The Grand Scheme
Leon ultimately failed to find the book he sought in the central archive. He had fed every conceivable keyword into the book-searching artifact, yet he discovered not a single volume that matched what he wanted. In the end, he only transcribed a few history-related texts and left with those.
Carrying his disappointment, Leon was heading for the training room when he encountered a familiar face on the first floor. It was the regular disciple, Peter. The always-busy but lively Peter smiled awkwardly the instant he saw Leon. The sight immediately made Leon feel awkward as well.
“You don’t need to speak so formally to me. You’ve become the Tower Master’s personal disciple, after all.”
“No…”
Everyone knew it was only a nominal title. Even so, their reactions left Leon unsure how to respond. He had resigned himself to an awkward parting when Peter suddenly seemed to remember something and rummaged through his robes.
“Now that I think about it, you mentioned entering first-class. I never gave you this. You might not need it, but…”
What Peter offered was a lowest-grade water magic tome.
“I didn’t know your attributes, so I’ll start with this. Shall I leave the others in front of your exclusive training room…?”
“Ah… I’ll find them myself. Thank you.”
Leon accepted the magic book and started up the stairs, only to tilt his head in belated confusion.
Exclusive training room?
He slapped his own forehead. Having monopolized a single training room from the start, the others had apparently begun treating it as Leon’s personal space.
Still, I can’t switch rooms at this point…
Feeling a vague discomfort, Leon entered the training room.
Maybe my first steps in Widia were simply wrong… No matter where I go, my position feels ambiguous.
Even after becoming the Tower Master’s personal disciple, the sense of being an outsider refused to fade.
Well, I really am an outsider…
Leon shook his head. He decided to be grateful that he could train without restraint. The regular disciples’ training room was cramped and lacked protective magic circles, making it unsuitable for someone who had already reached Esoteric Beginner. Still, since he was currently focused solely on raising his consciousness through Arpina’s foundational spells, it wasn’t a problem.
But the time to train higher-level magic was fast approaching. He also needed to refine his Esoteric Magic.
He currently stood on the very threshold of becoming a complete Esoteric Beginner. One more insight into harmony—the core of Arpina’s five-star magic—would likely push him over the edge.
His current threads of will numbered eight. Gaining the insight would bring them to nine. Had he advanced through normal stages, they would have reached ten, but this was the price of his explosive rank increase. Naturally, further advancement would eventually offset that cost.
It was not at all premature to begin preparing for the next rank.
That’s exactly why I stockpiled Chrono Orb time.
Training twenty hours in reality and only ten inside the orb meant thirty hours of orb time accumulated each day. Before he knew it, the total had reached 3,050 hours—enough to spend four full months inside the orb. The feat was only possible because he had devoted himself entirely to training for three months, barely sleeping.
Until I complete Esoteric Beginner, I’ll cut back on real-world training.
Leon stepped into the Chrono Orb.
Over those three months of relentless training, he had realized many things. First was the sheer passage of time inside the orb. He had now spent at least a full year within it. At first he had worried his physical growth was abnormally slow, but on reflection, his body was developing exactly as expected for a fourteen-year-old.
Does aging simply not occur inside the orb?
More precisely, Leon’s own aging. Forn’s corpse and that of the red-haired man had already decomposed into skeletons. The medicinal herbs had continued to grow. For aging to be halted, the effect had to apply exclusively to Leon himself.
If the orb is truly user-exclusive, that would make sense…
When every convenient function had been incorporated, stopping only the owner’s aging was perfectly logical. Spending one more year inside would likely provide a definitive answer.
“When do you plan to go?”
Kito, currently in her human form after polymorphing, circled Leon as she spoke. She had returned just as he was about to begin training. While exploring the orb, she had discovered a massive lake. The water within it felt extraordinary, so she had brought some back for him.
The water carried a mysterious energy, yet Leon still hadn’t found a practical use for it. Simply drinking it produced no noticeable effect despite the aura it gave off.
“Once I can reliably use Esoteric Magic, we’ll go.”
“Understood. It won’t be long now.”
To Kito, a few months was indeed a short time. She had recovered enough to use complete basic magic. Her recovery remained slow without her core, but she had reached a state where leaving the orb posed no major issue.
Her core was hidden in the Western Demonic Beast Forest, adjacent to the Vasprion Kingdom. He didn’t know exactly how the dark mages had stored a formless core separately, but after witnessing their atrocities, he now understood such things were not impossible.
Leon sat down and assumed a lotus position.
The rewards he had received over the past three months numbered around 180. In the early stages he had focused on artifacts to strengthen his immediate power, then alternated between artifacts and magic tomes. The probability had now risen enough that D-rank rewards had become the norm. F-rank and E-rank still appeared two or three times out of every ten, but he converted them all to mileage except for Blink.
The notable D-rank scrolls included Underwater Prison, Explosion, Wind Blade, and Healing Aura. Healing Aura was a scroll that enabled wide-area basic healing magic.
Among the useful C-rank scrolls were Gravity Well, which could manipulate gravity within a set range with enough force to affect even High Esoteric practitioners, and Illusion Creation. The latter produced illusions indistinguishable from reality; he could control an exact duplicate of himself for ten minutes according to his will, though it could not cast spells.
There were also various attribute attack spells that reached High Esoteric. The B-rank scroll was Magic Amplification, which could temporarily elevate Esoteric Magic to Mystery-rank power for a single cast. Using it with Mystery Beginner magic would push the output to high rank.
The C+ artifact was the Guardian Robe. Engraved with defensive circles, it automatically generated a barrier upon receiving an attack. Twelve circles capable of blocking everything from Esoteric to Mystery Beginner magic were inscribed upon it; once consumed, the robe’s power would fade.
The B-rank artifact was an exclusive subspace pouch that only the first person to infuse it with mana could open.
Aside from those with a plus modifier, all D-rank artifacts were converted to mileage. They had been nothing but staves, wands, levitation aids, mana-increasing items, and shield artifacts.
Using the accumulated D-rank mileage, he had drawn a C+ artifact: the Bell of Confusion. Ringing it could disturb the minds of anyone who heard the sound. It would likely prove even more effective when paired with his magic sword. Unfortunately, since it affected everyone except the user, it was not ideal to use in the presence of allies.
The artifacts had all been reasonably useful. The problem was the magic tomes. D-rank tomes were completely unnecessary, and after securing suitable C-rank fire, water, and earth spells, he had been forced to convert everything else to mileage.
The only somewhat useful magic book among them was Pas iota Empire Elixir Refining Magic (C+).
For attribute magic, he still needed options beyond the ones he was currently learning: wind magic Gale (C+), lightning magic Glory of Lightning (C+), wood magic Ten Thousand Leaves (B+), and sword magic Sword that Scatters Moonlight (?). Finding tomes that appealed to him was surprisingly difficult. Ideally, something even stronger in the same attribute would appear. The requirements were exceedingly strict.
He had prayed for multi-attribute magic more than once or twice while receiving rewards.
I really have terrible gacha luck…
Right in the middle of that thought, Genesis Radiance appeared.
Genesis Radiance
SSS-grade Light/Time magic. Perceive all mana flows, see exactly one second into the future, and predict immediate developments.
No point in holding out any longer.
Since it was once again time to raise his rank, he needed to switch his rewards to elixirs. After acquiring All-Element Affinity, his efficiency with elixirs had risen dramatically. Originally he would have needed D+ to C-rank essences, but even D-rank essences proved effective up to Beginner stage. That allowed him to accept elixirs more comfortably as rewards. He still had some left from the rare draws as well.
It was not too late to begin preparations.
It would be nice if the elixir refining method appeared, too.
The current situation was manageable, but he could not rely solely on elixir rewards forever. He would need the recipe for the future.
Having finished his thoughts, Leon immersed himself in training once more. He would not leave the orb until he could wield Esoteric Magic.
A deep underground chamber shrouded in darkness. A chandelier crafted from black crystal hung from the ceiling, emitting a faint purple glow. At the center stood a massive obsidian table.
The heavy voice of the man seated at the head of the table reverberated through the space.
“The time has come.”
Several figures sat around him. The woman closest to the head answered in a voice drenched with ecstasy.
“Finally…! You have broken through the wall. I cannot express how long I have waited for this day.”
Another man spoke in a rigid tone, as though he had been holding his breath.
“The plan we built so carefully has suffered no major setbacks. Except for one matter…”
“The task assigned to that man Forn?”
“You even remembered his name. Yes, that is the one.”
The woman who had first spoken let out a soft chuckle.
“It is nothing more than a trivial detail. It holds no influence over our grand scheme.”
“And the monstrous bird…?”
“Merely a coreless monster. We already extracted everything of value from it.”
“Then… the true beginning is upon us. Widia was the first stage, correct?”
“How convenient that Widia is also what interfered with our plans.”
“This should be entertaining.”
The remaining figures at the table each added their own words. The realization that they no longer needed to hide in the shadows made every heart around the table begin to pound violently.