Chapter 44: Rumors

Leon looked at the man that was standing. He also saw some eyes pinned on him in the way they did when they wanted to cause trouble.

’Tch, I don’t have the time for this,’ Leon thought. He pushed himself further back into the counter and relaxed his body.

"I’m not really in the mood for this," he said casually.

The man frowned, veins popping on his head when he heard that.

"You brat," he growled and launched a punch. His fist moved through the air faster than normal. Leon moved his head to the side fast, and the punch went right past him.

The man pulled back. He gritted his teeth hard.

"You wanna play, huh?" He swung. This time, his hand crackled with lightning, and Leon knew that he had activated some sort of skill or ability.

He stepped to the side fully and evaded the attack. The fist slammed into the counter and shattered it. Pieces of wood flew in every direction.

Leon had learned that people who were not mages had other ways of using mana. Even those that did not use swords, abilities and skills could be awakened through special means, and it allowed them to do superhuman things.

It was limited in many ways from what he had seen, but it allowed them to get the job done, like what he was facing right now.

’Who just attacks someone out of the blue?’ Leon thought, his hand already reaching for his sword. He pulled it out while his other hand touched the blade and caused a cold air to wrap around it.

The man’s fist came in again, and this time he blocked with the side of his blade and was pushed back. He slid back on the floor until he got close to the wall, where he leaped up, his feet pressed against the wall, and he flipped right over the man, landing behind him and placing his sword on his neck.

"Back off," Leon said. He was not speaking to the man but rather the other men that had gotten up and wanted to attack from behind.

The man felt the blade on his neck, yet he turned around and looked Leon right in the eye.

"What’s a child going to do with a sword, kill me? Do you know what it takes to kill a man?" He asked while smiling.

Leon pressed the blade into the neck of the man. Blood started seeping out. The man realized that Leon was not joking right now. He reluctantly raised his hand and surrendered.

Leon dropped his sword and started walking out. Everyone watched. But the moment he got to the door, a chair came flying at him. Leon did not look back. A wall of ice formed and blocked the chair. It shattered on impact.

The ice formed into a blade and then shot at the man, stabbing into his shoulder. Blood gushed out as it came out from the back. The man groaned in pain and collapsed to the ground while Leon left.

He stood outside the tavern for a few seconds, stared at the street outside, and moved. The street was filled with activities, people walking, carriages passing, and all sorts of businesses happening. This was Oden, one of the largest business cities in the empire in the south.

It served as a place where all the sea-related products for the towns and cities at the edge of the empire would come to meet the other produce from other sides of the empire to allow better trading.

It was a hub for all sorts of things and so the best place to gather information and also start life anew. Leon had come here first not because he was meant to come here, but simply due to the fact that as he travelled, he overheard some other travellers speaking about the rumor of a flying humanoid monster that came during the pillar attack.

His mind had immediately gone to Snow and the possibility of her being here. The moment he knew that was possible, he headed here, wanting to gather as much information as he could.

But he also realized something when he had arrived, and that was the fact that this place had a massive amount of information about the empire, which meant that he could gather information about the past and understand what had happened.

Those were the two important things that he had to work on now. So far, barely anyone had made any progress, but now he had gained some leads on Snow. What mattered now was chasing those leads and ensuring that he got something good from it.

"Should I head over to read more or check out the pillar?" Leon wondered. He had not gone near the pillar that was located in this town at all and had avoided it. The sight of it reminded him of what he had been through, and so he wanted to be as far away from it as possible.

But now he was considering it, wanting to see if anything had changed at all. His curiosity got the better of him, and he headed that way. Heading out of the city right to the outskirts, where their pillar was standing.

He stood outside the walls of Oden and looked ahead. He could see a massive camp that had been set around the pillar, but that was not all. A massive tower made of the strongest materials had been made around the pillar, so no one could basically see the pillar at all.

"They are doing everything to contain it," he muttered. He wished from the depths of his heart that it would work, but he had a feeling that it would not be enough to stop it if the pillar decided to act again.

He turned around and was about to leave when suddenly he felt a heavy heartbeat that was not his own in his chest. He collapsed to one knee, his breathing got heavy, and suddenly the scene around him changed.