Leon stared at the red haired man with a firm, disapproving look.
“I’m sorry, do we know each other?” Rodius asked in confusion, but before Leon could reply, Elena burst into a fit of excitement behind him.
“Dad!”
“Kitty?!” Rodius was surprised and let the pet name he called his youngest child slip out when he saw her hop out of the carriage at the front of the caravan.
Elena rushed into her father’s open arms with a wide grin on her face. “Dad, this is Leon. He’s the one I told you helped me in the Desolate Lands back then.” She introduced Leon without a second thought, as she had seen that Leon did not really care. Plus, it seemed they knew each other.
“LEON?!” Rodius barked out and his eyes narrowed. He instantly lifted Elena into his arms and put some distance between them. He was still quite shaken from witnessing Leon’s strength first hand in the Tower of Trials.
“Hello again, Rodius. It seems out paths have been tied by fate.” Leon smiled widely. Right now, he just wanted to laugh. He had known that he would meet again with Rodius soon, as the path to the town he had been born in was on the same road as the village where Elena lived with her family.
“It would seem so…” Rodius murmured. “Why are you here? Surely, you did not come with all this,” Rodius waved his hand at the caravan, “Just to drop off my daughter.”
“Of course, I didn’t. I am merely passing through and chose to drop Elena off before I continue on my way.” Leon shook his head and Rodius narrowed his eyes at Leon’s words.
“What do you mean?” The man asked.
“It does not concern you yet.” Leon waved his hand and turned to Elena. “Maybe we will meet soon again. It is up to fate.” He told the red haired girl and turned to leave.
“Wait!” Elena called out to Leon and stopped him.
“Hmm?” Leon raised one eyebrow up in a questioning manner.
“Be careful.” Elena said and nodded seriously at him, then turned around to leave in the direction of the village. She could obviously sense the animosity and tension between Leon and her father, so she did not want their confrontation to drag out unnecessarily.
“Let’s go.” Leon waved to his men, and with firm nods, they returned to their carriages. Rodius also commanded his men to leave with a second glance back at Leon’s men.
‘He’s only going to get stronger. And his influence will grow with his strength. I need to smooth out these odds we have between us.’ Rodius realized with a bite of frustration. If only he had not tried to kill Leon earlier. He was the only one to blame for that, and there was nothing he could do about it now.
The red haired man turned to his red haired daughter, his expression that of curiosity. His immediately asked his Beastkin daughter what was on his mind.
“Kitty, what do you think of that Leon?” He asked her with a calm voice.
“Leon is a good guy, dad. I told you about how he helped me back then. While I was also skeptic about him, after spending some time with him, I can tell that he really is a good guy. He was just unfortunate to be born into the body of an Undead.” Elena expressed her own perspective and Rodius nodded. “So, whatever this thing is between you two, I hope you sort it out. Making an enemy out of Leon will be a bad choice. And I won’t stand on your side.” She said firmly.
Rodius was a bit taken aback by how sharp Elena’s tone was. She was his little girl, and he had not expected her to side with Leon so much. He thought that she would try to be the neutral party, but those hopes were popped with a sharp needle that was formed from Elena’s words.
“Ahem, I already plan to smooth things out, but not right now. First, we need to get back home. Your mother will soon wake up.” Rodius dropped his large hand onto Elena’s head with a small smile, taking satisfaction in seeing the completely stupefied and shocked expression blooming on his daughter’s face.
“Mom is… waking up?” Elena asked with shock. She was still a little girl back when Marina had closed her eyes for the last time. She could still recall how she would spend hours talking with Marina, her mother’s calming voice soothing her nerves whenever Darius scared her with his sharp canines.
“Yes. Baba Yaga said she would wake up any moment now.” Rodius confirmed his earlier statement, and seeing the wide grin on Elena’s face melted his heart.
Before long, they arrived at the large village, and the warriors made themselves known, including Maria, Elena’s older sister.
“Big sis?” Elena’s eyes went wide and she literally hopped across the distance between Maria and her in one smooth motion. Maria caught her in one big hug and laughed.
“I’m happy to see you too.” She ruffled Elena’s head and pinched the tips of the furry, red ears that were hidden by her hair.
“Don’t do that!” Elena whined pitifully and backed away from Maria, who remained laughing at Elena’s childishness.
“Come on, I’m sure Darius will be excited to see you too.” Rodius ignored his older daughter’s antiques and called to Elena. Then the two of them made their way to their home, which was fairly close to the center of the town.
Before they even stepped inside, Darius came barging out.
“Dad! Mother is awake!” He cried out loud with his eyes glossy and shiny. Before he could turn around to rush back inside, he felt the wind around him be kicked up in a frenzy, and Rodius was gone. The man had sped inside to see his dearest. The love of his life.
The three children looked at each other, and Elena approached her older brother. She opened her mouth to speak, but before she could, Darius swept her up in a hug.
“Welcome back, little kitty. Let’s go see mom.” He said with a teary smile and turned around to lead them inside. They all knew the way, but as the oldest, they let Darius take the lead.
Before long, they could hear loud sobbing as their father poured out his heart, so they decided to stop for a moment and let their parents have their moment. As they were doing nothing more, Darius turned to Elena with a wide smile. His pointed canines were put on display, but she was no longer intimidated by them. Instead, she flashed him her own canines with a similar grin.
“Haha! Look who’s grown up!” He laughed and pulled her into a headlock. He was so fast that she could not see him in time and ended up getting snatched up by his hands.
“Let me go!” She huffed and punched at his arms, but she did not phase him. He ruffled her hair a bit before letting her go with a laugh.
“One of the best of Divinity’s Bout! A pretty neat record.” He smiled genuinely, his pride as an older brother radiating from his body. He had been overwhelmed with pride when he saw the broadcast of her fights. Then he suddenly remembered something.
“Hold on, where is that dragon hatchling?” He remembered her owning a dragon hatchling. A battle with the hatchling had been broadcasted as well.
“Oh! Mica is evolving. It will take a couple more days, I guess.” Her eyes widened and she held her hands forward. With a flash of pale golden light, a golden dragon egg with black and red markings all over it appeared on her palm.
Before Divinity’s Bout ended, it had maxed its levels on the fiftieth floor and had eaten a few valuables to act as a Catalyst for its Race Advancement. Ever since then, it had remained as an egg. She had asked Leon about this, and he had told her that his Race Advancements took minutes at the most. So this was something he had no idea of.
“Oh! So it will be D rank when it comes out?” Darius’ eyes went wide, but Maria focused her eyes more on the egg.
“No! It will be much stronger than that when it hatches!” She said and stepped forward. She then placed a finger on the shell of the egg before her eyes went unfocused. She fell into a trance that was generated by her own abilities. It lasted a few moments, but when she returned, her eyes went wide.
“When this egg hatches, we will have a Peak C rank dragon with us!” She exclaimed happily!
“What? How? Why?” Elena and Darius asked at the same time, confused.
“Well, Dragons are very powerful creatures. Some legends even say that their blood carries pure Divinity. So, maybe this has something to do with it. We should ask Baba Yaga when next we can.” Maria tried to explain, but even she had no idea of the real reason why.