NoveLight ™
After a long time, Leon stepped back into the training room and resumed his practice. He entered directly into his orb.
This training aimed to bring his arts to the peak of the advanced level, particularly by enhancing the arts magic Glorious Thunderbolt to its advanced state and completing Leaf of Myriad at an arts-level proficiency.
However, this process required steady progress.
First, Leon planted the C-grade herbs he had bought from Pirein one by one within the orb, preparing everything carefully.
Then, he opted to change his quest reward from elixirs to artifacts. Since C-grade essences had proven effective up to the beginning of the Mystical level, there was no need to choose elixirs as quest rewards anymore.
Leaf of Myriad was a wood-attribute magic of B+ grade, meaning it would remain useful up to the Mystical level.
At the 1-star level, it simply granted the ability to create small branches. But with the 2-star magic, it unlocked more specialized support spells.
For instance, Flora was a wide-range magic that encouraged grass and flowers to grow around him, boosting mana for those within the area.
Then there was Grow, which could summon a small tree that served as a sturdy defense. Branches from the tree could be utilized for various spells, and standing near it also provided a mild healing effect.
The arts magic, Leaf of Myriad, which he could eventually achieve through this process, was even more potent.
It transformed the surroundings into dense foliage, summoning a massive tree. Anyone within the grasslands surrounding the tree received a powerful, wide-reaching healing effect, concentrated on those Leon designated.
While learning the magic, Leon's mind drifted frequently to the World Tree.
‘Is Leaf of Myriad similar to the branch of the World Tree? It would be even closer if it contained holy power.’
He considered that Leaf of Myriad might be a lesser form of magic comparable to the World Tree branch’s abilities, though he couldn’t be sure, as the spell had come as a quest reward.
After a month of rigorous training within the orb—amounting to only twelve hours in reality—Leon emerged briefly from the orb.
He restocked the orb with provisions and continued training in reality to receive his quest rewards. He also needed to keep the time within the orb consistently recharged.
“Grow.”
As Leon chanted, a small tree sprouted in one corner of the training room. The tree was slightly taller than Leon, emitting a faint ripple of mana around it.
“It’s almost like a stamina totem, isn’t it?”
Though it wasn’t at the level of high light-attribute healing magic, or even basic healing magic, it was useful for quick stamina recovery when he was fatigued.
“Well, everything will change once it reaches arts magic level.”
While Leaf of Myriad hadn’t yet reached arts-level mastery, it would provide a significantly stronger healing effect once completed.
Once Leaf of Myriad reached the arts level, Leon would have completed arts magic in all elements except light and darkness.
Having mastered the Law of Harmony from the intermediate to advanced levels with Arpina’s guidance, he now possessed fundamental abilities in all elements.
Light and darkness could be substituted with SSS-grade magic.
Upon reaching the Mystical level, Leon resolved to start researching how to combine these spells into a unified form.
‘The question is… whether or not to go to the academy once I reach Mystical beginner level.’
The academy could provide detailed knowledge on ritual structures and research methodologies, which would undoubtedly aid in creating new magic.
But completing the academy would be a lengthy process, requiring a minimum of six years.
‘They did mention early admission… maybe early graduation would be possible too.’
Leon set this consideration aside for now.
If he found magic creation impossible solely through the insights gained at Mystical beginner level, he would then consider entering the academy.
In reality, Leon spent time practicing Leaf of Myriad and crafting golems.
As days passed in reality, Leon felt his spatial pouch gradually fill with scrolls, a sensation he hadn’t experienced in a while.
Focused on advancing his level, he hadn’t had many opportunities to earn other rewards. But now, as he began receiving artifacts as rewards, single-use scrolls accumulated steadily.
Among them, the teleport scroll was a welcome return, an item that had proven very useful to him in the past.
As his level advanced, B-grade rewards became more frequent, yet teleport scrolls had remained scarce, so this addition was timely.
He might not have acquired Gigantes without it.
The mana amplification scroll was a single-use scroll that enhanced the power of Leon’s magic to Mystical level for one use.
He also collected a few C-grade magic scrolls, including notable ones like:
Additionally, he stored E- and D-grade artifacts in the orb instead of trading them for mileage points, in case someone in his faction might find them useful.
‘It seems F-grade artifacts are becoming rare.’
As he reached the advanced level of arts, F-grade artifacts appeared less frequently.
Even when they did, the probability was lower than receiving a B-grade artifact.
For golems, he created an upgraded version of Neo, named Io. While it retained Neo’s core functions with added equipment and capabilities, Io was markedly stronger in combat, equipped with the Tempest spell.
Since he didn’t plan to auction off Io, he installed Surging Torrent instead of Tempest.
Additionally, his secrets of creation advanced, allowing him to make superior golems.
The first among them was a reconnaissance insect golem, which he called Scout Bee. This small golem, capable of concealment, could fire stingers from its tail, resembling a real bee.
The stinger could be infused with poison, but Leon hesitated over which poison to use.
Initially, he tried Kito’s venom, but as soon as he injected it, the golem’s body melted rapidly. Even mithril, a material Astelia now provided periodically, couldn’t withstand the potent venom.
“It would need to be neutralized or diluted. Those Teneron people didn’t research it for nothing.”
That had been Kito’s comment upon seeing the result.
Indeed, they had used Kito’s venom for their poison fog beads and had even created a poison bottle from it.
“Wasn’t Forne’s method to use a rare mineral called Purge Stone?”
“Purge Stone?”
“It’s a mineral that can gradually purify poison contained within it. Forne would place my venom in the stone, then remove it once it was manageable. The poison bottle you have was diluted that way.”
“I see…”
This field of poison required further study.
For now, Leon decided to hold off on adding venom to the Scout Bees.
While he could use the existing poison bottle, the Scout Bee would need to be deployed in numbers to be effective, making the single bottle insufficient.
Next, he created an advanced version of the armor golem, the Knight Golem.
Initially, he had planned to merge it with Io, but with too many features causing system overload, he ended up making it a separate golem.
The standalone Knight Golem, named Kai, was crafted with gray mithril and was slightly larger than an average person.
It was equipped with a gray helmet and a mithril sword—simple but functional.
“Your name is ‘Kai.’”
“….”
The helmeted knight nodded silently.
Thus, Leon’s entourage of golems now included Neo, Io, and Kai. While Neo would remain near Leon’s training area to assist, Io and Kai would also serve as Leon’s guards.
Together, they looked almost like siblings.
He also considered an advanced gargoyle golem, the Drake Golem, but this enormous golem would require a considerable amount of mithril, so he postponed the plan.
Gigantes was still in the process of replicating orichalcum with the matter replication box, so Leon hadn’t attempted that project either.
‘Tasks remaining: neutralizing Kito’s venom, merging Io with the Knight Golem, and obtaining sufficient materials.’
Around a month and a half later, someone came looking for Leon.
It was Arpina.