Unedited chapter. It will be edited soon.

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That's because he remembered Professor Hardrial talking to him about the men and women who came before him and laid the foundations for the Way of the Armorer.

In the Empire, two names stood out, along with one unknown: Harvey, the first. Hector, the third, and Hardrial, the fourth, but naturally, one was missing.

Between the first and the third, there had to be a second.

Hardrial remembered this "second" with some regret, for, according to his teacher, he was the most enthusiastic about learning and expanding the Way of the Armorer, but at the same time, he was the least talented.

He tried so hard that his efforts led to his death... or so it was believed, but no one knows how he died or where.

What would have happened then, if he wasn't dead? What if that second one was still alive and was the old man in front of her?

He would be facing a true luminary who faded away before he even began to shine. Hardrial always wanted to meet him, but unfortunately, there was too much of an age gap between him and those first two.

Leonardo's eyes lit up. "So talented? This Hardrial you mention, who you say is one of the strongest in the empire, is he the greatest representative of the Way of the Armorer?"

"In the Empire, he is." Laura nodded. "Even on the entire continent, there is no other armamentist as good as him, but he is also a great magician and has developed teaching methods that would shine in anyone's hands."

Although he was old, the excitement in his body soared sky-high, waves rising in his heart, as if they wanted to envelop him in powerful feelings.

"And we are his two current students," Laura continued. "We just won first and third place in the Ascended Tournament." She proudly puffed out her chest, as it was the first time in history that the Ascended Tournament had been won by armamentists.

During Hardrial's era, he was never able to participate in the tournament because his teacher died prematurely and he had to immediately take charge of the Department to prevent it from closing. In the end, he became a teacher before graduating and, by doing his own work and thesis, he managed to graduate without an assigned professor, reporting only to the Board of Directors.

So this was the first time that armamentists had ever gone so far in an academic tournament; they could now be considered part of armamentist history, and their names would be remembered by future generations for this achievement alone.

Leonardo understood this very well, so in a way, he felt proud. He was very pleased that his teacher's teachings were still valid, despite his death.

"Mr. Leonardo." Laura spoke again. "Can I ask you a question?"

"Go ahead, little one. I'm not very smart, but I think I can answer something for you."

"It's nothing strange." Laura smiled. "I just wanted to know, were you Mr. Harvey's first disciple?"

Although Leonardo was surprised by her question, he nodded.

"I was in the past, but I wasn't as good as they were. They strove to make their mark on the history of the world and magic. Whereas I..." He sighed and looked at his house. "I'm in a small house, in a small town that serves no purpose, ruling like a cruel coward who hides from what he should be doing."

Although his words sounded harsh against himself, he didn't stop. He had many mental struggles with himself precisely because of this.

"But in reality, there's nothing I can do. I was never talented. I was never a good gunfighter. I was just taking up space and resources that should have gone to someone else."

Laura didn't know how to respond in time, as his answer had taken her by surprise.

"Talent is necessary in a world of magic, isn't it, Mr. Leonardo?" Louis said suddenly, adding more salt to the wound.

Laura looked at him in shock, but Leonardo was quicker.

"Haha, I see the young gentleman seems to understand." Although he clearly felt bad about having to give that answer to such a question.

"I believe so too," said Louis. "But the determination to learn, the desire to improve and push oneself will always be more important than talent. A talented person will go far if they work hard, as far as someone who was not talented and had to become good through their own efforts."

"Talent is something we have no control over. We are born talented or we are born without talent. There is no way to change how talented we are, but we would be to blame for dying with regrets when we could die trying, don't you think, Mr. Leonardo?"

Louis continued talking. "I can see in your eyes that you have spent many years studying in your own mind, and your hands, though old, reveal to me that they have held a revolver very often throughout your life."

Leonardo looked at him, stunned, and looked at his hands. Despite the years and the many hardships he had endured, these hands were as steady as oak. Despite the wrinkles and age, they did not tremble and looked strong.

The calluses on them in special places did not lie, and Louis could see that.

"This boy..." Leonardo smiled and nodded.

"I can see that you are a pretty good kid. I'm glad that my master's legacy will not be lost and will end up in good hands."

Louis sighed at his response. He was a man who had mentally given up, so it was difficult to do anything then, so he simply shrugged.

"Rest assured that the path is in good hands." That was all he could say in response.

"Haha, good."

Just then, Leon returned to the room. "Father, Mother wants to greet the guests..." he whispered in his ear.

Leonardo nodded. "All right." Leonardo struggled to his feet with his cane and Leon's help. "My wife would like to meet you. She's a good listener, so she probably already knows about our conversation. Would you like to see her?"

"Of course, Mr. Leonardo." Laura was the first to respond and stood up.

But Louis was curious. Why was he asking that question? It was a little... strange.

And as he suspected, Leonardo had something to say about it.

"I'll just tell you that my wife is in a very... special situation. Please, if you're going to see her, you should be mentally prepared for it, because what you'll see won't be pretty."

Laura frowned and didn't know how to respond, so she simply looked at Louis for help in deciding what to do.

Louis stood up after that. "All right, Mr. Leonardo. We'll go see her. Maybe we can do something for her."

Louis thought that perhaps something related to this woman would give him the mission he needed to get past this floor.

"All right." Leonardo and Leon led them inside the house. It was much larger than it appeared, but that was because it was built in the shape of a cave.

It started at the surface and slowly descended in a staircase-like fashion. When they stopped, they were practically in the last room of the house, well below the surface.

Upon entering the room, Louis and Laura were stunned.

A woman stood before them, quite beautiful for the wife of this old man and for the true age her energy suggested. If she was 400 or 500 years old, it would come as no surprise.

But her body was different.

She appeared to be nailed to the wall in the shape of a cross, without actually being so. Her hands were giant branches of a bright red tree, as were her legs. Practically every strand of her hair was a small dry branch stuck into the wall, holding her in that position.

She was in a strange state, as much of her body was made of wood, dry or green, but wood nonetheless. She didn't have much flesh, bones, or anything like that; she was like a tree with a human appearance.

This tree was peculiar; it looked very similar to the four they had seen at the entrance. They gave off the same energy, only this woman gave off several times more and it was purer.

For the foreigners, being in this room made it really difficult for them to breathe, yet they were able to control themselves and remain upright.

Leonardo quickly ran to her to dry several parts of her body that seemed to be "crying." It was the tree's cry, which was created when she was very excited. It was quite common for this to happen when she saw her son or her husband, so it was nothing serious.

She looked at the two strangers and seemed to smile. Her branches bloomed a little, with green leaves with red stripes.

"Small, but talented. With an unusual display of effect between the two of them." She spoke suddenly, smiling a little. "I can see that a great future awaits you, but it will be full of problems... Although the world wants you to be strong, fate itself will take care of putting obstacles in your way. Just keep going and ignore it, maybe fate is just jealous of you."

"Your eyes are special," Louis said suddenly, after hearing those words. "I can see that they are connected to the world."

That was what struck him most. He could see something strange in her eyes... It wasn't like his eyes, which could see the beginning of magic itself; rather, it was as if her eyes belonged to that beginning. Different patterns formed in them every time she changed her mood.

There was something he could remember about that.

A Being of pure Magic.

That is, she herself was magic.