Leon reclined comfortably in a plush chair that was placed on the balcony of his room on the second floor of his home. He was currently in his human form as he sipped a glass of wine. The wind was cool against his skin, and he felt a sense of accomplishment.
“I have grown very much.” He spoke to himself. Two months ago, he did not have this luxury. He was still fighting to grow his strength and carve out a name for himself. But now, he had the power and luxury to send out others to do work on his behalf.
“Ah, this is the life of a big man!” Leon exclaimed with a satisfied sigh, but deep down, he knew that the journey was not yet over. He was merely B rank, which was far from his end goal. Not to mention what Michael had told him a several days ago.
“Even Michael, as powerful as he is, is not at the top…” Leon sighed and took another sip of his drink.
As Leon was relaxing, he suddenly got a message from Kaladin, letting him know that the mission on his side was successful. A smile broke out on his face as he heard this. Of course, he had confidence in his summons.
Leon continued to listen as Kaladin recounted the events of the raid as it happened. He could not help rubbing his chin in thought as he imagined the benefits of having a port as part of his land, but that would be something for the future. They were still far too underdeveloped for that.
Just then, a knock sounded against his room door.
“Enter.” Leon turned to look at Rakon who had just stepped into the room. “What is it?”
“My lord, a delegation from Fort Bender has arrived at our gates. I was told to relay to you that they come on behalf of Sir Balder.” Rakon went down on a knee as he relayed the information he had.
“Let them into the town. And bring the leader of the group to my meeting room.” Leon told Rakon and stood up from his seat. The White Millipede Royal quickly rushed away to do as Leon said, while Leon made his way to the meeting room. He had been waiting for the people that Balder would send his way.
About fifteen minutes later, Rakon returned with a short, bearded man behind him. It only took Leon a few seconds to realize that the bearded man was a dwarf!
“Ahem, my greetings, Your Excellency.” The dwarf bowed his short body in greeting to Leon. “I am Gizmo Baldfreak.” He introduced himself.
‘Baldfreak?’ Leon’s face threatened to break composure, and he instantly regretted meeting this man in his human form. But he managed to hold himself together and shook Gizmo’s hand.
“It is a pleasure to meet you, Sir Baldfreak.” He smiled.
“The pleasure is all mine.” Gizmo shook his head and returned the smile.
“Let us sit.” Leon gestured to the two chairs across from each other. He took a seat and poured two glasses of wine for them to enjoy themselves with as they spoke.
“When Balder told me about this place, I was honestly doubtful. That greedy old man has a habit of pulling bad jokes on people, so I thought he wanted to do the same to me.” Gizmo immediately started speaking as soon as they sat down. He looked around the meeting room in awe of the place.
“Haha, of course. Very few people would believe it to be true.” Leon laughed.
“I had come here a few years ago on an expedition to search for rare materials that could help me with my work, but the Unholy energy was so thick that we were unable to go to the places we needed to check. It seems that the air is much better these days.” Gizmo nodded his head like a sagely old man.
“Ah, yes. Unholy energy does not bother me, but I have some Priests working on purging the place of excess Unholy energy. It has become much better now.” Leon agreed with Gizmo.
“Ahem… Your Excellency…” Gizmo leaned forward.
“Please, Leon is fine.” Leon shook his head. He wanted to be a bit more casual with Gizmo.
“Ah, okay. Leon, if I might ask, do you have an immunity to Holy energy?” Gizmo reduced his voice, as he was aware that this was a sensitive question. This had to do directly with Leon’s weakness, and he was hesitant because Leon might take it the wrong way.
“Yes.” Leon replied in a casual manner without missing a beat, surprising Gizmo.
“Oh- what? That is surprising. No wonder you are able to stay in such a place with a high concentration of Holy energy!” Gizmo exclaimed with wide eyes. He stroked his long, braided beard with a thoughtful look.
“Hmm, I have always had a strong resistance to Unholy energy. It might shock you, but that is how I am. The weakness of other beings infused with Unholy energy does not apply to me.” Leon smiled and shook his head. He did not mind divulging this bit of information. He also knew why Gizmo was so curious about it.
The man’s curiosity stemmed from the face that Michael’s Divinity flowed through the entirety of Fort White. To those who did not know of Divinity, they could only call it concentrated Holy energy. So if Leon, as an Undead, was able to stay in a place with such dense Holy energy, then how did that make any sense? It was only reasonable to assume that he possessed an immunity to it. Which was equally absurd! An Unholy being that was immune to Holy energy?!
,m “Let us move on to other topics.” Leon picked up his wine glass and took a sip. “What is your line of work?”
“Haha, can’t you guess?” By now, Gizmo was already very relaxed. He laughed and slapped his thick thigh. “I am a blacksmith! My Blacksmithing Skill is already at the Advanced grade!” The man exclaimed heartily.