Tiny little side chapter.

Chapter 16 – An Exhausting Power

Leo doesn’t like basements. They were cold and dark and he’d spent more time in them than he’d ever wanted to. Compared to a lot of creatures his time spent locked up in a cage was minimal but he still felt that sense of familiarity when he walked down into Yeongsik’s basement. He hated it.

As always he tried not to look around, tried not to see the tools and equipment, tried not to see the half-finished potions and spells.

The major creatures are in an okay condition in comparison to some he’d seen before but he still feels sorry for them. There were no healing potions or spells for minor and major creatures but these ones would be okay.

Anyethi have more intuitive magic than any other creature, it was what allowed them to teleport. Leo had never once felt drained of magic before but he knew that after dropping off these five creatures he would be.

The first creature he drops off is a miniature dragon. Even when he was a kid and his parents had been protecting him, Leo and dragons had just never gotten along. Most minor and major creatures had a weird sort of trust with top-level creatures that they didn’t have with humans, dragons were the only ones who hated everybody. Leo hated them right back.

This dragon knew it was being helped. It spread its wings so Leo could inspect them for tears but watched him cautiously. Once Leo was satisfied that the dragon would survive he grips the cage – from behind so the dragon can’t burn him – and teleports.

There are three types of miniature dragon, mountain, river, and forest. The last time Leo had released a dragon it was a mountain dragon and it had attacked him the second the cage had opened. This dragon was a forest dragon and luckily Leo didn’t have to go far to find a forest.

“Sorry,” he mutters, letting his magic surge as he quickly reaches out and touches the dragon’s head.

The dragon blinks in confusion before slumping down in the cage. Once he’s certain the creature is unconscious Leo sets about breaking the chains. It takes a couple of tugs before they snap and he can feel the magic break.

The cage door is harder. It took Hakyeon seconds to break a lock, it took him a little longer. Something inside clicks and he yanks it open. When the dragon wakes up it’ll be free to go. Leo teleports back to Yeongsik’s basement to begin all over again.

The next three creatures have weaker restraints and are easier to break out. The last is a phoenix that Leo eyes wearily. It looks ready to burst into flame and he doesn’t want to leave it somewhere where it’ll be vulnerable. He isn’t surprised to see it, a lot of sorcerers were trying to see if they could somehow make a regeneration potion – they never stopped trying despite the fact that only top-level creatures can have their abilities replicated like that – and Leo had seen a lot of them over the years.

Phoenixes are from out of the country but Leo can’t teleport that far. He settles on a tall mountain that had plenty of small animals that could be hunted. He stumbles as he lands, gripping the cage to stop from falling and forcing himself to breath slowly. This was the last one, he could do it.

The phoenix has chains around both of its legs and its neck but they’re easy to break. Other than its ability to regenerate, phoenixes couldn’t really do anything, so they weren’t really that dangerous. However, Leo had been kindly reminded that phoenixes had a very sharp beak a number of times before, so he doesn’t hesitate to knock it out before breaking it free.

Leo lets himself rest for a minute. His muscles are twitching and aching and he just really wants to sleep. With a groan he pulls himself to his feet and teleports back to Hakyeon.

Something I meant to explain AGES ago but couldn’t fit it in. Intuitive magic is actually stronger than deliberate magic but it’s harder to direct. Deliberate magic has a spell that you need to know in order to do something. Intuitive magic is entirely situational and is done with barely any thought, it’s vague and somewhat random.

Technically Leo is more powerful than Hakyeon but he’d lose a fight because his magic requires him to have something to react to where Hakyeon could just throw spell after spell.