(A/N: this is for those who want Lee Hyunjin to grow stronger.)
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Levi had come to see Lee Hyunjin again after a few days had passed.
The other was still laying in bed but he was doing much better, after a thorough check up they found his nervous system wasn't damaged and he was fine though the cause of his flickering consciousness was undetermined.
Lee Hyunjin was sitting up in his bed, Minhee was hanging over his shoulder whilst Minjae and Minho were taking turns sitting in his arms.
Lee Hyunjin smiled at Levi in gratitude and said, "thank you for looking after me."
Levi shook his head, "I did no such thing, don't thank me."
Cerberus who was in his small size somewhere besides Lee Hyunjins bed said, "it's true, he did absolutely nothing except call a doctor. Your gratitude is wasted, it was that biscuit child that did all the work."
Levi sighed, "anyway how are you feeling now?"
Lee Hyunjin answered, "I feel much better!"
"Really? That's good, I have an offer to make you," Levi said, he could already see Lee Hyunjin about to reject so he calmly stated, "though my offer in that regard still stands, there an addition to it."
Lee Hyunjin felt a bit embarrassed since the other had figured he jumped to conclusions, he said, "then what is it?"
Levi explained, "Cerberus told us you were trying to use some sort of ability and your lacking control led to a spirit backlash. I don't know if you know this already but spirit backlashes usually have horrible consequences, you could end up blind, paralysed, crippled or in coma and worse off dead," the more he said the more Lee Hyunjins face paled, "Cerberus also told us the spirit in your body was from Eneri, that's probably why you haven't ended up with such horrible consequences but I can't guarantee that any further attempts won't lead to such results," Levi watched Lee Hyunjins expression grow grimmer with everything he said, he expected as much. It seems Lee Hyunjin really hadn't been taught much about spirit.
Levi after delivering a serious of heavy blows finally handed over the solution, "thats why I'd like to offer you strength."
"Strength?" Lee Hyunjin asked confusedly.
"Yes strength. I realised I'd been asking you to come with me to Ifvnar but I never offered you anything in return, that was highly rude of me.
That's why I'd like to offer you something I think you want, you are a person that wants to protect the people around you but you lack the strength to do so. I can give you that," Levi said, "I can teach you how to use spirit so your life and the lives of those around you won't be in danger."
Lee Hyunjins eyes widened as he listened to Levi's words. It was true he wanted strength, he wanted to protect the kids, Min, Qin Yu and to protect himself.
Levi hadn't finished speaking, he said, "you are weak but you are aware of your weakness and you seek to change that, you wouldn't have been practicing how to use spirit if you didn't want to get stronger. I'm saying that I can help you."
Lee Hyunjin thought Levi was right, it was a tempting offer, he asked, "and in return, I go to ifvnar with you?"
Levi didn't directly answer him, he instead said, "my team is aiming for the centre of Ifvnar, that's where you plan to go right? Come with us, I can train you along the way and you can deal with the matters you have in ifvnar without dragging your friends into it."
Lee Hyunjin thought for a good few minutes, he didn't give a response during those minutes and then he stood up from the bed and walked towards Levi silently, he looked the other in the eye and asked, "can you guarantee my family's safety?"
Levi didn't seem to understand so Lee Hyunjin said, "you want me to come with you but can you guarantee that you will protect my kids? I am weak, I can't protect them so what I'm saying is, if I go in there with you will my kids be safe?
I'm more than certain we will be attacked what I want to know is even if we are attacked will Minhee, Minjae and Minho be fine?"
Levi could only see Lee Hyunjins one black eye as the other was covered but he could see the determination etched in his pupil.
Lee Hyunjin seemed like a wimp and a pushover and it's not entirely wrong to say he is but when it came to the people he cared about, no one was more unmovable than him. That was the kind of person he was. Levi realised this, he thought, I may have underestimated him.
Levi knew Lee Hyunjin cared about the little beasts that stayed close to him, he didn't know what relation they were to him or how much he cared but after hearing Lee Hyunjin's words he understood.
Levi was the same with Artemis after all, he'd watched Artemis grow and become the magnificent creature he was, he wouldn't look down on another person who saw these nonhuman creatures as family.
Lee Hyunjin did not ask for his own safety, he asked for the safety of the children around him.
Levi smiled, it was a genuine smile, "Mr. Lee, I can guarantee the strength of not just myself but my entire team, we are not weak and we will do everything we can to make sure you all are safe."
Lee Hyunjin nodded his head, it wasn't a definite answer but it was enough for Levi to know he was seriously thinking about it.
Levi said, "think over it some more, but do rest, you are still in recovery."
"I will, thank you."
When Levi walked out, Lee Hyunjin felt his shoulders relax. He hadn't even realised how tense he'd gotten.
"Hohoho, strange human, I've never seen you be so serious, it's quite the site. I am impressed."
Lee Hyunjin had a face full of black lines, "Cer what are you doing here?"
Cerberus proudly threw his master under the bus, "my master told me to watch over you. He was worried about you."
"I see, I'm fine now, you may go," Lee Hyunjin said politely.
"I'd rather not, I prefer your company to my masters," Cerberus said.
Lee Hyunjin sighed, Cerberus sometimes seemed like an old man but on some days he was just like a little kid. "Then I'm going to sleep a bit more, keep the kids company please."
"Alright, sleep well strange human."
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(A/N: my cute son, do you really think your crappy luck will just sit back and watch you get stronger? You underestimate me— ahem* it, you underestimate it too much.)
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Later that day, a member of one of the squad he'd sent out returned in a hurry. His blonde hair was dishevelled and his breathing was chaotic, he literally jumped through the window and rushed over as fast as he could before slamming his hands down on Levi's desk and saying, "bad news"
Levi arched a brow at Riven who quickly realised that right now he was acting as a subordinate and not friend, "your highness," he immediately bowed, "the fourth hero, Ms.Lee Byeol has been taken captive."
"What do you mean?" Levi face remained unchanged but his tone was serious.
"She happened to be in our area as we were moving along, so just as you'd ordered us we kept surveillance of her whilst performing our tasks in that area.
Then it was as if she saw something, she started chasing after it. Two of my team members and I chased after her just to be sure, but we found something strange.
It looked like some kind of spirit device and there was some indecipherable language on it, Ms. Lee was looking around the area when these strange people dressed in dark robes jumped out and attacked her,
We tried to step in but those people.... they were using corrupted spirit, it was unnatural. A member of my team was gravely injured we retreated in order to regroup and pass on the information to you, currently the other two members are stealthily following the group that took Ms.Lee but my assumption is that we may not be able to keep up with them."
Levi took in all this information and gave out his orders, even in such a situation he remained calm, "get ready to move out and lead the way, we will pursue the enemy and rescue Ms.Lee."
Levi headed over to Kim Jaehyun's room, before he even reached the door, Kim Jaehyun had already walked out.
He was holding Minjae in his hands, the little one had snuck into his room at some point, he seemed to be playing hide and seek.
Kim Jaehyun was about to turn towards Lee Hyunjins room to return the cub when he spotted Levi approaching.
He arched a brow and flashed a grin, "your highness."
Unfortunately, Levi came bearing bad news, he directly said, "Mr.Kim we have an emergency."
"Oh? What happened?" Kim Jaehyun was still relaxed.
Levi quickly explained the situation to Kim Jaehyun, "....as such, we will need your strength."
Kim Jaehyun finally stopped smiling, he said with an irritated expression on his face, "so you're asking me, not as a 'hero' but as a member of the elite knight squad, correct?"
Levi nodded.
Kim Jaehyun sighed, "fine, let's go, she's still one of my classmates anyway."
Levi asked Kim Jaehyun to meet him at the entrance to Ifvnar in ten minutes. They would enter the forest, gather Han Shinwoo and Park Haejin whilst heading towards where Lee Byeol was.
Kim Jaehyun quietly opened the door to Lee Hyunjins room, the other was still sleeping soundly when he set Minjae down on the bed and told the little one to be quiet.
He was about to walk out when Cerberus spoke to him using the link formed by the contract between them. Master, will you still not take me with you?
Kim Jaehyun pursed his lips and nodded.
Master you can't be this pett—
-Cerberus, I'm leaving you here because I suspect once he wakes up he'll try to come after us, at that time, if you cannot convince him otherwise, come with him.
Cerberus silently looked at his master, he didn't respond to what Kim Jaehyun had said.
-besides, if anything should happen, I'll call you but if you don't get to me in time I'll starve you for the next two months
Cerberus chuckled, I understand master.
Just like that Kim Jaehyun left and joined Levi and Riven. The three of them immediately set off.
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Lee Hyunjin woke up when night dawned. He felt fully rejuvenated, though still a bit dizzy.
He found Cerberus still there along with the children and Zeiha. "How long was I asleep."
"Five hours," Cerberus answered.
You slept quite long, Zeiha said.
Seeing their eldest was awake, Minhee and her went to nuzzle Lee Hyunjin. Lee Hyunjin gathered them in his hands and asked Cerberus, "have they eaten?"
Cerberus nodded, "the young biscuit lady came over and fed them, she's taken good care of them whilst you were resting."
Lee Hyunjin nodded his head, he made a note to properly thank her when next he sees her.
"What about Jaehyun and Mr.Levi?"
Cerberus said, "they left a while ago, they were some matters to attend to."
"Was it urgent?" Lee Hyunjin asked.
Cerberus nodded, "indeed so, hence they left hurriedly."
Cerberus had no intentions of telling Lee Hyunjin why they'd left, after all his master would prefer it if Lee Hyunjin didn't try to enter ifvnar again.
Lee Hyunjin remained clueless until Cerberus suddenly rose to his feet, for the first time since Lee Hyunjin met this beast, he saw the other wear an expression of worry, his voice sounded as profound as ever yet there were hints of urgency, "my master is in danger."
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(A/N:
Which do you think Cer is more concerned about, his master or being starved for two months?
I have been waiting to get to this arc ever since I planned it out, I'm so glad we're finally here
Oh sweet bread the chaos I have been wishing for🤩🤩
It's finally here, it was hard but we made it
And right now~~ "it's all coming together real nicely now isn't it"
Let's all have some bread 🍞🍞🍞🍞 🍞🍞🍞🍞and milk 🥛🥛🥛🥛🥛🥛🥛🥛🥛)