Training Addict Magician in a Growth-Focused Story

Training Addict Magician in a Growth-Focused Story

EP.18 Easy Person, Difficult Person

In Rowen’s hand was a staff made of ancient wood with a neat appearance.

‘Didn’t she use a staff embedded with a red mana crystal?’

Leon, who had seen her original staff while passing through the magic tower, found it odd. The girl with red hair and delicate features holding an ancient wooden staff seemed completely mismatched.

“…”

Neither of them spoke. Soon, her pupils began to tremble, and she suddenly pointed a finger at Leon.

“You!”

“…?”

“That… that thing you gave me last time, what was it?”

“Candy?”

When Leon answered as it came to mind, she latched onto the topic.

“It wasn’t just any candy. How did an ordinary person get something like that?”

Leon had no intention of revealing that he received it as a quest reward.

“What do you want to say? Thank you?”

“…”

Rowen clammed up. While she hesitated, Aaron approached Leon.

“Who is she?”

“Uh… someone who defeated her rival in a personal disciple duel?”

“Who decided she was my rival?”

After remaining silent, she stepped in to correct him, her lips twitching slightly.

‘She’s really easy to read…’

Fortunately, it seemed she had overcome the frustration she had experienced at that time. Leon asked Rowen again.

“So, why did you come?”

“You… became an ordinary disciple, and even though you lack talent, you’re striving to become a mage, right? As a senior mage, I can give advice or guidance…”

“You came to congratulate me?”

“…”

She closed her mouth again. It seemed she only responded to what she wanted to hear. Leon figured out why Rowen had come to see him. He took her silence as affirmation.

“Thanks. I’ll take it as a return for the support you gave me last time.”

“Ahem… Here, take this.”

Rowen handed the ancient wood staff she had been holding to Leon. He tilted his head and pointed to himself.

“Is this for me?”

“Yes, a mage should at least have a staff. Of course, you can’t use magic properly yet, but you can train hard to use this precious staff, can’t you?”

Leon accepted the staff with a bewildered expression. As far as he knew, a staff was not a cheap item.

“You’re giving me this expensive gift as a celebration?”

“Well, you might not know. Have you ever heard the name Mardelia?”

When Leon shook his head, Rowen, with a haughty expression, lifted her chin and said,

“There’s no need to explain further if you don’t know. Just understand that I can buy such staffs as easily as one eats a meal.”

She then put her chin down and began to explain the staff to Leon.

“It might not look like much, but it includes both magical assistance and amplification effects. Do you know the difference between a wand and a staff?”

Leon shook his head again. Immersed in his training, he was ignorant of such common knowledge. It was no wonder he had only learned common magic after becoming an apprentice third-rank mage.

“A wand primarily assists with magic, while a staff primarily amplifies it. But this ancient wood staff does both.”

Rowen looked at Leon as if expecting a reaction. She seemed eager to see his response. Leon forced a long smile. He had never thought about wanting a staff, but he appreciated the gesture nonetheless, despite the awkwardness.

“Wow, thank you so much. I never thought I’d receive such a gift.”

“That’s creepy. Don’t make that face again.”

“…”

“Ha… ahem.”

She stifled a laugh and quickly composed herself.

“Well, I’ll be going now. Work hard.”

Leon watched Rowen’s retreating figure with a mix of gratitude and bewilderment, wondering if she had come just to give him the gift. Aaron approached him cautiously and asked,

“How do you know her? For her to give you such a valuable artifact…”

He trailed off, staring intently at the staff.

“She’s another mage’s personal disciple.”

“Oh…”

Though he spoke in admiration, his eyes showed no surprise. When his gaze met Leon’s, he quickly masked his expression.

“I’m envious… Having connections with a personal disciple must come with its perks.”

“…”

It was hard to deny the connection when he had just received a staff in front of Aaron. Leon, who had no intention of continuing the conversation, was about to wrap it up when Peter burst in again.

“Leon, someone else is here to see you.”

This time, it was Ria who walked in.

“Wow, you…”

Aaron turned his head sharply to look at Leon, his eyes filled with curiosity he didn’t want to voice. This time, the sincerity in his gaze made it even more uncomfortable. Leon tried his best to ignore it.

Feeling uneasy under Aaron’s gaze, Leon took Ria outside the building.

“Leon.”

Her calm voice reminded Leon that it had been quite a while since he last saw her. The last time was the day of the duel between Ria and Rowen. Remembering that day, Leon’s face grew a bit awkward.

“Uh, uh… It’s been a while, hasn’t it?”

He recalled how he had fled the dueling ground without properly congratulating her after the duel.

‘No, I didn’t flee. Technically, other mages took Ria away.’

Seeing Ria’s composed expression, Leon felt a bit relieved and asked,

“What’s up?”

“…”

She stared at Leon in silence for a moment before finally speaking.

“I came to congratulate you on becoming an ordinary disciple.”

Leon scratched his cheek.

“You didn’t have to… You already knew I was learning magic.”

“Yes, but… I wanted to support you because I know you must have had your reasons. Sorry for being late.”

Was she apologizing for coming two weeks late?

Leon subtly used detection magic to gauge Ria’s level. He sensed the mana of a second-rank mage. It seemed she had been busy advancing to the second rank during this time. After a moment of contemplation, Leon spoke.

“You’ve reached the second rank?”

“Yes.”

Leon’s words carried significant meaning. Recognizing her advancement implied that Leon himself was at least a second-rank mage. This subtly indicated that Leon, who had been a first-rank mage with three attributes not long ago, was growing at an abnormal rate.

‘Since I’ve been pretending to be an ordinary disciple, she must know there’s a way to hide one’s level.’

Ria, now more knowledgeable about magic, would have recalled Leon’s actions from the orphanage and sensed something unusual. Yet, she had not questioned him until now. Leon had no intention of revealing the Orb of Time and Space or the rewards he received from quests. Those were secrets he could not share with anyone.

However, Leon decided to reveal a small part of his many secrets.

“You probably know, but…”

Just as he made this bold decision and began to speak, she shook her head, cutting him off.

“I know. I know you have something you’re hiding. But I don’t want to interfere because you always have your reasons.”

“…”

Was this Ria’s way of showing consideration, implying he didn’t need to voice it?

“I’ll follow you, so just do what you want, Leon.”

Her eyes showed no hesitation, as if she genuinely believed what she was saying. Leon let out a shallow sigh and said,

“Thank you. Congratulations on reaching the second rank as well. I’m glad I can properly congratulate you this time.”

“…”

Seeing her fall silent again, Leon wondered if he had said something unnecessary and continued speaking as if to explain himself.

“Sorry about last time. There were too many mages around, so I couldn’t get close.”

“I didn’t say anything, Leon.”

Seeing Ria’s calm face, Leon fell silent. Despite being the person he confided in the most, Leon often found himself at a loss when dealing with her. If she behaved more like Rowen, acting her age, it would be easier to interact with her. But Ria was a child whose thoughts were hard to read, even at her young age.

“I’m happy to receive your congratulations, Leon…”

As she continued speaking calmly, she suddenly wrinkled her nose slightly. While Leon’s face filled with curiosity, she took a step closer to him. After standing silently for a moment, she asked,

“…Did someone come before I did?”

Her gaze finally landed on the staff Leon was holding.

“Rowen came by…”

“…I see.”

After that, she seemed lost in thought, and they parted ways without much more conversation.

*****

Two months passed without incident. It had been four months since Leon reached the third rank. He was now at the brink of the fourth rank. His growth rate was something even he hadn’t anticipated. The synergy of his talent, elixirs, and the orb had drastically reduced the time needed to advance in rank. If he had focused solely on advancing his rank, he would have already reached the fourth rank.

The reason he hadn’t was that Leon had spent a month focusing on something else: elixir crafting.

One corner of Leon’s private room was cluttered with various herbs and a cauldron used for brewing them.

On the iron plate laid out to prevent the floor from getting scorched, there were remnants of wooden logs taken from the orb, used as firewood. After all the herbs needed for the F-rank elixir had grown, Leon seriously attempted elixir crafting. He soon realized that it required more specialized skills than he had anticipated, so he dedicated an entire month to mastering the crafting techniques.

Instead of entering the orb after completing his training for quest completion in reality, Leon stayed in the real world to focus on elixir crafting. Consequently, the time within the orb accumulated over the month. He didn’t consider this a waste of time; it was preparation for crafting higher-grade elixirs in the future. By being able to supply elixirs himself, he could focus on other quest rewards during that time.

Through hundreds of trials and errors over the month, Leon significantly increased his success rate. He filled the cauldron with water using water magic and lit a fire under it with fire magic. The F-rank elixir required four types of herbs. To be precise, three types.

‘Planetia Dew Herb, Tear Mushroom, Petals of Rainflower, and Mist Dew.’

Among these, Mist Dew was the dew that formed when Planetia Dew Herb was in full bloom. The process involved first simmering the roots of Planetia Dew Herb, adding the mushrooms and petals at specific intervals, and finally mixing in the Mist Dew to complete the elixir.

Leon activated the Brem lineage elixir crafting magic as he added the mushrooms and petals. A magic circle formed between the fire and the cauldron. The herbs inside the cauldron began to soften and quickly dissolved, merging with the water. Maintaining the magic, Leon used basic telekinesis to retrieve the Mist Dew.

Focusing and waiting for the right moment, Leon dropped the dew into the greenish herbal mixture as soon as the magic circle signaled. The herbal mixture began to bubble and reduce. Eventually, all the liquid evaporated, leaving behind a single round green essence in the cauldron.

Its color resembled that of an orc’s essence. Naming it was up to Leon, as he was the one who crafted the elixir, so he didn’t worry too much about it.

The color of the essence depended on the elixir crafting magic used, and since he only had access to Brem lineage magic, there was no way to change it despite his efforts.

‘There’s no difference in quality.’

Although the essence crafted by famous merchant guilds was popular, the higher quality was only slightly more likely, and the price varied a bit. Since appraisal magic couldn’t distinguish the pluses and minuses of elixir grades, it was natural that the essence from renowned guilds, which guaranteed a certain level of quality, was more expensive.

Of course, Leon, who had consumed various essences as quest rewards, knew there was no difference. He popped the essence into his mouth.

‘It’s not F+ grade. It’s F grade.’

Leon could tell the difference from his experience of consuming hundreds of elixirs.

‘What a shame. Was the timing off?’

Swallowing his disappointment, Leon entered the orb. After increasing his success rate over the month, he no longer spent more than 30 minutes a day crafting elixirs. The effect of F-grade elixirs had exponentially decreased as he reached the latter stages of the third rank. Only F+ grade elixirs had a slight effect.

He decided to pause elixir crafting until he gathered all the herbs needed for E-grade elixirs and focus on his training again. After completing his daily training inside the orb, Leon felt that the time had finally come. It was time to use the accumulated orb time from elixir crafting to break through to the fourth rank.