After those unforeseen events, the eyes of the elves no longer looked upon Leo as they once had.
The blatant disgust and naked hatred that had once followed him wherever he walked had now split into two entirely different factions.
The first viewed him as the true Messenger of the World Tree—the chosen one who had received the acknowledgment of their sacred mother herself. Their respect toward him came not from obligation, but from genuine reverence born deep within their hearts. It was a respect mixed with awe and devotion, to the point that merely standing before him seemed to carry a sacred meaning.
The second faction, however…
Displayed respect on the surface while concealing deep resentment behind their smiles.
How could a short-lived human become the Messenger of the World Tree?
How could such a sacred position be granted to someone who was not even an elf?
Those thoughts spread silently among many nobles and influential figures throughout elven society.
And yet…
No one dared to voice them openly.
Not because they truly accepted Leo, but because opposing the "Messenger of the World Tree" was akin to willingly placing one's neck beneath the executioner's blade.
The political conflicts among the elves were deep and complicated, and any criticism directed toward the messenger could easily become the perfect excuse for rival factions to erase you from the political stage entirely.
And so…
Everyone chose silence.
A silence filled with hypocrisy, bitterness, and restrained hostility.
During his final meeting with Ava before leaving that isolated realm, the World Tree transmitted the coordinates of a certain location directly into Leo's mind.
At first, he had no idea what kind of place it was.
Which was precisely why he decided to visit it himself.
It was a hidden area buried deep within the Elven Forest, a place so secret that even the Elven King and Queen were unaware of its existence.
But the moment Leo arrived there…
He immediately understood its true value.
The place resembled a raging sea of mana.
The density of mana there surpassed any location he had seen since his reincarnation, yet what made it truly terrifying was that the mana did not lean toward a single attribute.
Instead, it contained all four fundamental elements simultaneously:
Fire.
Water.
Wind.
Earth.
And every single one existed at an absurdly high level of purity and concentration.
For the vast majority of mages, such a place would be a disaster waiting to happen.
Absorbing such massive quantities of mixed mana could easily result in mana poisoning—something capable of destroying both the body and the magical pathways entirely.
But for Leo…
The place looked like a treasure beyond price.
Thanks to his advanced purification and refinement techniques—methods forged during the era when he once stood at the absolute peak of magic—he could refine and absorb the surrounding mana with overwhelming efficiency while avoiding nearly all risks.
And the moment he began absorbing it…
He felt the difference instantly.
The difference was so vast it was difficult to describe, like comparing a tiny stream to an endless ocean.
Mana flooded into his body like a violent tide, and his strength began rising at an astonishing pace.
After only a single day of uninterrupted training…
He advanced from the threshold of the Fifth Circle's middle stage into the true middle stage itself with complete stability.
As his strength and mana reserves continued to grow, Leo finally decided to properly examine the Eye of Fate that Ava had granted him.
He sat quietly within that isolated region…
Then activated the eye.
The instant its hidden power awakened…
A trace of genuine astonishment appeared in Leo's eyes.
The Eye of Fate was far more complicated than he had expected.
Its abilities intertwined with one another in ways that seemed almost impossible.
Mana absorption.
Ability replication.
Enhanced perception.
Resistance against illusions.
Protection from mental domination…
And what he witnessed was only a fraction of its true capabilities.
Even Leo, with all the experience from his previous life, could not fully comprehend everything hidden within it.
"It seems Ava didn't tell me everything about this eye…"
he muttered quietly to himself.
But only a few minutes later, an overwhelming sense of exhaustion began pressing against both his body and mind.
He immediately deactivated the eye.
Then released a heavy sigh.
"The mana consumption of this thing is insane…"
In less than five minutes, the Eye of Fate had drained more than seventy percent of his mana reserves.
Even for him, such consumption was monstrous.
By then, the hour had grown late, so Leo decided to continue his investigation the following day.
Soon after, he lay down and drifted into unconsciousness.
That same night…
Within a hidden chamber concealed far from the public eye, members of what was known as the "Secret Opposition Faction" gathered in silence.
A group of nobles and influential figures who refused to acknowledge the human messenger.
They believed the so-called revelation was nothing more than a fabrication created by the church to expand its influence and tighten its control over the elves in the name of the World Tree.
And so…
They began preparing in secret.
Gathering allies.
Expanding their influence.
And making plans for the future in order to "restore the honor of the World Tree," as they described it.
The following morning, Leo awoke to a sharp pain burning through his eyes.
Slowly, he raised his hand…
Only to discover thin trails of blood running from the corners of his eyes.
He fell silent for a moment.
Then quietly sighed.
"These are probably side effects from using the Eye of Fate…"
A faint smile appeared on his face afterward.
"Nothing in this world is free… truly."
That day, Leo decided to test the eye's abilities in an actual battle.
So he ventured toward the remote regions of the forest, places where magical beasts roamed far from the elves' usual paths.
The first creature he encountered…
Was a monster known as the Jighar.
A massive beast resembling a boar, covered in dark crimson skin with twisted sharp horns and savage eyes filled with violent aggression.
Like most magical beasts, the Jighar possessed a unique ability of its own.
Suddenly…
Dozens of Jighars charged toward Leo at once.
The beasts filled his entire field of vision while the earth trembled beneath their violent advance.
But reality was different from what it appeared to be.
The Jighar's true power did not lie in brute strength…
But in creating numerous illusions identical to its original body before blending among them and attacking from unpredictable angles.
Yet the moment Leo activated the Eye of Fate…
Every illusion vanished from his sight.
Only the real body remained.
And with the immense enhancement to his perception, the creature appeared to move painfully slowly before his eyes.
A faint smile formed across Leo's lips.
"This eye… is even better than I expected."
In the next instant, a Fourth Circle magic formation materialized before him.
Wind Spear.
The spell shot forward like a streak of destruction, piercing directly through the Jighar and tearing its true body into five separate pieces in a single moment.
And as the original body died…
All the surrounding illusions faded away like smoke.
But it did not end there.
The instant the beast died, Leo felt a slight increase in his mana reserves.
Yet that was not the only thing he sensed.
There was something else…
Something vague and unfamiliar.
He closed his eyes briefly and focused.
Then suddenly…
Several illusory copies of himself appeared around his body.
Leo slowly opened his eyes again before a smile spread across his face—a smile that seemed to enjoy the idea far more than it should have.
"So this is the eye's ability to steal powers after killing…"
A quiet chuckle escaped him.
"This may as well be cheating…"
"But I like it."