As Leon retrieved the wooden sword, blood gushed from the center of the man's pierced chest.

Leon stared at the wooden sword for a moment.

‘Was it because he was caught off guard…?’

Or was it simply because the cursed sword was powerful? Perhaps it was due to its ability to disrupt magical formulas? Or maybe it was the effect of the spell into which he had poured so much mana?

Numerous possibilities crossed his mind.

However, Leon doubted that it was solely due to his own powerful mana, as his mana pool wasn’t yet impressive.

Wiping the cold sweat that had formed from tension, Leon first used a detection spell to meticulously scan his surroundings. After confirming the area was clear, he took the man's corpse and entered the orb.

Kito wasn’t around. After confirming that she could fly normally, Leon had sent her to explore the vast space inside the orb.

Leon grabbed a silver disc and stepped back outside.

He quickly used a water spell to wash away the bloodstains on the ground.

‘As for the damaged ground from the initial attack and the wall the man crashed into…’

Leon summoned the Earth elemental, a four-star spell from Arpina, which he had memorized.

“Eosuite.”

A round, smooth-looking brown head emerged from the ground.

Eosuite could be linked with other earth spells, like those that could cause the ground to sink or hurl boulders, but Leon used it to fill in the damaged ground and wall.

‘It’s not completely natural, but…’

He decided to be content with the confusion it might cause in identifying what had happened.

Given the loud noise, a magician could show up at any moment.

After using a device to erase any residual mana traces, Leon quickly left the scene.

Having returned to the orb without selling his goods, Leon was now testing the power of the "Moonlight-Scattering Sword."

He poured all his mana into the floating wooden sword.

“Pierce.”

The wooden sword flashed and, in the blink of an eye, shot toward a thick tree far from Leon, piercing right through it. The sword didn’t stop there—it continued at full speed, cutting through several trees in succession.

Crash—Crash—Crash—

Several trees fell one after another.

The wooden sword flew so far that it disappeared into a spot where Leon couldn’t retrieve it with basic telekinesis.

“Huff… Huff…”

Out of breath and drenched in sweat from the sudden drain of mana, Leon wiped his forehead.

‘The more mana I pour into it, the stronger it becomes.’

It was true that Leon struggled to control it, but that was because he had poured all his mana into the spell.

‘A spell that scales with mana…’

Given his current low mana rank, finding a way to amplify his magic purely through mana was a welcome discovery for Leon.

He sat down in a meditative position and steadied his breathing.

As pure mana circulated through his body, Leon’s mind began to calm.

The mana inside the orb always had a soothing effect on Leon. Since he had become an All-Attribute Constitution, his affinity with mana had increased, making this feeling even stronger.

He couldn’t deny that this had become a driving force for his continued training.

Once his breathing had settled, Leon retrieved the wooden sword and placed it back into his subspace pouch.

‘Time to investigate…’

Leon approached the man’s corpse.

He found two subspace pouches on the body.

One was filled solely with mana stones—over 1,000, from a quick estimate.

Leon set aside the pouch of mana stones and emptied the contents of the other subspace pouch onto the ground.

The first thing that caught his eye was a black spellbook.

Its title read, Arc Rift Series: Void Brand.

Leon fetched another spellbook titled Call of the Abyss from his makeshift spellbook storage. This was the dark magic book he had obtained after killing Porun.

Void Brand was a high-level spell that could be used by an Artistry-level magician, but it didn’t seem to connect with Call of the Abyss.

Call of the Abyss was a low-tier spell, even among those that apprentice magicians could learn.

‘On the other hand, Void Brand…’

Leon’s eyes narrowed as he scanned a certain section.

‘These people are truly insane…’

Void Brand required a magician’s core to be used.

But it didn’t mean the caster’s own core; it required the core of another magician.

A magician’s core wasn’t a physical entity—it naturally vanished when the magician died.

But this dark, viscous substance that had made Leon feel uneasy earlier was the result of forcibly extracting and concentrating such cores.

Magicians could affect reality through sheer willpower.

The cores, mixed together to create this substance, exuded a sinister aura, almost as if it contained vengeful spirits.

Moreover, there was an artifact that could temporarily store these forcibly extracted cores…

Leon picked up a small purple crystal that was sitting next to the spellbook. It was small enough to hold between his thumb and forefinger.

Seven gray stripes wriggled across the surface of the purple crystal, almost as if they were alive.

The cores of seven apprentice magicians could be stored in this crystal, to be later combined using the Void Brand spell.

The more cores combined, the stronger the summoned substance would be.

‘This is a vile spell.’

Leon set the spellbook and crystal aside and picked up a token.

It was similar to the token he had been carrying, but with a more intricate design.

Using an appraisal spell, Leon discovered that it could generate a D-rank barrier, an artifact a grade higher than the one Porun had possessed, which was E-rank.

D-rank was powerful enough to block low-tier Artistry-level spells.

Since it hadn’t been used yet, it seemed like it could withstand five uses.

‘So he was caught off guard after all…’

The fact that the man hadn’t used such an artifact suggested he had believed he could block the wooden sword’s attack with magic alone.

‘I suppose I’d also try to block an ordinary-looking wooden sword with a smirk.’

The cursed sword had an exceptional ability to disrupt a magician’s spellcasting, but it was weaker against artifacts that only required mana infusion.

Leon paused in contemplation as he examined the token.

The man had seemed to recognize something when he saw the token that had fallen to the ground.

‘Could it be a marker that identifies other dark magicians of the same group?’

Using it simply because it was D-rank didn’t sit well with him.

Leon wasn’t sure if the man had tracked him using the token’s tracking magic or if he had started tracking him after realizing Porun’s research reports were no longer being sent.

Appraisal magic couldn’t determine if the token had tracking magic embedded in it.

‘I’ll store it in the orb for now.’

Even if it had tracking magic, Leon doubted it would work inside the orb’s space.

The same went for the red orb lying next to the token.

It was a communication orb, which Leon planned to store in the orb and discard into the sea once he was on his way back by ship.

The next item to catch his attention was a vial containing a dark blue liquid.

Appraisal magic revealed that this liquid could restore damaged terrain or buildings to their original state.

‘No wonder they ambushed me right in the middle of a magical city.’

Leon felt a tinge of regret as he thought about the scene he had hastily cleaned up before leaving.

‘It’s too late to go back now.’

The last remaining items were five E-rank elixirs.

These were likely leftovers, unused after the man reached the Artistry level, where E-rank elixirs would have little effect.

Leon set aside the other items and once again focused on the black spellbook and purple crystal.

The Arc Rift Series: Void Brand.

Although the Void Brand spell itself, which involved fusing cores, seemed revolting, the shadow assimilation spell—an advanced form of teleportation—did seem useful. However, that wasn’t what troubled Leon.

The reason he had felt such extreme danger from the Artistry-level dark magician had nothing to do with those spells.

To quickly learn dark magic, one needed the darkness attribute.

Along with the light attribute, the darkness attribute was considered one of the most exceptional talents, aside from the All-Attribute Constitution.

This was because it was irreplaceable.

To understand why, one had to go back to the time when gods and demons waged war.

After the war of the gods ended, the remnants of divine power, which were called magic, were systematically established by ancient magicians.

This magical system had been passed down to the current era.

According to this system, one’s level could rise quickly by learning magic corresponding to their attribute.

Thus, to reach the Artistry level at a young age, having the darkness attribute was almost a requirement.

However, the disturbing realization that Leon had while studying Void Brand was that there was a way for even those without talent to rapidly advance in rank.

It involved creating a new core around one’s heart.

This core was different from the natural core that formed near the solar plexus.

It was an artificial core made by sacrificing one’s own heart.

‘Of course, you’d still need some talent for that.’

Undoubtedly, this method would have side effects, but the spellbook didn’t mention them. It assumed that anyone learning this technique would already know about these risks and continued with the explanation.

‘There’s a reason magicians persecute dark magicians…’

The term "forbidden technique" seemed apt.

Leon’s gaze returned to the purple crystal.

The seven small gray stripes writhing inside seemed to move as if they were alive.

Could they be the cores of seven apprentice magicians?

While it was unlikely that their souls were trapped inside, Leon still felt uncomfortable keeping the crystal, especially since he had no use for it.

Should he destroy it?

Leon contemplated this before picking up the black spellbook.

He speculated that he might be able to modify the spell that combined the cores to instead release whatever was trapped in the purple crystal.

‘Is that just superstition?’

The Void Brand spell was designed to be used with the artificial core created in one’s heart, but this didn’t apply to Leon.

After all, he had the darkness attribute naturally.

There was no need for an artificial core.

‘I don’t need to deal with this right now.’

Leon decided to focus on organizing the items in his subspace pouch.

He emptied out everything from his original subspace pouch to determine what should be kept for immediate use.

In other words, he was prioritizing his resources.

However, his plans were abruptly interrupted.

As soon as he pulled out the wooden sword from his original subspace pouch, it began to tremble violently.

Then, the purple crystal also started vibrating, and before Leon could react, something shot out from the crystal and was absorbed by the wooden sword.

“No…!”

Leon could only watch as it happened, unable to stop it.