Leonel began to absorb the Ores one after another, without a care for how dangerous they were. No matter how volatile they were to others, to Leonel, they only represented strength. In that way he was much more like Little Tolly than maybe even he knew.
What Leonel most looked forward to, though, wasn't just the strengthening of his body, but rather the synergy his Metal Body had with his Mage Core.
Under normal circumstances, the absorption of these Ores would result in the following changes.
Taking in Blazing Night Ore would increase Leonel's ability to suppress the volatility of his Scarlet Star Force. The Ore itself had an uncanny ability to remain inert without the presence of flames. When this Essence was taken in by Leonel, he too would gain this ability to suppress.
Taking in the Refractive Gold would give Leonel the ability to better control and concentrate.
Finally, Star Core was known for its heaviness. It was a Foundational Type Ore well known for increasing the weight of a weapon far beyond its proportional size. At the same time, this added weight would both stabilize and increase structural integrity.
It could be said that by absorbing Star Core, Leonel was heavily increasing the density of his body and also its defense. This would offset the volatility of Black Night perfectly and stabilize Refractive Gold to give him even more control.
However… This was only if Leonel hadn't grasped Camelot's magic system for himself.
When Leonel formed his Mage Core, his Variant Earth affinity did not appear as one of the petals despite the fact space – his weakest affinity should he not use his Divine Armor – had a flickering black-silver petal for itself.
The reason for this was simple. Leonel had made his Variant Earth affinity the stem and roots of his Mage Core.
This didn't seem like a big deal and even seemed to make sense. After all, what better stabilizing Element was there outside of Earth? This was only more so for its metallic variant.
However, when Leonel's Metal Body is taken into consideration, the fundamental nature of this choice comes with implications far more than something so simple.
A Mage Core is the representation of a Mage's magic. In Camelot's magic system, it roots a connection between body and spirit, allowing Magic to be controlled more like the extension of one's body rather than requiring the use of a Force Art every time.
This was why, after the formation of his Mage Core, Leonel was able to wield the elements and bend them to his will even without evoking any spells or Mage Arts. And, it was also why even the most basic of spells had gotten a massive boost even without Leonel modifying them.
This would be the same for anyone who formed a Mage Core as long as their affinities were high enough. So what was the difference with Leonel?
The core lay in his Metal Body.
Due to the characteristics of his Lineage Factor, Leonel's Mage Core and Metal Body formed a symbiotic relationship where one could feed off the other in an endless feedback loop. This was the fundamental change that occurred when Leonel made his Metal Variant affinity his root and stem.
This meant that whenever Leonel absorbed Ores, the changes would occur not just in his body… but in his magic too!
To put things as simply as possible, while Leonel's body gained all the aforementioned boosts, his magic subtly changed as well… Or, maybe the changes weren't so subtle at all.
First, Leonel's Flames gained an explosive characteristic thanks to Blazing Night. If before they could just emit heat, now they wrought destruction. Even a simple fire ball spell from a Tier 4 Leonel would manifest like a nuke being dropped from the skies, maybe not quite so much in strength, but most definitely in feel.
The second change to Leonel's magic would be his ability to concentrate his Mage Arts into incredibly fine beams, this would be especially so for his Light Elemental Magic. Though this effect would be less prominent than the explosive characteristic he would gain, if used properly, it could be even more dangerous than the first change.
The third change would be in thanks to Leonel's Star Core. Though Leonel had yet to learn any Star Elemental Mage Arts, not having had the time to research just yet, this wouldn't change the fact that he could still bend the Element to his will with just his body alone. He could effectively add an impossible amount of weight behind his every strike with a thought.
Yet, as amazing as these changes were, none of them touched upon the most fundamental and most drastic change. And this is where the prowess of this Synergy began to show itself.
With just a thought, Leonel would be able to cast Earth Elemental Force Arts that manifested the character of any one of these Ores he was currently absorbing. In fact, if he wanted, he could even form any one of these Ores from thin air no differently from how he might have formed an Earthen Arrow from a Mage Art in the past!
In the past, Leonel's Variant Earth affinity would add a slight metal sheen to his Mage Arts. This change would increase the strength of his casts by a measure to be beyond that of a normal Earth mage.
However, the effect of this was limited. It would strengthen an offensive attack like [Earthen Spear] or a defensive Art like [Grand Bell Construct]. However, when it came to other more unique Earth Elemental Arts, it would be useless and even sometimes become a hindrance.
However, now Leonel had more control over exactly what Variations would occur because he could now evoke specific Ores, bringing his Earth magic to an entirely new level.
With his Metal Body as his foundation, and his Mage Core as an equal partner, Leonel believed that should he ever learn how to perfectly integrate his Spear Force with his Magic… He would be undefeatable even amongst those several levels higher than himself.