Training Addict Magician in a Growth-Focused Story

Chapter 32

As Leon made his way to the Central Tower, where Laidra was waiting for him, he noticed a construction site in one corner of the central plaza, where a bronze structure was being built. He tilted his head in confusion.

Although only the upper half was completed, it looked strangely familiar.

Especially the clothing.

‘...Isn’t that the uniform of a common disciple? Are they really making a statue of a common disciple that big?’

No matter how much he thought about it, he couldn’t understand.

Shaking his head in confusion, Leon continued up to the Central Tower.

In the meeting room, where a long table was set, Leon finally met Laidra.

The muscular old man with long white hair was sitting with his arms crossed, staring at Leon.

Leon, trying to hide his tension, realized it might be more natural to show that he was nervous.

Laidra, who had been expressionlessly watching Leon, suddenly spoke.

“Tell me what you want.”

“...Excuse me?”

Despite his indifferent expression, his words were quite bold.

“You saved the promising talents of the tower, so you deserve a reward.”

‘Is he not going to ask how I survived?’

Leon hesitated for a moment before responding.

“No, I’m just grateful to have made it out alive...”

Laidra raised his hand, stopping Leon mid-sentence.

“Before that. Did you awaken your mana because you obtained a fortuitous encounter in the lair?”

“Yes... Then I was captured by the Witch...”

“I’ve already heard about that. But why didn’t she kill you?”

Leon realized why Laidra hadn’t asked about his survival.

He believed that Leon had survived in the lair because the Witch had captured him.

‘Berford must have reported it.’

He thought Berford was only focused on the Witch, but it seemed he was aware of more.

‘Did he pretend not to know despite knowing?’

Since this was typical of how mages behaved, Leon wasn’t disappointed.

“I was fleeing from the scorpion when I got caught up in a teleportation magic circle...”

Leon began recounting the story he had prepared.

“I found a magical elixir there and consumed it. Then I lost consciousness, and when I came to, the Witch was standing right in front of me.”

“A magical elixir? Hmm...”

Laidra scanned Leon’s body, using a detection spell.

Leon continued speaking as if he didn’t notice.

No matter how much he was examined, he would still appear to be at the level of a first-tier apprentice.

The B+ grade Bracelet of Vima was an artifact effective even against low-level Insight mages.

In terms of ranks, C-grade was for Secret Magic, B-grade for Mysticism, A-grade for Insight, and S-grade for Transcendence.

But when a grade had a +, it could influence the next level up as well.

And Leon was merely at the first tier. That was the key point.

It was a level that an Insight mage could dismiss as insignificant.

“Was the elixir you drank the only one?”

“There were actually several, but... I was robbed by the Witch when I encountered her. They were too precious for someone like me.”

“Why didn’t the Witch kill you?”

“Shamefully, when I saw the Witch, I immediately took out the elixirs and begged for my life. Then, when the cave started shaking, she took me deeper into it...”

Leon feigned ignorance about the flimsy excuse as to why the Witch didn’t kill him and continued his story.

“She just took you with her?”

As expected, Laidra interrupted Leon’s story again.

“Yes... I don’t know why she didn’t kill me either.”

Leon played dumb.

‘The Witch knows the reason.’

‘This person never lets anyone finish speaking.’

Leon masked his discomfort and listened to Laidra’s words.

“I’ll give you two choices.”

“...”

“One, you can shed your status as a common disciple and become my personal disciple.”

“Personal... disciple?”

Leon hid his complex feelings, outwardly expressing surprise and joy.

He couldn’t figure out why Laidra was offering to take him as a personal disciple, so he couldn’t simply be happy about it.

“Does that make you happy? But it’s not as good as you think. I’ve never had a personal disciple, nor do I plan to.”

“Then...”

“Do you know what that means?”

Once again, Leon was cut off mid-sentence, so he forced a smile and shook his head.

“I don’t know.”

“It means I don’t see much in your talent. I’m not interested in having a disciple. There’s no support. You won’t gain any special privileges. It’s literally just a title. But at least no one will bother you if you spend all day training. So, you could consider it as me granting your wish.”

Leon was surprised by the offer.

Even if it didn’t come with any authority, as Laidra said, being able to train without anyone interfering was a privilege reserved for the Tower Master’s personal disciple.

“The other option is to be rewarded with mana stones for your actions. But I wouldn’t recommend that.”

Leon understood what he meant.

What would happen if it got out that a common disciple had received a large number of mana stones?

It would undoubtedly lead to bad outcomes.

Laidra didn’t seem like the kind of person who would take care of those issues for him.

Considering he had offered no support even if Leon became his personal disciple, it seemed Laidra would leave him to his own devices and focus solely on his own training.

“So, in the end, there’s really only one choice?”

“Are you not satisfied?”

“How could I not be? It would be an honor to even have my name listed as the Tower Master’s personal disciple.”

Leon had no intention of asking to learn Laidra’s magic.

Glory of Thunder was a spell that Leon found useful at the Secret Magic level.

There was undoubtedly a higher-level spell than that.

However, asking to learn magic would give Laidra a reason to investigate his constitution.

It was actually better for Leon if Laidra remained uninterested in him.

“Hmm... Are you truly satisfied with just that?”

“Yes, I am.”

“Then you may go.”

Leon bowed his head and stood up.

“I suppose we’ll see if that’s truly what you want.”

“...I will do my best.”

Leon turned and left the meeting room.

‘...Something feels off.’

He wondered if there was really any need for Laidra to say that at the end, but it wasn’t particularly strange either.

In any case, what mattered was that the meeting had passed without any major issues.

Even if Laidra was suspicious of Leon and decided to keep an eye on him, by the time he figured anything out, Leon would be in a different state.

‘As long as it’s not right now when I’ve lost so much strength after escaping from the Witch...’

Leon returned to his private room, pretending to rest for a day. He then planned to head to the training room to formally elevate his consciousness to the Secret Magic level.

Or at least, that was the plan.

If not for the person who came to his door.

“You refused when I asked you to become my disciple.”

“...When did you return?”

Arpina stared at him with her red eyes.

“And now what? The Tower Master’s disciple?”