Leon heard Archon Vyrra’s words and imdiately stood from his ice throne, walking toward her elevated position with asured steps.
As he approached, she raised one hand and created a shimring barrier around them both. It wasn’t a physical obstruction—Leon could pass through it easily if he wanted—but he could feel its true purpose imdiately through his spatial awareness.
Whatever we discuss here will not be heard by anyone else. A privacy ward.
The barrier humd softly with concentrated mana, creating a sphere of isolation in the midst of the crowded arena filled with city folks.
The air inside felt heavier—subdued, like the weight of silence during a snowfall.
Leon asked directly, not wasting ti on pleasantries. "What do you want to talk about?"
Archon Vyrra’s expression shifted to sothing genuinely serious, her crimson eyes eting his with unusual gravity. She took a breath before speaking.
"That thing is..."
She paused, then continued with careful deliberation.
"Unlike the previous ti—when you killed the most monsters and were allowed to take all your loot, exempted only for the five percent tax we collect for communal growth—this ti it’s not possible."
Her gaze didn’t waver from his face.
"You’re simply too strong now, Leon. As strong as I am, basically. The sa rules that apply to normal warriors cannot apply to you anymore."
She gestured vaguely toward the battlefield beyond the barrier.
"So I cannot allow you to take all the loot for yourself this ti. You’ll have to contribute five percent of what you’ve harvested for the growth and developnt of the rest of the Pyrrhans. Keep the rest 95% percent for your personal use."
Leon pretended to think for a few seconds, his expression contemplative.
In my mind, I could easily deny her request. Considering my actual strength and capabilities, she couldn’t stop from taking everything if I truly wanted to.
However, he chose not to exercise that power advantage. He didn’t want to abuse his position—not when the reason was so clear.
She gave that almost-Archon rank Hydra’s core. And that incredible skill. Those gifts are what made this strong in the first place. She gave an absolutely overpowered ability when I needed it most.
And beyond the practical benefits, there was sothing more fundantal.
Even when I was weak and new to this realm, she was kind to . Respectful. She didn’t treat as inferior or disposable.
So he wouldn’t use his power to his advantage when what she was asking was completely fair and reasonable.
Today, he’d hunted a truly massive number of monsters. The count had crossed the three thousand mark—an absurd total that would normally take entire units of weeks to achieve.
And from those battle kills alone, he’d gained thirty-one million casualties. It was only six million above the previous battle’s total, despite the number of kills being almost three tis higher.
I understand why. With my current strength level, the amount of causality I receive becos significantly less for each individual monster—especially those at Ascendant rank in terms of level progression, or below.
Diminishing returns. The cosmic system rewarded fighting stronger opponents, not slaughtering weaker ones en masse.
Leon answered her calmly, his voice carrying genuine acceptance.
"It’s okay. I don’t mind contributing that much. It’s fair given the circumstances."
Relief washed visibly across Archon Vyrra’s face. She sighed, tension leaving her shoulders, and sothing like pride flickered in her crimson eyes.
Good. I hadn’t judged him wrong. His character matches his strength.
Leon returned to his ice throne beside Ira, settling back into the frozen seat.
While in the anti—as the rest of the hunting parties still hadn’t arrived back with their collected loot from the battlefield—Leon shifted his consciousness into his ti dinsion.
WHOOOOSH!
His awareness transferred smoothly, leaving his physical body seated on the throne while his conscious mind entered the dinsional space.
It’s ti to learn a new elent. I’ve been putting this off, but I’m well-versed enough in everything I currently know.
Even his lowest-mastered elent had reached Rank 3 Aura by now. The simpler basic elents were all at Rank 4.
However, the growth was becoming noticeably slower for the more complex affinities. Life, space, illusion, holy elent—for them to reach Rank 4, it would take a full dedicated training session, which he couldn’t afford to do right now during the little ti he had before the festival.
I’ll focus on those afterward.
And for his basic elents to reach Rank 5? Leon had encountered what felt like a significant hurdle—sothing fundantally different from previous advancent.
It’s not just about training ti anymore. I feel like I have to dive into unknown territory. The level of control and refinent required for basic Auras at Rank 5... I don’t even know how I’d reach that next stage yet.
The mastery demanded sothing beyond simple repetition and mana manipulation.
But for now, he’d chosen a new elent to begin learning: darkness.
The sa elent that powers the slave mark skill I acquired quite a while ago.
He was already familiar with the darkness elent to a limited degree through using that ability, which would make starting the learning process sowhat easier.
HUMMM...
As Leon began his training regin, he suddenly detected through his connection that his clone—the other physical version of himself—had completed its harvesting task.
Everything was now stored directly in his shared inventory. The monster at specifically intended for feeding the Pyrrhan beast companions—he’d donated more than forty percent of that total supply to the community.
I already have quite a lot stored from previous hunts. With this new haul added, it would be too much to keep entirely for myself anyway.
His clone wasn’t returning to the arena. Instead, it had moved sowhere else and entered the ti dinsion to continue training.
Interesting. It can only enter the ti dinsion physically, not in conscious form, because my consciousness is the one controlling both bodies. We’re technically the sa being.
He’d tested whether he could create a portal to the dinsion through his clone, and the experint had succeeded perfectly.
Now his clone trained a bit away from his conscious form’s position, both versions simultaneously delving into the darkness elent, making the learning process significantly faster through parallel practice.
Leon started slowly. Learning to control the darkness elent proved imdiately challenging—probably one of the hardest elents he’d attempted to master since beginning his cultivation journey.
CRACKLE... HISSSSS...
Darkness was extraordinarily difficult to stabilize. The slightest hint of strong emotion would make the tendrils beco chaotically unstable, lashing out or dissipating entirely.
It demanded an uncanny calmness—almost on a frightening level of emotional detachnt.
Complete serenity. No anger, no excitent, no fear. Just... deathly stillness.
Leon trained for several weeks inside the accelerated ti, knowing his clone continued practicing simultaneously. He had a bit of real-world ti remaining before he’d need to return his consciousness to the arena, based on estimates from the previous day’s schedule.
Enough ti for sothing else important.
He decided to visit Seraphine in the dinsional world he had full control over.
SHIMR!
The transition was instantaneous, his consciousness manifesting in the space where she’d been training and developing her abilities.
The first thing they did was reconnect physically—their reunion was passionate and intense after the subjective separation.
The mont Leon materialized, she was in his arms, her lips eting his with desperate urgency.
Their clothes ca off quickly, scattered across the floor as they made their way to the bed.
Her skin felt hot against his, her breath warm against his throat as they collided in aching urgency.
What followed was intimate and intense—bodies pressed together, skin against skin, the familiar rhythm of their passion that had been absent for too long from Leon’s perspective.
I missed this. Missed her.
They took their ti, savoring each other, making up for the separation with whispered words and breathless monts that needed no explanation.
Afterward, they lay together in comfortable silence, her purple hair spread across his chest, both of them simply enjoying the closeness.
User Comments
0 comments from readers