The morning sun rose over a changed Oakhaven. The air was crisp, washed clean by the night's excitement. Instead of the thick, choking smoke of burning homes—the usual aftermath of a bandit raid—the town smelled of wet earth and relief.
In the town square, a crowd had gathered. Farmers, merchants, children, and guards stood in a hushed semi-circle. As Leo walked down the steps from the watchtower, his eyes red-rimmed from lack of sleep and too much adrenaline, the crowd parted like the Red Sea.
The Elder, a man named Corin with a beard that reached his belt, approached Leo. He walked with a limp, leaning on a staff of polished oak, but his eyes were bright with reverence. Behind him, two burly guards struggled under the weight of a heavy, iron-bound wooden chest.
The Elder stopped before Leo and bowed low—lower than a man of his station ever should to a stranger.
"You have saved us, Grand Sorcerer," Corin said, his voice trembling slightly with emotion. "The night was turned to day. The thunder of the gods spoke through your… metal horn. We are in your debt."
The guards set the chest down with a heavy thud and flipped the lid open.
Leo blinked. Inside, nestled in velvet, was a pile of mana gems—stones the size of eggs that pulsed with deep, vibrant colors. Azure, crimson, emerald. They hummed with power. Alongside them lay a scroll, sealed with wax.
"We possess little gold," Corin continued, gesturing to the chest. "But these are the heart-stones of our mountains. Pure, refined mana. And this," he pointed to the scroll, "is the deed to the Old Manor on the hill. It has stood empty since the last war. We beg you to stay. Protect us. Teach us your ways of light and thunder."
Leo looked at the gems. To Corin, they were currency or spell components. To Leo, his engineer's brain already dissecting their potential, they were high-density energy storage units. Batteries that didn't degrade. If he could reverse-engineer how they stored mana... could he create a perpetual motion engine back home? Could he solve the energy crisis?
He picked up a blue gem. It was warm. He could feel the energy inside, like a trapped current waiting to be grounded.
Then he looked at the deed. A home. A base of operations. A place where he wasn't just "Leo the student who failed thermodynamics," but "Leo the Sorcerer of Steel."
A slow smile spread across his face. The weight of the world—two worlds, now—pressed down on him, but for the first time in his life, it didn't feel crushing. It felt like purpose.
He hoisted his backpack onto his shoulder. "I accept," Leo said, his voice firm. "But I can't stay today."
The Elder looked confused, his brow furrowing. "You must depart? To... the realm of the spirits? To commune with the gods in the great Beyond?"
Leo chuckled, pushing his glasses up his nose. The "great Beyond" was currently a cramped apartment in Tokyo that smelled of instant noodles.
"Something like that," Leo said, checking his watch. It was 6:00 AM in Astra, which meant it was late afternoon in Japan. "I have a thermodynamics project due on Monday, and I haven't even started the abstract. Even sorcerers have deadlines."
He turned and walked toward his bike, leaving a bewildered village elder staring after him. Leo had a world to save, but first, he had a GPA to rescue.