Training-Addicted Mage In A Progression Fantasy-Chapter 27: Ancient Mages Lair (4)

Leon, transported to a new location, quickly calmed his startled heart and scanned his surroundings.

Although it was dim, it wasn’t so dark that he couldn’t make out shapes.

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The place was very cramped.

Leon was currently standing on a circular stone plate, and it would only take three steps to get off it.

Moreover, after stepping off the plate and taking another three steps, walls blocked all four sides.

One wall was occupied by a bookshelf, and another by shelves and ceramic jars about waist-high to Leon.

What is this......?

In the end, there was only one wall left, and that wall was actually a door. Next to it, he saw a familiar lever.

Leon rubbed his throbbing head.

Looks like I got caught up in a Magic Circle......

Leon briefly looked at the Magic Circle engraved on the stone plate.

The Wooden Sword having the ability to disrupt the flow of Magic Power, didn’t seem to get teleported with him.

The Blink Magic worked just fine though...... Do the Blink scrolls have some kind of master recognition function?

Leon spread his Magic Power beyond the walls with Scanning Magic.

“This is bad.”

He could feel some presences along with flowing Magic Power beyond the walls.Some were familiar, some were unfamiliar.

The familiar Magic Power flow was from Armored Golems.Several were standing in front of the door, and the unfamiliar presence seemed to be that of Gargoyle Golems pacing around.

Even a rough count exceeded 10 in total.

“Ah...... the Wooden Sword. Damn it.”

Of all things, the Wooden Sword didn’t teleport with him, so there was no way to escape.

Leon pulled out an emergency designated Teleport Scroll from his pocket.

Should I use it?

The thought of the Advanced Study of the Secret of Creation lingered in his mind.Using the scroll now also meant giving up on the Wooden Sword.

He couldn’t teleport back to where he was just before being transported because he didn’t know the exact location.He wasn’t even sure if he had been on the second basement floor or somewhere deeper.

Leon had two places in mind for the emergency designated Teleport.

The Training Room he used when he was a General Disciple.And the entrance to Herb Mountain Area 1, Leon’s most gratifying accomplishment.

Leon sighed and looked around for now.

First, the bookshelf.

A red cover caught his eye first.

“Ha......”

Leon let out a hollow laugh and checked the other books.

He opened the book with that title, but disappointingly, it was all blank pages.

Hmm...... It doesn’t seem like ordinary blank pages though.

Leon tilted his head as he rubbed the blank pages with his hand.

It seemed they were made to be readable through other means.

That shelf was entirely occupied by Basic books and theses related to Golems.

Leon’s gaze moved further down.A book sitting alone at the bottom, as if neglected.

“Hm?”

Quickly skimming through it, it was a high-level Wind Attribute Magic.To be precise, about Arcane level.

There were also various Basic Magic Books shelved.

It didn’t seem like the owner of this Lair learned these directly, but rather brought them for reference when creating golems capable of using Magic.

Leon shifted his gaze from the bookshelf and scanned the shelves occupying another wall.

Most were empty potion bottles, but among them, he found 3 vials containing small beads.

Essence?

Recognizing the familiar form immediately, Leon used Appraisal Magic.

“Hup.”

The white bead he first used Appraisal Magic on was an A-Grade Essence.

1 A-Grade Essence.A-Grade Elixirs are effective even for Insight Grade Mages...... Moreover, since Leon had a constitution that was efficient with Elixirs, it might be effective even if consumed at the Transcendence Grade.

The production method for this was rare, and even if it could be made, the process was so complex that the quantity would be limited...

Did they obtain this to consume upon reaching Insight? Or have they already reached Transcendence Grade and no longer need it?

A certain impulse suddenly arose within Leon.

Should I train a bit here?

Leon barely managed to calm his heart and checked the other vials.

5 B-Grade Essences.17 C-Grade Essences.

“...What’s this?”

Even with a lot of money, could one buy this many Essences?

Did they make a fortune by creating Golems?

In fact, people’s current evaluation of Golems wasn’t very good.They were certainly useful if you had them, but they were considered a luxury item too expensive to keep around.

Was it different in Ancient times?

And next, the silver fruit that looked soft inside the ceramic jar.

Examining it with Appraisal Magic revealed it was a fruit that wouldn’t spoil for a long time and could provide all nutrients with just one.

Even so, it still hasn’t rotted?

He found the reason in the ceramic jar.

The jar itself was a precious Artifact with preservation Magic cast on it.It seemed to be about C-Grade in terms of rank.

“Is this the real Training Room?”

Leon realized.This was where the Ancient Mage trained.

Even if I use Teleport with just these, it would make up for the loss of the Magic Sword...... No.

But he felt sick at the thought of really giving up.

As Leon was mentally calculating, another thought crossed his mind.

Rather, if I train here and become Arcane Grade, wouldn’t I be able to handle the Golems outside?

Of course, there was a high possibility that the Golems outside weren’t all there was.If the Ancient Mage was Transcendence Grade rather than Mystic Grade as Leon suspected, there wouldn’t be just this many Golems.

But there was no harm in trying and then escaping.

“I really can’t resist this.”

Leon was already thirsting for training.Seeing the accumulated high-grade Essences made his heart race.

How long would it take to rise as quickly as possible?Leon estimated the time.

Even if he trained 20 hours a day, slept only 4 hours, and continued training, it would take a long time.

Even including 10 hours of Magic Orb time, training for a total of 30 hours and then sleeping for only 4 hours before resuming training, it was the same.

If he left too late, the chances of the Wooden Sword still being in place would be low.Besides, thinking of the people who would be troubled if they concluded he was dead, he couldn’t stay here for too long.

Leon thought of ways to quickly raise his Realm.

In terms of Elixirs alone, he would need to consume over 50 E-Grade Essences to reach 5th Grade.

Until now, Leon hadn’t been able to obtain enough high-grade Essences due to the probability system.

By the time he had gathered enough while aiming for the next Realm, he would have about 20-30 Essences just when he reached that Realm.

So far, he had gathered 20 E-Grade and 5 D-Grade Essences.Based on his experience consuming Essences so far, the effect of 7-8 F-Grade Essences was similar to that of 1 E-Grade Essence.

If we consider 7 E-Grade Essences to have the same effect as 1 D-Grade Essence......

If he consumed all the Elixirs he had left now, it would be equivalent to consuming a total of 55, which would be enough to enter 5th Grade.However, this meant depleting all the Elixirs Leon had received as rewards.The problem was that he wouldn’t be able to prepare anything for the next Realm.

Well, that’s what would have happened before but......

Leon turned his gaze to the vials on the shelf.

17 C-Grade Essences.

Just consuming one would have the effect of 49 E-grade Essences.This means he could reach 5th Grade in one go.

Of course, this was just a simple calculation, and enlightenment was necessary for Realm Ascension.

That was the problem.

The side effects of rapidly raising one’s Realm.

Simply raising one’s Realm at once with Essences would require an enormous amount of time for enlightenment, unlike gradually rising while training the Arpina 4-Star Magic.

There was also the issue of the Core.

Why do people not carelessly consume high-grade Essences when they are at a low Realm?

Obviously, because their Core cannot withstand it.

It was too greedy to hope that high-grade Essences could be fully absorbed regardless of one’s Realm.

Am I being greedy too?

Even Leon, with his Full-Attribute Body, couldn’t be certain there would be no side effects.

I can’t be certain, but...... why do I feel like it will work?

Having made up his mind, Leon first poured all 20 E-Grade Essences and 5 D-Grade Essences into his mouth as much as he could.

Heat began to rise rapidly throughout his body.

The heat built up, and built up, and built up until it became as hot as lava.

As Leon’s Core burned more fiercely than expected, he struggled to control it with all his might.

The Core pounded like it was trying to hatch from an egg, inflicting pain on Leon.

The burning sensation and pain repeatedly battered Leon.

He didn’t know how much time had passed.

The stone plate was covered with traces of Leon’s cold sweat that had flowed, soaked, and dried.

Usually, when consuming an Elixir and training for 10 hours, one Elixir would naturally be digested, but Leon was trying to forcibly digest 25 at once.

Focusing all his nerves on stabilizing his Core and groaning, when Leon came to his senses at some point, he had entered the late stages of 4th Grade.

“Haah......”

A clear, refreshing feeling that could be felt when fully digesting an Elixir swept through Leon’s body.

The heat was completely washed away.

Judging by my hunger...... about 3 days must have passed.

Leon fell asleep on the spot without even thinking about satisfying his hunger.

And when Leon opened his eyes again, he ate the fruit and fell into thought.

Now he needed enlightenment to break through to the next Realm.

The remaining Magic Orb time was 163 hours.He had used one more hour putting in the Golem remnants.

It’s difficult to gain enlightenment with just this much time......

Leon had spent 640 hours of Magic Orb time just to enter 4th Grade.

It was far from enough.

After hesitating for a moment, Leon squeezed his eyes shut and poured 3 C-Grade Essences into his mouth at once.