Chapter 232: Shine

[Schedule will be changing. Updates will be at 10pm EST from now on.]

Leonel, of course, had no idea what was happening across this mythological land. If he did, he might have had many questions to ask. But, at this point, all he cared about were the Magic Arts before him.

Lionus, Theybul and Mary had long since climbed the tower. But, since he was still a One Star Apprentice mage, he would obviously stay on the first floor.

This was not as bad as it sounded, either. Since the only ones who could enter the Mage Art Tower at this time of year were Childes or youths with military exploits, there were very few in the tower to begin with. And, of those that could enter, just how many of them would still need Arts from the first floor?

Because of this, Leonel was completely alone. In fact, he would probably be completely alone even if he climbed to the fifth floor. 

The floor itself was split into nine regions. A region for Wind, Water, Fire, Earth, Lightning, Wood, Light, Auxiliary and Mental Magic Arts. 

Aside from the four main elements, lightning and wood were unique variations that had appeared in Camelot's long history. They were quite rare, even compared to others. Only the Light Element was rarer. 

As for the Mental Magic Arts, they could be used by anyone. There were also some mages who had exceptionally high Spirit Pressure talent, but had no strong affinities. These mages were excellent at these sort of Mental Magics. 

In fact, Leonel had thought that Theybul and Mary were Mental Magic Mages. That would explain why their robes didn't have any embroidery on them. 

The auxiliary section could be learned by anyone. They were the fundamental magic all mages should have under their belts. 

For example, both Elys and Aliard had been able to meet the swords of knights with their wands alone. This wasn't because their wands — or what the people of Camelot called Spiritual Wood — were so sturdy or because their strengths were so great, it was because of auxiliary magic like [Repel] or [Strengthen] or [Harden].

Of course, the auxiliary magic on the first floor was so weak that they couldn't possibly help the current Leonel. But, that didn't mean this would always be true. 

Within the nine regions, there were various podiums. Each podium held a crystal ball. These crystal balls were the mediums that held the Magic Arts. However, reaching them wasn't so simple. 

Just in order to enter a region, one needed a certain level of affinity or else one would only find a barrier that was impossible to cross. 

Of course… Leonel had nothing to worry about on the first floor. 

He directly walked into the Light Region, feeling very curious. Even though the first floor should have the most Arts of any floor due to their low difficulty, the Light Region still had the smallest number of podiums at around 40 or so. 

Leonel picked up the closest one. There was no pressure on him at all, so he felt he could take his time. 

His Spirit Pressure easily shattered the barrier around the podium. Soon, his Internal Sight had entered the world of the crystal and a Magic Art was reflected in his mind. 

'[Shine]…'

Leonel almost couldn't help but chuckle. This Magic Art was exactly what it sounded like. It was used for nothing else than lighting a path. Who would have thought that the mighty Light Element would have such a day too. 

'Dream Sculpt…'

Leonel's aura surged, his spirit draining as he etched the Magic Art into his mind. 

'47 seconds…'

Leonel nodded. It took him less than a minute to perfectly etch a Magic Art into his Dreamscape. 

His mind left the crystal ball. With a thought, his Spirit Pressure surged once more, congealing onto the palm of his hand. 

In the blink of an eye, a surge of wind swirled. After it settled down, a radiant halo formed on Leonel's palm, causing him to smile. 

If another person had been here, they would have been shocked to the point of fitting a baseball into their mouths. In total, it took Leonel not much longer than a minute to learn and conjure his first Magic Art. Such speed was obscene to the point of being beyond monstrous. 

One had to know that a mage would usually meditate on a single Magic Art for days before attempting to conjure it. And, even then, they would need Spiritual Wood to concentrate their Spirit Pressure. As if all of this wasn't bad enough, it would take several seconds to complete on the first try. Only after continuous practice would it slowly take less and less time, but even then, it most definitely shouldn't have been as fast as Leonel. 

However… Leonel's ability was just too perfect for the world of mages. 

With his Dream Sculpt ability, he could memorize a Magic Art in minutes. And, since it was a perfect, immutable memory in his mind, he would never make a mistake in conjuring it. As a result, he didn't need Spiritual Wood to keep his Spirit Pressure focused. If he had a wand of his own, it would be like adding wings to a tiger. 

But, Leonel had no intention of wielding a wand. He wanted the ability to cast while he used his spear, he didn't have hands to spare for a wand. 

This advantage of Leonel's would only grow. For higher grade Magic Arts, it would sometimes take mages years, even decades of meditation to perfectly master them. For Leonel… It just might be a matter of a few days. 

'These One Star Apprentice Arts won't be very useful to me. They're too weak. Maybe only high level Official Arts can start boosting my combat prowess. But, it's best I Dream Sculpt all of these into my Dreamscape, maybe I'll be able to draw some useful conclusions if I do…'

Leonel picked up another crystal ball and bitterly smiled. 

'[Multi-Shine]…'

Leonel was speechless. It can't be that all these Magic Arts wanted to turn him into a glorified light bulb, right?