The last of the Cursed Reaper's corpse collapsed into dust as Devour deactivated. "That should do it," Leo muttered, scanning the small sports hall he and Nyx just cleared.

It took them a better part of an hour to find this building, but in the end, it should be worth it. For the most part, the hall was closed off from the outside world and had enough space for him to practice all of his abilities. He just had to be careful not to damage the roof. Who knew how much more abuse it could take?

'Anything you need from me?' Nyx asked, sitting down next to him. 'I have some stuff to practice too.'

"Go on then," Leo smiled. "For now, I'm good on my own. Although, we should probably practice our synchronization sooner or later."

'Agreed,' the feline nodded. 'Call me when you are ready then.'

"Will do," he waved her off as they separated and claimed a space of the sports hall for themselves.

Unlike Nyx, who went ahead and summoned a cloud of shadows around herself, Leo just sat down crosslegged and closed his eyes. Instantly, his Essence escaped outside and covered his entire body, clothes included.

True Stealth. As perfect as it can be. Now for the next step.

Ever since he had upgraded the basic stealth skill, he wondered how to improve it. With the imperfections gone, everything was left in his hand, and so, at first, there was pretty much nothing he could do. As time went on, his understanding of this ability slowly changed, yet he never took the initiative to advance it to a higher quality.

There was just too much going on back in Wolford, but things were different now. He had the time and necessary knowledge to push forward and take his abilities further than ever.

Decoy had been the first point of guidance. Despite it being used to just create a simple clone that couldn't interact with the world, it also taught him the basics of illusions. An art that held almost infinite potential if utilized currently.

However, back then, Leo had neither the necessary skill nor enough motivation to play around with it. But now? Now everything had changed.

His Mind's Ascension and Soul Arts took care of the first issue. As for motivation? His desire to jump inside the most dangerous place in London gave him enough of that.

And so, for the last few days, he had been working on combining Decoy and True Stealth with his improved control of Essence. It wasn't easy, far from it, but with each hour spent practicing, he was getting closer to achieving his goal.

Now, he just needed the final push.

With True Stealth already active, Leo channeled even more Essence underneath the safety layer. All of this was done slowly and with complete focus. He really didn't want to start again just because his ability popped like a balloon.

Alright, next step. He nodded, and with a firm grasp on his energy, he connected to the environment's signature gathered in True Stealth. The skill almost refused to bend to his will, but with a stronger tug, it fell back under his command.

Now, use the signature to create the illusion.

Just like while using Decoy, he gave the waiting energy an image created by the signature he extracted and added his own intent into the mix. With that, Essence slowly began to change, yet now it required the final step, one completely different from the original skill.

Just work finally. Please.

Instead of forcing the layer of illusion out, he pushed it harder into his skill. Following that, True Stealth also descended, trying to combine with the blanket of Essence below it.

Come on... Leo gritted his teeth. Just... a... little... bit... more...

Suddenly, the two layers clicked together, seeping into each other. For a moment, he thought that maybe this was it, that he had succeeded. However, the lack of a new System's message quickly killed those hopes.

Shit. What is wrong? It's still active.

The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

At once, he closed his eyes again and felt around the brand new layer of Essence around his body. At first, nothing seemed out of place — the elements of True Stealth and Decoy were still there — yet the more he looked, the more problems he found.

It's almost the same as when I worked on the basic stealth.

Once more, his ability was filled with dozens of imperfections, ranging from small empty holes to spots without a purpose. Leo had to fight off a grin. He knew well how to deal with those issues. He just needed a few hours to fix them.

Let's get to work then.

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To be honest, Leo had no idea how long he sat unmoving in the corner of the sports hall. Minutes or maybe even hours ticked by as he worked on the Essence around his body. Really, if it wasn't for the sudden notification appearing in his head, he could have stayed like this for another few hours.

It... It worked? He blinked, scanning the System message from top to bottom.

Congratulations, your True Stealth evolved.

Stealth Shroud (Epic)

You worked hard; you worked well, striving for perfection. You are not there yet, but with this step, you have truly become the unseen. Now, nothing is safe from your blade.

Effects:

Highly advanced ability capable of shielding the user's body from all enemy senses. Beware, though, that this skill's invisibility aspect is still in its early development stage. The efficiency of this skill improves with your Mind and Grace.

Now, that's what I'm talking about. Leo grinned, and with a flick of Essence, he deactivated and activated the skill again. It took more time than with True Stealth, but after a few seconds, the ability flickered to life, surrounding his body in a perfect barrier.

Nyx! He shouted through their link. Look at me!

The feline in the distance suddenly froze before turning in his direction. 'Huh... Now that's interesting. So your little idea finally worked.'

So it seems. He chuckled. Now tell me, what do you see?

'Take a look yourself,' she replied, and the image in his right eye changed instantly.

Not bad. Leo muttered to himself. Overall, his entire body disappeared from sight, masked by the illusion that took the form of the environment around him. Yet, if someone squinted hard enough, they would still probably find some inconsistencies in his ability.

I can probably fix that with some practice, but how about when I move? He mused and took a few experimental steps.

The difference was noticeable right away as the illusion shifted with his movement. While, for the most part, it did its job perfectly, there were plenty of spots where the colors took the wrong shade, or the image didn't match the area at all.

So that's what the System means by 'early development stage.' He grimaced while trying to keep more focus on Stealth Shroud. Maybe it will work better with my active assistance.

'It does,' Nyx confirmed once he disconnected their vision. 'It still isn't perfect, but someone would have to look hard to spot you.'

He let out a sigh of relief. For a moment there, he feared that his new skill would be useless for the journey into the Supercluster. It still sucked that it required so much focus to be useful, but he could most likely fix that with more practice.

And I even have an idea how to speed it up. Nyx, please keep watching for now. Leo called out, and with Stealth Shroud still active, he summoned more Essence into his body. Then, with the experience gained from the last few days, he released it all in a single burst.

Blink!

The world around him shifted as he landed a few feet away from his old position. Without waiting for another second, he activated Blink again and again. Only when he reached the sixth jump did he have to stop.

Ouch. Leo coughed before once more swallowing the bile climbing his throat. So, for now, five is the limit. What about my invisibility, Nyx? How did it look?

'After the first and second jump? Not that bad. After the third?' The feline snorted. 'Even a blind man would be able to see you. Although, now that you aren't moving again, it got a bit better.'

So not as bad as I feared, but worse than I expected. He frowned, deactivating Stealth Shroud. Alright, thanks for helping. I will be fine on my own for now.

'No problem,' Nyx said and closed the link.

Seeing her turn away, he shrugged. Well... Time to practice some more.

----------------------------------------

Ready? He glanced at his feline companion as they watched the sunrise from the sports hall's roof. We have an exciting day ahead of us.

'Exciting...' Nyx snorted. 'I really don't get you sometimes.' She shook her head. 'Whatever. Let's catch some breakfast first and then we can go. How about that?'

Leo gazed at the Voidlings on the street below them and grinned.

Sure. Why not? I could eat.