John had no idea he had become a legend. He retreated into the wilderness away from society. There was a slight issue though... he had brought his servant with him.
"You'll need a support system. You are flesh and blood... it is impossible for you to retreat with me forever. You are still young, I can allow you to go freely, you can even teach those who you want magic."
"I want to stay with master! Where is the worth in teaching others? I'm only an apprentice, what would my disciples become?"
"Fine. You will need to deal with your mortal needs yourself."
"Aren't you forgetting something?"
"What?"
"When we were discussing magic, you said it could do anything."
"So?"
"What about a spell that could conjure food? You already have a spell that can conjure water for me to drink. If we can figure out how to make a spell that can create food... I can serve you forever even without society."
Johns eyes lit up with blue light.
"That's right... I can create spells!"
John had the memories of a supreme being, even if he hadn't yet sorted through all of its memories, making a spell from scratch was something he had digested in the years he had meditated.
John then began to work on fabricating a spell that could conjure food.
"I'll need you to retrieve some samples for me."
John inscribed 'Tier 2 tether: 16' and casted it on Leo so that he wouldn't become lost.
Leo went hunting and returned with a wild animal.
John began to dissect it.
He used the liver as a baseline to make sure Leo was getting as many nutrients as possible. He analyzed it on a microscopic level for three days and nights. He then researched the baseline of his conjuration spell. Most of it was unapplicable and was simply messing with energy.
After a week he successfully made a tier 2 spell called 'Create Food'.
It created a cube of food similar to tofu.
It didn't have any flavor but was full of vitamins and nutrients.
Leo had also finally broken through to stage one. He was no longer a mere apprentice. But he still was limited to a single spell slot.
Since Leo was only stage one and 'Create Food' was a tier two spell, John had to supply food to him. But since he was now stage one, he could use 'Tier 1 Waterball: 8'.
So he had his basic survival needs met.
John's eyes had been opened from this experience of crafting his own spell. He planned to make a soul manipulation spell in the future. Perhaps, even a soul vision spell.
But that was for future John to worry about.
He had no idea he had become a legend. If he did know, he would be indifferent to it.
Why care what others think?
The years passed as Leo grew accustomed to meditation.
After decades Leo had reached stage four.
As for John? He had reached the legendary stage seven. This was the end of the line for this magic system. The reason John chose this system of magic compared to the other systems he had sifted through was because it was entirely internally generated. It wasn't dependent on the environment or accessing into some deeper matrix.
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He and Leo didn't stay in the same place over these years... they traveled all around the world to confirm if the supernatural existed in this world. Besides hints of it here and there, there wasn't cultivation or magic found.
As the years passed Leo matured and lost his enthusiasm for following John.
After a century, the soul contract had expired.
He didn't ditch John at the first chance he got, they had a long talk about their journey. John was curious what Leo's plan was... Leo was currently 116 years old.
Leo was kept alive by magic.
He had become a lich by asking John to cast the tier 7 spell 'Undead Transformation'. This turned him into a lich with a phylactery. As long as this item wasn't destroyed, he would live. But his flesh side slowly died and rotted away.
There was a tier seven spell that used 2048 mana called 'Immortalize'.
This could make the person immortal, but Leo didn't choose this spell because he found that an undead body was convenient, he also asked if 'Undead Transformation' was how John became the way he is.
But Undead Transformation could only extend a persons life by a few centuries, eventually the soul would wither and fade away.
John was completely unique.
"You know when you met me I wasn't a stage seven wizard..."
"That's right...How did you end up this way?"
John and him had a talk about his origins.
Over the century together the legends of his origin had turned into a story told to children. Nobody truly believed there was a wizard named 'John Destinatus'. He was a fictional character in their eyes.
John didn't care about this.
Occasionally people would see him flying in the sky or in the wilderness, these people were considered conspiracy theorist when talking about their claims.
John asked Leo:
"Now that you are free, what do you plan on doing?"
"I think I'll take in some of my own disciples and spread magic around the world!"
Leo's journey had just begun and what a journey it was.
John continued to observe this world... using illusions and hiding his identity and power.
Centuries continued to pass as his strength had reached the end of the road.
The world became full of academies that studied magic and magic became mainstream.
It was Leo's life's work.
John stood in front of Leo's grave.
"Time is an eternal keepsake. It is also the end and beginning of all things. Rest well friend."
Somebody saw him near Leo's grave.
Someone praised for pioneering magic and spreading it around the world.
"Who are you? How did you get past security!?"
John simply shook his head and vanished.
"Teleportation!? Or an illusion? Who was that?"
One of the other guards laughed.
"That was John Destinatus!"
He was then punched.
"You know that's just a legend... there's no way he would be alive now. Even if someone used legend tier magic, no soul could persist for that long."
This world had been explored... John hoped for the portals to open again. But he had apparently missed his chance.
But he had time to wait around.
He was the origin of magic... he became a sort of guardian of this world.
Whenever a supernatural monster appeared that humanity couldn't handle.
He would fight it to relieve his boredom.
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Many centuries had passed in the cultivation world too. John never forgot about looking for a fairy fate. But since he had magic he could use freely, his enthusiasm for immortals and respect for it had dropped significantly.
There was something this world had that the other world didn't.
A method of prolonging life and nourishing the soul.
Magic by itself could extend someone's life for hundreds of years, but eventually, their soul would collapse. Unless you had a soul like John's.
John hated focusing on this world mainly due to having to deal with a flesh and blood body. He had to constantly fight the urge to turn himself into an undead.
Repeating the growing up process was worse then torture for him.
But now that he had fully explored that world, he figured at least until portals opened again. He should continue to look for a fairy fate.
Finally after fishing for hundreds of years and following operation phoenix, he ran into cultivator's looking for mortals to be servants.
As for allowing himself to be a servant? His ego didn't really care, as long as he learned cultivation he could prevent his future comrades from dying. He wanted to save Leo from dying from a collapsed soul, but back then the sects weren't looking for mortals.
You basically had to be born in the sect, while he was going through constant rebirth. His charisma never attracted a fairy.
He remained mortal.
He was tested among many others.
His qualifications? None!
He didn't have spiritual roots.
But that's fine, he has time. He can use his status as a servant to find a wife and go through more operation phoenix.
This time, he'll be a family born in a cultivation sect. So naturally he'll get tested at birth.
He just needs to go for as many attempts as it takes until he gets spiritual roots.
But then he realized a problem.
Isn't cultivation kind've useless for others?
Even if he successfully cultivated, it wasn't as universal as his magic. It would be for that single body only. If the person he wished to teach it by some infinitely small chance also had spiritual roots, only then would it be useful.
This further made him disappointed in cultivation. But he still planned to attain spiritual roots, because with the control of his body now, he could copy his body state and always make it so he had spiritual roots in future bodies.
He just needed an example.
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The portals appeared again while he was going through constant rebirth in the fairy world.
John focused on this world of magic now.
He was happy with the trajectory of the world.
But it was about time for him to leave.
He jumped into the portal with excitement.