"Why you guys like to mess with me so much?" Leon said after a long sigh.

Currently, Leon was in the middle of a labyrinth. The labyrinth was inside of a massive mountain range. After asking Ilyana about where he could find an intermediate fragment of Gnome, the spirit of earth, Leon went to another planet that had a lot of mountains and forests. Fortunately, this time, Ilyana knew where to find Gnome... the problem only started after Leon find the spirit. Just like Sylph, Gnome was a goofball that liked to play. In order to receive his powers, Leon would have to find him, at the end of that massive labyrinth.

"Why do you complain so much?" Celsius said, annoyed. "Just break all the walls and move in a straight line."

"That won't be fun!" Sylph protested.

"Gnome will probably get mad if someone destroys the labyrinth he created with such care... while he didn't have anything better to do," Undine smirked.

"What a stupid trial," Efreet said. "If you are spirit, you have to test your powers!"

It was a waste of time, but Leon couldn't help but hear the spirits' complaints. Although he wanted to hear something useful to raise his spirits, he only became more depressed since they weren't worried if Leon would find Gnome in time or not. To obtain his cooperation, Leon would have to find him in twenty-four hours and to obtain his power. He had one week... twelve hours had already passed, and Leon was already sick of it.

"I guess always moving forward and to my left side won't work anymore... I got it! I will use Electric Armor, that should help me not to get lost."

Until that moment, Leon only used Haste to move in order to conserve mana, but since Electric Armor would also burn the path he passes, it would be an excellent way not to follow a path he already explored.

In the end, that simple decision solved Leon's problems. Even though the mountain range and the labyrinth were massive, they had a limit. After saving a lot of time not exploring the same places over and over again, Leon found Gnome.

"Aww... you found me," Gnome said, dispirited. "You are the first person that found me so fast... but the next time, I will create an even better labyrinth."

"Next time?" Leon frowned. "Wait a minute..."

Before Leon could protest because it looked like Gnome would cause problems for him every week just like Sylph, he turned into a yellow sphere and entered Leon's body. The energy stabilized like usual, and then he received the notifications.

Congratulations! You have learned the skill: Earth Armor.

Cost: 50 mana per second

You obtained 01 status points.

Congratulations! You have learned the skill: Summon Gnome's Fragment.

Cost: 30 mana per second.

You obtained 01 status points.

Congratulations! The skill Geomancy has leveled up.

You obtained 01 status points.

Congratulations! The skill Earth Blessing Resistance has leveled up.

You obtained 01 status points.

Congratulations! The skill Earth Resistance has leveled up.

You obtained 01 status points.

...

"...380 more status points," Leon rubbed his chin. "I guess I don't have much of choice and comply with his demands."

Although Leon was the boss, he didn't want to force his spirits to do everything he wanted. A loyal friend would be more helpful in a battle than a slave, after all.

"Things are starting to get tight here," Sylph said.

"I know that I'm not very smart, but is my head that small?" Leon frowned.

"The hell are you talking about?" Celsius asked. "The space inside of you that beings like us can occupy is defined by the amount of mana you have. Considering your current mana, you can store six of us inside you. But it won't be pleasant for us, so hurry up and increase your mana."

Leon sighed, he wanted to increase his intelligence in order to learn Teleport, but it couldn't be helped. Leon decided to divide all the points he obtains from now on into intelligence and mana. Since he already had a few, he allocated them.

"... It is a little better now," Gnome said after a sigh. "Please hurry up and increase your mana. I don't like tight places."

Since it would be difficult to obtain the other spirits' cooperation, Leon decided to use Zen for a while once he returns. He needed to level up that skill, after all. Using that skill, Leon also would increase his mana and intelligence.

"I should also use my other low-level skills... not make use of that plantation of blue angel leaves would be a big mistake. Come to think of it... I also need to ask Ilyana to teach me how to absorb mana from the environment."

Finally, Leon was back to the point where he had no idea the best way to increase his strength in an efficient manner. In the end, Leon decided to spent half of his free time using Zen and the other half collecting blue angel leaves and leveling up his low-level skills. That way, he would decrease his headache when he discovers the most efficient way to grow his status.

However, before that, Leon went to Ilyana's castle and reported to her about his success. Leon couldn't help but frown when he saw her... Ilyana was just like usual, cross-legged, doing whatever she usually does to obtain mana and creating elementals. It has been a few months since he met her, but aside from the first time, she looked pretty normal... not messy like a creature that hadn't take a shower and cut her hair in decades.

"I guess she became more aware of her appearance again after I appeared... No, that is just me imagining things. Certainly, she doesn't take a shower and clean herself whenever I'm about to show up... right?"