It took a few seconds for Leon to understand what just happened... it looked like the test would be a game of tag. That was very weird, so Leon couldn't help but sigh.
"I guess even spirits can develop weird personalities..."
Leon didn't have time to waste, Sylph could move quite fast, and since he didn't mention if there limits to where they could go, most likely, they could go to any part of the planet. Leon looked upward and then used Transfer to appear at the entrance of the building, and there he found Sylph.
"Oh, you are quite fast!" Sylph smiled. "This will be fun!"
Sylph disappeared again, and Leon only saw a light beam pointing toward the south... that was the trail Sylph left by moving at high speeds. That would be difficult, but Leon didn't have time to waste and decided to consume all his mithril in order to end it as fast as possible. Leon activated Haste and used Electric Armor and then followed Sylph's trail.
A few seconds later, Leon found Sylph, and the spirit smirked. He was just like a kid who really wanted to play tag. Sylph didn't want to gain a lot of distance over Leon. He just wanted to keep at a distance where he could see him, but couldn't catch.
"Bad choice, Pal."
Leon used Transfer and appeared right in front of Sylph and block his path. He opened his eyes in surprise when Sylph saw Leon's hand moving toward him. However, much to Leon's surprise, Sylph didn't even slow down. It moved backward as if its body didn't have to worry about momentum or even of the law of physics.
"What the..." Leon frowned.
"Hehe, you almost caught me," Sylph smiled. "But it won't be fun if this ends so quickly."
"It will be very fun, for me at least," Leon said. "If you decide to work for me, we can play now and then."
"Mmm... I will think about it if you manage to catch me today," Sylph said.
Things were getting interesting; Leon could think of numerous ways to catch Sylph in just a few minutes. However, Sylph wouldn't enjoy it if Leon uses cheap tricks. However, if Leon catches him fair and square as soon as possible, there was a chance that he could come with him. Leon decided to work to reach that scenario.
Congratulations! The skill Wind Resistance has leveled up.
You obtained 01 status points.
Congratulations! The skill Wind Resistance has leveled up.
You obtained 01 status points.
Congratulations! The skill Wind Resistance has leveled up.
You obtained 01 status points.
...
"This will be hard since the wind is slowing me down, and it clearly isn't affecting Sylph."
Sylph moved again, and Leon followed him. He decided to change his strategy in order to catch the spirit. Leon used Cheer and then Gravity to decrease his weight. Although the bonus of speed was meager, any bonus was welcome in order to catch Sylph using raw speed alone. Leon's speed increased a lot thanks to Gravity, and little by little, he was getting closer to Sylph. Despite his incredible speed, Sylph could turn his body around and still keep his speed.
"Hehehe, that is good, that is very good," Sylph smiled. "But it isn't enough."
Sylph increased his speed again, and by the look of his face, that was his stop speed... the wind spirit could fly at three kilometers per second even inside that massive sand storm. Even though Leon was using Gravity, he couldn't move faster than 2.5 kilometers per second. It was his maximum. It wasn't possible to increase than in any way since he was already suffering a lot of damage, even though Regeneration was active.
"Mmm? That might work..." Leon smiled.
Leon had an idea in order to increase his speed. He recalled the times when he watched some car race. The mana consumption would increase by a lot, but Leon's speed also increased when he started to use Air Beam. His spell dispersed the wind and dust ahead of him, and thanks to that, he matched Sylph's speed.
Sylph's eyes opened widely when he saw that Leon was getting closer again. Changing directions to gain an advantage would be easy, but Sylph's pride didn't allow him to do that. In the end, Leon caught Sylph because Air Beam didn't affect him in any way.
"Ah... you caught me," Sylph said dispiritedly. "Well, a promise is a promise."
A light-green semi-translucent sphere flew toward Leon, and then he felt the energy inside him stabilizing.
Congratulations! You have learned the skill: Aeromancy.
You obtained 01 status points.
Congratulations! You have learned the skill: Wind Armor.
Cost: 50 mana per second.
You obtained 01 status points.
Congratulations! You have learned the skill: Summon Sylph's Fragment.
Cost: 30 mana per second.
You obtained 01 status points.
Congratulations! You have learned the skill: Wind Blessing.
You obtained 01 status points.
Congratulations! The skill Wind Resistance has leveled up.
You obtained 01 status points.
Congratulations! The skill Wind Resistance has leveled up.
You obtained 01 status points.
Congratulations! The skill Wind Resistance has leveled up.
You obtained 01 status points.
...
Leon smirked while he watched his Wind Resistance was leveling up and his status points increased. It only stopped when it reached level two hundred fifty.
"Since you managed to catch me really fast, then I will go with you," Sylph smiled and then disappeared, but Leon felt some mana entering his head. "But we have to play like this every week. Next time I won't lose."
"Got it," Leon said.
It was a weird feeling having a sentient being inside his head, but it was the price Leon had to pay for power. Obviously, an intermediate fragment would much more useful than a lesser spirit that couldn't do anything aside from following orders, after all.