Unlimited Power - The Arcane Path

Leon felt like he returned to his teenage years while he imagined that everything and everyone had a hidden reason to be that way... it looked like the sealed holy sword, and the forced celibacy was already messing with his head.

"Ilyana certainly is long-lived... maybe I should ask her if she knows some way to cure my... my problems down there."

"Ugh... At least warn us when you are going to think about such things," Celsius said, visibly displeased. "The next time, I will cover my ears."

"That kind of thing is normal for a man to worry about, Celsius," Undine said. "That is a delicate subject for males of most species, after all."

Leon couldn't help but wonder why Undine was trying to sound so knowledgeable about the subject when he probably spent hundreds of years living underwater and only receiving visitors now and then. Regardless, Leon decided to keep that question to himself since he and Ilyana were the only sentient beings on that planet. That kind of question would make him very uncomfortable. In that regard, Leon was an old-fashioned idiot.

"You returned faster than I thought," Ilyana said. "Do you want to learn Volt's fragment location?"

"No, I just came to say hi and said that I succeeded," Leon said. "Hi... I succeeded."

"I see..." Ilyana frowned.

"So awkward..." Undine giggled.

Leon felt embarrassed after that, but he used Transfer and left the castle before he could show that. It has been a long time since Leon felt like that... it almost looked like he returned to his college and high-school days. In a way, it was a good sign. That showed that Leon was still human despite everything... but it was annoying because Leon felt weakened.

Congratulations! The skill Summon Undine's Fragment has leveled up.

You obtained 01 status points.

Congratulations! The skill Summon Efreet's Fragment has leveled up.

You obtained 01 status points.

Congratulations! The skill Summon Sylph's Fragment has leveled up.

You obtained 01 status points.

Congratulations! The skill Summon Celsius' Fragment has leveled up.

You obtained 01 status points.

Congratulations! The skill Summon Gnome's Fragment has leveled up.

You obtained 01 status points.

Although Leon wanted to level up his other skills, he only leveled up his summoning skills. All because he noticed that the power of his spirits was increasing very slowly.

"Do you guys know when you will become as powerful as before?" Leon asked.

"We will only equal the same power we had before when our level reaches the same level we had before," Celsius explained.

"I didn't use Appraisal in any of you," Leon said. "So, I don't know your previous level. Your current level and the level of my skill to materialize you guys are the same, right?"

"Yes, since our existence is connected to you, our strength will only increase when you use our powers," Celsius answered. "Previously, our level was equal to the amount of the mana those worlds had. For example, Efreet was in a world that just reached the fourth stage of assimilation. So, his level was just four hundred."

"I see..." Leon nodded.

Leon understood that explanation faster than he thought. Even though Celsius was unfriendly, she was good at explaining things, it seems. Regardless, Leon learned that the spirits would only recover their strength once they reach that level. However, Leon started to wonder about what would happen once they reach the max level.

"So, your powers are defined by the level of the skill," Leon said. "Is there any other way for you guys to become stronger after reaching the max level?"

"If you find other fragments and they accept to cooperate with you, then we will become stronger," Celsius answered. "You misunderstand some things. A max level lesser fragment of a spirit is five times weaker than a max level intermediate fire spirit."

Leon nodded, it looked like the difference between the great fragments, and the intermediate ones were also something like that. It was kind of surprising that the original spirit could be so much stronger than the intermediate ones. Regardless, Leon asked Celsius to use an Ice Arrow and confirmed that it was much more powerful than his own... even though he had Ice Blessing and Cryomancy.

Leon also asked Efreet to shoot a Fireball, and the power of that was around six times stronger and faster than the power of Leon's lesser spirit. Anyway, Leon would have to be patient, but it looked like things were going on the right path since Celsius's presence alone created a thin layer of ice below her.

After leveling up the spirits for one week, Leon decided to resume his work and find the last one hoping that the next Volt would agree to work with him, unlike the last one. However, it looked like things wouldn't go as planned again. When Leon went to talk with Ilyana, he saw that she had stopped creating her elementals, and unlike usual, her eyes were open, but she wasn't looking at anything. She was focusing on her hearing. It was clear that something was happening, so Leon just waited for her.

"... It looks like soon the human camp where your sister and niece are will be attacked by another race, the demi-minotaurs," Ilyana said, showing a complicated expression on her face. "It will be a massive attack, and your people won't have any chances of defeating them."

Leon was speechless. Leon easily could imagine how those demi-minotaurs looked like. They were possibly similar to the warriors that once lived on the underworld of Miebos. Strong physically and possibly even have a decent pool of mana, but even without that, Leon couldn't imagine his family and friends surviving. They had stronger bodies, but their minds returned to the point where they lived ordinary lives. They weren't fighting to survive. They were fighting just to live another day... they would be decimated.