Training Addict Magician in a Growth-Focused Story

Chapter 18

The item in Rowen's hand was a well-crafted ancient wooden staff.

"Didn't she used to use a staff with a red mana crystal embedded in it?"

Leon recognized the staff she usually carried, having seen her around the magic tower before. The ancient wooden staff looked completely out of place with the red-haired girl who had delicate features.

"..."

Neither of them spoke, and the silence between them grew. Eventually, her pupils began to waver, and she abruptly pointed her finger at Leon.

"You!"

"...?"

"What was that thing you gave me last time?"

"That candy?"

When Leon answered with what came to mind, she immediately jumped on the topic.

"It wasn't just candy. How did an ordinary person like you get something like that?"

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

"What are you trying to say? Do you want to thank me?"

"..."

Rowen pursed her lips and remained silent. While she hesitated, Aaron approached Leon.

"Who is this?"

"Uh... someone who won a duel against a rival in a personal disciple match?"

"Who said she was a rival?"

Rowen quickly corrected him, her lips twitching slightly as if to hide a smile.

'She's really easy to read...'

It seemed she had recovered well from the frustration she experienced last time.

Leon turned back to Rowen and asked, "So, why did you come?"

"Well, I heard you became a general disciple... Even though you don't have much talent, you're still trying hard to become a mage, right? As a senior mage, I could give you some advice or guidance..."

"So, you came to congratulate me?"

"..."

She fell silent again. It seemed she only answered what she wanted to say.

Leon tried to piece together why Rowen had come. If he interpreted her silence as agreement, it made sense.

"Thanks. I'll take it as a way of repaying me for cheering you on last time."

"Hmm... here, take this."

Rowen handed Leon the ancient wooden staff she was holding. Leon tilted his head in confusion and pointed at himself.

"You're giving this to me?"

"Yes, a mage should have a staff, right? Of course, you can't use magic properly yet, but you can train hard so that you can use this valuable staff in the future."

Leon accepted the staff with a puzzled expression. He knew that staves weren’t cheap.

"You're giving me something this expensive as a congratulatory gift?"

"Well, you might not know, but have you ever heard of the name Mardelia?"

When Leon shook his head, Rowen lifted her chin proudly.

"If you don't know, there's no need for me to explain further. Just know that I can buy staves like this as easily as having a meal."

She returned her chin to its original position and began to explain the staff to Leon.

"Even though it looks plain, it includes both magical assistance and amplification effects. Do you know the difference between a wand and a staff?"

Once again, Leon shook his head. He had been so absorbed in his training that he was ignorant of such basic knowledge. It was no wonder he had only recently learned common magic after becoming a 3rd rank apprentice mage.

"A wand mainly assists magic, while a staff primarily amplifies it. But this ancient wooden staff does both."

Rowen looked at Leon as if expecting a reaction. She seemed eager to see his response.

Leon forced a smile to his lips. He had never thought about owning a staff, but he appreciated the gesture despite the pressure it added.

"Wow, thank you so much. I never thought I'd receive such a gift."

"That's gross. Don't make that face again."

"..."

"Hmph... ahem."

She quickly corrected her expression, hiding a small laugh.

"Well, I'll be going now. Keep up the hard work."

"I didn’t say anything, Leon."

Seeing Leah’s calm face, Leon fell silent.

Despite being the person he confided in the most, he often found it difficult to deal with Leah. If she acted more her age, like Rowen, it would be easier, but Leah was hard to read.

A child who was difficult to understand despite her young age.

"I’m happy to hear your congratulations, Leon..."

She continued speaking calmly, but then her nose wrinkled slightly. Leon looked at her curiously as she took a step closer to him. After standing silently for a moment, she asked, "Did someone visit you before I came?"

She finally noticed the staff Leon was holding.

"Rowen came by."

"...I see."

With that, Leah seemed lost in thought, and they didn’t talk much more before parting ways.

Two months passed without incident. It had been four months since Leon reached the 3rd rank.

Leon was now at the peak of the 3rd rank, on the verge of breaking through to the 4th 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 it took to advance.

If he had focused solely on raising his rank, he would have already reached the 4th rank by now. The reason he hadn’t was because he had spent a month focusing on something else.

That something was elixir crafting.

One side of Leon's personal room was cluttered with various herbs and a cauldron used for brewing potions. A metal plate lay on the floor to prevent scorching, with traces of wood from the orb being used as fuel.

Leon had started experimenting with elixir crafting in earnest after all the herbs needed for the F-grade elixir had grown.

As he continued, he realized it required more professional skills than he initially thought, so he spent a month fully immersed in honing his crafting technique.

After completing the daily training needed to finish quests, instead of entering the orb, Leon stayed in reality to focus on crafting elixirs.

As a result, the time in the orb accumulated for a month.

Leon didn’t feel like it was a waste of time. It was preparation for making higher-grade elixirs in the future.

If he could supply himself with elixirs, he could focus on other quest rewards during that time.

After hundreds of trials and errors over a month, he had significantly increased his success rate.

Leon filled the cauldron with water using water magic and lit a fire beneath it with fire magic.

The F-grade elixir required four ingredients. More precisely, three.

"Planitia dewgrass, tear mushroom, rainflower petals, and mist dew."

Mist dew was the dew that collected when Planitia dewgrass bloomed.

Leon started by brewing the root of the dewgrass, adding the mushroom and petals at regular intervals, and finally mixing in the mist dew to complete the elixir.

As he added the mushroom and petals, Leon activated the Brem-class elixir crafting spell.

A magic circle appeared between the fire and the cauldron.

The herbs inside the cauldron began to soften and quickly dissolved, blending into the water.

Leon maintained the spell and used basic telekinesis to retrieve the mist dew.

He waited in concentration until the magic circle signaled, then immediately dropped the dew into the now greenish herbal mixture.

The herbal liquid began to bubble and reduce.

Soon, all the liquid in the cauldron evaporated, leaving behind a single round, green essence.

The color resembled that of orc essence.

The name didn’t matter much as Leon could name it whatever he wanted. The color was determined by the crafting spell, and with only Brem-class spells available, it couldn’t be changed regardless of effort.

"The quality doesn’t change anyway."

Although the essence produced by famous merchant guilds was popular, it only had a slightly higher chance of being of higher quality and fetched a slightly different price.

Since Leon had personally tested each essence he had received as a reward, he knew there was no significant difference.

Leon swallowed the essence in his hand.

"It’s not F+ grade. It’s F grade."

The difference was something Leon, who had consumed hundreds of elixirs, could sense.

"Too bad. Maybe the timing was off?"

Swallowing his disappointment, Leon entered the orb.

After increasing his success rate over the past month, he didn’t spend more than 30 minutes a day crafting elixirs.

As he approached the late stages of the 3rd rank, the effects of F-grade elixirs had decreased exponentially.

Only F+ grade elixirs still had a slight effect.

It was time to set aside elixir crafting until all the herbs needed for E-grade elixirs were gathered and focus on training again.

After finishing his training for the day inside the orb, Leon felt that the time had finally come.

It was time to use the orb’s accumulated time to break through to the 4th rank.