Magic System in a Parallel World

Leo watched as Khrome got out of a taxi with two other individuals. One was an old man with short white hair and the other was a beautiful young woman with long black hair.

"Khrome!" Leo waved at him once he got close enough.

"Oh! Pipsqueak!" A wide smile appeared on Khrome\'s face when he saw Leo\'s face.

"I heard from the Saintess! You\'ve become a B-Rank Adventurer, correct? I\'m impressed! Truly! When I told you to reach B-Rank, it was mostly a joke, as it hasn\'t even been half a year since you reached C-Rank, after all."

"Well, I did clear a B-Rank Labyrinth." Leo smiled back.

"Hey, who\'s this youngster?" The old man that came out of the taxi with Khrome asked as he gazed at Leo with interest.

"Let me introduce you guys to Leon. I taught him how to use the sword several months ago, so he\'s somewhat my student. He also only became an Adventurer recently. However, don\'t let his appearance and seemingly lack of experience fool you, as this pipsqueak is actually a monster in disguise." Khrome said to the other two while pointing at Leo.

"Monster in disguise…?" Leo mumbled in a dumbfounded voice.

"In less than half a year, he\'d gone from being an F-Rank Adventurer to being a B-Rank Adventurer. Crazy, right?"

"What? Are you sure that\'s right? Going from F-Rank to B-Rank in less than half a year is impossible…" The young woman said with a doubtful look on her face.

"That\'s slightly behind the world record, isn\'t it?" The old man said.

"About a week behind, I believe." Khrome nodded.

Unbeknownst to them, Leo had only completed four missions since he became an Adventurer, and going from F-Rank to B-Rank in four missions is more than a world record— it was literally unimaginable.

"Hmm? Wait a minute. Your name is Leon? Do you, by any chance, use dark magic?" The young woman suddenly asked him.

"Yes, I do. How did you know?" Leo was surprised by the young woman\'s words.

"Are you serious? All of the Adventurers in Tethoris have been talking about you nonstop lately! A mysterious young man and a mysterious young woman who swept the Wilderness during a territory control mission! And despite being a C-Rank Adventurer, the mysterious young man had the prowess to kill B-Rank monsters with a single magic spell, as well as A-Rank monsters!"

"My friend was part of that territory control, and I heard about you from him. I can\'t believe you\'re really that mysterious young man! What are you doing here in Stellar City?"

"Uhh… I\'m here to participate in the Skeleton Graveyard Raid with Khrome," he said.

"The Skeleton Graveyard Raid, huh? So you\'ll be part of our team." The old man said.

"Then let me introduce myself. I am Lydia Cross, an A-Rank Adventurer who specializes in light magic. I\'m this team\'s healer! Nice to meet you!"

"I\'m Trent Meyer, also an A-Rank Adventurer. I specialize in wind magic, and I am the damage dealer."

"Leon. I have a dark magic affinity, and I am mostly a damage dealer as well." Leo introduced himself again.

"Hey, where\'s your partner— that mysterious female who uses a magic rifle?" Lydia suddenly asked him.

"Are you talking about Lena? She\'ll show up a little later, probably when we leave for the raid." Leo said.

"I see…"

"By the way, do I still need to defeat you to join the team?" Leo suddenly asked Khrome.

"Nah, you\'re good. I was going to make you fight me only if you couldn\'t reach B-Rank." He shrugged.

"Alright then. What is the plan?" Leo then asked.

"Let\'s go get some food while we talk, shall we?"

"Sure."

They proceeded to find a nearby restaurant.

While they waited for their meal, Khrome went over their plans.

"Since this is a public raid, there really isn\'t much we need to plan. Once we arrive at the Skeleton Graveyard, I will deal with the Exploding Corpses and Leon and Trent will take care of the Phantom Ghosts and the others. Lydia, since your light magic is super effective against these monsters, especially the skeletons, you will be our backup. However, I still want you to focus on healing me since I\'ll have to deal with the explosions."

Khrome then turned to look at Leo and continued, "Your friend… She can only use a magic rifle, right?"

"That\'s correct." He nodded.

"Then she can help me with the Exploding Corpses. Although magic doesn\'t work on them, they can be damaged by mana attacks for some reason. However, it requires a tremendous amount of mana to kill an Exploding Corpse, so I won\'t expect too much from your friend."

Leo smiled and said, "Don\'t underestimate my partner. I won\'t say much now since you\'ll understand it later."

"Partner? Is she your girlfriend or something?" Khrome couldn\'t help but ask.

"Huh? No… She\'s just an ordinary partner. Her role is to keep an eye on me and make sure I don\'t get into trouble, I guess…" He said with a stiff smile.

"I see… By the way, how\'s the Saintess doing?"

"The same as usual."

"How do you know the Saintess, Leon?" Lydia suddenly asked with a curious look on her face.

"Oh, she\'s my sponsor." Leo calmly said.

"What?! Really?! I thought she had never sponsored anyone before!" Lydia exclaimed, and she continued, "I\'m actually a huge fan of hers, you know! How lucky of you!"

"How did you meet the Saintess?" Khrome asked. "If I recall correctly, she said that she\'d \'picked\' you up."

Leo nodded and said, "I was homeless and hopeless before meeting Miss Camille. She gave me a purpose in life. If it weren\'t for her, I wouldn\'t be here right now. As for how we met… It was fate, I guess."

"..."

The others quickly became speechless, as they didn\'t expect such a sad backstory from him.