“As expected of my Master. I do not hold a candle to your strength.” Nero spoke praise for Leon as he struggled to get to his feet. A wave of mana from Leon flowed through Nero’s body, and the damage that was done was fixed at once.
“That was exciting!” Nedra did the job of an ever cheery cheerleader and threw her hands into the air. As for the others except for Michael, their jaws were left handing open. They had seen Nero’s dominating strength earlier, but seeing how he was so easily beaten up by Leon had them surprised. Some of them even thought that Leon had intentionally made Nero lower his strength in order to put up a show, but they were wrong.
“That was amazing.” Richard clapped with his eyebrows raised up high. “You were what? High C rank? Just a couple of months ago, and now look at you. Peak B rank…” His words shook the hearts of all who heard.
Even if Leon had gotten a ton of valuable herbs and other resources that would boost his strength, it was simply not possible to digest all of that in just two months! Not only that, but he had also been fighting most of the time! How the hell did he get so strong so fast?!
“Talent.” Leon simply shrugged and folded his arms, then he turned to look at the humans who had been spectating all this while.
“Now that you have seen my strength, I guess I have proven myself strong enough to lead you.” He grinned.
No one answered, but he could tell that they had no more constraints. Everyone looked up to the strong, and they all knew of Leon’s feats in Divinity’s Bout. They also saw first hand how strong he was. Even the shockwaves of his fights were tough to withstand.
“I am willing to follow you.” Jacob Stockton was the first to speak up his willingness to follow Leon.
“So am I.” A middle aged lady stepped forward. She was a C rank mage, and had been saved by Nero as well.
With the two speaking out, the others soon began to side with Leon as well. Eventually, Eric was left as the only one yet to make his choice. Everyone turned their attention to the brown haired man. The man in question stood opposite to Leon, his hand rubbing his jaw although the pain from his beatdown had already faded away with Moria’s healing.
“So, Eric, what is your choice?” Leon asked straightforwardly.
“…I will follow you.” Eric nodded with a sigh. He had found it hard to make up his mind, but looking at Leon now, he felt as if he was making the right choice.
“You will not regret it.” Leon smiled.
.
.
“What madness got into you that made you work with an undead?!” Dorian, Jet’s uncle who had the Class of Holy Priest, scolded him harshly. It had only been an hour or so since he had returned, yet he could not have peace of mind thanks to his nagging uncle.
“Look! It’s not a big deal! Lex is a cool guy!” Jet tried to reason with Dorian, but the man just was not seeing any sense.
“Is is a big deal! What if he had killed you and turned you into one of his despicable Undeads? You would not be here to argue with me!” Dorian refused to give ground.
“Enough of that nonsense, brother!” Finally, Jet’s father, Gael, interrupted his brother’s rant. “Go and have some rest, son. You deserve it.” He nodded gratefully at Jet. Jet’s participation in Divinity’s Bout, and the wish he had made to the Gods had benefited the Armstrong family very much.
“Gael, why are you allowing that? We both know that Undeads are bad news!” After Jet had left, Dorian complained to Gael.
“Yes, you are right in that, but as you have seen for yourself, Jet made the right choice in befriending that Lex. The Necromancer is a powerful force on his own, and with his help, Jet was able to make it so far in the competition. His wish has set us back on the path to becoming a leading power once again! When father recuperates, we can begin our comeback!” Gael put his hand on his brother’s shoulder.
He did not blame Dorian for reacting the way he did. After all, Undead Necromancers were a particularly sore topic among the members of the Armstrong family. They were the cause of their decline in the first place.
Dorian’s eyes grew turbulent as he recalled the events that had happened not too long ago. During the Great Shift. He could remember how the armies of Undead monsters had marched forward, killing innocents left and right. Dion had done his very best to ensure that the family could retreat in time, but he had still been badly injured by one of the Undead Kings of the Demon Continent, which had caused an inevitable decline of the Armstrong family in the following years.
“I will try to get past it, but still. I better not see that Undead. Or I will purge the Unholy energy from his bones myself!” Dorian clenched his fist.
“Yeah, good luck with that.” Gael shook his head and patted his brother’s shoulder. He would have encouraged him, but they both knew that unless Dorian became an A rank, it would be impossible for him to defeat Leon.
“Get some rest too. You have not slept for the past few days.” Gael patted Dorian on the shoulder and turned to leave. Dorian remained where he was standing at the top of the main mansion of the estate owned by the family.
The man let out a labored sigh. It had been his and his brother’s duty to defend the family while their father had been too injured to perform. But now, their father, the patriarch of their once renowned family, was now on a journey back to his prime. He could feel that things were about to change. But how would they change? For the better or for worse? Only time would tell.