Leon had been finishing a late dinner of steak and potatoes, left both satiated and unsatisfied when Zerasos abruptly concluded his tale.
"Not going to tell me how you broke your arm after striking that deal?"
Zerasos responded by rolling onto his side, still on the beanbag, smirking at Leon.
"Nah. If you're a good boy and do all your chores tomorrow I'll consider it, but no promises. Day Four brings out the big guns- tyrannosaurus rex alongside spinosaurus. A couple of subspecies as well but you're pretty much ready to deal with everything. Don't slack off, don't get too cocky and get some sleep kid."
Stripping out of the Droplet Soldier Armour took longer, the clasps different from the leather armour Leon had grown used to. He hadn't yet infused the mana battery on his chest with any mana, having been focused on replenishing his internal stores throughout the day.
A minor annoyance, he'd rectify it come morning.
Arms and armour piled against the wall, Leon collapsed into his bed, drifting into a fitful sleep.
When he woke, it was with no prompting from his housemate. Zerasos was still asleep, sprawled across his well-worn beanbag. Poking his head out the door told Leon it was a new day, the false sun's light just beginning to peak over the horizon.
Strapping himself into his armour for the day ahead, Leon ruminated on Zerasos' tale.
Some particulars evaded him. Why the devil saw it as the best deal of his career was a mystery as was the devil's naked distaste for his new partners. Still, one thing had been made clear to Leon.
Zerasos was not a man he wished to anger. Anyone who locked souls inside of desks and sold members of their own species into slavery was to be treated with an appropriate amount of respect. The slovenly façade, of a relaxed man content to feast on steak and lounge around concealed a powerful force of will that had allowed the devil to excel under the System.
A glimpse behind the curtain was all Leon had been granted- and it was all he had needed.
His exit was quiet, taking care not to wake the devil. Leon's eyes habitually flicked to the ash pile. A single velociraptor, sleeping in the ashy detritus. Not a threat to him, if it approached he would be forewarned.
Immediately Leon began funnelling his mana into the battery on his chest, the water droplet inscription freely absorbing his mana once he directed it there. The process was intuitive, Leon merely moving water mana to his chest and having the battery drain it from him.
Once it had absorbed all he had to give, Leon set about refilling his own stores. A relatively time-consuming process, which allowed the sun to rise, dawn breaking as Leon's mana capped out.
Trying to force more mana into the battery resulted in failure. The armour's description hadn't mentioned any limits, leaving Leon to assume it scaled off his base capacity and only allowed that much to be stored at any one time.
Another minor annoyance.
It wouldn't impede Leon's goals, he doubted he'd have cause to draw Wavecutter today. A few slightly bigger geckos were nothing to worry about.
Before leaving he completed another thousand swings with the Sunlight Greatsword, centring his mind and relishing in the throbbing ache that came from his muscles. No tricks or gimmicks this time, the swordsman focused solely on form, pushing his enhanced physique as far as it would go.
No distractions, no doubts. Just himself and the blade.
With his morning drills completed and the Sunlight Greatsword stored away. Leon hefted Bladeless off his back and onto his shoulder, the swordsman set off at a light stroll through the woods, cutting down the few raptors that were brave enough to challenge him. None granted him even the tiniest amount of experience, their levels too low.
Leon didn't bother to inspect them, his blade flashing back and forth as needed, the dark iron slab crushing bone to dust and reducing flesh to pulp as it beat back the ignorant lizards.
The sight of a lone carnotaurus stirred Leon's excitement. A cut above, a light challenge. It scarcely had a chance to react as Leon tore across the space between them, his sword rocketing forward, into the beast's eye.
The force behind the Heaven Skewer sent Bladeless' tip into the carnotaurus' brain, killing it and netting Leon zero experience. Retrieving his weapon Leon couldn't help but complain.
"Seriously? Nothing? Just how weak was this one?"
He knew these guys spawned at level fifteen- the carnotaurus should have been giving Leon experience. He couldn't check its level now that it was dead.
Yet another minor annoyance. They were building up today at an alarming rate.
He could feel the red mist descending, his bloodline beginning to re-assert its worldview over Leon's. it whispered in his mind that none of these little bumps in the road mattered, he just needed to find some fresh flesh, a new body to cut open.
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A minute later he'd found a target. A spinosaurus, with lighter scales than the one he'd slain in the Blight Marsh. [Swordsman's Eye] supplied the beast's description.
"Level Twenty Spinosaurus- A dinosaur that excels in both aquatic and terrestrial combat. Weaker on land than in water, the novice swordsman will often seek to exploit the beast's propensity to charge at distant foes."
More information that he already knew, Leon could still remember his fights in the Blight Marsh and the tactics the Venomack Spinosaurus had employed. This spinosaurus lacked the venom that had given him trouble previously. An easier foe, though one to be respected.
It spotted him, or at least that was what Leon had assumed. Looking into the beady reptilian eye of the beast before him, Leon saw it wasn't looking at him.
It was looking past him, to a threat that was emerging from behind the swordsman, just out of his detection range.
Dull green and brown scales provided a measure of camouflage to the beast, though Leon doubted anything really helped a tyrannosaurus rex stay hidden. Unlike most of the overgrown geckos Leon had faced down this one did not bare its teeth.
Instead, it froze and observed, taking in both the spinosaurus and swordsman at the same time, with the same disdain. Leon felt an emotion bubble up from within as he read [Swordsman's Eye]'s evaluation of the apex predator staring him down, one born from years of pop culture reinforcement.
"Level Twenty Tyrannosaurus Rex. The tyrant lizard king, a dinosaur of unrivalled power and brutality. An apex predator that any novice swordsman would be lucky to survive an encounter with."
Fear. Primal fear. This beast didn't see him as anything more than a snack.
It was the acknowledgement of this fear that led to Leon breaking the stalemate, swiping the description of the t-rex from his view and charging the spinosaurus, dragging blade against bone and severing leg muscle before the frilled carnivore could shake off the terror of meeting a true predator.
The king would get his turn to bleed, but first, the swordsman had to remove any distractions.
Moving past the bleeding leg, Leon thrust into the spinosaurus' underbelly as its body crumpled, unable to support its weight after a successful crippling blow. The dark colossal sword cut deep into the beast's stomach, Leon's increased power allowing Bladeless to penetrate the thick scale that protected the beast.
It roared in agony, which the t-rex answered with a roar of its own as it charged, teeth clamping down on the weakened party's neck, the spinosaurus' own teeth failing to find purchase on the king's hard scales. The king raised his enemy aloft with little more than his mouth, a testament to the beast's terrifying strength.
Leon yanked Bladeless out from the spinosaurus before the t-rex could slam their shared adversary into the ground. Leaving the blade in would have done some damage but would leave him depending on Wavecutter. For this fight to be a challenge he needed to use Bladeless.
The tyrannosaurus wasted no opportunity, tearing into the downed spinosaurus, ripping through throat and devouring skull. Tooth sank into brain and the king roared as he concluded his meal.
Then his eyes locked on Leon, standing just off to the side and the swordsman discarded his fear. His victory was a foregone conclusion, no lizard could defeat him. Leon began sprinting across the distance between them, preparing a Heaven Skewer to be used as the beast clashed against him.
The move was a gamble. A slip-up could cost him his arm. Regardless of his new armour, Leon had no doubts that he would be taking heavy damage if those jaws clamped down on him.
The tyrannosaurus surprised him and did not charge in kind, electing instead to whip its tail at Leon, who only succeeded in blocking the strike thanks to his bulky blade.
The force blasted him backwards, through the air, the world whizzing past him as he crashed into the trunk of a redwood, deforming the bark and leaving an imprint of himself in the wood.
Pulling himself out of the crater he'd left, flopping onto the ground, spitting blood and cursing his judgement the swordsman channelled his energy, repairing the fractured ribs and internal bleeding he'd suffered in the crash landing. He thanked his lucky stars that he hadn't broken his spine, the cost to heal that would have no doubt been exorbitant.
Levelling his blade at the now disinterested tyrannosaurus, which had begun feasting on the dead spinosaurus, Leon spat the last of the blood from his mouth and abandoned all strategy. He was far beyond annoyed now and far too fucked off to bother planning his attack.
The king ignored the small biped up until it felt a stabbing pain in its leg, one that began at the thigh and slid down to its ankle, blood pouring from the deep opening Leon had made in the beast's flesh, though he had failed to hamstring the overgrown bearded dragon.
That was fine. The king could die on his feet.
Carving two more wounds into the same leg with a pair of quick uppercuts from his Double Fang technique, Leon was forced to leap into the air, as the distraught king attempted a second tail swipe.
Now on its back, the swordsman took the opportunity presented to him to rile up the monarch, lashing his blade back and forth, cracking scale and drawing blood as he charged towards the beast's head.
As expected the tyrannosaurus bucked its body, determined to dislodge the human on its back, giving Leon the momentum he needed to leap higher, lining his blade up as he rose past the branches, Bladeless' tip aligned to slice open his enemy's neck.
The descent was quick, Leon able to tell he was on track thanks to his improved senses, as the confused lizard kept still, waiting to see movement. As Leon broke through thick scale, cleaved through thicker bone and claimed the king's life he wondered if its decapitated head saw him flourish his blade to cleanse it of the royal blood.
"You have slain a Level Twenty Tyrannosaurus Rex!"
"Level up! You are now a Level Nineteen Swordsman! +2 Power, +2 Speed, +2 Constitution!"
Storing the tyrannosaurus corpse inside his storage ring alongside the half-eaten spinosaurus, Leon's eyes lingered on the severed rex skull.
"The king is dead...guess I can cross regicide off the bucket list."
A roar erupted from behind Leon, a second tyrannosaurus emerging, scales blistering red, cinders falling from its open maw, an ominous glow growing in the back of its throat.
[Swordsman's Eye] was getting a workout today, the ensuing description sending a chill down Leon's spine despite the rising temperature of the forest around him.
"Level Twenty-Five Flamma Tyrannosaurus Rex. The flaming tyrant lizard king, a dinosaur of unrivalled physical power and brutality, with the added ability to spit great balls of superheated gas. Going beyond an apex predator, this beast causes the death of entire ecosystems and will annihilate any novice swordsman that crosses its path."
Caught in a staring contest Leon, with the presumed mate of the t-rex he'd just slain, Leon heard another roar from the direction the spinosaurus came from, a second one with darker scales and a fury in its movements.
Hefting his blade up and into a fighting stance Leon commiserated to the uncaring skies above.
"When it rains it fucking pours eh?"
The two beasts took the proclamation as the signal to begin their clash and Leon was thrown into another life-and-death struggle.