SOE 0023: Return

"So, I guess I should just grab this…" Leo said with a shrugging expression as he approached the flower. The shield had disappeared and he was able to gently grasp the stem from the bottom.

Just as Leo pulled out the stem along with the roots, the flower glowed with a blinding golden, causing him to close his eyes. It then melted directly, being absorbed into his hand.

Unlike the explosive fanfare that he expected, Leo felt like not much had changed after that flower was absorbed. He decided to examine it later and walked out of the forcefield, coming back onto the platform where Lyra had brought him.

He now saw all of the party members having appeared on the platform including Ingrid who was looking at him curiously.

"Is it done?" Lyra asked him as Leo nodded.

"Battle formation," She announced as the small island started shaking. The party quickly adhered to her order and drew their weapons while moving toward Leo to get into a defensive position.

Leo looked back and saw that the membrane that he'd walked through was now dissolving into nothingness. He walked closer to the defensive formation and stood beside Ingrid, "I guess this was a one-person thing."

"What do you mean, master?" Ingrid asked as multiple monsters jumped out of the lava. Eight Lava Wyrms surrounded the small island from all directions as small lava hounds jumped out of the lava and landed on the platform, growing at the party.

"You asked me to let you fight your equivalent opponent, right?" Leo said.

"You remembered?" Ingrid was surprised as she let loose an arrow that shot through two lava hounds.

"You seemed very interested when you spoke about it," Leo shrugged as he saw Lyra blast her aura at one of the Wryms, stunning it. The Adept hunter then shot two knives attached to wires at it. It stabbed through its skin and sliced its head apart.

Just as the lava blasts of the other Wryms reached the party, Lyra's Aura extended outward to form a shield around everyone, blocking the blast of Lava as it slid off of the faint blue membrane that was sturdier than most walls.

The party worked in perfect coordination as they made quick work of all the monsters. Just as Leo thought that they were done, he heard a roar that shook the entire island and found a giant rocky hand grabbing the side of the island. Another hand appeared from the lava and grabbed the ledge of the island. As it pulled itself up, Leo saw a stone golem that had lava running through it appear. Its skin was made of stone with lines of lava running all across its body.

It came halfway up to its waist and looked down at the party who were ready to take it on. It roared again and let out a blast of lava directly at the group, wanting to drench them. Lyra had to create a shield with her Aura once again as the lava separated without harming anyone. The blast continued for at least five seconds, forcing Lyra to maintain her aura at full output for the duration.

As the lava died down, the group was ready to attack. The hunter shot two glowing knives at the behemoth, stabbing it right in its eyes. The knives then exploded, causing even more damage to the behemoth. Following that, the others also did the best they could and did their best to take care of the behemoth.

Eventually, as the behemoth was weakened from the continuous attacks, it roared once again, summoning more Lava Wryms and Hounds to the island.

…

The battle lasted almost an hour as Leo merely passively observed the party killing the monsters. He wanted to participate too, but his attacks wouldn't even have been able to pierce through the skin of the weakest Lava Hounds, let alone the huge stone behemoth that caused them the most problems and took the longest to kill. To break through the defenses of monsters of such a level, one needed to coat their weapons with aura to give them the necessary penetrative power. That required one to be at least an Apprentice at which point the practitioner could barely project their aura outwards.

With the behemoth taken care of, the monsters stopped coming at them and they merely had to finish off the leftovers. After that, they started backtracking on their way, jumping through the platforms in two-man cells, the same way as they came.

By the time they reached the ninth level, Leo got some respite to check out if there were any surface level changes after he absorbed the flower.

{ ‹Status›

Name: Leopold Solomon Credits: 26.443

Physique: 12 Mind: 16

Aura: Novice + Mana: None

Magic: Lust Magic Lvl 2}

The only indication that his status showed about his new gain was the plus sign right beside his Aura stat. Seeing it, he realized that he would need to meditate to look inwardly to see what the actual effects of the flower were. He felt that it was very likely that the flower was currently just nested within him. He would have to train his aura to prompt the flower to do whatever it was supposed to do.

He absently followed the party while thinking of the flower and by the time they were halfway back, he gave up on thinking about it. He focused on moving out of the dungeon while keeping up with everyone's pace.

Emerging from the dungeon, Leo saw the utterly massive line of people who were waiting at the entrance of the dungeon. Although the majority of the people were Journeymen, there were still thousands of them, which was an astonishing number of aura practitioners. Unlike the morning, the entrance had now been barricaded to prevent unauthorized people from entering as multiple guards whom Leo identified as Adepts patrolled the entrance. Leo saw Lyra approach someone and talk to them before the man scampered off. A few minutes later, the man returned with Richard walking beside him.

"I presume there were no hiccups?" Richard asked Lyra while examining Leo's state. He seemed to heave a sigh of relief as he saw Leo having been unharmed.

"There were a few minor injuries, but your young master got what he needed," Lyra told Richard.

With a few more pleasantries exchanged, the party excused themselves, leaving only Richard, Ingrid, and Leo.

"I hope your experience was pleasant, Young Master?" Richard asked Leo.

"Yeah," He nodded, "I can't wait to get back home to start practicing." He said with a chuckle.

"That's heartening to hear," Richard patted Leo's shoulder and led him and Ingrid to their horses.

"Oh, by the way, Richard," Leo said as he got his horse moving behind Richard's. Since they were in the middle of the city, they moved significantly slowly. "Did you find out about that Lady Demeter?" Leo asked him.

"I did actually, your theory was most likely correct. I examined and even for an adept, she's at a very high level of strength." Richard said, "She can use the spirit of the unknown to deter most forces from going after her."

"Now I'm even more curious to meet her…" Leo said, "Let's get back to the inn first though. I need to catch up on some sleep."

…

"Go to the jewelry shop," Leo said to Ingrid, "Tell her that I'll be there at night and have her wait for me, okay?"

"Yes, master," Ingrid nodded as the words naturally escaped her mouth. Inwardly she didn't know how to feel when addressing Leo as if she'd been his slave for years, but she didn't show any reaction outwardly. She was now wearing a set of black lingerie along with her collar and leash that was all wrapped up in her enchanted coat.

"Get going," Leo patted her butt as Ingrid left, her heels making a clanking sound on the pavement as she walked away with an occasional wobble in her step. Being a warrior woman, she wasn't used to footwear that was purely for aesthetic purposes.

Leo waited outside the inn for a minute or so until he saw Richard emerging from one of the shops close by, "I apologize for making you wait, Young Master," He said.

"It's no big deal," Leo waved it off and spoke with a glint in his eyes, "Let's go meet this Lady Demeter."