Time seems to have slowed as Elizabeth stared at Leon emotionally as tears threaten to spill. She had rushed over so quickly that she had not prepare what sort of words she would say upon their first meeting. Without needing a word of confirmation, she was able to conclude that Leon was her son. It did not matter if she had not seen him for 17 years. She was the one that gave birth him. She would not fail to recognize her own son.
Her body blinked over 20-odd meters with a speed greater than what Leon could fathom. Before he knew it, Leon was already in his mother's warm embrace. There was a weak blood resonance between blood-related kin that allow them to instinctively recognize each other. With all her blood-related kin dead, it can only be her son in front of her.
"My son… My good son… Thank you for being alive." Elizabeth started weeping tearfully with him in her arms. It was like her past 17 years of suffering finally found release as it was poured out all her feelings.
A part of her failed to believe Amelia words prior. It was an instinctive reaction to protect herself from suffering greater sorrow from the disappointment, should everything turn out to be a sham. She had lost him during a time of chaos, and they were separated for 17 years. It would take more than words to convince her. She didn't dare believe it, but after seeing her own flesh and blood in front of her, she had to believe it.
Leon was surprised at Elizabeth's inhumane speed, but he did not have time to ponder it deeper as he felt his own face become wet. He subconsciously brought his hand up to wipe and realized it was his own tears.
"Huh…? This is weird… Why am I crying?"
He didn't know why, but seeing how the Queen weep, a sudden ocean tide-like wave of sadness washed over him. His tears wouldn't stop flowing. Is this what it's like to have a real mother? When the mother is sad, the child would also feel the sadness. This familial feeling was vastly different to what he felt for his foster parents. This was his blood-related mother… the person who toiled for 9 months before bringing him into the world.
A section of Leon's memory when he was a newborn baby surfaced in his mind with great clarity as he recalled the moment he was reborn into the world and see the joy in his mother's eyes as she hold him carefully in her arms like she was holding the world.
"M-Mother… your child is back…"
"Good child…" Hearing Leon's words, even more tears started to pour down from her face. She caressed his head affectionately with the love and care she could not for 17 years.
She was unable to watch him grow up, but he is here now and that is all that matters. He would always be her child, no matter how big he grows.
Kasif was put in an awkward spot as he was forced to watch through this pair of mother and son heartfelt reunion.
"AHEM." Kasif faked a cough, loud enough to be heard. He wanted them to acknowledge his presence.
"Hmm? You are still here? Can't you see that we are having our reunion? Hmph! Leave!" Elizabeth said coldly.
"Y-You! Hmph! I may listen to your orders, but I am still a senior from your father's generation. You ought to treat me with the respect I deserve." Kasif said but was already impatient to leave. The father he mentions was not Elizabeth's blood related father, but her father-in-law, the Old king.
Elizabeth had time to refocus her attention on Leon but noticed that his clothes were in tatters and dirtied.
"Wait!"
"What do you want now, Your Majesty!?" Kasif turned back and asked with some frustration. Do you want me to leave or what? He should have slipped away when he had the chance.
"What happened to my son?! Where did you take him before?" Elizabeth's eyes narrowed in on him.
Facing her cold gaze, even he felt a bit of pressure. They both belong to the ranks of 9th step awakeners but even among 9th step, there was a great disparity.
The distance between awakeners and Transcendent was like a big chasm. It would be too naive if one were to think that they can increase their strength tenfold by reaching transcendence. No, an awakener's strength never stops improving once they reach the 9th step. 9th step awakeners are ranked 0-9 stars in terms of how many folds of strength they possess compared to a normal 9th step awakener.
1-star would mean twofold the strength of normal 9th step awakeners and 9-stars would mean having tenfold the strength. In other words, 9-star awakeners possess the equivalent strength of a Transcendent and could be considered semi-transcendent. They are just lacking the lifeforce to be a True Transcendent.
Kasif was at 5-stars, but Elizabeth was already at 7-stars. She was not far off from transcendence.
"Err… That is… I took him to my testing ground… but things went beyond my expectations." Kasif said with a stiff smile.
He wanted to test Leon's potential, but did not go the way he had expected. As the saying went; Man proposes, God disposes.
"Well? What happened? I'm listening!"
Faced with insistent questioning of the Queen, Kasif had no choice but to recount what happened.
Half an hour earlier…
Kasif was so shocked at the turn of events when Leon triggered such a big explosion and was blasted away with his life and death unknown. He originally wanted to test Leon ability to adapt to the darkness and its dangers. The giant spiders were called Deadeye Spider because they were blind. They only react to vibration and heat. The Deadeye Spider nest was the perfect training ground to hone one's abilities as a shadow guard.
If Leon had relied on his sharp senses and profound movement technique, there was no problem for him to move around silently and unhindered. Only spiders within a small distance would be able to sense the heat emanating from his body.
However, Kasif had miscalculated and forgot that Leon was a fire-user and would naturally create light when thrown into a dark abyss. A tragedy was ensured, but through Leon's battle with Deadeye spiders, Kasif able to discover other admirable traits that was present in Leon; his persistence, or rather tenacity. If Leon knew his thoughts, he would have cursed, " Fuck you! If I didn't do my best to survive, I would have died!"
There was an even bigger that greatly astonished Kasif; Leon's ability control. Leon's ability control was so great, it had already reached the apex. The bottleneck that stop 9-star awakeners from reaching transcendence wouldn't exist for him.
After the swarm of Deadeye Spiders finally receded from the cave, Kasif, who was hidden in the earth, finally went to check on Leon, whose body turned ice cold with his eyes closed. Kasif was so shocked and immediately went to check if the boy still had any breath in him.
When Leon entered to check his soul core region, he automatically shut off his senses to the outside world. Thus, when he suddenly opens his eyes, the two was so shocked they exclaimed simultaneously.
"Good lad, you have given me a huge fright!"
"What do you want from me, Old bastard?" Leon said coldly. It was all this person's fault that landed him in his current predicament.
"I want to make you my disciple. How about it? Not many get the chance to become disciple." Kasif did not mind Leon's curse as he was in a jovial mood at the prospect of being the master of a future Transcendent. He did not realize Leon's silence was one of being overwhelmed with anger, instead he thought the lad was overwhelmed by the honor.
"Fuck you! Who the fuck wants to be your disciple?!" Leon roared with anger. He was kidnapped for such a reason!?
"Y-You… look here, I am very powerful-"
Rumble* their commotion caused the sensitive Deadeye Spiders to swarm back.
"We will talk later."
Kasif grabbed at the immobile Leon and used his earth ability to launch themselves up quickly at the cave ceiling with a rising rock pillar from underneath his feet.
"Crazy old bastard, let me go! If you want to die, then go die alone!" Leon was so shocked. At the speed they were going, they would smash into the ceiling and be crushed to death!
However, Leon's worries were unfounded as the ceiling parted ways under Kasif's control and they shoot straight through the parted earth and returned quickly to the surface. Kasif toss a Leon to a soft patch of grass after his feet had landed on ground floor.
"Goddammit! Do you know who I am, Old bastard!?" Leon was ready to spill the beans. Although he looked down on characters who relied on their backgrounds, this was not the time to act tough! He must be flexible and use whatever he has, when the odds are against him!
"Look here, brat. There's a limit to my patience, alright? To be my disciple is to one day take over my position and be a powerful figure in the kingdom." Kasif said with some impatience. Even if he had a heart of Buddha, he would still get annoyed if someone repeatedly call him a bastard.
Leon looked at him with contempt. "Position? I don't even know what you do. Powerful figure? No one even knows you, but can it be higher than a crown prince?"
Swoosh** Several shadows guard appeared them with fiendish red eyes from straining their eyes to search the entire night.
"Leader, the Queen is requesting your presence, along with her son and in one piece!"
"What son-"
Kasif paused his words as he suddenly has a bad feeling.
While secretly surprised by the shadow guards, Leon gave the Old man a smirk.