Chapter 156 - True Mage

I took a quick glance at the forest around me.

Or, what had become of it.

There were hardly any upright trees from as far as I could see. The few trees that were, had burned most of the branches away. The fire seemed to cause quite the aftermath.

A thin layer of snow coated everything. The snow was pretty relentless on its own, as it not only put out the raging fire, but was able to stack up already. Although I wasn't sure how long it had been, the upper limit should be two days and even that was pushing it.

I walked through the ashes and went off to my next destination.

The labyrinth.

More and more trees were now upright as I walked. Although the fire was merciless, it seemed like either the forest was too big, or the snow was just too cold. Soon enough, the trees were all undamaged and covered in snow.

On the way was Leon's village. The one that was so peaceful all the time. For a moment, I considered meeting with him, but decided it would be a waste of time. I continued to walk past without any intention of going to the village.

Yet, the moment I stepped on the soil not covered by trees, a rumbling sound came from the village. From the center of the village, a large amount of earth sprouted out. It traveled towards me, forming a huge arch in the sky.

On the end of that arch, was a young man with robes, a staff, and long brown hair.

It was Leon.

In mere moments, Leon slammed down onto the ground in front of me. He remained standing the entire time, almost like a statue. This was despite the fact a miniature crater formed on the ground underneath him. The arch behind him went into the ground seamlessly, almost like it was being swallowed up.

He gave me a quick glance.

"Hello. I am known as the Earth Emperor. May I know who you are?"

I tilted my head to the side.

"Well, I'm not really known for anything, but I can somewhat be considered the king of lizards. I would prefer to be called Jay, though."

Leon raised an eyebrow.

"Is that so?"

A small smile formed on his face.

"Very well then. Hello, Jay. You may refer to me as Leon."

I nodded.

"Leon, nice to meet you."

Leon nodded.

"Nice to meet you as well. What brings you here, may I ask?"

I shrugged my shoulders.

"Just passing by. I am trying to get somewhere."

Leon's eyes lit up a little with curiosity.

"Sounds interesting. Where exactly do you plan on going?"

I scratched the back of my head.

"Just some underground place."

Leon nodded.

"Sounds interesting. Mind if I tag along? I have spent the majority of my days studying magic and that gets quite boring after a while."

A chuckle escaped me.

"It does get boring after a while. Sure, you can join me, though it won't be the most eventful trip."

Leon smiled amicably.

"Haha, not everything has to be eventful. Sometimes even mundane trips have their merits."

I began walking and hummed to myself.

"I suppose."

With that, the two of us walked at a relaxed pace through the snowy forest. After a bit of silence, Leon turned to me with a slightly curious expression.

"Say, what brings you out into the wilderness to wander?"

I glanced at Leon before letting out a long sigh. My eyes closed as the words slowly formulated in my mind.

"Many things."

I turned to Leon and slowly opened my eyes.

"But I suppose the main thing is power. Enough power to bend this world to my will."

Leon chuckled.

"That is the goal most of us have. However, the reason we have that goal differs."

He gingerly stroked his staff with one finger.

"As for me, that reason is to live by my own rules, freed from the regulation of the world."

A soft sigh escaped me.

"But are you freed from the world's regulation?"

Leon laughed.

"Not yet. But I will get there one day. How is it for you?"

I rubbed my chin with my thumb and forefinger.

"There was this man that once told me I needed power in order to protect what I found was important to me."

I shrugged my shoulders.

"Once he knew that I wished to protect this world, he told me that I needed unfathomable strength for that. Then, gave me a direction to search for that power. In fact, the way we are going right now is that direction."

Leon raised an eyebrow.

"Haha, that man sounds quite knowledgeable and respectable."

A small smile formed on my face.

"He is."

Leon looked up to the sky, watching the snowflakes gently fall down.

"Well, it seems you have progressed decently. However, the path ahead of you is still very long. A lofty goal like that is admirable, but also a frightening burden to place on oneself."

I reached for a tree branch and broke it off as we walked.

"Perhaps. Maybe I will regret such a choice later down the line. But for now, I intend on sticking with it."

Leon smiled bitterly as he shook his head.

"I would like to think of myself as accomplished, but even then..."

He sighed.

"...I do not believe I could reach that level of power within my lifetime."

I broke another tree branch and used it to sharpen the one in my hands.

"You seem pretty powerful though. How old are you? You appear fairly young."

Leon shrugged his shoulders.

"I am twenty-five."

I raised an eyebrow.

"...Then shouldn't you have, say, sixty years?"

Leon smiled bitterly.

"I should have a few centuries left. My guess is about one thousand years."

I blinked a few times and even stopped sharpening the branch in my hand.

"One thousand years?"

Leon nodded.

"More or less."

I furrowed my brows.

"Two questions. One, how are you able to live for that long. And two, if you reached this point at twenty-five, how can one thousand years not be enough?"

Leon laughed like I was telling a funny joke.

"There were many things I experienced that forcefully increased my lifespan as well as the natural increase from magic."

I tilted my head to the side.

"Natural increase from magic?"

Leon blinked a few times with surprise.

"You don't know this? ...Well, it is commonly known that learning magic has those effects. It is one of the reasons even those of higher status don't necessarily need the practical benefits, practice magic anyway."

He sighed.

"Though... there is only a significant difference once one has become a true mage. Although it is not fully understood, there seems to be something about one's affinity with mana that breaks some sort of limiter within our bodies."

I cleared my throat awkwardly.

"Um... what is a true mage?"

Leon turned to me with a bit of confusion on his face.

"...Are you a self-taught mage? From what I understand, any formal school of teaching goes over this."

I scratched the back of my head.

"In a certain sense, yes, but I did attend a magic school."

Leon gave me a weird look, still not truly understanding me. I smiled bitterly in response.

"It's complicated."

Leon slowly nodded.

"Understood. Back on topic, a mage is one that can cast spells. One's rank as a mage is determined by the highest level spell they can cast, from foundational to advanced. Though it is not the most accurate description of their power, it is very simple and convenient."

Leon casually flicked his hand to the side.

"As for true mages, they no longer need spell diagrams to cast. Instead, with their strong understanding of magic, they can cast spells flexibly, as needed."

He pointed one finger towards the ground, they moved it upwards. A small rock pillar shot out of the ground and on top of that rock pillar was a miniature metal statue of a person. Leon picked up the statue and casually tossed it to me.

"For example, I was able to create a spell like this on the spot, since I understand how magical diagrams work. As for others, they would only be able to cast previously created spells that they memorized."

I caught the statue that Leon tossed to me and slowly turned it over, inspecting it closely. The statue was unbelievably detailed, down to the individual hairs.

It was a young man in formal clothes with a crown on his head. In his hands were two branches

The man was me.

I sucked in a deep breath.

"That is... fascinating."

Leon smirked.

"Naturally."

I tilted my head to the side and thought about my experiences with learning magic. Although I have yet to learn any advanced spells, I was able to derive my own spell.

"Say, am I on the right track if I created a new spell based on another one?"