The rusted bronze axes crashed through, shattering the enormous Mana Shields.
Leonidas burst forward, closing in the final distance as he ran through the rain of Mana.
“Boy, you’ve overestimated yourself!”
Urog felt his blood beginning to heat up for the first time in decades.
How long had it been since he felt such a thrill? Even though Leonidas had yet to exchange even a single move with him, he could feel the pressure of a lurking predator, as though a cage was slowly constraining his heart.
He had only ever felt this feeling once before. No, only a single other person could make him feel this feeling.
His Lordship, Deacon Ezor!
‘No.’ Leonidas thought in his mind. ‘You’ve overestimated yourself.’
As Leonidas crossed through the rain of Mana, feeling his skin glow to their touch, his crimson eyes lit with a blinding blue glow.
At that moment, Urog felt danger the likes of which made his hair stand on end.
His four axes whizzed around him, his grip around his fifth tightening.
He hesitated for only a brief moment before he chose the path of defense.
“Metal Skin!”
The old ogre’s skin flashed with a brilliant light. From grey, it became an almost blinding silver, displaying the prestige of a Level 4 Blessing.
“Mana Blade!”
Leonidas spoke out at about the same time, but he was still a step slow.
The rain of Mana around them suddenly came to a halt.
It was a scene of undisguised beauty.
The ripples of the lake’s once calm waters, the thin rays of sun slicing through the forest to bless the battlefield, the delicate rain of motes of royal blue light, it was all gorgeous beyond words, until, that is, blood was drawn.
Beneath Leonidas’ Mana Sense, the Mana that would have soon dissipated into the air was reined back into his control.
The previous Mana that formed his twin scythes, fused with the additional Mana he had used to form his shield, and became a forest of thorns, skewering toward Urog.
Leonidas’ Mana Blade had finally entered the Evolved Level, transcending past what it had once been and becoming something entirely new.
Leonidas understood what he had been missing all this time.
Mana Blade’s Circuit was too weak, it couldn’t take on any more Mana. If he tried to push it any further, he would cause backlash to himself.
However, in the moment he formed those two enormous Mana Shields, he realized that he had been wrong about Mana Sense all this time.
When he cast Mana Shield, the yet-to-disperse Mana from his shattered Mana Blades fused with the Blessing, making them far larger than he could originally make them.
It was then it clicked for Leonidas. Mana Sense wasn’t just a sensory ability, what was most important was how it functioned.
Mana Sense worked by sensing the Mana in the atmosphere and using its actions and reactions to paint a picture of the surroundings.
Due to the fact it worked like this, you could also use it to take control of your own Mana before it could disperse.
This was a huge game-changer!
Even if Leonidas couldn’t recycle 100% of his Mana, he could still recycle about 90 to 95%! Like this, he could make his already enormous Mana Pool stretch further!
But, that wasn’t all. The main strength of this ability was exceeding the limitations placed on Leonidas by Mana Circuits.
No matter how far he pushed Mana Blade, he’d never be able to make it stronger than a Level 3 weapon. However, if he made use of his own dispersed Mana to strengthen it even further…
A roar of pain resounded as Urog’s form appeared.
A forest of spikes and thorns had formed around him, skewering him through.
There were some locations where his Metal Skin had protected him, likely placed where Leonidas hadn’t concentrated his Mana enough. However, in this case, quantity had outdone quality.
Even Leonidas was shocked by the result. If the Mana in the air was a high enough concentration, he felt like he could even push this forest of thorns even further than this.
‘How did he do it, though? Metal Skin is a Level 6 Blessing and should only be available to Earth Elementalists. But, this Metal Skin clearly only has the aura of a Level 4 Blessing and it’s being used by a Paladin…?’
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It didn’t make much sense to Leonidas at all. Unless?
‘Bloodline? No, bloodline fragment. That would explain why it’s weaker than the real deal, just like with Anabel.’
Leonidas’ thoughts were suddenly snapped awake by a roar, the silvery glow growing fiercer.
Urog’s four rusted bronze axes whirled about him in a vicious formation, slicing apart Leonidas’ forest of thorns.
Blood leaked from the dozens of holes in his body, his outburst leaving him somewhat weak as he stumbled forward.
However, Leonidas’ gaze only flashed again, pouring even more Mana into his Mana Circuit.
‘Mana Blade.’
The forest of thorns formed again, skewering Urog through once more. But, this time, Leonidas’ skill was even greater as this was his second attempt.
If the first time about 50% of his thorns had failed, this time, barely 30% had.
Urog stumbled, wanting to fall. But, he was held up by Leonidas’ thorns.
“Boy…” Urog coughed up a mouthful of blood. “… This was just a test, what are you doing, exactly? Are you trying to kill me?”
“Didn’t you say that if I failed your test I would die? Well, you’ve failed mine,” Leonidas said, unmoved.
Urog chuckled. “Your temper is just like his. I guess we’ve underestimated you.”
“Why don’t you tell me what your goal really is? I warn you, my control over the Mana in this area is tight. Those thorns in your body can either kill you slow or fast. The choice is yours.”
“Your guts are quite big,” Urog laughed, coughing up another mouthful of blood, “Lord Ezor should already be aware of my heavily injured status and is probably making his way here right this moment. You don’t have the time to torture me even if you wanted.”
Leonidas’ dull gaze flashed with a cold light.
He knew this as he had the same connection with Anabel. Though, it was impacted by distance.
That said, the range for a Level 4 Apostle and Paladin was probably larger than Leonidas’ own with Anabel. That would explain things.
“I already have your life in the palm of my hands, why should I be afraid of another Level 4?”
Urog was stunned for a moment before his laughter became a cackle. He laughed so hard that it would seem to an outside observer that he didn’t care about his blood loss even one bit.
“Comparing me to Lord Ezor… You are quite a funny lad… I’ve already grown tired of this world as I know I won’t be able to keep up with his footsteps… Maybe it’s best that I fell here at the hands of such a young star…
“… It makes sense, though… I can smell his bloodline on you… My Lord’s blood was bound to bloom a talent like you eventually…”
Leonidas’ expression changed as Urog’s body shifted, causing Leonidas’ thorns to pierce his heart.
The old ogre sputtered another mouthful, his lips curling into a final smile.
Leonidas stood unmoving for a long while.
News that Deacon Ezor was his grandfather or maybe great-grandfather didn’t surprise him much, nor did it change anything for him.
Ogres, especially powerful ogres, could take and rape women as they pleased, whether it was of their own race or another. Someone as powerful as Deacon Ezor had likely bedded more women than he could count.
The idea that a random ogre that could be killed by an arrow had ended up raping his mother, resulting in him also happening to be of Deacon Ezor’s bloodline…
Well, it wasn’t difficult to accept.
His only family was his mother. That was all that mattered to Leonidas.
‘My new comprehension of Mana Sense changes everything. With things like this, the bottleneck I faced with Mana Hand should shatter with ease.’
After understanding that Mana Sense had a wider application than he originally thought, he realized it could easily be applied to Mana Hand as well.
“Mana Hand.”
Leonidas pushed a palm out and he could feel the invisible hand forming before him.
This was the simplest iteration of Mana Hand, an open-palm configuration.
However, using Mana Sense to control the Mana around him, Leonidas took control of this invisible hand and began to manipulate its fingers and thumb.
After a few seconds, Leonidas nodded. It was no wonder the spirit said to comprehend Mana Sense before moving on. He had been using it all wrong all along.
Suddenly, the forest of thorns shattered, surging into the invisible hand.
At that moment, the once invisible hand began to take form and it soon flowed a fierce blue, growing to the size of a human body.
The wind around it quaked and pulsed. Leonidas couldn’t imagine the amount of power stored in that hand at this moment.
Leonidas took a breath and all the Mana was sucked back into his body. In the blink of an eye, there was no trace of their battle outside of Urog’s corpse and blades.
‘I would have figured this out far faster if I had the tome…’ He shook his head. ‘… This just proves that I need to be more exploratory with my abilities. Maybe I relied on the tome too much in the past.’
Taking a step forward, Leonidas grasped one of Urog’s axes before it could sink too deeply into the water.
‘These weapons…’
Leonidas furrowed his brows.
They weren’t powerful at all. In fact, they weren’t even Level 1 weapons. They were just common.
Leonidas check all four one by one, and it was the same for them all.
However, Leonidas’ brows shot up when he looked at the fifth.
‘This is a Level 4 weapon, but he never used it?’
The weapons all looked identical, but this one was actually so precious. If Leonidas traded it in, it would be worth anywhere between 110 and 200 Blessing Units. That alone was enough to bring a commoner up to the rank of Apostle!
‘There must have been a reason.’
If Urog had used this ax to fly around and attack him instead, he would have died on the shore without a doubt. His sabers, even coated by Mana Blade, wouldn’t survive against a Level 4 weapon.
‘Hm, maybe?’
<2102 Blessing Units Remaining>
Leonidas raised an eyebrow. Even after losing 90%, Urog was still worth double that of nine total Paladins.
However, what happened next was even more shocking.
<7293 Blessing Units>
Leonidas’ heart sped up.
His first plan of action upon becoming a Warlock was to begin researching how to make his fragile flesh hardier. Previously, he had stored away the corpse of a Level 2 Lower Ogre Apostle for that very purpose as he wanted to unlock more of his ogre bloodline to counter his fox bloodline.
This, however, was far better than he thought it would be.
Without hesitation, Leonidas took Urog’s head to exchange for the remaining Blessing Units but declined to turn in his Bloodline Talent Fragment. With any luck, Urog would be his key to unlocking his second heart.
‘It’s time to go. He might have been bluffing, but there’s no need to take the chance. I will face Deacon Ezor when I’m ready.’
Leonidas took one last look at the battlefield before vanishing.
What he didn’t know was that Deacon Ezor was already present.
The Deacon stood with his hands clasped behind his back, watching with interest as Leonidas stored things away.
He had made his way here the moment he sensed Urog’s death and appeared after Leonidas had long since sucked up his Mana. However, he didn’t make his presence known, nor did Leonidas’ Mana Sense pick up on his traces.
“You’ve wanted to die for a long time, old friend,” he said softly. “I will carry your legacy on my back to the pinnacle of the world. Rest easy.”
Deacon Ezor turned and left.
He wouldn’t battle Leonidas here, it would be a waste. It was best if Leonidas came to the valley, that way their battle could break the final layers of the seal.