As she moaned, she felt a bit drowsy. Moving felt comfortable. As if rust was coming off, molting the old. Stretching in the morning truly felt great.

That was until you realized it was still dark. Soon, she realized Beast was sitting on the side with a thick book in his hands.

For a moment, she had mistaken the middle-aged man's face for another. It was then she remembered what he said before she lost consciousness.

Not initially understanding why. At that moment, she grew stern. Before she could think further, an awkward expression appeared on Beast's face.

"Don't look at me like that. I also didn't think you would react that way either. I had no choice, as certain things couldn't be said to outsiders."

Seeing her expression not improve, he could only sigh, "What I said isn't wrong. He is gone. But he isn't dead."

The confusion on her face matched her voice, "I don't understand."

With a more complicated expression, "I have no idea either. Mentor sent me east, and so I agreed. Since I knew you were here. I just wanted to see you."

By this time, Leo had appeared. Having never showed signs before. Beast, for the first time in front of Jessica, showed he could not only see Leo. Neither of the two were surprised at this.

If not for the current conversation, she might have felt something from this. Having come to terms already with what an Ever was. How could the next in line be a simple person.

"Izic came to see me. He was delivering a message. Telling me that Stephen was gone. He wouldn't be able to return."

"He left without saying anything?" From the tone of voice, anyone could feel the pain.

"Izic told me two things to go along with that. First was that he had no choice. Stating the two had their hands bound, and this is all they could do."

This alone left Beast a bit flabbergasted. Having almost all the information in the world, this was like a bombshell. Far too many secrets were hidden within two sentences.

Seeing some confusion, hidden behind some understanding. He could only sigh helplessly. Turning to look at Leo, "He also said everything is ready..."

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This time, Beast wasn't sure what this implied. However, if he had to guess this had not to do with Jessica, no, this likely was meant for Leo.

Ignoring him, Leo turned to Jessica. No words were spoken out loud. In fact, he had no idea how the two were communicating.

"I need to leave for a bit. Izic has a way for me to recover some of the power I once had."

Using the seal after so long felt a bit difficult, "Do you have to go?"

Leo didn't immediately answer. He didn't know if leaving would be a good or bad thing.

He did know that on his own, he would soon reach a bottleneck. Currently, two of the runes had been put back together.

Theoretically, this meant he had the power to store mana and interact with the outside world. This gave him the power to do a lot of things.

Because of the injuries to that space. What he couldn't do was gather mana above the threshold of Grade F. He had noticed this after Jessica broke through.

If he had to guess, his compressed mana was multiple grades above Jessica's in quality. However, the amount was pitifully low.

Missing a rune, he suspected, allowed for proper use of his mana. With information at hand, he could only guess at the problem.

The proportion of mana used was unruly. For his mana to be so much better, there was no explanation why when Jessica used his body as a dagger. The amount of mana consumed was way beyond what should be necessary.

Fights generally didn't last long. While holding true, he doubted he would last more than three-forth of the fight before breaking.

Jessica would continue to get stronger. Her opponents would become vastly harder to deal with. This news, seemed to dampen and fill her with confusion.

He had no doubt this wouldn't last too long. She wouldn't leave Mercury City. There were too many opportunities. Standing still for a day was lethal here.

If he had to guess, at best, she would take a day to settle her feelings before going on the request. Rather, she would be okay. That wasn't even in the equation. She wouldn't stop regardless.

A deep hatred was now blossoming deep in her heart. Leo didn't even think she realized it herself. If not for his sensitivity to hatred and negative emotions, he wouldn't either.

Her struggles now threatened her life. They would only get worse. Therefore, he had to leave right now.

Going could spell her doom. If held off, he would never be given this opportunity again. Without a doubt, if he waited, he wouldn't have the chance to leave. The difference between could and would was an insurmountable gap.

"I can't wait. You and I both know you're not going to stop doing crazy and dumb things to get power for revenge. Stronger you get, the worse it will be to get stronger. I can't offer you help as it is. I have no intentions of watching you die from the sidelines."

She looked down before a small upturn happened to take shape on her mouth, "I guess that is true. While you might be more attractive than me, you're still too ugly to be a cheerleader."

Once their conversation came to an end. Beast spent an entire night with Jessica. Much to Charles annoyance, he was asked to stay the night. Since they were about to eat, the fact that something happened caused the mood to shift.

After everything was done. Charles was about to leave when he was asked to stay. Jessica didn’t know what was offered. However, not only did Charles not leave. He ended up with a large, goofy smile on his face every time she saw him.