Time ticked by slowly but surely. With war around the corner, Leon felt a pressure build up on his shoulders, but he was confident that he was up tot he task.
Only a week had passed after Rodius and Elena’s departure from Fort White, and Leon had been training his skill diligently in one of the large training rooms within Michael’s temple. It had been built specifically for him, and was one of the places that possessed an abundance of concentrated Divinity.
Right now, Leon was trying to experiment combining his skills with the Divinity present around him. He had subsequently acquired the skill <Beginner Holy Energy Manipulation>. The skill leveled up incredibly quickly, and was already on the verge of reaching the Apprentice grade after the constant use.
One of the reasons behind this was because Divinity was on a higher level compared to Holy energy. So when using the Holy Energy Manipulation skill to manipulate Divinity, it leveled up incredibly quickly.
Normally, it was impossible to manipulate Divinity using this skill. And even then, only Priests that were dedicated to their Gods were able to gain the necessary skill to manipulate Divinity, but Leon had been able to exploit a loophole in the form of Michael’s approval.
Even still, getting to manipulate Divinity was very difficult. After all this time, he had only just managed to merge it with his fire magic.
[Your Skill <Apprentice Fire Magic> has leveled up to <Intermediate Fire Magic>!]
Leon let out a tired breath as he beheld the golden ball of flames hovering over his right palm. This was a fireball that was infused with Divinity. It’s potency against beings that were born of Unholy energy was very high, but thankfully, he was now immune to Holy energy, so it did not harm him.
“After so long, I’ve finally gotten my first skill to Intermediate grade.” Leon laughed and cancelled the fireball spell.
Just then, the space behind him rippled, and a figure appeared in the training room. Leon noticed Michael’s presence only after a few moments had passed because Michael had intentionally not hidden his arrival.
“Hello, Michael. How can I help you today?” Leon did not turn back to look at the God, but instead remained in his meditative pose. Michael did not take offense from this, and got straight to the point.
“After much searching, I have found a dungeon that has one of my former comrades. I want you to claim it.” Michael said calmly.
“I see… Where is it?” Leon rubbed his chin and asked.
“It is close to the center of the Central Continent, in a place known as the Swamp of Despair. It is the home to several powerful tribes of Lizardmen that are not particularly sociable.” Michael explained. He waved his hand and a detailed map appeared in front of Leon. Leon grabbed a hold of it and examined the map.
“So, I will be fighting Lizardmen?” Leon tilted his head. He remembered when he had cursed at his luck for being reincarnated as a skeleton, and not something cooler like a Lizardman, but now he was happy with his form.
“Lizardmen and many other dangerous foes, yes. But the dungeon is mostly populated by Lizardmen.” Michael nodded his head and the map rolled itself and landed in Leon’s hands. “I will send you there immediately you are ready. Just call out to me.” Michael nodded and disappeared, leaving Leon to take care of his preparations.
Leon got up from his cross legged position and made his way out of the temple. He had already contacted Rakon, Nedra, and sent another message to Eric through another of his summons. They were to meet with him in the meeting room of his home.
Only a few minutes after he had arrived in the meeting room, Rakon and Eric came knocking. Nedra had already appeared beside him through their bond, and was already well briefed on the situation.
“Lord.” Eric and Rakon greeted Leon with bows when they entered the meeting room. Leon waved them to the seats opposite him, and when they were seated, he began explaining that he would be going on a journey to handle a matter in the center of the continent.
Eric immediately raised his hand after Leon had finished speaking. Rakon remained silent, as he trusted his master’s decision.
“Forgive my doubt, but why would you want to travel to the center of the continent when war is upon us? At this time, we should be focusing as best as we can on the shoreline where the Demons are most likely to strike from!” Eric voiced his concerns.
“I understand your doubts, Eric, but there is no need to worry. This trip will only take me a day or two at most. If something unexpected delays me, then I will not be absent for more than a week.” Leon explained.
“What? A journey to the Swamp of Despair will take weeks to and fro. Not to mention the time that you will spend taking care of business within the swamp.” Eric still displayed some doubt on his face.
“Don’t worry, I have my ways.” Leon smiled cryptically at Eric and turned away. “I called you two here because you will be in charge of managing the people and soldiers here in my absence. Until I return, you will be in charge of all matters.”
It was not like they were not already in charge of most matters concerning the defense and growing economy of the blooming town that was seeing more and more life, but he was now making an official statement concerning the matter.
Eventually, the meeting came to an end after Leon made a few more statements. When the two men were gone, Leon also left the mansion and set out for a certain busy street in Fort White. The reason why the street was busy was because the trade that was conducted in this place centered around selling and repairing weapons. It did not take much thought to know that the person who headed this venture was Gizmo Baldfreak, the highly skilled Dwarf.
As Leon walked down the streets, he drew more than a few stares to his black bones, but the people had already somewhat gotten used to seeing the Lord of the city as an Undead. They had come to learn that Leon was a benevolent being, and he had yet to show them any bad side of his.
In fact, his efforts to beef up the defenses of the continent in regards to the impending invasion had painted him in an even better light in the peoples’ eyes.
“Hello.” Leon greeted people with a smile on his face as he walked through the streets. Most people were too stunned to reply, while those who were able to compose themselves in time, quickly greeted back. They all recognized Leon from Divinity’s Bout, and knew how strong he was. Everyone who was here in Fort White came here because they did not mind living and working under him.
Of course, there were a few who were not as sincere and honest in their intentions, but it was no problem for Leon. He was sure that he could handle them if they posed any trouble to him.
Eventually, Leon arrived in front of the large shop that Gizmo had picked as his workshop. Long before he reached the shop, he could hear the sounds of metal being hammered, and standing in front of the shop now, he could feel the heat emanating from within it. If he could feel it, then just how hot was it inside?
Ding!
As the door was pushed open by Leon, a small bell hanging above it chimed, and Leon felt memories from his time in Megan’s Diner coming back to him. How the bell would always ring whenever a customer came into the diner. With a small smile on his face, Leon proceeded to enter the blacksmith shop.
The smithy was painted a brown color inside, and it had a darker theme going on from it. The place Leon had stepped into was just the display room where the various works of the blacksmiths were put up for show.
Leon turned to the side when he heard hurried footsteps coming from one of the halls leading to the backrooms. A shirtless young man with brown hair tied back emerged into the front room, and upon seeing Leon, he froze, his mind going blank for a moment.
“Damian! Who is it?!” The gruff voice of Gizmo came from down the hallway where the young man, Damian, had come running from. Gizmo’s voice snapped Damian out of his daze and he immediately showed his respects.
“Greetings, Lord Leon!” He bowed and said with a shaky voice.
“Boy, who is it?!” Gizmo called again.
“It’s-” Damian was about to yell back, but froze when he remembered who it was that was in the shop. Leon simply smiled and nodded when Damian looked back apologetically. Damian took it as an okay sign to yell back, and quickly replied Gizmo.
“Its His Excellency, Lord Leon!”
At once, all the hammering in the background came to a stop.
“GET BACK TO WORK, YOU OAFS!!!” Gizmo immediately yelled, his voice resounding through the entire smithy.