Plume of Soil

Noah raised a hand to say something but in the end he just sighed.

'Forget it. Imperial Aunt is probably somewhere, right? If not, Imperial Grandmother definitely is. Maybe if he makes a large enough commotion it'll alert her before we die.'

Noah rose up and followed after Leonel.

…

Leonel stepped out the building to find a fuming Riah and a group of three youths, each of whom wore expressions that were a cross of unhappy and sneering. Riah's height was shorter than theirs and it really seemed as though they were towering over her.

Leonel swept a glance over the situation before stepping past them toward the branch family youths. Before, after hearing that Riah was going to get help, Leonel had decided to leave them be. After all, he was in an odd situation and wasn't exactly sure whether he should be showing off his talents or not. The attitude of Fluttering Star Order was difficult to read. However, Leonel couldn't be bothered to care right now.

"Why can't you just do as I've asked?! They might be branch talents, but they still have Luxnix Blood. What would outsiders think if you just let them die?!"

"They still have Luxnix Blood? Don't make me laugh. How could 0.10 density garbage possibly be considered to have Luxnix Blood? I could piss out a stream with higher density than that."

Riah was immediately furious. He knew that if it was another Tier 8 talent on her level, or even if it was her cousin, they wouldn't dare to say these things. Even if her cousin asked them to treat a homeless man by the roadside they would do so without hesitation. It was only because she was she that things had devolved to this level.

They still had to give her respect due to who her grandmother was, but they didn't have to go overboard and bend their backs over either. The fact they had come here was enough and no one could criticize their action already. In fact, even if they had rejected her, nothing would happen.

Seeing the silence of Riah, the leading youth, a young man by the name of Alfin, sneered. However, his expression faltered a bit when he noticed Leonel.

After a bit, he sneered. "You're even stowing away more trash in your personal courtyard. To think that you'd waste the family lands like this."

Alfin was already unsatisfied himself because he had yet to earn such a place. He could only stay with his branch of the main family or in the collective housing of the Healing Arm. Only those of the Sixth Dimension or Fifth Dimensional talents with great contributions could have a courtyard of their own. It was no wonder he was jealous.

Leonel didn't even seem to hear Alfin, something that greatly displeased him. Though the branch youths on the ground tried to hide it, Alfin could sense their trembling rage toward his words. And yet, Leonel had treated him like he was air.

As though that wasn't bad enough, a second young man came out not long after and swept a gaze by him. However, Noah too didn't react much to the words of Alfin.

Leonel stopped before the youths and looked them over one by one. After a while, he made a decision.

'[Snowy Grace].'

Leonel reached out a hand and his Snow Force erupted. The pressure was so great that Riah's pupils constricted and Alfin along with the two that came with him took a step back.

At that moment, delicate snowflakes began to fall upon the 20 or so youths, mimicking the falling feathers of Leonel's Healing Branch talent.

Compared to Leonel's self created Mage Art, this technique was leaps and bounds more potent. With just a bit of effort, more than 20 geniuses who each had strength near and at Tier 7 felt as though they had been given a new lease on life.

"That's…?"

Alfin's brow furrowed as he watched Leonel help Vaan up.

"Thank you." Vaan said, feeling a bit complicated.

Leonel shook his head. "It was a small effort."

"You." Alfin's voice cut through what remained of the thank you's the branch family youths wanted to speak. "How do you know a core technique of our main family?"

Alfin's tone carried a hint of danger to it. If before he had just been here to poke some fun and throw out some insults, he was now deadly serious.

The technique that Leonel had just used was one of the very best of the Healing Branch. Just to exchange for it took many decades of storing up merit points. Alfin himself was still two or three years away from being able to afford it and he had only ever seen seniors much older than him or youths far more talented than himself cast it.

"Alfin!" Riah finally snapped. "Do you think you can just treat my people however you want? If you wanted to come up with a lie, shouldn't it be far better than that?! How could he possibly know such a technique?!"

Alfin's expression darkened. "Piss off, you know nothing." He continued to glower at Leonel's back. "That technique was [Snowy Grace], it's easily ranked top three among Fifth Dimensional healing techniques and is known for its area of effect ability. If I don't hear a proper explanation today, don't blame me for ignoring who your grandmother is."

Riah's face warped. She realized then that if Alfin was willing to bring up her grandmother, he definitely wouldn't be making up nonsense.

Her gaze couldn't help but turn toward Leonel. Just what was going on?

Who would have expected, though, for Leonel to completely ignore Alfin entirely?

He turned back, walking toward Riah's courtyard. It seemed for a moment that he was coming up to them, but it was exactly because of this that it was so shocking when he simply walked right by, not sparing Alfin a single glance.

Alfin was so infuriated that he began to laugh. Trash of the branch families actually dared to treat him like this?

Before Riah could awaken from her shock, Alfin had already moved.

The wind crackled and popped as his fist aimed for Leonel's back. He didn't reserve himself in the slightest. In fact, he had struck to kill. The death of a mere branch family member wouldn't even be a stain on his record.

For the crime of daring to ignore him and actually having the audacity to steal techniques from the Luxnix main family… This was exactly what he deserved!

BANG!

A cloud of dust shot into the skies as the surrounding grass and soil catapulted upward.

Riah's expression changed. "Ah!"Content rights by NôvelDr//ama.Org.

She rushed forward, cutting through the plume of falling soil. But, what she found on the other side froze her in her tracks.

Alfin's back bent and a mouthful of blood shot from his lips like a bullet.

Leonel stood over him, his fist still pointed downward and his gaze partially obscured by his dangling hair. Flickering Bronze Runes danced across his skin before they slowly faded, making them look no different from an illusion of the light.

Alfin's right arm was bent at a disgusting angle, but this was the least of his problems. With the way his back contorted as it pressed into the ground, it was clear that his spine was deformed and practically all the bones of his torso were broken.

Riah's chest heaved as Alfin's eyes rolled to the back of his head, looking into the sky with a face frozen of shock and fear.

Riah's heart stopped beating entirely. A member of the branch family had just crippled a genius of the main family…

It was all over.