Leon moved swiftly through the forest.
He leaped from tree to tree with incredible speed in a very casual manner. There were almost no difference as when he run on the ground. He was faster than Vyra. That wasn't because Vyra was less skilled than Leon. In fact, in terms of pure mobility, Vyra was faster than Leon. It was thanks to his stats that he could be faster.
Leon could have used <<Gate>> in order to travel between long distances, however he hadn't figure out its activation condition. Although Leon had several hypothesis, he didn't have anytime to test it out due to various problems like the behemoth appearing.
Also, he didn't want to attract unnecessary attention with <<Gate>> which could harm himself and his friends. He would need a stable standing or be backed by a powerful organization first before showing more of his power than he already did. Defeating the behemoth couldn't be help and he did predict that the guild would back him up.
With that thought, Leon arrived at the place where the behemoth's body laid which would take a day to reach in an hour.
Without any sign of fatigue, Leon brought out <<Misteltein>> and began searching for the magic stone by dissecting it. However, the behemoth was incredibly large and its naturally armored back was facing him. He couldn't simply try and cut it casually.
In his predicament, Leon thought of cutting the behemoth in four. It would help the dismemberment of the behemoth later and it would be easier for him to find the magic stone.
He took out <<Misteltein>> and took a stance and position himself beside the behemoth. Even if it is Leon, he would need to use a skill in order to cut through a monster this size in addition to its tough skin.
<<Skill: Heavenly Slash>>
A golden streak of light appeared at the arc in which Leon's sword traveled. It seemed as though nothing happened, but then the behemoth body began to separate into two halves. In addition, there was a fissure on the ground caused by Leon's skill. Though it wasn't as large as the fissure he created when using the same skill on the <<Storm Wolf>> which left a mark on the forest even until now. Mostly because the damage that would've been done to the ground was absorbed by the behemoth's body.
He then repeat the process two more times and cut the behemoth into four parts. After done doing so, Leon then put half of the behemoth into his inventory. He thought it would make it easier for him to find the magic stone if he could see the cross section of the behemoth.
Surely enough, he managed to find a five diameter large half sphere. He touched the magic stone and put it in his <<Inventory>>.
The sudden disappearance of the magic stone left a gaping hole of gore. Leon hurriedly put the other half of the behemoth into his <<Inventory>> and took out the other half. He then took the magic stone similarly to how he did it before and return the body back.
Now that he finished his task, he return back to Lingenia in a similar fashion to how he traveled here.
Although Leon could've jumped over the city wall which was about 20 meters in height, he decided to go through the city gate. He might get arrested by the city guards due to unlawful entry after all. However right after entering the gate, he immediately jump onto the roof of a building and began leaping from one roof to another.
In a few minutes, he reached the Adventurer's Guild and asked one of the guild staff if he could see the guild master. Normally, the guild staff would need to see identifications, however Leon was already well known that she immediately call the guild master.
The guild staff left after leading Leon to the guild master room.
"You're already back?! No, wait. Have you retrieved the behemoth?"
"Yes I have. I came here to ask you to prepare the people who were going to deal with the behemoth and prepare the area to put it. Is it fine?"
"Eh? Ah, okay. I will ask the researchers to go to the area immediately. Thankfully I have gotten the governor's permission immediately. I didn't expect you to return so quickly though. Well... let's go to the area now."
As expected, right after Gera and Leon exited the Adventurer's Guild, numerous people swarmed them. They managed to get through them thanks to Gera. His physique did look intimidating, but that wasn't the reason why they got through quickly. He was a well respected man and when he asked them to make way, they complied. In contrast, Leon had tried to ask them to make way but they didn't listened, making him suspect that physique does play a part.
They finally arrived at the designated area for the behemoth. It was a wide field right outside of the city gate. There was a defensive battle that happened in this place. A large monster had apparently attacked the city and were finally able to defeat the monster with the help of the Adventurer's Guild. Apparently that is also why the permission to use this space was given easily to Gera since the governor was in good terms with him after that incident.
Leon surveyed the field, estimating its size compared to the behemoth. Thankfully, it was large enough to fit even half of the behemoth which was perfect for his cause.
"Then, I will bring out the behemoth now."
Usually Leon would move his hand as if to take something in order to take things out of inventory. However he couldn't do that considering the size of the behemoth. He then simply willed and imagined half of the behemoth's body to appear on the field. As he do so, a slight distortion in space right above the field appeared. It was similar to a ripple on a water surface.
The body of the behemoth appeared on the field and since it was a few centimeters above ground, it fell and caused small trembling. It was a success. Leon successfully retrieved an object from <<Inventory>> only by willing it and imagining the effect. This was also an experiment to him. The magic system in this world differs slightly from Grandeur Fantasia. Thus, he needed to uncover the differences in order to use magic efficiently. There might even be a possibility of using a magic spell and skill which didn't exist in Grandeur Fantasia just.
The researcher had a shocked expression after witnessing this bizarre sight. The sight of a giant monster's corpse even though it was only one fourth of it. Although they had their fill of seeing giant monsters, this was clearly on a different level. This was a monster they heard only from legends.
"Seeing it this close... I still can't believe you defeated this. When you said you were only going to give us a fourth of it for now, I didn't actually thought you would cut it four..."
"I thought it would be easier for you to do research with it. Oh, also what about the magic stone. I would like to keep a part of it for myself since I have interest in making magic items."
Leon needed to learn more about such important system that might become a very useful in the future. It didn't exist in Grandeur Fantasia, thus he would need to uncover its production technique and the power of magic items.
"Then you can sell the rest of the magic stone you don't use to us. Since we had been dealing with magic stones for a long time, we have several connections. I assure you that the price would be good. By the way, how big was the magic stone?"
"10 meters in diameter."
"T-TEN! Are you serious? That's the biggest magic stone I ever knew. Considering the monster it came from, its quality must be first class too."
"Similar to the behemoth, I will sell one fourth of it."
"Of course but I don't think the guild right now would have enough money to buy that, the behemoth's body and the dark monsters corpses from you."
"Then how about you discuss this case to the other guild masters in your meeting? I will hand you a piece of it for research."
"That would be helpful. Thank you Leon."
"You are welcome, Mr. Gera. Oh, can I ask for one favor?"
"What is it?"
"Since my party and I couldn't walk around the city freely, I would like to ask someone to buy foods or the like for us. The inn does provide food, however it would get repetitive in due time."
"Oh, no problem. I will arrange someone to shop for you. You are staying in Red Bear Inn right? I will send someone there."
"Yes, thank you very much. Then I will go back to the inn. Please tell me if there is something you need from me."
"Oh! Much appreciated!"
Leon walked back to the city gates. Although his body wasn't tired, he was quite tired mentally after the things that happened today.
When his guard was down, a swarm of people surrounded him right after he entered the city gate. They were questioning him about the sudden appearance of the large monster near the city gate. After explaining it countless times, the crowd finally calmed down.
Leon finally managed to reach the inn after getting swamped by countless people. He could have arrived earlier if he was getting swamped by males who just wanted to be acquaintances. However the majority of the people who still swarmed him even after he was done explaining were relentless females who asked about his relationship status or if he would consider marrying them. Even after Leon rejected them once they would still approach him, making it very hard for him to escape the sea of people.
Thankfully, the crowd who just wanted to see <<Crimson Lightning>> wasn't allowed to enter the inn. The owner of Red Bear Inn was very considerate of them and Leon thanked him on the way in and finally got the time to relax.
"I'm back."
"Geh, he's really back in a few hours!"
The whole group was relaxing in the inn hall. Apparently they were incredibly bored in their room and decided to hang out. However, they couldn't get out from the inn due to the crowd so they decided to relax in the inn hall after eating.
"Are you really done with your business?"
"Yes. Didn't you feel the tremor?"
"Ah, so that was your doing."
"Yes, it happened when I place the behemoth."
"I see. By the way, we really have nothing to do huh?"
Mia rested her face on her hand on the table and sighed.
"Oh, Leon. There's something I want to ask."
Rafael said.
"What is it?"
"After you defeated the behemoth, I suddenly felt a surge of energy flowing into me."
"Ah! I felt that too."
"Me too."
Rafael, Mia and Lily all said they felt the same thing. However, Leon, Charlotte and Vyra didn't.
"...I think you leveled up. Let me confirm."
Leon used examine onto the three and checked their status.
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Name: Rafael Disium
Age: 20
Job: Adventurer
Level: 36
Title: -
HP: 20682 / 20682
MP: - / -
PHY ATK: 10680 (+2145)
PHY DEF: 9870 (+1250)
MGC ATK: -
MGC DEF: 7650 (+620)
Equipment:
Enchanted Fenrir's Fang (+2145 PHY ATK, +14 STR, +5 AGI)
Enchanted Armor of Geronia (+1250 PHY DEF, +620 MGC DEF, +14 VIT, +5 DEX)
Strength: 35 (+14)
Agility: 28 (+5)
Dexterity: 25 (+5)
Intelligence: 23
Vitality: 27 (+14)
Status: None
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Name: Mia Risellte
Age: 20
Job: Adventurer
Level: 36
Title: -
HP: 10075 / 10075
MP: 20375 / 20375
PHY ATK: 1700
PHY DEF: 3800
MGC ATK: 10550 (+2650)
MGC DEF: 9980 (+600)
Equipments:
Enchanted Hell Rose Staff (+2250 MGC ATK, +15 INT)
Enchanted Robe of Wizardry (+600 MGC DEF, +400 MGC ATK, +6 INT, +4 VIT)
Strength: 22
Agility: 24
Dexterity: 26
Intelligence: 38 (+21)
Vitality: 23 (+4)
Status: None
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Name: Lily Verandi
Age: 18
Job: Adventurer
Level: 27
Title: -
HP: 9525 / 9525
MP: 8562 / 8562
PHY ATK: 7697 (+3550)
PHY DEF: 5240 (+300)
MGC ATK: 6425
MGC DEF: 4350
Equipments:
Wings of Artemis Bow (+3550 PHY ATK, +10 AGI, +9 Dex, Increase Attack, Increase Range, Increase Stability)
Light Leather Armor (+300 PHY DEF, +2 AGI, +3 DEX, +2 VIT)
Strength: 9
Agility: 17 (+12)
Dexterity: 14 (+12)
Intelligence: 16
Vitality: 8 (+2)
Status: None
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"As expected, all of you have leveled up a lot. I think the feeling of a huge amount of power flowing into you is because you leveled up a lot in an instant."
"Ah, I see. Phew, I thought it's something dangerous."
"No, it's fine. But please do tell if you feel something wrong."
The three nodded at Leon's words. This also explains why Leon, Charlotte and Vyra didn't feel the same thing. Since they're all level 100, they either can't level up anymore since they're already at max level in Grandeur Fantasia, or the experience points gained from defeating the behemoth weren't enough to level them up. Although there's no way to confirm which one is correct than to continue farming experience, Leon had to shelf this problem for a later date.
"Hah... Now that I've seen how much I've grown, I really want to test it out. Do we really have to be cooped up in here until they calm down?"
"I have an idea. Do you want to let loose?"
"Let loose? What do you mean?"
"I'm thinking of figuring out what I can do with magic. To do that, I would need to go to an open space. I was asking you if you want to join me."
"I do I do! I want to test how much stronger I've become after leveling up! Also, I want to blow off something with magic too!"
Mia who was sluggishly sitting sprang into liveliness as she pumped her hand up.
"Don't get too carried away you rampaging magic girl."
"What? You want to swing your sword around too right?"
"Well..."
"Lily? What about you?"
"Yes, I would like to train myself too!"
"How about you two?"
"I shall accompany you wherever you go, Leon."
"I follow Leon~"
"I see."
Leon looked at his excited teammate. All of their faces brighten up after Leon propose that.
"But Leon, how do we get to this open space. We would get swarmed by people right?"
"That is something to look forward to. We will be doing this the day after tomorrow."
"Eh! Weren't we going today?"
Mia who was looking forward to it the most ended up raising her voice.
"No, we should consider the our body's condition. We just battled the behemoth yesterday. It wouldn't be strange if there would be body fatigue tomorrow."
"Eh... And I was looking forward to it too..."
Mia plopped down to her sit. Rafael and Lily were also disappointed, although they didn't show it as clearly as Mia.
"Don't worry. I've already asked the guild master to send someone here to buy stuff for us. This would be able to alleviate your boredom slightly right?"
"Really! Good job Leon!"
The three wasn't the only one whose faces brighten up. Vyra and Charlotte's eyes were sparkling too.
The two began discussing what sweets they want to buy together. Since they couldn't go anywhere due to the crowds, they weren't able to buy and eat sweets. They were holding themselves back this whole time.
Seeing his friend's happy faces, he felt glad that he arranged this with the guild master.
-------------------------------------------------------X------------------------------------------------------------
"I-It is nice to meet you members of <<Crimson Lightning>>. M-My name is Karl. I am a pe-person from the guild that had been tasked to he-help you honored individuals who had saved the city from the giant monster, be-behemoth, and be revered as heroes."
Leon and the others were calmly eating their breakfast when suddenly a young man with black hair appeared near the entrance of the inn. He bowed then straighten up after greeting Leon and the others. He looked very nervous and even stumbled previous times while introducing himself. Sweats could be seen on his forehead and some even began to travel down his face.
A little bewildered, all of their response were delayed.
"U-Uhm... Good morning Karl. Nice to meet you."
"I-It is nice to meet you, Ms. M-Mia!"
The young man's face blushed after Mia talked to him. He couldn't even maintain eye contact for a second.
Rafael and Leon did not missed his strange behavior, though they arrived at different conclusions.
"Heh? You got yourself a little fanboy huh, Mia? Has spring finally come to yo-!"
"Shut up, you idiot!"
Mia elbowed Rafael in his stomach. She wasn't doing it out of embarrassment, rather she did it because the young man was getting redder as Rafael spoke. Leon thought that Rafael had a similar thinking to him, that the young man was just a fan of Mia. But he didn't understand why the young man got redder after Rafael said it?
"Uhm... Karl, why are you here this early in the morning?"
"Y-Yes! I had been tasked to do buy things in your stead so I thought I would come in the morning."
Karl weren't as nervous when he was talking to Lily. Although he was still stiff, he was didn't get flustered as much as when Mia was talking to him. Though there seem to be just a tinge of pink on his cheeks. Talking to a beautiful girl like Lily would fluster any men even if they don't have romantic feelings for her, so it was understandable.
"Since he is already here, do all of you want anything?"
Leon suggested that they should buy something since karl was already here. Since they couldn't go out from the inn without attracting crowds, having some snacks to it would alleviate some of the boredom.
Karl took out a piece of paper and pen and got ready to write down their orders. It was a simple ink pen Leon was familiar with.
"Leon, I want to buy desserts!"
"Okay. Then Kalr, would you please buy some sweets? Any kind of sweets would do. Here is the money."
"Oh, then can you buy me some meat snacks. I'm still kinda hungry."
"Then Lily, should we get some desert?"
"Yes! I would like some."
"Vyra, is there anything you would like?"
"If possible, I would also like some desserts..."
"Then please add the quantity of sweets from my order. Here is the extra money."
After receiving the money from all of them and noted their orders, Karl immediately went out and start shopping.
"At first I thought you were going to pay for all of us."
Rafael snickered at Leon seeing that he immediately gave Karl several silvers which was a lot for just buying snacks.
"I didn't have many copper coins. Also I don't mind paying for all of you."
"No, you should mind!"
Mia suddenly burst out between Rafael and Leon's conversation. Karl excused himself after receiving their orders and went on to buy them.
"By the way, when you said we can let loose on an open space tomorrow. How do you plan on getting us there?"
"Again, that is for you to look forward tomorrow. But Mia, I would like to know how you cast spells."
"What do you mean?"
"Are you imagining the effect to cast it or do you just instinctively know it?"
"But you've casted more powerful spells than me... Fine, I'll tell you what I know. You cast spells by imagining the spell and control the mana expended. If you have the affinity for it, then it would be invoked. For example, since I have an affinity to fire, I can cast a small fireball by imagining the spell and control my mana. If I want to cast a larger fireball, then I'd just change the amount of mana."
"I see. Then what if you don't have a clear image of the spell? Would you be able to cast it?"
"No, the spell wouldn't be invoked in that case. That is why it would be easier for magicians to learn by seeing the actual spell being casted. They could learn by reading magic scrolls which contain descriptions about the spell but it would be harder."
"Then, if I can imagine the spell, have the required mana and affinity to it, I can cast any spell?"
"Well yeah, but some spell would require more mana than you think so be careful."
"Okay, I'll be careful. Thank you for teaching me."
This was an incredibly useful information for Leon. Unlike Grandeur Fantasia which only had a set amount of spells, he could cast any spell if he could imagine it. He had affinities to all elements and considering he has the mana of a level 100 mage, he could, in theory, use any spells.
He had a lot of mana, but not infinite. He would need to use spells efficiently. If he just rampaged around, he would run out of mana in no time.
Even so, this would be very useful, especially in a world where monsters such as behemoth could exist. Not to mention if they were targeted by humans, having more variety of magic spells would be useful.
An hour later, Karl came back with with several baskets full of the ordered food. Leon and the others thought they could stay there and began snacking. However the people who saw the figure of <<Crimson Lightning>> when Karl opened the inn door began crowding. The inn boss managed to hold them off but Leon suggested they return to their rooms to not trouble the inn boss further.
Mia then suggested to gather in a room and talk. She was clearly bored and wanted someone to talk to. They all agreed to it and walked towards Lily and Mia's room because they were in a double bedroom.
AN: Here's the first chapter for the week guys~ Hope you enjoy it! Please look forward to the next one XD