Leon took a deep breath and closed his eyes.

What is the harmony of the elements?

In his mind’s eye, the elemental spirits of Arpina's four elements danced around him.

Fire, water, wind, earth.

These four elements formed an organic and cyclical balance.

Fire, while destructive, nurtures life through the earth. Water is gentle and flexible, and wind brings change and renewal.

Each element possesses its unique qualities and power, but they become more potent when interacting with each other, intricately connected, achieving true completeness only when everything is in harmony.

“Perfect balance…”

The meaning of this suddenly flashed through his mind.

What he had always known now felt profoundly new.

He had gained a small but significant realization.

“The attributes of wood, lightning, light, and darkness are no exception.”

Leon opened his eyes and turned his palm upward.

A magic circle formed, and the energies of the elements flowed out harmoniously.

Leon realized that he had finally reached the complete beginner level.

With nine threads of will, he could now perform nine-layered incantations.

As long as he had enough mana, he could cast spells continuously. There was no need to worry about mana, as it would increase with the consumption of more potions as he advanced in rank.

“Now, I just need to refine my arcane magic.”

The 2-star spell of Glory’s Lightning included Thunderlight and Thunderbolt.

At 3-stars, it would incorporate arcane magic. Usually, there would be some form of movement magic, but since this was specialized in attack, it only contained arcane magic.

Leon continued his training without pause.

There was a lot to catch up on.

Besides Glory’s Lightning, he needed to advance the B+ grade wood magic “Thousand Leaves” to 1-star as soon as possible. He also needed to study the Secrets of Creation and gradually learn golem creation.

Golem creation had some similarities to potion-making; it required hands-on experience and learning through trial and error.

Leon only left the Orb when he needed potions, practicing fine control of his magic in reality for 10 hours, completing quests, and then returning to the Orb.

He spent 100 days inside the Orb.

In reality, not even a month had passed.

Leon raised his palm high in the forest within the Orb.

“Strike.”

The dark clouds in the sky slowly gathered, then suddenly dissipated.

The spell had failed to manifest.

“Sigh… This is difficult.”

It was indeed impossible to reach the peak of the arcane beginner level within four months.

“You’re probably the only one greedy enough to try mastering arcane magic in four months.”

Kito commented from beside him.

Since Kito had returned, they had formed a familiar bond, allowing them to know each other’s whereabouts.

They could even communicate through sheer will.

“I’ve been focusing on nothing else.”

Leon replied, his voice tinged with disappointment.

He hadn’t touched Thousand Leaves or the Secrets of Creation.

“I know. But even the most talented humans would need years for this. At the pace you’re going, you’ll probably complete it in less than a year. There’s no need to be impatient.”

Leon calmed his impatience at Kito’s words.

It was true that he had grown anxious after the major events in the lair.

“I guess I’ll have to resume my training in reality… What should I do about the training room?”

“I don’t understand.”

Kito landed on Leon’s shoulder, her fluttering wings tickling the back of his head.

She knew everything about Leon’s situation, except that he was a transmigrator.

Being a familiar meant Leon couldn’t do anything dangerous anymore, so it didn’t matter if she knew everything. She already knew about the Orb, after all.

“Why do you insist on staying in Widia?”

“Hmm…”

“If you were still an apprentice, I wouldn’t say anything, but you’ve become a high-ranking magician now. Why do you keep hiding and restricting yourself?”

Leon had thought about this too.

But when he first achieved arcane magic, he was unstable, and the idea of Ria believing he was dead compelled him to return. After that, the Tower Master noticed him and made him his personal disciple.

“Wouldn’t your elemental nature being different be easily resolved if you left Widia? In another place, they wouldn’t even know your elemental nature had changed, and they might treat you with utmost respect.”

“I’m not getting stronger to be treated with respect.”

“Then why are you trying to become stronger?”

Leon recalled the reasons he wanted to learn magic in the first place.

After regaining the ability to walk on his own two legs, he wanted to traverse every land on this continent and was utterly fascinated by the mysteries of magic itself. What would he discover if he delved into the end? What lies at the ultimate source of magic?

And the condition that had to be met to achieve these two goals was survival in this power-inflated world.

After encountering Porne, who sought his life in Widia, the idea of needing strength to survive had become more pressing. It was now his primary goal.

Leon shared this reason with Kito, omitting the first one.

“You’re a born magician. But you still don’t think of things like a sense of belonging or responsibility to protect your people, do you?”

A hint of bitterness crossed Kito’s face as she said this.

Leon stared at her intently, and she deflected his gaze awkwardly.

“The people of Widia aren’t your people… Anyway, don’t you think it’s time to take a break? It seems like you’ve been here for a long time.”

Leon, thinking it was similar to the reason he hadn’t mentioned, pretended not to notice and moved on.

“I was planning to. I’ve been in the training room for too long.”

Leon left the Orb and returned to his private room.

After catching up on some much-needed sleep, Leon took out the history books he had borrowed from the central library.

He thought it would be wise to study them before using the Radiance of Creation.

He had just opened one of the books when—

Boom—

The ground shook.

A tremor so powerful it seemed to shake the heavens and the earth.

Leon felt as if the entire city was trembling.

He jumped to his feet.

As he stepped out of his private room, he saw the defensive barrier that encased the city.

And piercing through one part of that barrier was a massive black chain.

It looked like a weapon wielded by giants.

An artifact of the highest grade.

But that wasn’t the most important thing.

The chain had crushed the building right in front of Leon’s private room into the ground.

The building was the dormitory for the entrance residents, where children from the same orphanage as Leon resided.

“What…?”

The building had been completely destroyed.

‘The people inside…?’

It was around the time when the entrance residents would have finished their work.

As Leon stood in stunned silence, the cracks that had begun at the point where the chain had pierced through widened until the entire structure shattered into pieces.

The sky was filled with frantic movements from the magicians of Widia.

Simultaneously, Leon felt a massive surge of magical energy.

He turned his gaze.

The sky outside the city’s main gate was dark.

It was a strange sight, as if a line had been drawn at the gate, with the sky darkening precisely from that point onward.

Beneath that darkened sky, the silhouette of a man in a robe was faintly visible.

A tremendous amount of magic was gathering before him.

Meanwhile, dark clouds began to gather over the city, dimming the previously clear sky.

Rumble—

It was distinctly different from the darkness outside the gate.

At some point, Laidra appeared before the robed man.

Around Laidra, the flow of magic felt similar to that of the man.

Before the robed man, something black began to rise from the ground.

It was a massive form, large enough to reach the man floating in the sky.

It had three heads, each head featureless and simply round. Each head was covered in countless eyes.

The body was a grotesque amalgamation of human-like arms, animal tails, and wings attached haphazardly.

Its entire form was made of a slimy substance.

It was a hideous chimera that made Leon feel nauseous just looking at it.

Soon, rain began to fall from the sky covered in dark clouds.

The wind picked up, and a stormy atmosphere began to form.

Simultaneously, countless bolts of lightning struck the monster.

Boom! Boom!

The lightning fell relentlessly, but the monster didn’t budge.

It was impossible to tell whether the lightning was having any effect.

“Leon!”

Leon turned at the familiar voice that reached his ears.

It was Ria.

She hurriedly approached and grabbed his arm.

“All the academy students and disciples are gathering. We need to go there.”

Leon wondered if there was a shelter.

But as they passed through the central street and headed further back, they found a group of people gathered as if ready to leave at any moment.

There were personal disciples, regular disciples, academy students—all the young magicians were gathered there.

And they were being led by Arpina and three other mysterious-grade magicians.

Arpina noticed Leon’s arrival and spoke up.

“We’re leaving Widia immediately.”

‘We’re running away?’

As Leon realized that the situation was more serious than he thought, one of the students, who had been frowning with dissatisfaction, spoke up.

“Can’t we fight as well?”

Arpina shook her head firmly, as if there was a specific reason for leaving.

“If you fight, you’ll only face death. Especially you all. The other high-ranking magicians will hold them off here, but we’re leaving right away.”

“…Is the opponent unbeatable?”

“….”

She didn’t answer and instead turned her gaze toward the city gate, as if observing the battle between Laidra and the robed man.

Even after some time, she didn’t provide an answer.

That silence served as an answer, causing several students to clench their teeth in frustration.

Arpina turned away from their faces and approached the other mysterious-grade magicians.

She handed an extradimensional pouch to Dek, a mid-level mysterious magician.

“This contains the Tower Master’s insignia and his belongings. Keep it safe.”

Without waiting for a response, Arpina raised her palm.

Immediately, the bodies of the many gathered there began to float into the air.

Leon found himself among the regular disciples, along with Ria.

It seemed that the regular disciples were also considered non-combatants and had been included in the evacuation. It was fortunate they weren’t being left behind as useless.

Leon’s gaze fell on one of the faces in the crowd.

It was Aaron.

The man who had subtly avoided him ever since Leon became the Tower Master’s disciple.

His expression was different from the other regular disciples.

Though his face showed signs of tension, it was unlike the anxiety the others displayed.

Leon, who had always kept a wary distance from Aaron, noticed this.

And for some reason, it bothered him more than it should.