"You did what?" Eleanor slammed the desk sending what's on it to it in various directions as she almost felt like going out of her mind.

"I ordered the search to stop, your Highness." Devon replied with a lowered head.

Eleanor was almost about to pull her hair from the absurdity of what she heard.

"You found him! You had him this close… and he made you call off the search?" She stood off her desk with a glare so menacing that it would kill a person if glares could.

Seeing the appearance of the Archduchess and her mental state, feeling her Mana vibrating through her voice, understanding that she is this close to going out of control; Devon swallowed his saliva and organized his thoughts before speaking.

"Lord Leon doesn't want to be found. He made that very clear and if I chased him, he would have still run away this time without even considering to speak with us ever again. At least what I did will convince him that we are not the enemies he thinks we are and we can build up trust with him." Devon said.

Eleanor narrowed her eyes.

"He knows that we are not his enemies. I am his mother-in-law." She said.

"But he doesn't remember that, Your Highness." Devon said and put his helmet on the desk trying to sound more serious, "My Lady, I believe we haven't even realized what Lord Leon has been through all that time."

"What are you saying?" Eleanor backed away with eyes widened, "They… they brainwashed him?"

"It is hard to tell. Allow me to tell you what happened just a couple of hours ago."

***

*A Couple of Hours ago*

Leon escaped the saloon. No trace of him, not even a single footstep was left behind.

Jordi ran from the kitchen thinking that Leon went to hide in the shack behind the saloon but there wasn't a trace there.

How could someone vanish so fast?

Jordi, Molly, and Jessica had no idea what was going on and it was bound to turn messy.

What about Leon?

In truth, he was there all along… he was standing right across the street. He was just standing against a wall and as if he was fading in the background, not even the Knights could notice him when they walked away.

The [Chameleon Cloak] was just perfect in this situation.

He watched the knights closely and used Leap to get on a building just in one jump. His cover was perfect especially at night and he walked on the roofs without a problem.

Taking every turn they took and waiting until they finished their patrol around the taverns. He started to gather and steal most of the drawings they left behind without letting anything for the chance.

In truth, Leon was angry. Not angry at them but rather at himself. He almost compromised himself, got too close with those people, things would have gotten ugly if someone acted out of line. Thankfully there are street rules and the Knights are considered outsiders to them so everyone kept his mouth shut in the Saloon.

But for how long?

He slowly and carefully built a little castle of sand for himself yet one small wave was able to trample over it in one go.

A terrible feeling!

The darkness swelled inside him again… this feeling of bitter agony. He lost everything once, everyone he loved, he won't lose whatever that thing he made here again unless it is on his terms.

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'Fuck! Focus!'

It was a bitter feeling but it wasn't his… or it was his actually but he doesn't know he had it since when. Something inside him felt very rotten as if it was the most bitter fruit he ever ate and it irritated him… a lot.

He breathed carefully and suppressed the demons dancing above his head. He focused on the Knights again and finally found where they all gather.

Around 3 patrols of knights all gathered in front of the Central Barracks of the Northern District and just as Leon was about to take a better angel to eavesdrop on them, he noticed a certain figure standing between them and his eyes widened from the surprise.

It was that Knight that gave him quite the chase on the rooftops, the knight from which he copied the [Leap] spell.

This guy was standing here between those knights while they waited for the last patrol to arrive.

Leon checked the man's status thoroughly and understood the overall differences. In a way, Leon would be overwhelmed against that man in a fight but if he decided to run, the Knight wouldn't be able to keep up.

It was at this moment when Leon decided the next course of action.

At the same time, Knight Devon was taking distance away from his subordinates as they conversed with one another. One patrol was still not here yet and he preferred to hear their reports when they came. If any trace of Leon Dark was found, he ordered it to be whispered to him so that the people of the other factions wouldn't know of it if they were close by spying.

At that moment, something strange started to happen around him. The Mana was changing in a weird way and as a Knight, he was not even good at detecting the Mana but he still felt it.

It was as if someone was trying to interfere with his basic senses directly.

Then a voice arrived.

{Don't make any weird moves.} The voice said calmly.

"…" Knight Devon frowned. He didn't know the direction of the sound as he felt it was coming from everywhere and nowhere at the same time but he still wanted to retaliate at whoever was interfering with his business… well, that was the case until the voice spoke again.

{One wrong move and your subordinate will pay the price! Watch the leaf.}

The voice seemed to be speaking in riddles but soon after, a dried tree leaf flew with the rise of wind and carefully approached the junior knights not too far from Knight Devon. It flew suspiciously but as it approached the first one, it swiftly flew by his neck barely touching him and making him react to the tingling sensation, it did the same to the knight beside him to prove that this wasn't a trick then the wind died down slowly.

This control! The amount of precision and accuracy over the Air Magic made Knight Devon start sweating profoundly.

{I suppose a crossbow bolt won't be as gentle as a leaf.}

"Who… who are you?" Devon whispered.

It was a crucial moment when Knight Devon and Leon established the first contact. Leon asserted his dominance over the situation right away.

{You have been poking around my turf for far too long. You made problems for me. It is time we have a meeting, Devon Stanford.}

The more you know about those you talk to, the more uncomfortable they will become and Devon was in a shit spot at the moment. To not alert anyone, Devon nodded.

{Leave your spear behind, walk to the alley across the street. You have 30 seconds. If you alert them, you won't find the little guy you're after and I will consider you an enemy.}

"Understood."

Devon coughed as he turned to the wall of the barracks and rested his spear against it.

"You boys wait for me here. I'll be back in a second." Devon said as he walked by his Knights. They all saluted him and kept their ground.

On the other hand, Leon was just lying on a rooftop nearby and blending with the roof tiles thanks to the camouflage ability of the [Chameleon Cloak]. The cloak was just a perfect little thing for him. It served as an all-terrain ghillie suit (sniper suit) which magically blends in with any surface but that wasn't the most interesting thing here.

What Leon used just now was a technique he developed using the [Unrestrained Magic]. The spell he used is called "Wind Whispers" and he made it through focusing his Air Magic to control the air vibrations his voice makes. Speech Sounds made by people are simply just vibrations same as all sounds, they vibrate at the start when the vocal cords and the mouse produce speech, they vibrate through mediums which is air in most cases, and they vibrate on the receiver's hearing or specifically their eardrums. What Loen managed to manipulate her was the second vibration which is vibrating through the air. In the range of 60 feet, the spell isolates the vibrations of a certain stream of air starting from his voice to a certain place, he then can manipulate how the receiver hears his voice which in Devon's case, it was from all around him.

As for how Leon controlled a Leaf to fly past the necks of the junior knights, he was simply flexing with his 200% Talent and his "Air Control" spell. The level of the Magic indicates the amount and strength of Element which one can muster but the Talent mostly indicates the potential of the Elemental accuracy with Magic and Leon has become an Arcane Theorist overnight, his Magic is unrestrained in terms of accuracy which is something he himself hasn't still realized its full depth yet.

Lastly, he wasn't kidding when he spoke of a crossbow. He had one in his hand as he was prone on the roof aiming for the Knights and ready to strike. The crossbow he looted from the pursuit the first night was just like a rifle in his hand.

Overall, Leon was in absolute control at the moment. A terrifying feeling for Devon who was still acting composed despite the situation.

It was time for their first meeting.