The First Clash
Leo soon found himself facing an unexpected dilemma.
As an adventurer of Rank F—the lowest rank, all missions available to him were limited to gathering herbs, transporting goods, and other menial tasks that required exhausting repetition just to earn a single promotion. Tasks utterly unsuited to his goals—or his time.
Lost in thought, Leo suddenly felt a large hand grip his shoulder from behind.
He turned cautiously, only to find himself facing a party of five adventurers.
At their front stood a man in his early thirties, tall and powerfully built, with taut muscles and a longsword resting across his back. His presence alone spoke of countless battles endured. — Herald, the party's leader.
Beside him was a man clad in heavy armor, bearing a massive shield nearly as large as himself—the team's defensive bulwark. He appeared to be twenty-nine. — Noro.
Behind them stood a woman in her thirties, gripping a heavy war hammer. Her gaze was sharp, her stance unyielding. — Mira.
Next was a calm-looking priest of twenty-six, holding a sacred staff, a gentle aura of reassurance and support emanating from him. — Borin.
And finally… a girl of fourteen stood slightly apart from the others. Her eyes were keen, her features severe, a bow slung over her shoulder. Suspicion filled her gaze, and her distrust of strangers was unmistakable. — Diara, the archer.
Herald smiled and spoke: "We're heading to subjugate a Dimas in the Northern Forest, but we're missing just one member—a mage—to complete our formation. We want a balanced team. Would you consider joining us?"
Leo fell silent for a moment, his thoughts racing.
This could be a good opportunity to raise my rank quickly… but I must remain cautious.
His thoughts were interrupted by Diara's sharp voice: "Why is he just standing there? If he doesn't want to join, he should just say so! Didn't I tell you, Herald? We don't need him—four of us are more than enough!"
Herald let out a patient sigh. "Diara, speak with some courtesy. How many times have I told you that?"
He then turned back to Leo with an apologetic smile. "Please forgive this embarrassing display. So… what do you say?"
Leo replied calmly, "It would be an honor to join you. I hope we work well together."
Herald smiled. "As do I." Then he suddenly slapped his forehead. "Ah! How rude of me. I haven't introduced myself properly. I'm Herald, and these are my companions: Noro, Mira, Borin… and Diara."
"A pleasure to meet you all," Leo said. "My name is Leo."
And so, after exchanging greetings, the party set out on their mission: to exterminate the Dimas and the monsters surrounding it, for wherever a Dimas appeared, beasts inevitably gathered both within and around its territory.
Everyone was filled with enthusiasm—everyone except Diara, who made no effort to hide her distrust of Leo or her confusion over Herald's decision to invite him.
But Herald, hardened by years of battle and countless brushes with death, possessed a seasoned intuition for sensing danger and discerning true capability. From the moment he laid eyes on Leo, he knew the boy was anything but ordinary.
As they made their way through the forest, Leo muttered to himself, "I wonder… how many missions will it take to rise through the ranks?"
Suddenly, Herald's voice rang out: "Positions! Now!"
In an instant, the team moved in perfect synchronization.
Before them emerged a horde of goblins and wolves—and worse still, a massive troll looming at their center.
The battle began.
Diara leapt into a tree, raining down deadly arrows with flawless precision.
Herald charged forward, his blade cleaving through enemy lines.
Noro planted his massive shield, deflecting the goblins' arrows.
Mira surged ahead, her hammer crashing down, crushing skulls with brutal force.
Watching them, Leo smiled faintly.
They've fought together countless times… flawless coordination, all from a single command.
Before he could finish the thought, the troll tore a massive wooden log from the ground and hurled it straight at him.
"Leo! Watch out!!" Herald shouted.
In the moment the team believed death was inevitable—
the log stopped midair.
Herald gasped. "Impossible… telekinesis this fast?! And I didn't hear a single chant!"
With a simple flick of Leo's finger, the log shot back at terrifying speed, piercing straight through the troll's skull. The creature collapsed lifelessly as shock seized the entire party.
Leo did not stop.
He unleashed a barrage of ice arrows, merging them with wide-range strategic magic that targeted the enemies' foreheads simultaneously.
Within moments… every last foe fell.
Silence descended.
"Let's go," Leo said calmly. "We'll continue."
"Y–Yes…" Herald muttered.
What Leo did not realize then was that their shock was fully justified.
Although his magic was classified as fourth-rank, his true combat power approached the upper fifth rank, for three reasons:
First: his blessed body.
Leo's host body possessed an enormous reserve of dense mana that he had yet to fully perceive or display. To others, his mana once seemed meager—earning him scorn and ridicule—until Alovenus awakened and mastered it.
Second: mana circulation and purification, allowing for smoother and more efficient flow.
Third: Silent Casting—a rare art mastered in this era only by mages of the eighth and ninth circles, requiring complex mental analysis of spell structures.
Even the greatest mages of the present age required nearly six seconds to perform silent casting.
Leo, however—having once been a Twelfth-Circle Mage, with unparalleled experience and mental capacity—cast spells in what could only be described as near-instantly.
Silent casting carried two major advantages:
A significant increase in spell power
A drastic reduction in casting time
And one minor drawback—higher mana consumption proportional to the spell's strength.
Not truly a flaw… but a deadly limitation for most mages.
In this world, 85% of those who walk the path of magic never surpass the third circle, no matter how long they devote their lives to it.
Those who reach the seventh are titled Great Mages.
Those who reach the ninth… Archmages.
And Leo?
He reached the fourth circle before even coming of age.
The party stared at him in silence.
They could not call him a genius—
for that word no longer sufficed.
And with curiosity tinged by fear, they wondered:
Who was this mage… behind the mask?
To be continued…