When Leo returned home, his family was already asleep. He entered his room quietly, careful not to disturb them.
The following day was a day off, so Leo decided to skip his morning exercise too. When he finally woke up, it was 9 a.m.—a rare luxury. Stepping out of his room, he was met with three surprised faces, clearly not expecting him to be home.
"Morning?" Leo greeted awkwardly, unsure of how to react to their expressions.
"When did you come back?" Lisa asked, her face puzzled.
"A little before dawn," Leo replied, scratching the back of his neck. "Sorry, I didn't want to wake you."
Lisa's expression softened into a smile. "Do you want breakfast?"
"No, I'll take a shower first."
As Leo turned his gaze to Eliza, he noticed her anxious eyes fixed on him. He smiled warmly to reassure her. "Don't worry. All of my colleagues are out there looking for your mom. We'll find her."
The words seemed to lift a small part of her burden and her tense shoulders relaxed slightly. Satisfied, Leo headed toward the shower. Before disappearing into the bathroom, he pointed at Rosie, silently asking her to take care of Eliza. Rosie responded with a quick thumbs-up. Leo chuckled softly and stepped into the shower.
With foam covering his eyes, a voice suddenly echoed in his head, startling him.
'Leo, you're back, right? Come to the same coffee shop.'
It was Ryan's voice.
Leo muttered under his breath, "This man knows no boundaries."
He left the shower and returned to his room to dress. Five minutes later, he emerged ready to leave.
"You're heading out again?" Lisa asked, concern in her voice.
"Don't worry, Mom," Leo replied, waving dismissively. "I'm just meeting a friend. If I'm not back by lunch, go ahead and eat without me." He gave her a reassuring smile before stepping out.
…
A short walk later, Leo arrived at the coffee shop and spotted Ryan waving at him from their previous table. He approached and sat down.
"Hello," Ryan greeted with his usual friendliness. "How was the mission? Did you uncover anything valuable?"
"Even if I did, I wouldn't tell you," Leo replied flatly.
Ryan grinned. "Come on, when are you going to start trusting me?"
"Probably never," Leo said without hesitation.
He sighed dramatically but quickly changed the subject. "Anyway, I've got the spells—and this." He pulled out a small black crystal and placed it on the table. "This crystal absorbs the mana that escapes from your body and converts it into dark light."
Leo examined the crystal skeptically. "If something like this exists, why bother learning spells? Why doesn't everyone just use this?"
"It has its limitations," Ryan explained. "It can't handle mana from anyone ranked B or higher. The overflow would be too much for it to contain."
Leo remembered Edgarth's warning:
"Some have tried to shield themselves with protective items, they think charms or wards will save them. But here's the truth: one day you'll slip. You'll forget to put them on, or the protection will fail. And when that day comes, you'll be theirs."
Ryan noticed the shift in Leo's expression. "This crystal is a stopgap, nothing more. You need to learn the spells quickly—and more importantly, increase your mana capacity significantly."
He pulled out several sheets of paper, each containing detailed instructions for the spells. Leo activated the black crystal and picked up the papers to read. As soon as Leo activated the crystal and glanced at the spell papers, an unnatural cacophony of whispers erupted around him, each voice overlapping in a nightmarish symphony. Some murmured incoherent words, others hissed unintelligibly and a few sounded as if they were laughing—high-pitched and maddening. The whispers weren't just audible; they seemed to press against his mind, prodding and pulling at his thoughts. His breath hitched as the temperature in the room seemed to plummet. Goosebumps erupted on his skin and his body hair stood on end as if electrified. The sensation of icy, skeletal fingers brushing against his arms and shoulders made his stomach churn. Just as the mounting pressure in his mind threatened to crush him entirely, a surge of mana erupted from Ryan like a shockwave. The whispers fell silent, snuffed out in an instant, and the phantom hands vanished as though burned away by the raw energy. The oppressive cold dissipated, leaving Leo drenched in sweat and gasping for air.
"A few of them were already near you," Ryan said grimly. "Unlucky timing."
He reached into his bag and retrieved a blue crystal, handing it to Leo. "Here, activate this."
Leo complied and a sudden rush of energy flowed into him, temporarily boosting his mana reserves. The overwhelming surge left him wide-eyed but steadier.
"This will keep your mana stable for now," Ryan explained. "You've got one day to learn the spells. If you don't, the situation could get dangerous."
Leo examined the spells laid out before him, each marked with unique words of power etched into their structure.
"Is it even possible?" he said. learning two C rank spells was a daunting challenge, even for someone with experience.
"I managed to do it when I was at D rank," Rayan reasoned. "If I could do it then, it's definitely possible now."
Still, a sense of unease crept into his mind. "I don't know all of these words," he admitted, glancing at one of the spells.
Ryan, leaning casually against the table, looked up. "Which ones don't you know?"
Leo pointed at the Spiritbound Shield spell. Five words of power were listed: Mind, Power, Whole and two others. He recognized the first three but not the last two.
"This one's Aegis and the other is Spirit," Ryan clarified.
"Should I ask about the origins of these words?" Leo asked, hesitating.
Ryan shook his head. "No. Even if you manage to learn those two spells, it's still too soon for you to worry about that."
Setting the shield spell aside, Leo turned his attention to the other spell, Veil of Deception, which had six words of power: Mind, Control, Power, False, Truth, and one other word not familiar to him.
"What about this one?" Leo asked, pointing to the last word.
"That's Phantom," Ryan replied.
Leo hesitated before changing the subject. "What are your other paths?"
Ryan raised an eyebrow. "What's with the sudden curiosity?" He shrugged, then answered, "I've got two: Illusion as my main and Shadow as my secondary."
"Are you from the Light Kingdom?" Leo inquired.
"Yes," Ryan said simply, watching Leo carefully.
Leo wanted to dig deeper but decided against it. He didn't want to arouse suspicion and more importantly, he needed all the time he could get to work on the spells.
He stood abruptly. "I'll go now. I need every moment I have."
Ryan nodded. "Fine. If you have any questions, just contact me with Telepathy."
Leo left the shop without another word and made his way home. The shop wasn't far, and the meeting hadn't taken long, so by the time he returned, lunch wasn't ready yet.
Inside, Rosie and Eliza were in Rosie's room and his mother was busy in the kitchen.
"Mom, I'll be in my room," he called out.
"Okay, sweetie," she replied.
In his room, Leo sat at his desk, pulled out a sheet of paper, and carefully drew the word Phantom. He decided to start with Veil of Deception. It revolved around illusion magic, a path that his soul had shaped itself to follow. This alignment not only heightened his affinity for illusion spells but also minimized the risk of corruption, as his soul's structure was inherently stable within this domain.
Focusing, he channeled his mana into the word. Activating words of power wasn't especially difficult, but even with Ryan's protective measures, he felt a faint murmur echoing in his ears.
"What's the meaning behind these words?" he wondered aloud, but he quickly pushed the thought aside, refusing to waste time.
After half an hour, he felt confident in his understanding of Phantom. Moving on, he drew the full spell on the paper.
The next three hours were grueling. No matter how hard he tried, the spell refused to activate. learning a spell with six words of power was proving to be the hardest thing he'd ever attempted.
At one point, his mother called him for lunch. He ate quickly and helped clean the table, the short break allowing his mana reserves to recover slightly. He had a mana gem that could replenish his energy, but its mana wasn't entirely compatible with his own. Most of it remained in a protective orbit around him, with only a small portion entering his body for use in spells.
After lunch, Leo returned to his room and tried for another three hours. Each failure left him more drained, the murmurs growing louder in his ears. Sweat trickled down his forehead as he sat on the edge of his bed, exhausted.
"I used too much mana," he muttered. He stared at the half-burned spell diagram.
'My mana control is terrible,' he thought. 'I need more focus.'
After resting for half an hour, an idea struck him. He pulled out the Ring of Clarity from his drawer and slipped it on. As the artifact activated, his mind sharpened, his thoughts aligning with almost surgical precision.
This time, as he attempted the spell, he made it past the fourth word where he'd previously struggled. His focus allowed him to reach the sixth and final word, but the spell burned out again at the last moment.
'Now I need to regulate the amount of mana too?' he thought, frustrated but determined.
After countless attempts, Leo finally managed to activate the spell. It flared to life, glowing faintly, but only remained active for five seconds before the exhaustion in his body and soul forced him to stop. He slumped back into his chair, breathing heavily as he deactivated his ring.
Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out his watch and checked the time. 7:00 p.m. Just as he leaned back, hoping for a moment of rest, a sharp headache from the ring's lingering effects hit him like a wave.
"Damn it, I forgot about the side effects," he muttered, pressing a hand to his temple.
He tried lying down on his bed, but the throbbing in his head made resting impossible. An hour later, his mother's voice called to him from the kitchen.
"Leo, dinner's ready!"
Grateful for the distraction, he joined his family at the table. Fortunately, the meal seemed to ease the headache, the warm food and a break from magic giving his mind some relief.
After dinner, he returned to his room and sat at his desk. Taking a deep breath, he slid the Ring of Clarity back onto his finger. As the artifact's magic activated, his thoughts aligned, sharpening with crystal focus.
He closed his eyes and began channeling mana into the spell. Slowly, he followed its intricate lines, feeling the energy flow through every curve and contour. The words of power resonated as his mana interacted with them: Mind, Control, Power, False, Truth, and Phantom.
When he opened his eyes, the spell glowed with a steady light. He felt a sudden shift in the air around him. The world seemed to twist and distort, his mana rippling and spiraling outward in an unnatural dance.
'The mana leaving my body is changing. The spell is working,' he thought, a mix of awe and exhaustion washing over him.
The spell, as a C rank incantation, required a substantial amount of mana to sustain. Thankfully, the gem Ryan had given him provided additional mana, stepping in to keep the spell active whenever his reserves started to deplete. While it hadn't been very helpful during the learning phase, it was now doing an excellent job of maintaining the spell.
With a deep breath, Leo deactivated the spell and slipped off the ring. The artifact had guided him, showing the level of control he needed. Now, it was time to test himself without its aid. He understood the process; all that remained was mastering his focus and control.
By the time he finally succeeded, it was three in the morning. The entire day had slipped away in relentless effort, leaving him utterly drained. Despite the hours of grueling work, he had only managed to learn one of the spells—a humbling reminder of how far he still had to go.
As Leo rested his head on the bed, preparing to surrender to sleep, an overwhelming presence filled his mind. A voice, resonant and absolute, echoed within him, carrying the weight of divinity.
"Hear this: all remaining meetings for the month are hereby annulled. I shall convene with you again when the next month begins."
The voice faded as swiftly as it had come, leaving behind a profound silence that seemed to press against his very soul.
Leo recognized the voice, it belonged to Mr. Sage.