I stepped into the apartment and paused for a second.
Leon was exactly where I had left him the previous night—on the bed, half sprawled, watching something on the TV while casually eating popcorn.
The only problem—
He still had his blindfold on.
I stared at him for a moment.
How is the even watching the movie with that on
"Oh, you're back," he said, tossing another handful of popcorn into his mouth, completely ignoring the question.
I sighed. "At least finish chewing before speaking."
He raised a hand lazily in response, still munching. "You look a bit worn out."
"Training," I replied, dropping my bag to the side. "I went to the guild headquarters."
"Hm?"
"I sparred with someone named Baldur."
Leon paused.
Then he burst out laughing, nearly spilling his popcorn as he covered his mouth.
"You met the baldy's little brother?"
"…Yes."
"That guy still shouts like he's in a battlefield 24/7?"
"…Pretty much."
He shook his head, still amused. "Unlucky."
I sat down on the edge of the bed. "Where did you disappear to this morning?"
"Me?" he said, stretching slightly. "I was taking care of your academy stuff."
He picked up a small panel from the side and tossed it toward me.
I caught it and activated it.
A clean interface appeared—my name, a student ID, and a confirmation.
"…Entrance exam registration."
"Yep," Leon said casually. "You're officially signed up now."
I looked through the details. "You did this already?"
"What, you thought I'd let you miss it?" he replied. "The exam's next week, by the way."
"That soon…"
"Relax," he said, popping more popcorn into his mouth. "You'll be fine."
I leaned back slightly, still looking at the panel. "Do I need to wear the mask in the academy?"
"No," Leon said. "Inside the academy, things are kept pretty contained. No public records, no media interference. And honestly, no one's going to connect you anyway."
"That makes things easier."
"But just in case i registered you under Noctis"
I placed the panel aside and lay back for a moment.
After a short pause, I spoke again.
"Hey."
"Mhm?"
"Can you train me?"
Leon didn't respond immediately.
"In what?"
"You have light affinity, right?"
"…Yeah."
"I want to learn how to control it."
He let out a long sigh.
"Why me? Go ask the Saintess or someone else."
"I can't just walk up and ask her," I said plainly. "And I don't know anyone else who uses light."
Another pause.
Leon clicked his tongue.
"…Fine."
I turned my head toward him.
"We'll start tomorrow."
"Got it."
He went back to his movie like the conversation was already over.
———
The next day
The training room was simple.
White walls, open space, nothing distracting.
Leon stood in front of me, hands in his pockets, looking about as uninterested as always.
"You've got decent control over ice and lightning," he said. "Not perfect, but usable."
I nodded.
"Light's different," he continued. "You can't treat it the same way."
"How so?"
Leon shrugged slightly. "Ice is structured. Lightning is fast and aggressive. You push mana, they respond. Simple."
He raised a hand slightly.
"Light doesn't really like being forced around like that."
I focused.
"It's more about how you guide it," he went on. "Think of it like… direction instead of force."
"…Direction."
"Yeah. If you try to overpower it, it just gets unstable or fades out. You have to keep it steady."
He gestured toward me. "Try it."
I took a breath and focused inward.
Ice felt solid. Lightning felt sharp.
Light—
Was harder to grasp.
It wasn't absent. Just… faint.
"Don't rush it," Leon said. "Just find it first."
I slowed down, adjusting my focus.
Instead of trying to control it immediately, I paid attention to it.
Gradually, I could feel it more clearly.
"Now guide it," Leon said.
Carefully, I tried to move it—not forcefully, just enough to direct it.
A faint glow appeared in my palm.
It flickered slightly, not fully stable.
Leon glanced at it. "That's fine."
I looked at it, a bit surprised.
It felt different from the other elements. Lighter, but also harder to hold onto.
"You'll get used to it," Leon said. "Just don't rush things. Light takes a bit more patience."
I closed my hand slowly, the glow fading.
"…Alright."
"For now," he added, "just focus on keeping it steady. We'll build from there."
I nodded.
This wasn't something I could brute force.
But at least now—
I had a starting point.
——
Leon watched me for a moment after the faint glow faded from my palm.
"Again," he said.
I didn't argue.
I closed my eyes and focused, trying to find that same subtle presence. It was still there—quiet, almost distant compared to the sharp clarity of lightning or the solid structure of ice.
This time, I didn't rush.
The light gathered a little more smoothly in my palm. Still faint, still unstable—but better than before.
Leon gave a small nod. "Good. At least you're not trying to wrestle it anymore."
"…It's slower than the others."
"Yeah," he replied. "Because it's not meant to be rushed."
He stepped forward slightly, then raised his hand.
"Watch."
A soft glow formed in his palm—effortless. Unlike mine, it didn't flicker at all. It was steady, almost calm.
"First thing," he said, "basic shaping."
The light in his hand stretched, thinning into a narrow strand, then widened again, shifting forms like it had no resistance.
"It's not about power. It's about control over form."
He flicked his fingers.
The strand shot forward—
And stopped mid-air.
Just… hovering there.
My eyes narrowed slightly.
"It's not moving."
"Because I told it not to," Leon said casually. "Light follows intent more than force. If your intent is clear, it listens."
He closed his hand, and the light vanished.
"Now, second."
He took a step back.
A faint glow spread around his body, subtle at first, then clearer—like a thin layer of light wrapping around him.
"Enhancement," he said. "Not brute force like lightning. This is more… refinement."
He moved.
For a second—
I almost didn't see it.
He reappeared a few steps away, stopping casually.
"…That was fast."
"Not faster than lightning," he corrected. "Just cleaner movement. Less wasted energy."
The glow faded.
"Light can reinforce your body, improve reaction, stabilize movement. It's why most high-level light users are hard to read in a fight."
I took that in.
"Third."
Leon raised his hand again, this time pointing slightly upward.
A small orb of light formed above his finger.
"Projection."
He flicked it forward.
The orb shot across the room and burst—not violently, but in a soft flash that lit up the entire space for a brief second.
I blinked.
"…That wasn't an attack."
"Doesn't have to be," he said. "Light can blind, distract, disorient. You don't always need to destroy something to win."
That… made sense.
He glanced at me. "Your turn."
I raised my hand again, focusing.
Light gathered—slowly.
I tried to shape it like he did.
It… didn't quite listen.
The glow stretched unevenly before collapsing.
Leon sighed. "Too much force again."
"I'm not forcing it."
"You are," he said flatly. "You just don't realize it."
I frowned slightly but tried again.
This time, I focused on keeping it steady rather than shaping it immediately.
The glow held.
Better.
Then—
Carefully—
I tried to stretch it.
It wavered.
But didn't collapse.
"…Not bad," Leon admitted. "At least it didn't disappear."
I let out a quiet breath.
This was harder than expected.
"Try moving it," he said.
I guided the small strand of light forward.
It moved—
Slow.
Unstable.
But it moved.
After a few seconds, it flickered out.
I lowered my hand.
"…This is going to take a while."
Leon shrugged. "Obviously."
He turned slightly, stretching his arms.
"You've only been at it for a few minutes. Took me weeks before it stopped flickering like that."
"…That's reassuring."
He smirked faintly. "You'll manage. You've got better control than most beginners already."
I didn't respond to that.
Instead, I raised my hand again.
Light gathered once more.
This time—
A little steadier than before.
Leon watched silently for a moment before speaking again.
"Once you get the basics down, we'll move to combining it."
"…Combining?"
"With your other elements," he said. "Light works well with almost everything—if you don't mess it up."
That sounded… complicated.
But also useful.
For now—
I focused on the small glow in my hand.
Keeping it stable.
Keeping it controlled.
Step by step.
That was enough.
——
The training stretched on longer than I expected.
At some point, the concept began to settle in.
Light wasn't something I could force into shape—it responded when I stopped trying to dominate it. The glow in my palm lasted longer now, steadier than before, and when I guided it, it followed… even if only slightly.
Still far from perfect.
But no longer fragile.
After a few hours, I exhaled and let the light fade.
"…That's enough for today."
Leon glanced at me and gave a small nod. "Yeah. Any more and you'll just start messing it up again."
I rolled my shoulders slightly, feeling the faint fatigue settle in. It wasn't like lightning, which drained energy directly. This was more… mental. Like holding a thought in place for too long.
I looked at him. "So this is the foundation?"
"Pretty much," he said. "Control, shaping, intent. Once that becomes natural, you can actually start using it properly."
"…Properly?"
Leon didn't answer immediately.
Instead, he stepped forward.
"Watch carefully."
The tone in his voice shifted—not serious, not heavy—but just enough to make me focus.
A soft golden light gathered around his hand.
Unlike before, it didn't feel gentle.
It felt… sharp.
Refined.
"People think light is just support," Leon said. "Healing, buffs, that kind of thing."
The glow intensified, condensing into something smaller.
Denser.
"That's because most users don't push it far enough."
The light in his hand compressed—
Until it formed a blade.
Thin.
Brilliant.
Perfectly defined.
"…Light can cut," he said simply.
He moved.
There was no dramatic motion.
Just a single step forward—
And a swing.
For a brief moment, nothing happened.
Then—
A clean line appeared across the far wall.
No explosion.
No sound.
Just a precise, flawless cut.
My eyes narrowed slightly.
"…I didn't even see it land."
"That's the point," Leon replied. "Light isn't loud. It's fast."
The blade in his hand shifted again, breaking apart into several smaller fragments that hovered around him.
"Offensively, light works best when you keep it controlled," he continued. "Condense it, sharpen it, and release it with intent."
He flicked his fingers.
The fragments shot forward.
Faster than before.
They struck the wall almost instantly—this time leaving multiple clean marks, each one exact, as if drawn with precision.
No wasted movement.
No excess energy.
Just accuracy.
Leon let the light fade.
"…That's the basic offensive application."
I stayed quiet for a moment, processing it.
It wasn't overwhelming in the way lightning was.
It wasn't forceful like ice.
But—
It was efficient.
Deadly in a different way.
"…So it's more about precision than power."
"Exactly," Leon said. "If you try to make it explosive, you're just using it wrong."
I looked down at my hand.
A faint glow formed again.
I tried to condense it—just a little.
It wavered.
Unstable.
Then faded.
"…Yeah. I'm nowhere near that."
Leon shrugged. "Obviously."
I exhaled, then let the light gather again.
This time—
Slower.
More careful.
It held for a second longer than before.
Not much.
But enough.
Leon watched quietly for a moment before speaking.
"Once you get that part down, we'll move to combining it with your other elements."
"…That sounds complicated."
"It is," he said. "So don't rush it."
I nodded slightly.
For now—
Just this.
Control.
Shape.
Intent.
The glow in my hand steadied, faint but present.
A small step forward.