Training Addict Magician in a Growth-Focused Story

Training Addict Magician in a Growth-Focused Story

EP.40 The City of Adventurers

“I have something I need to do.”

Arpina wasn’t disheartened by Leon’s refusal.

She knew the reason.

Arpina glanced at the human form of the monster bird lying asleep.

“Is it because of that thing you need to find within a month?”

Arpina had overheard the conversation between Kito and Leon.

Leon nodded and took Kito, placing him on his head.

Having used magic recklessly without a core, they needed to find a core within a month.

Naturally, they couldn’t keep him inside the orb.

Arpina clicked her tongue in disappointment.

“A Mystic-level dark magician will be chasing me, so splitting up might be one way.”

“Wait a moment.”

Leon used a detection spell.

“You think that guy is dead…”

Arpina thought Leon was trying to find any surviving dark magicians, but he wasn’t.

Leon suddenly flew over to the gouged-out ground, causing Arpina to stop talking and watch quietly.

Leon stopped at one spot after passing over the ground for a while.

“Black Orb.”

Leon called out his earth-elemental familiar, which started digging.

Soon, a color-faded broomstick appeared.

Seeing it, Leon’s face filled with regret.

“Persistent bastard… If I get it repaired by a magitech engineer, it should be usable.”

As expected of an A-rank artifact useful even at the Insight level, it hadn’t broken despite the impact of the grand spell.

Though it was broken.

Leon glanced at Arpina.

Noticing the meaning behind his gaze, Arpina chuckled.

“Take it.”

“Thank you.”

“…And take this too.”

Arpina pulled out a book and handed it to Leon.

[The Principles of Harmony by Arpina.]

It was an advanced magic book on the four elemental basics.

Fire, water, wind, earth, wood, and electricity.

It covered a wide range of magic for all six elements and how to harmonize them.

Leon, who had given up on finding multi-elemental magic in rewards, was thinking of creating new magic by linking various elements himself.

This harmony magic would undoubtedly be a great help.

Being able to summon powerful familiars of the six elements, it was at least a C-rank magic book.

“Think of it as a parting gift.”

“…Can I really accept this?”

“You’ve already learned my magic, haven’t you? It seems like you’re using it well.”

Arpina hid her satisfaction as Leon carefully accepted the book.

‘If he learns this too, I can’t deny he’s my disciple anymore.’

Hiding her ulterior motives, Arpina looked at Ria with a bittersweet smile.

“I’m already worried about how much she’ll nag when she wakes up.”

“Please explain it well. I’ll come visit.”

“Sure.”

The golden wings on Leon’s back fluttered.

“Once you resolve your matters, come to the Empire. And seek out the Astellia School.”

Leon said he would head to the Western Beast Forest from here.

Although he didn’t know the plans beyond that, he couldn’t keep evading Tenelon’s pursuit forever.

He could wait until Tenelon retreated back into the shadows, but with Tenelon’s tower master having reached the intermediate level of Insight, it wouldn’t be easy for them to back down.

And it was too much of a waste for someone with Leon’s talent to stay hidden for long.

“…Are you confident you can evade their pursuit?”

“Yes.”

Arpina looked at Leon with a sense of regret.

“Will you come find me?”

“I will.”

*****

The dark magician Hayden, along with eight other magicians, were chasing the boy at the beginner level of Arcane, who was fleeing with his golden wings fluttering.

Among the eight dark magicians, Hayden was at the advanced level of Arcane.

The remaining seven were at the beginner level.

Even if the Mystic-level magician had split off to capture Arpina, the number of magicians was more than enough to capture a single beginner-level magician and tie him to the experimental table.

“Can a magician be this despicable?”

“I’ve never seen anyone more despicable than this brat, even among us dark magicians.”

They discovered the black-haired boy while chasing him.

At first, they laughed when they saw him floating in the air as if he had been waiting for them.

But then, as if he didn’t care about wasting mana, he unleashed nine spells in succession and fled in an instant with his golden wings fluttering.

When they tracked his traces again, the boy, now full of mana, unleashed another nine spells.

In the chaotic exchange of spells, one of their comrades died with a wooden sword stuck in his neck.

After seeing that, he fled again.

Sometimes his traces would completely disappear, only to be found again in places they had already passed.

It seemed he also had a stealth artifact.

Having done that over ten times, they were beyond angry and felt utterly defeated.

The group of dark magicians, originally twelve, had been reduced to eight.

“Damn it, I can’t take this shit anymore.”

“Do we really have to chase that brat like this?”

“They said they couldn’t catch Arpina either. What do you think they’ll say if we fail too?”

“But a civilian city is coming up soon.”

“We have to catch him before we get there. If that brat hides in a civilian city, it’ll be a real headache.”

The civilian city of Silin was just ahead.

In a civilian city where ordinary people lived, no one could openly use magic.

Even Tenelon, who had openly invaded Widia, wouldn’t want to turn the entire kingdom against him.

Of course, as long as magic wasn’t used “openly,” lower-level individuals could still be secretly killed by dark magicians.

In fact, the chances of dying without being able to respond were higher.

However, this didn’t apply to a boy at the level of Arcane.

“Hey, look, that brat is waiting over there.”

He was standing with his palm raised, waiting for them.

They already knew what that gesture meant.

Boom—

Nine bolts of lightning struck.

As they tried to block the familiar lightning, they noticed that one of the bolts carried an unusual power.

It was the power of a beginner-level Mystic.

Only then did they notice the scroll in the boy’s other hand.

Hayden was hit by the bolt imbued with Mystic-level power and fell to the ground.

Thud—

Hayden died as his body hit the ground.

One of the dark magicians, staring in disbelief at Hayden’s falling figure, spoke up.

“Hey… Hey, everyone run! He’s a monster.”

“Was he hiding his power?”

“It’s the power of the scroll, you idiot!”

“Where would he get a scroll like that!”

“How should I know!”

This time, the boy chased after them as they fled.

The situation had reversed in an instant.

“Get to the ground!”

To use their specialty, shadow melding, they landed and scattered hurriedly.

As the seven beginner-level Arcane magicians scattered and began to flee, Leon, who had also landed, grinned.

Although it was a pity to use the one B-rank magic amplification scroll he had, he couldn’t miss the opportunity to completely eradicate the pursuit.

Leon first rummaged through the advanced-level magician’s belongings and took the subspace pouch.

His actions were leisurely.

Defeating the remaining beginner-level Arcane magicians one by one was the easiest task for Leon.

Although Leon was at the beginner level of Arcane, he had already surpassed the level of magicians of the same rank.

His inherent magical skills and the artifacts he possessed were on a different level.

‘I had been facing opponents of much higher levels all this time.’

Of course, surviving against them was fortunate in itself.

‘Let’s not get complacent.’

Having regained his composure after a long time, he seemed to be unintentionally excited.

Leon wiped the smile off his face and immediately used shadow melding to hide in the shadows.

Leon hunted down the dark magicians one by one, taking their pouches from their corpses.

“Ah, you devil…”

Hearing such words from the last remaining dark magician gave Leon a peculiar feeling.

“Being called a devil by you guys is a compliment, isn’t it?”

“Our boss won’t leave you alone.”

“Do you think an Insight-level magician would care about your deaths?”

“…”

He had just said it casually, but there was no response.

It seemed they really didn’t care.

Well, even Raidera was obsessed only with his own training.

Leon drove the wooden sword into the dark magician’s chest.

*****

Leon pretended to head to the civilian city but then flew straight towards the Western Beast Forest.

It took a week just to fly there.

That was even with continuously replenishing his mana inside the orb.

The closest place to the Western Beast Forest was the free city of Crest.

Leon changed into a different robe inside the orb and entered the city.

Unlike other civilian cities, the guards of Crest didn’t pay much attention to the appearances of those coming and going.

It was a free city in the truest sense.

Adventurers of all kinds roamed the streets.

Mercenaries and knights equipped with armor were a common sight, and lower-level magicians were occasionally seen.

They were wandering magicians who had left the magic tower.

They gathered in nearby taverns to drink or loitered in front of lower-tier weapon shops and armories.

The atmosphere was livelier and freer than in a quiet magic city.

Walking a bit further towards the center, a massive adventurer guild headquarters stood.

In the courtyard in front of the guild building, adventurers were trading their hunts or conversing with what seemed to be their party members.

It was clear at a glance that the adventurer system was deeply rooted in this city.

Having surveyed the city, Leon, with his robe pulled over his head, stood inside the adventurer guild, facing a receptionist.

The female receptionist, who had been sitting at the desk, stood up abruptly.

“What? An Apprentice Third-Class?”

Her voice was loud enough to draw the attention of the adventurers inside.

Leon pulled his robe further down over his head.

To find Kito’s core, he needed to venture quite deep into the Western Beast Forest, but he wanted to gather information about the forest first, so he chose to become an adventurer.

The receptionist had said that as long as he proved his skills, he could quickly obtain a bronze adventurer’s badge.

That would allow him to enter and exit the forest entrance naturally.

Leon concealed his rank as an Apprentice Third-Class.

In truth, he no longer felt the need to hide his rank.

Having already surpassed the level of his peers, showing his beginner-level Arcane was essentially the same as hiding his true abilities.

However, if a beginner-level Arcane boy suddenly appeared in the free city, Tenelon might take notice.

Although this city was far from Widia and Meyra, it wouldn’t hurt to be cautious.

‘There’s a significant gap between an apprentice and Arcane… Third-Class should be fine, right?’

…Or so he thought, but he hadn’t expected such a reaction.

Were the skills of wandering magicians not that great?

“Please wait a moment!”

The receptionist looked Leon up and down, then stepped out from behind the desk and headed up the stairs to the second floor.

Soon, she returned with a man whose face was covered in a thick beard.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Maxius, the guild master.”

He bowed politely.

“You’re an Apprentice Third-Class magician?”

Leon, accustomed to a world where magicians would immediately cast detection spells to gauge each other’s rank, was taken aback by the courteous demeanor.