Unlimited Power: The Arcane Path

After using ice to fill that entire part of the dungeon, Leon noticed that his coins increased several times. The crystal really recognized that as an attack, but the new golems died instantly, or so Leon thought. When he returned the corridor to its normal size, Leon saw in the middle of the ice, that several golems were still alive.

"Not for long."

The creatures tried to move, but they weren't able to. They survived by increase the flames on their bodies to the limits, and little by little, they were melting the ice, but Leon wouldn't wait for that. Using Water Manipulation, he created roles inside the ice connecting where he was to where the golems were… if worked one time, there was no real reason to change strategy. However, Leon decided to try something a little different.

"Let's see how you guys handle mud…"

Leon only saw the golems becoming fire, earth, and water, but what would happen if he combines two elements and make that touch the monsters' bodies? Leon noticed that something bad for them would occur when the creature became an earth golem.

"I see… the fire would dry the mud and trap the beast permanently inside a block of earth. So, its body can only support one element at a time."

The golem couldn't change its shape while it was an earth golem, so it only waited. However, since several others were still alive, Leon couldn't wait. Heating the mud, Leon locked the creature in that place; after that, he finished it with a Magma Spear. It could absorb earth and fire, but not both at the same time. Leon repeated that same process several times until he killed the last one and ran out of mana.

"I hate dungeons…"

Leon fell on his butt and let out a sigh. To someone who has his skills, there was no worse place to fight. But in the end, it was also a good experience. Leon wouldn't become a true survivor if he only fights in the conditions where he has the upper hand.

After recovering some mana, Leon melted the ice of the cave and picked the cores of those golems. Cores of ordinary golems had the same color of their bodies, but those of bosses glowed in several tones. Blue, yellow, green, and red…

"So, those add all basic elements to items? Maybe I should keep this…"

Since it was something that he obtained after killing several bosses that have never been defeated before, perhaps the item could strengthen the buyers too much… Although that also applied to the ice club, he had no use for that, and carrying around was too troublesome, which was not the case to those cores. Regardless, Leon left the dungeon, and without any ceremony, He, Ren, and the workers left the region since they already collected all the cores.

Usually, while traveling, Ren would be in a good mood. However, even though only one dungeon was left to be cleared, he was awfully quiet, and he was also trying not to convey any feelings in his face.

"Did something happen?" Leon asked.

"… His majesty sent a message." Ren said with a grim expression.

"What did he say?" Leon asked.

"He said that you are doing a good job," Ren answered. "However, the earth dragons' dungeon is way more dangerous than the others. That is why he gave the order to some soldiers to help you."

"Tokyo looked pretty fine despite being near such a dangerous dungeon," Leon said. "Care to explain why?"

"The most powerful soldiers live in Tokyo," Ren explained. "And they fight daily against the earth dragons to maintain the peace."

"So, the emperor made a trap for me, or the men who are going to help are the strongest in the country and intend to do something," Leon said. "Which is it?"

"I don't think the emperor would do something like at this point in time," Ren massaged his eyebrows. "You already proved yourself to be a powerful ally. Although the Emperor commands our country, he listens to the opinions of his advisors… my best guess is that a few advisors insisted on letting their subordinates help. The emperor also hunts in that dungeon whenever possible, so he knows how that place is difficult."

"Really? He looked like someone powerful…" Leon rubbed his chin. "But I never thought he would train in the most dangerous dungeon of the country."

"Soldiers tend to work harder when their commander also fights in the front line," Ren added.

"I can't deny that, morale is pretty important in times of war…" Leon said. "Anyway, if those guys think they can screw with me, let them try. I will make sure to give them a pleasant surprise when the time comes."

"So, you intent to accept their offer." Ren showed a complicated expression. "You can always lie and say that you work better alone or that your magic can damage your allies or something like that."

"Nah, then they will say that they will offer support from behind." Leon chuckled. "There is no point in avoiding certain things. Troublesome people are better to be dealt with early on, the fewer chances they have to cause problems, the better."

"So, if they try to kill you…" Ren hesitated.

"I will do the same," Leon added. "It doesn't matter if they hate me because of who I am or due to the death of the prince. If they try to kill me, I will pay back with interest as soon as possible. Besides, the emperor is testing me, right? What is the sentence of those who defy the Emperor?"

"In times of war like these…" Ren hesitated again. "The sentence is death."

"There you have it by dealing with them; I will spare Makoto of problems later." Leon declared.

"What if their families or underlings try to get revenge?" Ren asked.

"The fewer fools in the world, the better," Leon said. "I will give those who may seek revenge tickets to the same place I will send those who screw with me."

Ren thought that Leon was more pacifist than that, but considering that he said that he would bring back his compatriots who killed the prince. It wasn't all that strange… it has been a long time since someone defied the emperor's orders, but several individuals were executed after the emperor, and his army retrieved Tokyo. To think that he would see that again after such a long time… Ren already grew used to deaths, but only in the battles against monsters. He couldn't help but feel like the world was causing unnecessary deaths when someone was executed.

When Leon and Ren arrived at the dungeon, they decided to talk about the earth dragons. That being said, Leon already knew a lot of them. The only thing he didn't know was what their bodies could be used for.

"Earth dragons are the weakest typer of dragons, so their scales aren't that resistant," Ren explained. "To make things worse, their scales are naturally heavy since earth covers their bodies. A person who uses armor or a shield made of earth dragon scales will certainly become more sturdy, but that person will also become stupidly slow. But, their bones are pretty good, if you have the skills you can make pretty much everything and the effectiveness of those are reliable."

"Bones, huh…" Leon frowned. "It must be pretty hard to get those."

"The work is hard, but it is worth the hassle," Ren said. "But you don't have to worry about the time; this will be the last dungeon. You will probably a few days to rest, so we should be able to dismantle the dragons before you depart."

"I don't intend to rest a single day," Leon said." Once I finish my job, I will ask for my reward."

"… Well, in that case, I will give your money once you return with the men who killed the prince." Ren said. "Ah… Although the bones are valuable, dragons' hearts are even more. If you eat them, they can increase your status."

"I can't imagine that being something tasty or pleasant…" Leon frowned. "Well, if they really capable of that, I will eat anyway."

When they arrived at the dungeon, Leon understood why earth dragons were the weakest type of dragons. First of all, they were small. They weren't even ten meters long, and without wings, they didn't look that imposing. However, the boss of that dungeon would be, without a doubt, one hell of a dragon.

Several men and women were working outside the dungeon; some were sharpening their weapons while others were cleaning their wounds and drinking potions. Leon made a mental note that it looked like even potions couldn't prevent a wound from getting infected.

Leon looked in the distance and saw three camps, all of them were dismantling earth dragons, but the number of corpses was quite small. Regardless, Leon and Ren moved to talk to with the manager of the dungeon, and there they found several figures aside from the manager and the imperial soldiers.

Ren bowed to those people and said something; it looked like he was telling them who Leon was and what he was going to do. After that, those men who weren't imperial soldiers stepped forward, they said something, and then they offered a handshake.

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Leon, you look younger than I thought," A tall man who was carrying a battle-ax said. "My name is Mafuyu, and His majesty gave the order to my team, and I assist you."

"Nice to meet ya." Leon accepted the handshake.

Although Mafuyu was carrying a battle-ax, he didn't look that strong, and his body was pretty slender. His teammates were also pretty slim; their weapons were short swords, short spears, and daggers. It looked like they were the type who liked to move a lot, attack fast and retreat before the enemy can counter-attack.

"So, I imagine you guys have already fought in this dungeon," Leon said. "Am I right?"

"Yeah, we have plenty of experience." Mafuyu nodded and tapped on his left chest, showing his confidence.

"That will help," Leon smiled. "So, who do you guys work for?"

"Excuse me?" Mafuyu frowned.

"I'm asking who is your boss; I need to know the name of my benefactor, right?" Leon asked.

"Ah, that is right," Mafuyu nodded. "We are the best soldiers under the direct command of Lord Seiji. He is deeply ashamed of his actions when he first saw you, so he offered to send us when His Majesty decided to offer support."

"Who?" Leon frowned.

"Lord Seiji is the advisor who hit the ground when you talked with His Majesty," Ren explained.

"Ah! The baldie!" Leon smiled. "I will thank him later and say to him not to worry, that is water under the bridge."

"Hahaha, that is right!" Mafuyu laughed.

Although the conversation seemed pretty light, Ren was sweating bullets, even though Mafuyu and the others didn't look offended by Leon's words. Rather, aside from Mafuyu, the other four men were pretty quiet, and they barely moved their muscles in that entire time. It looked like they were already ready to enter the dungeon.

"Well, shall we enter the dungeon?" Leon asked. "The sooner we enter, the sooner we will clear it. I don't want to take much of your time, so I will work hard."

"What about the workers and me, shall we accompany you?" Ren asked.

"No, once we secure the majority of the dungeon, we will let you guys come," Leon answered. "For the time being, you guys wait here."

While Ren was watching Leon, Mafuyu and the others entering the dungeon while laughing, he couldn't help but worry. He knew that Seiji was the type of man who only had powerful subordinates, not only that, their subordinates did all kinds of things before the monsters appeared. Some were shady loan sharks, gangsters, and even killers. However, those were only rumors; no one could confirm that someone so close to the Emperor had underlings like that.

"I don't like their eyes," Ren murmured.

Mafuyu was too carefree, even if he lied, saying that he was the strongest soldier being commanded by Seiji, the best soldier of someone like Seiji wasn't supposed to be someone like that. Meanwhile, the others were too quiet, to the point one could find their behavior creepy. But what worried Ren the most was Leon's behavior, he noticed that those guys were shady, but he still was talking with them as if they were his new best friends.

Ren knew that Leon could be powerful, but he was alone in a crowded place. Besides, he was a mage, in a fight five vs. one against soldiers who were specialized in quick attacks, he would be in trouble… Ren could only pray that nothing would happen.

Contrary to Leon's expectations, Mafuyu and the others decided to walk ahead of him and protect Leon in case something happens. Since he was a mage, he intended to use that as an excuse, but… now he couldn't help but feel a bit confused.

"Perhaps they only want to collect information about me, or maybe they wanted to make me drop my guard."

Either way, it won't happen. As much as Leon wanted to clear that dungeon as soon as possible, he decided to play it safe. When the first dragon appeared, he only used Fire Bullets to distract the dragon while Mafuyu and his team attacked the monsters by the sides. Leon's Fire Bullets were powerful enough to melt an earth dragon's scale, so he made them feel a lot of pain.

When the dragon got impatient, it slapped the paws on the ground and made the entire cave tremble. However, that didn't disturb Leon. Using the dirt under his feet, he levitated a little escaped the effects of the earthquake.

Since the monsters were very large, that dungeon was a little larger than the others. Thanks to that, Mafuyu and the others had enough space to jump around, kicking the ceiling and the walls to gain momentum to damage the earth dragon's limbs. They were fast, but even though Leon barely trained his speed, he still could follow them with his eyes…

After a few seconds, the monster lost control over its limbs and opened its mouth to hit Mafuyu and the others, but the creature ended up chewing the stones when Leon shot a Fire Bullet inside its mouth. The earth dragon received a shock, and so Mafuyu used that chance to cut half of the earth's dragon neck, killing it.

"Good job, guys," Leon clapped his hands. "As expected, everything becomes easier when you have allies with you."

"Haha, this was nothing." Mafuyu laughed. "Still… aren't you going to use those spears? Your magic is quite powerful, but I imagine those spears could deal a lot more damage."

"Ah… the spears are just to scare people," Leon smirked and whispered as if he was telling a secret. "Those are so weak that it would break after a single use."

"Is that so?" Mafuyu frowned.

After that, they resumed their job. Leon thought he would have a hard time against earth dragons, but even though he was holding back, nothing dangerous happened. The most dangerous things happened when the dragon hit the ground with both paws and make earth spikes fall over them. Leon destroyed the spikes that would fall above them with Water Bullets while Mafuyu and the others just evaded the projectiles.

Leon was barely using mana, and even though they weren't progressing fast enough, he wasn't impatient, because Mafuyu and his underlings barely sweat in all those fights.

"Those guys have the skills to kill all the dragons of this dungeon, so why the baldie isn't the owner of this place? They probably found the crystal but can't destroy the boss… are they hoping that I will do that for them in order to let them obtain ownership of this place?"

If that were the case, Leon would feel quite disappointed, but in the end, that would be for the best. He wouldn't show mercy to those who try to mess with him, but he also wouldn't make enemies with every step.

If they were planning to do something, Mafuyu and his underlings wouldn't do anything anytime soon. So, Leon decided to speed up things. Using Fire Bullets, he melted the earth dragon's eyes and paws. Without their paws, the monsters couldn't use earthquake and make earth spikes fall over Leon and the others. Without their eyes, they couldn't aim. So, Mafuyu had quite an easy time finishing them off.

Just as Leon thought, Mafuyu knew the path that leads to the end of the dungeon. When they reached the end of the place, Leon understood why Mafuyu and his underlings didn't try to clear the dungeon. The last part of the dungeon was massive; it was like one kilometer long and one hundred meters tall. It looked like at some point they started to walk downward without noticing since the dungeon where the mountain wasn't that big.

More important than that, was the boss, which was a three-headed earth dragon. The beast had the same size as the dragon that attacked Leon's airplane. Looking at that thing, Leon couldn't help but tremble… he lost the drive to act so carefreely in front of Mafuyu and the others.

Leon wanted to believe that he had the power to defeat dragons; he was almost sure that dragons and megalodons were mortal enemies. One controlled the sea and the other the skies, one couldn't approach the other because they would lose their own terrain advantage… Leon could kill megalodons because he could fly above their reach. Besides, Magma Spear could burn the flesh of the enemies for quite a while. That being said, he only could because the megalodons could only defend themselves inside the ocean… outside, they were quite weak. However, Leon had not a single advantage over dragons… the real dragons, not those earth dragons. It was almost stupid to compare them.

"What is the plan?" Mafuyu asked, looking at the pale Leon.

It didn't look like that dragon could regenerate its body parts so that it could be killed. The problem was the fact that it had to be killed three times. If Leon could attack its heart, it would be great, but the creature was too big and the scales to thick for him to do that alone.

"Cut the heads," Leon answered. "It is the only option."

"I doubt that we have the power to do it," Mafuyu analyzed the monster. "The necks are far too thicker for us to cut down."

"I will do it," Leon affirmed. "You guys just draw the attention of the monster and dodge the attacks."

Leon wasn't expecting much, he even considered the hypothesis that they might leave him to die at the start of the battle, but he just needed a few seconds, if they worked as baits for a few seconds, it would be more than enough.

"All right… we will act as baits," Mafuyu nodded. "What exactly do you plan to do?"

"Soon, you will see, just do your best to draw the monsters' attention for a while," Leon said. "After that, you can hide if the monster does something unexpected."

Mafuyu nodded and then started to move with his underlings, while he was trying to approach without being noticed, Leon flew to the ceiling above the dragon. He moved slowly in order not to be seen; he even made a wall of earth to simulate the dungeon's walls. Eventually, he reached the point but soon started to approach the beast when the creature saw Mafuyu and the others.

The earth dragon used to heads to shot earth arrows toward them, but with their speed, they managed to evade the attacks. In the meantime, Leon landed on the monster's nape.

"Some people say that the eye of the storm is the safest place to be… I will confirm this theory now."

Leon shot several Fire Arrows at the point where the three necks were connected, and when he confirmed that there wasn't anything blocking the path, he made his spears spin and dug in the dragon's flesh. Leon saw the moment clearly when the dragon felt shivers; soon after, the dragon started to tremble.

"GUUUUUUUUUUUUUUYYYYYYYYYAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!"

Leon heard a scream like no other; his eardrums trembled, and he felt like he almost went deaf, but he didn't stop. The dragon stopped its attacks and moved its necks to see what was happening. Even though its necks were long, the dragon only saw Leon attacking, the monster itself couldn't attack the invader. The beast tried to shake its body to drop Leon, but he wasn't touching the dragon; he was flying using small earth platforms under his feet. So, it didn't do anything.

Little by little, the spears were piercing the flesh more and more, the pain the monster felt was increasing, but Leon didn't think that it would take so long to reach the monster's nerves. The creature tried to move backward and smashed its back against the wall in order to smash Leon as well, but it stopped because Leon used a Magma Spear. His attack increased the wound and slowly was burning the flesh.

"GUUUUUUUUUUUUUUYYYYYYYYYAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!"

The creatures screamed in pain and trembled again, Leon was causing enough damage to make the beast scream from the depths of its soul, he could kill it, he just have to be a bit patient. Then it happened, the beast made its paws hit the ground several times, and thousands of earth spikes appeared at the top of that area. A rain of earth spikes…

Leon used one of the steel spears to protect himself; he destroyed every spike, but it looked like their numbers would never decrease, and they were sharp as hell since they also were damaging the earth dragon's skin.

Leon used another Magma Spear, and that made the rain of spikes stop, but it also made the dragon roll around like a dog trying to get rid of its fleas. Leon managed to escape before being smashed, but he left a present behind. He stuck the spears very profoundly in the monster's back, and that sudden movement only made the spear pierce the beast's flesh even more.

Thanks to the pain, the monster forgot about Leon for a second, and he used that opportunity to move to the blind spot of the creature, which was the top of one of its head. When the pain decreased, the beast finally turned its body and looked for Leon, but he was faster and was already back on the monster's back. However… his spears broke.

"Fantastic…"

Even though the steel spears were thick and made of steel, it didn't support the weight of the monster. Or perhaps the magma also deformed the spears… either way, they were gone, and Leon would have to improvise.

"I guess it is your turn now…"

Leon equipped his sword, and with all his might, he pierced the wound in the dragon's back.

Congratulations! You have learned the skill: Swordsmanship.

You obtained 01 status points.

Although Leon just learned Swordsmanship and even though he didn't have all that much strength, his attack cut the monster's flesh quite easily. The difference between a magic weapon and a random weapon was too big. As if that wasn't enough, the more Leon attacked, the more notifications he received.

Congratulations! The skill Swordsmanship has leveled up.

You obtained 01 status points.

Congratulations! The skill Swordsmanship has leveled up.

You obtained 01 status points.

Congratulations! The skill Swordsmanship has leveled up.

You obtained 01 status points.

Congratulations! The skill Swordsmanship has leveled up.

You obtained 01 status points.

Congratulations! The skill Swordsmanship has leveled up.

You obtained 01 status points.

It didn't take long for Leon to understand why his skill was leveling up like crazy; it was because he was fighting against a powerful foe. That information was important, but he decided to think about it later. Since Leon was already at it, he put those extra points in speed to level up Swordsmanship even faster. However, soon he had to stop because the earth dragon started to shake its body again.

When Leon stopped for that moment, he noticed that the spilled blood of the dragon froze. The sword had that name for a reason. Still, it wasn't enough. Leon used two Magma Spears in a sequence making the beast scream to the point where the whole mountain trembled. At that point in time, Leon couldn't help but feel bad. It looked like he was bullying a small child… but in the end, he didn't stop. He finally could see the nerves connecting the monster's necks to its body, the least he could do was to end that fast to end his discomfort.

Leon pierced the equivalent of the monster's spinal cord, and the creature lost control over its body, falling and causing a massive thud. The creature didn't die, but soon would due to the bleeding… the monster bleeding from its back looked like a fountain of blood. It was very dreadful.

Once again, Leon escaped unscathed, but once again, he was aware that he could have been crushed in a fair battle or if something unexpected happened. Either way, he was alive and now had a ticket to go home… if Makoto keeps his word.

"Now then… what are they going to do?"

Leon didn't have time to watch Mafuyu and his underlings, but it looked like they ran away while the beast was screaming and trembling in pain. After confirming that the creature died due to the bleeding, Leon began to open its chest using his sword. He had little mana, and he would conserve it in case Mafuyu does something.

"Wow, you really did it, Leon," Mafuyu approached. "I guess you are really the man who crossed the ocean, leaving a trail of dead megalodons… by the way, I thought you said your weapons were just for show."

"I said the spears were just to scare people," Leon corrected. "I never said the sword had the same purpose."

Although Leon had no idea how to yield a sword yet properly, it was a better idea to put the fear in the minds of his possible enemies. Leon didn't drop his guard for a second, but it looked like Mafuyu, and the others wouldn't really do anything… they didn't even try to obtain a few parts of that dragon. It was really disappointing…

Half an hour later, Leon finally picked the dragon's heart. It had the size of half of his body, and the shape was quite… ominous since it looked a little bit like a human's heart. Anyway, Leon obtained his prize, but now he was covered in blood. He created some water to clean his body and clothes, but the smell of blood was still there.

"Are you done? Shall we leave the dungeon?" Mafuyu asked.

"Yeah," Leon nodded.

Once again, Mafuyu and friends lead the way, and once again, they did nothing. When Leon left the dungeon, he was starting to think that the baldie sent those men just to mess with his head like that.

"It was a pleasure to work with you," Mafuyu offered a handshake. "If you don't mind, I will use the same tactic the next time the boss appear."

"I don't mind at all. Good luck." Leon accepted the handshake.

Without any ceremony, Mafuyu and his underlings left the area. Soon after, Ren appeared and made a complicated expression when he saw Leon dirty with blood and carrying a humongous dragon's heart.

"Is that…" Ren hesitated.

"Yup, the heart of a fully-grown dragon," Leon said. "I'm going to change my clothes and return to the palace, what are you going to do?"

"I will accompany you, even though I didn't do much, I received the order from His Majesty to help," Ren answered. "So, I must be there when the full report is given."

"What about the materials?" Leon asked.

"Don't worry, no one will try to steal anything in front of the imperial guards," Ren explained. "Besides, it will take more than a few days to dismantle the corpse of a dragon that had such a heart."

"Okay, by the way, can I cook this?" Leon asked. "I really don't want to eat this uncooked."

"Hahaha, you can, just make sure to take all the blood," Ren said.

In the end, Leon burned his clothes and picked the spares that he had. After that, he cooked the dragon's heart so much until almost become charcoal. Despite hearing that it tasted quite good, Leon still hesitated in eating the heart of another creature. But in the end, despite some burned parts, the heart still tasted delicious.

Congratulations! Your Endurance increased by 20 points.

Leon felt that the heart of a dragon boss was delicious in many ways…

After eating, Leon and Ren went to the palace. Ren had informed the manager of the dungeon that Leon had completed his mission, so Leon was expecting that he wouldn't lose too much time in there. Again, the guards didn't escort them, but when they arrived at the meeting hall, they saw the same faces.

Although some advisors didn't look happy at all, Seiji was acting as if he hadn't done anything before. Meanwhile, Makoto seemed quite pleased. Ren kneeled like before, but this time Leon only bowed, and that action alone enraged the advisors, with the exception of Seiji. It looked like he put some sense in his head while the others threw it away theirs.

"I'm back Your majesty," Leon said. "To inform you that I completed my first part of the deal."

"Yes, I heard of it; you have my deepest thanks, Leon," Makoto smiled. "I'm quite surprised; you cleared the dungeons quite fast. Regardless, thanks to your help, my country will be able to obtain various monsters parts daily from now. Indirectly, you saved many lives. However, it won't be easy… can you share with us the strategy to defeat the bosses of the dungeons?"

"Of course," Leon nodded.

Leon gave a detailed explanation of his battle against the bosses, but he omitted a few important details, like the skills he used or how he used it. In the end, Leon only shared information about how the monsters died. There was no point in revealing his skills when it was impossible for a single person to replicated the same actions. Makoto and his subordinates would have to find a way to do that considering their skills.

"I see, thanks for sharing that kind of information. Your transport to North America is already ready," Makoto said. "To be honest, I wasn't expecting much of you. It is hard to expect something from a person that you barely know, but actions speak louder than words, and with that, you have proven yourself to be trustworthy. As a token of my gratitude and also as an apology, I want to give you something."

Suddenly, Makoto got up and started to walk toward Leon and Ren while carrying a black box of the size of a soccer ball. Ren got tense, and the advisors made unbelievably complicated expressions. It looked like the emperor himself, giving gifts was a big deal.

"For your hard work, I will give you this magic box called inventory," Makoto put the box in Leon's hands. "I heard you got interested in it, the space inside is nearly unlimited and time inside doesn't pass. So, we filled it with provisions. It should help on your journey."

Although Leon didn't notice a single time, he was being watched the whole time. Ren wouldn't be a fool to spread that information, so it was safe to assume that one of Makoto's spies kept an eye on him the whole time. Leon made a mental note to find a way to discover that kind of thing… Regardless, even though Leon really wanted something so convenient, he couldn't accept it.

"I, once again, thank you, Leon," Makoto offered a handshake. "I hope that you can help me find justice for the death of my son. I also wish you luck on your search for your family."

"… I am thankful for your kindness," Leon accepted the handshake and then put the magic box in Makoto's hands. "But I cannot accept this. Isn't this a memento of your son? You shouldn't give this to a stranger."

"… Are you refusing my gift?" Makoto frowned.

"No, I heard that this belongs to your daughter," Leon said. "You cannot use something that is not yours as a gift."

The mood of the room got tense. Although Makoto didn't seem particularly angry, it looked like he was quite confused by being lectured by Leon.

"You can rest assured knowing that Yuki didn't refuse my idea for a second after knowing what I would do with the magic box," Makoto explained. "Although it is indeed a memento from my son, I'm sure he won't complain whenever he is."

"I doubt that anyone could refuse one of your ideas. Your Majesty," Leon chuckled. "If my father were the most influential person in the country, I wouldn't have many choices but to comply with his ideas. Much less in the world in this situation… I know that Your Majesty is trying to create an amicable relationship by using that as a gift, but it is not necessary. After just two weeks of work, Your Majesty is giving me the means to return home after four years... you are giving me something I didn't manage to find after four years… there is not present better than that."

"Is that so… in that case, I will thank you for your generosity." Makoto nodded. "I guess everything has a different value to different people. When you come back, I will present you with something suitable."

"Understood…" Leon nodded and then smirked. "However, if Your Majesty really wants to give me that magic box, I can accept if you convince your daughter to give to me. I will never refuse the gift of a beautiful lady like her."

"Is that so… but aren't you aiming for something else as well?" Makoto showed a cold smile.

"Not at all!" Leon laughed nervously. "I was just joking, you know. Don't take my words too seriously."

"If you say so… Well, even if you had something in mind by approaching my daughter," Makoto rubbed his chin. "It wouldn't bother me. I already said to all people of Japan that anyone could propose to her… but to do that, the person interested will have to save the world seven times, and in the end, the final answer is in her hands."

"Your Majesty has high standards…" Leon frowned. "Although I'm not nearly as important as you, If one day I have a daughter, I will say the same thing to her boyfriends."

After that, Leon and Makoto laughed loudly.

After laughing for several seconds, Makoto took a deep breath and then looked Leon in the eyes again. The atmosphere in the hall suddenly got heavy.

"There is one more topic we have to discuss, Leon," Makoto said.

"Which is?" Leon asked.

"You are from Phoenix, Arizona, right?" Makoto asked.

"Yes," Leon said.

"Well… how can I say this." Makoto showed a complicated expression. "Your hometown was one of the places…"

"… That got nuked." Leon looked downward with a cold expression. "Is that so…"

"I'm sorry for telling you that kind of thing at this moment." Makoto closed his eyes.

"No, I must thank you for giving me that information before seeing with my own eyes," Leon said. "The shock of seeing without knowing would be bigger… Anyway, there is the chance that they escaped before it exploded, but I will discover that myself. About the spies who killed your son, they stole water dragon's scales, right? Do you have any clue where those are being used?"

"I would recommend you to start looking in Las Vegas," Makoto answered. "My spies saw some survivors using armor made of those scales there. Coincidentally, Las Vegas isn't that far away from your hometown, right? There is a chance that you find your family there or at least some old acquaintances."

"Yeah, thank you for answering my questions." Leon slightly bowed his head. "I will return with the criminals who killed your son as soon as possible."

"I'm counting on you." Makoto tapped Leon's shoulders. " Appear, guide Leon to the place in question."

Out of nowhere, a person wearing dark clothes appeared. It looked to be a man, and his clothes made him look like a ninja. Considering that he appeared out of nowhere, it was safe to assume he was a ninja and one of those who spied him.

"Yes, Your Majesty." The ninja kneeled and nodded.

"I guess this is a goodbye, huh," Ren said.

"You wish, I will return to get my spoils of the dungeons." Leon frowned while offering a handshake. "Don't spend my coins on anything, and don't die before you pay me back."

"Got it." Ren accepted the handshake with a big smile on his face.

Leon thought he and the ninja guy would walk to somewhere, but much to his surprise, the ninja just touched his shoulder, and they left the palace at a fearsome speed. It wasn't teleportation, nor was it a skill that increased the ninja's speed. It was like… a method to travel between specific points. Leon noticed that because he and the ninja weren't moving their bodies.

Suddenly, Leon and the ninja guy appeared in a port. It was already night, and Leon couldn't see any lights nearby, but he recognized that he was in a bridge near the ocean. Speaking of which, being on a bridge during the night so close to the sea was pretty scary… Leon felt shivers.

Also, suddenly, a monster appeared from the sea, even in the darkness, Leon recognized that figure. It was a megalodon… he had been betrayed! Or so Leon thought, the beast and the ninja didn't move an inch. Rather, the ninja guy wasn't with him anymore. The creature opened its mouth, and then Leon saw the light of a flashlight. A human figure left the mouth of the beast as if it was nothing.

"I'm the transporter…" A hairy man who stinks of fish said. " Let's go; we have to arrive at your destination before dawn."

"… Is that a submarine?" Leon asked.

"No, it is exactly what you see." The transporter answered. "Now, let's go."

"Is it alive?" Leon frowned.

"Have you seen a dead fish moving?" The transporter frowned. "Of course it is alive… now stop your questions, I don't know who you are or why you are here. All that I know is that because of you, or operations got delayed. If we don't arrive before dawn, we will have to retreat, and our operations will be delayed even more… "

It looked like Leon would be transported inside the mouth of a megalodon, he really didn't want to enter that, but he also didn't want to cause problems to Makoto and his spy network. So, he ended up entering. He didn't know how, but it looked like people could learn how to tame a monster. It would be great if Leon could learn such skill, but he had no idea how to use his mana to influence beasts. Regardless, as if they were connected, the megalodon obeyed the transporter's thoughts without a hint of hesitation.

Despite the fact that the monster could swim at one hundred meters per second, the trip had been quite comfortable. With the exception of the smell… everything was pretty good. It was spacious, and the transporter had flashlights. Unfortunately, he wasn't that friendly. So, for the most part, Leon spent the trip in silence imagining his hometown destroyed and inhabited due to the radiation.

However, much to his surprise, now that mana was in the world, the land could recover pretty quickly. According to the transporter, all the cities that got nuked became free of radiation after a few weeks.

Before down, Leon disembarked in San Diego, despite the fact that the city didn't get nuked, the place was abandoned. The transporter said those who survived the first day of attacks, left the city due to numerous raids of megalodons and dragons.

"I'm here every day at 04:00 AM, if you approach the sea, I will notice your presence, and I will come to pick you up," The transporter explained. "Don't come unless you plan to return to Japan."

After giving that warning, he returned to the sea. Leon breathed deeply and started to fly, he had never been in San Diego before, but he was sure that nothing from the actual city remained. He only could see destroyed bridges and buildings; the grass was covering everything… the view of an abandoned city was depressing… Leon could only hope that his hometown was in a better shape… even if it was a waste of time.

Soon, morning came, and Leon had a clear view of his home country. However, everything in every direction was the same... destroyed cities, destroyed vehicles, and the grass was covering everything. Basically, it looked like the cities were made of lego and the dragons didn't like to see those pieces so organized... they destroyed every single building that it was taller than ten meters. As if that wasn't enough, the number of monsters in that region was ridiculous. Leon avoided all the monsters on the land, but in the skies, he had no choice but to kill pterodactyls, harpies, and even beasts that only had one eye, and their eyes had almost the size of their heads...

"To think there are harpies here too... well, I should feel grateful that I can't see signs of dragons."

To save mana, Leon decided to use his sword as much as possible, he wasn't skilled, but his sword added with the strength of his arms was enough to kill those, one by one... the sooner he gets used to that the better. He could control his spears since he created them, but he couldn't infuse his mana in that sword, so he had no choice but to use it with his own hands. At least until Leon learns the true telekinesis.

At noon, Leon finally arrived at his hometown... or at least, what was left of his hometown. There was nothing to be seen; everything was destroyed and became just a huge pile of rubble. Leon flew around, trying to find where his home was supposed to be, but it was impossible. There wasn't a single landmark that could help him localize himself. Monster destroyed some parts of his city, but human hands doomed it...

Suddenly, Leon felt his body becoming sluggish. He knew that feeling; he felt that a lot in the island when he barely could see his progress... it was depression. Somewhere in his head, Leon recognized the fact that he would never live a normal life again, but only that day, he confirmed that.

"Why..." Leon asked no one.

It was a pain to control the thin layer of earth under his feet, so Leon stopped flying and just sat down in the middle of the city. Suddenly, monsters started to appear, trolls, golems, velociraptors, and even wolves that had the same size of the Frozen Dire Wolf... Leon began to wonder if it wouldn't easy just to give up. He could bet that those monsters could kill him before he could even feel the pain.

"Ah... not yet." Leon got up.

Leon wanted to believe that he got mentally stronger, but once again, he confirmed that wasn't true. Now and then, he felt like that on the island, but after leaving that place, the first setback made him feel like that. Like he had worked for nothing…

It was useless, but Leon massacred the monsters. They weren't the ones who pushed the button, but they were also to be blamed for the state of his hometown—besides, the fewer monsters, the better. After using the monsters to relieve his stress a little, Leon flew above the city looking for any clue, but he only found bones of monsters and humans.

"I guess there is nothing for me here… I will have to look for them while I also look for clues of those who killed Makoto's son."

Leon headed Northeast, toward Las Vegas. However, before he could reach his destination, it got dark. Since it would be too suspicious if he shows up in the middle of the night. Leon decided to camp in the middle of nowhere since even small buildings like gas stations and hotels between cities got destroyed and the number of monsters in the small cities was too high. Along that night, Leon only got attacked a few times, despite that, he didn't manage to fall asleep. He couldn't forget the image of his hometown completely destroyed. The bastard who nuked Leon's hometown didn't use an ordinary one; he used a hydrogen bomb. A bomb capable of disintegrating even bones, Leon noticed that because he didn't find any signs of bones near the center of the city where there was a vast crater.

"Forget about it… I have to find my family and the criminals Makoto wants. I don't have time to things like revenge…"

Since Leon spent years studying abroad and four years on the island, he hadn't many memories of his old friends or neighbors. There was no point in thinking about them or looking for the person who caused their demise, Leon decided to follow the advice he gave to Makoto…

When morning came, Leon moved toward Las Vegas. Although he didn't have a map, he quickly found it. The city was immense, after all. Unfortunately, his timing was terrible. A horde of monsters was attacking the Southside of the city.

"Me and my luck… I don't have time for this damn it."

A few dozen survivors were fighting the horde, but it wasn't nearly enough to stop them. Harpies, desert wolves, sand slimes, and those monsters which had their bodies in the shape of an eye were attacking. The survivors were strong; they could cut the necks of those wolves and kill the slimes in a single strike. But due to the harpies and eye-ball monsters who could attack with Wind Blades and lightning attacks, they were losing the fight.

"Well, if I help them, perhaps I can obtain the information I need."

Leon didn't want to play a hero, it was too uncomfortable, but he would do anything to find information about his family.

Leon didn't have time to create steel spears, he could have created them earlier, but since the moment he discovered his hometown had been nuked, his mind stopped working like usual. That being said, Leon had to be careful. He didn't have potions or herbs with him so that he could run out of mana.

First, Leon decided to focus on the eye-ball monsters, their thunder attacks were powerful, but since their entire body was a weak spot, he knew he could kill them fast. After confirming that they could easily die after being hit by a single Water Bullet, Leon spammed that without remorse.

Eventually, the monsters noticed that something was attacking them from above. Soon, they saw Leon above them. Despite being able to fly, the eye-ball monsters were quite slow. Leon finished them before they could approach and attack him.

"I see... so their attacks have a certain range of effectivity."

Despite that, the tide of the battle didn't change. The number of monsters was too big, killing them one by one wouldn't be enough, Leon noticed that when he saw several survivors dying one by one. He needed an Area of Effect magic, but he didn't have one…

"Ah… I have one…"

Leon grabbed his sword and activated the skill hail. He focused on the range instead of power; he needed to slow down the monsters as much as possible, due to that, a massive cloud appeared above him and then hail started to fall. Leon didn't recognize the survivors as enemies, so the hail only hit the monsters and slowed them down significantly. The damage was meager, but the effects were powerful.

Noticing that the spell wasn't touching them, the survivors started the counter-attack. Thanks to the hail, survivors who had bows and similar weapons managed to hit the monsters with more ease. However, Hail only lasted for one minute, and Leon had to wait for another minute.

"Damn cooldown time! That is why I would rather learn the skill myself…"

Despite Leon's worries, the tide of the battle had already changed in the survivor's favor. Thanks to his skill, another group of survivors gained time to arrive and help. One minute later, when Leon used Hail again, the result of the battle was decided. The moment the flying monsters got slower, they lost one of their best weapons, their mobility. Without that, they couldn't offer any decent support. In just five minutes, a horde of two thousand monsters got wiped out. In the end, Leon didn't even have time to run out of mana, but he learned his lesson… it was time to learn an Area of Effect spell.

Regardless, the battle was over, but despite that, the survivors weren't celebrating, they were watching Leon cautiously. Leon slowly moved downward not to scare them, but the more he approached, the stronger the survivors held their weapons. Leon didn't look to be a stranger, but even if that was the case, it looked like survivors didn't like the visit of an outsider.

"Hello, I come in peace." Leon forced a smile. "Can I land without being attacked to death?"

"Who are you?"

"What are you doing here?"

"Where do you came from?"

Instead of answering his question, the survivors asked their own questions, unlike Leon, they didn't try to be polite, but he was kind of used to that kind of behavior. It was a pain to introduce himself like the time in that port in Japan, but he had no other choice."

"My name is Leon; I'm from Phoenix in Arizona, and I'm looking for my family," Leon answered.

Leon made sure to hide the fact that he stayed in Japan for a few weeks. Otherwise, he would have a hard time finding the criminals Makoto wanted to punish. He also tried to hid his accomplishments since those were quite dubious, and he didn't want to prove himself to anyone again. He just wanted to find his family and be treated normally while looking for the criminals.

Despite his cautiousness, the survivors still looked at him dubiously. That kind of development was kind of making Leon tired, but he had to be patient. Perhaps the fact that Leon was flying and used such a massive spell made the survivors wary of him, but what was done was done.

While Leon was hoping for the situation to solve itself, a man who looked to be around Leon's age appeared. He had a red glaive on his back, and his muscles were quite well-forged. Despite his physique, that man looked a little familiar to Leon, but he couldn't tell why. He had short black hair, and his eyes were light-green… Leon felt like he had such a combination before, but again, he couldn't pinpoint where. Regardless, the man was showing a serious face. He had a few scars on his face, but it looked like he could have healed these scars but left there to make himself look more imposing.

However, Leon frowned when he saw the man's armor, it was light blue and it some areas, it made Leon think those had been made of scales. While Leon was thinking of that, that man stepped forward and let the soldiers behind.

"My men said your name is Leon, is that true?" The green-eyed man asked, furrowing his eyebrows.

"Yes, I'm from Phoenix, Arizona." Leon forgot about the armor.

"… Are you twenty-six years old?" The green-eyed man asked.

"Yes, how do you…" Leon frowned.

"Did you study abroad for four years, but then disappeared four years ago?" The green-eyed man asked.

"How do you know that?" Leon looked at that man, suspiciously.

"You have a sister and her name is Amanda, right?" The green-eyed man smirked.

"Who the hell are you?" Leon grabbed his sword.

"Hahaha, you are slow like always, Leon." The green-eyed man laughed. "Does the name Hector ring any bells?"

"Hector… Hector… Hector?" Leon frowned.

Leon finally understood why that man looked so familiar… he was Leon's best friend when he was in high school.

"Come on, dude." Hector gave the sign to Leon to approach. "Come down here; I don't bite."

Leon frowned, now that he thought about it, the voice was almost the same he remembered. When he landed, he understood why he didn't recognize him.

"Man, I recognized you right away," Hector put his arm over Leon's shoulder. "You grew up a little, but you didn't change that much."

"… You changed a lot, the Hector I remember was a womanizer who didn't take anything seriously and had the face of a fool." Leon said.

"Hey, now… don't talk about my embarrassing past in front of my soldiers." Hector scratched the back of his head. "I'm not a teenager anymore, now I'm the leader of this city, and I'm even a father, you know."

"Good for you…" Leon said.

Although Leon felt like Hector was friendly just like he was in his memories, he couldn't act like before. Leon couldn't act like before when they were friends because he totally forgot about him. For the past four years, he only thought about his parents and little sister…

"All right, guys, let's clean up this mess…" Hector looked around and sighed when he saw the corpses of a few survivors. "I want the names of those who died and the name of those related to them in my table at noon."

"Yes, sir!" A random survivor said. "Captain, is it fine?"

Although Leon had helped them, they still couldn't trust a stranger so fast. Hector, who was their captain, was acting as if it was fine. But hearing that they didn't meet in the last eight years, one couldn't help but worry.

"You can relax, this guy saved your ass, right?" Hector asked.

"He used several spells and even flew for several minutes, and he doesn't look tired at all… if he wanted to do something against us, he would have done a long ago in the middle of the night without letting us notice it."

"… Yes," The survivor hesitated.

After that, Leon and Hector moved to the city. Although the survivors were protecting the borders of Las Vegas, most parts of the city were in ruins. Las Vegas didn't get nuked, but the monsters destroyed a lot of things. Despite the piles of rubble being numerous, Leon saw a lot of brand new houses. People now had superhuman strength, and they could plant as many trees as they wanted, so building wood houses was pretty easy.

"So, Leon, where have you been?" Hector asked. "If I remember well, you went to study abroad after high school…"

Leon didn't have time to idle chat, but considering that Hector was an old friend and he also was the leader of the survivors of that city, maybe it was a good idea to give him a brief summary of what happened to him.

"When the monsters appeared, I was in an airplane returning home," Leon said. "It was four years ago, soon after I graduated… the airplane got attacked by a dragon, and then I spent the last four years stuck in an island."

"… I think you skipped a few important parts," Hector frowned. "How the hell did you survive a plane crash?"

"I obtained a few skills, obtained status points, and put then in health before I fell in the ocean," Leon answered.

"As always… you are quite a fast thinker… even though you are so slow sometimes." Hector chuckled. "Seriously? Did you survive a plane crash?"

"Yeah… after that, to escape the island, I learned how to use mana," Leon explained. "But as you can imagine, traveling through the ocean or the skies isn't safe like before… so I lost a few years there."

"So… you are like a mage, my men said that you used some spells…" Hector rubbed his chin. "How did you learn?"

"If you want something, you have to give something of equal value." Leon declared. "I want information, and if you have that kind of information, I will tell you how I learned."

"Information… about your family?" Hector asked.

"Yeah… how did you know?" Leon furrowed his eyebrows.

"If you what said is true, the only reason a man would go for such lengths would be his family…" Hector looked away. "Your sister is fine; she lives with me."

"… Why would she live with you?" Leon looked at Hector suspiciously.

"Well… several things happened in the last four years." Hector avoided Leon's eyes. "We fought alongside each other to survive, and we eventually defeated the monsters which were living here… After that, one thing led to the other and then… we ended up marrying two years ago."

"You what?" Leon grabbed Hector by the collar. "Two years ago… she was just sixteen, you bastard! Did the end of the world turn you into a filthy scumbag? Wait a minute… you said that you are a father…"

"Yeah… Amanda gave birth to a girl last year." Hector added. "Her name is…"

Before Hector could finish, Leon punched him with all his might. Hector flew several meters and hit his back against an energy pole. Before he could get up, Leon drew his sword.

"Ouch… are you really a mage?" Hector massaged his chin. "You have a lot of strength… calm down, Leon. Don't do anything rash that will make you regret later."

Hector gave the sign to the people who started to run towards him to stop, they were armed, and they were ready to protect their leader.

"Shut up your degenerate… do you think this many people can stop me before I explode your head?" Leon asked while pointing a fire arrow toward Hector's head.

"Let's not cross the line, okay?" Hector got up and cleaned his clothes. "I can see that you can explode my head… I can see in your eyes that I deserve that. But will you do the same to these people? They will try to avenge my death… you can fly and escape, but won't be able to enter this place and see your sister ever again."

"Shut up! I will take her out of this place." Leon declared.

"Good luck finding her…" Hector sighed. "Anyway, listen to the rest of the story, and you will understand everything."

"What is there to listen to?" Leon shouted.

"… I'm sorry for saying this so bluntly." Hector took a deep breath and then closed his eyes. "Your parents died when the monsters attacked Phoenix."

For a second, Leon made a dumbfounded face, he considered that hypothesis many times, but after hearing that from someone who actually knew his parents shocked him. Leon lost the will to fight, and the Fire Arrow disappeared. His sister was alive, and he was happy about that... but his parents passed away a long time ago.

"... On the day the monsters appeared, they destroyed most of our hometown." Hector kept his eyes closed and recalled the memories of that day. "I was the only person in my family who survived, my parents, uncles, cousins... everyone died. I survived purely by luck and tried to find other survivors. Your house had been burned down, and your parents passed away, I confirmed that because I saved your sister from the rubbles of your house. She was wounded, but eventually recovered and together we looked for more survivors while we tried to run away... together with ten more survivors we barely escaped the nuke."

Leon fell on his knees, and his mind went blank, he would never see his parents again... he didn't even have the chance to give them a proper funeral. Every proof of their existence had been destroyed, no... Leon and Amanda were still alive, and that was also proof of their existence, but still... Leon would never have the chance to apologize.

"Sorry... I didn't want to say what happened like that, but..." Hector sighed. "Hah... the world changed Leon. I want to think that I'm doing a pretty good job here, but someday ten dragons may attack this city and kill us all. We don't have any other choice but to struggle to live and live like there is no tomorrow. Believe me; I didn't make a move on your sister; she was like a little sister to me, too. But you know... she is quite assertive and stubborn, before I could notice, we..."

"... I changed my mind about killing you, but if you keep talking, I will change again." Leon said.

"Sorry," Hector forced a smile.

"Take me to where Amanda is..." Leon said. "I want to talk with her, and if I discover that you made her unhappy even a single time... my marriage present for you will be a ticket to hell."

"Calm down, man." Hector shrugged. "Like I said, I changed. No... we all changed. Although you look like the wimpy of ten years ago, your attitude turned 180."

While Leon was trying to assimilate the information he got, he and Hector walked toward the place where Hector and Amanda were living together. Since Leon didn't want to talk, and they lived in the middle of the city, they ended up grabbing a car.

Hector's house was like a mansion. Although the exterior was quite simple, it was huge. Since he worked there, it also had several rooms, used for guests, and meetings. However, Leon didn't check those because the garden was also huge, but the garden looked more like a training field for archers. There were several targets scattered all over the place, but there was only one archer, her name was Amanda.

Four years had passed since the last time Leon saw his little sister, she changed and grew so much that she barely recognized her. She was a mother now, but even though she also had a few scars after fighting for four years, she looked as cute as he remembered. Her black hair tied up in a ponytail, her light brown eyes focused on what she was doing, her small stature and light tanned skin...

"Ah, are you already back, Hector?" Amanda asked after hearing their footsteps. "A visitor? Who is... Mmm?"

Amanda frowned when she saw Leon, as expected, after losing every single object that made her remember of her family, she also forgot how her elder brother looked. But surprisingly, she opened her eyes widely and started to cry. Her tears made Leon recall so many things... how clingy she was, how spoiled she was. Leon almost started to cry too, but he held back. Even when Amanda ran and hugged him to the points where his bones started to crack, he held back.

"Hey... long time no see." Leon smiled wryly.

"Brother... are you really my brother?" Amanda asked while burying her face on Leon's chest.

"I think I am... did your brother disappear four years ago?" Leon asked. "If his name is Leon, if he studied abroad for four years, if he changed your diapers and if he taught you the multiplication table… then, I'm probably your brother."

"Brother… where have you been? Why didn't you return sooner?" Amanda hugged Leon even harder, and he started to lose health.

Leon awkwardly returned the hug. As expected, the island didn't put just a physical distance between them; it also put an emotional barrier. Leon, who spent four years alone on an island, lost the ability to rely on others or show clearly his feelings… but that much was fine with him. Eventually, he would be a person who once he was. Hopefully…

"Leon... Mom and Dad are..." Amanda hesitated.

"I know... you don't need to think about it now." Leon patter her head. "For the time being, tell me about your current life... after that, I will pass my judgment on this motherfucker."

"... You returned after so many years, and the first thing you do is to pick a fight with Hector?" Amanda looked at Leon with reproachful eyes.

"I'm not picking a fight... I will judge if he is worthy of you." Leon looked away.

"The person who is supposed to judge that is me... " Amanda crossed her arms. "He is your brother-in-law now, he is family, and you can't refuse family."

"Tsk..." Leon looked away, annoyed.

Hector grinned while he watched his wife lecturing his brother-in-law.

"Well, you two should take your time talking for the time being," Hector said. "I'm going to be in my office."

"Did something happen?" Amanda asked.

"Yeah, another horde attacked the South entrance of the city." Hector rubbed his eyebrows. "Five soldiers died... it could have been worse if Leon didn't have helped. Your big brother is a hero, Amanda."

"Why the hell are you complimenting me? You are creeping me out..." Leon frowned.

"Don't fight... how did you help them, Leon?" Amanda asked, with her eyes full of curiosity. "No, where have you been in the last four years?"

"Well, it is a long story..." Leon said.

"Is it? I think you summarized your last four years in three sentences when I asked." Hector frowned.

Leon ignored Hector's comment and entered the house with Amanda. Although the place was big, it was quite simple, just like the outside. Leon thought his sister would be the type of wife who would decorate everything, but aside from her room and her daughter's room, everything was pretty dull.

Leon's niece was called Maya... it was the same name as Leon and Amanda's mother. She was sleeping, and she was adorable like her mother was when she was a baby. Maya was 18 months old; she could talk to some extent and even toddle without help. However, she was sleeping.

"Are you hungry? You can tell me what happened while I cook something." Amanda said.

"I'm kind of hungry; I didn't eat anything since I learned that someone used a hydrogen bomb to sterilize our hometown," Leon said. "Still... can you cook? I remember that you didn't even know how to make noodles."

"That was a long time ago." Amanda pouted and looked away.

While Amanda was cooking, Leon told about what happened to him. Since he only trained, slept, and ate, there wasn't much to say.

"So, when happened, you were in an airplane…" Amanda said, surprised. "Most humans can survive a fall from that height now, but I don't want experiment that kind of thing…"

"I don't want to experiment that ever again… I still remember the state I was after I woke up." Leon said. "My legs and arms were bent to wrong directions, and I barely could move any muscle without screaming in pain."

"Ah... please say no more, just by imagining, I have shivers," Amanda said with a pale face. "Four years alone... I don't think I could endure that for so long. Sorry for making you remember that."

"It is fine, even though some days were depressing, I knew that I could return home if I worked hard," Leon said. "Hector gave me a summary of what happened to you... so I think I don't want to hear anymore. Especially the last two years... if I hear one more sentence about your marriage, tomorrow Hector will wake up on the moon."

"Stop being so childish... Hector isn't the same he was, you know." Amanda frowned. "Still, to think that you learned magic by your self... is it that hard?"

"The basics aren't that difficult; like everything, the more your practice, the easier will become," Leon explained. "The hard part is how to make the system recognize an offensive spell. Let's go outside; you will learn in no time."

Amanda was a bit dubious of that, but in the end, her mouth was hanging open when she learned Earth Manipulation. She couldn't believe how simple that was, of course, she only could manipulate a small amount of earth, but eventually, it would become something she could use in combat.

"I can't believe it..." Amanda said. "Speaking of which, did you fight on the island to get those items?"

"No, this is..." Leon hesitated. "Amanda, what do you know about the political situation between the nations?"

"... I know that is pretty bad in Europe." Amanda frowned.

"Do you know that some American spies stole resources from Japan and ended up killing the eldest son of the Emperor?" Leon asked.

"No, but I imagined that something like that has happened..." Amanda crossed her arms. "Suddenly, the higher-ups obtained scales of Water Dragons and understood something shady had been done because Water Dragons never attacked our nation. Soon after, hordes of monsters started to leave the dungeons... someone caused that. The higher-ups said that is work of the Japanese spies."

"I'm not so sure about that, and I'm pretty sure Hector's armor is made of that material..." Leon said. "Where did he get that?"

"A few weeks ago, a man gave it to him," Amanda answered. "His name is William, and he is the founder of the council. All in all... he is the number one survivor, and he represents the American people. Together with another Canadian and a Mexican survivor, they decide what is best for the future of the Allied Forces of the North-America... Leon, are you hiding something?"

"...I left the island three weeks ago," Leon explained. "I didn't have enough mana to cross the whole Pacific ocean while protecting myself. So, I headed west and arrived in Japan."

"Really? What happened there?" Amanda asked, surprised.

"At first, I was treated pretty bad since everyone knew that spies coming from the Allied Forces of the North-America killed their prince," Leon answered. "But eventually, I met a few reasonable people... one of them was the Emperor."

"He was reasonable? I can't imagine..." Amanda frowned. "Every single bad thing that happens here, a rumor suddenly emerges, saying that a Japanese spy was the cause of it."

"Well, I can't say for sure if that is true or not..." Leon said. "All I say is that he wants justice, and he asked me to bring to him those who killed his son... and I intend to do that to avoid a war and make Japan become an ally of the Allied Forces of the North-America."

"... Do you really think that you can trust him?" Amanda asked with a serious expression.

"I'm here thanks to him; I used his method for transporting spies," Leon answered.

"How did you convince him that he could trust you?" Amanda asked.

"I cleared the dungeons his soldiers didn't manage to clear, and I gave him a few pointers in how to do the same," Leon said. "Putting that aside... why William would give Hector such armor?"

"I don't know, Hector doesn't know either," Amanda said. "Hector never talked with him directly, but one day William just gave him the armor, and he said that he wanted to negotiate with him in the near future. I trust Hector, Leon. In the last four years, everything he did was to keep the survivors here safe."

"I will trust your judgment... well, let's forget about this conversation for the time being," Leon said.

"Why? I also want to help you and make our nations become allies." Amanda declared.

"Just leave it to me, all right," Leon said. "If something happens or if I fail, I don't want you end up suffering the consequence of my actions."

In the end, Amanda understood why Leon wanted to do that alone. She had a life now, a family, and he didn't want to see her losing that again. After that, they had lunch together, and eventually, Hector joined them, but he didn't come alone. A blue-eyed, blondie woman was with him, her hair was relatively short, and she wore glasses. For some reason, she also looked kind of familiar. Leon didn't know why, but Hector was grinning from ear to ear, and that alone was enough to make Leon feel the urge to punch him.

"Hey, Leon. Did you remember Sasha?" Hector asked. "She is one of the survivors who escaped with us."

"Sasha... Sasha... Ah, your neighbor Sasha." Leon recalled the memories of the times he went to Hector's house. "We went to the same middle school and high school, right? I can't believe someone who knows the old you decided to work with you... anyway, stop grinning you are creeping me out."

"... Hello, it has been a long time." Sasha offered a handshake while smiling wrily. "I'm thankful for your remembering about me."

"Mmm? Yeah, sure." Leon accepted the handshake and tilted his head in confusion.

Leon had few memories of Sasha, even though they went to the same schools for years, she was a shy girl so that he couldn't recall himself ever talking with her.

"Leon... did you know? Back in the day, Sasha had a crush on you." Hector grinned even more.

"Captain..." Sasha lowered her head to hide her embarrassment.

"Is that so? She certainly has discerning eyes." Leon smiled. "Anyway, stop grinning, or I will give you another marriage present."

"... What did you give to him?" Amanda asked while frowning.

"A punch, what else would I give him?" Leon asked. "By the way, do you want something in particular?"

"I want to see you two getting along like the old days..." Amanda sighed. "I also want to recover the lost time... but I guess that is asking too much."

"It isn't... I cannot make you any promises regarding this guy," Leon looked at Hector and frowned. "But I plan to take it easy for one week… after that, I will do the things I have to do."

"Which are?" Hector asked.

"It is none of your business," Leon answered.

"Please, get along…" Amanda sighed again. "Leon, can you teach them how to use mana manually?"

"If you want to, I don't mind, like I said, I will take It easy for a few days," Leon answered.

"I really don't have that much free time…" Hector said.

"It is okay if you follow Leon's instructions you can learn almost instantly," Amanda grinned. "In fact, I already learned Earth Manipulation."

Hector and Sasha looked quite dubious of that, but after lunch, when they went to the garden, after five minutes, both of them were controlling small spheres of earth, and their mouths were wide open.

"Well, that is certainly surprising," Hector furrowed his eyebrows. "But it is not a spell per se."

"To learn new spells, you have to make the system recognize the spell," Leon explained. "Certain criteria need to be met... I'm not entirely sure, but to learn spells that shoot small projectiles, you have to create and shot them in less than 0.2 seconds."

"Are you fine teaching us that?" Hector asked. "Knowledge is a power you know; you could make a fortune by selling this information."

"Do you think I'm that pesky?" Leon frowned. " I'm not going to stay here forever, so I would rather increase my sister's arsenal while training her. If you guys share this information with other people, I won't mind, if more lives can be saved by using magic, then that is fine by me."

"It will take a long time to master this type of magic..." Sasha stared at the earth's sphere floating in front of her.

"But, it is fine, right?" Amanda asked. "It is not dangerous to practice, and the more we practice, the more points we will get. Leon said that he mastered this in a few months."

"Yeah, but there is much more to learn," Leon explained. "It is possible, but I didn't learn any spell using Earth Manipulation alone."

"... What do you mean?" Hector frowned.

When Leon explained to them about transformation and creating magic, finally, they understood why despite being a mage, Leon spent so many years on the island. Despite that, learning from a teacher was much easier than learning alone. So, they were certain that in a month or two they would be able to learn spells... they couldn't be more wrong.

The next morning, after eating his breakfast, Leon was spoon-feeding Maya while Amanda was doing the dishes. It had been a long time since he had done that, so he couldn't help doing awkwardly while smiling wryly. Despite her uncle's clumsiness, Maya wasn't bothered by it.

Leon still remembered, Amanda was just like her daughter. A quiet kid who rarely made a fuss about anything. Despite being a total stranger, Maya didn't feel scared of Leon. She was also very smart, Amanda just taught her a few times, and she already called Leon 'uncle'. It was a weird feeling, but Leon didn't dislike it.

"I'm going to help the survivors for a while," Amanda declared and picked her green bow. "Can you look after Maya for a while."

"Sure, but who usually looks after her?" Leon said.

"Sasha. Although she is strong, I'm the best archer in the city." Amanda said boastfully. "Every morning I hunt those Eye-balls before they have the chance to attack us... I did that yesterday, but..."

"I see... I wanted to teach you more how to use your mana, but I guess you can't just retreat from the front lines for a long time." Leon said. "Be careful, all right?"

"Got it." Amanda smiled.

"By the way, where are they?" Leon asked.

"Hector and Sasha will spend the day teaching the other survivors how to learn Earth Manipulation," Amanda answered. "Don't worry; he will say that he just learned by chance. There is a plan about building walls around the city, so, if everyone learns that, eventually, we will be able to protect this city with more ease."

After that, Amanda left. Although she survived without his help for four years, Leon wanted to spend the week teaching her. After so many years away, he had no right to declare that he would protect her, but at least he could help her in that regard. Although not all that much, Amanda had the potential to learn magic quite easily. Since her bow was a magic weapon that shot Wind Arrows, her mana, intelligence, recovery, and control were quite high, and Leon wanted to make good use of that while he stays with her. He wanted to stay with her for more time, but he couldn't exactly leave the emperor of Japan waiting. Besides, he wanted to discover who was behind the dungeon breaks.

Leon took Maya to the garden and started to play with her, by playing he just created a water ball and move it away while Maya was trying to chase it. Even though Leon wanted to take it easy for a few days, he ended up practicing a new spell. He started to practice how to make an Ice Arrow, but Maya's stamina ended before he completed the spell.

The climate in that region wasn't exactly easy for a small child, but since the wind was quite nice, Leon created an umbrella made of earth to protect Maya, who was sleeping in his arms from the light of the sun. After that, he resumed his task of learning a new spell and just before noon…

Congratulations! You have learned the skill: Ice Arrow.

You obtained 01 status points.

Mana: 15

Leon remembered that he wanted to learn an Area of Effect skill, but he couldn't do that in his sister's home, much less when Maya was with him. Using his sister's targets, Leon leveled up that skill a few times until Amanda returned alongside Hector and Sasha. It looked like they treated Sasha as part of the family. Considering that they fought together to survive for years, that wasn't so strange.

"To think that everyone would learn so fast…" Hector frowned. "Maybe I'm a genius teacher."

"Yeah, right…" Leon frowned. "By the way, do you guys have a market here?"

"Yes, we have," Hector answered. "Do you want to buy something? Do you have coins? I can help you with that.

"There is no need," Leon shook his head. "I'm not looking for anything in particular; I just want to see if there is something interesting there."

"Interesting… like what?" Hector frowned.

"Like a teleportation tome, have you seen one?" Leon asked.

"Hahaha, that is funny… as if someone would sell that," Hector said.

"Shall we all go together?" Amanda asked. "It has been a while since I have been there."

"No, I will go alone," Leon said.

"Mmm, alright then." Amanda showed a bit of disappointment.

"Leon… aren't you a bit too cold?" Hector asked.

"Mind your own business…" Leon said. "For the time being, I don't want anyone seeing us together. Don't ask why."

Hector couldn't help but sigh, Leon was keeping too many secrets. Although he had some reasons for doing that, Hector felt quite troubled by it. It would take a while before Leon could see him as a family… Regardless, after receiving directions from them, Leon headed to the market. It looked like Las Vegas have one hundred thousand survivors, among them, five thousand were soldiers who would fight against monsters day in and day out. Despite that, Leon didn't find anything better than his equipment.

"I don't want anything in particular… perhaps an amulet like the Ancient Frozen Dire Wolf's Soul would be nice, but if those dropped, I guess the higher-ups of this country would keep those to themselves."

It looked like Amanda's bow, and Hector's spear were magic weapons. However, those weapons weren't leagues above the weapons being sold at the market. At least that confirmed that Hector wasn't making use of his position to obtain an advantage over other survivors.

Leon hadn't seen Amanda in years, but she grew up to become a smart woman. It was a bit surprising, but even Hector changed and became a decent person. Leon frowned when he thought that his current self treated the old Hector like a scumbag, but since he was his best friend in the past… his past self wasn't supposed to be someone so respectable…

The next day, Leon was quite restless. As expected, he couldn't just spend the week in his sister's house without doing anything. Although he looked after Maya the previous day, he needed to do something more... violent. He wanted to fight against the monsters and decrease Amanda's workload. All in all, he still wanted to protect his sister from the shadows.

"Is there any dungeon nearby that is causing trouble?" Leon asked.

"There is... but why do you ask?" Hector frowned. "Didn't you say you would take it easy for a while?"

"That was my intention, but I'm bored," Leon said. "I can't relax knowing that someone is causing those dungeon breaks."

"How can you say that?" Hector asked, looking a little offended. "How can you say that you are bored while looking at such a cute angel. Look, feel the cuteness of those cheeks... this is heaven!"

Hector was hugging his daughter and gently pressing his cheek against hers. The image of a doting parent... it was funny, but it only made Leon felt like punching him. Meanwhile, Amanda and Sasha could only smile wryly. Speaking of which, it seemed that Sasha also joined them for breakfast from time to time.

"Well, I don't mind if you want to help," Hector showed a serious expression," But you are not from here, I don't know why, but you don't want to be seen with us, right? The dungeons are under my control, to enter them, I would have to accompany, or you would have to show a document with my signature."

Leon sighed, in the end, he couldn't help directly. Although plenty of soldiers and survivors visited Hector and Amanda, he always made sure not to be seeing while there were visitors nearby. A few survivors saw Leon walking with Hector on the first day, but eventually, that image would disappear from their minds. In the end, Leon spent the nights of that week teaching Amanda, Hector, and Sasha how to manipulate earth, water, wind, and fire. During the mornings, he played with Maya, and in the afternoon, he trained by himself in the garden.

Congratulations! You have learned the skill: Earth Arrow.

You obtained 01 status points.

Mana: 18

Congratulations! You have learned the skill: Wind Arrow.

You obtained 01 status points.

Mana: 12

Learning how to create projectiles with other shapes would take a while, so Leon decided to level up his new skills to strengthen them as much as possible and also to obtain a few free status points. Since he wasn't moving all that much, he decided to practice his Swordsmanship. Creating steel swords would make the skill level up faster, but Leon decided to make his body used to it. In case he ran out of mana in some situation, he would have to protect himself.

On the seventh night that Leon stayed in his sister's house, Leon decided to leave, but before that, he decided to say goodbye at the dinner table. It was the perfect chance because that night, Sasha wasn't eating with them.

"I'm going to leave the city tonight," Leon declared. "Thank you for letting me stay here for a while."

"Already? You barely stayed here a week." Amanda said, showing a sad face.

"Sorry, but I must hurry," Leon said. "Time is of the essence..."

Amanda hugged Leon, and he kissed her forehead. She knew what her brother was planning to do and couldn't help but think that was too much work for a single person to do alone.

"... I don't know what you are going to do, but I wish you luck." Hector said after a long sigh.

"Thanks... if something you don't hear anything about me again or if you hear by the mouth of someone suspicious, don't do anything," Leon warned. "Just act like you don't know me. Although some people saw us together, they probably will forget about thanks to the fact that you taught everyone Earth Manipulation."

"Now you are making me worry... what the hell are you going to do?" Hector frowned. "Do you need the help of someone reliable and trustworthy? I bet Sasha wouldn't hesitate to go with you."

"No, there is no need," Leon said.

"Dude, get a clue..." Hector sighed.

"What are you implying that she still likes me?" Leon chuckled. "She didn't see me in eight years, and she barely knows me. If she is feeling something in just nostalgia of seeing an old crush after a long time, soon she will forget about this."

"You are so dense..." Hector sighed again.

"Well, if you are right, it wouldn't work out in the end," Leon said. "She is beautiful, but I have no feelings for her. Rather, I don't have time for that kind of relationship."

Now that someone brought up the topic, Leon noticed that he had no feelings for Yuki either. He said that to Makoto as a joke... while thinking about that, Leon also noticed that he wasn't like that in the past. Even during high school, he had a few crushes, that he knew nothing about it. The island changed him in many aspects, that was obvious since he showed no interest in someone with lingering feelings for him.

"If you send her to go with me, who will look after Maya while Amanda fights?" Leon asked.

"Well... there are plenty of people who could..." Hector hesitated.

"You said there is no one more trustworthy than her, so she must stay here," Leon said. "I can protect myself; you just have to worry about protecting Amanda and Maya. If something happens to them..."

"Got it." Hector nodded, showing a stern expression.

In the end, Leon and Hector shook their hands. He protected them in the last years, so there was no one more reliable than him in that aspect. After patting Amanda's head and saying goodbye to Maya, who was sleeping, Leon left Las Vegas in the middle of the night.

Along the past week, Leon learned a lot of things from Amanda. Mainly about the situation of the Allied Forces of the North-America. It looked like the bigger the country, the more dungeons it would be. Japan had around thirty dungeons, but the Allied Forces of the North-America had more than one hundred dungeons across its territory. Unfortunately, there weren't nearly enough survivor cities or camps to watch those dungeons. So, the number of monsters appearing in the world was increasing with every passing minute.

However, it was not like more than one hundred types of monsters were crawling in the territory. Not a single person knew why, but there are several golem's dungeons, frozen dire wolves' dungeon, slimes' dungeons... and so on. Another weird thing was the fact that those dungeons connected to different parts of the monsters' world.

Usually, the number of monsters and dungeons would determine the number of materials, weapons, and tomes a nation could obtain, but that wasn't the case to the Allied Forces of the North-America. Due to the hydrogen bombs, millions of people died... so, despite having a much larger territory, the Allied Forces of the North-America only had three times more survivors. To make matters worse, no one had discovered yet who used the nukes.

Regardless, even though the survivors who once were citizens of Mexico, Canada, and the U.S.A. didn't live in the same regions. The survivors managed to recover from the hands of the monsters in several cities. Those were Montreal, Winnipeg, and Vancouver in the North.

In the South, survivors recovered Mexico City and Monterrey. In the former territory of his home country, survivors managed to recover Las Vegas, San Francisco, Houston, Chicago, Miami, Atlanta, and New York... which was were the representatives of the three former countries lived and worked. Leon headed there.

Leon could fly quite fast, but the number of monsters he met along the way didn't let him fly at the speed he wanted. Besides, he had to be careful of dragons. Although the earth dragon boss probably had the same power of an ordinary dragon, the second type could fly and, in a battle in the skies, wasn't all that good for Leon.

"I want to teleport..."

Leon could only pray that someday he will obtain that power. In any case, Leon saw nothing but destruction along the way. He felt depressed seeing his homeland like that, but at least he didn't feel scared because he didn't see any dragons... and that was weird.

"Amanda said that on the first days when the monsters appeared, they could see dozen of dragons every day, but then their attacks decreased... but why?"

Although it was something good, the doubt never was. By working together, a group of twenty survivors could kill an ordinary dragon, but the danger was still there. When that kind of battle usually happens, only by sheer luck, no one dies.

"Well then... how should I act?"

Leon's first target was William, the guy who gave the light-blue armor to Hector. Considering that he was one of the most important figures of the Allied Forces of the North-America, the chances of him being involved with the death of Makoto's son were pretty high. Two other men, after all, were controlling the spies of those three nations.

Regardless, Leon couldn't just invade headquarters and demand answers. The suspects were influential people, so he had to play his hand right, or he could die or be arrested... in the worst-case scenario he would die, and someone would discover that his brother-in-law was the leader of the survivors in Las Vegas.

"Appearing out of nowhere and saving the day is too suspicious... I guess I will start from below."

It would be time-consuming, but Leon would have the best chances to avoid suspicious if he disguises himself as a regular survivor who decided to move to another city. Usually, it would be too suspicious if a newcomer suddenly attracts the attention of the higher-ups, but Leon something that could change suspicions in curiosity, and that was magic.

"Let's see... my friends and I decided to move from Chicago to New York, but then we got ambushed by a horde of monsters. I just survived because I suddenly learn how to use Earth Manipulation... I guess that kind of background should be enough."

Leon would have to hide his sword, armor, and cape somewhere outside New York. He also couldn't show his amulet, but he could hide it in his clothes. He would mainly use Earth Manipulation to increase his fame and draw William's attention, and then in case something happens, he would use ice magic to get rid of anyone troublesome.

Two days later, Leon arrived in New York...

Health: 75

Mana: 1630

Stamina: 70

Strength: 66

Dexterity: 10

Speed: 42

Intelligence: 267

Endurance: 84

Control: 113

Mentality: 97

Luck: 01

Recovery: 570

Willpower: 75

Coins: 455682

Status: 00

Skill ListActive Skills: Strong Arms Lv 11, Throw Lv 9, Analysis Lv 4, Bash Lv 1, Dash Lv 19, Mana Transfusion Lv 9

Earth Manipulation Lv 57, Water Manipulation Lv 33, Wind Manipulation Lv 30, Concentrated Shot Lv 1, Fire Manipulation Lv 30, Earth Transformation Lv 34, Water Transformation Lv 24, Wind Transformation Lv 29, Fire Transformation Lv 28, Earth Creation Lv 37, Water Creation Lv 33, Wind Creation Lv 26, Fire Creation Lv 32

Freeze Lance Lv 7, Water Bullet Lv 7, Ice Bullet Lv 7, Wind Bullet Lv 7, Fire Bullet Lv 22, Earth Bullet Lv 7, Mana Reinforcement Lv 31, Lightning Lv 20, Magma Spear Lv 33, Fire Arrow Lv 17, Ice Pillar Lv 9, Hail Lv 20, Ice Arrow Lv 11, Earth Arrow Lv 11, Wind Arrow Lv 11,Passive Skills: Fear Resistence Lv 9, Underwater Resistance Lv 19, Alchemy Lv 51, Wind Resistance Lv 04, Ice Resistance Lv 11, Curse Resistance Lv 20, Pain Resistance Lv 17, Fire Resistance Lv 22, Poison Resistance Lv 33

Mental Fortitude Lv 18, Perception Lv 10, Rage Lv3, Accuracy Lv 32

Craft Lv 53, Farming Lv 7, Archery Lv 6, Cook Lv 38, Martial Arts Lv 1, Spearmanship Lv 51, Staffmanship Lv 4, Meditation Lv 51, Trap Creation Lv 7, Blacksmith Lv 42, Swim Lv 21, Swordmanship Lv 12

After hiding his equipment with the exception of his amulet, Leon started to walk toward the city. Dragons had destroyed the bridges, but it looked like someone repaired them with earth magic. It looked like Leon soon would find some mages like himself. Regardless, the only way to enter the city was by air or by crossing the bridges. Surprising the number of people leaving and entering the city wasn't small.

Considering that he would say that he crossed the whole distance on foot, Leon destroyed his improvised cape a little bit and dirtied it with water and earth, and he also dirtied the amulet. The number of soldiers protecting the bridges wasn't small, even though the number of travelers was also relatively high, they were inspecting and examining almost everyone.

"Good… they can't use magic to access the survivors' abilities."

Although Leon knew Analysis and that skill could inspect magic weapons and a few other things, it didn't work on humans. He was hoping to learn that eventually, but Leon's hands were full, trying to absorb the mana of the slime's core.

When Leon got inspected, the soldiers didn't do anything in particular, after confirming that he had no big weapons with him, they lowered their guards.

"What is your name? Where are you from? What do you intend to do in New York." A random soldier who was wielding an ax asked.

"My name is Leonard; I'm from Chicago," Leon said. "Some friends and I hoped to find better jobs here, but then we got attacked by a horde of monsters… I'm the sole survivor."

"You don't look like someone who recently fought for your life." The soldier frowned. "Where is your weapon? How did you escape?"

"I lost my weapon in the battle…" Leon slowly approached the soldier and whispered. "I learned magic by accident and blinded the monsters."

Another thing that Leon learned from his sister was the fact that those who learned how to use magic were also hiding their knowledge there as well."

Leon didn't know if Makoto knew about how one could learn magic alone, but it was hard to believe that he didn't. The motives… there were plenty. Although Ren got mad when he discovered that Leon could only see Makoto as someone prudent, if there are too few people with power, the humans can't survive, but then if there are too many people who have power, monsters wouldn't destroy humanity. Humanity would destroy itself…

Things wouldn't probably get so complicated in Las Vegas since even ordinary citizens were ready to fight when Leon threatened Hector, but it was hard to believe that everywhere else would be the same.

Regardless, when the soldier heard that, he looked at Leon suspiciously and then gave the order to another soldier to take Leon to the city. He imagined that he would take prisoner, but the soldier didn't do anything. It even opened the door of a car they would use.

"That is weird… did I make a mistake already?"

Leon had planned to make his skills famous little by little until he draws William's attention, but it looked like that happened a little too soon. In the end, Leon was taken to a brand new building. It looked like it had been made by earth magic, so it wasn't tall like a skyscraper, but it was like forty meters tall.

Several soldiers were entering and leaving the building, after crossing the gate, Leon and the soldier walked toward one of the receptionists of the building.

"His name is Leonard, and he can be tested," The soldier said. "Is there someone available right now?"

"Yes, I'm going to call one of the examiners." The receptionist said.

"Wait here." The soldier said to Leon and then left the building.

By the look of things, it didn't look like Leon was in trouble. Surprisingly, the receptionist used a telephone to call the examiner. It was the first time he had seen one after his return, Leon didn't have even seen one in Makoto's house either.

While Leon was waiting, he checked the situation in New York. As expected, ninety-nine percent of the buildings disappeared. At least the survivors managed to get rid of the rubble and built new buildings, the shape was relatively uniform and simple, but it was the best that a few mages could do using magic alone.

Since humans didn't have time to worry about the appearance of their new buildings, the interior of that building was also quite rough. Everything was simple and basically made of earth, so it didn't provide much comfort.

The man who would examine Leon was a thin, black-headed man who wore thick glasses. Leon imagined that a muscular man like a military would examine him, but considering his magic would be examined, he thought a little too much.

"Are you the one who is going to be tested?" The thin man asked. "Come with me."

Leon arrived on a floor which had only four rooms, but those rooms were quite large. Surprisingly, the walls were made of glass, and in each of those rooms, some type of weather was being emulated. One room had a lot of sand, other had a lot of water, the third one was empty, but the wind was strong, the last one looked like a sauna without the steam.

"What kind of magic can you use?" The thin man asked.

"Earth Manipulation," Leon answered.

"Then, go to the first room and show me what you can do." The thin man said.

Leon entered the room while thinking of what he should do. It looked like he was in a job interview. Considering that many buildings were made of earth magic, it looked like according to the results of his test, he could end up building houses, or he could end up becoming a soldier. The chances of him meeting William while building house was small, so in the end… he decided to show off. Creating a bullet made of sand, he broke the bulletproof glass.

After recovering from the surprise, the examiner approached Leon and grabbed a notebook and a pencil, and asked several questions.

"My name is Leonard. I used a magic bow, so my mana and intelligence are quite high. I didn't share the information about how to use mana because I thought there is some kind of reason why this information wasn't revealed to the public."

"You did well; we have several mages who learned magic by chance." The thin man said. "The smart ones joined us, and those who can't keep a secret ended up disappearing… did you catch my drift?"

"… Yes." Leon answered.

"The members of our group can use our facilities to train as much as they want," The thing explained. "And if you discover something, we will even pay you for the information. However, you cannot share that information with anyone, not even with other members. If you discover something and want to sell the information, you have to find an examiner, and after confirming that it is something new, the examiner will send him to talk with the directors or our organization."

"I'm sorry…" Leon hesitated. "But the soldier who brought me here didn't explain anything. What organization is this?"

"… We are the Heart of the North." The thin man said after a long sigh. "Our goals are to rebuild our country, subjugate the monsters and dungeons in our territory and destroy those who threaten our peace. Our final objective is to rebuild the entire world and put all humanity under our banner and lead humanity to a new age of prosperity."

Leon almost let out a sigh, that looked like some kind of supremacist group would do. While Leon also wanted to reunite the world, he didn't want to force others to follow his ideologies; he only wanted to treat other countries as equals and allies while respecting their differences. Leon was already sure that it was a shady organization.

"I see… so certain soldiers are being recruited to participate in those activities." Leon said. "You can't just turn all survivors into your subordinates."

"That is right," The thin man said. "We are only recruiting specialists and promising individuals… Anyway, if you join us as I said, you will have the chance to use our facilities to your heart's content. You will receive a salary according to your rank, and you won't have to pay taxes. Everything sold at the market of New York, you will be able to buy with a twenty percent discount. You will have your own furnished apartment with free water and power. You will also have a maid who will look after your apartment, and you will be able to 'use' her the way you like."

Once again, Leon almost reacted to those suspicious words. Now he had no more doubt that that organization was rotten to the core, he still had to see with his own eyes the situations of those maids, but… he already had a feeling that it would be something unpleasant.

"Can I ask one more question?" Leon asked.

"What is it?" The thin man asked.

"This organization… is recognized by the leaders of the Allied Forces of the North-America, right? Leon asked.

"Of course, our organization is new, but the founder is Mr. William," The thin man said with a face full of pride."The pillar of the Allied Forces of the North-America."

"Is that so… then I want to join." Leon showed a sweet smile.

After that, Leon filled out a form, and then the thin man gave a map of the city and guided him to his temporary room, which was very near to the building in which he had the test. The place was rather small, but it had a lot of small rooms. Most of those were occupied, and Leon felt a weird aura coming from them.

"What is this place?" Leon asked.

"This is where the new recruits stay until they become fully-fledged members of our organization." The thin man answered. "Go to this place tomorrow, and you will do the final test. If you fail, you can try one week later; if you succeed, you will become a member, and you will have access to the privileges. The final test will begin at 08:00 AM, don't be late."

The room for the recruits was really cheap; it looked more like a cell since it only had one bed and the toilet. The door didn't even have a lock…

"Ugh… it stinks."

It was still early, so Leon wanted to take a walk, but gave up on the idea since that could be suspicious. He would have time for that once he joins the organization. Things were a lot more organized in New York than in Las Vegas, Leon didn't see the whole city, but it looked like it had a lot more survivors as well.

Regardless, since the door didn't have a lock, the wind made the door move frequently. For some reason, the other recruits passed and looked at Leon's room while staring at them. He didn't know if they were frustrated for failing so many times or if they wanted to scare him. Either way, it was a waste of time.

There was nothing to do, it was still early, and Leon couldn't practice his skills, and since he was alone, he ended up thinking about something he didn't want to think... about his parents' death. He tried to avoid that while he was with Amanda in order not to make her sad, and when he was playing with Maya, he could only think that life was moving on... Still, now that he was alone, he couldn't stop imagining their last moments. Amidst the sadness and his frustration, Leon promised himself one thing...

"I will find the bastard who made those monsters appear on my planet and make him pay..."

The place where the final test would be done was an improvised stadium... no, it looked more like an arena. Leon couldn't help but wonder why something like that was built, but considering that he heard a lot of noise before he went to sleep, that place was probably being used...

All the recruits in the dorms headed to that place, and there they saw only three examiners, one of them was a black-headed bulky man who had a long sword on his back, another one was a slender woman who had a red bow, her hair was short and brown. The last one was a plain-looking blonde man who was carrying a magic staff.

"My name is Paul, and I will select the new members of the defensive troop." The man carrying a sword said.

"My name is Jess, and I will select the new members of the tactical troop," The woman carrying the bow said.

"My name is Arthur, and I will select the new members of the offensive troop." The blond man said.

That atmosphere was quite weird, but thanks to that, Leon had an idea where the spies of the Allied Forces of the North-America usually worked, it had to be in the tactical troop. It was possible that the ones involved with Makoto's son's death were spying other countries, but that a good start anyway.

"You guys don't have to do much to pass the final test," Paul said. " You just have to show what you can do against us. Each one of you will fight against the three of us, show us the best of you can do because that will define your rank. The first one will be…"

Things got complicated, Leon didn't have much experience fighting against humans, he actually didn't have any experience in that aspect at all. He could end up killing them if he fights too seriously, or Leon may end up in a low rank if he holds back too much.

"What a pain... I wanted to start close to William, but it would be weird if I show too much power and skill after 'learning' the magic just a few days ago."

In the end, Leon decided to go with the basic version of his most common way of attacking. Anyway, just as expected, most survivors fought using melee weapons. Those guys fought quite decently against Paul, but against Jess, they barely had the chance to scratch her. As for Arthur, he just overpowered them with a spell called Earth Punch, which broke their bones easily... All in all, those recruits didn't have half of that power Ren's soldiers had. They would have a hard time fighting against slimes... obviously, they failed on the final test. The battles ended quite fast, so eventually, it was Leon's turn.

"Leonard, it is your turn now," Paul said. "Give it your best shot."

Leon nodded and touched the ground; some earth started to levitate, and then eventually, the earth took the shape of two fists. Paul was already ready for the test, so Leon attacked his solar plexus with his right fist. Paul blocked, and the sound of metal colliding echoed across the stadium.

Leon's earth first aimed at Paul's upper body attacked a few more times, but little by little, the weight of his attacks decreased until Leon tried to hit Paul's hands, which were holding the sword. But instead of blocking, Paul jumped backward and changed his posture to block those attacks. However, that had been a mistake. The moment Paul used his sword to block an attack on his right knee, he felt the other earth fist on his left cheek.

"... It is my loss." Paul said. " Why didn't you attack with both fists since the beginning? You could have overpowered me. Why did you hold back?"

" I don't want to hurt my future co-workers," Leon answered. "I used only one first because I wanted you to focus on defending your lower-half of your body, and then I would surprise you."

"Hmph... quite confident, aren't you?" Paul chuckled.

"How shameless... to lose like to someone who just learned a new trick," Jess stepped forward. "It's my turn."

"He was an archer, so he must have a pretty decent amount of mana and magic power," Paul said. "His accuracy is superb, so don't lower your guard."

Jess snorted and equipped her bow, as an examiner, she would give the advantage of the first strike to Leon. He saw a few archers when he defeated the horde is Las Vegas, their attack speed wasn't anything great, but they had a lot of power. So, Leon decided not to give her the chance to attack, he didn't know if he could react fast enough and since he couldn't show too much, it was the best option.

Controlling both earth fists, Leon attacked relentlessly. He attacked her front body, her sides, and even the front and her back at the same time. But as if she had eyes in every part of her body, she blocked all Leon's attacks using her bow without losing her composure. Leon also attacked from up and from below, but again, no results.

Leon's mana inside the fists was slowly decreasing, soon he would lose control over it, but that gave him an idea. Since it looked like Jess was underestimating him, only blocking his attacks to show the difference in skill, that was the perfect thing to do. Leon kneeled as if he was going to create another earth fist, Jess noticed that movement, but thanks to that, she didn't notice the earth of the earth fist that flew toward her face dissipating. Jess blocked the fist, only for the projectile break, and the earth fell on her face. Before she could get rid of the dirt that blinded her, she felt something hitting her legs, knocking her down. Soon after, she felt two fists pressing against her cheeks.

Jess lost, and she was furious due to it, mostly she was furious because Leon used a cowardly trick. The problem was... none of the examiners said what they could or couldn't do that kind of thing.

"I want a rematch!" Jess shouted.

Seeing a grow-up woman acting like a kid who lost in a game, Leon couldn't help but frown and scratch the back of his head. Things could have been different if she hadn't fooled around, Leon would decrease his attacks to block her arrows, making the battle last for quite a while. However, the things Leon could do using Earth Manipulation were quite a lot so that he wouldn't let a battle drag for that long.

"It is your loss, Jess," Paul said. "Don't embarrass yourself in front of the recruits."

Jess clicked her tongue; it looked like she was a sore loser. Leon couldn't help but wonder how someone so careless managed to survive until now. Perhaps she was only like that against humans... either way, Paul declared that she lost, and Arthur nodded in agreement.

The last battle would be difficult because Arthur didn't look like someone who would hold back or underestimate any target. The test wasn't a battle to the death, but accidents could happen. To make matters worse, Leon only knew one spell of Arthur's. By the look of things, he mastered that spell since he could use a weakened version of it only to break bones. If he learned the real deal and used it for a few months, Leon was sure that he could destroy someone's limbs with ease if he wanted to.

The start of the battle was quite dull, Arthur cast an earth fist, and Leon used his to block the attack. Leon tried to little by little make his attacks advance, but Arthur didn't let him. Leon was forced to move and dodge those projectiles when the earth fists dissipated, and he had to create others, but aside from that, nothing happened. After five minutes, the battle ended.

"That is enough," Paul declared. "We don't have all day to watch you two playing like that. It is a draw. You two have similar skills, so it can't be helped."

Leon and Arthur nodded and didn't complain, unlike Jess. Leon was pretty sure Arthur was holding back, so it was hard to measure his real power. But it was clear that he was an earth magic specialist. After the end of the battle, Paul, Jess, and Arthur discussed Leon's skills in order to determine his rank. He was the tenth guy that had been tested that day, but he was the first one who had actually passed the test. Despite that, their discussion didn't last long.

"Congratulations, Leonard," Paul said. "We concluded that you are worthy of being a B rank member in our organization. By the way, Jess and I are also B ranks. Arthur is a rank A member."

Leon nodded by the look of things; it was pretty evident that Paul was stronger. He didn't use any skills, after all. Regardless, even though Leon didn't know how many ranks that organization had, he was pretty sure that he started in a pretty decent rank. However, Leon was a little bothered...

"I wonder if those guys can't imagine spies joining their organization..."

Leon was expecting more of the people who stole the materials from Japan, but until now, he only saw people who didn't seem to know anything. The only option was really getting close to William...

"Here, take this document to the main building," Paul gave Leon a brown piece of paper. "The main building is where you had the first test. There you will receive your new belongings."

Leon nodded again and then left after offering a handshake to those three. Jess refused, but he didn't feel offended by it. Although Leon was curious about the contents of the document, he decided not to open it. From that point onward, he couldn't make a single mistake because any suspicious actions could lead to his downfall.

When Leon arrived at the main build and showed that document, one of the receptionists, who was a blonde who had long straight hair and talked to him the previous day, guided him to an empty room where she gave him a purple ring, a cellphone and the keys of his new home, when Leon analyzed the ring, he finally understood why everyone didn't look a bit worried about spies.

Cursed Ring (Servant)

It reveals the position of any servant to the user of the Cursed Ring (Master).

Once you put it, you won't be able to remove it without the order of the Master.

Leon didn't know how, but it looked like someone already discovered the method to make magic items. The effects were simple but quite useful. He would be tracked down day and night, so he wouldn't be able to attack anyone by surprise, and if someone who has the ring dies, immediately the master could discover if one of his minions killed it. There was some room for mistakes, but it was like a seal for slaves. Regardless, Leon put it without hesitation. He had to show that he wasn't someone suspicious.

"This phone has the numbers of all buildings under our control that you can use," The blond receptionist said, "You can also register the numbers of your co-workers. You can use as much as you want without worrying about the costs. Those are the keys to your apartment; you can find the building and the number of your apartment on the keys."

Leon nodded but wanted to frown. Although that was a shady organization, it offered a lot of benefits to its employees. Putting aside the cursed ring and the maid 'services,' it looked quite a good way to operate...

"As a member of the offensive troop, you can choose between the following jobs." The blond receptionist explained. "You can work protecting the city by killing the monsters who may approach. You can also work escorting our goods like the materials we obtain from dungeons and the things we may sell or buy from other cities, and you can also work with the teams who hunt in dungeons. Speaking of which, since your rank is B, the only way to reach rank A is by participating in the subjugation of a boss monster and contribute a lot to it."

"I see..." Leon said.

Leon already knew the method to raise his rank, possibly, after the rank A he would become rank S, but what were the conditions to become an S rank member? Regardless, he was pretty sure that by reaching that rank, he would be contacted by William.

"I guess clearing a dungeon alone and defeating a boss should be enough to make him notice me... However, I can't exactly do that anytime soon. While I pretend that I'm getting better at Earth Manipulation, I will look for clues of the spies who killed Makoto's son."

"I want to clear dungeons." Leon declared.

"Very well, the monster's materials belong to the organization." The blond receptionist explained. "But we will pay you for those materials. Your monthly salary will be two thousand coins. If your team obtain weapons or the like, the item will go to the person who killed the monster. Is that clear?"

Leon nodded. Although the salary seemed relatively small, considering that he would gain an apartment for free and a cellphone that could be used as much as he wants, it was a pretty good deal.

"You should be at this building every day at 07:00 AM," The blond receptionist grabbed a map and pointed at a particular place. "This is where those who clear dungeons reunite every day; you will fight until 05:00 PM. After six days of working, the seventh will be your day off. You will start tomorrow, so don't be late. Also, for whatever reason, if you don't work the days where you are supposed to work, two hundred coins will be decreased by your salary."

"Got it," Leon said.

"The last topic... about your maid," The receptionist showed a slightly complicated expression. "Do you have any preferences?

"Preferences?" Leon frowned.

"By preferences, I mean age, gender, nationality." The blonde receptionist said.

This time Leon couldn't help but let his mouth hanging open. Things were way worse than he had imagined, it was unknown if spies were kidnapping survivors of other places or if they were using those who were traveling in the country when the monsters appeared... either way, it wasn't something that could be explained.

"The people here are kidnapping people from outside?" Leon asked.

"No... just hiring anyone who lost everyone and everything along the past four years," The receptionist explained. "Due to many reasons, they don't have the power to fight and don't have the skills to do anything that can contribute to our current society... that is why they are working like that."

Although Leon questioned the reality of the situation, he recalled that things were like that back in the day too. Those who didn't have the qualifications would have bad jobs, and those without any skills didn't even have homes... hell if those who had skills could even end up without a home if something unexpected happens... The world certainly became more dangerous and dark, but humans didn't change all that much.

"I don't have... any preferences." Leon showed a slight look of disgust.

Leon didn't want to act suspiciously, much less when the activities of the organization were involved, but everything has a limit. He wasn't a machine who could control his feelings like that; he wasn't a spy either, Leon just wanted to avoid a war.

"... You seem to be a good guy," The receptionist sighed. "In times like these, the more powerful the person, the worse that person is. I wasn't supposed to say this, but... please treat the woman who will work for you well. Her previous master was rather... violent. He died a few weeks ago, even though she didn't recover mentally yet, she needs to work to eat."

"So, you look after the maids while they are not working," Leon said.

"That is right... I'm not brave enough to fight, but I can speak several languages," The blond receptionist explained. "I also used to manage the supply of several stores back in the day, so I work doing miscellaneous things to this organization."

Leon nodded and decided to shut up; in the end, he couldn't let himself get too emotional because strong emotions lead to big mistakes. Leon noticed that she was also wearing the purple ring, so he shouldn't talk with her too much, you never know when you can be betrayed for whatever reason.

"She will start working from tomorrow onward," The blond receptionist said. "You should meet her after your return from the dungeon, that is all."

Leon nodded and offered a handshake, he couldn't trust in strangers too much, but that didn't mean he couldn't build up an amicable relationship with them. After leaving the main building, Leon decided to familiarize himself with new buildings of the new New York. That being said, pretty much everything was the same. Aside from the main building, everything else was training fields, apartment complexes, and warehouses. There was also the market, but aside from that, everything looked dull and lifeless.

Just as Leon had expected, there was nothing particularly good being sold at the market. At that point in time, he was getting tired of seeing that scene repeating itself. Leon's apartment was quite neat, but even though the furniture was brand new, it also looked lifeless. It wasn't his real room... and he would never see his room ever again.

The next morning, Leon headed to the building, where he would reunite with his teammates. Since the more they worked, the more coins they would get; everyone was already outside of the building and ready to leave at 06:50 AM.

The number of soldiers was quite high, but Leon was aware that a few dungeons were nearby so that those survivors would be divided into several groups. Although Leon was quite the average Joe, he was standing out in the group because he had no equipment whatsoever.

"Whatever, it would be weird if I had bought something in the market after telling me that I lost everything when the horde ambushed my group."

The number of warriors was high; sixty percent of the soldiers were warriors. While thirty-five percent were archers... aside from those, there were only four mages, Leon was one of them. Although magic was supposed to be hard to learn and tomes rarely dropped, it wasn't impossible to find them.

Surprisingly, Paul and Jess were two of the four who would lead the one hundred soldiers there. Jess clicked her tongue when she saw Leon, but Paul immediately selected him to his team.

"Hey, welcome aboard." Paul approached Leon after selecting the twenty-four soldiers who would work with him that day. "Usually, newcomers tend to relax for a while before looking for challenges."

"Is that so?" Leon asked. "Well, I want to practice my magic, and I also want to raise my rank as soon as possible. So, I chose this job."

Paul frowned when he heard that, he couldn't understand why Leon was in a hurry. Although the organization was only a few months old and had big goals, no one was in a hurry. Regardless, Paul knew very well how skillful and talented Leon was.

Several trucks were parked near that building, and the soldiers would be transported in them. There was no traffic, so the trip was quite smooth while they were inside the city, but after they left, things got quite bumpy since they didn't have the means to repair roads. They could use earth magic, but it wasn't worth the hassle since they didn't have the ways to fix, not even the path until the dungeons.

"Today, we will fight in the Desert Wolves' dungeon," Paul explained. "They are fast and strong, so don't separate from each other. If they bite you in the wrong place, you will die. Everyone who had a melee weapon will accompany me and block the monsters' advance, we will attack, but we will mostly focus on defense. Archers and the mage will be the ones who will cause damage."

There was only one mage, and he didn't look that reliable. Although Leon was feeling bothered by the stares, it was quite troublesome since he wanted to be friendly in order to get information. Regardless, Paul looked to be friendly enough, and it seems like he was one of the first members of the organization so that he could obtain information from him.

"Hey, Leonard," Paul said while driving the truck. "Can you make something sharper to attack? You have the power to stun them, but it would be better if you could kill them as soon as possible."

"I can don't worry," Leon said.

There were four dungeons nearby New York, and all of them appeared when earthquakes occurred and opened holes in the ground. Looking at the hole and the perfect ramp that led to an underground cave, Leon couldn't help but think that the earthquake had been human-made. However, such an idea was beyond ridiculous. How could someone make earthquakes happen? How could perfect dungeons be formed thanks to the destruction of such a phenomenon?

Regardless, like the other dungeons, the survivors installed those stones that absorbed mana from the ambient and illuminated the dungeon. As soon as they arrived, they saw the group that worked during the night. Surprisingly, their numbers were quite small, and they only fought against the monsters that tried to leave the dungeon.

Like the Frost Dire Wolves' hide, the Desert Wolves' hide could be used to manufacture defensive gear. But unlike those ice type monsters, the desert wolves' hid decreased the power of earth-based attacks. It would be a pain to transport those, but Leon noticed several carts that would be used to that kind of work.

"All right, guys," Paul said. "We have a few new members today, so let's just hunt nearby the entrance in order to make them gain some combat experience."

Some people clicked her tongues, and some nodded in agreement. Some extra coins never bothered anyone, but Leon was sure that greed made many die. According to what he heard yesterday from the blonde receptionist, the jobs weren't easy; the danger would always be there. But unfortunately, some people couldn't understand that the more the newcomers get used to the combat, the chances of anyone dying would decrease. Thus, giving them more opportunities to fight and obtain more coins.

Regardless, Desert Wolves weren't that much of a threat. They had the power, the weight, and the speed to overwhelm any of the warriors, but when Leon attacked their eyes with his fake Earth Arrows, the monsters became quite meek and an easy target. For some reason, the wolves were smaller than the ones Leon saw in Japan, and their fangs were longer.

"Perhaps they are wolves from a different world?"

It was a bit surreal that the monster's world would have a single climate, so those wolves might have been from a different species that lived in the same world. However, considering that Leon saw a world that had only slimes and harpies, it wasn't that improbable.

In the end, with the exception of a few scratches, nothing major happened. Leon was quite bored because he was helping the from the backline while blinding the wolves, and thanks to it, the front line didn't let anything attack Leon and the archers. Noticing that even without having any equipment, Leon was still very useful, his co-workers stopped looking at him so unpleasantly.

"This is a waste of time..."

Leon understood that espionage work didn't suit him, even though he wasn't really one, he wanted to collect intel like one. However, joining and climbing the ranks of an organization to do that while holding back his power wasn't something Leon liked to do. In a world where he had to his best to survive, holding back made his back feel itchy. Regardless, since the focus was to make the newcomers obtain experience, Paul decided to retreat several times to rest.

"Did you get better controlling earth?" Paul asked. "It looks like your attacks are faster today."

"Thanks to the soldiers protecting the city, I have a lot of free time in my hands," Leon said the sentence he prepared beforehand. "I spent the last two days training, and I have a feeling that I will obtain the power to become a rank A member pretty soon."

"Why are you in such a hurry?" Paul asked. "Of course, you will have more benefits by raising your rank, but the jobs aren't that easy, you know."

Paul seemed to be the type of leader who was good at looking after his underlings, but knowing that he was working for an organization that makes use of cursed rings, spies, and maids, it wasn't a good idea to talk with him that much. However, that was a good opportunity.

"What kind of work rank A members do?" Leon dodged the question by making another.

"Well… most rank A members spend days and sometimes week outside the city doing their jobs." Paul explained. "Some of them help in dungeon breaks, others protect our borders, and some try to obtain materials from high-leveled dungeons."

It wasn't an easy job, but it was clear that that would make Leon get close to the principal activities under the command of William. Speaking of which, the easiest way to talk with William would be buying or selling information about magic, skills, and other useful things. But then again, Leonard spent all his coins in Chicago and lost his belonging when he escaped from the monsters' horde… so Leon couldn't interact with him or the other directors anytime soon without making them suspicious of him.

Anyway, as one could expect, the day passed rather slowly while Leon was working in the dungeon. He couldn't train, nor could he show his skills, so that was only obvious. Around 04:00 PM, a new group arrived to hunt at the dungeon. So, Paul's group returned to New York.

"Good job guys, let's keep up the good work tomorrow," Paul said. "To the newcomers, we will all receive the payment for the wolves' hide at the end of the week, so don't bother the people who are working in the warehouses and the main building."

After that, the soldiers dissipated, and Leon didn't move at all. He was feeling way too weird; he felt like he just lived a filler episode in his own life. Putting aside the fact that he and the others hunted monsters, he felt like he lived a day of an ordinary salaryman. It was a really weird feeling… However, things were about to become even weirder.

While trying to rid of that weird feeling, Leon headed to his new home. His apartment was a relatively new building, and since the soldiers worked in three turns, most of the time, the place was quite empty. Thus, he didn't see anyone while climbing the stairs and after crossing the corridor that led to his apartment. However, when he opened the door, he saw a blonde young woman kneeling in front of the door, and she was wearing maid clothes.

"Welcome back, master." The blond woman said.

Leon couldn't help but frown; he thought the word maid was just a figure of speech… not that the person who would take care of his apartment would actually wear maid clothes.

"It is a pleasure to meet you, master," The blonde woman said. "My name is Gisela, but you can call me whatever you want."

"Hello… my name is Leonard." Leon hesitated. "Gisela… why are you kneeling in front of the door?"

"I've been waiting for you, master Leonard," Gisela answered.

"That doesn't answer anything," Leon said. "Is this like the people from the Hearth of the North said you should work?"

"No, this is how my previous master wanted me to greet him," Gisela explained.

"Well, I'm not your previous master, so you can act normally," Leon said.

"How do you want me to greet you, master Leonard?" Gisela asked, still kneeling.

"Well, by not calling me master and not kneeling would be enough," Leon said.

"... Understood. I apologize in advance, Leonard." Gisela said and slowly got up.

"Why are you apologizing?" Leon asked.

Instead of receiving an answer, Leon just realized that Gisela slightly trembled. Although she got up, she didn't raise her head, so Leon got suspicious.

"Raise your head," Leon said with a strong tone.

It wasn't his intention, but Leon ended up giving her an order, and his harsh tone made her tremble a little more. Gisela raised her head, revealing the beautiful face of a girl who probably hadn't been raised in America. Her skin was pale like the people who lived in an extremely cold areas of North Europe, and her eyes were light blue like crystal water… not eyes, her eye. She had lost her right eye,

Leon received a shock since it was the first time he saw a person who had that kind of wound. However, it was because he didn't pay enough attention. Leon was focused on his own problems that he didn't notice when people without arms, legs, or ears passed by him. Leon only recovered when he saw Gisela sweating bullets and trembling.

"I'm… if you are feeling unwell, you can sit and rest." Leon corrected himself. "There is nothing to do here, so you can rest."

Leon said that he was sorry, but he stopped midway because he had no right to pity her. Leon sighed because he had been too naïve… Leon worked hard to escape from the island, but he felt like he took everything for granted. He didn't consider that he couldn't regenerate lost limbs, and Leon didn't consider that he could have lost his eyes in the middle of a battle… he only thought that his wounds recover no matter what.

"I'm fine, Leonard, you don't have to worry about me," Gisela said. "What are your orders?"

"My orders? I don't have any," Leon said. "Will you be punished if you don't work or something?"

"No, the only person who can punish me is Leonard," Gisela said.

"… Please don't say that again," Leon frowned. "It makes my back feel itchy."

"Understood." Gisela nodded. "The bath is already ready, please take your clothes and let me wash them."

"… I think I can do that myself." Leon sighed. "If you really want to do something, why don't you buy something for dinner. I don't have anything to make a meal; I don't even have spoons. I want some hot dogs, what do you want to eat?"

"Anything is fine, what do you want me to eat, Leonard?" Gisela asked.

"… Why don't you buy some hot dogs for you and something sweet to eat?" Leon asked. "You look a bit underweight, so a parfait or a cake should help you."

Leon touched Gisela's hands to pass the coins only to see her trembling slightly; for some reason, she was afraid of males, but that didn't bother him. Leon transferred the coins, and Gisela left to buy dinner.

"What the hell is going on…"

Leon wasn't that dirty or sweaty but hurried to clean himself and wash his clothes. It has been a long while since the last time Leon saw himself alone with a girl in his room. Although Leon wasn't interested in doing anything at the moment, he recalled the memories of the days when he brought his girlfriend to his room—always making sure that he was clean and not smelling bad.

"It looks like my life here will be a lot more tiresome than I thought…"

Much sooner than Leon thought, Gisela returned, by the look of her tired face, she went to the market running and returned while running as well. Fortunately, she didn't arrive on time to see Leon changing; he was already meditating in the corner of the apartment to calm his nerves and relax his body.

"… You can go ahead and eat; I'm not hungry." Leon said.

"I'm not hungry, Leonard," Gisela said. "What are your next orders?"

Leon sighed, it looked Gisela became a person who had a single reason to live, and that was to obey orders. Although some people could think that as normal in a world like that, Leon couldn't help but feel troubled, first of all, he didn't need a maid; he survived alone for four years, after all. Still, looking at the tense expression in Gisela's face, it was possible that she would collapse if Leon doesn't give her any orders.

"… Sit in the armchair... I didn't want to talk about it, but since it is like this, I have no other choice," Leon said in a harsh tone. "I will tell you how you should behave here in order to avoid headaches since I already have too much in my head… but first, I want to hear for how long you worked as a maid and how did you served the other guys."

"… Understood." Gisela said and then lowered her heard but then suddenly raised again.

"You don't have to look at me, just tell me how you worked," Leon said.

Gisela lowered her head again and then started to describe her life in that past four years. Although Leon didn't ask for that, she said because she concluded it would be necessary.

Four years ago, Gisela was an exchange student from Germany when the monsters appeared; she was in the first year of college. In fact, she had been for New York for two weeks when the monsters appeared. Her family was away, and she didn't have any friends yet, so she had no one to help her. Despite the odds, she managed to escape the city alive and unscathed.

"Wait... didn't you lost your eye when the monsters attacked?" Leon asked.

"No..." Gisela answered.

Unfortunately, after escaping, Gisela ended up joining a group of thugs. She wasn't alone, several people were with her, and eventually, everyone discovered how to get stronger by learning skills. The thugs had weapons, but the weapons they had barely could compare to the power a person could obtain by practicing a few hours. The more people that could fight, the better. But those thugs weren't thinking among those lines; they wanted to keep the power for themselves. So, every time they saw someone who could threaten their hegemony, they would beat that person to death. Fearing for her life, Gisela decided to obey... but that had been a mistake. Without the power to protect themselves, she and several others became playthings to those who were using the system and strengthening themselves... Gisela's nightmare started there.

Although she was suffering the second-worst thing that could happen in someone's life, Gisela didn't give up hope. She wanted to survive to one day return to her hometown and family. However, things wouldn't be so simple. Since those thugs didn't want to live seriously, they didn't consider the things they would need to survive. They lost their chance to create a camp and to scavenge food and water. Due to the fact that they were scumbags, not a single survivors' camp accepted them. However, not a single person stood up to free Gisela and several other girls from the claws of those men. Without shelter, food, and water, those guys only did the only thing they could do to survive... they attacked survivors' camps.

For a while, they managed to survive doing that, but eventually, they bite more than they could chew. The thugs died after fighting against powerful soldiers of another camp. Unfortunately, Gisela and the others didn't become free... the big cities hadn't been recovered yet. So, the only thing one could to survive was to fight. Gisela didn't have the power to fight... in the end, to be able not to die of hunger, she sold her body.

At that point in time, history only repeated itself. Gisela didn't have weapons, and she couldn't use magic, so, kept doing the only thing she could to survive. It was a vicious circle, without weapons or magic, one could obtain coins; without coins, one couldn't buy things to eat or hire guards to protect themselves, without strength she couldn't fight or obtain weapons.

Eventually, cities like New York were recovered. However, people like Gisela were ostracized from society. Even while the new society was slowly being rebuilt, her options didn't change. Things only got a little better when William created his organization, to stimulate his future subordinates, he contracted young and pretty people like Gisela and trained them to become maids to serve his subordinates. While she was taught, Giselas wasn't mistreated. However, things changed when she found her first master.

For some reason, maybe because he had a great physique and became a little famous before the monsters appeared, Gisela's first master was a very prideful person. Although he wasn't that strong in terms of skills and stats, he treated himself like a big deal. So, every single of his problems, he tried to solve with violence, and when he got his ass kicked, he used Gisela to relieve his stress. Punches, kicks, sometimes he even used his sword to torture Gisela and at night...

"You didn't have to say that..." Leon said.

Gisela nodded. Although she was trying to hold back, Leon could see her trembling like a leaf. Leon thought it couldn't get worse, but it got worse. One day, Gisela's master didn't get just his ass kicked; he also got humiliated in front of a crowd. Like always, he unleashed his frustration on her, but that time... he went too far and destroyed her eye with his sword. After that, she almost died of blood loss.

"... What did the people in Hearth of the North do?" Leon asked.

"They bought potions to heal my wounds and discounted the price of those from his salary," Gisela answered.

"Only that?" Leon asked.

"Yes," Gisela said.

"... How did your previous master react?" Leon asked.

"... He tormented me where the others couldn't see." Gisela answered.

"So, the reason why you greeted me while kneeling and always keep your head down is..." Leon said.

"He said that he didn't want to see something so ugly," Gisela said. "He also said that I should stay in that position while he was away."

"While he was away... that means that my apartment is also your apartment?" Leon asked.

"No, Leonard." Gisela shook her head. "I just sleep here, the apartment is yours, but if that idea displeases you, I can sleep in the corridor."

"I'm not so heartless to make you do that..." Leon sighed. "But still... frankly speaking, I don't want to sleep in the same place as you. You lived a hard life, much harder than mine. So, it wouldn't surprise me if someday you snaps and decides to kill me while I sleep."

"I swear Master! I will never do that!" Gisela raised her voice but soon lowered her head in apology.

"I'm not your master... I will ask you a question, and I'm giving the order not to lie." Leon said. "What do you want to do from now on besides survive?"

For a moment, Gisela didn't understand the meaning behind Leon's question. Rather, she didn't understand because Leon asked what she wanted to do, and her will and opinions became irrelevant in the previous four years. He wanted to hear what she wanted to do if she had the opportunity to do whatever she wants.

Gisela had a ready answer for that, but she gave up on the idea of saying it when she saw the look in Leon's eyes, he didn't want to hear a lie. In the end, Gisela didn't have to think all that much, his choices always tormented her, so if he had the chance to do something besides only surviving…

"… I want to obtain the power to protect my own life." Gisela said, looking at Leon in the eye and showing her determination.

"Very well, it seems you didn't give up on hope yet; I will help you with that." Leon declared. "However, if you try to screw with me or reveal anything that I will do in this room, I will kill you. Do you hear me?"

"Yes!" Gisela said, still overflowing with determination.

Leon created one steel knife and then gave it to Gisela, the process looked so surreal that she hesitated in receiving it. When she accepted it and felt the weight of the knife, she understood what Leon wanted her to do.

"I will only give you three more orders," Leon declared. "Don't try to kill me, don't reveal what I can do to anyone and train here until you obtain the power you want."

"Yes!" Gisela answered.

After making the steel knife, Leon created a sword, an ax, a spear, a staff, a club, a bow, a flail, a hammer, a crossbow, and many more weapons for Gisela. It would take more than a few weeks for her to master those, but at least she would grow stronger while learning how to use them at the same time. Although she hesitated, in the beginning, she trained until she couldn't move her arms.

For a few days, Leon stayed wary of her. He decided to help her because Gisela kind of reminded him of himself, even though she suffered far more. Leon was alone, but Gisela was surrounded by people who didn't care about her or only wanted to use her for their own selfish desires.

Regardless, she trained and kept training until she would collapse of exhaustion. After she woke up, she would eat something and do the same thing over and over again. In the end, Leon was the one who became the 'maid' of the house. He had to buy food, and he even bought new clothes for Gisela since training in her uniform wasn't that practical. He also had to wash both of their clothes, but since he only used magic, it wasn't that troublesome, and it was quite fast too.

When Leon was bored with meditating, he also decided to learn how to wield the weapons he created.

Congratulations! You have learned the skill: Ax Mastery.

You obtained 01 status points.

Congratulations! You have learned the skill: Hammer Mastery.

You obtained 01 status points.

Congratulations! You have learned the skill: Whip Mastery.

You obtained 01 status points.

Before Leon went to work in the dungeons, he slightly dirtied the entrance of his apartment with magic to confirm if the door was opened while he was away. After one week of doing that and not noticing any movements, Leon confirmed that Gisela didn't leave the apartment a single time and kept training single-mindedly the whole time.

"I guess I can trust her... she doesn't have the cursed ring, so I guess everything is fine."

Things also progressed on Leon's side, while faking his progress of the Earth Manipulation, some rumors about him started to spread when he killed a desert wolf alone. Knowing that they could trust Leon to watch their backs, several survivors began to relax around Leon and eventually giving him pieces of information. Some talked about how Japan was too quiet as of late even after the death of the prince, and some spoke about how the conflicts in Europe were intensifying.

The most interesting that Leon heard was the fact that Paul hadn't seen a single rank S member in the organization. With the sole exception of Arthur, he didn't see any rank A members either. It was really surprising since Paul was an examiner since the very beginning and didn't see anyone reaching rank A.

"I guess six months it is not enough for a person to reach a high rank in such organization... unless that person obtains a powerful tome or something."

It was possible that William and the other directors chose the rank A and S members based on the skills and the power they obtained along those four years. It was also possible that members like Paul and Jess would never even reach rank A because they were too busy working and protecting the new employees of the organization.

"Regardless, they will be forced to promote me if I show the results. If I clear a dungeon alone and still don't get promoted, the other members of the organization will get suspicious of the organization itself."

That being said, Leon had to show his progress little by little and everyday while working. However, he was getting impatient. Holding back his powers was starting to get on his nerves. He was even thinking about clearing the dungeon after one month... Anyway, one week had passed, and that day was his first day off, and since Leon had nothing better to do, he decided to learn a few more spells. Surprisingly, Gisela, who always stayed concentrated on her training, decided to strike a conversation.

"Master, why don't you sleep in the bed?" Gisela asked soon after she ended one of her sessions of training.

"I'm not your master... the bed is too comfy for me," Leon said while he was trying to replicate Arthur's skill, the Earth Punch.

"The bed is too comfy?" Gisela frowned.

Gisela was so traumatized to the point where the only emotion she could show before was fear, but after working hard for one week, her body slowly started to remember how to act like an ordinary person.

"It is kind of a pain for me to say this, but..." Leon scratched the back of his head. "Since you told me about your past, I guess I also should tell you about mine. When the monsters appeared, I was on an airplane. Like you, I was also an exchange student, but the airplane fell and ended up stuck on an island for four years. That is why I decided to help you because I can relate to the feeling of returning home and reunite with your family."

"Are they in New York?" Gisela asked.

"No, my parents passed away on the very first day… my little sister is alive in Las Vegas," Leon answered.

As Leon had expected, he wasn't suitable to do that kind of job. Although his libido was still weak, Leon couldn't help but answer all the questions of a pretty lady. It was troublesome, but Leon didn't learn on the island how to become a charismatic person who could fool everyone while collecting the information he wanted. In the end, he could only do that the hard way.

The next month passed rather slowly, but at least things progressed a little. Obviously, in a single month, Gisela didn't manage to close the gap between her and survivors who fought and trained over the last four years. Leveling up skills worked better when one had a target, the more powerful the target, the faster the skills would level up. Despite that, Leon was almost sure that in a single month, she obtained the strength of a person who fought and trained for six months... but that was because she didn't have to worry about anything aside from training. In fact, while swinging a large weapon, she could make the apartment tremble. To avoid any trouble, she suspended her strength training and was focusing on increasing her skill with smaller weapons.

Congratulations! You have learned the skill: Earth Punch.

You obtained 01 status points.

Mana: 10

Congratulations! You have learned the skill: Ice Punch.

You obtained 01 status points.

Mana: 12

Congratulations! You have learned the skill: Fire Punch.

You obtained 01 status points.

Mana: 14

Congratulations! You have learned the skill: Wind Punch.

You obtained 01 status points.

Mana: 14

Leon progressed just a little in comparison with the time he had to train. While he was training to learn Wind Punch, he had the idea to create an invisible attack using wind magic. However, while using wind magic, the projectiles would eventually become visible to some extent, probably due to the mana. Leon tried to create projectiles of wind, but he failed. Besides, even when he created something like a wind needle, the sound of the wind would always reveal the projectile's position.

"Master, do you intend to teach me magic?" Gisela asked.

"For the thousandth time... I'm not your master." Leon sighed. "I could teach you, but it can take months for you to understand and master the basics. But I guess it is worth a try... To make things progress faster, you must meditate at least four hours a day. After your mana and intelligence reach a decent level, I will teach you."

"Yes, master." Gisela nodded.

"Like I said..." Leon massaged his eyebrows.

Gisela would probably return home first before her magic reaches a practical level. Although it wasn't a waste of time learning magic, Leon was very aware of the fact that martial arts suited Gisela. Without a teacher, she reached a level of mastery over the weapons which Leon couldn't help but frown while looking at it. Her movements were fluid, but at the same time fast and sharp. Maybe she always had the talent, but since she didn't have the mindset, she never noticed.

Regardless, the fact that Gisela was still stubbornly acting like Leon was her master troubled him. Mostly because her complexion changed for the better in the last month, she wasn't underweight anymore, and even though she had that scar on the face, she still could be considered a world-class beauty. Since her muscles weren't that big, she could have easily become a top-model if the monsters hadn't appeared.

"Come to think of it... I played a game with such a plot in the past. A random guy suddenly hires a pretty maid and eventually starts to 'play' with her... Ah, now I can understand how come Hector was my best friend in high school, I also was a scumbag..."

After getting rid of those shameful memories, Leon headed to work. He really was feeling like a salaryman. However, Leon soon became aware that things would change. When Leon and the others arrived at the dungeon, he saw several survivors wounded. Paul talked with those survivors and discovered that they messed up.

"The boss of the dungeon defeated them," Paul explained. "It looks like the previous team also failed in defeating the monster. So, it is up to us to kill it."

That was quite surprising, Leon was aware of the fact that the guys who fought at night weren't ordinary survivors. Thanks to that, he had no idea why they would suddenly fail. Either way, it was his chance to get promoted to the next rank.

Although Paul and his team reached the end of that dungeon several times, it was the first time they would challenge a boss. Paul was the cautious type, and even though he was working for a shady organization, he didn't want to see his underlings dying. So, he decided to check their conditions before going to the dungeon. That took quite a while since the group now had thirty members since a few newcomers joined the team in the last month.

"Leonard, try to conserve your strength," Paul said. "When we find the boss, I want you to go all out, all right? You are the one who can cause the most damage of my team, and we can defeat the ordinary monsters without your help."

"Roger," Leon nodded.

Leon showed them that he could control five Earth Arrows, he faked tiredness sometimes, but in fact, he could use those forever without running out of mana. Regardless, there was a reason why the survivors failed. So, he wouldn't drop his guard.

Health: 25

Mana: 1698

Stamina: 70

Strength: 66

Dexterity: 10

Speed: 42

Intelligence: 276

Endurance: 84

Control: 115

Mentality: 97

Luck: 01

Recovery: 600

Willpower: 75

Coins: 464213

Status: 00

Skill List

Active Skills: Earth Manipulation Lv 59, Water Manipulation Lv 34, Wind Manipulation Lv 31, Fire Manipulation Lv 31, Earth Transformation Lv 35, Water Transformation Lv 25, Wind Transformation Lv 30, Fire Transformation Lv 29, Earth Creation Lv 38, Water Creation Lv 34, Wind Creation Lv 27, Fire Creation Lv 33,

Mana Reinforcement Lv 33, Ice Arrow Lv 11, Earth Arrow Lv 11, Wind Arrow Lv 11, Earth Punch Lv 06, Ice Punch Lv 06, Fire Punch Lv 06, Wind Punch Lv 06,

Passive Skills: Craft Lv 54, Meditation Lv 53, Blacksmith Lv 43, Ax Mastery Lv 6, Hammer Mastery Lv 6, Whip Mastery Lv 6, Wind Resistance Lv 09,

Leon frowned when he and the others found the desert wolf boss. He heard that the evolved version of those creatures was bigger and could use wind and earth magic. However, he didn't hear that the boss had two heads.

"It is a mutant; be careful not to destroy the line of defense," Paul said. " Raise your weapons but only focus on the defense; if we make a mistake, the creature can easily bite the heads of two of us at the same time. This time let's leave the damage in the hand of the archers and the mages."

Leon was still the only mage in the team, but Paul said that to increase the morale of the troops. Even though they also knew that they only had one mage... Anyway, the front line moved forward as a whole and at the same pace. Only a few of them had a shield, but most of them were used to blocking the attacks of far bigger creatures using swords, spears, and axes.

However, due to the lack of experience and knowledge of the creature, several soldiers got knocked down when the beast charged forward like the wind. Those survivors screamed when the monster's heads approached them, but Leon attacked the beast's eyes to help them.

Leon's was good, and he aimed perfectly, but for some reason, he only blinded one of the four eyes of the creature. The beast screamed and trembled, giving time for the frontline to recover. Leon attacked again, but just like before, his arrows only slightly wounded the beast's faces.

"Is it using magic to prevent critical damage?"

Leon stopped attacking for a bit, and then he noticed, when some arrows fell on the monster's faces, it always moved to the sides before landing. It was wind magic; the creature was emitting an aura that made projectiles move and even lose power. To make matters worse, his attacks weren't causing as much damage as they were supposed to generate.

" Since it can use wind and earth, it can also resist to those… the wind can decrease the power of fire arrows too…"

There was no archer that could around attack with water or ice arrows, but that was undoubtedly the monster's weakness. Unfortunately, Leon couldn't use those.

"Tch… so troublesome."

Leon could just overpower the creature by changing his earth arrow a little, but it would be suspicious, considering that his first attack only caused little damage. To win, he couldn't use brute force; he had to use strategy since that would be more acceptable in everyone's eyes.

Suddenly creating a single lance using the earth would be suspicious, so Leon decided to put the five arrows in a line and attack like that. The first arrow changed the directions thanks to the wind aura around the beast, but the second pierced the monster's eye. Leon successfully managed to blind the eyes of one head, but it wasn't nearly enough.

The beast quickly found the one who caused the pain and tried to attack Leon, but this time the frontline hold the creature. Arrows fell on the two-headed wolf while it was trying to open the path with brute strength, but those barely scratched the beast's thick fur.

The two-headed monster gave up on attacking Leon; it retreated, and then it happened... a sandstorm inside the dungeon. Using both earth and wind magic at the same time, the beast blinded everyone with a huge amount of sand and strong winds.

"I didn't hear that this thing could use two types of magic at the same time... it is because it has two heads?"

It didn't matter; either way, everyone stayed in position, but in the middle of the sandstorm, no one could see anything. However, Leon knew that he was in danger. He was aware that he would be the first target of the beast in the middle of that sandstorm... it wasn't time to hold back. Fortunately, the sandstorm worked in his favor. He could attack whichever way he wanted, and no one would be able to tell what had happened.

Unfortunately, Leon couldn't see the beast. He only saw it when it was already too late. Instead of running, the two-headed wolf jumped over the frontline and landed right above him... Leon only had time two strengthen two earth arrows and shot before he lost consciousness.

When Leon woke up, he was feeling terrible. He was so dirty that he recalled the days on the island. His clothes were a mess, and his body was covered in sand and blood. Then he remembered his last memory, himself being buried by a massive desert wolf. Leon got up only to see that he was back in the truck and returning to New York.

"Woah, hold on," Paul said. "Stay still for a while; you almost died. Your body is back to normal, but you lost a lot of blood. So, take it easy."

"... Did the monster die?" Leon asked. "How many did we lost?"

"Not a single soul, thanks to you," Paul explained. "Aside from a few scratches, everyone is fine. It looked like the beast lost its ability to deflect projectiles when it used the sandstorm. That is why you managed to kill it before being devoured. Hahaha, you surprised us when we found you under the corpse of the beast."

Leon frowned, even though he managed to avoid the beast's fangs, its weight alone was enough to crush him. In the end, the blood covering his body was his own blood and the beast's blood. Leon wanted to clean himself as soon as possible, but he would have to endure.

"I hate to hold back my powers..."

"Don't make such a face, we completed our mission," Paul said. "Although you almost died, you defeated a powerful beast. You can rest for a few days because you will be promoted."

Leon almost died, but at least he managed to get what he wanted.

Leon managed to spend the first month in New York without letting anyone notice his presence. Although there were some rumors about him, no one knew his face. However, crossing the city covered in sand and blood made him stand out a lot. There was no water near the dungeon, so Leon only could clean himself at home. When Leon opened the door of his apartment, Gisela welcomed him with her mouth wide open of surprise.

"Master, what happened to you?" Gisela asked.

"I'm not your... forget it," Leon sighed. "Can you buy something for our lunch? I'm starving since I lost some weight to recover from my wounds. Don't run."

"Yes, master," Gisela said.

Although Gisela wasn't a stranger anymore and she had to train, Leon pretty much every time he wanted to take a bath, he would make her buy something. It was awkward to clean himself while someone so pretty was nearby, which was even more awkward since Gisela respected Leon a lot.

In the end, Leon burned those clothes since he wouldn't be able to get rid of the smell of blood. Eventually, Gisela returned, and Leon started to eat while recalling the last battle. In the end, the problem was the fact that he was holding back to fit in that organization. However, he almost died because he was too weak physically.

"I guess I will have to train my body more frequently. I can increase my endurance and stamina just by training regularly, but I guess it is time to increase my health too... I'm not on the island, and most of the doubts vanished. I guess I'm ready for some painful training sessions..."

"Gisela, do you know how a person can increase health without using status points?" Leon asked.

"The only way I know of doing that is by eating dragons' hearts, master," Gisela answered.

"Is that so... that is a problem since no one can choose what kind of status the dragon's heart can increase." Leon massaged his forehead.

In the end, it wouldn't be so easy to increase the stat that could increase the amount of damage Leon could take. There was a chance that someone discovered the method of doing that without using a dragon's heart, but since that information was too valuable, only a few handfuls of individuals could know that.

"I can't increase my health permanently... I guess the only is to learn some defensive or support spells."

However, in the end, that was also difficult. Leon could use Mana Reinforcement to increase most of his stats to some extent, but he didn't need that. Besides, it was too inefficient to improve his dexterity or strength when he only used magic. He needed to learn spells that could raise his endurance, speed, and mentality to increase his chances of survival. By increasing those, he would decrease the amount of damage he can receive if he fails on blocking projectiles or direct attacks.

"Creating offensive spells is easy... I just have to give the shape and shot as fast as possible, but I have no idea of the logic behind support spells."

At that point in time, Leon couldn't deny that he was a mage, and he knew the most common defensive spell for a mage, the Mana Shield. However, give shape and physical attributes to mana while he couldn't see it was just too difficult.

"And I didn't even learn how to absorb mana from cores yet..."

The number of things Leon needed to learn increased, but he had no idea how to learn it. His future was uncertain...

One week later, Gisele's mana and intelligence reached a decent level. So, Leon decided to teach her how to use Water Manipulation. Although the building was mostly made of earth, they couldn't use it since it was dangerous. Leon could create some earth to let her train, but he would have a hard time getting rid of that earth. It would be suspicious if suddenly throws earth from his window to the streets…

Sooner than Leon thought, Gisela learned how to manipulate water. He still needed to give her some pointers, but he would do that later because the blond receptionist paid him a visit.

"Hello, long time no see." The blond receptionist said.

"Yeah… is it about my promotion?" Leon asked.

"Yes, I came here to pick you up and take you to where the directors are." The blond receptionist said ."… but first, can I see Gisela for a moment?"

"Sure… Gisela, someone is here to see you."Leon said.

After a few seconds, Gisela left the bathroom and approached the door, obviously, without showing the Water Manipulation. She smiled when she saw the blonde receptionist, for some reason.

"Hello, Sarah." Gisela smiled.

"Hi... you look much better than the last time I saw you." Sarah frowned. "Much, much better... to think that I would see your smile again is kind of surprising. Did something happen? You look... so full of life."

"Yes, thanks to master, I found my path in life again," Gisela said. "Now, I can clearly see the road that will lead me to my goals."

"Is that so... I'm happy for you." Sarah frowned.

Sarah couldn't help but frown; it was only obvious since Gisela looked like an entirely different person. Leon didn't look like the type of person who could change a person so much, much less someone who stared at the abyss for so long... Either way, Leon and Sarah left the building.

"Did you do or say something to Gisela?" Sarah asked.

"Yes, I keep saying to her to stop calling me master, but she doesn't listen," Leon answered.

Leon indeed didn't look like the type of person who could help someone like that, but Sarah decided not to pry. Gisela recovered herself, and that was the only thing Sarah was interested in.

"Is there a reason why you had to pick me up?" Leon asked.

"Yes, rank A and S members of our organization work in a different manner than the members of lower rank," Sarah explained. "They do all kinds of things, and they receive the contents of the jobs from the receptionists who talked with them. It is necessary to create a sense of familiarity between members and the organization."

"I see... so that means that from today onward, I may end up receiving jobs that may take days to complete," Leon said. "But it is also possible that somedays I won't have to do anything?"

"That is right, but you can rest assured," Sarah added. "Your salary will be paid even if you don't receive a single mission in a month, and you will receive a bonus for each mission completed.

After arriving at the main building, they climbed the stairs until they reached the tenth floor. That floor only had four rooms, one room for each director, and a meeting room where they occasionally received visits.

"It is Sarah; I brought Leonard." Sarah knocked on the meeting room's door.

"Come in."

It was the voice of someone fluent in English, so Leon imagined that it was William's voice. Surprisingly, he seemed pretty calm, considering that he was leading a shady organization. Then again, aside from their goals and the fact they were using maids to satisfy the needs of their employees, everything else was pretty decent.

When Leon and Sarah entered the room, he saw three figures sitting around an oval table, in the middle, there was a man who had short black hair. He was tall and had the body of someone who loved to work out. Just by his haircut, Leon discovered that William wasn't an ordinary person; he was once a marine.

On his right side, Leon saw a brown-haired man who had a big mustache. His eyes were sharp but quite calm. His build was short, but despite that, his muscles were well-defined. The person sitting on the left side was a red-haired woman, she kind reminded Leon of Jess since she also some impatience in her eyes. Aside from her hair and eyes, she looked pretty ordinary.

"Director William, Director Sanchez, Director Alisson," Sarah slightly bowed. "As instructed, I brought Leonard."

"Thank you, Sarah, you two may sit," William said.

The table was quite big, so Leon and Sarah ended up sitting on the opposite side of Wiliam. Leon expected the people who were ruling the Allied Forces of the North-America to look a little shadier, but that was probably because he watched too many movies in the past.

"Hello, Leonard," William said. "We heard about you from the examiner, Paul. He told us how you defeated a mutated beast and about your progress in the last month."

"I was lucky in surviving the battle and also in learning a type of magic," Leon said.

"Even though you say that, I can see a lot of confidence in your eyes." William put his elbows on the table.

"Well, I have been practicing that magic a lot, and I guess killing a beast like that also boosted my ego," Leon explained.

"And you should feel prideful of yourself," William said with a severe expression. "Those beasts started to appear recently, but only a few soldiers can defeat them. The number of people in my command that can solo that kind of monsters didn't reach the two digits house... so you can imagine my surprise when I heard that a rank B member in the organization almost single-handedly killed a monster."

"I was lucky, sir," Leon said. "The beast lost its defensive aura when it created the sandstorm."

"Yeah, I heard of it," William nodded. "It is difficult to find mages, much less someone who has so much power. However, you haven't fully mastered your power, have you? I believe you show great promise, but you still need to train for a while longer."

"I also think the same, sir." Leon nodded.

"Very good," William said, and then pulled a map out of his pocket and gave it to Sarah who approached to pick it. "While considering the potential of your growth, I think this is a pretty good place for you to train. Our organization also needed the resources we can obtain there, but we are having difficulties in clearing the dungeon. But with your help, I believe the team stationed there will progress a lot and eventually clear the dungeon."

"Of course, it will be my pleasure to help them," Leon said.

"Good, Sarah will give you the information you will need about the dungeon and monsters," William smiled. "She will also explain to you about your new benefits. You can go now.

"Yes, sir." Leon got up and slightly bowed.

Leon hoped to hear something interesting while he and Sarah left the tenth floor, but something so convenient didn't happen. Either way, now Leon had a good idea of who he was dealing with. He looked to be a cool and collected leader, but Leon was pretty sure that it was just an act. Regardless, in the end, whatever the people in the Allied Forces of the North-America decided to do, he had the final word, and that meant that he was directly related to the death of Makoto's son.

It looked like William was a melee fighter, defeating him wouldn't be easy, much less to imprison him. Maybe some metal clothes would stop his movements, but not for long. So, Leon couldn't just capture him and ask who else was involved. He had to discover who was involved first and then capture all of them later.

"Easier said than done..."

It wouldn't be easy, by the look of things, William was planning to do something big pretty soon. So, to participate in that, Leon had to show results before that. His fake growth in the previous month didn't make anyone suspicious, so Leon could continue doing that.

"Your salary now will be ten thousand coins; you will also receive the same amount every time you complete a job," Sarah explained. " From now on, you will receive 60% of the coins of the materials you obtain. You can also move to a bigger apartment. Lastly... you can have four more maids if you want to."

"I don't need to move, and I don't need to hear more people calling me master..." Leon sighed. "I will barely stay in my apartment, so it doesn't matter."

"Is that so... it looks like you didn't lay your hands on Gisela," Sarah said. "If you are gay, you could have said so. Our organization doesn't care about the preferences of our employees."

"I'm not gay... and like I said, I don't need more people calling me master." Leon sighed. "It doesn't matter if they are male or female."

"All right then... you can go to the dungeon whenever you want," Sarah said. "But I think you should go tomorrow as soon as you and Gisela are ready. I will prepare a vehicle."

"Do I have to take her with me?" Leon asked.

"Yes, the dungeon is quite far from here," Sarah explained. "Going and returning by car isn't that practical, it would take several hours. Besides, even though there is a camp there, everyone has to prepare their own meals and clean their own clothes. Instead of wasting time doing that you should rest, you should make the maid do that for you."

Traveling long distances was easy for Leon, but he couldn't move so fast without a vehicle since his movements were being monitored. He also could wash his own clothes, but it would be suspicious if he doesn't make use of Gisela in that regard. He didn't treat her like a servant, but if someone gets suspicious, they would have problems.

"Okay, I will bring her along..." Leon sighed.

"Very well, the vehicle that will transport you to the dungeon will be waiting for you in front of the main building at 06:00 AM," Sarah said. "I wish you luck."

After saying farewell to Sarah, Leon headed home. Only half an hour had passed between the moment he left his apartment and the moment he returned. It wasn't much, but Gisela was still playing with Water Manipulation.

"Welcome home, master." Gisela smiled. "I never thought it could be so fun training my magic."

"Well, it seems that you will have a lot of time to practice that," Leon said. "I got promoted, and I'm going to a dungeon tomorrow. Since it is far away, you will have to go with me for the sake of appearances. I don't know how the situation of the camp there, but I'm pretty sure the soldiers won't have places to sleep as big as this apartment. Your physical training will be in hiatus for a while."

"Understood, master." Gisela nodded enthusiastically. "Leave all the miscellaneous work to me."

Until now, Leon avoided buying things like pans, spoons, and forks, but now it couldn't be avoided. Leon transferred coins for Gisela to buy that kind of thing and food supplies for at least one week. Sarah and William didn't say for how long he could work in the dungeon, so he had to decide that for himself.

"I guess seven If I work seven days and rest for three should be enough."

Since Leon would also work in killing the monsters who may try to leave the dungeon, he basically would sleep a few hours and fight more than usual. So, that much of resting was fine. Regardless, since they would have to transport a lot of things, Gisela ended up buying a cart too. She also bought charcoal, bottles of water, and products to clean clothes and cooking utensils... and there was still the food. That made Leon frown, his life on the island was inconvenient but much more straightforward. Most problems he could solve with magic, but in human society, he couldn't help but hide his skills.

"The next time, I will think twice before offering myself to do this kind of thing…"

Leon didn't know if someone would inspect his apartment while he was away, but it was better to be safe than sorry. So, in the middle of the night, he sent the weapons he had made for Gisela flying toward the sea.

The next day, Leon and Gisela moved toward the main building, and there they found the driver who would take them to the dungeon. There was no escort party as it looked like the directors only promoted those who could defend themselves outside New York.

After traveling for four hours toward the southwest, finally, Leon and Gisela reached their destination. Leon found several buildings around the dungeon; those were the houses where the soldiers would stay. At least it was big enough for Leon and Gisela to sleep in their sleeping bags.

The dungeon was located in the middle of an abandoned farm, but unlike the other dungeons, that were a cave or a hole... it was a structure that reminded him of a mausoleum. In front of it, he saw stairs that led to the underground, and the darkness of that place made him feel shivers. It was the perfect place for those creatures... Leon's new adversaries were skeletons.

Leon had no idea how come skeletons and giant wolves were in the same class; he could understand that regarding wolves, but not with skeletons. Since they had the same shape as the human skeletons, it was hard to think of them as monsters. But the fact that attacked any living creature was proof enough.

Leon arrived on time to see a tall man smashing a skeleton with a massive hammer since the monsters were undead creatures; the only way to kill them was to smash them into dust. The man who killed seemed to be a very experienced fighter, his movements were fluid, and Leon saw no hesitation in him. But that much was to be expected since he had been selected to be a rank A member in William's organization.

"It looks like this is a special dungeon," Leon said. "I haven't seen any skeletons so far, so there must be a reason for that."

"Master, I heard that the longer those skeletons stay on our planet, the stronger they get," Gisela explained. "I also heard that the directors participated in the battle to exterminate the skeletons that invaded our planet, and they had a hard time killing all of them."

"I think killing is the wrong word here..." Leon frowned. "Still, I wonder why they are having a hard time clearing this dungeon, that guy just killed the skeleton in a single hit. By the way, how can the dust of the skeletons can be used?"

"I don't know how, but I heard that that is used to increase the defense of some equipment, master," Gisela explained. "The process of creation is a secret, and it belongs to the directors."

"Just like the method of creation of the magic items," Leon added.

Leon wasn't interested in increasing his defensive gear, but he was really interested in the process of creating magic equipment. If by chance, he discovers the method, he could create several items to increase the aspects where he was lacking. Health was an excellent example of that.

"Well, let's greet these guys I'll be working with for the next few days, after all" Leon said.

Although Leon wanted to do that, it looked like everyone was resting in those houses. Only the guy who had killed the skeleton was on watch duty. Leon approached him and finally could see his appearance. He was tall and had long black straight hair; it had been a long time since Leon saw a man with long hair... Regardless, Leon hoped for the people who founded the organization with William to be shady people, but that man didn't pass that image through his face and light-brown eyes. He looked battle-hardened due to the several scars in his body, but he didn't look that savage.

"Who are you?" The man asked when he saw Leon approaching.

"My name is Leonard. It is nice to meet you," Leon offered a handshake. "I got promoted recently, and director William sent me here to help."

"Is that so..." The man grabbed his hammer and swung toward Leon's head.

Leon acted fast, sending mana through his feet, he made earth around him become a head-size cube and blocked the that guy's hammer. A huge thud echoed through the air that made everyone inside the houses check what was going on, and they frowned when they saw a mage blocking their leader's hammer without flinching.

"Hoh... it seems the first guy to be promoted isn't so bad." The man said. "Sorry for testing you, my name is Tom, and I'm the leader of the team here... It seems you won't have any difficulties working with us."

"That is not a problem," Leon smiled. "It is only natural to test an outsider. On the battlefield, you can't trust a weakling to watch your back, after all."

"Well said, but to think a mage would be the first one to join our group…" Tom rubbed his chin. "Anyway, you should accommodate yourself in one of the free houses. It is not big or comfortable, but there is enough room to store your luggage. We can talk later."

Leon nodded and then headed to one of the houses that looked empty. Although there were ten of those, only five were being used. It looked like William and the others thought they would be able to find strong individuals to join them quite fast considering the benefits they offered, but soon they understood the cursed ring was like a two-edged sword. It protected them from spies, but it also made his possible allies afraid of them.

There wasn't much to unpack, so Leon and Gisela finished rather quickly. Since she didn't have to participate in the meetings, Leon created a few knives and a bucket of water for her to train and practice Water Manipulation.

While Gisela was playing with water, Leon headed toward where Tom was. While he was away, Tom called the other members of the team; surprisingly, aside from Leon and Tom, the other two were a man and a woman who looked bored out of their minds.

"This is Leon, our new teammate," Tom said. "He is a mage, and considering that the directors sent him here soon after he was promoted, I can see that they expect a lot of things from him and us. We can't waste that much time here; we have to clear this dungeon in the near future."

"Yeah, yeah..." The man said.

"Whatever," The woman said.

Leon noticed that those two would be useless, so he didn't even bother memorizing their names. According to what Leon heard from Tom, the others the same as those two, pretty lazy despite having the power recognized by William. Those two would return the next day and while the other would return to New York to fool around.

"Great... only Tom is working seriously here."