Day Three
On the third day...
Leo continued his training without allowing himself to waste even a single moment.
Ever since returning to the Dainhart family's territory, time had become more precious to him than ever. The trials drew closer with every passing day, yet the objective he had set for himself remained unchanged.
The Sixth Circle.
That was his goal.
And he intended to reach it.
While immersed in his training, however, another thought suddenly crossed his mind.
It had been some time since he had seriously tested the capabilities of the Eye of Fate. His magical power had also increased considerably since the last time he had pushed the mysterious eye to its limits.
This seemed like the perfect opportunity to discover just how much it had changed.
The Eye of Destiny remained one of the strangest abilities Leo possessed.
More importantly...
It was one of the few whose true limits he had yet to uncover.
Leo slowly inhaled.
Then...
He activated the Eye of Destiny.
The instant its power awakened, Leo sensed something subtly different.
The eye...
Was not the same as before.
Its brilliance seemed slightly less intense than he remembered, as though the dazzling radiance surrounding it had dimmed.
Yet, strangely enough...
It appeared clearer.
Deeper.
And somehow, far more imposing.
It was no longer merely an unusual eye possessing strange abilities.
There was now an indescribable sensation surrounding it.
A faint, almost imperceptible feeling that the eye was observing the world from an entirely different perspective than ordinary human beings.
As though it did not merely see things as they appeared...
But rather...
As they truly were.
Leo remained silent as he studied it.
The stronger he became, the more certain he was that the Eye of Destiny had yet to reveal all its secrets.
Not even close.
He could feel it.
There was something else buried within its depths.
Other abilities.
Other functions.
Other powers that remained beyond his perception, no matter how deeply he tried to probe them.
It was almost as though the eye itself was waiting for him to reach a certain threshold of power before allowing him to glimpse what lay beyond its current limits.
But for now...
That was all he could discover.
So Leo simply kept it active.
One minute...
Then two.
Five...
Then ten full minutes.
He became so absorbed in observing the eye that he failed to notice how quickly the time passed.
When he finally became aware of it, Leo immediately checked his condition.
His mana reserves had fallen by nearly sixty-five percent.
His expression shifted slightly.
He deactivated the Eye of Destiny at once and released a long, controlled breath.
His breathing remained steady, but a faint trace of satisfaction appeared in his eyes.
At first...
I could barely keep it active for five minutes.
He paused, carefully assessing his current condition.
But now...
I should be able to maintain it for roughly fifteen minutes.
That was an enormous improvement.
Although the Eye of Destiny's mana consumption remained frighteningly high, increasing his endurance from five minutes to nearly fifteen meant that his ability to sustain its power had almost tripled.
It was undeniable proof that his strength had advanced considerably.
Yet Leo did not allow satisfaction to turn into arrogance.
He knew better than anyone that the path ahead was still long.
There were countless obstacles waiting for him.
And the Sixth Circle...
Was only the beginning.
After resting for a short while, Leo decided to stop training temporarily and take a walk around the grounds.
He had not expected anything particularly interesting to happen.
But as he wandered through the training grounds, he began to notice something that had changed far faster than he had anticipated.
The way people looked at him.
Only two days ago, the trainees had regarded him with open contempt.
Some had mocked him directly to his face.
Others had laughed whenever he passed by.
To them, he had been nothing more than the useless youngest son of the Dainhart family.
A fool who could neither wield magic nor properly handle a sword.
But now...
Everything was different.
Whenever Leo passed someone, that person instinctively lowered their gaze.
If someone happened to find themselves walking toward him, they immediately stepped aside.
Even those who had once spoken about him behind his back now kept their voices to little more than whispers.
As though they feared that merely speaking too loudly might somehow attract his attention.
Leo noticed all of it.
But he found it hardly worth considering.
To him, this was merely the natural consequence of power.
People respected strength.
Or, more accurately...
They feared what they could not afford to offend.
That was simply how the world worked.
As Leo continued wandering through the training grounds, however, a young man suddenly approached him.
The boy appeared to be around Leo's age.
Yet unlike the arrogant trainees Leo had grown accustomed to seeing, this one's demeanor was completely different.
He seemed hesitant.
Timid, even.
As though speaking itself required a certain amount of courage.
He finally stopped in front of Leo.
"Excuse me..."
His voice trembled slightly.
"M-May I ask you something?"
Leo stopped walking and studied him for several moments.
There was no hostility.
No malice.
No contempt.
Nor any intention of provoking trouble.
Only genuine curiosity...
And perhaps something else Leo could not quite identify.
I see no reason to refuse him.
Leo finally said,
"Go ahead."
The boy inhaled deeply, almost as though gathering all the courage he possessed before asking the question that had been weighing on his mind.
"H-How..."
"How did you change?"
Leo raised an eyebrow.
The boy hurriedly continued.
"I mean..."
"You were weak."
"No one helped you."
"And yet, in such a short period of time..."
"You became completely different."
Leo remained silent for a moment.
Then he answered simply:
"Because I didn't need anyone else to make me strong."
The boy's eyes widened slightly.
Leo continued, his voice calm and unwavering.
"Others can teach you."
"They can guide you."
"They can even show you the path."
"But they cannot walk it for you."
The boy stared at him.
His expression revealed that he was trying to understand the meaning behind those words.
Then he asked quietly,
"Why?"
Leo raised his gaze slightly.
"Because true strength..."
He paused.
His eyes sharpened.
"Must be earned."
"It cannot simply be given to you."
The words were simple.
Short.
Yet their impact on the boy was anything but.
Silence settled between them.
The boy remained standing before Leo, staring at him as though he had just received the answer to a question he had been searching for over many years without ever knowing how to put it into words.
His lips moved slightly.
But no words came.
Then...
His eyes began to shine.
A single tear slipped down his cheek.
He quickly raised a hand and wiped it away, seemingly embarrassed that he had allowed Leo to witness such weakness.
But when he spoke again, his voice was filled with unmistakable sincerity.
"Thank you..."
"Truly..."
"Thank you for guiding me."
A small, trembling smile appeared on his face.
"Because of you..."
"I feel like I've finally found what I've been searching for all this time."
Then, unable to conceal his excitement, he added:
"I think I'll finally start making real progress."
Leo regarded him with slightly greater interest.
Then he asked:
"And what exactly did you discover?"
The boy swallowed.
He seemed to gather his thoughts before answering.
"All this time..."
"I was trying to become stronger for other people."
His gaze dropped.
"I cared too much about what everyone thought of me."
"Do they think I'm strong?"
"Do they respect me?"
"Do they think I'm better than everyone else?"
His hand slowly tightened into a fist.
"I was more concerned with their opinions..."
"Than I was with myself."
He raised his head and looked directly at Leo.
"And I never realized..."
"That was precisely what was preventing me from making any real progress."
Leo listened until the boy had finished.
Then he nodded.
"Good."
"It's good that you realized it."
He had nothing more to say.
Because in the end...
Others could teach you.
They could guide you.
They could open doors for you.
But the final step...
You had to take it yourself.
And judging from the determination in the boy's eyes, it seemed he had finally understood that.
The boy turned around, preparing to leave.
He took several steps.
Then stopped.
After a moment, he glanced back at Leo.
A smile appeared on his face.
It was still somewhat awkward...
But there was a confidence in it that had not been there before.
"I'll be looking forward to seeing you again."
Then he added,
"Especially at the trials."
He hesitated for a moment before seemingly remembering something.
"Oh... by the way."
He scratched the back of his head awkwardly.
"My name is Aren."
And with that...
He left.
Leo remained where he was, watching Aren's back until he disappeared among the other trainees.
For a few moments, he said nothing.
Then he released a quiet sigh.
It seems...
I've acquired another nuisance.
A faint, almost helpless smile touched his lips.
Then he turned around and resumed walking.
The trials were approaching.
Time continued to move forward.
And while everyone else was busy trying to prove themselves against one another...
Leo's eyes remained fixed upon a single objective.
The Sixth Circle.
Twelve days.
That was all he had left.
Twelve days before the trials began.
And Leo had absolutely no intention of wasting even one of them.