Sand's expression grew bitter. "But the techniques only take us so far. Without proper resources or environments rich in ambient mana, we hit a ceiling. Most of our family never advances beyond a rank 3 mage. A few exceptional individuals like myself reach the second rank and approach third by end of our years, but that's the limit. We can't break through to true mastery without something more."
Noah processed this information, his shock giving way to cold calculation. If Napoleon had been a practitioner and left behind cultivation scriptures, how many other historical figures might have possessed similar abilities? How many "great men" of history had actually been mages operating in a world that didn't understand magic?
And more importantly, how many families like Sand's existed right now, hiding their abilities and operating in the shadows of normal society?
"How many others know about this?" Noah demanded. "How many families have similar knowledge?"
