NoveLight ™
Leon ultimately couldn't find the book he was looking for in the central library.
Despite inputting every possible keyword into the artifact that helps locate books, he didn't find a single relevant book. Instead, he ended up copying a few historical texts to take with him.
Disappointed, Leon was heading toward the training room when he encountered a familiar face on the first floor.
It was Peter, a regular disciple.
Peter, usually busy but always cheerful, gave Leon an awkward smile the moment he saw him. Seeing that, Leon also felt a bit awkward.
“Haha… Hello, Leon.”
“Oh, hello… Peter.”
“You don’t have to be so formal with me. After all, you’ve become the Tower Master’s personal disciple.”
“No, really…”
Everyone knew that it was only in name. However, Leon didn’t know how to react to such comments.
He thought they would just pass each other by awkwardly, but then Peter seemed to remember something and started rummaging through his belongings.
“Now that I think about it, you’ve reached the first rank, but I haven’t given you this yet. You might not need it, but…”
Peter handed him a basic water magic book.
“I didn’t know what element you have, so I’ll start by giving you this. Should I leave the other elements at your personal training room?”
“Oh… I’ll look into it myself. Thank you.”
Leon took the magic book and climbed the stairs, but then suddenly tilted his head in confusion.
‘Personal training room?’
He smacked his forehead.
Since he had been training alone in a single room, they must have assumed that the room had become Leon's personal training space.
‘Well, it’s too late to move to another training room now…’
Leon felt uneasy as he entered the training room.
‘Was Widia doomed from the start, or am I just in an ambiguous position wherever I go?’
Even though he had become the Tower Master’s personal disciple, the feeling of being an outsider hadn’t disappeared.
‘Well, I am an outsider…’
Leon shook his head.
He decided to be grateful for the fact that he could train in peace.
The regular disciples’ training rooms were cramped and lacked protective magic circles, making them unsuitable for someone like Leon, who was already at the beginner level in arcane magic. However, since he was still focused on mastering Arpina’s basic magic while raising his consciousness, it was acceptable.
But the time to start training in higher-level magic was approaching.
He also needed to refine his ‘arcane magic.’
He was currently on the verge of becoming a fully-fledged beginner in arcane magic.
He felt that one more realization about the core of Arpina's 5-star magic, Harmony, would make him a complete beginner.
His current thread of will consisted of eight strands.
Once he gained that realization, it would become nine.
Had he progressed normally, it would have been ten, but this was the price he paid for rapid advancement. Of course, this price would be offset once he raised his rank further.
It wasn’t strange to start preparing for that now.
‘That’s why I’ve been saving Orb time.’
By training for 20 hours in reality and only 10 hours in the Orb, he had been accumulating 30 hours of Orb time each day.
The Orb time had now reached 3,050 hours.
He had enough time to spend four months in the Orb alone.
This was possible because he had dedicated himself to training without proper sleep for three months.
‘Let’s reduce real-world training until I reach the peak of arcane beginner.’
Leon entered the Orb.
During the three months he spent training, Leon had gained many insights.
First of all, the time spent inside the Orb.
At this point, he had spent over a year inside the Orb.
At first, he thought his physical growth was slow, but upon reflection, he was growing appropriately for a 14-year-old.
‘Does aging not occur inside the Orb?’
Specifically, Leon’s aging.
The corpses of Porne and the red-haired man had already decomposed into skeletons. The herbs had also grown.
For aging not to occur, it must have applied only to Leon.
‘If the Orb is entirely tailored for the user, it makes sense…’
If all sorts of convenient functions were built into it, it would be understandable that only Leon’s aging had stopped.
After spending another year inside the Orb, he would know the answer for sure.
“When will you go?”
Kito, who had polymorphed into human form, wandered around Leon, asking him questions.
Kito had returned just as Leon was about to begin his training.
She had explored the Orb and found a massive lake, claiming that the water within it seemed extraordinary and had brought some back to Leon.
Although the water carried a mystical energy, Leon hadn’t yet found a use for it. Drinking it had no effect despite its potent aura.
“I’ll go once I can use arcane magic properly.”
“Got it. It won’t be long now.”
For Kito, a few months was indeed not a long time.
She had recovered to the point where she could use basic magic. Although her recovery was slow due to not finding her core, she was now in a condition where it wouldn’t be a problem to leave the Orb.
Her core, she said, was hidden in the Western Beast Forest near the Basprion Kingdom.
Leon wasn’t entirely sure how an intangible core could be stored separately, but after seeing what dark magicians did, he knew it wasn’t impossible.
Leon sat down cross-legged.
He had received about 180 rewards over the past three months.
At first, he focused on artifacts to strengthen his power, but afterward, he alternated between artifacts and magic scrolls.
Now, with the odds improved, D-grade rewards had become his main rewards.
F-grade and E-grade rewards still appeared in 2-3 out of every 10 rewards, but aside from Blink, he converted them all into mileage.
Notable D-grade scrolls included:
Healing Aura was a scroll that allowed for basic healing magic to be used over a wide area.
Among the C-grade magic scrolls, the useful ones were:
Gravity Well A spell that manipulated gravity within a certain range. Its strength could affect even advanced arcane magic.
Illusion Creation A spell that created illusions so lifelike that they could be controlled for ten minutes to move according to the user’s will. However, the illusion couldn’t use magic.
Additionally, there were various elemental attack spells that could affect advanced arcane magic.
The B-grade magic scroll was Magic Amplification.
It allowed even arcane magic to be amplified to the level of mysterious-grade power once.
Using a mysterious-grade beginner spell would elevate it to the level of advanced power.
He also obtained a C+ grade artifact, the Guardian Robe.
The robe was inscribed with defensive magic circles, automatically generating a shield when attacked.
The robe contained 12 magic circles capable of blocking attacks up to mysterious-grade beginner magic.
Once the 12 magic circles were consumed, the robe would lose its effectiveness.
The B-grade artifact was a personal subspace pouch.
It was a subspace pouch that could only be opened by the user who first infused it with mana.
He converted all D-grade artifacts, except those marked with a plus, into mileage.
These included staffs, wands, levitation aids, mana boosters, and shield artifacts.
Finally, he used the mileage from the D-grade artifacts to obtain a C+ grade artifact, the Bell of Confusion.
When the bell was rung, it could disrupt the minds of those who heard it.
It seemed like it would be more useful when paired with a cursed sword, but since it affected everyone except the user, it wasn’t ideal for use in the presence of allies.
While the artifacts turned out to be somewhat useful, the problem was with the magic scrolls.
D-grade scrolls were entirely unnecessary, and after obtaining suitable C-grade elemental spells for fire, water, and earth, Leon had to convert the rest into mileage.
The only useful magic scroll was the “Potion-Making Magic of the Fasiota Line (C+).”
He needed elemental spells that Leon was currently learning:
But finding satisfactory magic scrolls wasn’t easy.
If not, he needed better spells of the same element.
It was a challenging task.
He had prayed for a multi-element spell so many times while receiving rewards.
‘I really have no luck with these draws…’
Then the Radiance of Creation appeared.
‘Now there’s no need to hold onto regrets.’
Since it was time to raise his rank again, he needed to start exchanging rewards for potions.
After becoming a full-elemental body, Leon’s efficiency with potions had increased, so he needed to consume essences ranging from D+ to C-grade. However, even D-grade essences still had an effect up to the beginner level.
This meant he could receive potion rewards more comfortably.
He also had essences left from what he gathered in the rare.
In other words, it wasn’t too late to start preparing.
‘I hope I also get a potion recipe.’
It wasn’t an issue now, but since he couldn’t rely on potion rewards indefinitely, it was necessary for the future.
With his thoughts concluded, Leon returned to his training.
He wouldn’t leave until he could use arcane magic.
In the depths of an underground chamber shrouded in darkness.
A chandelier made of black crystals hung from the ceiling, emitting a faint purple glow, and a massive obsidian table stood in the center.
The deep voice of a man seated at the head of the table echoed throughout the space.
“The time has come.”
Several individuals
were seated around the table, and the woman sitting closest to him responded in a voice filled with rapture.
“Finally…! You’ve broken through the barrier. I can’t express how long I’ve waited for this day.”
Another man, who had been waiting for his turn to speak, replied in a stiff voice.
“There have been no significant disruptions to the plans we’ve been steadily building, except for one…”
“Are you referring to the task that Porne was responsible for?”
“You even remember his name. Yes, it’s him.”
The woman who had spoken earlier let out a small laugh.
“It’s just a minor issue. It doesn’t affect our grand plan at all.”
“And the strange bird…”
“It’s nothing more than a monster without a core. We’ve already gained everything we needed from it.”
“So… this is the true beginning. Widia is the first stage, isn’t it?”
“Fittingly, Widia is also what interfered with our plans.”
“This should be interesting.”
Others around the table began to speak up, each offering their own remarks.
The realization that they no longer needed to hide in the shadows made the hearts of those gathered around the table pound with anticipation.
Umm... Where's the chapter?