Training Addict Magician in a Growth-Focused Story

Training Addict Magician in a Growth-Focused Story

EP.19 Regular Exchange Festival (1)

Since reaching the third rank, Leon had received rewards over the past four months and could clearly feel the increased probabilities. Out of ten rewards, roughly three to four were E-rank, and one was D-rank.

After stabilizing his ability to craft F-rank elixirs, Leon fixed his rewards on spellbooks. He began focusing on spellbooks to obtain high-level spells for when he became a arcane-level mage. The arcane level was a stage that a mage with three attributes could reach only after more than 20 years of consistent training. However, Leon felt that even preparing now might be too late.

At his current pace, he would reach the arcane level within one to two years, but he lacked high-level spells prepared for that stage. The only spell he had from the forbidden library was the incomplete ‘Sword That Disperses Moonlight’.

Leon himself couldn’t predict the speed at which he was advancing. Moreover, since he had talent in all attributes, he needed to learn spells for each attribute. If he were extremely lucky, he might obtain multi-attribute spells created by high-level mages, but the odds were undoubtedly low.

When he first started drawing spellbooks, he realized that, similar to drawing attribute bodies, if he didn’t get what he needed, it was useless. Recently, he had received 30 spellbook rewards. Among them, there were two D-rank spellbooks. D-rank spells were the highest level spells an apprentice could learn, but they overlapped with the basic Arpina spells.

This meant there was no need to learn them. For fire, water, wind, and earth attribute spells, the basic Arpina spells were sufficient for an apprentice.

Among the rewards he had received, the most useful ones were as follows:

When he reached the third rank and stabilized his level while acquiring artifacts, he drew the “One-time Emergency Designated Teleport Scroll (B-).” This was the highest-grade item he had received so far, and it was a scroll that could help him escape dangerous situations, which Leon found very appealing. As long as he had a specific location vividly remembered in his mind, he could instantly teleport there. However, it only worked for him alone.

Other notable artifacts included the “One-time Underwater Prison Scroll (D-)” and the “Stationary Invisibility Cloak (D+).” The Stationary Invisibility Cloak was a short, black cloak that could be hidden under his robe. When infused with mana, it allowed the wearer to blend into the surroundings, concealing their appearance and presence for an hour. However, the moment invisibility was activated, the wearer couldn’t move, as movement would break the invisibility. It could only be used once a day.

From the elixirs, he had obtained a “Concentrated Essence (D+).” Leon planned to consume this after raising his mana quality to D-rank, so he kept it safely stored. He also had 20 E-rank essences and 5 D-rank essences set aside for when he reached the fourth rank. Dozens of F-rank and E-rank rewards had accumulated.

Despite regularly consuming elixirs and discarding unwanted spellbooks, the rewards continued to pile up. The one-time scrolls, in particular, had not been used since he hadn’t faced any battles, and they were accumulating.

‘My subspace pouch will soon be full.’

Of course, he had already stored the spellbooks inside the orb. If this continued, unused rewards would undoubtedly pile up like mountains within the orb’s space.

‘Hoping for additional functions as I advance… that might be too greedy.’

He needed to figure out how to handle the useless rewards.

‘Transferring them to someone else might be an option…’

If Leon were a mage with numerous disciples, it would be an excellent method, but that was still a distant reality for him.

Leon began his training to advance his rank in earnest. The accumulated orb time was 640 hours, roughly 27 days. Leon trained inside the orb for 20 hours a day, coming out to satisfy his hunger and get minimal sleep before returning to the orb.

In less than a week in reality, Leon reached the level of an apprentice fourth rank.

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[Growth Assistant]

Information

▶Name: Leon

▶Rank: Apprentice Fourth Rank

▶Mana Quality: E+

▶Attribute Constitution: All-attribute (Fire, Water, Wind, Earth, Wood, Electricity, Light, Darkness)

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▶Reward probabilities have increased due to rank advancement.

▶400 hours of Orb of Time and Space have been provided.

▶Please select an additional rank advancement reward.

▶Artifact (C+ Rank Mobile Invisibility Cloak) / Spellbook (C+ Rank Lightning Magic ‘Raidera Series: Glory of the Thunderbolt’)

There were no additional functions added. Leon’s gaze immediately turned to the additional rewards. The first thing that caught his eye was ‘Glory of the Thunderbolt.’ A C+ rank spell meant it was a high-grade spell usable up to the arcane level, and it even had a unique name attached to it. It was exactly the spellbook Leon needed, as he had no high-level spells yet.

The Mobile Invisibility Cloak, by its name alone, was clearly a superior artifact to the Stationary Invisibility Cloak. It would be extremely useful in dangerous situations, but Leon chose the spellbook. He urgently needed an arcane level spellbook.

A spellbook with a purple cover fell into his palm.

‘Come to think of it… the name sounds familiar.’

Raidera?

Leon felt a sense of familiarity with the name and tried to recall where he had heard it. It wasn’t difficult to trace his memory since he hadn’t been to many places outside the training room.

And then Leon remembered where he had heard the name.

‘Isn’t that the name of the Tower Master of Widia?’

It was a name he had heard in passing. Even though Leon spent most of his time in the training room, he couldn’t have missed the name of the highest authority in his city.

‘I heard he secluded himself to raise his rank.’

A figure who, in the latter stages of Insight, abandoned the affairs of the city he managed to focus solely on training. However, just being at the Insight rank guaranteed his talent. Such a mage wouldn’t have dealt only with lightning magic.

‘Did he create this spell when his rank was lower?’

With that thought, Leon placed the spellbook into a makeshift storage compartment inside the orb. He then completed a general quest and confirmed that he had received an E-rank ordinary reward. Leon resumed his training posture.

After stabilizing his rank for a week and mastering the four-star Arpina basic spells, he emerged from the training room. Leon could now summon elementals of fire, water, wind, and earth. Until he reached five stars and learned to harmonize them, summoning all four elementals simultaneously would consume a tremendous amount of mana. However, Leon, who consumed elixirs as if they were meals, could handle it.

Descending to the first floor, Leon spotted Peter frantically running around near the entrance.

‘That person always looks busy.’

Peter adjusted his slipping glasses and, upon spotting Leon, ran straight to him.

“Just in time! Urgent news!”

“…What is it?”

“This time, there’s going to be a regular exchange festival between the schools in Triphenia!”

“Regular exchange festival?”

“Oh, it’s your first time hearing about it. It’s a day when various schools gather to sort out their rankings through duels. Academy representative students or personal disciples of professors compete, and we’re going too!”

Upon hearing this, Leon frowned but quickly managed his expression. The idea of watching others duel during his precious training time wasn’t something to be excited about.

Moreover, Leon only had nine months left to focus solely on his training.

“Seeing magical battles up close. Doesn’t that excite you?”

Would he still say that if a black spear and chains came rushing at his head? Leon grumbled inwardly but decided to drop it.

“Do we absolutely have to participate?”

“Of course! Wouldn’t it be strange not to go? They say it’s like a festival for students. It’s a rare opportunity for us.”

Is there really no one who doesn’t welcome festivals? Leon wondered if there was a way to get out of it, but Peter shook his head.

“Probably not? Oh, maybe the higher-ups might dislike it. They said the results of the regular exchange festival affect the school’s interests.”

“What kind of interests?”

“I don’t know. I just overheard it… haha.”

Leon’s face visibly darkened. He decided to prepare thoroughly before leaving for Triphenia. For Leon, who knew the world was full of power inflation, heading to a new place was akin to walking into danger. He never knew when or where a strong opponent might appear.

Since they were leaving the very next day, there was no time to master “Glory of the Thunderbolt.” However, there were many other ways Leon could prepare for danger. He packed his subspace pouch with scrolls and artifacts that could respond to emergencies.

He stuffed nearly 30 one-time scrolls into the subspace pouch. He placed the D+ rank Guardian Golem Summoning Flute and the Ancient Tree Staff in the subspace, while keeping the Shield Token, Stationary Invisibility Cloak, and Low-grade Mana Enhancement Ring on his person for immediate use.

The Shield Token, as identified by appraisal magic, was an E-rank artifact. When the activation word was spoken, it created an immediate shield to protect the user. Despite being E-rank, it could block stronger magic, but its usage was limited, and it had a long cooldown period after each use.

Although it couldn’t be fully assessed with appraisal magic, it seemed likely that it had a + grade attached. In its current state, it could probably be used two to three more times.

‘This should be enough to handle a mage at the beginning of the arcane level.’

On the day of departure to Triphenia, Leon gathered with the regular disciples and their guide, Robert, in front of the massive platform set up next to the central mage tower. A huge sailing ship was sitting on the ground. It was an airship, capable of floating in the sky.

In front of it, a large crowd had gathered, seemingly consisting of most of the mages in the city. It was quite easy to distinguish the different groups. Like Leon, who was wearing the regular disciple uniform, academy students wore similar robes with different colors indicating their grade level. The rest, dressed in various outfits, were established mages.

Soon, many people began boarding the airship. The ship was large enough to accommodate everyone. Leon and the regular disciples boarded last.

“Wow… Do you think we can become academy students too?” Aaron muttered blankly beside him, looking around with his mouth agape. A few academy students snickered as they watched Aaron.

“Are they coming along too?”

“Probably just for observation.”

“If watching was all it took, I’d already be an arcane-level mage.”

“Shh, they can hear you.”

Leon ignored the comments and scanned the airship like Aaron, but not for the same reason. The academy accepted students who were 20 years old, adults.

If they had talent and had been trained systematically as personal disciples from a young age, some students might already be at the arcane level. Otherwise, they would be at a similar rank to Leon. The systematic magic taught there wouldn’t differ much from Arpina magic unless it was at the arcane level, so Leon had no reason to be interested.

Leon searched for a spot on the airship where he could be least noticed.

‘No luck…’

No matter how secluded the spot, there was no place on the deck completely out of sight.

‘Judging by how regular disciples are treated, they’ll probably group us all in one place to sleep.’

He had to give up on training while on the ship. Leon’s lips pouted slightly.

The airship sailed through the sky non-stop for five days. Aside from briefly greeting Ria and Rowan, Leon stayed in his room, focusing on mana circulation. Although it wasn’t quest-driven training, it was the only training Leon could do without drawing attention while pretending to be an ordinary person.

‘Once I reach the latter stages of the arcane level, I won’t have to worry about being noticed.’

A rank where even if his attribute change was revealed, no one could easily mess with him. If there were a way to change from a single-attribute body to an all-attribute body, who knew what desperate measures mages hitting a wall might take. For absolute safety, he would need to reach the mystical rank, but considering the rewards he would accumulate by then, he could probably protect himself at the arcane level.

Leon took a deep breath, thinking of that time.

Another day passed, and the ship stopped. They had arrived in Triphenia.

Triphenia was a vast magical city that felt similar to Widia. True to Peter’s description of a festival, the city was bustling with crowds everywhere.

“You have free time until the exchange festival tomorrow, but since many mages are gathered here, make sure not to do anything that could endanger yourselves. Especially you lot. Understand?” Robert emphasized in front of their lodging.

It was understandable.

Simply frolicking around the festival could lead to being dealt with silently by a high-level mage. Even though the security would be tighter than usual, it was still best to be cautious.

With some free time on his hands, Leon wandered aimlessly until he found himself in the central market.

“Anyone need a bundle of barrier scrolls? Open for exchange with other scrolls or artifacts!”

“This isn’t an opportunity that comes every day! A chain artifact that automatically binds your opponent’s body, only 80 mana stones!”

The sight of various mages mingling and exchanging goods piqued Leon’s interest. He considered what he had to offer for trade.

‘Elixirs? Scrolls? Herbs?’

He didn’t have mana stones, but he had plenty of items that could be bartered.

‘Should I take this chance to clear out the lower-grade items and stock up on mana stones?’

Deciding on a course of action, Leon slipped into a secluded spot to carefully survey the surroundings, then changed into a different robe from within his orb. It would be impossible to dispose of items in bulk under his identity as a regular disciple from Widia.