Eye Spy

15 minutes ago...

Leonidas was siting beside Fiona when he realized that someone kept I conspicuously looking in his direction.

After seeing the fat man wearing all black clothing, he imagined that it was just a perv who was into Fiona. But his instincts told him to keep investigating because there was definitely more to this.

He cast a *Mind Domination - Stagnation* array on the man, which had the effect of stopping all the movements and thoughts of the man.

Leonidas opened his eyes and carefully placed the matchstick on the floor beside Fiona.

'I'll be right back'

'Where are you going?' Fiona said anxiously,not wanting Leonidas to be away from her When she felt so close to accomplishing her goals.

'Don't worry, I'm just talking to an old friend. Keep going.', Leonidas assured her before standing up and casually taking a stroll to where the fat man was.

Although Leonidas was young, he definitely had presence. Whether it was the way he walked, or the way he carried himself from every movement to even every micro movement, anyone who spectated could feel an almost invisible pressure.

Of course humans couldn't explain what presence was before the advent of souls. But after a bit of research it was found that people with stronger souls are naturally more influential.

In actuality, the greatest presidents, commanders, actors, and personalities all had strong souls.

The stronger a soul was, the easier it would be to dominate every other soul around it, which made attaining positions of influence easier and more natural.

Leonidas casually sat himself down next to the big man, reached for his unlocked phone, and started leisurely scrolling through it.

What he found left him puzzled and amused. There were pictures of Fiona and Ana in there. What was Ana doing?

Most amusing was the fact that 80% of the pictures were of him. Leonidas felt incredibly amused.

'Taking pictures of me without consent. He didn't even take me out on a date yet... What a jerk. '

He read the man's texts and realized that the man was in communication with mysterious benefactors who paid him to provide information on people.

'So he's a P.I.'

Leonidas realized that ever since coming back, he had operated on the assumption that he would have no enemies or friends. He thought he wouldn't raise any red flags yet. Clearly he was wrong, because someone cared about him enough to have him investigated.

Leonidas realized that not only was this man incredibly good at his job, but he was also greedy and petty. Greedy people would do anything just to survive. A smile formed on Leonidas' face. This fatty might be useful.

Leonidas simultaneously weaved a *Mind domination - illusion* array and cast it on the man.

Leonidas projected an illusion of the park, except there were no other people in the park. Just the man and him. The man's awareness was then reactivated in the illusion space.

"Haaah... Beautiful day isn't it?"

A dark haired teenage boy with frighteningly cold eyes smiled at the fat man, whose name was Jeffrey, as if he was meeting an old friend. He sat a few meters away from Jeffrey, much to the shock and dismay of fat man.

'How did he get here? Anyway, he must know something. Mission abort.' Jeffrey told himself.

"It's a really beautiful day, but it seems like it might rain soon ahahaa", Jeffrey said as he tried to get up.

But shockingly, he couldn't move.

"Hey where are you trying to go? I thought we were getting to know each other." Leonidas complained with a pained expression.

"What did you do to me?!" Jeffrey questioned domineeringly, but a squeak in his voice betrayed him as a sign of his fright.

"pfft... You were right. It is gonna rain today... " said Leonidas as he looked up with surprise in his face.

"W-wh-what do you mean? Hey let me go r-right now or else the police will be dealing with you very soon."

"Hey Jeffrey... You and I are really good friends. I mean you know exact how I spend every day don't you? You know when I wake up, when I go to sleep... You probably even know when I take my shits don't you? Hehehe"

Leonidas conjured a knife behind his back. Since this was an illusion space of his creation, he could create anything. 

Leonidas whipped out a knife from his back. He smiled at the man, who was now sweating profusely while withholding the urge to let go of his bladder's flood gates.

If Jeffrey couldn't tell before, now it was going to be painfully obvious. This kid is bat shit crazy.

"Hey, hey, there's no need for this... Please..." Jeffrey tried to reason with Leonidas, but then realized that he was in public so he began screaming.

"Heeelp! Please Help! Anybody?! Please please Noo..."

"Stop stop stop... " Leonidas said while gently sliding the knife along Jeffrey's discolored skin, which probably looked that way due to his many questionable life choices.

"Nobody can hear you. You're in my world now. And in here, I'm a God."

Leonidas casually raised the knife over Jeffrey's left eye which was a kitchen knife previously, but now looked like an operating knife used in surgeries.

"Hiii!!" That was all it took for Jeffrey to lose all thoughts of resisting. A disgusting smell hit Leonidas' nose, but instead of wincing as you'd expect any 13 year old, Leonidas merely stabbed into the man's eye without flinching.

"Aahhhh!! Please I'm sorry!!"

Blood spewed out of the open wound and flowed down Jeffrey's wrinkled face as Jeffrey continued to scream.

Leonidas pulled out the knife and aimed it at the other eye.

"wait wait wait!!"

"Jeffrey?! Are you ready to be friends now?", a cold voice reverberated in the space, almost causing Jeffrey to release the content of his bowels on top of the already horrible situation of his pants.

"Yes yes yes. Please don't hurt me. I'm sorry. They paid me."

"Who paid you?"

"I don't know. Everything's anonymous. Please."

"Really?" Leonidas asked with a blank look on his face.

"Yes really

"hmmm... Okay. I'm gonna release you now. If you try anything funny, I will kill you. If you leave, I will kill you. If you do anything, I will kill you"

"Do you understand?", said Leonidas casually.

"Yes yes. I do as you say please."

Jeffrey couldn't help but curse his employers for giving him this job. If he had a choice, he would never offend this demon in a child's body. He was just aggrieved that he had lodmst his left eye.

Leonidas snapped his finger and the illusion space immediately got deactivated.

Jeffrey looked around and realized that he still had his left eye. He was elated and immediately looked around only to find that to his left sat that same demon that terrorized him a few seconds ago.

"Hiiii!" Jeffrey was startled and he almost jumped up in fright. He thought it was a dream. It turned out it wasn't. Eve his pants were soiled, just like in the dream.

"I'm sorry, I'll never do it again, please let me go. I don't wanna die please"

Leonidas had a benign smile on his face as he spoke to Jeffrey, "Shhh... Jeff. I don't want to take your life. You're still useful to me."

"Oh thank you sir thank you"

"Never mind that, I'm very magnanimous. Anyway Jeff, do you want a job?"

"A-a job..?"

××××××××××××

After a few minutes Leonidas returned to the tree and sat beside Fiona.

'How's it going'

'Pretty good. I'm just about to get it.' Fiona said with a confident smile on her face. But contrary to her behavior, she was not confident at all.

Fiona had been practicing hard. Her eyes were now open as not only was she creating the rune in her soul space, but she was guiding the rune outside and onto the target, the match stick, so that when she activates it, the matchstick can move.

'Damn another failure' she said as the rune dissipated into limbo.

She had already tried 3 times, but the first 2 times she couldn't even take the rune out and the last time she couldn't activate it.

'Calm down. Although you can't see the rune in the physical, you can still feel it's connection to you. Use that connection as much as you can. Don't disconnect even after you let it activate.' Leonidas said as if he hadn't been torturing a man a few minutes ago.

Fiona nodded Aggressively and breathed out.' Okay...'

This time she was confident she could do it, and she needed a good impression since Leonidas was watching again.

She switched her awareness to her soul space where she was now able to adeptly draw runes. After completing the rune, she dragged it outside and attached it onto the matchstick, then she let it activate while still being consciously connected.

Immediately, the matchstick flew in a forward direction almost as if it had been pushed.

'...'

'Well done' Leonidas praised.

He was genuinely surprised. She was growing so fast. It might be time to set up an even bigger study group.

Fiona looked blankly at Leonidas for a few seconds. What just happened?

'W-was that me?'

'Yep. That was all you.'

"Pfft hahahaha. Yes! Yes! Yes!" Fiona exclaimed in excitement as she started jumping for joy forgetting that they were surrounded by strangers at the park.

"pfft... So stupid" Leonidas said. But he was proud of her.

Almost as if she was remembering something, Fiona screamed "Aahhh!"

Fiona turned and looked at Leonidas intently.

"When are we going on our date?"

Ddate?! What date?! "

Leonidas was genuinely confused. He would never go on a date with a kid.

"You promised!" Fiona said, angrily. If he backed out of this she would definitely punch him harder than she ever did before.

"I promised you that I would take you out wherever you want to go. I never said anything about a date"

Leonidas denied everything while shaking his head and waving his arms in admission. But Fiona was fuming.

"You said you would take me out and that we'd go somewhere together, isn't that a date? " she asked with a fully flushed face.

This situation was getting way too awkward. Leonidas didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

'Is this girl into me?'

Spectators and passer bys who heard the commotion couldn't help but look unfavorably at Leonidas. What a jerk... That pretty girl deserves so much better.

Leonidas inwardly sighed. What the fuck...

'Women will casually ruin you life...'

Leonidas conceded defeat, "Okay calm down Fiona. I'll take you on a date."

"Really?!" Fiona said, with a resplendent shimmer in her eyes.

"Yes...", Leonidas said while raising himself up to stand.

"But only if you tell me why you want it to be a date so bad..."

"B-b-because..." Fiona was stumped. Even she didn't know why.

"Because?" Leonidas probed as he looked deeper into the girls eyes. He could tell she was reluctant to answer, but he still questioned her.

"Because I said so!" Fiona almost screamed while panicking

"Pfft okay... Let's go back and have some lunch." Leonidas dismissed, realising that he was getting nowhere with this girl.

He started walking off, and Fiona followed him like a adorable duckling following its parent.

"Hehe... I want to go to Gold Reef City and Theme Park."

"Yes, yes..."

"I want to go on all the rides"

"Yes yes, anything you say"

"I want to eat alm the foo-... Hey! You're listening right?"

"Yes yes, Your wish is my command"

While Fiona and Leonidas were walking off after a successful day of practice, in an office somewhere a man with a scar on his left eyebrow was smoking a cigar while staring outside his 10th storey office window.

He was wearing a red suit with a black tie, and his eyes and demeanor made him look like a ruthless predator.

A knock was heard on the door to the man's office.

"Mmhmm", the man said lazily with a detached look in his eyes.

The door opened, and an old, grey-haired, man wearing a butler's attire walked in with a respectful demeanor.

Without even seeing it, the man could tell who it was. It was his loyal retainer.

"What is it, Davis?"

Davis stood in front of the man's table and bowed slightly before speaking, not even waiting for the man to turn back.

"Sir it seems we have a problem..."

"What is it this time?" the man said, annoyment laced in his deep voice.

"The rat we had following the kid is refusing to bite anymore" the butler said almost fearfully while looking down at his feet.

"Did he explain why? Haven't we been paying him pretty well?", the man said turning to face the butler with an unsightly expression on his face.

The one thing he hated more than incompetent people is ungrateful people. He spat the saliva from his mouth into a roll of tissue and looked intently at the butler, waiting for an answer.

"I'm sorry sir, but he never said", the butler looked down, not daring to meet the man's gaze.

"Well do whatever it takes to find out. And replace him if you need to, for God's sakes!"

"Yes, sir. Will do, sir." the butler promised and bowed before preparing to leave.

"Also find out why my son wanted to have someone investigated. Pronto!"

"Yes, sir." the butler bowed deeper and then turned to leave.

The man then turned his revolving chair around to stare at the city beneath him while he continued to smoke his cigar, glad that peace had returned to him.