Training Addict Magician in a Growth-Focused Story

Training Addict Magician in a Growth-Focused Story

EP.27 The Lair of the Ancient Magician (4)

Leon, having been transported to a new location, quickly calmed his startled heart and surveyed his surroundings. It was dim, but not so dark that he couldn’t make out shapes. The space was very cramped. Leon found himself standing on a circular stone platform, from which he could step down after just three steps. Another three steps from the platform, and he was met with walls on all sides. One wall was occupied by a bookshelf, and another by shelves and a ceramic jar about waist-high to Leon.

‘What is this…’

That left only one wall without obstructions, and that wall was actually a door, beside which was a familiar lever. Leon touched his throbbing head.

‘It seems I got caught up in a magic circle…’

Leon glanced at the magic circle engraved on the stone platform. The wooden sword had the ability to disrupt the flow of mana, which might be why the teleportation magic circle didn’t work properly.

‘The Blink spell worked fine… Could there be an owner recognition function?’

Leon extended his mana beyond the walls using a detection spell.

“This is bad.”

There were signs of movement and mana flow beyond the walls. Some were familiar, others were not.

The familiar flow of mana was that of armor golems. Several of them stood in front of the door, and the unfamiliar presence seemed to be that of gargoyle golems pacing around. A quick glance revealed there were more than ten in total.

“Ah… the wooden sword. Damn it.”

The wooden sword had not been transported with him, leaving him without a means of escape. Leon pulled out an emergency designated teleportation scroll from his pocket.

‘Should I use it?’

Suddenly, the advanced section of “The Secrets of Creation” flickered in his mind. Using the scroll would mean giving up on the wooden sword. He didn’t know the exact location he was in before the teleportation, so it was impossible to return there using teleportation.

He wasn’t sure if he had been on the second underground floor or somewhere deeper. There were two places that Leon had memorized for emergency teleportation. The training room he had used when he was a regular disciple, and the entrance to the first section of the Herb Mountain, which was the task he had been most satisfied with.

Leon sighed and surveyed his surroundings. The first place he checked was the library. A book with a red cover caught his eye first.

[The Secrets of Creation by the Megriffa (Advanced)]

“Hah…”

With a hollow laugh, Leon began to examine the other books as well.

[Golem Blueprint]

He opened the book after seeing the title, but unfortunately, it was all blank pages.

‘Hmm… This doesn’t seem like ordinary blank paper.’

Leon rubbed the blank pages with his hand and tilted his head.

It seemed to be designed to be deciphered through other means.

That floor was entirely occupied by basic books and papers related to golems.

Leon’s gaze shifted further down.

A book that seemed to be neglected was lying alone at the bottom.

“Hmm?”

[Ernita’s Gale]

A quick glance revealed it to be an advanced wind attribute magic.

To be precise, it was at the rank of a Arcane.

There were also several basic magic books lined up.

It didn’t seem like the owner of this lair had learned them directly; rather, they appeared to have been placed there for reference when creating golems capable of using magic.

Leon took his eyes off the study and scanned the shelves occupying another wall.

Most of them were empty potion bottles, but amidst them, he found three bottles containing small beads.

Essence?

Recognizing the familiar shape at a glance, Leon immediately used an appraisal spell.

“Gasp.”

The first white bead he appraised turned out to be A-grade essence.

There was one A-grade essence.

A-grade essence was an elixir effective even for an Insight-rank mage. Moreover, since Leon’s body had a high efficiency for elixirs, it might still be effective even if he reached the Transcendence rank.

It was an elixir with a rare manufacturing method, and even if it could be made, the process was extremely difficult, making it very limited in quantity.

‘Was it prepared to be consumed upon reaching Insight? Or did they already reach Transcendence and no longer need it?’

A sudden impulse surged within Leon.

‘Should I train a bit here?’

Leon barely managed to calm himself and examined the other bottles.

There were five B-grade essences.

Seventeen C-grade essences.

“…What?”

No matter how wealthy someone was, could they afford this many essences?

Did they make a fortune by creating golems?

In fact, the current perception of golems was not very favorable.

While they were certainly useful, they were considered too extravagant to maintain due to the high costs.

Was it different in ancient times?

Next, there was a soft-looking silver fruit inside a porcelain container.

Upon examining it with an appraisal spell, it was revealed to be a fruit that did not spoil over time and could provide all necessary nutrients with just one.

‘No matter what, it still hasn’t spoiled?’

The reason was found in the porcelain.

The porcelain itself was a precious artifact imbued with preservation magic.

In terms of grade, it seemed to be at least C-grade.

“Is this really a training room?”

Leon realized it.

This was the place where an ancient mage used to train.

‘Even if I use teleportation with just this, I can make up for the loss of the demon sword… No.’

However, it was too painful to give up for real.

As Leon was calculating in his mind, another thought crossed his mind.

‘Rather, if I train here and reach the rank of a Arcane, I might be able to handle the golems outside.’

Of course, it was highly likely that the golems outside were not all there was.

If the ancient mage was at the Transcendence rank rather than just a mystery, there wouldn’t be just this rank of golems.

But there was no harm in trying once and then escaping.

“I can’t stand this anymore.”

Leon was already thirsty for training.

Seeing the accumulated high-grade essences made his heart race.

How long would it take if he raised his rank as quickly as possible?

Leon estimated the time.

Even if he trained for 20 hours a day and slept for only 4 hours, it would take a long time.

Including 10 hours with the orb, he would train for a total of 30 hours, sleep for only 4 hours, and then repeat the training.

If he left too late, the chances of the wooden sword being there were slim.

Considering the people who would be troubled if they assumed he was dead, Leon couldn’t stay here for long.

He thought of ways to quickly raise his rank.

Judging by the essences alone, it would take over 50 E-grade essences to reach the 5th rank.

Until now, due to the probability system, Leon hadn’t been able to amass a large number of high-grade essences.

As he collected them with the next rank in mind, he would have about 20 to 30 essences when he actually reached that rank.

So far, he had collected 20 E-grade and 5 D-grade essences.

Based on his experience consuming essences, 7 to 8 F-grade essences had a similar effect to 1 E-grade essence.

If 7 E-grade essences were considered equivalent to the effect of 1 D-grade essence…

If he consumed all the remaining essences, it would be the same as consuming a total of 55 essences, which was enough to reach the 5th rank.

However, this meant that Leon would deplete all the elixirs he had received as rewards.

This created the problem of not being able to prepare anything for the next rank.

‘That would be the case normally…’

Leon’s gaze fell on the bottles on the shelf.

17 C-grade essences.

Consuming just one had the effect of 49 essences.

This meant he could reach the 5th rank in one go.

Of course, that was just a simple calculation, and enlightenment was needed for a rank increase.

That was the issue.

The side effects that come with a rapid increase in rank.

Simply raising one’s rank with essences in one go, unlike gradually training with Arpina’s 4-star magic, would require an enormous amount of time for enlightenment.

There was also the issue of the core.

Why do people avoid consuming high-grade essences when they are at a low rank?

Naturally, it’s because their core cannot withstand it.

Expecting to absorb high-grade essences at any rank was excessive greed.

‘Am I being greedy too?’

Even for Leon, who possessed an All-Attribute Constitution, he couldn’t be certain there would be no side effects.

‘I can’t be sure… but why do I feel like it will work?’

Resolute, Leon first gulped down all 20 E-grade essences and 5 D-grade essences.

His entire body began to heat up rapidly.

The heat accumulated, and accumulated, and soon became as hot as molten lava.

As his core burned hotter than he expected, Leon struggled to control it with all his might.

The core pounded against him, as if trying to break free from an egg, causing Leon immense pain.

The searing heat and pain repeatedly battered Leon.

He lost track of time.

The stone slab was covered with dried traces of his cold sweat.

Usually, consuming an elixir and training for 10 hours would naturally digest one elixir, but Leon was trying to forcibly digest 25 at once.

Focusing all his attention on stabilizing his core and groaning, Leon found himself at the late 4th rank when he finally came to his senses.

“Haa…”

A clear, refreshing sensation that could be felt only after fully digesting the elixir swept through Leon’s body.

The heat completely washed away.

‘Feeling hungry… has it been about three days?’

Leon fell asleep without even thinking about satisfying his hunger.

When he woke up again, he ate the fruit and fell into deep thought.

Now, to break through his current rank, he needed enlightenment.

The remaining orb time was 163 hours.

He had used an additional hour to store the golem’s remains.

‘It’s hard to gain enlightenment with just this time…’

Leon had spent 640 hours of orb time just to reach the 4th rank.

It was far from enough.

After hesitating for a moment, Leon tightly closed his eyes and gulped down three C-grade essences at once.