Even after his latest experiment with the Path-Seeking Ability, Leo still wasn't completely convinced.
If anything...
The more he thought about it, the more questions surfaced in his mind.
Leo raised his gaze toward the sky for a few moments, his expression calm yet thoughtful.
Then, in a low voice, as though speaking only to himself, he murmured:
"But what would happen..."
"If this ability were to face Strategic Magic?"
His eyes narrowed slightly.
Strategic Magic.
The kind of magic that allowed its user to alter an attack's trajectory even after it had already been released—to bend it, redirect it, and control its movement according to their will.
Leo remained silent for a moment before beginning to analyze the possibilities one by one.
"Would the ability continue displaying the trajectory after the attack is released... and keep following it no matter how many times its direction changes?"
He slowly shook his head.
"No..."
"I doubt it."
After all, in that situation, the attack would possess no fixed trajectory to begin with.
Its path would constantly change according to the attacker's thoughts, decisions, and will.
Then Leo raised one finger.
"Or perhaps..."
"It would only display the final trajectory the attack is destined to take at the very last moment."
He paused.
A deeper look of contemplation appeared in his eyes.
"Or..."
"There is the worst possibility."
His expression gradually became serious.
"The ability may simply fail to determine the trajectory altogether."
Silence lingered for several moments.
Then Leo spoke with certainty:
"Honestly..."
"That is the most likely possibility."
Leo wasn't underestimating the Path-Seeking Ability.
Quite the opposite.
He understood better than most that every ability had its limits, no matter how extraordinary it appeared.
If this ability could truly determine the path of an attack whose trajectory constantly changed according to the attacker's will, then it wouldn't merely be predicting movement...
It would be predicting the attacker's decision itself before that decision was even made.
And that thought led Leo toward an even more absurd possibility.
"Unless..."
His eyes became slightly colder.
"Unless this ability is powerful enough to interfere with causality itself."
Leo fell silent.
A faint, almost amused smile appeared on his lips.
"And that..."
"Was something even I couldn't accomplish at the height of my power."
He knew exactly how terrifying such a realm was.
Influencing causality wasn't simply a matter of seeing the future or analyzing the present.
It meant interfering with the very relationship between cause and effect.
It was a level of power that even the former Alovenus had never casually touched.
Therefore, Leo wasn't willing to assume that an ability that had only just awakened within him could somehow reach such an absurd level.
But the questions didn't end there.
Another thought surfaced.
"And can I control whose attack trajectories I want to see?"
"And whose I don't?"
Leo imagined a massive battlefield.
Dozens of warriors.
Hundreds of attacks being unleashed simultaneously.
Fireballs.
Ice Spears.
Wind Blades.
Explosions.
Sword techniques.
If the trajectories of every single one of those attacks appeared before his eyes...
Then what was supposed to be an advantage could easily become a burden.
Countless lines.
Intersecting paths.
Spells constantly changing direction.
An overwhelming flood of information pouring into his mind at the same instant.
It could become impossible to distinguish between what mattered...
and what didn't.
"Especially in large-scale battles..."
"Being able to control this ability may be just as important as the ability itself."
Leo let out a quiet sigh.
He had indeed awakened an extraordinary ability.
But there were still far too many unknowns surrounding it.
Relying on it blindly in an actual battle before understanding its limitations would be nothing short of foolish.
Leo exhaled slowly.
Then he raised his eyes.
"Thinking about it any longer won't get me anywhere."
"The best way to understand the limits of an ability..."
"is to test it."
A faint glint appeared in his eyes.
"I'll start by testing it against Strategic Magic."
Then he looked around.
"But first..."
"I need somewhere secluded."
As Leo began walking, he continued analyzing the situation.
"Strategic Magic consumes an enormous amount of mana while controlling an attack."
"That's why most people capable of using it effectively are Fifth Circle Mages or above."
His eyes narrowed.
"It wouldn't be wise to use it here."
If someone happened to witness him using Strategic Magic, questions would inevitably follow.
And the last thing Leo wanted was to attract even more attention to himself.
So he continued searching.
Eventually...
He found an old auxiliary building tucked away in a remote section of the Dainhart family's territory.
The building had clearly been abandoned for many years.
Layers of dust covered its walls.
Several windows were broken.
Wild vegetation had begun creeping over its foundation, while cracks spread across the aged stonework.
There wasn't even the slightest indication that anyone had used the place in years.
Leo stopped in front of it.
He glanced around.
Then nodded.
"This will do."
He moved behind the building and carefully checked his surroundings.
No one.
No signs of movement.
No nearby mana fluctuations.
Once he was certain that he wouldn't be disturbed, Leo raised his hand.
Mana began gathering around his body.
Then...
He activated Strategic Magic.
In an instant, dozens of delicate magical threads appeared in the air around him.
Leo began forming the Wind Arrow spell.
One.
Then another.
Then another.
Until ten perfectly formed wind arrows hovered around him.
Each arrow was compressed to an astonishing degree, its razor-sharp edge slicing through the surrounding air with a faint, high-pitched whistle.
Leo's eyes narrowed.
"Let's begin."
He released all ten arrows at once.
FWOOSH!
The arrows shot forward.
But they did not travel in straight lines.
With Strategic Magic, Leo immediately began altering the trajectory of each arrow individually.
The first curved sharply to the right.
The second rose toward the sky.
The third circled around one of the old pillars before accelerating forward.
The fourth shot in the opposite direction...
Then abruptly turned and returned.
The others twisted and changed direction just as rapidly.
Their trajectories were constantly shifting.
And at that exact moment...
Leo activated the Path-Seeking Ability.
He waited.
He expected those mysterious paths to appear.
He expected the ability to reveal where the arrows would go.
But...
Nothing.
No path appeared.
No line.
No indication.
Nothing at all.
Only ten wind arrows moving through the air.
Leo watched them silently.
One second passed.
Then another.
The arrows continued twisting through the air before eventually dissipating as the spell reached its limit.
Leo slowly lowered his hand.
For a brief moment...
A faint trace of disappointment crossed his face.
"Well..."
He sighed.
"As expected... the ability failed to respond."
He folded his arms and began analyzing the result.
"If I look at this positively..."
He raised one finger.
"There are at least two possibilities."
"First..."
"Since this ability only awakened recently, perhaps it has a time restriction before it can function properly."
"Or perhaps it requires certain conditions to activate."
"Conditions that weren't present during that experiment."
Then he raised a second finger.
"The second possibility..."
"is that the Path-Seeking Ability doesn't work on its own host."
He paused.
"In other words..."
"It may be capable of revealing the trajectories of other people's attacks..."
"but incapable of revealing the trajectory of an attack originating from me."
Leo lowered his hand.
"At the moment, I can't confirm the first possibility."
Then his gaze shifted toward the empty space before him.
"But I can test the second."
Leo extended one hand.
"Let's start with something simple."
Mana gathered within his palm.
A small sphere of flame gradually took shape.
It wasn't a complicated spell.
Just an ordinary Fireball.
Leo released it.
FWOOSH!
The fireball shot through the air.
At the same time, Leo activated the Path-Seeking Ability.
He waited.
He watched.
Nothing.
Again...
Nothing.
No trajectory appeared.
No mysterious line revealed the fireball's path.
Leo continued staring at the burning sphere until it eventually disappeared into the distance.
Only then did he lower his hand.
"So..."
"It's possible that this ability truly cannot perceive the trajectories of attacks originating from me."
But Leo didn't smile.
Nor did he feel relieved.
It was still only a possibility.
There was no concrete proof.
There could still be another explanation.
Perhaps the ability needed more time to fully awaken.
Perhaps it had specific activation conditions.
Or perhaps...
There was something else about it that he had yet to discover.
And there was an even bigger problem.
He didn't have anyone else proficient in Strategic Magic whom he could use for a proper test.
Leo sighed quietly.
"It seems confirming this..."
"will take some time."
Since he could no longer reach a reliable conclusion, Leo decided not to waste any more time on speculation.
He returned to his isolated training chamber.
The moment he entered, he closed the heavy door behind him.
Then he sat down in the center of the room and began training.
Instead of focusing on spellcasting, Leo concentrated on refining his mana.
He purified it.
Compressed it.
Then circulated it through his body with increasing efficiency.
Mana flowed through his veins in steady cycles.
It passed through his heart...
Spread throughout his body...
Then returned once more.
Again.
And again.
With every cycle, Leo pushed his limits a little further.
There were no explosions.
No destructive spells.
No spectacular displays of power.
But this kind of training was far more important to Leo.
He wasn't merely trying to increase the amount of mana he possessed.
He was training his body to contain greater quantities of it.
Improving his control.
Refining its circulation.
Increasing the efficiency of every drop of mana within him.
Time slowly passed.
One day.
Then two.
Then three.
The days disappeared with frightening speed.
While most members of the family were preparing themselves for the upcoming eliminations, Leo remained inside his isolated training chamber, endlessly refining his mana and tempering his body.
His goal remained unchanged.
The Sixth Circle.
But time waited for no one.
And before Leo realized it...
The twelve days had passed.
The day everyone had been waiting for had finally arrived.
The day of the eliminations.
The door to Leo's isolated training chamber finally opened.
Leo stepped outside with calm, measured footsteps.
After spending days away from the outside world, the brilliance of the morning sun immediately struck his face.
He raised one hand slightly to shield his eyes, then looked toward the clear sky.
For several seconds, he said nothing.
Then...
Leo released a quiet sigh.
A faint trace of disappointment appeared in his eyes.
"It seems..."
He paused.
Then finished in a calm voice:
"I failed to reach the Sixth Circle after all."