As Leon made his way to the Central Tower, where Laidra was waiting for him, he noticed a construction site in one corner of the central plaza, where a bronze structure was being built. He tilted his head in confusion.

Although only the upper half was completed, it looked strangely familiar.

Especially the clothing.

‘...Isn’t that the uniform of a common disciple? Are they really making a statue of a common disciple that big?’

No matter how much he thought about it, he couldn’t understand.

Shaking his head in confusion, Leon continued up to the Central Tower.

In the meeting room, where a long table was set, Leon finally met Laidra.

The muscular old man with long white hair was sitting with his arms crossed, staring at Leon.

Leon, trying to hide his tension, realized it might be more natural to show that he was nervous.

Laidra, who had been expressionlessly watching Leon, suddenly spoke.

“Tell me what you want.”

“…Excuse me?”

Despite his indifferent expression, his words were quite bold.

“You saved the promising talents of the tower, so you deserve a reward.”

‘Is he not going to ask how I survived?’

Leon hesitated for a moment before responding.

“No, I’m just grateful to have made it out alive...”

Laidra raised his hand, stopping Leon mid-sentence.

“Before that. Did you awaken your mana because you obtained a fortuitous encounter in the lair?”

“Yes… Then I was captured by the Witch…”

“I’ve already heard about that. But why didn’t she kill you?”

Leon realized why Laidra hadn’t asked about his survival.

He believed that Leon had survived in the lair because the Witch had captured him.

‘Berford must have reported it.’

He thought Berford was only focused on the Witch, but it seemed he was aware of more.

‘Did he pretend not to know despite knowing?’

Since this was typical of how mages behaved, Leon wasn’t disappointed.

“I was fleeing from the scorpion when I got caught up in a teleportation magic circle...”

Leon began recounting the story he had prepared.

“I found a magical elixir there and consumed it. Then I lost consciousness, and when I came to, the Witch was standing right in front of me.”

“A magical elixir? Hmm...”

Laidra scanned Leon’s body, using a detection spell.

Leon continued speaking as if he didn’t notice.

No matter how much he was examined, he would still appear to be at the level of a first-tier apprentice.

The B+ grade Bracelet of Vima was an artifact effective even against low-level Insight mages.

In terms of ranks, C-grade was for Secret Magic, B-grade for Mysticism, A-grade for Insight, and S-grade for Transcendence.

But when a grade had a +, it could influence the next level up as well.

And Leon was merely at the first tier. That was the key point.

It was a level that an Insight mage could dismiss as insignificant.

“Was the elixir you drank the only one?”

“There were actually several, but... I was robbed by the Witch when I encountered her. They were too precious for someone like me.”

“Why didn’t the Witch kill you?”

“Shamefully, when I saw the Witch, I immediately took out the elixirs and begged for my life. Then, when the cave started shaking, she took me deeper into it...”

Leon feigned ignorance about the flimsy excuse as to why the Witch didn’t kill him and continued his story.

“She just took you with her?”

As expected, Laidra interrupted Leon’s story again.

“Yes... I don’t know why she didn’t kill me either.”

Leon played dumb.

‘The Witch knows the reason.’

Of course, Leon knew the real reason.

It was because of the orb.

But there was no way Laidra would know that.

Leon calmly continued his story.

“Anyway, after the other mages were swept away by the teleportation magic circle, an extremely intricate magic circle was revealed in the lair.”

Laidra nodded slightly, indicating that he was aware of the teleportation magic circle.

“Seeing that, the Witch tried to kill me, but I got caught in the magic circle and managed to survive.”

Laidra looked at Leon’s burned arm.

“It’s remarkable that you only suffered an injury to one arm after being hit by the Witch’s magic.”

“The teleportation magic circle activated suddenly, and other mages had warned against using powerful magic there...”

“Hmm...”

Laidra’s gaze deepened, and Leon did his best to maintain an innocent expression.

Even though the excuse about the Witch not killing him was weak, the story about the teleportation magic circle and the elixirs was entirely true.

If Berford had reported about the Witch, he would have also mentioned the teleportation magic circle.

‘It could be problematic if they suddenly decide to verify my constitution…’

But checking one’s constitution wasn’t directly related to this story.

There was no reason for Laidra to bring it up.

There had never been a case of someone’s constitution changing after consuming a magical elixir.

If Laidra suggested checking Leon’s constitution now, it would mean he had been suspicious of Leon for a long time.

“No one has survived an encounter with the Witch before. Well, other mages have survived meeting her, so... you’re particularly lucky.”

“Hearing that from you, Tower Master, makes me realize how fortunate I was.”

Leon breathed a sigh of relief.

He truly felt lucky. He had managed to escape from a high-level Insight Witch who would kill anyone on sight.

‘If we ever meet again…’

Leon quickly pushed aside the unsettling thought that sent shivers down his spine.

“Then don’t be shy, and tell me what you want.”

Leon figured the conversation would only end if he made a request, so he spoke up.

“Then… I would like to dedicate myself to training. Even though my talent is meager, since I’ve had this fortuitous encounter, I’d like to fully devote myself to the path of magic.”

“Ha ha ha ha!”

Suddenly, Laidra burst into laughter.

Leon, who had intended to ask for an extended training period, didn’t know how to react and just stared at him.

Laidra waved his hand.

“Ah, I wasn’t laughing at you. I just didn’t expect that when I asked what you wanted, you’d only ask to focus on training. I thought you might at least ask for your arm to be healed.”

Laidra smirked as he spoke, though Leon couldn’t understand why his face seemed so mischievous.

“Well, that little brat from Mardelia will take care of that.”

“...”

“Isn’t there anything grander you want?”

Leon tried to gauge Laidra’s intentions.

Was he really urging Leon to ask for more, or was he telling him to stop and know his place?

“I’m not worthy...”

“A man should have some ambition.”

It felt like he was being subtly pressured.

It seemed like Laidra genuinely wanted him to ask for more.

However, Leon had nothing more to ask for.

He didn’t want to make any excessive requests that might arouse Laidra’s suspicion.

“I lack the experience to know what to ask for.”

“You’re basically telling me to give you whatever I think is best.”

“That’s not what I meant...”

Laidra extended two fingers in front of Leon.

Leon tightly closed his mouth.

‘This person never lets anyone finish speaking.’

Leon masked his discomfort and listened to Laidra’s words.

“I’ll give you two choices.”

“...”

“One, you can shed your status as a common disciple and become my personal disciple.”

“Personal... disciple?”

Leon hid his complex feelings, outwardly expressing surprise and joy.

He couldn’t figure out why Laidra was offering to take him as a personal disciple, so he couldn’t simply be happy about it.

“Does that make you happy? But it’s not as good as you think. I’ve never had a personal disciple, nor do I plan to.”

“Then...”

“Do you know what that means?”

Once again, Leon was cut off mid-sentence, so he forced a smile and shook his head.

“I don’t know.”

“It means I don’t see much in your talent. I’m not interested in having a disciple. There’s no support. You won’t gain any special privileges. It’s literally just a title. But at least no one will bother you if you spend all day training. So, you could consider it as me granting your wish.”

Leon was surprised by the offer.

Even if it didn’t come with any authority, as Laidra said, being able to train without anyone interfering was a privilege reserved for the Tower Master’s personal disciple.

“The other option is to be rewarded with mana stones for your actions. But I wouldn’t recommend that.”

Leon understood what he meant.

What would happen if it got out that a common disciple had received a large number of mana stones?

It would undoubtedly lead to bad outcomes.

Laidra didn’t seem like the kind of person who would take care of those issues for him.

Considering he had offered no support even if Leon became his personal disciple, it seemed Laidra would leave him to his own devices and focus solely on his own training.

“So, in the end, there’s really only one choice?”

“Are you not satisfied?”

“How could I not be? It would be an honor to even have my name listed as the Tower Master’s personal disciple.”

Leon had no intention of asking to learn Laidra’s magic.

Glory of Thunder was a spell that Leon found useful at the Secret Magic level.

There was undoubtedly a higher-level spell than that.

However, asking to learn magic would give Laidra a reason to investigate his constitution.

It was actually better for Leon if Laidra remained uninterested in him.

“Hmm... Are you truly satisfied with just that?”

“Yes, I am.”

“Then you may go.”

Leon bowed his head and stood up.

“I suppose we’ll see if that’s truly what you want.”

“...I will do my best.”

Leon turned and left the meeting room.

‘...Something feels off.’

He wondered if there was really any need for Laidra to say that at the end, but it wasn’t particularly strange either.

In any case, what mattered was that the meeting had passed without any major issues.

Even if Laidra was suspicious of Leon and decided to keep an eye on him, by the time he figured anything out, Leon would be in a different state.

‘As long as it’s not right now when I’ve lost so much strength after escaping from the Witch...’

Leon returned to his private room, pretending to rest for a day. He then planned to head to the training room to formally elevate his consciousness to the Secret Magic level.

Or at least, that was the plan.

If not for the person who came to his door.

“You refused when I asked you to become my disciple.”

“...When did you return?”

Arpina stared at him with her red eyes.

“And now what? The Tower Master’s disciple?”