Chapter 25: Reencounter
When he got back to his cottage, Leo holed himself up in his room. For the next two days, he concentrated all of his attention on reading the books. As he kept reading, he realized how less he knew about the world he lived in.
The city he was in, Solhaven, was only a small city. It was near a major city called Eldridge. Solhaven was managed by a 4th Circle Mage while Eldridge had a 5th Circle Mage. The book didn't say anything else about the cities.
The more important information he learned was the differences between Mages and Aura Knights. Apparently, mages had the same power as Aura Knights. While mages used magic power, aura knights used aura. Both of them would be equally powerful if they faced off against each other.
The only reason mages were considered more important was that magic could impact battles more than aura. Mages could cast spells that changed entire battlefields, unlike Aura Knights. This was why magic was controlled by nobles.
The most important thing that he learned was that a person could only learn one thing between Aura and Magic. He couldn't learn both. He was disappointed at first when he saw that in the book, but he realized that he wasn't a normal mage. He decided to test if that was right or not after reading the rest of the books.
He spent the bulk of his time reading the book that Trevor recommended to him. This was because he would encounter these beasts in the forest. The book had the weaknesses of the beasts as well as their habits. He could use it to find herbs as well because the places they lived were where magical herbs typically grew.
He also found that magical beasts and people had a more delicate power system than just looking at how many circles they had formed. Mages and Aura Knights could be a 1st Circle or 2nd Circle Mage or Aura Knight. But within 1st Circle Mages, they were classified as Early, Mid, Late, and Peak Stage of that Circle. This was the same with magical beasts.
After he finished reading the book, he decided to start learning aura. He went to Daphne to take the book from her. At this point, she had already memorized everything in it, so he wasn't obstructing her practice.
"Did you reach 1st Circle yet?" He asked Daphne.
She shook her head.
"It's okay. It takes time." He consoled her and went back to his room.
He opened the book and started reading. The concepts were incredibly similar to what he already knew. The only difference was that he was gathering the aura in his body and eventually consolidating it in his dantian instead magic in his mind. It wasn't supposed to be too difficult, right?
He was completely wrong. He already knew how to gather mana, so he started searching for aura in a similar way. He started searching for it, but he didn't have any results at all. After two hours of failure, he decided to give it a break and went back to training magic.
The next day, he went to the inn to prepare to go to the forest. He was trying to earn more money so that he could get books that explained aura better.
He entered the inn. He went to the front and ordered his usual meal and went to a table to wait for the order. The person who brought the meal to him was a young girl who looked the same age as Leo.
She was the daughter of the inn's owner and Leo had seen her numerous time there. Since she was the same age as him, he had talked to her a couple of times as well.
"Hello, Leo," She said. She put the tray of food down on the table.
"Hello, Lily. How is your day going?" He asked her.
"It's okay. Are you going to the forest again today?" She asked. She was very curious about the forest.
"Yes." He answered.
"Can you tell me about it when you get back? I wish I could go but my parents will never let me." She said.
Leo smiled. "Of course, I will. Here, the money for the food." He gave her two coins. She took the coins and left. He started eating his food slowly while listening to the conversations around him.
After a while, he was about to leave the inn, but he saw someone familiar talking to the owner of the inn. He went a little closer to listen to the conversation.
"We will get the money to you as soon as possible. Please give us more time. The business has been slow because mercenaries stopped going to the forest." The owner said. He was a middle-aged man.
The person he was talking to was dressed in black clothing and had a gold chain hanging on his neck. He was the same person who had demanded money from Leo at the slums a while back.
"All I hear are excuses. The boss said that you might need some incentives. So, if you cannot come up with the money, then we will keep your wife till you can." The man said.
Leo heard these words and his blood started boiling.
"Sir, please! I will try my best to return the money. Please let my wife go." The owner wailed.
The man didn't bother answering and just left the inn. While he was leaving, he noticed Leo.
"What are you looking at, brat?" He said and shoved him out of the way.
Leo got incredibly angry and almost cast a magic bullet at him, but stopped himself. If he cast magic in the middle of the inn he would get into a lot of trouble. Moreover, the man hadn't even recognized him. This meant that he and the owner were not the only victims. That would mean that the Blacktooth gang was very powerful.
He looked at the owner who looked like he was dead inside. He walked up to him.
"Sir, can you tell me a little about the person who just left?" Leo asked him.
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A/N: I would greatly appreciate comments about the story at any point. I would also appreciate reviews.
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