At that moment, Leon slowly opened his eyes. If anyone had noticed, they would have seen that his deep brown eyes seemed to flow with an extremely faint silver radiance in the morning light. Moments later, the unusual glimmer in his eyes gradually faded, returning to their normal color.
"'Root Forging Art' truly lives up to its reputation as an ancient meditation method that touches the essence of the soul. My first complete cycle of it actually consolidated my initial reconstructed magic core, propelling me into the early stages of 'Core Remolding.' At this rate, in half a year at most, I should be able to touch the threshold of 'Elemental Resonance' again," Leon pondered silently.
He hadn't expected progress to be this fast even in the Northlands, where magical energy was so thin and elemental activity so low. While it was related to his sage memories and familiarity with the path, it still showed how exquisite this meditation art pioneered by ancient elven sages truly was.
Leon stood up, stretching his limbs slightly stiff from sitting too long. As he moved, his joints emitted soft cracking sounds, like wood snapping in a winter night's campfire.
He clenched his fist, clearly feeling a much more abundant power surging within him compared to before—it wasn't just muscular strength, but a vague yet tangible connection faintly established with the surrounding world. The wind seemed clearer; the faint ripples of the distant lake, the chirping of early birds in the woods, even the life pulse of roots slowly growing beneath the soil flowed into his perception more vividly than ever.
He walked to the ancient oak tree that took two people to embrace. Without invoking the newly stabilized, still very meager magic within him, he simply concentrated his will on his palm, attempting to gather the extremely faint fire elements in the air there—the embryonic form of the most basic "Heat Touch," a cantrip any apprentice mage could perform.
He pressed his palm against the rough bark.
"Hiss—"
A faint sound, like cold water dripping into hot oil. The thick oak trunk trembled slightly, and a few half-withered leaves drifted down.
Leon withdrew his hand. A clear palm print was left on the bark, its edges charred black, the wood slightly concave and carbonized inward. This ancient oak was likely over a hundred years old, its wood extremely tough. A palm strike like this on an ordinary person would be enough to cause serious burns.
To think, this was just a casual attempt after his first meditation breakthrough. In the future, as his magic grew and his elemental control deepened, blasting a hole in a tree trunk with a single strike, or even conjuring real flames, would be far from difficult. Moreover, he hadn't used the precious primal magic in his core at all, merely relying on his enhanced mental power to barely command the minuscule, free-floating fire elements in the air.
"Root Forging Art" not only tempered the magic core but also subtly strengthened spirit and perception. The current Leon, though not yet a true spellcaster, had already far surpassed ordinary people.
Leon shook his head. Compared to the power in his past life on the Northlands' icy plains, where a single thought could freeze a lake surface or summon elemental guardians, this mere charred palm print was truly insignificant.
"The road is still long," he murmured to himself. Looking up, he realized the sun had completely risen from the far end of Silent Lake, its golden-red dawn light filling the woods. He had actually meditated here the entire night, feeling not the slightest fatigue but instead refreshed and clear-headed.
Except a strong sense of hunger arose from his stomach. After all, it was still a mortal body, far from the legendary "grain avoidance" realm where high-level mages could sustain themselves by absorbing elemental energy. Going a day and a night without food, hunger was inevitable.
Patting his old linen coat, which had gathered some dew and bark fragments, he decided to return to Grayrock City and properly appease his protesting stomach.
Just as he stepped out of the ancient oak grove onto the lakeside path, three people walked towards him.
An elderly man in a deep brown traveling robe with a scholarly demeanor, supported by a young woman in neat hunting attire with a high ponytail. Following them was a sharp-eyed, robust man whose hand rested casually near the sword hilt at his waist.
A rather eye-catching group.
Especially the woman supporting the elder. She was fair-looking, with an air of vigor uncommon in ordinary women. Tall, her hunting outfit outlining her fluid lines. In terms of appearance, she was no less than Aelia, with an added touch of agility and vitality.
However, Leon, currently immersed in the subtle insights from his meditation breakthrough, paid them no mind. He merely glanced at them and continued along the path towards Grayrock City.
But clearly, the trio had noticed him too.
As they passed each other, the sharp-eyed man's gaze lingered on Leon for a moment, scrutinizing. After Leon walked a few steps away, the man tilted his head slightly, looking at the elder being supported, as if silently seeking instruction.
The elder shook his head gently, coughed softly, and said calmly, "Just a young man out for early morning activities. Judging by his clothes, he looks like an apprentice or laborer from the city. A coincidence, that's all."
...
Upon returning to the small rented cabin on the outskirts of Grayrock City, Leon first found an early porridge stall and ate a large bowl of steaming oatmeal porridge with rye bread. Then he went to the market to replenish some daily necessities before finding a general store that also dealt in odd materials to order a few things. By the time he returned to the cabin, it was already noon.
Then, he received a message from Madam Susan, asking if he would join them for lunch.
Thinking about possibly facing Sir Horn's scrutinizing gaze and Aelia's polite yet distant demeanor, Leon felt it troublesome and declined politely, citing the need to sort his luggage and familiarize himself with the surroundings.
"Madam Susan's concern comes more often than that of my parents, busy dealing with debts and pressure from the Varona family," Leon put down his water cup, smiling wryly. In the few days since his arrival in Grayrock City, his parents had only sent one brief letter mentioning all was well at home and for him to settle in, with no further news.
However, he soon put these thoughts aside.
The general store clerk delivered his order: several packs of dried Silverleaf Grass and Tranquil Herb roots supposedly from southern forests, a small pouch of expensive, low-quality crystal powder, and a thin spool of copper wire mixed with a small amount of mithril—this almost cost him more than half of the silver coins he had brought.
A cultivator relying solely on personal meditation to accumulate magic was ultimately slow. Although these materials were of low quality, containing minimal magic, it was better than nothing.
He had no intention of using the tedious, primitive potion formulas that required cauldron boiling. Those methods were inefficient and wasted most of the medicinal potency. Leon simply used the mithril-mixed copper wire to outline a simple yet peculiar pattern on the floor. Then, he placed the powdered Silverleaf Grass, Tranquil Herb roots, and crystal powder at specific nodes of the pattern according to fixed positions.
After that, he sat cross-legged at the pattern's center, uttered a few ancient syllables, and pointed in the air.
"Elemental Convergence Array."
One of the most basic arrays in magical tradition. Even someone with nascent magic could set it up as long as they knew the precise rune structure and guiding method.
As the name implied, this array could more effectively gather and draw out the weak elemental energy or life essence contained within specific materials in its range for the caster to absorb. During the peak of magical civilization beyond the starry sea, countless efficient methods for utilizing resources had long been developed, unlike the crude sorcery of some remote regions involving boiling and steeping, which incurred unnecessary losses.
There were many variants of the "Elemental Convergence Array." High-level versions could even forcibly extract energy from magic crystals, magical plants, even some low-level magical items. Of course, this depended on the caster's knowledge, magic power, and depth of understanding of elemental nature. In this regard, Leon, possessing the memories of a Northern Sage, undoubtedly stood on a very high starting point.
He continued cultivating until evening before awakening from deep meditation.
"Practicing with the aid of the array this afternoon was almost as effective as last night's natural meditation by the lake. Unfortunately, it can't be sustained," Leon frowned, looking at the materials on the floor that had completely lost their luster, turned into grayish-white powder. "The quality of these materials is so poor, yet the price is shockingly high. Buying these used up most of the money mother gave me. The remaining coins aren't even enough to set up the simplest array again."
He didn't consider that the Silverleaf Grass and Tranquil Herbs he bought, though young, were relatively precious magical plant materials, and the mithril-mixed copper wire wasn't something an ordinary blacksmith could forge. In a place like Grayrock City, being able to purchase them at all was not easy.
"It seems I'll still have to rely on that relatively elementally active spot by the lake from last night," Leon completely hadn't anticipated that he, the reincarnation of a Northern Sage, would first be stumped by mundane gold coins. "Mother's financial situation also seems tight... Ai." He rubbed his temples.
After resting a bit that night, at the first light of dawn the next day, Leon left the cabin and ran again towards the ancient oak grove by Silent Lake.
However, upon arrival, he was somewhat taken aback to find his chosen meditation spot seemed to have been "occupied."
The young woman with the high ponytail and neat hunting attire he had encountered yesterday morning was now standing under the largest ancient oak tree by the lake, practicing a set of movements. Her movements were fluid and powerful, at times like a hawk striking, at times like a stealthy cat. With each motion, she stirred the air, creating faint whistling sounds. Nearby, the elder in the deep brown robe leaned on a cane, watching quietly, occasionally coughing softly and uttering a word or two during transitions in the woman's movements. The sharp-eyed man stood guard a little further away, leaning against an oak tree, his gaze vigilantly scanning the surroundings.
Who else could it be but the same trio from yesterday?
A flicker of suspicion arose in Leon's heart, but his steps didn't stop as he continued forward. The elder in Tang-style clothing glanced at him, his gaze lingering for a moment on Leon's simple apprentice attire before turning back indifferently to focus on the woman's practice.
Yesterday's glance had been hurried, with no time for detail. Now, slowing his pace and observing carefully, Leon immediately noticed something unusual.
The woman practicing combat techniques was agile and swift, clearly the result of long-term, rigorous training. But that wasn't the key point. The key was that Leon's enhanced spiritual power could vaguely "sense" that, as she exerted force in her movements, a faint but tangible "energy" flowed and surged along certain simple pathways within her body.
"Aura? Or some method of utilizing life energy?" Leon's heart stirred slightly. He hadn't expected to encounter a non-magical cultivator near this remote Northlands city.
"No!" After a moment of careful perception, Leon shook his head inwardly. "This energy is too weak, too scattered. The pathways it flows through are also too simple and crude. It's completely different from the 'magic' formed by mages through meditation, condensing and purifying in the core, then driving elements with complex models. Energy at this level can barely manage to stably adhere to a weapon, let alone execute a complete cantrip. The method operating within her only involves a few main pathways."
Looking again at the woman's well-fitted hunting attire, combat movements clearly bearing traces of military or noble training, and the elder and guard of uncommon bearing beside her, Leon understood.
"Is this the 'combat technique' cultivator of this world? Or perhaps... a knight apprentice?"
In his past life as a Northern Sage, he had traveled widely, knowing that in many human kingdoms and even some non-human races, there existed beings who didn't rely on deep meditation to communicate with elements. Instead, they tempered their bodies, stimulated life potential, and combined specific breathing methods and combat arts to gain strength beyond ordinary people. They were often called warriors, knights, monks, etc. Their core power was usually termed "Aura," "Battle Qi," or "Vital Force."
This was probably a corresponding form of "martial arts internal energy" in this other world.
However, upon embarking on the path of magic, Leon (or rather, the memories of his past life) understood early on that these two paths differed fundamentally. Like charcoal and magic energy crystals, both could release energy, but their density, purity, and utilizable levels were worlds apart.
A warrior or knight's "Aura" stemmed from stimulating and tempering one's own life potential, leaning more towards the physical body. A mage's "magic" was the product of the spirit resonating with, taming, and reconstructing external elemental energy, leaning more towards spirit and the rules of the world. One looked inward for excavation; the other connected outward for mastery.
Like now, Leon had only just stabilized his magic core. In terms of pure physical strength, he might still be no match for a well-trained warrior. But he had already begun to vaguely perceive, even slightly influence, the fire elements in the external world. The energy flowing within the woman before him might grant her greater strength, speed, and sharper reactions, but it could never allow her to spontaneously create fire, freeze water into ice, or set up even the simplest alarm barrier.
Not to mention, as magical cultivation deepened, the various mysterious spells, massive barriers, summoning of otherworldly beings, and even later terrifying powers involving the rules that mages could master.
These were incomparable to cultivators relying purely on Aura and combat techniques. The essential nature of the power they pursued and their developmental ceilings had diverged from the very start.
Understanding this, Leon's mindset relaxed further. Looking again at the woman's combat practice, he couldn't help but shake his head slightly. The combat technique itself might be considered exquisite in the mundane world, but the method of energy utilization contained within, in his eyes, was crude to the point of being... hardly worth mentioning.
Though his subconscious headshake was slight, it didn't escape the notice of the woman wholly focused on her practice.
She had already noticed this young man who had briefly crossed paths yesterday and appeared again this morning, watching from the side, and had felt somewhat displeased. Now, seeing him actually shake his head at her practice, her fair, spirited face instantly turned cold.
The woman immediately finished her form, stopping her practice. Her breathing was steady, clearly showing solid foundation. She took long strides, walking up to Leon in a few steps. Her bright eyes held obvious displeasure as she looked Leon up and down, taking in his simple attire. Her tone was cool as she spoke:
"You, what are you shaking your head for? Do you even understand what you're seeing?"