14 Leon's Skill
The three brothers were sitting at the table eating.
"So, how was school? Anything new?" Leon asked.
Lucas shrugged.
"Normal... I guess. This time I was not in any trouble..." Liam could have sworn he heard Lucas thanking God.
"Still good..." Leon commented. Yes, the 3 were afraid of their mother's fury. "And you, Liam?"
Liam narrowed his eyes at his brother.
"Nothing abnormal. I should have taken 10 on the math test..." Liam simply replied.
"That would be... the first time, right?" Leon frowned.
"What can I do? I get smarter overnight..."
" Mm... I see. Just do not go do something..."
"Liam has resigned from the supermarket and so far he has not told me why." Lucas cut off Leon and quickly said what had been bothering him since the time they left school and passed on to Liam's work .
Leon began to cough as if he were choking.
One of the big problems of the Mason brothers is that the 3 were curious. Very curious. So it was not really a surprise to Liam to hear Luke's words, but still...
"Did not I ask you to keep it a secret? I was going to reveal it at dinner time when Mom was here."
"It does not look like you even know the lovely brother you have..." Lucas turned to Liam. "Keeping secrecy is one of the few things I do not know." the brat said proudly.
Liam took a deep breath to keep the unfortunate from struggling.
"Liam... Huh... Are you sure?" Leon asked ignoring his younger brother.
Liam turned to his older brother and nodded.
"Yes. I thought for a moment and decided it would be the most sensible thing to do."
"You're aware that if Mommy listens to those foolish words, you're a dead man, right?" Lucas commented.
Liam shivered.
"Yes... I've already thought about what I'm going to say..."
"Well, why do not I go to your funeral." Lucas blurted out.
...
After lunch, Lucas went to play at his friend's house. Since it was Friday, he did not have to worry about school tomorrow.
Meanwhile, Liam and Leon went to the bedroom. Each one sat on his bed facing each other. The orbs were floating next to each other.
"So..." They did not know how to start the conversation. Liam spoke. "I do not think there's a lot to explain since it's the same for both of us..."
"Yes, I think you're right. So how are the other people?"
Liam shrugged.
"I have no idea. I did not talk to anyone of my own free will. I played the anti-social role."
"..."
He knew Liam was not much of a friend, but even in a life-and-death crisis he did not take the initiative?
"So how did you get to Top 15 in the overall standings?"
"I was lucky, I guess." Liam shrugged once more. Even his tone was casual.
"..."
Leon wanted to cry. While he had to eat the bread that the dog kneaded to reach the Top 5, did his little brother, alone and with a little luck, do what he was not able to do? Where is the justice of this world.
"Is that you? How was your journey?" Liam asked curiously.
Leon sighed in defeat.
"In the white room, before choosing the weapon, I opened the Mysterious Chest. I received a Soul Core while the others received a skill, whether strong or not, some even received Rank-S weapons. I was not the most unlucky. There was someone who got a regular stone. The wretch almost blew blood. He was a man in his mid-thirties, but he still cried. It was shameful..." Leon seemed to be remembering before proceeding. "Inside the force fields, with only one sword in hand, I covered for the first layer. I was dead within 10 seconds."
"..."
Leon shuddered at the memory of death.
"Having learned my lesson, I went to make a hunting party. That's where I met Devon and Nissa. They're great people. We were 3, plus a group of 7 people, together we went hunting. We managed to kill an ogre. The EXP was split between us. We had to hunt twice more before leveling. No chest fell, unfortunately. One of the orbs reported that it would hardly fall a chest when hunting in a large group. The riskier you are, the greater the chance of dropping. The other 7 came out after hearing this. Only Devon, Nissa, and I remain as a group and so we continue to hunt."
Liam only listened intently.
"It took nearly 20 hours to finally reach level 10. And in the meantime, I had already died a second time while the other two died for the first time. I had already achieved an AOE skill, Ice Wave, and two sword skills, Triple Slash and Sword Mastery. It was another 20 hours and I died the third time in the second layer. By now I kind of got used to it. Which is not at all healthy. With only a little more than 70 hours to get out of Neutral Dimension, we find a terrible obstacle. A demon leader. Our group had already grown to almost 20 people. When facing the demon, 5 people died for the fourth time and that was the end for them. In a moment of madness, with only 5 skills, watching my friends die, I gave my all. Ready to die, I attacked the devil. It was difficult, but at last I managed to kill the bastard. Unfortunately his leg was broken and a rib was pierced. My HP was falling fast. It was painful. Good thing the bastard gave a generous EXP and so, I leveled to level 18."
"..."
Liam did not know what to say or do. Should he be worried? Annoyed by his brother's imprudence? Laugh or cry? Not knowing what to do, he decided to keep quiet and keep hearing Leon's story.
"Because of my recklessness, the devil dropped a Rank-E Chest. The group decided that I should keep the chest. Right there I opened it and... I do not know if you know, but there are some drops unimaginable. They are the most anticipated. These drops are Ancient Scrolls with amazing effects. It was the first and only parchment I ever received. The scroll I received is called Wish and Fate. This parchment allows you to make a wish and it seems you can grant anything. Having died 3 times and after seeing my HP fall fast before leveling and my wounds heal, I had it on my head. I really did not want to die, so when the message asked me what I wanted, before I could control myself, my mouth moved by itself and I said... infinite HP..."
"..."
"Well, it seems there even a skill with this effect and well, I won. The message said that only 7 users can exist at the same time and I was the third human and the seventh user."
" o... does that mean... you can not..."
"Die? Yes, that's correct. I can not die, I have become immortal. One of the effects of this ability is never to grow older. Any injury will heal quickly. I'm basically a Wolverine of life. With that ability, I no longer needed to worry, I started hunting like crazy. Although it hurt when I get injuries, I continued and so, soon I reached the fourth position in the overall classification. Unfortunately, the weather was short. If not, I would have definitely reached the top position."
"..."
Liam was silent for a moment before murmuring,
" Damn... I should have asked for this..."
Hearing his brother's words, Leon frowned. forehead.
"Liam...?"
Liam sighed and turned his gaze to Leon.
"Short version. From the Mysterious Chest, I gained the Time Stopping ability, which allows me to stop time in an area for a few seconds, but it costs 100 MP."
"..."
"It was simply impossible to use this ability at first. That's why I chose a katana. For my first demon, instead of attacking like an idiot..."
"..."
Liam did not speak for evil, he simply said what he thought at the time.
"I went around the white field until I found an area with demons easier to kill. They were wolves. Despite the danger, I managed to kill the wolf without dying."
"..."
"I went up the level and so I kept hunting wolves. I gained skills quickly. It had already taken some time when I received the Demon Hunter title that increases by 30% damage against demons, then an Ancient Scroll with the Brave Warrior title that increases by 2 Vitality, Strength and Dexterity at each leveling. I received my seventh ability, Shadow of Darkness, which allows me to summon clones with 10% of my attributes, with all my skills, titles and equipment, but at the cost of 5000 MP. A robbery, I know..."
"..."
Robbery? Brother, come here, let me give you a dose of common sense. I promise you'll still be able to recognize your face in the mirror.
"I bought some skills, I gained others. I increased the skill rank, Time Stopping, and instead of decreasing MP consumption, multiplied. I increased the rank of Shadow of Darkness, but the cost remained the same, 5000 MP. It was at that moment that I realized that I would have to focus only on increasing my mana. It was still about 80 hours away. I received my second scroll. It was a multiplication spell that allowed me, as long as I had MP, to multiply an item twice. The problem is that the cost of MP also multiplies twice."
"..."
Leon was almost crying with injustice. Do not get him wrong. He loved his brother. He really loved him, but still, what divine luck was that? And the worst? Liam was acting like he was unlucky.
"After that, I died for the first time to kill 3 or 4 Leaders. Because of this, I received my third scroll..."
"..."
At this time, Leon almost vomited blood.
"It was the Scroll of Wish and Fate. How worried I was with my mana. I ended, by accident, wishing for infinite mana. I became the second human and the sixth user. It also has the limit of 7 users."
"..."
Is it... Liam was kissed by the luck goddess? What the hell is wrong with this world? How did someone get 3 ridiculous skills like that?
"In all this mana, I made good use of it. That multiplication spell was very useful..."
Leon's eyes flashed. For a moment he had forgotten that parchment.
"What did you use the spell on?"
Liam smiled mysteriously.
"Genex, show Leon how much Soul Core I have."
Before Leon, a translucent screen appeared.
[Soul Core: 81.129.638.414.606.681.695.789.005.133.064]
"..."
Silence hovered in the room for a moment.
"How do you read that?" Leon finally asked.
Liam shrugged.
"I have no idea, but... who cares? I'm rich."
Turning his head, Liam's eyes widened as he saw Lucas at the door, staring at them as if they had grown two heads.
"..."
Leon surprised his brother's behavior and followed his gaze only to do the same as Liam.
"What the hell are you two talking about, you freaks?"
"..."
They both had no reaction.
"You know, you do not have to answer. I've been here long enough to hear almost everything from the beginning. I do not need to hear lies. What I want is to become a... awakened, or whatever the name of what you have become."
"Lucas, we do not..."
"Either that or I tell it all to Mom... I recorded..." he said, showing his cell phone.
"Genex, is there any way to make someone an awakened one?" His tone was from someone in a life-and-death affair.
