“Failure. It is an opportunity to learn. What lessons have we already learned today?”

“I should invest in a whip?”

“Wrong! Expect the unexpected. Big world out there, full of people scarier than me, hard as that is to believe.”

A polite chuckle rose from the assembled group, Leon eyeing them with more care than he usually invested in non-threats.

“I’ve been hands-off. Let everyone do their own thing. Not today. Can’t sit on this info in good conscience. Before the week’s out, we’ll be back home. Slight problem- Earth’s under attack.”

Kong Xia spoke, low voice cutting across the concerned mutterings.

“You have access to information beyond our cage, Leon Knox?”

“I do. Look, I won’t sugar-coat this. It’s not a fight that Earth will win. Don’t expect me to say we’re all going to band together and fight off these invaders. They outclass us, outman us. Now think for a second. A bunch of people, powerful people, people laden with gear- arriving on the planet you’ve got to conquer. What do you do with these people?”

William answered Leon, tone resigned.

“Kill them or recruit them. Otherwise, you’d have too many rogue elements among the native population. Gives the people figures to rally around, could start a rebellion if left unchecked. It’d be like the Taliban or Vietcong except with spells and swords, instead of AKs and IEDs”

Pointing an arm in William’s direction, Leon moved on, not allowing anyone to dwell on the bleak outlook.

“Bingo! Ten points to you, William. We’re going to be walking into a war zone, a planet-wide conflict. Trust me on this. Any rebels are going to get butchered. Consider yourselves forewarned. Sorry if you expected me to have an answer for this- my advice? Get off world, find the nearest alien dive bar, then keep drinking ‘till Earth settles down.”

Turning to look off into the trees, Leon heard more murmurs, before a woman’s voice rang out.

“Really? You’re just gonna cut and run?”

Erica stood alone, arms folded, eyes smouldering with indignant anger.

Mockingly, Leon pointed both thumbs back at himself.

“Who? Me? Oh no, not me- you guys definitely should though. I’m going to be there, neck-deep in the mud and blood. I’ll be taking everything there is to take and killing anyone who gets in my way. Especially if they’re not from Earth. No, I’ll fight, purely because there’s a fight to be fought. Until they call in the nukes, I’ll be there. Then, once they cleanse the fallout, once they feel certain I’m gone? I’ll come back. When the last of them lie broken and pleading for my mercy, I’ll remember this moment and those colonising bastards will remember these words.”

Leon paused, purely for dramatic effect, before issuing his threat.

“My planet isn’t yours to take.”

The moment passed, Leon’s tone reverting to casual indifference.

“William, Xia, Fred. You’re all pretty much good. Strong enough that I’ve no actual concerns. Guillaume, with me. Show me you’ve improved.”

He let them talk amongst themselves while he tested individuals.

He’d decided on fighting in the heat of the moment.

A portion of blame belonged to him. Had he not recklessly fought the Megalodon, Earth would have far fewer prospective masters.

How many would die?

Worse, how many would have chains clapped on their wrists and sold to the highest bidder?

Zerasos made no secret of the flesh market.

Hell, the devil had proudly sold members of his species to mitigate a business conflict.

Among the Myriad Worlds hungered an unfeeling machine, seeking ever more blood to grease its gears.

The machine of commerce. Business. Trade in meat and broken thralls.

A bolt of weak lightning blasted Leon in the chest, his focus immediately shifting as writhing mana flooded his veins.

“Angela! Nice shot, picking up some magic to round out your style? I approve. Now, hit me again and tell me how much mana that shot costs you.”

Ten minutes of testing confirmed the ugly truth- Leon regenerated roughly twenty-five per cent of the mana spent on a lightning spell.

His dreams of infinite mana lay dead- for now- and so he turned his thoughts down other paths.

What other horrors did the multiverse hold?

Trade in corpses for necromancers?

A market for live humans must exist. If vampires or sapient zombies existed, then surely the flesh and blood of long pigs was a sought-after commodity?

The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

Regardless, Earth sat on the chopping block.

Leon held no illusions. He knew his actions were, objectively, foolish.

He had no hope of driving off every invader, but Leon knew.

Knew if he let Earth fall while he ran for greener pastures, the blood of billions would stain his hands.

So he would fight.

To keep his soul intact.

That would be his public story, a reason people could understand.

One of emotion and relatable logic.

A partial truth.

The whole truth deviated down paths of old. Discarded truths that humanity collectively assured themselves they’d outgrown.

Leon could not stomach another ruling him.

There would be no peace, no compromise.

No unified diverse Earth would rise from this new colonial era. Such an Earth would see Leon and his fellow humans become a minority in the lands of their birth- an outcome he would not accept.

Humanity could burn for all Leon cared.

He would care, though only in a detached way, the way one feels bad for the victims of a natural disaster. No genuine emotion, just a polite and expected response to the loss of human life. A polite and selfish fiction.

But these pompous assholes had once attempted to control him. Through bribery and coercion, they attempted to bring Leon Knox to heel.

To then have the gall, the sheer fucking gall, to claim his home?

The invaders would be driven from Earth, or he’d bury them in the earth.

Every last one of them.

Leon Knox bowed to no one.

Cutting through the neck of a hellhound, Leon placed the flat of his sword against Erica’s neck.

“Dead. Again. Learn to use a weapon. You need to be capable of defending yourself when your little pets get dispelled or killed.”

Sheathing his blade, he motioned William over, leaning in to whisper instructions to his lieutenant.

“I’ll be back sometime tomorrow. Hitting the next area. I’m not lying or trying to psyche you guys out, by the way. I may not win this war that’s brewing, but I’ll make sure no one else does either.”

Leon’s voice rose as he continued.

“I’ve seen them, William. Magical nukes, people who shoot cancer beams that kill you in seconds. I’m told, in the worst case, a necromancer could turn up. Picture that. A high-level necromancer could probably turn a continent into an undead army in days. I won’t stop anyone who wants to fight. It’s a personal decision. Just make sure you know what you’re getting into. Now, I’ve got a boss to hunt.”

Before he made it two steps from camp, he felt something flying at his back.

Turning to catch the thrown object, he shot William a look.

“For your lightning mana boss. Figured you’d need a source to tap.”

Examining the small crystal yielded a pop-up.

“Crystallised Lightning- Break to release lightning mana.”

Nodding to his second, Leon left the others in their turmoil.

He had a boss to hunt.

The tundra played host to a fierce battle.

They’d thrown a gimmick at Leon for this area, a single enemy.

Constructed of loose rock, links of magical energy held the creature together, its core buried beneath a sheet of gravel.

“Level Thirty Tundra Titan- Sentient dirt, it seeks only to enlarge itself. Not a threat.”

A succinct description that told Leon little, the flash of violet light at the centre of the rotating mass of debris a signal to move.

For all its might, the elemental felt sluggish.

Too slow to stop Leon from piercing its core, the Unique boss falling apart.

All the mana went to waste, with Leon’s aggregate level being just a shade too high.

The fight had bored him.

Had he not slain the Megalodon perhaps it would have been a challenge.

The Proving Grounds no longer had anything to offer Leon.

He had outgrown this sealed garden.

Were it not for the potential points of Fame on offer, he would have ignored the Trials.

The third trial’s portal emerged from the shredded core of the Tundra Titan.

At least this time, Leon knew what he leapt toward.

A split occurred as Leon crossed the threshold of the portal, a cloning of his mind.

A featureless white void welcomed two Swordfiends, each eying the other with barely disguised bloodlust.

A Leon choose to test the waters, hands still clasped around Silent and Scream.

“My own clone.”

The second Leon, indistinguishable from the first, answered.

“Now neither of us will be virgins.”

The Leons laughed, neither man taking their eyes from the other.

“Would’ve been a funnier joke a few years ago. Don’t you agree, Fleon?”

Fleon shook his head, disgust marring his features.

“Hell’s a Fleon? Fake Leon? Really? That’s what we’re calling me? What if you’re the fake?”

“If I were the fake, then I’d be Fleon- but I’m Leon and you’re Fleon, so you must be the fake. Try to keep up with me, me.”

“I want a better name. Like Dark Leon or Virgil.”

“Virgil? You gonna guide me through Hell?”

“Don’t be facetious, you know which Virgil I mean. He’s Dante, but blue and way cooler. Hell, Cooler’s a good one too. He’s just Freiza, but tall.”

“We’re the same height.”

“Liquid Leon? Oh, Shadow Leon!”

“No and no. We got anything original in there or are we gonna keep up the references?”

“One more try, one more. I’ll talk with an Irish brogue and you can call me Henry?”

“Please. We’re no hero. Enough foreplay Fleon. Let’s do this.”

Both Leon’s flared their bloodlines.

Or they tried to.

Fleon fell to his knees, gasping as the full force of a Swordfiend fell on him.

The real deal stood over his collapsed twin, blades in hand.

“Get up. This is pathetic.”

Rise the fake did, a blustering over-committed swing carrying the false Leon forward, his sword swinging him more than the other way around.

The true Swordfiend parried the blow, knocking the pale scimitar into the void.

Down on his knees once more, the fake met his progenitor’s cold blue eyes.

Despite knowing he would die, the false Leon wanted to live.

So he grasped at the only weak point he knew of- their deteriorated mental well-being.

“We’re nothing without it. See? Can’t even swing our sword. What’s the saying about power? If you’re nothing without it, then you shouldn’t have it.”

Leon chose not to dignify Evil Leon with a verbal response, a cleave from Scream separating the clone’s head from his body.

Immediately the corpse vanished, a chest taking its place.

“Trial Three- Self Versus Self Cleared!”

The Tutorial hadn’t been able to clone his bloodline. An interesting limitation that had rendered this Trial little more than a chore.

Popping open the loot box, Leon ignored the pop-up, pulling a ceramic container from the oaken chest.

Examining it yielded the item’s information.

“Amorous Amphora- Immediately alchemises any liquid stored within. Taste and texture will remain unchanged, however, the liquid will gain aphrodisiacal properties. Efficacy is doubled for all alcoholic beverages. Forms an immediate chemical dependence on imbibement.”

This one Leon stored closer to the front of his storage ring. Not in the back with the rest of the junk, since this could be a useful weapon.

If any alien ever made the mistake of inviting him to a party, he’d offer them wine from his amphora and watch the degeneracy unfold.

Or he could just hurl it at an enemy. That'd work too.

Travelling back through the portal, Leon noted the sun still hung well above the horizon.

With a source of lightning mana, he could now complete his first Class quest.

A thousand kills would normally have taken a while- a day or two of hunting everything with a pulse.

Luckily, Leon knew a place he could claim a thousand lives in short order.

For the third- and hopefully final- time Leon set out toward the first trial.