episode_0018

The object in Rowan’s hand was a neat-looking, old wooden staff.

‘Didn’t you use a staff with a red mana crystal embedded in it?’

It was Leon who passed by the magic tower and knew the staff she originally used.

A girl with red hair and dense facial features holding a staff of old trees looked completely out of place.

“… .”

She was silent, and Leon was silent too.

Soon her pupils began to shake and she suddenly pointed her finger at Leon.

“You!”

“… ?”

“What did you give me last time?”

“Candy?”

When Leon answered as soon as it occurred to him, she suddenly brought up the topic.

“It’s not just candy. Where would a normal person get something like that?”

Leon had no intention of saying that he had received it as a quest reward.

“What do you want to say? Thank you?”

“… .”

Rowan kept his mouth shut.

While she was hesitating, Aaron approached Leon.

“Who are you?”

“Uh… …Who beat their rival in a personal disciple duel?”

“Who is your rival?”

The corners of her lips twitched slightly as she stood up and corrected herself after saying nothing.

‘It’s really easy to understand… … .’

Fortunately, it seems that he was able to overcome the frustration he experienced back then.

Leon asked Rowan again.

“Why did you come here?”

“You said you became a regular disciple… . Even though you have no talent, you want to become a wizard, right? As a senior wizard, you can give him advice or counsel… … .”

“You mean you came to congratulate me?”

“… .”

She shut her mouth again.

If you look closely, you’ll see that he’s only answering what he wants to say.

Leon figured out why Rowan had come to see him.

Silence could be interpreted as affirmation.

“Thank you. I’ll think of it as a reward for your support last time.”

“Ahem… … Okay, this.”

Rowan handed the old wooden staff he was holding to Leon.

Leon tilted his head and pointed at himself with his finger.

“Are you giving it to me?”

“Yes, a so-called magician needs a staff. Of course, you can’t use magic right now, so you won’t be able to use it properly, but you can train hard to use this precious staff, right?”

Leon received the staff with a bewildered expression.

As far as Leon knew, the staff was not worth a penny or two.

“You’re giving this expensive thing as a congratulatory gift?”

“Well, you might not know. Haven’t you heard of the name Mardelia?”

As Leon shook his head, Rowan lifted his chin and spoke with a haughty expression.

“If you don’t know, there’s no need to explain it to me. Just know that staff like that can live off of it like eating rice.”

At this point, she returned her chin to its original position and began to explain to Leon about the staff.

“Even though it looks bad, it includes both magic assistance and magic amplification effects. Do you know the difference between a wand and a staff?”

Leon shook his head again.

Leon, who was only immersed in training, was ignorant of this common sense.

It wasn’t for nothing that I learned public magic as a third-level apprentice magician.

“The wand is mainly used for magic assistance, and the staff is mainly used for magic amplification. But this old tree staff takes care of both.”

Rowan looks at Leon as if asking how he is.

It seemed like he was expecting Leon’s reaction.

Leon forced the corners of his lips to elongate.

I’ve never thought about having a staff, but I guess I still have that desire.

Apart from the burden, that is.

“Wow, thank you so much. I can’t believe I received such a gift.”

“That’s disgusting. Don’t make that face again.”

“… .”

“Huh… big.”

She burst into laughter, then quickly straightened her expression.

“Then I’ll go, so work hard.”

Leon looked at Rowan’s back with a trembling look as he turned around, wondering if he really only intended to give her a gift.

Aaron approached Leon cautiously and asked.

“How did you know each other? You would even give me such a precious artifact… … .”

He stared at the staff, his words trailing off.

“I am another wizard’s personal disciple.”

“Oh… … .”

Although he spoke with admiration, his eyes showed no sign of surprise.

When Leon’s eyes met, he quickly averted his gaze.

“I’m jealous… … . If you have a personal relationship with a disciple, you’ll get what you deserve too.”

“… .”

I couldn’t say no because the staff was attacked right in front of me.

Leon, who had no intention of talking to Aaron any longer, was about to end the conversation when Peter ran in again.

“Leon, who came to see you again?”

The person who came in with those words was Leah.

“Wow, you… … .”

Aaron turned his head and looked at Leon.

It was a look in my eyes that I didn’t really want to know what it meant.

This time it was more awkward because it was sincere.

Leon tried hard to ignore the gaze.

Leon, who felt uncomfortable under Aaron’s gaze, took Leah out of the building.

“Leon.”

Only when he heard her calm voice did Leon remember that it had been quite a while since he had seen Leah.

The last time I saw you was on the day of Leah and Rowan’s duel.

Thinking back to that time, Leon’s face became somewhat awkward.

“Uh, uh… … It’s been a while, right? ”

I remembered running away from the training ground after the disciples’ duel without even being able to properly congratulate them.

‘No, she didn’t run away. Strictly speaking, other wizards took Leah away.’

Leon asked, feeling relieved inside as he looked at Leah’s calm expression.

“What’s going on?”

“… .”

She looked at Leon for a moment without saying anything, then belatedly opened her mouth.

“I wanted to congratulate you on becoming a regular disciple.”

Leon scratched the ball.

“You don’t have to do that… …You already know that I learned magic.”

“Yeah, but… I guess Leon did it because he had something in mind. He wanted to cheer me on. Sorry I’m late. ”

Are you sorry for coming back two weeks later?

Leon used a quick exploration spell to determine Leah’s location.

I felt a second-class magical power.

Perhaps she too has been busy trying to rise to the second level.

Leon thought for a moment and then said.

“You became a 2nd grader?”

“Yeah.”

Leon’s words contained a lot of meaning.

The fact that she had noticed that he had become a 2nd-class person meant that Leon was also a 2nd-class person, and it was a subtle indication that Leon, who had been a 1st-class person of the Trinity until recently, was growing abnormally.

‘Since I’ve become a regular disciple and am acting like a regular person, I’m sure you know there’s a way to hide your true nature.’

Now that Leah has learned a fair bit about magic, she must have felt a bit strange as she recalls Leon’s behavior since the orphanage.

And yet, no one has asked anything until now.

Leon still had no intention of talking about the Orb of Time and Space or the rewards from quests.

That was Leon’s secret that he couldn’t tell anyone.

However, Leon decided to reveal some of the many secrets he had.

“As you know… … .”

He opened his mouth with such a bold decision, but she shook her head and stopped Leon from speaking.

“I know. Leon has something to hide. But Leon always has his own thoughts, so I don’t want to disturb him.”

“… .”

Is this Leah’s consideration that she doesn’t have to say it out loud?

“I’ll follow you, so Leon can do whatever he wants.”

Leah seemed to really think so, her eyes not even wavering.

Leon said with a shallow sigh.

“Thank you. Congratulations on becoming a 2nd grader. I’m glad I can congratulate you properly this time.”

“… .”

Looking at her again who had become silent, Leon felt like he had said something pointless, so he continued speaking as if making an excuse.

“I’m sorry about last time. There were too many wizards around so I couldn’t get close.”

“I didn’t say anything, Leon.”

Leon shut his mouth as he looked at Leah’s calm face.

Aside from being the most open with her, Leon certainly encountered difficulties often when dealing with Leah.

If she had acted more appropriately for her age, like Rowan, it would have been easier for her to be treated, but it was hard to guess what Leah was thinking.

A child whose thoughts are difficult to read even at a young age.

“I’m glad I could receive congratulations from Leon… … .”

She continued to speak calmly, but suddenly wrinkled her nose.

As Leon’s face turned quizzical, she took a step closer to him.

She stood silently for a moment, then asked.

“… … Did someone come and go before I did?”

Only then did her gaze turn to the staff Leon was holding.

“Rowen came and went… .”

“… Really?”

After that, I parted ways with her without being able to talk to her any further as she seemed lost in thought.

***

Two months passed without any problems.

It was four months after I became a 3rd grader.

Leon had reached the end of the third level and was about to enter the fourth level.

It was a growth rate that even Leon did not expect.

The synergy of talent, elixir, and jewels has drastically reduced the time it takes to level up.

If I had only focused on raising my level, I would have already reached level 4.

The reason why it couldn’t be done was because Leon had been away for a month.

It was none other than the manufacture of elixirs.

On one side of Leon’s private room, various herbs and a cauldron used to boil them were strewn about.

On the iron plate laid to prevent the floor from getting sooty, there were traces of wooden pieces taken from inside the treasure being used as firewood.

After Leon had grown all the herbs needed for the F-grade elixir, he began to seriously attempt to make the elixir.

As I did this, I realized that it required more specialized skills than I thought, so I focused on mastering manufacturing techniques for a month.

After completing the training required to complete the quest in reality, instead of entering the jewel, he remained in reality and focused on making elixirs.

As a result, the time I had was just piling up for a month.

I didn’t feel like a month was a waste of time. I was just preparing to make higher grade elixirs later.

Being able to supply elixirs yourself allows you to focus on other quest rewards during that time.

By repeating this hundreds of times over the course of a month, I was able to increase my chances of success considerably.

Leon used water magic to fill the cauldron with water, and used fire magic to light a fire underneath the cauldron.

There were four herbs used to make the F-grade elixir.

To be exact, three things.

‘Planetia dewdrop, teardrop mushroom, petal of rain flower, misty dew.’

Among these, the misty dew was the dew that formed when the Planetia dew flower was in full bloom.

Boil the roots of the Planetia Dewdrop first, then add mushrooms and petals at regular intervals, and mix in the misty dew at the end to complete the elixir.

When Leon added mushrooms and flower petals, he activated the Brem’s elixir making magic.

A magic circle appeared between the fire and the cauldron.

The herbs in the herbal medicine pot quickly dissolved and blended with the water.

Leon pulled out the mist dew with basic telekinesis while maintaining his magic.

Leon, who had been waiting for the right timing with concentration, immediately dropped dew on the green-tinged herb water as soon as the signal came from the magic circle.

As the herb water began to boil, it began to boil.

Soon, all the moisture in the herbal medicine pot disappeared, and a single, round, bead-shaped green essence was left.

The color was similar to the essence of orc.

There was no need to worry too much about the name, since it was up to Leon, who created the elixir, to give it whatever he wanted.

The color changed depending on the elixir making magic, so unless you had Brem magic at hand, it wasn’t something you could change no matter how hard you tried.

‘There is no difference in quality.’

Although the essence of play made by famous top companies is popular, the probability of high quality is slightly higher, and the price is slightly different.

Since it is impossible to distinguish between the plus and minus grades of elixirs with emotional magic, it was natural that the price of the essence of play, which had a certain level of guaranteed quality, was high.

Of course, Leon, who had tried each of the essences that came as a reward, knew that there was no difference.

Leon poured the essence he was holding into his mouth.

‘It’s not an F+ grade. It’s an F grade.’

The difference was palpable to Leon, who had taken the elixir hundreds of times.

‘What a pity. Was the timing wrong?’

Leon swallowed his regret and entered the jewel.

After increasing my chances of success for a month, I didn’t spend more than 30 minutes a day making elixirs.

This is because the effectiveness of F-grade elixirs decreases exponentially as you reach the latter half of Grade 3.

Only the F+ grade showed a minimal effect.

It was time to stop making elixirs and focus on training again until all the herbs needed to make E-grade elixirs were gathered.

Leon, who had just finished his training in the orb today, felt that his time had finally come.

It was when I broke through to level 4 by using the jewel time I had accumulated while making elixirs.