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RSTUM 113
🕑 Added 2023-06-30 16:03:10 +0000 UTC113: Horny as Fuck
"No, I can't accept what you are saying."
"Brother Clark, this is not the time to be stubborn. The whole temple just witnessed it."
"Sister Minerva, I respect you, I truly do. But unless it is the High Minister who says this, I am not going to extend such an offer to Leon Dark."
"But you have seen it. How can you not believe what your eyes just saw?"
"I don't know what to believe. Fine, if you want it done, do it under your name."
"But I have no such credibility. The Darks won't even listen to me."
"That's your problem, sister. If you want to dip your fingers in this pile of mud, only get yourself dirty."
Minister Clark went away while it seemed that his relationship with Minerva had already worsened more than that time when they got on each others' wrong foot.
What was witnessed today in the temple wasn't a simple matter. At first, Minerva was suspicious that Leon Dark was practicing the Dark Arts yet with no proof of that, she decided to withdraw her investigation, especially when he has this much talent.
But not only was he blessed with Light, he was much more than that.
He is Loved by Light.
Minerva couldn't understand how but it was indeed a problematic situation enough for an old Minister like Clark to take his hands away from it.
Not only was that child loved by light, but his affinity to the Shadows was also high enough that he would use it unconsciously. This would go against all the propaganda spread by the temple and any Minister involved in this matter will be expected to handle it with great care. Minister Clark withdrew his hands and decided to let the High Minister of the Regional Temple be the one to deal with it.
As for Minerva, she wasn't able to make heads and tails of the situation and with Clark not supporting her, she could only return to the Regional Temple and ask for the High Minister's advice on the matter.
A boy with strong connections to both Light and Shadows appeared but as he was to be rebaptized by light, he absorbed an unimaginable amount of it to the point where the whole Temple of Stormdale blacked out. On the other hand, the boy himself was glowing like a Golden Saint.
And then without any warnings, the boy discharged all the Light Mana back to the temple and left with his family on high alert. They announced his Talent to the public as an S-Rank with a 118% rate of growth and left the Temple in a rush back to the Garden Palace.
What this meant for young Leon Dark was a mystery even for Minerva who came from St. Lanus but one thing is for sure, this is certainly the rise of a new actor in the east, the Rise of Leon Dark.
***
"I've always known Leon was no ordinary kid but… this is way better than I imagined." Lance couldn't hold his smile at all.
"You're serious?" Lara looked at him and wouldn't have backed her punches if not for Galawin, "You do realize that neither the Temple nor the Kingdom will leave Leon at peace now."
"They, along with everyone else in the world, will learn of our little brother's excellence." Lance said fervently, "Didn't you see how the people looked at him? They called him Saint Leon. My little brother is a Saint! Hahaha!"
"Alright, that's enough." Erielle spoke to the two as she walked out from Annabelle's study.
"Mother, what is going on in there?" Galawin asked as he made sure not to move between the smiling Lance and the glaring Lara.
"Annabelle and Leon have gone mad, that's what's happening! And they call me a mad scientist. For heaven's sake!" Erielle seemed baffled by something but she wasn't as angry as Lara or as happy as Lance.
"And?" Lara asked, "What are they up to?"
"Just go in and see for yourself." Erielle said and walked away, "I'll go do my work."
After they arrived, Annabelle took Leon and entered the study before locking themselves inside. Erielle was later called and she seemed to have used her Knowledge Magic intensively.
In the end, Lance, Lara, and Galawin entered the study where Leon was sitting beside Annabelle as they were browsing a few books together. Most of these books were about Alchemy and Artifacts and it seemed that Leon had gone through some of them judging by how he was holding his head from dizziness.
Other than that, there was a paper with some written scribbles on it that seemed to mimic how the System views things.
————————————————————
[ Photosynthesis ] < Light Magic Spell - ★★★ >
Attract the Mana of Light to yourself and charge your constitution with its beneficial effects. The Light Mana enhances your condition and boosts your ability to cast Light Magic on the following stages.
- Stage 1: You become resistant to diseases, your Light magic costs less Mana while your Shadow magic costs more.
- Stage 2: Along with all the previous benefits, you become immune to diseases and you become able to see in the darkness.
- Stage 3: Along with all the previous benefits, your skin becomes resistant to non-magical attacks and glows like the sun as your body heals 10 times faster.
- Stage 4: ???
————————————————————
"What is the matter?" Lance asked.
Leon and Annabelle turned to them and she was the one to reply.
"I have underestimated the unique spells Leon has learned. Those past few days, we focused on the basics but it seems we need to pay attention to all these hidden variables he has in his pocket."
"Not underestimation. It is just that I have strange spells and I lack some common sense." Leon said.
"I wouldn't blame you for it, no." Annabelle massaged her temples and looked between the paper Leon wrote to her about his strange spells and the one that had his status from the Temple, "Lance, you had your brother's status report sent to the Ducal Palace?"
"Yes." Lance replied, "A copy sent to the place, a copy to the Silver Peaks Academy, and a copy to the Regional temple. Also, send another copy to my father in the Guardian Palace and one more to Karanberg."
"Mother… that's…"
"The sooner we announce Leon as a late bloomer, the better. Also, none of it matters since Leon was able to conceal most of his real Status anyway."
"Conceal?"
The three young people looked at Leon who only winked back at them. Lara went ahead and took Leon's status report to examine it carefully.
"If that's what's revealed on paper, I guess you were still showing off, mother." Lara said.
"Showing off, I did." Annabelle said while busying herself with Leon's report on his unique spells.
Lara looked closely at the paper and started to feel out where the concealing was done. But as she thought about it, she found something that made her raise her right brow.
< Talent: S (118%) >
It is not about the talent rank being S but about the number written beside it, 118%.
"You did that one on purpose, huh?" Lara pointed at the number while asking Annabelle.
Annabelle only smiled and didn't reply.
"I see."
"What is it?"
The other looked at the number and it was Lance who understood it right away while Galawin didn't seem to get the reason behind it.
"She told me it must absolutely be 118%." Leon said.
"This again… Mother couldn't let that one slide." Lance said.
"The same year you were taken, our half-sister Dawn was announced to be a rare genius in the family with 117% S-Ranked talent. In contrast, you were the weakling with a 17% E-Ranked talent." Lara explained.
"You can imagine how our father's second wife acted. She visited the duchy, rubbed the salt on our wound and made a festival for her daughter saying that she is better than you by a complete 100%." Lance continued.
"Heh!" Leon laughed and turned to Annabelle, "So you needed me to be just 1% better than her daughter?"
"1% is all it takes."
Annabelle seemed to have fulfilled a minor goal and satisfied herself. As for what really matters, she was taking care of it well.
Leon spent the rest of the day conversing with her about Magic Spells. Once it was nighttime, he had some other plans to attend to.
***
Without asking for consent, Leon decided to leave the Garden Palace and head to the streets after sunset. He wasn't really keen on staying in that large palace and needed his own free time as a man. Annabelle was nice for the past three days but he has some business he needs to take care of.
He changed back into his commoner clothing and walked the streets with a cap on his head. He was even smoking from his pipe and was nothing like how he looked this morning in the temple.
First, he headed towards the Mercenary Hall and met and used his identity as Leon to ask a few questions like who is the best weapon maker in town and where to get his hand on more adventuring gear.
All people pointed him to a neighborhood in the city called the Dwarven Quarters far from the eastern part of town. But knowing that the Dwarves are some expensive workers, all he needed was the next best thing that can offer good items for affordable prices. Yes, he was the son of the Duke and all but he still didn't get his allowance from the Elders and he didn't need to get any.
So rather than a Dwarf, the next best thing he found was a half Dwarf or rather, the half-Dwarf twins Boris and Katarina.
Their shop wasn't far from the Dwarven Quarters but as their talents seemed to have faced tough competition from their Dwarven far relatives, they had a solitary workshop outside the main weapon market. Leon arrived there and walked a few pristine roads until he reached their workshop.
"Hello."
"Welcome… a customer, huh?"
As he entered, he was greeted by those who seemed to be the owner of the shop.
"Brois and Katarina, I assume?" Leon asked.
"You got us. Hope we don't owe you any money." Boris, a short man with a light beard and chestnut long bright hair, greeted him with a smile.
"Just my third day in the city, Master Boris. I was hoping to hire your expertise as a weapon maker." Leon spoke and walked in the tight hallway of the workshop.
"Well, don't be shy, come join us for dinner and tea."
With friendliness and hospitality, the half Dwarf invited Leon for a third seat around the small table they set up before the fire of their furnace. On it, there was a small feast of meat, bean soup, and herbal drinks.
"I wouldn't want to interrupt your meal. I'll wait outside as you finish!" Leon said as he felt awkward by the friendly invitation.
"You want the Saints to abandon our small shop, brother? Share thy bread with those who walk on thy meals." Boris became worked up immediately as he almost pulled Leon in to eat.
"My brother is a bit brash but he means well, I apologize for his behavior." Katarina spoke as she stood to greet the guest who was joining their meal.
"I kinda felt that!" Leon said while opening and closing his hand which seemed to have suffered from the mighty grip of the half Dwarf.
"So, what's your name, brother?" Boris asked as literally started to split his beard with Leon.
"I'm called Leo." Leon replied while looking at the bread in his hand and smelling it lightly before eating.
"You already know but I am Boris and this is Katarina, my twin sister. Who referred you to us?" Boris asked.
"A fellow from the mercenary hall. Didn't quite catch his name… or maybe I did, my head is not good with names." Leon replied and started eating.
"Whatever! Just eat before it gets cold." Boris said while hitting Leon on the shoulder.
A real brash half Dwarf, he is.
Leon moved his shoulder a bit to channel the pain before noticing that Katarin stepped on her brother's foot under the table. Boris turned to her, saying "What?" before receiving her glare for his brash attitude but he didn't seem to care too much about it.
Just like her brother, Katarina had the same chestnut hair and round face but with cuter features. Her shoulders were broad for a girl but Leon attributed that to her Dwarven ancestry in his mind. Noticing as he was checking both of them with interest, the quick-witted Katarina spoke to Leon.
"So, Loe… What service did you want to receive in our workshop?" She asked.
"Weapons maintenance. Maybe some replacements, extra ammunition, and such. I may as well browse for some new gear." Leon replied.
"You must be loaded, brother." Boris said jokingly but his foot was stepped on again by his sister.
"Money is irrelevant, brother, as long as I get my money's worth." Leon replied the same way Boris speaks.
"Aha! Don't worry about your money's worth." Boris said and patted Leon's shoulder, "We may have a tough competition out there so we know how to get our customers to stay. Surely you heard."
"Sure I did." Leon nodded, "The Dwarves have their own closed quarters and don't let others open business inside."
"Aye, the Iron Alley, they call it." Boris said and spat on the floor, "Not even half Dwarves can open business in. Still, after we really understood what goes on in there, I'm pretty happy they don't accept others."
"Doesn't this mean they get to keep their craft private?" Leon asked.
"That they do. Bastards know how to shape metals as if they were possessed by metal spirits. But once you get into their market, you don't know who works for who. You just have to meet a broker and he takes you around. If you want something forged, you tell the brokers and they guide you around. You pay the broker, you pay the shop, you pay the market tax."
"And all the Dwarves work in a single unity?" Leon asked.
"Aye! They all work under the Dwarf Elders led by Ivan No-Tooth." Boris asked and spat on the ground, "Fucking pigs!"
"I see. This Iron Alley works like a big foundry to produce anything made of metal and because they all work together, they don't give independent workshops like yours." Leon summarized.
"That's one way to sum it up." Boris said while sighing.
"That's the only way to sum it up." Katarina shared her opinion, "The goal of the Iron Alley is to forge faster, make the loudest noise, and sell at any prices they see fit. Sometimes they even lower their prices and quality so much so they can flood the market and we are left with nothing to work on for weeks."
"How the hell can anyone call this the spirit of a Dwarven Smith?" Boris said and let out a sigh filled with regret and reminiscence.
"And all the dwarves work like cogs in a machine?" Leon asked.
"Exactly as you put it." Boris said.
"Good old capitalism, huh!" Leon mumbled.
As the group finished eating, Boris picked the small table up and Katarina walked behind the counter.
"So, Mr. Leo. We are ready to take your order."
Without waiting, Leon put his hand in a small satchel at his side and started calling out his items from his Storage magic. It looked to the others as if he was calling out big items from that magical satchel.
"A Deep Pocket?" Katarina asked with a raised brow.
Leon almost lost his calm and laughed but it seems those storage items some of the people he met have are called Deep Pockets.
"It's just an old thing a senior passed down to me." Leon said while in fact, it was something that he stole from a second-hand leather shop on the way here.
"Well, it is not my business anyway." Katarina replied and started to check out the things Leon lined up in front of her.
"This many Crossbows, huh? Sure you ain't a half Dwarf too?" Boris asked as he returned from behind a different door.
"Switching between this many crossbows gives me the upper hand when I deal with too many opponents." Leon said.
"True." Boris started picking up the crossbows along with his sister to examine their condition, "You are not an expert at maintaining your weapons, huh?"
"It is a skill that I am still working on but I can tighten a few screws here and there. The bowstring, however, on many of those crossbows seemed to have started drying and getting damaged."
"We'll wax the good ones and replace the others." Katarina said as she took the crossbows to the back.
"Take a look at this one." Leon said and took out the Goodnight crossbow.
Boris received the Goodnight from Leon and slowly had his eyes widened.
"Holy Mother of Light." Boris exclaimed, "Look at this marvel! Who made such a thing? Nightwood? Dark Iron? And… is that handle covered with Iron Bull Leather? And the string… Ironsilk! This is… it's a masterpiece!"
"Alright, brother, who did you rob?" Katarina had a similar expression to her brother as she asked Leon.
"The Crown Prince of Amber." Leon replied without a shred of dishonesty.
"Yeah, that would make sense." Boris replied, "It's a beauty! Can I take it for the night? I swear I'll just spend all night looking at it."
"Please don't." Leon replied, "I was just asking for something to help me reload it easier. I've seen those mechanisms that spin like winches to pull the string. I get lightheaded every time I try to reload it barehanded."
"You can reload this barehanded?" Boris looked at Leon with a shocked face, "Brother, I'll never go in a fistfight with you… ever! Still, a Cranequin won't do you any good. You need to mount it, pull the string with it, then after you shoot, you need to extend it again before you reload with it. It's a hassle."
"Urgh!" Leon seemed tired as he was trying to dodge the problem the Goodnight causes when he has to go into a crunch position just to reload this damn Arbalest.
"But… I have some good news for you." Boris said with his eyes lighting up.
"Say it." Leon looked at him.
"See, brother. I was working on this thing. Between you and me, it is a waste of time to mount it on crossbows but with a ballista made with these insane materials… I actually think my invention wasn't a waste of time after all."
"What sort of invention is it?" Leon asked.
"It's something that the Dwarves are insane about and not let out to outsiders but we were taught how to make it when we were pups by our pa. Even if I explain it to you, your human brain will just melt before comprehending it. Still, it will make your Arbalest heavier but a chap like you who can reload this beast with his bare hands can still manage."
"Oh boy! You're getting me excited." Leon smiled, "Will it be fast?"
"You won't need to switch between other crossbows from now on." Boris said.
Leon's heart almost skipped a beat.
"I am thanking my lucky stars for the moment I agreed to sit at your table, brother." Leon smiled and shook hands with Boris.
"And I am thanking mine for the moment I decided to invite the owner of such a beast in." Boris shook Leon's hands as fervently as Leon, "I'll start working right away. Come to me after 3 days."
Boris rushed back inside his workshop with the Goodnight and left Leon and Katarina.
Seeing the wide and excited smile on Leon's face, Katarina smiled.
"You will deprive my brother of 3 nights of sleep. It will cost you a lot, you know." She said.
"Money was never and will never be a problem." The Black Cobra replied with a grin behind his calm facade.
"Alright. Anything else?" She asked.
Leon didn't reply and piled in front of Katarina his arsenal of weapons and armor which he uses. He asked to repair what can be repaired, exchange what can't be repaired, fix his Ebonthread Suit and add some layers of protection to it and even requested some tools for his thieving escapades.
It was going to cost him indeed but he has some gold from the few jobs he made in Karanberg and it seems that Leon Dark has never had any allowance in years which will also come in handy. And also he can just contact the Twilight Syndicate in Stormdale and do some business to get more money if he really needs to make his own cash.
Nothing would stop him in this world and now that Boris is making him the equivalent of a high-powered sniper rifle, Leon has never been happier since he came to this world.
But just at this moment, the door to the shop opened and a tall figure walked in. Leon and Katarina turned to see who just joined them and their expressions took different turns.
As for Leon, his expressions plumped. As for Katarina, we will get back to her in a few seconds.
The man who walked in was none other than Lance Dark, Leon's elder brother. He was wearing his standard knight suit and carrying a small puppy in his arms.
*Aarf* *Aarf*
The dog barked twice as it saw Leon and jumped from Lance's arm to run at Leon and started to bite the end of his pants.
"I was just returning home, man. You didn't need to bring a hunting dog to pick my scent." Leon said.
"Something has come up and Mother sent me to pick you up." Lance said as he finally emerged from the doorway.
Once Lance entered the shop, he slowly became silent while looking in the direction past Leon.
Leon frowned a bit and looked to the other side to see Katarina standing there just as silent as Lance.
Leon looked back at Lance to see his face getting red a little. He then turned to Katarian to see hers getting red too.
He waved his hand between the two and it seemed as if he had become invisible to them. He frowned, looked left, looked right, looked left again, looked right again, and then backed away slowly and picked the small puppy up.
"Lance, this is Katarina. Ka tarina, this is Lance."
"Hello… Katarina…"
"Hello… Lance…"b
"You guys are horny as fuck!"
