After making the bold promise, Leo left the shack.
He went straight to the market to find Trevor. The only way he could earn that much money was to risk his life and go back into Valkyr's Forest.
He found Trevor's stall in its usual spot. The middle-aged man sat behind his counter, stroking his full-grown beard, waiting for customers.
Trevor spotted him approaching and smiled, rising to his feet with a stretch.
"So, you've come back. For more work, I presume?"
Leo nodded.
"I need 800 Star coins. Do you know how I can earn that much money?"
Trevor's eyebrows shot up. He rubbed his chin, thinking for a long moment.
"Yes," he said finally. "But the chance of you doing it without dying is zero."
Leo's gaze didn't waver. Not even a flicker of hesitation.
Trevor sighed heavily.
"Fine. Don't say I didn't warn you." He leaned forward against his stall. "I don't need any more Glimmer roots since you got me enough for this week. I'd already bought enough for last week from a mercenary. So the only thing you can offer me now is an actual herb."
He held up a finger.
"Glimmer roots are the most basic herbs out there. Anything more precious is often guarded by a beast. The herb I'm talking about typically only has a normal beast guarding it, but that's still too dangerous for someone like you."
Leo stayed silent, listening intently.
Trevor continued. "If you go deeper than where you went for the Glimmer root, you'll find more precious herbs. Anything colorful — anything that seems magical — that's what you're probably looking for. I can't ask you to find a specific one, because that's mainly luck. But if you bring me any of those special herbs, I can give you 1,000 Star coins."
He paused.
"Maybe more."
Leo's eyes lit up.
1,000 Star coins. That was more than enough.
But the excitement faded almost immediately. Reality crashed back down on him like cold water.
He was too weak. The outskirts of Valkyr's Forest had nearly killed him. Going deeper? He'd die instantly. A wolf had chased him to the lake. A crocodile had nearly devoured him. And those were just the creatures near the edges.
He needed to get stronger. Fast.
A thought flashed through his mind like lightning.
His eyes lit up again.
"Thanks for telling me about this," he said, his voice steady with renewed determination. "I'll come back with one of those herbs. For sure. Give me a week."
Before Trevor could respond, Leo turned and ran.
He sprinted back toward the slums, toward the shack, his mind racing faster than his legs.
The thought that had shot across his mind — the idea that made everything click — was magic.
He could learn a spell.
Obviously, he couldn't cast anything powerful. The amount of magic he possessed was minuscule, barely a wisp. But what if he could gather enough to cast just one spell?
A body-strengthening spell.
If he could pull that off, he'd have the strength of a grown man. Combined with his small, flexible, and nimble body, he'd be far more dangerous than he looked. He could dodge faster, slip through tighter gaps, and actually fight back if something came at him.
The strangest part was how the idea had come to him.
When he'd been thinking about ways to survive the forest — ways to get deep enough to find the herbs — the knowledge of the body-strengthening spell had risen in his mind on its own. It surfaced from somewhere inside him, clear and precise, as if the tome tattooed on his wrist had sensed his need and answered it.
Like the Arcane Emperor's legacy was guiding him.
Leo didn't question it. He embraced it.
But for this plan to work, he'd have to devote every waking moment to two things: gathering magic and practicing the spell. No distractions. No wasted time. And he still needed to leave enough days to actually venture into the forest and retrieve the herb.
A tight schedule. A dangerous gamble.
He burst through the door of the shack.
Daphne looked up, startled.
"Don't disturb me at all," he said, already sitting down cross-legged on the floor. "I'm going to be meditating. But I have a plan to earn the money."
She opened her mouth to ask questions, but something in his expression must have stopped her. She nodded quietly.
Leo closed his eyes and began.
---
The next two days blurred together.
He meditated without stopping. He only took breaks to eat — and even those were rushed. A few bites of whatever Daphne handed him, then back to the stillness.
Even when he was supposed to be sleeping, he kept gathering magic.
His body sat motionless in that tiny shack, but inside his mind, something was growing.
The small cloud of magic that had once been barely visible — just a faint wisp hovering above the endless grass in his mindscape — had expanded dramatically. It was now the size of a house. Dense. Swirling. Pulsing with quiet energy.
The magic lit up a decent chunk of the grass beneath it, and the effects were tangible.
He could think more clearly now. His thoughts were sharper, more organized. It felt like his brain had been running through fog for thirteen years, and someone had finally started clearing it away.
He realized something important: the portion of the grass that was illuminated by the magic directly corresponded to the strength of his mind. The more grass that glowed, the sharper he became.
So if he gathered enough magic, he could become genuinely smarter. And if he ever formed a star — a true mage's core — the effects would be exponentially more pronounced.
But that was a goal for another day.
Right now, he had enough magic to attempt the spell.
---
Now came the hard part.
Learning to actually cast it.
The body-strengthening spell required him to move the gathered magic out of his mind and spread it through his physical body, temporarily reinforcing his muscles, bones, and tendons.
Simple in theory.
He focused inward, reaching for the cloud of magic, and willed it to move.
Nothing happened.
He tried again.
Nothing.
Again.
Still nothing.
He gritted his teeth and pushed harder on the fourth attempt — and this time, he felt something shift.
A change. Subtle but real.
The magic in his mind stirred, pressing against the edges of his consciousness. It was trying to break out, trying to flow into his body. But his focus wasn't strong enough to guide it through. The connection between mind and body kept slipping, like trying to hold water in cupped hands.
Still, it was progress.
The reason this particular spell had surfaced from the tome's knowledge was clear to him now. Learning it was incredibly simple compared to other spells, and it required no qualifications.
Every other spell in the tome required the user to be at least a 1-Star Mage. This one didn't. It only required the mage to possess magic — any amount of magic.
It was the easiest spell with any combat value that existed. It didn't demand a deeper understanding of magical theory or complex mana manipulation like other spells did.
Just raw focus and willpower.
Leo had plenty of both.
---
He willed the magic in his mind to come out.
Slowly, carefully, he guided it downward. He felt it seep from his consciousness into his neck, then his shoulders, then his arms.
He spread it further. Into his chest. His spine. His legs.
It almost covered his entire body —
And then it dispersed.
Completely. All at once. Gone.
He'd lost focus for only a single second, and the magic scattered like smoke in the wind.
"Damn it," he muttered under his breath.
He tried again.
The magic flowed out, spread halfway through his body — and dispersed.
Again.
This time it made it to his torso before collapsing.
Again.
Closer. Almost there. Then gone.
Every single time, one tiny lapse in concentration — a stray thought, a muscle twitch, a moment of fatigue — shattered the spell completely.
It was supposed to be the easiest spell to learn. The most basic combat magic in existence.
But after barely resting for three days straight, Leo was forcing himself to control something that demanded perfect concentration while running on fumes. His eyelids were heavy. His body ached from sitting still for so long. His mind, despite the magical enhancement, was fraying at the edges.
The fact that he was even still awake was miraculous.
He tried one more time.
The magic flowed outward. His mind strained to hold it together. He pushed it further, further, almost there —
A sudden jolt ran through his entire body.
His eyes snapped shut on their own.
His body went limp.
And everything went black.