The anime kicks off with a young boy named Lloyd getting magic lessons in the four basic elements from his tough-as-nails teacher. She starts with fire and gives him a clear ultimatum: master it or skip dinner. That’s one way to light a fire under someone.
Motivated by hunger (and fear), Lloyd trains hard. After many attempts, he proudly shows off a little flame to his teacher. She’s mildly impressed… until she snuffs it out and conjures up a huge blaze of her own. “Nice try,” she says, “but this is just the beginning.”
Next day: water training. Lloyd tries to copy her water-drawing technique but fails miserably. With a better explanation and a live demo, he tries again—and this time nails it. He’s feeling pretty good… until she dumps a torrent of water on him. “Now that’s real water,” she says, grinning.
Then comes wind. Lloyd shows he can use it—kind of. His teacher casually blasts him off his feet with a gust strong enough to launch a kite. Still room to grow, clearly.
Later, in the forest, Lloyd makes an ice sculpture of his teacher (because why not?). She finds it… and smashes it—after enlarging it and using Lloyd as part of the performance. He ends up buried in ice, muttering about how he still lacks real strength.
Back home, his teacher falls seriously ill. Lloyd, ever caring, heals her with magic. She hugs him with gratitude… then promptly says, “Cool. Back to training!”
One evening, she’s reading a spellbook and looking unusually somber. When Lloyd enters to say dinner’s ready, the book drops. The moment he picks it up, something weird happens—he faints instantly. The teacher is shocked and realizes he may be “chosen.” Later, while he’s asleep and feverish, she leaves a healing mark on his forehead and vows not to let him repeat her mistakes. The mark disappears shortly after.
Next, they return to the forest where Lloyd tries healing magic on a fruit, and it grows rapidly. Pretty cool! But his teacher shows off by healing the entire tree and casually eating a fruit before strolling off like a magic-powered boss. Lloyd is in awe.
At home, she warns Lloyd that some “monster people” use forbidden magic to control beasts. He’s curious, but she flat-out refuses to teach him—it’s ancient, dangerous, and should stay forgotten.
Training resumes. Lloyd tries to sneakily use a hidden magic wand, but his teacher finds it and bonks him with it. “Focus!” she yells, unimpressed by his shortcut attempt.
Later, she teaches him about magic stones—crystallized mana that can turn nearby objects into more stones. Lloyd wonders if they can be restored, but that answer’s on hold for now.
Finally, she blindfolds Lloyd, drags him into a forest, and says, “Here’s a knife. Get home in a week.” Wait, what?! A monster appears immediately, and Lloyd, in full panic mode, flees and climbs a tree. He realizes white magic alone won’t save him this time—and that he really needs to escape fast.
Lloyd uses vision magic and realizes that the safe zone is really far away. He climbs down from the tree, hides his knife, and begins his journey. After night falls, he finds a fruit-bearing tree, magically matures a fruit, and munches on it. Then, like a budget wilderness expert, he camps in a cave and uses a basic magic circle to enhance himself slightly.
The next morning, he begins climbing a mountain—only to nearly fall off it. That night, he curls up inside a tree (again) and casts a mana-reducing spell to conserve energy. Days pass as he roams the forest, strengthening himself and using spells. While walking, he steps on a twig, which causes a massive monster to come tumbling down. Lloyd narrowly avoids being flattened. The monster sees him—and gives chase.
Panicking, Lloyd activates a speed spell and runs for his life. He finally makes it home, collapses, and loses consciousness. His teacher finds him and proudly welcomes him back, impressed that he completed the survival challenge.
Years pass, and Lloyd grows into a young man, still doing house chores. While cleaning, he finds a book about a nearby city. His teacher catches him slacking but lets him borrow the book. Later, she drags him (literally) into helping her test an anti-aging spell, then tosses him back like a magic ragdoll. They have lunch, but she’s already brainstorming new enhancement spells. That night, she gives him a “special vitality potion”—which just knocks him out from exhaustion.
The next morning, Lloyd is gone. His teacher finds the city book on his desk and realizes what he’s done. Meanwhile, Lloyd arrives in the city, awestruck by the bustling crowds and nearly flattened by a speeding cart. The driver shouts at him, but Lloyd just marvels at city life. He buys some pastries… and ends up broke. Then a flyer smacks into him—offering adventurer jobs. Perfect timing!
Lloyd joins a party led by Allen. During a mission, a monster smashes through walls, shocking everyone. Allen calls for Sheena to heal the team, but Lloyd quietly casts a healing spell himself, buffing the whole squad. The team fights back: one hits the monster’s eye, it retaliates, another blocks the blow, someone restrains it—and Allen finishes it off with a mighty attack.
Back in the city, the team is welcomed like heroes. At their base, Allen gives Lloyd a small payment, calling it the “Rank D share” and warns him not to get cocky. But Lloyd is totally chill about it. They celebrate, but Lloyd bows out because he doesn’t drink—this annoys a teammate, but Allen shrugs it off, claiming white mages aren’t that useful in battle anyway.
Back at the teacher’s house, Lloyd’s observer reports to her that he’s joined the adventurer team “Hero” to slay monsters. The teacher sees this as a real test for Lloyd—as long as he doesn’t get arrogant, he’ll be fine. The observer asks if she has any regrets, but she replies, “I won’t repeat the same mistake twice.”
They recall the past: when the Demon Lord sacrificed himself to steal a magical book and nearly dragged them all into ruin. Ancient magic reversed the fate of those the Demon Lord had killed—but at the cost of Lloyd’s life.
Back in the city, a vendor is selling books about the “Hero” team, especially Allen’s monster-slaying glory. In these tales, Lloyd is only mentioned as the support guy helping others defend until Allen could finish the fight.
At Allen’s house, he visits a teammate who’s been studying defense magic. She admits she’s noticed something odd during battles—her blocks have felt different lately. Allen, ever cocky, says it’s just his overflowing power, even though he hasn’t trained in ages.
Meanwhile, by the river, two city guards face a terrifying moment—a giant monster appears and kills them both, drawing ever closer to the city
Back at Allen’s house, he receives word about the soldiers who were killed and is assigned the job of eliminating the monster. Confident as ever, Allen thinks it’ll be a walk in the park.
At the river, he casually asks if the monster is nearby. Lloyd, already prepared, reveals its location using his magic. The party enters the lair, and Allen charges in and slays the creature like it’s no big deal. But before they can high-five, another monster shows up—shocking Lloyd and annoying Allen.
Lloyd quickly figures out that a demon is behind this. The black jewel embedded in the demon’s magic staff is crystallized mana—super rare and very dangerous. One teammate asks if the jewel is overloaded with mana, while another realizes it’s being used to control monsters.
Lloyd springs into action: he casts a special enhancement spell and tells Lulu to fire an arrow at the demon. She’s surprised but trusts him—fires the shot, and nails it! He then asks Miiya to teleport the demon’s staff to him. Miiya, slightly baffled, makes it happen. Lloyd catches the staff like a pro, impressing her… and infuriating Allen, who clearly doesn’t like being upstaged.
Allen insists on skewering the monster, but Lloyd warns him—without the magic stone’s control, the monster might go berserk. Allen, being Allen, ignores the warning and charges in anyway… and almost gets squashed. Lloyd saves him by pushing him out of harm’s way. Naturally, Allen gets mad again and tells him to stop interfering. Then, determined to finish it himself, Allen attacks and lands the final blow.
Later at Allen’s house, he vents his frustration. He tells Lloyd he’s just a backliner, a white mage who isn’t even healing (that’s Sheena’s job). He accuses him of being useless and announces that he’s being kicked off the team.
Lloyd, quietly hurt, asks, “Do you think I lack power?” Allen says nothing at first—but eventually tells him to just leave. So, Lloyd does.
At the guild, Lloyd tries to join a new party, but their leader turns him down—they already have a white mage. Rejected again, he starts wandering around when he overhears a desperate girl begging the receptionist for help. She needs a white mage urgently by tomorrow for a diamond-class freelance mission. The receptionist tries her best but says it’s difficult.
Still begging, the adventurer asks if any white mage is available. The receptionist, like a matchmaking fairy, points her to Lloyd. The girl rushes over and asks if he’s a white mage. He says yes. Then she asks if he’s with a party.
Lloyd gives the most relatable answer ever: “I’m unemployed.”
Without hesitation, she grabs his hand and drags him off.
