Legendary Talent
Legendary talent? Leon had never once mentioned the All-Element Affinity until now. There was no need to. From the very beginning, he had never held any expectations that it would appear.
When Leon first read the introductory mana tome, there had been a short reference to the All-Element Affinity. It was only a single line: A talent passed down solely in legends. No need to consider it. The meaning was clear—possessing affinity for every attribute was practically impossible. It wasn’t merely a top-tier talent but a singular, one-of-a-kind existence. Harboring pointless hope would only lead to crushing disappointment.
Yet here it floated before his eyes.
With a trembling hand, Leon pressed Apply.
Unlike the moment he had shifted from a single-attribute body to a triple-attribute one, the instant the new constitution took hold, his mind plunged into an abyss. It felt as though a black hole had opened inside his skull. Within his flickering consciousness, he sensed an overwhelming suction that threatened to swallow all of creation.
Then, like the birth of the primordial universe, something compressed to its limit exploded with a silent bang.
“Ah.”
In that instant, Leon drowned in pure ecstasy. The sensation was beyond anything he had felt when he first awakened his mana—an indescribable, euphoric bliss. It was as refreshing as if his brain had been plunged into ice water and yanked back out. His newly awakened senses bloomed outward, vast enough to blanket the entire city. He felt as though he could seize every single particle of mana drifting in the atmosphere and bend it to his will. An omnipotent feeling surged through him, as if anything he reached for would simply fall into his grasp.
With his senses sharpened to an extreme, Leon stared blankly at his hand, repeatedly clenching and unclenching his fist.
This was exactly like…
It’s like I’ve become a god.
Leon lingered in that feeling for a brief moment. The hair-raising sensitivity gradually subsided. The initial rush of omnipotence faded as well, yet the sensation that he could freely command the mana around him remained strong.
If he had to describe it differently, it felt familiar. As if an entirely new sensory system had been grafted onto his body.
Leon recalled the Arpina magic he had taught himself. Concepts that had eluded him before now clicked into place like perfectly meshed gears.
Ah… so that’s what it meant.
New realizations surfaced as well. The truth was, Leon had begun to feel a wall rising against Arpina’s magic. It made sense—her foundational spells only began manipulating fire at the three-star level, and Leon possessed no fire affinity whatsoever. That was one of the reasons he had longed for a new constitution. Ascending to three-star in his previous state would have slowed his growth to a crawl.
Wait… this might actually…
As his understanding of Arpina’s magic grew more refined, Leon began to sense something elusive about its underlying structure. A vague intuition that he could craft far more efficient spell formulas. Yet the feeling remained frustratingly out of reach, too hazy to grasp. It seemed his absolute foundation in magical theory was still insufficient to uncover the answer.
Leon set the ambiguity aside for now.
This is the world telling me to throw myself into training!
If he trained diligently, the answer would reveal itself in time. The rewards for his steady effort until now had already been more than generous.
After that, Leon plunged even deeper into training.
While I’m at it, let’s push all the way to third-class.
Another month slipped by.
Just in case, Leon consumed all twenty of the F-rank elixirs he had been saving. His mana quality rose from E-rank to E+. The nearly one hundred F-rank essences he had devoured were responsible. Consuming an E-rank essence might have elevated his quality in a single leap, but he had never expected such luck to begin with. Leon chose to be satisfied with the improvement itself.
Through the change in his attribute and the elixirs, he learned that even identical medicines produced different absorption rates depending on the user.
Does this vary according to talent as well?
While the new discovery excited him, it also left him bitter. Talent truly was everything. Which meant he had to train even harder.
His level rose with astonishing speed. In just one month, Leon stood at the threshold of third-class. Only five months had passed since he reached second-class.
With thirty hours of usable time remaining in the Chrono Orb, Leon stepped into the third-class realm.
Leon familiarly completed the breakthrough quest first.
The probability of obtaining rewards has increased due to the rank breakthrough.
300 hours within the Chrono Orb have been granted.
Please select an additional reward for the rank breakthrough.
Artifact (D+ Guardian Golem Summoning Flute) / Grimoire (D+ Basic Mental Purification Magic)
Was there some sort of standard for the additional rewards granted upon breaking through in rank? Leon had secretly hoped for an essence that could raise his mana quality to D-rank, but the options had changed. He briefly recalled the E-minus Triple Fireball scroll he had used on Forn. Since an E-minus spell had worked well against an Apprentice 3rd Class mage, perhaps a D+ spell would be effective against a 5th-class mage. It might even work on someone at the beginning stages of Secret Magic.
After some thought, Leon chose the artifact that could summon a golem. A green flute engraved with bizarre patterns appeared in his palm. At his current level, he still needed something that could provide physical defense. The D+ mental purification magic didn’t seem like it would see much use. Even if a situation involving mental corruption arose, he couldn’t be certain the basic purification spell would prove effective.
Leon stored the flute in his sub-space and turned his attention to the general quest.
Ever since obtaining his new constitution, the general quest rewards had alternated between elixirs and artifacts. While the rewards themselves hadn’t changed drastically from before, the increased probability meant E-rank elixirs and artifacts appeared from time to time.
Imp Essence (E-) × 2
Imp Essence (E+) × 1
And ten additional F-rank elixirs. He had already consumed five of them during training.
Through increased knowledge about elixirs, he had learned that even Imp Essences were divided into E-minus and E-plus grades. Differences in the manufacturing process led to variations in quality.
One-time Blink Scroll (E-) × 1
One-time Flame Scroll (E-) × 1
Low-grade Mana Increase Ring (E) × 1
Mana Recovery Honey Candy (F-) × 1
And nine additional F-minus one-time scrolls.
The low-grade mana amplification ring was an artifact that slightly increased mana capacity. He had yet to wear it, keeping it stored in his sub-space so other mages wouldn’t notice. The honey candy offered a similar effect but was single-use. For Leon, who could simply enter the Chrono Orb to recover his mana no matter how urgent the situation, it wasn’t particularly necessary.
Leon pressed complete on the general quest as well.
◈ Can conceal the wearer’s mana at will
◈ Capable of adjusting output from 2nd Class down to ordinary civilian levels
“Oh?”
Leon stared at the black bracelet resting in his palm. If it was the Bracelet of Concealment, did that mean it could hide his mana?
He immediately slipped it on and spent some time infusing it with mana, testing its functions. It didn’t take long for him to understand why the artifact had received a B+ rating.
As he had initially guessed, it could indeed conceal mana. But its capabilities far exceeded his expectations. He could control it completely. He could make himself appear as a 2nd-class or 1st-class mage, and if he wished, he could even look like an ordinary person with no mana at all. For Leon, who had been using crude low-grade mana concealment spells, this was the most desperately needed artifact imaginable.
A satisfied smile formed on his lips without him realizing it.
“Heh heh…”
He had obtained the Bracelet of Concealment shortly after acquiring the All-Element Affinity.
Now I won’t have to live in constant fear of someone discovering I’m secretly a mage.
Reveling in his joy, Leon simply lay down where he was. He had stayed up for several nights straight to raise his rank and felt exhausted.
Having prepared a decent stock of scrolls for any unexpected battles, Leon changed all future rewards to elixirs. Since constitution changes were no longer an option, the selection had become much simpler.
He spent another month stabilizing his third-class realm and continuing his training.
Around the time a full year had nearly passed since Leon first arrived in Widia, Lia came to visit him after a long absence. She was waiting for him in the quarters where he rested between shifts.
In the time since they had last met, Lia seemed to have matured somewhat.
Is it because it’s been so long?
Lia was also carefully studying Leon’s complexion from every angle. Thanks to the Bracelet of Concealment, he was currently masking his rank at first-class.
I’ve heard that high-ranking mages can instantly discern the ranks of those below them…
Leon couldn’t read Lia’s rank. He simply didn’t know the method.
Is it one of the common spells Arpina and Forn mentioned?
While Leon was lost in thought, Lia seemed satisfied with her inspection and finally spoke.
“You look like you’ve been doing well lately?”
“Do I?”
“Yeah. Your face looks brighter.”
Leon briefly rubbed his own cheek. He had been doing well. The gacha had given him a massive jackpot, after all. Was it that obvious?
“How about you? How have you been?”
“I’ve been training hard under Master. Lately she’s been urging me to reach 2nd Class quickly. She says if I enter 2nd Class now, I’ll be among the faster apprentices in Widia. If I had started training just a little earlier, I might have become the youngest in history to reach 2nd Class.”
If becoming 2nd Class at thirteen was considered fast, then the historical record must have been set around ten or eleven years old. Given Lia’s talent, the gap probably wasn’t that significant.
“What about that kid named Rowen?”
“Rowen is Master Meln’s disciple. He reached 2nd Class not long ago. So even though Master doesn’t say it out loud, I can tell she secretly wants me to catch up to him quickly.”
“I see. Well, he started training much earlier than you, so…”
Leon spoke as if to comfort her.
Still, the fact that she’s saying this means Lia is probably still stuck at 1st Class.
“Yeah… By the way, Leon, are you interested in Rowen?”
“Huh?”
A question mark appeared on Leon’s face, which had been lost in other thoughts. Interested in Rowen? He was simply curious because he had heard the boy also possessed a six-attribute body.
“I heard you met him a few times while working under Master. Did you like him?”
Rowen’s annoyed expression briefly flashed through Leon’s mind. Interested? Hardly.
Leon shook his head firmly.
“No way. I hate that guy.”
“…Really?”
“Yeah. Why are you asking, anyway?”
“Oh, nothing. I was just wondering if you were finally starting to notice the opposite sex…”
Leon let out a small snort of laughter. If she had said he was finally noticing training, he would have admitted it without hesitation.
After that, Leon and Lia chatted about various everyday topics. When their conversation began to wind down, Lia spoke cautiously.
“Actually… there’s going to be a public sparring match between the professors’ disciples next week… Could you come cheer me on?”
“…”
Leon reflexively began calculating whether he would have any time left for training next week. Perhaps because he didn’t answer immediately, Lia’s face fell.
“If you’re busy…”
“No, I’ll be there.”
Leon answered hurriedly.
After accepting the sub-space pouch from her, it would be too shameless to wipe my mouth clean and refuse.