secure connection to the path. The moment that you open it, all the knowledge that you need will be transferred into it?"

  As she says this she gestures me to open the book. I don't do so though as I stare at the lady.

  "Is there any chance that I will be allowed to see knowledge of the stage beyond?" I ask, hope arising in my heart again.

  "Well, your master had very clear requirements, young master. You are only allowed to get information till the ninth foundation stage." The lady replies, dashing my hopes. "Anyway, you would not be able to handle that much information load. Right now, the documents are limited to the first three foundation slabs. Anymore and there is a chance that you will die to a brain stroke. That is a disaster that we would like to avoid."

  "You can call me Antonio, my lady." I reply, my mouth shooting faster than my mouth. I pause for an embarrassed second before I continue speaking. "Anyway, I meant to ask you. Something like this would be quite precious? Only the absolute best of each faction is supposed to get the path based on what I know. How did my master get something like this."

  "Well, you have answered your own question. The absolute best of each faction is given access to the path. That is something that we absolutely never compromise on." She speaks. "You are considered to be the best formation mage within the formation corps at your age. Somebody capable of creating class eight formations at your age. That too with your cultivation."

  "I am not a part of the formation corps, though." I reply.

  "Well, your master can be particularly stubborn about that fact. He has been negotiating quite a bit based on what I have heard to get around that particular restriction." The lady replies, as serenely as ever. "Now I would suggest you quickly open the book, it is not that easy to maintain."

  Even as she says this, I can see the bead of sweat form on her face.

  "Just one question left. The scholars usually tend to hide their knowledge from others. The path is clearly a vital piece of information for you. How do you let anybody access it?" I ask her.

  "Well, we will need to give you all something to aim for. Otherwise, people like you would never stop hounding us." The lady replies, with a chuckle. "Now open the damn book already."

  I don't say anything to as I finally open the bo.......