Download App

Chapter 9: Trouble

Leo touched the engraving on the door. He opened the door again and peered through without leaving the white room. After fulfilling his desire to look at the landscape again, he closed the door after seeing the familiar darkness.

He didn't want to jump to conclusions, but he was very confident that he had just accessed his mind. This meant that he had finished every step before forming his first star. Of course, he didn't have enough magic power accumulated. But he had sensed magic, absorbed it into his body, and gathered it into his mind. He was very pleased with himself.

He was also tired after that much mental activity. He didn't feel like doing any more work for the day, so he decided to just rest. He closed his eyes again and felt the white space breaking around him. He didn't open his eyes for the rest of the night.

He woke up very early the next day. The sun hadn't even risen yet. When he woke up, he felt more refreshed than the rest of the week. Even though he was 'sleeping' throughout the week, he was always in the white space trying to focus his mind. For the first time though, he had properly slept. He got up and stretched a little.

"Now let's see if I was dreaming or not," he muttered to himself.

Daphne was still sleeping, but he wasn't planning on doing anything loud. He was going to first try and meditate again, and then see if he could gather magic. After all, a dream was different compared to the real world.

He sat down in the lotus position and took a deep breath. He started concentrating on the thought of magic. Unlike the first time, he had encountered magic this time. So he knew exactly what to envision when thinking about magic. He didn't take anywhere close to the time he took the first time to sense magic.

He opened his eyes and he saw the room had magical orbs floating around. However, the number of orbs was vastly less compared to the white room. He started calling out to them. They converged toward his body slowly and melted into his body. After his attempts finally gave him success, he decided to continue meditating until the morning when he would have to go to work.

He continued meditating for around three hours and was able to enter his mind to store all of the magic he had absorbed periodically. While he was in the middle of meditating, he heard a loud thud on his door.

He snapped to the real world when he heard the thud. Daphne had also woken up to the sound. He heard the thud again.

"Open up!"

He went to the door and opened it. On the other side were two men. One of them had a book and a pen. He crossed something out in the book.

"You guys live here?" The other man asked him. He was wearing black clothing and a golden chain that dangled out of his neck. The other man was also dressed the same way.

He nodded.

"This place is now under the protection of the Blacktooth Gang. You will have to pay monthly protection fees from now on to live here," He told him.

He sized the man up. There was no way he could beat the man up even if there were three of him. On top of that, there were two of them. The only option he had was diplomacy.

"I am willing to pay the fees. But I won't be able to pay a lot. I make 5 Star coins a day and spend all of it on food. I am a kid after all." He said.

The man sized up Leo and looked inside. He saw Daphne but no one else.

"Orphans? Figured. So the rate for two people is 400 Star coins each. 800 Star coins to stay. Come up with the number or leave." The man said. He didn't care about his situation at all.

He scowled inwards but held it in. He smiled at the man.

"Is there any way I can pay a portion now and the rest on another day?" Leo asked.

The man laughed. "So you do have the money! How about this? Keep the money and give us the girl. We can sell her for at least a few thousand Star coins. Maybe even more. You can live here for two years if you give her to us."

He wanted to punch the man but held his hand.

"You joke sir. I can afford 100 Star coins now. I will try to go to Valkyr's Forest and try to find some valuable herbs." He said to the man.

The man looked down at him who was barely coming to his chest. He grabbed the coin in his hands and left.

"I'll be back in a week." He said while leaving.

Leo closed the door the minute they left. He looked at Daphne.

"Sorry, you had to see that." He apologized to Daphne. Meanwhile, Daphne's eyes had tears threatening to fall out.

"Don't go to the forest. You could die. How would you be able to come up with 800 Star coins even if you went once? We can try to go somewhere else." Daphne didn't want him to go back into the forest.

He smiled and walked towards her. He hugged her and patted her head.

"Don't worry, silly. I'll be fine. Don't cry. I've done it once and I can do it again." He consoled Daphne. After a while, she calmed down.

"We should move away from here." She said resolutely.

He shook his head. "You just wait a week. I will sort everything by then."


Chapter 10: Body Strengthening Spell

After making the bold promise, Leo left the shack. He went straight to the market to find Trevor. The only way that he could earn that much money was to risk his life and go into Valkyr's Forest. He went to where Trevor's stall normally was and saw him sitting there, waiting for customers.

Trevor saw him walking towards him. He smiled and got up to stretch.

"So, you have come back. For more work, I presume?" He said to Leo.

Leo nodded.

"I need 800 Star coins. Do you know how I can earn that much money?" He asked Trevor.

Trevor thought for a while and said, "Yes. But the chance of you doing it without dying is zero."

Leo's eyes showed no signs of backing down. Trevor sighed.

"Fine. I don't need any more Glimmer roots since you got me enough for this week. I already had bought enough for last week from a mercenary. So the only thing you can offer me is an actual herb. Glimmer roots are the most basic herbs. Anything more precious is often guarded by a beast. The herb I am talking about typically only has a normal beast guarding it, but it is still too dangerous for you." Trevor started explaining the job.

"If you go deeper than where you went for the Glimmer root, you will find more precious herbs. Anything colorful and seems magical is what you are probably looking for. I can't ask you to find a specific one for me, because that is mainly luck. But if you give me any of those special herbs, I can give you 1000 Star coins. Maybe more."

Leo's eyes lit up when he heard that. However, he quickly realized that he wouldn't be able to find anything special like that because he was too weak. He would die instantly if he entered the forest. He needed to somehow get stronger quickly.

A thought flashed through his mind. His eyes lit up again.

"Thanks for telling me about this. I will come back with one of those herbs for sure. I will see you in a week." He said before leaving. He ran back to the shack with all his strength.

The thought that had shot across his mind was that he could learn some magic. Obviously, he couldn't cast any strong magic with the minuscule amount of magic that he had. However. he could try to gather enough magic to maybe cast a body-strengthening spell on himself. If he could do that, he would be as strong as a grown man. With his flexible and nimble body, he was more of a threat too.

The reason this thought even came to his mind was that when he was thinking about ways to survive the forest to get the herbs, he automatically started remembering about the body-strengthening spell. It was like the tome knew that he needed it and sent it to him.

However, for this to work he would have to devote all his time to gathering magic and practicing the body-strengthening spell. He would have to have no distractions and also devote enough time to go to get the herb.

"Don't disturb me at all. I am meditating now, but I have a plan to earn the money." He told Daphne before sitting down. He immediately started meditating.

The next two days passed by very quickly. He had been meditating the entire time. He only took breaks when he was eating. Even when he was 'sleeping', he kept gathering magic. The small cloud in his mind had now become larger. It was the size of a house.

The magic lit up a decent chunk of the grass in his mind, and it had effects on him. He could think a little more clearly and he felt like he received a brain boost. He realized that the portion of the grass that lit up would add to the strength of his mind. So if he gathered enough magic, he could become smarter. If he made a star, the effects would definitely be more pronounced.

He knew that he had enough magic. Now he had to start learning how to cast the actual spell. He would have to concentrate on gathering the magic in his body and strengthening it temporarily.

He focused and tried to move the magic in his mind but nothing happened. He tried it again. After a few tries, when he tried it again, he felt a change. His latest try had created a change in his magic. He could feel the magic in his mind trying to break out of his mind, but because his mind wasn't focusing enough, it wasn't coming out.

The reason this spell was what was picked was that learning it was incredibly simple and required no qualifications. Every other spell required the user to be at least a 1 Star Mage. This spell only required the mage to possess magic. This spell was the easiest spell that had any combat value to learn. This was because this spell didn't require as much of a deeper understanding of magic, unlike other spells.

Leo willed the magic in his mind to come out. He gently spread it throughout his body. It almost covered his entire body before dispersing completely. He had lost focus for only a second and the magic completely dispersed.

He tried again, and again. Every time, a small error in concentration dispersed all the magic away. The spell was supposed to be the easiest to learn, but he was having some difficulty with it. After barely resting for three days, he was forcing himself to control the magic. With his state of mind, it was miraculous that he was even awake. As he was trying again, a sudden jolt ran through his body. His eyes closed automatically, and he blacked out.


Load failed, please RETRY

Gifts

Gift -- Gift received

    Weekly Power Status

    Batch unlock chapters

    Table of Contents

    Display Options

    Background

    Font

    Size

    Chapter comments

    Write a review Reading Status: C9
    Fail to post. Please try again
    • Writing Quality
    • Stability of Updates
    • Story Development
    • Character Design
    • World Background

    The total score 0.0

    Review posted successfully! Read more reviews
    Vote with Power Stone
    Rank 200+ Power Ranking
    Stone 0 Power Stone
    Report inappropriate content
    error Tip

    Report abuse

    Paragraph comments

    Login

    tip Paragraph comment

    Paragraph comment feature is now on the Web! Move mouse over any paragraph and click the icon to add your comment.

    Also, you can always turn it off/on in Settings.

    GOT IT