Easy People and Difficult People
The object in Rowen’s hand was a staff of polished ancient wood. Didn’t she use one embedded with a red mana crystal? Leon knew the staff she normally carried; he had seen it often while passing through the Magic Tower. Yet seeing a girl with vivid red hair and delicate, finely drawn features holding such a plain wooden staff felt entirely out of place.
Neither of them spoke. After a moment, her pupils began to tremble. Then she thrust a finger at him.
“You!”
“...?”
“That thing you gave me last time—what was it?”
“Candy?”
The moment Leon answered without thinking, she seized the topic.
“It wasn’t ordinary candy. How does a regular person even get something like that?”
Leon had no intention of revealing it had been a quest reward.
“What exactly do you want to say? Are you here to thank me?”
“...”
Rowen pressed her lips into a tight line. While she fidgeted, Aaron approached Leon’s side.
“Who is she?”
“Oh… the one who beat the so-called rival in the personal disciple spar?”
“Who are you calling a rival?”
She had stayed silent until now, but the small twitch at the corner of her mouth gave her away. She really is easy to read. It seemed she had overcome the frustration from that day quite well.
Leon turned back to Rowen. “So why did you come?”
“Well, you… became a general disciple, so… Even if you lack talent, you’re still working hard to become a mage, right? As your senior, I thought I could offer some advice or guidance…”
“In other words, you came to congratulate me?”
“...”
She shut her mouth again. Leon had already figured out her pattern—she only responded to the parts she wanted to address. He decided her silence could be taken as confirmation.
“Thank you. I’ll consider this repayment for the support you gave me before.”
“Ahem… Here. Take this.”
Rowen held out the ancient wooden staff. Leon tilted his head and pointed at himself.
“For me?”
“Yes. A mage should have a staff, after all. Of course you can’t use magic properly yet, so you won’t be able to wield it to its full potential. But you can train hard so that one day you’ll be worthy of this precious staff, right?”
Leon accepted it with a dazed expression. As far as he knew, a staff was no cheap item.
“You’re giving something this expensive as a celebration gift?”
“Well, you might not know. Have you never heard the name Mardelia?”
When Leon shook his head, Rowen lifted her chin in a haughty manner.
“If you don’t know, there’s no point wasting breath explaining. Just remember that I can buy staffs like this as easily as eating meals.”
She lowered her chin back to its normal position and began explaining the staff in earnest.
“It may look plain, but it contains both magic assistance and magic amplification effects. Do you even know the difference between a wand and a staff?”
Leon shook his head again. Having spent all his time training, he was ignorant of such basic knowledge. It was precisely why he had only learned public magic after reaching Apprentice 3rd Class.
“Wands specialize in magic assistance, while staffs specialize in amplification. This ancient wood staff does both.”
Rowen looked at him expectantly, clearly waiting for a reaction. Leon forced the corners of his mouth into a wide smile. He had never once desired a staff, but he still felt grateful. The burden was another matter entirely.
“Wow, thank you so much. I never imagined I’d receive a gift like this.”
“It’s creepy. Don’t ever make that face again.”
“...”
“Heh… ahem.”
She let out a small laugh before hurriedly composing herself.
“I’ll be going now. Train hard.”
As if she had truly come only to deliver the gift, Rowen turned away without hesitation. Leon stared after her retreating figure with a somewhat bewildered expression.
Aaron approached cautiously. “How do you know her? To hand over such a valuable artifact without a second thought…” His gaze lingered on the staff.
“She’s the personal disciple of another mage.”
“Oh…”
Though he spoke with admiration, his eyes showed no real surprise. When their gazes met, he quickly smoothed out his expression.
“I’m envious… If you’re close to a personal disciple, surely some benefits will come your way too.”
“...”
It was difficult to deny when he had just received a staff right in front of him. Leon had no desire to continue the conversation with Aaron and was about to bring it to a close when Peter came running in again.
“Leon, someone else is here to see you!”
The person who entered behind him was Lia.
“Wow, you…”
Aaron whipped his head toward Leon. The look in his eyes made it clear he didn’t want to know the details. This time it carried genuine feeling, which made it even more uncomfortable.
Leon deliberately ignored the stare. Feeling awkward under Aaron’s gaze, he led Lia outside the building.
“Leon.”
Only when he heard her calm voice did he realize how long it had been since they last met. The last time had been the day of her spar with Rowen. Recalling that moment made Leon’s face stiffen with awkwardness.
“Uh… yeah. It’s been a while, hasn’t it?”
He remembered leaving the sparring arena right after the disciple match ended, without even giving her a proper congratulations. No, I didn’t run away. Strictly speaking, the other mages took her away.
Seeing Lia’s composed expression, Leon felt a quiet sense of relief and asked, “What brings you here?”
“...”
She simply stared at him for a long moment before finally speaking.
“I came to congratulate you on becoming a general disciple.”
Leon scratched his cheek. “You didn’t have to… You already knew I was learning magic.”
“Yes, but… you must have had your reasons. I wanted to cheer you on. Sorry I’m late.”
Was she apologizing for coming two weeks later? Leon subtly cast a detection spell to gauge her level. He sensed 2nd Class mana. It seemed she had been busy advancing to 2nd Class as well.
After a brief pause, Leon said, “You’ve reached 2nd Class.”
“Yes.”
His words carried layers of meaning. The fact that he could tell she had reached 2nd Class implied that he himself was at least that level. It also subtly revealed that Leon, who had been a 1st Class three-attribute mage not long ago, was progressing at an abnormal rate.
Since I’ve been pretending to be an ordinary person after becoming a general disciple, she’ll know there are ways to conceal one’s level.
Lia, who now understood a fair amount about magic, would have reflected on Leon’s behavior back at the orphanage and sensed something strange. Yet she had never asked about it. Leon still had no intention of revealing anything about the Chrono Orb or the rewards he received from quests. Those were secrets he could share with no one.
Still, he resolved to reveal a small part of the many secrets he carried.
“As you probably already know…”
Before he could continue with that bold decision, she shook her head and cut him off.
“I know. That you’re hiding things. But you always have your own thoughts, Leon. I don’t want to interfere.”
“...”
Was this her way of saying he didn’t need to speak it aloud? Her consideration touched him.
“I’ll catch up to you, so just do whatever you want, Leon.”
Her eyes showed no hesitation; she truly meant it. Leon let out a soft sigh.
“Thank you. Congratulations on reaching 2nd Class. I’m glad I can finally give you a proper congratulations this time.”
“...”
When she fell silent again, Leon wondered if he had said something unnecessary and added, almost as an excuse, “I’m sorry about last time. There were too many mages around, so I couldn’t approach you.”
“I didn’t say anything, Leon.”
Looking at her calm face, Leon closed his mouth. No matter how close they were, dealing with Lia always left him feeling troubled. It would have been easier if she acted her age like Rowen, but he could never quite tell what she was thinking.
A child who was difficult to read despite her young age.
“I’m happy to receive your congratulations, Leon…”
She had been speaking calmly when she suddenly wrinkled her nose. While Leon’s face filled with confusion, she took another step closer. After standing silently for a moment, she asked,
“...Did someone visit before I arrived?”
Her gaze finally fell on the staff in Leon’s hand.
“Rowen did stop by…”
“...I see.”
After that, she seemed lost in thought, and they parted without much more conversation.
Two months passed without incident. It had been four months since he became 3rd Class. Leon now stood at the peak of 3rd Class, on the verge of breaking through to 4th Class. Even he hadn’t anticipated such rapid growth. The synergy between his talent, the elixirs, and the orb had dramatically shortened the time needed to advance.
If he had focused solely on raising his level, he would have already reached 4th Class. The reason he hadn’t was that Leon had devoted an entire month to something else—elixir refinement.
In one corner of his personal room lay various medicinal herbs and the cauldron used to brew them. On the iron plate placed to protect the floor from scorching were the remains of wooden chunks he had brought from inside the orb to use as firewood.
Once all the herbs required for an F-rank elixir had matured, Leon began serious refinement attempts. He quickly realized the process demanded more specialized skill than expected, so he spent the entire month focused solely on mastering the technique.
After completing the training necessary for his quests in the real world, he would remain outside the orb instead of entering it, devoting himself to elixir production. As a result, his accumulated time inside the Chrono Orb had only grown over the past month.
He didn’t consider the month wasted. It was preparation for crafting higher-grade elixirs later. If he could supply his own elixirs, he would be free to focus on other quest rewards during that time.
After hundreds of successes and failures over the month, he had raised his success rate considerably. Leon filled the cauldron with water using water magic, then lit a fire beneath it with fire magic.
The F-rank elixir required four herbs. To be precise, three. Planetia dew herb, tear mushroom, rainflower petals, and mist dew. The mist dew was the condensation that formed when the Planetia dew herb reached full bloom.
First he decocted the roots of the Planetia dew herb, adding the mushroom and petals at regular intervals. Finally, he mixed in the mist dew to complete the elixir. When it was time to add the mushroom and petals, Leon activated the Brem-system elixir refinement magic. A magic circle appeared between the fire and the cauldron.
The herbs inside turned mushy and rapidly dissolved, fusing with the water. While maintaining the spell, Leon used basic telekinesis to retrieve the mist dew. Concentrating, he waited for the right moment. When the magic circle gave its signal, he dropped the dew into the greenish herbal liquid.
The mixture began to boil fiercely, then simmered down. Soon every drop of moisture vanished from the cauldron, leaving behind a single round, bead-shaped green essence. Its color resembled that of an orc essence.
Since he had made it himself, he could name it whatever he wished, so the name wasn’t important. The color varied according to the refinement magic used; with only Brem-system spells available, there was nothing he could do to change it. There’s no difference in quality anyway.
The troll essence produced by famous merchant guilds was popular because it had a slightly higher chance of superior quality and commanded a marginally higher price. Since appraisal magic couldn’t distinguish between plus and minus ranks, it was only natural that the more reliably high-quality troll essence sold for more.
Of course, having consumed the various essences he received as rewards, Leon knew there was no actual difference. He tossed the essence in his hand straight into his mouth.
Not F+. Just F-rank.
The difference was something he could feel after consuming hundreds of elixirs. What a waste. Did I mistime it?
Swallowing his disappointment, Leon entered the Chrono Orb. After raising his success rate over the month, he no longer spent more than thirty minutes a day on elixir refinement. The effects of F-rank elixirs had decreased exponentially now that he was in the latter half of 3rd Class. Only F+ rank still provided a faint benefit.
It was time to set aside elixir refinement until he gathered all the herbs needed for E-rank and return to training. After finishing today’s training inside the orb and emerging, Leon felt the moment had finally arrived. It was time to use the accumulated Chrono Orb time he had stored while making elixirs to break through to 4th Class.