chapter 33: Lion

Looking at Luke's impatient and eager face, Lion had a hard time not laughing at him. Clearing his throat, he explained " Well, remember what I said about the conditions to become tier 4? I said you cleared one by creating a transcendental personal spell but it's not exactly that. It's more like you embarked on the path to clear that condition.

Then, there is the second condition. It's that you have to understand to a certain extent your ability. Just like me and Andrea, you are a genius who cleared that condition without realizing it. "

Frowning, Luke inquired " How? I still don't understand anything about my ability. "

Laughing lightly, Lion calmly replied " You understand what it can do, like, you tapped into its real potential and that's what makes you qualified to ascend to tier 4. Don't get me wrong, that's already hard enough. If you knew the number of people who would die of jealousy for that feat...

Anyway, understanding the intricacies or, in other words, the how and why of your ability is something that you just can't do yet. "

Nodding, Luke prodded " Then what's the third qualification? "

With a mischievous smile, Lion answered " I don't know. "

" ... "

" ... "

" You f*ckin brat, you... "

Laughing at his reaction, Lion tried to calm him down " Listen, friend, I did say that I could tell you things you didn't know but I also said I wasn't told everything. They sprouted some nonsense like " You will know when the time is right " Pffft to me they looked more like clowns b*llshitting their way to look mysterious.

Putting this matter aside, we will have a meeting with Andrea this Afternoon. We will spar and discuss, so, if you still have things to ask, do so face to face. " " Okay, then see you. " Without waiting for Lion's reply, he disconnected.

Being by himself with quite a few questions unanswered, Luke first purchased one of each enhancing potions, which he stored to study later. That's something he could now do and thinking about his inability to think of that up until now, the grudge he had toward the system manager deepened.

Deciding to concentrate on a more pressing matter: The tree of roads. If he could create spells of a higher tier, then he could also create objects, Even more so with the roads.

Thinking back, he already created the Road to death, yet, he never had the thought of producing it himself. Knowing that all materials, even though not common, were things he could acquire before the forced integration into the universe's mess.

Even though Lion said that the mind restriction wasn't meant to harm him, Luke still didn't have a better opinion about it. He was okay with following orders but if his free will, or if his ability to think was tainted, then he couldn't accept it. That's the reason why he immediately killed Sheila when he had the opportunity.

Being a subordinate? Sure, but being a puppet? Impossible. Though, that's exactly what he does with his tree of roads.

Back to the topic, he didn't purchase the ingredients to make the Road to death, he didn't need it yet. Road to craziness was already enough and he already made use of it. Instead, he began to think about who to use it on and shortly came to a conclusion.

The only ones he wouldn't use it on were Lion and Andrea. These two were too special for him to risk it. It may work at the beginning but the odds of them breaking free were high with their background and talent. That would net him two enemies he already despaired at the idea of facing.

The others, no matter if they break free or not wouldn't be too troublesome.

Shaking his head, Luke began another experiment he couldn't think of up until now thanks to the system. An experiment that would benefit him as much as the tree of roads if successful.

....

After eating a quick meal, Luke waited for Lion's call as he didn't know where to go and how. Meanwhile, he purchased the last spell he could: space cut.

* 2200 PTS deducted, 14760 PTS remaining. *

Just after, a screen with Lion's face on it appeared. Looking somehow ashamed he said " Well, the rendezvous point is the Coliseum and to get to there, you have to go to the monolith and think about it. Try to think about the entrance so that we don't appear to far apart. " Staring at Lion in the eyes he replied " You totally forgot about this while playing the wise veteran card. Tsk "

Not wanting to lose face more than that, Lion quickly disconnected. Tsking once again, Luke got out of his house and went to the monolith. There, he saw his teammates discussing. He got near them and when they saw him, they looked like they saw some kind of god. Raising an eyebrow, he asked them what happened.

Not thinking that he wouldn't know already, their eyes widened, apart Ozz, as Milfa answered " You didn't know? Every chat is filled with news of your victory over Lion. "

" And? "

" You have to know that Lion is considered one of the three most hopeful to reach tier 7 in our generation and that most people think that he will become the first tier 8 in the last 2 billion years. "

" Ohh, and? "

Seeing that Luke still didn't think much about it, Milfa got agitated as she basically screamed " You just beat the universe's publicly recognized number one genius! "

" Okay, that's good, have a nice day." With that, he went to the monolith and did as Lion instructed. He then disappeared, leaving his teammates speechless.

Reappearing near the coliseum's entrance, Luke spotted Andrea and Lion a few hundred meters away. As he approached them, Lion who regained his calm look grinned as he said " Well, I believe you gained lots from our fight right? I also did "

With that, the rematch began.