Arpina's soft smile quickly froze.

"You…"

Her voice carried disbelief.

"You're at mid-level Mysticism?"

Arpina's eyes were filled with undeniable doubt. She knew Leon's exact age and his original magical attribute. His growth to mid-level Mysticism within a year was nothing short of astonishing to her.

There was a clear reason why Leon didn’t bother hiding his power. When he had first shown his abilities as a low-level Mystic while being pursued by Teneiron, it was Arpina who had gifted him her unique magic.

She was one of the few people Leon trusted, so revealing his rank to her didn’t feel burdensome.

The real issue lay with Leicia, who was listening in from the side.

‘I have to trust Arpina,’ Leon thought as he sighed lightly and composed himself. His decision to head toward the Astellia School was based on the fact that Arpina could provide him with the support he needed in difficult situations.

As expected, Leicia’s eyes widened in shock. She, too, was a gifted magician who had reached apprentice level 5 at the age of 18.

‘He must be younger than me…’

Leon still had a youthful face, making it difficult to even call him a young adult. Leicia knew that Leon was childhood friends with Ria, and she had heard from Arpina that Leon was incredibly talented, but reaching mid-level Mysticism exceeded her imagination.

‘Ria, with her light attribute, is still only at apprentice level 3…’

Of course, Ria came from a small kingdom and hadn’t received much support. She hadn’t become Arpina’s apprentice until around the age of 12, whereas most imperial magicians began learning to awaken mana around 7 or 8 years old.

But wasn’t it the same for him? And yet he was at mid-level Mysticism? No matter how she thought about it, it didn’t make sense.

As Leicia stood in stunned silence, Arpina shifted her gaze toward her.

Arpina read the concern in Leon’s expression and silently conveyed her intentions to Leicia.

“There’s no need to worry. As someone sharing the same mentor, I won’t go around talking about it carelessly.”

“What?”

Leon raised his eyebrows and glanced at Leicia, then turned his gaze to Arpina.

“The same mentor?”

Just as Arpina awkwardly looked away, the door to the lab suddenly burst open, and someone rushed in.

Gray hair dove into Leon's arms in an instant.

“Ria.”

“…You’re so mean.”

With her face buried in Leon’s chest, Ria mumbled softly.

“You could have at least seen me before leaving. Do you know how worried I was?”

“I’m sorry.”

From Ria’s perspective, it had all been so sudden. After being knocked unconscious by a Mystic’s attack, she had woken up to find Leon gone and herself whisked away to an unfamiliar place with Arpina.

She shook her head against Leon’s chest, as if to say she didn’t mention it for an apology.

“You don’t need to apologize. It’s my fault for not being able to help you.”

Ria lifted her head from his chest.

“I missed you.”

At that, Leon quickly realized what Ria wanted to hear. Though a hint of hesitation flashed across his face, he responded soon after.

“...I missed you, too.”

At that moment, Leon felt something squirming near his chest. Kito, who had been hiding inside his robe, seemed uncomfortable with Ria pressing down on him and wriggled in protest.

As soon as Ria pulled away, a small figure darted out from Leon’s robe and floated into the air.

Everyone’s attention immediately shifted to the figure.

Kito, now free, shook himself off and flew up to perch on top of Leon's head.

Arpina stared at Kito in disbelief.

“This is… a magical beast? No, a divine beast?”

“Don’t mind me. Go about your business. Just… don’t go jumping into your master’s arms like that.”

“…”

Though Kito's comment stemmed from the discomfort of being crushed, Ria tilted her head, staring curiously at Kito. Her expression slowly darkened.

“Master?”

Kito ignored Ria’s question, casually flapping his wings as he circled above Leon’s head. Ria's gaze persistently followed Kito’s movements.

Arpina sighed deeply, her tone resigned.

“You… you really are a mystery.”

He had reached mid-level Mysticism at 15, could disappear without a trace of mana, and now even a divine beast was calling him its master.

Leon consistently defied Arpina’s expectations.

Once things had settled down, Leon, Arpina, Leicia, and Ria gathered around a table.

“So, you coming all the way here means you’ve decided to join the school, right?”

Leon nodded in response to Arpina’s question.

“In that case, you’ll feel most comfortable as my apprentice.”

When Leon looked at her, Arpina averted her gaze and cleared her throat awkwardly.

“It’s not because I have any ulterior motives. It’ll just be easier to explain your abilities that way. And if you're my apprentice, no one will question anything, even if something seems suspicious.”

There was no deception in Arpina’s increasingly serious expression.

“I understand why you hid your abilities up until now. Being captured and brought to Wydia with Ria, you wouldn’t have had anyone to trust. But now that you’ve revealed your rank to me, can I take that to mean you trust me?”

“Of course.”

Arpina smiled at his answer and continued.

“You enjoy training, so there won’t be any issues with you training here. You’ll be able to do it in a stable environment.”

“Is this place structured similarly to Wydia?”

“Not quite. You must have noticed when you arrived, but the magicians here are much more advanced than in Wydia.”

Sensing Leon’s curiosity about Astellia, Arpina naturally continued her explanation.

“There are no commoners like the entrance residents of Wydia here. However, we do have general apprentices, most of whom are apprentice-level magicians.”

It seemed that the general apprentices handled the tasks that were typically performed by the entrance residents in Wydia.

“The system for general apprentices here is much more organized. There are over a thousand of them in Astellia alone.”

In comparison to Wydia, where there were only about a dozen general apprentices, Astellia was on an entirely different scale. As Leon gradually understood the structure, he nodded.

“The talented ones are taken in as personal apprentices by senior magicians. Unlike in Wydia, where they carefully choose their personal apprentices, here, if a magician finds someone whose talent suits their magic, they take them in. Of course, part of that is because we have a larger talent pool.”

“Who’s the tower master?”

“Glios. He’s a high-level Insight magician. Under him, there are 12 elders, and I’m the 12th. As a personal apprentice of one of the elders, you’ll be treated very well.”

“That’s true,” Leicia chimed in, nodding in agreement.

“While the personal apprentices of professors are certainly talented, the personal apprentices of elders are seen as the future of the school.”

“Whatever your goals may be, you’ll have plenty of support for your training here. Far more than you would in Wydia.”

“I see.”

Leon voiced another question.

“Do you enter an academy when you reach adulthood here, too?”

“Oh, no. That’s different from Wydia. We don’t run an academy here.”

“It's just general apprentices and personal apprentices, then?”

“Yes, but every year, we select talented individuals to attend the academy in the Imperial capital.”

“The academy in the Imperial capital… Is there a reason for that?”

At his question, Arpina chuckled softly.

“You’ll learn why soon enough. Once you become my personal apprentice, that is.”

“Yes, I suppose I will.”

“Good. Then, as for your rank…”

Leon calmly responded, having already made his decision.

“I’ll be registering as a 5th-level apprentice.”

Arpina didn’t question the decision and accepted it.

“All right. If I hadn’t seen you myself back in Wydia, I’d have thought you were a polymorphed dragon having fun. Although, claiming to be a 5th-level apprentice might not make much of a difference.”

She seemed to feel that it was time to wrap up the conversation.

“Why don’t you take a look around Astellia? Get a feel for the place.”

“I’d like that.”

It was something Leon had been planning to ask for anyway, especially to quickly locate the library.

“I could show him around…” Leicia started to offer, but her voice trailed off as Ria quickly stood up and grabbed Leon by the wrist.

“I’ll show him.”

“Sure.”

The two naturally left Arpina’s study.

Once outside the tower, the cityscape of Astellia spread out before them.

Leon and Ria rose into the air together.

The first thing that caught Leon’s eye was the row of plain buildings near the city gates. They were arranged neatly, almost like modern apartment complexes.

“These are all training facilities,” Ria explained as they flew deeper into the city.

The scenery changed dramatically as they approached the city’s center.

In contrast to the simple buildings on the outskirts, the structures here were grand and ornate, towering far larger than anything they had seen before. It was clear that this area housed the training facilities for personal apprentices, separate from those of the general apprentices.

“The training rooms here aren’t just extravagant on the outside. Inside, they’re equipped with advanced features. The concentration of mana is much higher, and they’re all protected by magic circles, so you can use magic freely.”

Ria pointed toward the grander buildings as she spoke.

“You’ll probably be training over there.”

Leon took note of the location and nodded. However, the place he was most curious about was elsewhere.

“Where’s the library?”

Ria studied Leon’s face for a moment before stepping ahead.

“Let’s go there first. The library is further inside.”

Leon followed Ria, and it wasn’t long before they landed and entered the library. The sheer size of it took Leon by surprise.

‘I figured it would be big, but…’

The library, filled with rows of tightly packed books, exuded a timeless atmosphere. It felt as if time had stopped, with the silence enveloping the shelves creating the sense of stepping into a different world.

Leon slowly walked through the library, taking in the surroundings, until he reached an artifact for book searches. He reached out and touched the screen.

Typing in Runes on the artifact's screen, he pressed enter.

With a soft beep, the screen displayed the result.

[Forgotten Wisdom, About Runes] (4F-17)