Throughout the floors he traversed, Leon relied solely on his newly forged magic. He strictly avoided his Stigma powers, honoring a specific quest from his master. Even when his own errors led to the brink of death, he refused the temptation of his more potent abilities. While only his runes carried formal usage restrictions, Leon chose to focus on the true mastery of magic, preferring disciplined understanding over the effortless abuse of his Stigmas.
[Divine Voice.....]
Black Mana capacity has doubled.
Wielding Black Magic with increased fluidity.
Stigma is synchronizing with Black Mana.
The Void is gazing at you.....
"Black Magic—a vast sea of information flooded my consciousness, detailing every intricate spell and the absolute power it commanded."
Leon realized that Black Mana was the purest of elements, eclipsing all other attributes. Rather than mimicking the archaic spells of ancient mages or deities, Leon sought to carve out his own signature legacy. He began the painstaking process of weaving his own unique manifestations of the Dark Arts.
In a world where magic is a fluid force shaped by willpower, creating original spells is the pinnacle of sorcery. While the masses are content to recite common incantations, only a true genius possesses the vision to forge their own reality.
"I will create my own path and push my mana to its absolute zenith. Magic is an eternal cycle—without beginning or end—and I will spend a lifetime unravelling its deepest secrets."
"Let's find the answers together, Eir... Ethan, I miss him.
Let's go, Master... let's find the truth."
Amidst a hoard of ancient drakes and mutated horrors, Leon's mere presence cast a suffocating shadow; his primal aura forced even the apex beasts to tremble. Having already mastered the earth—sculpting the land and birthing a near-invincible golem—he turned his focus toward the forbidden. His debut creation was 'Black Extense': a necrotic shadow that slips into a foe's body like a living wraith, forcing them to bleed endlessly until their life is extinguished.
His second creation, 'Black Devour', manifests as a dark, radiating circle that traps the enemy within a barrier of pure wrath. Inside this pitch-black circumference, all magical power is nullified. Foes find themselves magically blinded and paralyzed by despair, realizing their greatest weapon has been stripped away. It is a grim reminder of Leon's absolute dominance.
While ancient masters once sifted through the shadows to forge dark legacies, Leon's spells exist in a league of their own. His craft transcends traditional boundaries, possessing a raw, terrifying potency that eclipses the legends of old. These are not merely refinements; they are unprecedented catastrophes.
His third spell, 'Black Eyed', is a haunting spectacle. Thousands of unblinking eyes manifest in the air, weeping thick, inky tears. They cry out in a silent, palpable agony, acting as conduits that channel the very essence of despair into a force of unimaginable darkness. However, this power demands a toll; the eyes grow weary as they channel the void, unleashing a wave of hopelessness so thick it renders any counterattack impossible.
Every spell Leon crafted was a testament to his relentless experimentation—a journey of self-discovery where he identified every flaw and honed them into perfection.
His fourth spell, the 'Dark Black Ray', was designed for total annihilation. It is a beam of raw, divine ruin that pierces any defense, turning even the reinforced scales of a dragon into drifting ash. To challenge Leon is to invite a swift and final retribution.
Finally, Leon achieved a state of enlightenment that transcended the power of Stigma itself.
His fifth spell, 'Petal Rain', summons thousands of obsidian petals from an imaginary sky. As they fall, the bodies of his enemies shatter into fragments, fluttering away like the very blossoms that slew them. This is a power unknown to the gods. Even the Void recoiled in shock, witnessing a novice who had acquired Black Magic only hours prior suddenly surpass the limits of existence in a single blink.
Though a flood of traditional black magic knowledge filled his mind, Leon viewed it with cold detachment. He recognized that while his earth attributes were vital, Black Mana was a different tier of destruction. With the Stigma, he faced no limits; while others struggled for decades to master two elements, Leon viewed the mastery of every attribute not as a challenge, but as his inevitable right.
The fundamental laws of magic dictate a strict hierarchy: the primal pillars of Wind, Earth, Water, and Fire, followed by the volatile sub-attributes of Light and Lightning.
In theory, any sorcerer can grasp multiple elements, their lethality limited only by the depth of their mana pools. Yet, in practice, the cost is staggering. Each attribute demands a unique breathing technique—a specific rhythmic soul-oscillation—and grueling environmental conditions that break the spirit of even the most dedicated mages.
Leon, however, is a deviation from the natural order.
His physical form is an "Ultimate Body," a vessel specifically engineered to perfect the imprinting of runes and the heavy burden of Stigmas. It is for this reason that the Fallen Gods whisper his name with reverence and the Tower itself recognizes him as a Pathfinder.
A Pathfinder is a statistical anomaly—one in a millions —possessing a constitution that, while appearing fragile, can act as a conduit for the most devastating powers in existence.
But the title is a curse disguised as a gift. History shows that those who bear the mark of the Pathfinder are condemned to the most miserable and cruel of lives, forced to navigate hundreds of brutal trials that would shatter a normal mind.
For Leon, carrying his Stigmas means he cannot rely on traditional breathing techniques; the weight of the marks interferes with the standard flow of mana. Yet, his intellect compensates where his body is restricted. He already possesses the forbidden knowledge of every breath and every condition required to ignite the various attributes.
To bypass his physical limitations, Leon has begun to colonize his own "Imaginary Magic World." Within this mental sanctuary, he meticulously acquires and hones new attributes, refusing to overlook even the smallest detail of their composition.
He no longer gazes at the horizon with the hope of returning to his original world—that goal has been discarded. Instead, he views the Tower as a monumental whetstone. His singular, cold ambition is to use its floors to polish his soul, hoard every scrap of ancient knowledge, and ascend as a being of absolute, solitary power.
[The voice of the Tower—ancient, resonant, and absolute—echoes through the void of your consciousness ] :
"Hark, Traveler of the Hidden Path.....
The Gale has surrendered; the attribute of Wind is yours to command.
The Tide has yielded; the attribute of Water flows within your soul.
The Ember has ignited; the attribute of Fire burns by your decree.
Behold, for you have fulfilled the Sacred Rhythm of the Four Elements...
"No longer do they drift as fragments; they tangle in a celestial dance, colliding with the force of newborn stars. Within the sanctuary of your Imaginary Magic World, every spark, every droplet, and every breath has found its perfect, eternal place.
Stand tall, Pathfinder. You now walk the scorched and glorious path of the Great War Archmage."