The two books that Leon found in the vast, five-story magical library were the only ones related to runes.

[The Forgotten Wisdom: About Runes]
[Decoding Rune Characters]

In a library as large as this, these were the only two books available on the topic of runes.

'At least there's something,' Leon thought.

He grabbed the books and slowly opened the first one, The Forgotten Wisdom: About Runes.

"One of the most mysterious secrets in the world of magic is the 'rune.' Some may argue that runes are nothing more than long-forgotten symbols with no real power, but according to legend, they are the language of the gods and contain the fundamental forces of the universe."

The book didn’t focus on decoding the rune characters but rather on how runes had faded into obscurity throughout history.

"It is said that ancient magicians performed unbelievable miracles using the power of runes. They manipulated nature, predicted the future, and made the impossible possible. However, due to the 'irrationality' of rune characters, many magicians gradually abandoned their research on them."

"For centuries, runes remained a forgotten legend or simply a discarded script. However, with the recent discovery of some valuable ancient ruins, we now have the opportunity to once again approach the secrets of runes. As a modern magician, I intend to explore the true nature of runes…"

Leon surmised that the book had been written when ancient ruins of magicians had just begun to be uncovered.

In summary, runes were a legendary language thought to have been used by the gods. After extensive research, however, it was revealed that their power was extremely difficult to unlock, and thus, they were largely abandoned. Runes required specific combinations, patterns, and times to activate, making them difficult to interpret. Until the discovery of ancient ruins, they had been truly forgotten.

There was a brief period of renewed interest in runes when these ruins were uncovered, but it didn’t last long. The main reason for runes being forgotten again was their "irrationality."

For example, even if someone understood the meaning of a rune, they couldn’t necessarily use it. It turned out that runes required a certain "talent" to be activated. Without this talent, one couldn't even read certain rune characters, no matter how well they understood their meanings. Each person could only use specific runes, depending on their innate talent.

Unlike modern magic, which could be used regardless of one's innate attributes (as evidenced by Ria using Arpina's elemental magic or dark magicians using shadow magic without a talent for darkness), runes didn’t permit such flexibility.

Runes only widened the gap between talented and untalented individuals.

Moreover, runes were an ancient relic and were not well-suited for modern multi-element magic.

Ancient magicians may have mastered six individual elements, but they never used them in combination like modern magicians do—certainly not the way Leon was capable of.

'So, there’s no such thing as SSS-tier multi-element magic, huh?' Leon thought as he recalled the Radiance of Creation spell he had received as a reward. Although written in modern characters, the spell was essentially an interpretation of ancient magic in modern terms, meaning its essence was still rooted in ancient times.

Since S-tier magic represented a transcendental level, it seemed unlikely that any SSS-tier magic would exist for anything other than single-element spells unless some modern genius came along and invented it.

'That’s not all,' Leon mused. Even the most talented people had trouble finding rune magic that matched their abilities. Given that the origin of rune characters was still unknown, creating new rune magic was practically impossible.

Leon closed the book and turned his attention to the second one, Decoding Rune Characters.
This book contained interpretations of all 72 known rune characters.

'At least there’s this,' Leon thought.

He began turning the pages, carefully reading through the 72 rune characters. With his all-element aptitude, he had no trouble reading any of them.

After confirming that he could read every rune, Leon closed the book. When he looked up, Ria, who had been waiting patiently, approached him.

"Finished reading?"
"Ah, sorry. Did I keep you waiting too long?" Leon apologized, looking a bit sheepish. He had only intended to glance through the books but had ended up reading nearly all of them.

Ria smiled and shook her head lightly.

"No, it's fine. Are you going to borrow those books?"
"Yeah, I think I should."

Without another word, Ria walked over to the librarian and handed over her mana stone. The librarian, recognizing her, proceeded with the loan without hesitation.

"Thanks."
"Don’t mention it. It’s your first day, so I’m helping out. Once people know you’re the master’s student, you’ll be able to borrow books yourself."

After leaving the library, Leon and Ria took a slow tour of the city before meeting up with Arpina in front of the mage tower. She had promised to help set them up with a residence and a training room after they finished exploring Astellia.

"Took you long enough," Arpina remarked.
"We got delayed at the magic library," Leon explained.

They entered a small, cozy building next to the mage tower. A middle-aged man who had been seated at a desk jumped to his feet when he saw them. He was wearing the same dark blue uniform adorned with a silver star that the guards at the gate had worn.

"Elder, what brings you here?"

He asked respectfully, his gaze shifting to Leon as Arpina gave a brief explanation.

"This is my new student. Register him and assign him a residence and a training room."
"A personal student?"
"Yes."

Arpina’s tone was as calm and businesslike as ever.

The man glanced at Leon and noticed his rank—5th-level apprentice. He let out an involuntary remark.

"Apprentice level 5?"

His eyes widened in surprise, and he alternated between looking at Ria and Leon before bursting into laughter.

"Ha, ever since Arpina joined the faction, we’ve had talent flocking to us. With someone like Ria who has light attributes, and now this one…?"

"Stop with the idle chatter and get his registration done," Arpina interrupted coolly.

"Yes, of course."

The man chuckled lightly and, without showing any offense, continued to make comments about how fortunate they were. After jotting down some details in a blue ledger, he handed Leon a few items.

These included a light-blue robe, a ring with a silver star, and three D-tier essences.

The ring was a symbol that marked Leon as a personal student of Astellia.

As he looked at the ring, Leon recalled Roman, who had shown his own ring as proof of his status.

'So, Roman must be a personal student of Tela, then.'

The ring also had a minor feature that allowed it to store items in a small pocket dimension.

"The mana stone will be provided in a month," the man added. He then unrolled a scroll and began explaining the layout of the city.

"Your residence is here... and the training room will be assigned next to Ria’s. Is that alright?"
"That’s fine," Leon agreed.

Arpina, satisfied with the arrangements, nodded before turning away.

"Well done."
"Thank you."

As they exited the building, Arpina turned to Leon and asked, "Now that your registration is done… do you need anything else?"
"Hmm, no, I can’t think of anything at the moment."
"From now on, unless something special comes up, you can focus on training. I’m going to finish some research and then enter an extended period of training myself, so if you need anything, it’s best to ask within the next three months. Otherwise, just ask Reisa."

"Training?" Leon echoed, surprised. He had never seen Arpina so absorbed in training before.

"How do you think I became an elder here in just one year? It’s because I focused more on research that benefited the tower than on personal training. High-level mysticism isn’t all that special here, and I don’t plan on being surpassed by my student anytime soon."

A spark of ambition flickered in her eyes as she spoke of her determination to advance further in her abilities.

"Well, if you want to learn my Law of Harmony directly, you can come find me anytime."
"Thank you."

Arpina paused for a moment, curiosity flashing across her face.

"So, how far have you gotten?"

After glancing around to make sure no one was nearby, Leon conjured the second-tier spell of Harmony on his palm. He was just about to begin learning third-tier forbidden magic.

"I see you're practicing some other kind of magic. Is it Raedra’s magic?"

Arpina had seen Leon use lightning magic during their fight with the dark magicians, so she wasn’t surprised that he was progressing in a different kind of magic.

When Leon nodded, Arpina murmured casually, "It seems I have even more reason to push my own limits now."

"I’ve already received so much help from you."
"No need for flattery. …Oh, by the way," she added, as if something had just occurred to her, "tomorrow the tower master is gathering all the elders' personal students to give them a lesson. Would you like to attend? It might be good to make yourself known."