Unlimited Power - The Arcane Path

After a month trying to learn any principle of the magic of the element shadow, Leon reached a single conclusion…

"The guy who invented this status screen is the biggest asshole in the whole universe and across all the multiverse… I raised my intelligence time and time again, but that didn't make me wiser or smarter. It only increased the power of my magic. Although I'm thankful for that, why that asshole didn't change 'intelligence' to 'magic power'? Stupid bastard…"

After trying to find an answer and finding nothing, Leon out a long sigh. He already knew that increasing intelligence didn't make him smarter or wiser, but after such a long time and not finding a single clue was too frustrating. At that point in time, it was evident that the angel general wouldn't travel around the world looking for troublemakers. It made sense since he and his minions only had to deal with monsters, after all. But still… Leon didn't have all the time in the world to waste on an alien planet.

"More than three years have passed since that fucker summoned me to Miebos… I thought I became powerful and that I could solve everything with magic… I was dead wrong."

Congratulations! The skill Mental fortitude has leveled up.

You obtained 01 status points.

As if the system was laughing at Leon's situation, he received that message. Usually, he would snap even at the empty air, but since he received a free status point, he didn't. Anyway, it has been a long time since Leon felt such lack of progress. It was really frustrating because he couldn't get angry and level up Rage, the cause of that situation was his half-dead brain, after all.

"As if this situation isn't enough... those freaking mermaids don't drop a single tome." Leon clicked his tongue. "Damn you... fucking ugly-ass bitches."

One of the many reasons Leon decided to ignore luck; it was because he was naturally unlucky. It looked like he would have to kill thousands of more mermaids before he obtains a new tome. And the chances of the said tome being crappy were also high.

"Whatever... at least I managed to level up Thunder Ray a lot in those two months," Leon said after breathing deeply to calm down his nerves.

Congratulations! The skill Thunder Ray has leveled up.

You obtained 01 status points.

Congratulations! The skill Wind Creation has leveled up.

You obtained 01 status points.

Thunder Ray reached the level one hundred, and now it could toast all mermaids in two seconds. Maybe it was also thanks to the fact that Wind Creation leveled up as well, but… that was just a good detail.

"Now that I think about it… how much mithril can I find lying around? The harvesters said that they found a little when this and the other worlds were on the second stage of assimilation. If the mana increased, then it should be easy to find mithril. Won't be easy to give it shape, though."

Leon's frustration was so big that he was thinking about random topics just to forget about his annoying lack of progress. Although he knew how to make mithril and how to make weapons out of mithril, he didn't know how to forge without using magic. So, that topic was useless… well, just a bit. Leon could use the mithril lying around to restore his mana, after all.

Congratulations! The skill Mental fortitude has leveled up.

You obtained 01 status points.

The notification appeared again, but this time Leon stared at it, even after it disappeared. Maybe he was making a mistake somewhere… like he always does when he is learning something new.

"If Mana Armor can't protect me from illusions or mind attacks, the thing that can protect me from that, will work against Appraisal?"

Leon couldn't defend itself from that kind of magic; the only thing he could do was to kill the monster before he tries something funny. However, following the logic of everything Leon learned so far, there must be a way for Leon to protect his brain from that kind of spell. If Mental Fortitude was a passive skill that helped Leon to endure some setbacks, there must be an active skill that could help him more effectively.

Still, Leon didn't have any other choice but to learn a spell that can counter Appraisal somewhat… that spell also has to help Leon against illusions and other mind attacks.

"It can't be just as concentrating mana on my brain… I already did that when I learned Appraisal… It won't be as easy as just concentrating a little more mana… right?"

Congratulations! You have learned the skill: Mental Armor.

You obtained 01 status points.

After blinking several times, Leon decided to activate the skill. It looked like it was a version of Mana Armor whose sole purpose was to block attacks that direct to Leon's nervous system. He noticed that because a few mermaids appeared and used their Enthralling Aura.

Congratulations! The skill Mental Armor Armor has leveled up.

You obtained 01 status points.

Congratulations! The skill Mental Armor Armor has leveled up.

You obtained 01 status points.

Congratulations! The skill Mental Armor Armor has leveled up.

You obtained 01 status points.

...

In an instant, the skill went to level one to level forty just because of the three mermaids. Also, thanks to the skill, Leon didn't fell for their trap… he could endure the illusion attacks of one, but not of three.

The effects of their power decreased, and Leon snapped off their illusion by shocking himself with a little electricity. Without wasting time, he fried them alive… he succeeded, but almost collapsed because his mana was empty… Mental Armor saved him, but it consumed a lot of mana.

"Now, I just hope this skill can also block Appraisal... Am I asking too much?"

There was the only way to find out, the harvesters didn't have any illusion attacks, so if Leon meets them and his mana decreases, then it was evident that the skill was a success.