Leon froze in place, staring at his soul, now a hundred meters in size. "Damn it, it finally stopped. What's happening to my soul, is it because of my transition? It seems my talent exceeds the fifth level."
Leon speculated that his soul had merged with the soul of this body, surpassing the human spirit's maximum limit. Regardless of how it reached this size, the crucial point is that he possesses the strongest soul ever heard of. This implies he has the potential to become a powerful sorcerer.
'But I can't tell them about the level of my soul. I don't know what Sir Morris will do if he finds out my soul has expanded to a hundred meters. Despite seeming kind, I must be cautious; I don't want to become an experiment for some sorcerers. Hmm, I'll tell them my talent level is the fourth. If my talent level is weak, they'll ignore my training, but if I'm a genius at the fifth level, this will bring trouble. In this way, I'll make myself an above-average genius; I can gain Horace's attention for education while avoiding problems due to my soul."
In the early morning, Leon woke up to the faint sunlight through windows resembling French ones. He got up and left the room, finding an elderly woman with tired eyes and relaxed lips, dressed in black attire designated for palace service.
"Sir Leon, I am Lydia, the head palace servant. Your breakfast is ready in the living room, and if you wish to bathe, I have prepared a bathing place for you," she spoke with a light smile, bending toward Leon.
"Oh, thank you. I'll bathe first," Leon said, surprised by the special treatment.
"Follow me; I'll take you to the bathing area."
In the silent living room, Leon sat alone at the table, having breakfast. Only the sounds of Leon's utensils echoed.
'This palace seems deserted, only Morris and trainees, and the servants live here,' Leon thought, looking at Lydia, the servant, standing by the room's door.
"Lady Lydia, where did Nacelle and Fred go? I haven't seen them today."
"Sir Morris gave them a task, and they left early in the morning," Lydia replied with respect.
"A task? What kind of task is this?" Leon wondered.
"I don't know the details, but most of Morris's requests involve checking the silver iron mine outside the city."
"Silver iron mine?" Leon inquired.
"Yes, it's a rare mine of silver iron found five years ago, under Morris's supervision."
"It must be a magical metal with properties surpassing regular iron," Leon scratched his head and asked Lydia, "Are silver iron mines rare in the Kingdom of Lyra?"
"No, there are many regular iron mines, but silver iron mines are rare, and they usually cause chaos in the kingdom when discovered," Lydia replied calmly.
"It seems that silver iron is used by sorcerers. It must be a magical metal with properties exceeding regular iron," Leon thought and asked Lydia, "Is Sir Morris here?"
"Yes, Sir Morris is in his room. He requested your presence after breakfast."
"Hmm, alright."
Leon quickly finished his breakfast and headed to the office of the old man Morris.
"Enter." Leon knocked on the door, and the voice of the old man came from inside.
Leon entered the room, finding it not much changed since the last time. Morris, the old man, was still drawing circles and scribbles on animal hides.
"Good morning, Sir Morris," greeted Leon with a slight bow.
"Oh, despite being from the common folk and new to noble culture, you act like a noble. That rascal Fred lived with me for four years, and I never heard a good morning or how are you from him," Morris sneered coldly.
"Ahem, did you explore your soul last night? What is the level of your soul?" Morris's eyes twinkled faintly as he looked at Leon.
"Oh, it's at the fourth level, Sir Morris," Leon replied with a forced smile.
"Oh, just the fourth level?" the old man frowned, looking at Leon skeptically.
"Is the fourth level not good?" Leon wondered in surprise.
"No, it is one of the best talents. Even my talent is only at the third level. It's just that I thought that aura in your house might be specific to you, so I expected it to be a talent of the fifth level," Morris shook his head.
He continued speaking, "Since you have awakened and have a good talent, you should focus on creating the soul nucleus to become a first-level sorcerer. When you create a nucleus, you can store magical energy in your soul to receive magical spells. Only level one sorcerers can fight and be recognized as sorcerers."
"When I create a nucleus, can I control fire and lightning?" Leon asked with uncertainty.
"Hahaha, yes, even though it's weak, you can cast fire and lightning," the old man laughed loudly. After a moment, his face became serious as he looked deeply at Leon.
"Those who delve into magic cease to be free."
Leon was surprised, wondering, 'What does he mean by not being free?'
"When you become a sorcerer, you'll be entangled in conflicts with other sorcerers, with yourself, and with the world. You'll become like a madman, searching for the truth of the world. Leon, don't become a slave to magic and power. Enjoy the search for true magic, and with it will come strength. The easiest is not the most beautiful. If the path is easy, invent obstacles. There are several ways to become stronger quickly, but the best way is your own path," Morris's eyes gleamed as he looked at Leon.
"Ah, thank you, Mr. Morris, for the advice," Leon scratched his head and thought, 'It seems that sorcerers lead a turbulent life.'
The old man took a deep breath. "I will tell you about some of the history of the sorcerers, so you understand how sorcery evolved."
Leon's eyes gleamed when he heard Morris's words. As someone from another world, he was naturally drawn to the history of this magical world. He nodded, and the old man continued his narrative.
"In ancient times, before the existence of sorcerers, humans were at their weakest. They were only primitive tribes living in regions devoid of monsters, teetering on the brink of extinction. They were too weak to face the monsters who used magic. The presence of monsters was like natural disasters. However, humans had a quality that monsters did not possess—their intellect. They were intelligent, using equipment and terrain to their advantage. But despite their cleverness, in the face of absolute power, all tricks became dust. So humans thought of extracting the power of monsters, which is magic or, in other words, magical energy that monsters could use. Thus, humans began to search for how to use magical energy like monsters. However, despite hundreds of years of searching, they only achieved weak results because monsters are born with a nucleus in their bodies that stores magical energy. As the monster grows, the amount of magical energy in the nucleus becomes larger, allowing them to unleash more powerful spells. Humans, who were not born with a nucleus, could not use magic, so research was futile. Until one day, in a primitive tribe, a genius among humans named Aniron managed to carve an artificial magical nucleus similar to the monsters' nucleus into his soul, using runic characters. He became the first-level sorcerer. He was a genius in runic characters, unraveling the mysteries of magical nuclei for monsters. By innovating the soul nucleus for humans and discovering many runic characters, the era called the Rune Age began. In this era, humans discovered how runes worked and applied them to enhance their strength to fight monsters."
Leon remained in a state of astonishment. 'In the history of Earth's world, humanity never faced a powerful enemy forcing them to the brink of extinction. The enemy of humanity on Earth was humans themselves, which allowed humans to evolve comfortably and quickly. In the history of this world, if the sorcerer named Aniron did not appear, sorcerers might not have been found, and humans could have faced extinction.'
"I inform you of this so you understand how the first soul kernel was created and how Airon managed to use the runes to inscribe a kernel to store magical energy in his soul. Therefore, you need to comprehend the runes before applying the inscription to your soul and the kernel. The last time I gave you the runic alphabet book, so you must read it carefully as it forms the basis for understanding magical energy."
"'It seems that runic letters are like mathematics on Earth, they are the tools to explore the world,' mumbled Leon, responding to the old Maurice. 'Initially, I didn't understand how I could create a kernel in my soul and what runes are. Now, I'm beginning to understand a little about the role of runes and the reason for creating a kernel in the soul. Thank you for clarifying the creation stage, Mr. Maurice,' Leon bowed to the old man and thanked him deeply."