Hen did not dwell on the question; he proposed the next test.
"Karl, try now to draw magic from the outside world to replenish yourself, like a normal sorcerer would."
"The method is simple: concentrate your mind and try to sense the more active elements in the surrounding air, or through your perception."
"For example, draw the free-floating magic from the distant river."
Karl was completely bewildered after hearing this. Was it really that simple? No specific meditation techniques, no energy guidance routes?
He couldn't help but ask, "Teacher, just like this... don't I need, uh... some specific meditation spell or visualization path?"
This time, it was Hen who paused. A thoughtful expression appeared on his face, then he shook his head.
"Your idea is very novel, but I have never heard of any meditation spells."
"Drawing magic is an innate instinct for sorcerers with talent, like breathing. It doesn't require the complex methods you speak of."
"Sorcerers meditate to restore the mental strength consumed by highly concentrated mental guidance of magic, not to draw magic itself."
Karl was skeptical but still did as Hen said.
He closed his eyes, tried to clear his mind of distractions, and focused his spirit.
Then, he attempted to sense and draw the chaotic magic that Hen spoke of, which permeated the world.
Hen stood by patiently observing, waiting for Karl's feedback after his first attempt to actively draw magic.
This was crucial for judging Karl's constitution and future development direction... Time passed minute by minute, with only the rustling of wind through the grass on the plain.
A few minutes later, Karl slowly opened his eyes, his expression very complex, tinged with confusion and a hint of disappointment.
"Teacher, I... I can indeed feel the magic you spoke of, and I can try to draw it..."
"But it's extremely difficult, and the efficiency is appallingly low," he said, looking at the expectant Hen, his tone somewhat uncertain.
Karl struggled to find a suitable analogy: "If... the energy I possess is like a lake."
"Then, the magic I'm trying to draw is like one or two raindrops accidentally falling into the lake—not only is the quantity small, but the feeling is completely different."
"That magic is very wild and difficult to control; it's mixed with some impurity I can't quite describe, feeling like unrefined raw iron."
"Even stranger, when this magic enters my body, it uncontrollably darts around, and immediately triggers a counterattack from my own energy."
Karl made a gesture of annihilation: "Almost instantly, that little bit of drawn magic was completely assimilated, or rather, annihilated by my energy."
Hen's face showed obvious surprise after hearing this, then his brows furrowed tightly as he fell into deep thought.
He lowered his head, unconsciously tugging at his beard.
"How can this be?" Hen was filled with bewilderment.
According to his assumption, for Karl's body to accumulate such vast and docile energy, his affinity for external magic and extraction efficiency should logically increase.
But according to Karl's description, his efficiency in actively drawing magic... the amount accumulated from a whole day's effort wouldn't even be enough to cast a single Fireball spell. This completely contradicted his understanding of a Source Sorcerer's constitution.
Although Hen had mentally prepared for Karl's constitution being different from a magic source, facing such a completely unknown situation, one that even clashed with his centuries of accumulated knowledge, he couldn't help but feel it was tricky and confusing.
But he quickly grasped another key point, looked up, and eagerly asked, "Karl, that energy in your body... does it slowly recover on its own, even if you don't actively do anything?"
Karl omitted the crucial information about needing sunlight and moonlight, and nodded affirmatively: "Yes, Teacher, as long as... in a normal environment, it recovers on its own."
Hen fell silent for a moment, his expression of confusion deepening.
"This is even stranger... Your ability to recover on your own without actively drawing magic is completely consistent with my magic source constitution," he murmured.
"If ordinary sorcerers exhaust their magic, they can only draw from the outside; they cannot recover on their own," he paced back and forth, his tone full of puzzlement.
"Your energy actually repels external magic so much; this clearly indicates a fundamental difference in the nature of the two energies..."
Hen fell into a long period of contemplation, various known magic theories, bloodlines, and ancient secrets flashing through his mind as he tried to find a case that matched Karl's situation.
Suddenly, his expression changed slightly, as if he had thought of something.
He recalled a long-term study he had begun many years ago, a subject still in the data collection and exploration phase.
It was about whether there existed a simpler, purer method of energy extraction besides chaotic magic. He named it the Dark Matter Energy Theory.
He even suspected that the divine power used by the priestesses of the Temple of Melitele, which was different from magic, might have its source related to this unknown energy.
"Could it be... that what Karl's body contains is the highly condensed dark energy I hypothesized?" A bold conjecture surfaced in Hen's mind.
He opened his mouth, hesitated for a moment, and finally suppressed the conjecture, not speaking it aloud.
The reason was simple: he himself could not determine whether this unknown energy harbored other hidden dangers.
He had thoroughly understood the priestesses who served Melitele.
Although their power system was different, there had never been any record of sudden death or strange illnesses caused by the power itself.
Karl's situation seemed even more special. Hen changed direction and asked, "Karl, from childhood until now... have you ever felt any abnormal discomfort in your body?"
"Or have you ever experienced sudden, inexplicable periods of weakness?"
Karl's answer was firm and unequivocal, without the slightest hesitation.
"No, Teacher, I haven't even had the most common headaches or fevers."
"As for weakness, except for intentionally expending physical strength, I have never experienced the kind of inexplicable weakness you mentioned."
"My physique has always been far stronger than anyone I know, including a Witcher."
Hen fell silent again. Karl's various manifestations were like a huge, contradictory puzzle.
Only a very few characteristics, such as self-recovering energy, could be matched with the magic source he knew.
Most of the others, especially the nature of the energy, its repulsion of chaotic magic, and his powerful physique, completely contradicted the common knowledge of various curses, bloodlines, and spell effects that he knew.
Moreover, Hen could very confidently rule out the possibility of Elder Blood.
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