Leon woke up nice and early, feeling great, amazing even. His arm was no longer in pain, and he quickly removed the bandages to confirm that it had indeed fully healed already. There wasn't even a single scar remaining on it!
There was still much he didn't understand about his Magic, but damn if it wasn't amazing. Those injuries should've crippled someone for life, but he healed up in just two days. Maybe other Mages healed just as fast, but, well, he barely knew much about Magic to begin with. Soon, he would change that. Once he dealt with the monsters in the forest, that is.
Though… that didn't mean he couldn't start broadening his knowledge about Magic. Especially after he noticed that there was an additional Skill on his Status when he was checking to confirm his current Health.
Magic Theory was yet to be fully unlocked, just like the One Handed Skill, but it showed that he was on the right path. He could only assume that he gained it due to what he accomplished yesterday.
His eyes lingered on the now slightly bigger ghostly wolf, which was still guarding the door, standing motionless like a statue. A grin stretched on his face, just thinking how he did that. He gained a Spell and even improved on it. He did that!
That got him thinking. If he managed to improve on a Spell, then… Why couldn't he create one of his own? It seemed easy enough, right?
Turned out he was so, so wrong. Mostly because he had no real idea what he was doing. Like, he wanted to create some type of Fire Magic, just so he could burn down the entire forest if he had to, but he had no clue where to begin with that one.
While absent-mindedly eating his breakfast, he thought of what he could do, and he remembered how he made the Conjure Wolf better. He directed the Mana to its body, making it tougher, stronger, and slightly bigger.
Why couldn't he do that for himself? Why couldn't he use his Mana to make himself stronger? He surely needed that, especially after the encounter with the Grass Wolf. If he had been just a bit stronger, he would've come out of that fight without any injuries.
With a goal in mind, he began working on it. Though despite his determination, he had very little success at the start. In fact, he nearly did something incredibly dangerous as he tried to direct his Mana towards his heart, but he managed to stop himself before he hurt himself or did something even worse.
That was obviously a big no-no, so he just tried spreading his Mana all around his body, and it worked! He felt better than ever as the energy coursed throughout his body! However, he did encounter a small issue as his Mana ran out quite quickly while the Spell was active.
Hmm, he would have to figure out a way to reduce the cost, increase his total Mana, or to increase the rate at which it regenerates.
Feeling great about his success, he decided to seek out the hunters for some training. He fixed one of his weaknesses with Body Enhancement–even if he couldn't use it for long at the moment–so he figured he should work on another one now.
He did try to sneak up on the Grass Wolf and failed miserably. Maybe if he actually knew what he was doing, he could've attacked it without even realizing he was there. Surely, the fight would've ended differently had he succeeded.
So, with that in mind, he made his way over to Rorak's house. The man wasn't there, but his wife directed him to his current location with a small stutter. Most tended to ignore him or treat him with a bit of hostility before, but now… now they feared him.
It was weird how everything changed so quickly, just from them knowing he now had Magic. While pondering how different his life was now, he managed to find the hunters.
"Leon?" Chapa was the first to spot him, and the other two looked up at him. They were going through their equipment, making sure they were all working properly.
"Um, hi." Leon wasn't sure how to approach this. It had been a while since he even bothered asking someone to teach him something since he knew they'd refuse him.
"Do you need something?" Rorak asked as he scanned him up and down.
"I was wondering if you can help me with sneaking around? I feel like I wouldn't have gotten so hurt if I knew what I was doing," Leon said, trying his best to keep eye contact and not look away in shame.
"Are you all healed up already?" He questioned in surprise.
"Yes." Leon moved his left arm to show him, enjoying the looks on their faces.
"Wait! Did you try sneaking up on the Grass Wolf? That's… why did you think that's a good idea?" Chapa asked, looking at him as if he was an idiot. "Should've just sent your own wolf to attack it."
And while, yes, that was a stupid decision on his part, he didn't really have a better option back then. Could've always just charged it as dumb as that sounded, but it might have worked better considering how badly his sneaking attempt failed.
"I… don't want to talk about it," Leon said, looking away in embarrassment. He could've mentioned that he didn't have his Spell back then, but he figured he should keep quiet about that part of his Magic for now.
"Hmm. Alright then. We can show you a thing or two, teach you how to move around properly while keeping an eye on your surroundings," Rorak said and looked at the other two who gave him a nod in return.
"That would be great," Leon said, keeping his enthusiasm in check. Someone would actually teach him something!
—-----‐—-----------
"Not bad, kid," Juro complimented him after a couple of hours of walking around and finding places to hide behind. "You might be a total beginner, but you're learning real fast."
"Really?" Leon asked.
"Yes," Chapa confirmed. "You have a talent for this. A few more sessions like this, and we won't have anything else to teach you."
Huh. Leon thought he was learning really slow. He wasn't sure if they were lying or if he really had a talent for this. Though, on a second thought, perhaps it was his Magic somehow assisting him? He did notice that the Sneaking Skill popped up in his status, and it won't take long before he fully learn it.
After Rorak provided him with some more food, a bunch of meat and bread that nearly made him drool, he returned back to his shack. He was slightly tired from all the walking around, so he decided to take it easy and have a quick rest.
However, that didn't mean he couldn't do anything else. In fact, he could easily train his Magic without even moving from his bed. Now with his arm healed, he could even lay on his left side and that made all the difference.
At least, he thought it did because his work with his Spell went amazing as he managed to make the ghostly wolf even better. If he could get a few more such upgrades, he could direct his conjured creature to fight a Grass Wolf on its own, and he won't even need to do a thing.
Today would be a productive day for him. That's what he decided. He wasn't sure if he could do this every single day, but he was eager to improve himself as much as possible at the moment. He never wanted to feel as weak as he did when he nearly died against the Grass Wolf, so he had to work his ass off to guarantee that would never happen again.
That's why he sought out the hunters for the second time today, though it wasn't to improve his Sneaking Skill. No, he wanted to have a way to deal with his enemies without getting near them.
He had the ability to summon a wolf that could fight for him while he could stay as far away as possible and let it do all the heavy work. If it died, he could always resummon it again as long as he had enough Mana.
"Oh? Back for some more training?" Chapa asked him with a smirk. "We might have to bring you to the outskirts of the forest to further improve your sneaking."
"I wanted to learn how to use a bow this time," Leon answered.
"Makes perfect sense." Juro grinned and looked at Rorak, who sighed and threw a small fang at him. "Told ya he'd want to learn how to use a bow and not a knife."
Rorak rolled his eyes and waved him over. "Come then. It's getting kind of dark, let's see how quickly you can pick this up. We have a bow prepared for you."
Leon felt nervous when they handed him the weapon since he had no idea how to even hold it correctly. However, they quickly fixed his mistake and showed him how to aim and fire with it.
They had a few targets for him to hit. Just a bunch of boards with some paint on them. Most of his shots flew right past them, but he actually landed a few near the center of the targets.
"You… you're pretty good at this." They stared at him in wonder.
"I am?" Leon asked with a raised eyebrow. He saw them shoot, and they hit the center about nine out of ten times while he didn't get a single center shot.
"If you keep learning so quickly, you'll catch up to us in a month at most!" Juro said, throwing his hands in the air.
That didn't sound good to him. A month wasn't a short amount of time. His thoughts must've shown on his face since Rorak spoke up.
"It took us years to get this good. A month is nothing compared to that."
Leon ended up returning to his shack with a lot to think about. Was he this talented to begin with? He just never figured it out since no one ever taught him anything. Or was this due to his Magic?
Did it even matter? Even if it was due to his Magic, wasn't it his in the first place? That meant he was indeed that talented.
Huh.
-----
Leon woke up feeling better than yesterday, which he didn't understand how it was even possible. He spent an entire day just training and working hard, yet he didn't feel anything today? His Magic was truly wonderful!
There was a bit of the meat and bread from yesterday, and he happily ate it for breakfast, knowing he'd get more later. While eating, he wondered what he should do today.
He could spend more time working on himself. It was obviously working, so why bother with something else.
On the other hand, he had that Boss Battle ability, which he could use only two times per day, and he wasn't making use of it. Maybe he could try scouting the forest for an hour or two to see if he could get an easy mark? Some more loot would surely be helpful.
The forest it was. He had the bow and arrows stored in his Inventory, and he had two new Spells. He'd have to make a decision on which one to use since his current Mana wasn't enough to sustain both at the same time if he also used Boss Battle, but that was fine.
He left the village and made his way over to the forest. Taking a deep breath, he convinced himself that this time it will be different. He won't lose to some lousy elk humper!
Plus, he couldn't resist that chance to earn even more rewards. He could get a better Spell or even another Book like the one that taught him Allspeak. He hadn't had the chance to actually use the Skill, but it sounded pretty good.
He was being far more careful this time and slowly moved from tree to tree. His steps were measured and no branches alerted the creatures in the forest of his presence here. His heart thumped in his chest, in both fear and anticipation.
The last time he entered, he nearly died, but he vowed this would be different. He had his Magic, actual Spells that could help him fight, and he had some training by the Hunters. He hadn't fully learned any of their Skills, but he wasn't a complete beginner.
Slowly, he moved deeper and deeper into the forest, and then he saw it. His first target. It was a boar that was carefully eating from a bush, its head checking its surroundings every few moments.
He quickly hid behind a tree out its view and considered how to approach this.
Taking a deep breath to calm his beating heart, he decided how to take it down. Quietly, he took out his bow from his Inventory alongside an arrow and prepared to shoot it.
However, he paused before taking the shot and decided to summon his wolf right now. If he missed, it might take him a few precious seconds to conjure it, allowing the boar to get near him. Which was exactly what he wished to avoid as he'd rather not get hit by a charging boar.
"Conjure Wolf," he intoned as quietly as possible, summoning his trusty companion.
That turned out to be a mistake on his part as the boar was instantly alerted to his presence. He wasn't sure if it heard him, somehow noticed the ghostly wolf, or even felt the Mana in the air. Either way, it now knew he was here.
It immediately turned around, ready to escape, but he had a trump card, Boss Battle, and the moment he activated the ability, the boar was forced into a fight. He'd have to be careful in how he used this ability in the future since he'd prefer to avoid forcing something far more dangerous than him into a fight.
Something future him would have to deal with since he had a boar to kill at the moment.
"Attack!" He commanded his wolf while aiming for a moment before releasing an arrow that hit the boar in its shoulder.
It let out a loud shriek and thrashed around. His wolf reached his prey and tried attacking it, but it only searched the animal a bit due to its frantic movements.
The boar immediately zeroed down on his conjured creation and slammed its tusk hard into the wolf. Thankfully, his ghostly companion wasn't a real creature, so it wasn't hurt that much by the attack.
Of course, he didn't stay idle and notched another arrow, quickly firing and hitting the boar right in the head. He wasn't sure how it was still alive, but he knew it wouldn't take more than a couple of those before he killed it.
The boar let a loud shriek, swinging its head left and right, trying to hit his summon. However, his wolf proved its worth as it danced around the animal before jumping onto its back and biting its neck, pinning the creature for a moment.
He used this chance to fire another arrow, but it went wide, completely missing the beast. Fuck! That was the perfect opportunity to land a hit, and he blew it.
The boar pushed itself on its mighty legs and managed to fling his wolf off its back, sending it flying, but his companion recovered and landed on its feet. Then it quickly dashed back in, still following his command to relentlessly attack the beast, and struck the animal with its claws, landing a few nasty hits.
He fired another arrow at that moment, this time accurately hitting the beast, which only served to enrage it further. It let out an angry shriek and charged his conjured wolf, stabbing it with its tusks.
If that was a normal wolf it would've died from that mad dash, but his companion was hardier than that. It managed to stay its ground and keep the boar in place for him to hit one more time, landing an arrow right in its sturdy head.
That seemed to do the job as the beast finally stopped moving and dropped on the ground with lifeless eyes. His wolf continued attacking it, but a quick command of "Hold" was enough to make it stop.
A flash of light formed right next to the dead beast, and he held his breath as he watched it turn into a round object. He quickly ran over to check it out and found a round pink-reddish fruit there.
"That's my reward?" He was confused since he expected another Spell or something like that. A fruit was definitely not what he imagined he'd get.
Maybe it was because the boar wasn't a Magical creature? As awesome as his Magic was, there were still a lot of things he didn't understand about it.
With disappointment, he threw the fruit in his Inventory and noticed something odd. Its name was Peach of Strength. He might not be the smartest person out there, but that definitely meant it would make him stronger if he ate it, right?
If that was true, then this was definitely not disappointing. No, no, this was big. As long as it worked the way he imagined it would, that is.
He grabbed all the still usable arrows and stored them in his Inventory. Then he looked at the boar and wondered what to do with it. It was meat, something he didn't get the chance to eat often, so there was no way he'd leave it here. Though, he couldn't pick it up and shove it in his Inventory, not that he knew if he could even do that in the first place since he hadn't stored anything this big so far.
His thoughts drifted to the fruit he gained. Maybe if he ate it, it would grant him enough strength to lift the thing? He figured he might as well try it out, so he took it out and bit into it without hesitation. At first, nothing happened, and he sighed in disappointment, but it was really tasty, so he continued eating, enjoying the flavor as much as possible. It wasn't worth the effort of risking his life to get it, but it was better than nothing.
Then it happened. He gasped for breath as energy suddenly began coursing throughout his body. He dropped on his knees, barely able to keep standing from the sudden pain that he was assaulted with.
His entire body was drenched in sweat, and he had no idea how long he just stood there panting on the ground. It could've been just a few minutes or even a few hours. He wasn't sure, but when the pain ended, and he stood up, he felt stronger than ever.
Immediately, he went to the boar corpse and tested out exactly how strong he was now. With barely enough effort on his part, he lifted the entire thing and easily shoved it into his Inventory, just like that.
Damn! He was easily at least twice as strong as he was before! He wanted more of those fruits. No, he needed them. If he ate a few more, he would probably be strong enough to beat the Grass Wolves without even relying on Magic.
He dispelled his wolf since it took some hits in the fight and waited for some time, enough for him to recover his Mana fully. Then he began looking around, searching for more targets, boars specifically. That fruit was just too good and he needed more.
It didn't take him long to find another, just idly eating from a bush. Now, it was time for round two.
The beast was right there in front of him, and he could barely keep his excitement down. Shaking his head, he tried to be sneakier this time and quietly summoned his wolf.
The boar didn't even hear him, which was perfect. Then he carefully aimed and steadied his breath. He had the perfect shot, but the damned beast suddenly turned in his direction as if it had somehow sensed him.
Still, just because it knew he was here didn't change the outcome of his shot as his arrow landed right in its thick skull. It wasn't enough to kill it outright, but it got disoriented from his attack.
"Attack!" He commanded his wolf, and it sprung into action, leaping towards the boar.
At the same time, he used Boss Battle, ensuring that the beast wouldn't just run away. Plus, he wanted his rewards! If he got a few more fruits, he might grow strong enough to fight the monsters barehanded.
His wolf jumped on the boar, landing nasty slashes with its claws while he continued peppering the beast with arrows from afar. It was honestly sad to see the creature just standing there, not knowing what's going on at all.
For a brief moment, he felt bad for what he was doing, but then he remembered the potential rewards and continued firing arrows with even more eagerness than before.
His wolf didn't stop attacking as well, and the boar attempted to fight back, but it was already too late. So with a final arrow from him, hitting in the head for the second time, he killed the beast.
This was far easier than the previous fight, though perhaps his improved strength made his arrows that more dangerous? Or maybe it was just weaker. Either way, he didn't care and rushed over to check up on the rewards that formed next to the creature.
He froze in place, unable to believe his eyes!
There were two peaches!
Two of them!
But why? This boar felt weaker than the previous one, so why did he earn two of them here?
As important as that was, he decided he would ponder on this at a later time since he wanted to eat the fruits as soon as possible.
And so he did, feeling an urge of energy being coursing throughout his body, making it that much stronger than before.
He was strong.
Like, really, really strong. T
hough he didn't know his exact strength despite his Status saying that his Physique was at seventeen. He knew it used to be four, which was just one number, and now it had two numbers, but that didn't tell him much.
He was no better with numbers than he was at reading until he got that Book. He could count to ten using his fingers and knew that a hundred was a lot, but that's as far as his knowledge went. His Health now also had three numbers, and if he focused, his Magic read it as one hundred and seventy. That didn't tell him much, but it sure made him feel better.
On the way back to Loya, he decided to do a little test to see how strong he was now. He found a nice tree, pulled his fist back, and punched it hard.
His eyes opened wide as he stared at the hole his fist was stuck in before the pain registered in his mind.