"A failed prodigy."
The words followed him everywhere.
Leon tried ignoring them.
He truly did.
But it beca harder each year.
One afternoon during a family training session, several branch children stood within a practice arena displaying their spellcasting talents proudly.
Flas.
Wind blades.
Ice formations.
Complex mana manipulation.
Elegant spellcasting.
The instructors nodded approvingly one after another.
Then ca Leon’s turn.
The atmosphere shifted imdiately.
Everyone watched carefully.
Curiously.
Because Leon was always unpredictable.
The young silver-haired boy stepped into the arena quietly.
An instructor spoke.
"Demonstrate a First-Tier spell."
Leon nodded nervously.
Mana gathered around his hand.
Swirling.
Rotating.
For a mont—
The spell actually stabilized.
Hope appeared on several faces.
Then—
BOOM.
The spell imploded violently.
A shockwave erupted outward, shattering several training dummies instantly.
The children scread in surprise.
Leon staggered backward breathing heavily.
Silence followed.
Then laughter.
Not from everyone.
But enough.
"...Again?"
"He really can’t control anything."
"What’s the point of having that much mana?"
Leon lowered his head silently.
His ears burned painfully.
The instructor sighed.
"...Enough."
That single word hurt more than the laughter.
Because Leon understood what it ant.
Hopeless.
A genius that could never beco complete.
That night, Leon sat alone beside the training grounds staring at his hands quietly.
Mana flowed weakly around his fingers before spiraling apart once more.
"...Why..."
Why was it so hard?
Why did sothing everyone else do naturally feel impossible for him?
Footsteps approached quietly behind him.
Leon imdiately recognized them.
"Father..."
The current patriarch of the Aurelius branch sat beside him calmly.
Unlike most nobles, the man’s presence felt quiet rather than oppressive.
Still—
The pressure hidden beneath his composure remained imnse.
For a while, neither spoke.
Then finally—
"You are trying too hard to imitate others."
Leon blinked slightly.
"...What?"
His father looked toward the distant moonlit training grounds.
"You continue forcing your mana into conventional spell structures."
"...Because that’s how magic works."
"For normal people."
Leon froze.
His father finally looked directly at him.
"Leon."
The patriarch’s silver eyes sharpened slightly.
"Your mana was never ant to function normally."
The words stunned him.
"You possess one of the most abnormal mana signatures I’ve ever seen."
Leon lowered his gaze slightly.
"...That’s not a good thing."
"No."
His father answered calmly.
"It’s not."
Leon’s chest tightened painfully.
But then—
The patriarch continued.
"...It’s sothing far more dangerous."
Silence filled the area.
"You keep trying to beco a pure spellcaster because that is what the Aurelius family expects."
The older man glanced toward the sword resting beside Leon.
"But your mana..."
A faint smile appeared on his face.
"...Was born for overwhelming force."
Leon stared at him quietly.
His father picked up the training sword effortlessly before tossing it back toward him.
"Stop fighting your mana."
Leon caught the sword awkwardly.
"Instead..."
The patriarch’s voice lowered slightly.
"...Use it."
That single sentence changed everything.
From that day onward—
Leon stopped trying to beco a traditional mage.
He abandoned complicated spellcasting.
Abandoned delicate mana manipulation.
Instead—
He focused entirely on reinforcent.
Simple enhancent spells.
Body strengthening.
Raw output.
And the sword.
The larger the weapon—
The easier it beca to channel his monstrous mana through it.
Normal swords shattered instantly from the pressure.
So Leon began wielding oversized blades instead.
Weapons that looked absurd in his hands.
Yet sohow suited him perfectly.
Years passed.
Slowly, Leon transford.
Not into the elegant pure mage his family expected—
But into sothing else entirely.
A swordsman empowered by overwhelming magical force.
Still—
Even after finding his path—
The whispers never truly disappeared.
Because within the Aurelius family, perfection was everything.
And Leon remained imperfect.
A genius with flawed control.
A prodigy standing slightly outside the ideal image of his bloodline.
Yet deep inside—
Leon still carried one quiet hope.
That soday—
Soone would look at him and see strength instead of failure.
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