The Ancient Mage's Lair (5)

Leon twitched his eyebrows as he examined his condition. It had been four days since he endured the excruciating pain of his core forcibly expanding, as if his flesh were being torn apart. Though his mind remained fully conscious, he found himself in a strange, hazy state. He didn’t experience the usual clarity of mind or the sharp expansion of his senses that typically came with breaking through to a higher rank. He couldn’t even tell whether he had truly advanced or not. It was an ambiguous sensation, like hovering halfway between stages.

Only when he noticed the semi-transparent window floating before his eyes did Leon realize he had indeed risen in rank.

In the meantime, after consuming thirty elixirs, his mana quality had also improved from E+ to D-. He hadn’t even had time to savor the thrilling, pleasant sensation that usually accompanied an increase in mana quality.

Leon then checked the rewards for his rank advancement.

Hmm…

Until now, the grade of his additional rewards had steadily increased, but this time both options were C+ grade—the same as ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠before.

That’s not what matters.

A C+ grade elixir called Balanced Essence. It wasn’t a purified essence or a concentrated liquid. He couldn’t grasp its exact meaning from the name alone, but for Leon—whose core was unstable—the name immediately caught his attention. Was there really an elixir capable of stabilizing mana? He had never heard of such a thing.

A vague sense of unease settled over him. Of all times, an elixir like this appeared precisely when he needed mana stabilization?

Leon reviewed the additional rewards he had received so far. Purified essence when he desperately needed elixirs. A guardian golem when he needed protection. The Glory of Lightning from the Raidra style when he urgently required a spellbook. And now, Balanced Essence when his mana needed stabilization.

They’re giving me exactly what I need…

Did this reward system possess some kind of intent? While he wasn’t sure about regular quest rewards, the additional rewards given directly felt far too blatant.

This is practically openly helping me.

Come to think of it…

The fact that All-Element Affinity appeared on the 300th reward might not have been purely due to my luck either.

Even if he had only received ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠F-grade rewards repeatedly, the fact that he had manifested All-Element Affinity made him consider himself quite fortunate. Leon calmed his complicated thoughts and selected the Balanced Essence. He changed the reward for the automatically completed regular quest into an artifact. It was preparation for dealing with the golems waiting outside.

With the increased reward probability, even a D-grade item was now considered average. Leon stared at the Balanced Essence resting in his palm. It was a transparent cubic crystal about the size of a thumb joint. Though clear, faint blue and purple hues swirled inside like a vortex.

When he examined it with detection magic, it turned out to be an elixir that could repair a damaged core and calm unstable mana. Leon’s core wasn’t in a critically damaged state, but consuming it would stabilize his currently unstable mana condition.

For now, he set the crystal down without eating it. His original plan had been to raise his rank first, then use the time granted by the orb to make up for his insufficient enlightenment. The so-called “take now, pay later” strategy.

The Chrono Orb time he now possessed totaled 673 hours—roughly twenty-eight days he could spend entirely inside the orb. During that time, he intended to elevate his consciousness to match his newly elevated rank.

If it hadn’t been for the Balanced Essence…

Leon examined the remaining essences. Fourteen C-grade essences, five B-grade essences, and one A-grade essence.

He placed eight C-grade essences in his palm and fell into thought. The Balanced Essence was C+ grade. C-grade essences already had an effect even on Secret Magic ranks. Consuming them at Apprentice Class 5 felt like a waste.

I should be able to handle it up to the Secret Magic rank.

Leon tossed all eight essences into his mouth at once.

“Ugh…”

The essences had no taste, yet for some reason they triggered dry heaves. And so another two days of agony passed.

When Leon, sitting in lotus position, opened his eyes again, three B-grade essences now rested in his palm.

“Haha…”

A laugh escaped him. Despite the smile on his face, he hesitated to put the essences in his mouth.

“Haha… haa…”

With his eyes tightly shut, Leon shoved the three B-grade essences into his dry mouth. As they melted and sublimated into mana, penetrating deep into his body, the sensation barely registered. His already uncontrollable mana was rampaging wildly, causing his entire body to throb.

Then, suddenly, his mind grew distant. Forcing his way through a moment that required proper enlightenment left his consciousness hazy. Within a thread of awareness that felt like it might snap at any moment, Leon struggled to regain his senses, but ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠it was no use.

Right before he lost consciousness, he instinctively swallowed the Balanced Essence. The instant he felt something seep into his rampaging mana, Leon blacked out.

When Leon opened his eyes again, even in his dazed state he realized he had stepped into the realm of Secret Magic.

…It feels exactly the same as when I reached Class 5.

A hazy state where he couldn’t tell whether he had truly become a Secret Magic mage or not. A state best described as “halfway there.” Still, Leon was satisfied with even this much. Had it not been for the Balanced Essence, he might not have merely hovered at the halfway point—he might have failed the breakthrough entirely. Then he would have been forced to consume all the remaining essences.

I can’t do that anymore…

No matter how talented one was with All-Element Affinity, attempting such a reckless method while advancing from Secret Magic to Mystery would cause a far more severe imbalance between consciousness and core.

Besides, obtaining enough essences for that would be nearly impossible.

On the surface of his core—which had grown more than twice as large as when he was Class 5—thin, thread-like strands writhed. Among them, three long strands extended out and connected to his head. These were the Threads of Will, a characteristic of Secret Magic mages.

Leon immediately realized that three threads was an abnormal number. And not in a good way.

When an ordinary talented mage reached Secret Magic, two to three threads would emerge from their core and connect to their head. These threads enabled multiple incantations. Given Leon’s talent, if he had advanced to Secret Magic normally, at least nine or ten threads should have connected to his head. That would have allowed him to perform nine-fold or even ten-fold incantations.

Because he had not achieved this rank through proper enlightenment, his “will” had yet to catch up to the realm of Secret Magic.

In truth, the additional reward was somewhat different from what Leon had hoped for while consuming the B-grade essences. He had wanted a powerful artifact, but the Mirror of Truth… just from the name, it ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠didn’t seem like an artifact with overwhelming destructive power. On the contrary, the spellbook felt far more necessary to him right now.

Is it not giving me what I want, but what I need most at this moment?

Leon fell into thought as he faced the two options. Now that he had reached B-grade, both rewards were attractive enough that choosing was genuinely difficult. The Mirror of Truth seemed to be an artifact capable of detecting lies or seeing through hidden opponents. Meanwhile, the B+ grade Wood magic was a spell usable even up to the Mystery rank. Moreover, it was an elemental magic Leon did not yet possess.

In the end, Leon chose Ten Thousand Leaves. A book with a green cover dropped into his palm.

Before examining it, he first checked the Mileage Exchange Center.

Five of the same grade, huh…

Considering the term “mileage,” it seemed like a system that allowed him to trade in useless rewards. For now, Leon accepted the regular quest reward.

Leon immediately noticed the change. Instead of automatically receiving it, he could now choose whether to accept or decline.

Does declining add to my mileage?

However, he liked this reward too much to decline it. Although the increased reward probability meant F-grade items rarely appeared anymore, the ability to convert them into mileage if they did was still beneficial. When Leon selected confirm, three pairs of golden wings fell into his palm.

They were small enough to fit in his hand, but when he infused them with mana, they grew large enough to attach to his back. Upon examination with detection magic, they turned out to be a floating magic support artifact. They reduced the mana consumption of floating spells and allowed for three dramatic bursts of acceleration. After three uses, acceleration could not be used again for a full day.

The color is a bit… not to my taste.

The golden color would be far too conspicuous once attached to his back. Still, he was satisfied that they would allow him to escape dangerous situations.

There was one more change.

The regular quest had changed from Basic Magic Training to simply Training.

…Does that mean even just performing the breathing method will count toward the quest?

It seemed the system was now telling him to train however he wished, having provided some general direction. It felt strange to assume the system had any particular intent, but considering everything that had happened so far, it was a reasonable guess.

The surface of the Chrono Orb displayed the white number 1693. This included the 1500 hours received as a rank breakthrough reward, plus 20 hours from the two automatically completed regular quests…

Huh?

It was ten hours more than Leon had calculated.

The regular quest reward increased to 20 hours now that I’ve reached Secret Magic…

It seemed the higher his rank became, the more time he needed to devote to training, and the reward had increased accordingly. After finishing his calculations, Leon grasped the orb tightly.

It had been two weeks since he entered this training room.

Now it’s time to pay it back…

Once inside the orb, Leon did not emerge for two full months. He had even brought the jar containing the nutrition fruits into the orb with him.

For the first two weeks, he spent his time stabilizing the mana he had gained upon reaching Secret Magic. The following month was devoted to training the 4-star and 5-star spells of Arpina’s basic magic—spells he had been unable to practice while raising his rank with elixirs—in order to make up for his lacking enlightenment. During the final two weeks, he began dabbling in the Secret Magic spell Glory of Lightning from the Raidra style while continuing to practice Arpina’s basic magic in parallel.

Glory of Lightning was not a spell one trained systematically from the basics. It was explicitly a spell that began at the Secret Magic level. Only at the 1-star level did it deal with basic magic; from 2-star onward, it involved high-level magic. Upon reaching 3-star, one had to immediately begin refining Secret Magic spells.

Secret Magic spells could be used perfectly once one reached the end of the Secret Magic Beginner stage. They were powerful one-hit spells. At the Secret Magic High stage, their power grew even greater.

I still can’t use it yet…

Even after two months, he had not fully entered the Secret Magic realm.

If I leave the lair, I’ll have to lock myself in the training room for another three months without moving…

He had not yet reached the stage where consciousness itself became the manifestation of magic, but the fact that his incantation process had been significantly shortened was still encouraging.

The remaining time in the orb was 250 hours. He decided to save this in case of emergencies.

Upon returning to reality, Leon extended his index finger.

“Brain Light.”

A tiny bead-shaped spark of electricity formed above his fingertip. When he hurled it at the wall, the bead made contact and spread across the entire surface with a crackling sound. Thanks to the protective magic circle, the wall suffered no significant damage.

“Fall.”

When he drew his finger downward from above, a small bolt of lightning formed in the empty ceiling and struck down.

“Not bad.”

Both were 2-star spells from Glory of Lightning: Brain Light and Lightning Strike. The 1-star spells of Glory of Lightning were Spark, which generated small amounts of electricity, and Lightning Bolt, which fired the generated electricity like an arrow. Both were foundational magics required to learn the 2-star spells. He hadn’t touched any other basic lightning magic because they weren’t necessary for learning Glory of Lightning.

After acquiring the 1-star spells over two weeks, Leon had begun dabbling in the 2-star spells as well.

The power is still weak… but it’s definitely stronger than Apprentice magic.

Perhaps because Glory of Lightning itself was an aggressive spell, the difference felt even more pronounced.

Leon spent four more days in reality mastering the 2-star spells of Glory of Lightning. He planned to acquire a few more artifacts as regular quest rewards before leaving. After spending four days training twenty hours in reality and ten hours inside the orb each day, Leon rose to his feet once he had grown reasonably familiar with the 2-star spells.