Training Addict Magician in a Growth-Focused Story

Training Addict Magician in a Growth-Focused Story

EP.8 Arpina’s Errand (2)

She seemed to recognize that Leon was an ordinary person by looking at his clothes. Leon inwardly sighed at the situation that seemed likely to become tiresome and spoke.

“Hello, I’m Leon, working at the old magical archive.”

Despite his polite tone, her expression didn’t soften.

“And who are you to cause a ruckus here? If you’re an ordinary person who doesn’t want to die, you wouldn’t think of making noise in a mage’s area.”

She was the one causing the ruckus. Seeing her look at him as if he were an insect, Leon decided not to explain further. He knew that most mages were steeped in magical superiority.

“Enough.”

Her mouth stopped moving at Ria’s cold murmur.

“If you don’t disappear from my sight right now, be prepared for the next duel.”

The red-haired girl hesitated for a moment, then crossed her arms and scoffed.

“Do you think I’d be scared by that? You got lucky and won once, and now you’re acting all high and mighty?”

“Let’s go.”

Leon grabbed Ria’s arm and turned away. He thought it would only be a loss to continue engaging with her. She didn’t follow them. He could hear her muttering things like “arrogant” and “insignificant,” but Leon closed his ears to it.

After putting some distance between them, Leon asked.

“Who is she?”

“Her name is Rowen. She was highly regarded for having six attributes before I came. She always comes to me saying she won’t lose to me and that she acknowledges me as a rival.”

Having six attributes was indeed an extraordinary talent.

Having all attributes except light and darkness was indeed a remarkable talent. Leon began to understand why she acted that way. Before Ria arrived, everyone who had praised Rowen had turned their attention to Ria, likely causing her to feel inferior. Not that it justified her behavior.

*****

The spatial pouch Ria had given him was extremely useful. Leon no longer had to worry about hiding his magic books and the Orb of Time and Space in places where no one could find them. He could simply store them in the spatial pouch, which brought him great relief.

Once he got used to Arpina’s errands, they became quite manageable. All he had to do was borrow books and return them, leaving him with plenty of free time. During that time, Leon read magic books and practiced small magic manifestations in front of Arpina’s research room. Since her research room occupied an entire floor, there were no passersby. Given that Arpina already knew about his abilities, there was no need to hide them. Thus, he was having relatively good days, progressing with his quests.

The only thing that troubled Leon was Rowen’s presence, whom he encountered every time he went to and from the magic tower. Today alone, excluding the first day, it was the fifth time he had run into her. Unfortunately, it was his last day of work, and his luck had been bad since morning.

“An ordinary person like you helping with Arpina’s research…”

“Then why don’t you volunteer?”

Leon replied indifferently, causing her to flare up.

“You think we’re friends just because we’ve met a few times?”

Leon looked at her calmly as she ranted. He had figured out that despite her harsh words, she never caused any real trouble in the magic tower.

“Don’t follow me. It’s annoying.”

“Who’s following whom!”

Leon waved her off and ascended to the floor where Arpina’s research room was located.

Rowen’s parting words of “Just you wait” didn’t even register with Leon. Arriving at the research room, he glanced around briefly. Seeing that the books he had seen yesterday hadn’t been thrown out, he assumed Arpina hadn’t finished reading them yet. Leon sat down and pulled a magic book from his spatial pouch.

The magic he was currently practicing was ‘Mana Concealment Magic.’ After Arpina’s incident heightened his awareness, Leon had spent all his savings to borrow a magic book from the old magical archive that could conceal his level. It was easy to see why this book had ended up in the old archive.

Firstly, the mana concealment effect was useless for first-Grade mages. It only worked from the second Grade onwards, and even then, it merely concealed them as first-Grade mages, not making them appear as ordinary people. Additionally, since this concealment magic had to be memorized constantly, it would waste memory slots for mages who, like apprentices, heavily relied on memorization.

Unless one was in a unique situation like Leon, there was no need to learn it. Leon wouldn’t have learned this magic if there had been a better method, but this was the only precaution he could take at the moment. He thought of it as preparing for when he reached the second Grade. As for the first Grade, unless someone like Arpina took a particular interest and scrutinized him, it was unlikely he’d be caught.

Leon was deeply engrossed in his reading when he suddenly felt someone’s presence and looked up. Arpina was staring at him from the front of the research room.

“Do you have something for me to do?”

“No, I was just going to tell you to return the books and then you can leave for the day…”

She crossed her arms and tapped her cheek with her finger before speaking again.

“Do you think anything will change if you just keep reading magic books alone?”

She muttered to herself and then continued.

“Having three attributes means you have some talent, right? Why don’t you think about learning properly?”

“…I don’t want to reveal myself yet.”

“You’re a funny one. You’ve already been caught by me, haven’t you?”

At those words, Leon sprang up from his seat and bowed deeply.

“Please keep it a secret.”

“…Do you think I’ll believe you’re sincere if you, who’s been so nonchalant, suddenly bow like that?”

Leon straightened up and spoke with a serious expression.

“I’m serious about keeping it a secret. If you do, you’ll be gaining a powerful ally in the future.”

Something about his words seemed to irk her. The smile that had been on her lips vanished instantly, leaving her expression sharp and unreadable.

“You’d better take back those words. Don’t use Ria for your benefit.”

Leon’s face went blank for a moment, not understanding. Then he realized she had misunderstood his reference to a powerful ally as Ria.

“No… I meant myself as the powerful ally.”

She fell silent for a moment before bursting into laughter.

“Pfft!”

She laughed uncontrollably for a while. Was it really that funny? Leon’s expression turned sour.

“You, my powerful ally? Haha… Puhaha!”

“No, I mean…”

“Mean what?”

“Never mind.”

She wiped away the tears that had formed at the corners of her eyes.

“That’s the funniest thing I’ve heard all year.”

“If you think it’s just bravado, there’s nothing I can do.”

“Do you know what kind of mage I am?”

Leon’s words weren’t meant to consider her status. They were based on his confidence in becoming stronger in the future. Therefore, it didn’t matter what kind of mage she was. Leon calmly shook his head and spoke.

“One day, you will undoubtedly need my help.”

“…Is that so?”

She seemed to ponder for a moment, still chuckling, before speaking.

“Ah, this is amusing. Come in.”

She invited Leon into her research room. Approaching a library filled with books, she snapped her fingers, and a book floated out from the shelves. The book hovered in the air and then floated towards Leon.

“Take it. It’s for you.”

Leon hastily caught the falling book and examined the cover.

‘Arpina’s Basic Four Elements Magic.’

“To be precise, it’s for the future you who will be of help.”

Hearing her voice mixed with laughter, Leon gripped the book tightly. Despite her casual demeanor, he realized how precious this magic book was.

“You understand this doesn’t mean I’m taking you as my disciple, right?”

“I understand. Thank you.”

“I don’t know who your master is, but seeing you rummaging through trashy magic books alone, they must be quite an inadequate mage. They might feel quite humiliated.”

Her smirk seemed to mock Leon’s supposed master.

‘She has a mischievous side to her personality.’

But since Leon had no master, it didn’t matter to him.

*****

After finishing work, Leon didn’t head straight to the dormitory but instead went to the merit exchange center. Arpina had given him an additional 50 merit points as a reward for his efforts. He wondered if it was alright for her to distribute merit points so freely based on her mood, but it wasn’t his concern. This brought his total merit points to 120. Even after being assigned a private room, he would have 20 points left.

He applied for a private room at the merit exchange center and then returned to the dormitory.

“Lulu~”

In truth, Leon did have a purpose when he mentioned becoming an ally to Arpina. He hadn’t expected to receive her unique magic book; he just wanted to ask her a few questions. Memorizing basic magic for water, wind, and earth was easy, but he had been at a loss about how to harmonize these three elements. He hadn’t expected things to turn out this way.

Upon returning to the dormitory, Leon immediately opened the book Arpina had given him.

‘Arpina’s Basic Four Elements Magic.’

Although the magic names weren’t specified, the fact that it had the suffix ‘系’ (system) meant it was a unique magic she had created. According to Ria, Arpina was a high-level mage of the Mystical rank. In the hierarchy of mages—Apprentice, Arcane, Mystical, Insight, and Transcendent—she was at the pinnacle of Mystical.

The four-element magic she had created encompassed fire, water, wind, and earth. Since it dealt with all four elements, it included basic magic for each. Although Leon didn’t possess the fire attribute, the rest matched perfectly. He no longer needed to worry about obtaining high-level magic books until he reached the Arcane rank at least.

Moreover, the book contained answers to his questions about how to harmonize various attributes. The unique feature of Arpina’s magic, or rather the Widia School’s magic, was ‘harmony.’ As it was the unique magic of a high-level mage from the Widia School, it naturally dealt with harmony.

Leon began to delve into the magic book all day long. After a week, he was assigned a private room and began his training in earnest.

Six months passed this way.