Slipped Away (1)

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It was a dark night as the moon hid behind the gloomy clouds and the rough weather struck the usually peaceful but internally troublesome Karanburg. Eleanor sat on her desk suppressing all her rage and anger before she committed the crime she has been holding herself from during the entirety of this month.

If everything happened during the past month was a scandal then what happened today… what is still happening till this moment in the Capital is nothing but a Crisis. A storm that is brewing to obliterate the land if it wasn't prevented in this very moment. The culprit of today's events was no one but Eleanor's own nephew, Prince Edward of Amber who was simply sitting there without a shred of guilt or fear from any consequences.

"The search is called off, Sir Devon?" Eleanor asked the knight standing beside the door of her office.

"Yes, Your Highness." The Knight stepped forward holding his silver helm under his arm and replied with a bow, "The Ducal Guards of House Godfrey are taking over the investigation."

"Anything different from the initial report?" Eleanor asked.

"The initial report mentions the tens of guards to have been fallen in the fight against Lord Leon Dark… one of the knights is fatally wounded, Lady Lena has lost two fingers and…"

"THIS BASTARD!"

All of a sudden and while Knight Devon was restating the report of the Chase, the third person in the room sprung up off his seat with rage burning in his eyes. Eleanor didn't want to even look at him but it wasn't disregard she was feeling…

"THIS… This black-hearted spawn… he insults the Royal Family, he resists an arrest and he kills our knights and students… I will see his head…"

"Edward."

Yet the words he kept saying were no longer tolerable for Eleanor to hear. She suppressed every urge to hurt him before looking at him yet the look on her eyes was that of pure rage.

"You. Have. Abused. Your. Position!" She stood up off her desk and followed, "You threw a party without my knowledge in the Garden, you started a duel without consent or following one single regulation, you harmed a fellow student, and you issued an arrest order on my territory!"

The Grand Duchess and the Crown Prince rarely see eye to eye but this was the straw that broke the camel's back. Prince Edward was indeed a loose cannon but this is not just something his Aunt can keep underground anymore.

"I did what had to be…" Edward wanted to shameless refute but Eleanor slammed her desk shutting him up right away.

"Above all that, you sent a chase party after a First Class Nobleman." Eleanor spoke with visible spite this time.

"It is just Leon Dark, the Darks won't even care…"

And a book flew straight hitting him.

"Aunt!"

"GET OUT!" Eleanor finally had it.

Edward was offended way beyond what he can take with sense, he raised his arm pointing fingers at his Aunt but one good look at her eyes was enough to give him cold feet. After all, his Aunt is not someone he can oppose.

He only turned around and left slamming the door behind him only for its sound to be covered by the rumble of the thunderstorm raging above the city.

"What should we do with him?" Knight Devon asked.

"Nothing…" Eleanor said as she sat down back on her seat, "We can do nothing to him at this moment. The Royal Knights and the Western Lords won't sit still."

"And what should we do about Lord Leon?"

"What happened after the guards fought with him?" Eleanor asked.

"Well… it is as the initial report said but some things were left out." Devon handed over the report he was holding, "It seems that the Darks were involved as well."

Eleanor snatched the document right away with a grim look.

"Dean and Diane, second son and daughter, of House Dark were among the arrest party that was sent by Edward after Leon? Those lowly bastards! He's their brother." Eleanor threw the report on the desk and looked for something to break but couldn't help but feel more frustrated when she didn't find any.

"Won't you join the search, my Lady?" Devon asked.

"Can I? You don't know what the King will do once I look away. The moment I left the Academy, they tried to kill Leon. Now that Alice is here… I can't risk my daughter's safety."

Eleanor was in really one tough spot. She has taken the role of the Headmistress of the Academy three years ago in order to come into contact with Leon, the boy who was taken by his father to the Capital against the will of the three Ducal Houses of the East. The King, Eleanor's brother, was hell-bent on crushing any dream for the East to gain more power or independence and so Leon was the perfect bargain chip for his origins, even his father handed him over willingly.

The Powers that serve the Crown are deep and vast and employed many hurdles all over the years to make things hard for the East but they were successfully held back but today, it seemed that the Crown no longer holds Leon with any value. It also happened to be the day Eleanor's daughter arrived at the Capital.

The Royal Family seemed to be brewing a stinker scheme this time.

"Still, many things don't add…" Eleanor said, "The attempt on Leon was reckless and the situation was messy but Leon defended himself and left a bloody trail of corpses in his wake, how is this possible?"

"The other side suspects that someone was helping him despite the testimony of Lena Hart." Devon replied.

"They are very hasty at pointing fingers. I am sure they suspect 'those two' since Leon would surely head for them if he knows they are in the Northern District." Eleanor said.

"It is no secret that they are there which means they are being watched." Devon stated.

"That's not a problem they can't handle." Leon said and pointed at the last line in the report, "This is a problem even I can't process."

The line said, "Leon Dark killed Oath Knight Eric Marth."

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***

*A few hours earlier - on the way to the Northern District*

The moonlight shone on a bloody scene. Leon standing in a pool of blood that is not his own but still of his very making and the bodies… it was akin to a butchery.

For Shady, this is a Tuesday that went a little bit extreme. For Leon, this is him ripping the cocoon and emerging into something that shouldn't have been there but damn everything to hell if he didn't embrace this newfound power.

His Proficiency and Talent rate are so high that it almost feels like he can kill forever and enjoy the leveling up he just experienced.

He looked behind him watching the narrow and long filled with an unknown number of guards and soldiers, he lost count at 30 something. They seem to have come from different backgrounds and different races and colors but the most interesting thing they have in common at this moment is that they are dead.

So dead like a bunch of ragdolls being stabbed, tossed around and bled to their death. Some of them were lying on their fronts while appearing to have been injured while escaping, others seem to have been cornered against walls and in the barrels and clutter lying around, some had it worse and got their limbs twisted in horrific ways before getting visibly stabbed in the most vulnerable points of their vitals.

How did this happen? What method did Leon use to go from Point A (escaping on the roofs) to Point B (starting a murder spree in an alleyway)?

The answer to this matter was actually just simple. Release a wolf in a flock of sheep, let the monster loose, break the beast's shackles.

The thing is, this beast always had shackles. It was used to getting orders telling him when to stop, when to abort a mission and retreat.

Now that is missing and his only problem is that point.

The Hunt was on once he tasted Blood and Experience Points. Once he killed the four guards from earlier, he stumbled on more and had to kill them before they alerted the others. He moved towards them dagger in hand and crossbow in another shooting and slashing.

And another patrol appeared, and another, and another. The only thing that was appearing as fast as them were these messages.

< LEVEL UP! >

< [Fatigue Resistance Lv.1] was added to your Status! >

< [Stamina Recovery Lv.1] was added to your Status! >

Five levels and two skills in less than a couple of minutes.

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- Name: Leon Dark

- Level: 11

- Class: Warrior (+10% STR)

- Class: Rogue (+10% AGI)

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[STR: 15] [END: 16] [AGI: 17] [PRC: 17] [INT: 16]

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Leon shrugged his shoulders as he turned around to face those still in front of him. His hand was holding a bloody dagger and he seemed as if he used his nails and teeth in the process of fighting as well making him look demonic more than anything else.

"I don't know, man… I was just trying to pass through and they were just dying. True story!" He said.

Behind him was carnage and ahead of him was a full team of knights that ranged between Level 15 to Level 21. Those guards from a while ago aside, he won't be able to deal with any one of those killing machines no matter what he does. It was time for another class switch from Warrior and Rogue to Rogue and Hunter in order to achieve the maximum ability to…

"ARREST HIM!"

… Run.

Around 8 knights tried to trap Leon but the combined acrobatic abilities of the Rogue and the Hunter turned the chase into his advantage even though some of the knights may be faster than him. He retreated and with two nimble jumps, scaling the wall of the house on his right was way too easy. The knights were a bulky bunch and seeing him jump this way, they all started invading the house he's on to get to the roof yet he just decided to move on to the opposite building.

The next few maneuvers were all about him toying the Knights around in an endless circle of parkour and dodging their spells and whatever they grab and throw that until…

"Leap!"

*Thud*

No one was sure when it happened but a knight with a longsword came from the other side and jumped from the alley directly onto the roofs causing a lot of ruckus. The people living underneath must have had quite the scare.

Seeing a Knight catching up to him, Leon completely changed his route and started thinking of a way to deal up with this jumper. Still, when he tried to read the status of his opponent, his legs almost gave away.

Level 30! And it was written in blood red.

"Hold it there, young Lord." The Knights leaped again and tried to jump ahead of Leon.

"Sorry, I'm in a rush!"

On the other hand, Leon resourcefully used the rooftops terrain to his advantage and ran the other way.

"Hold on! I am…"

The Knight seemed annoyed at how slippery Leon proved to be and was forced to jump again… and again… and again. Each time he jumped Leon would watch him very carefully before picking a direction to run to.

It was at a fleeting moment when he felt something when he started to jump as if he… as if he was being watched.

Something didn't add up to the Knight but he wasn't able to put his hand on it. The moment this discomfort started to grow on the back of his mind, the moment he decided to end it even if Leon is a little bit unharmed.

"This is it, don't say I didn't warn you. Leap!" The Knight said as he jumped high across the roofs trying to land right on top of Leon with all his weight.

On the other hand, this leap was all that Leon needed.

< Analysis Complete! >

< You have Learned [Combat Magic - Leap] >

< [Combat Magic] Level Up! Lv.1 → Lv.2 >

"Leap!"

*Thud* *Woosh*

Just as the Knight was about to land, Leon vanished from his spot. The Knight landed and looked around only to see him a few roofs ahead.

"It can't be…"

***

"And that's how I lost Lord Leon and couldn't extract him. Apologies, my Lady." Devon said.

"He learned your skill… by watching you performing it a few times?" Eleanor asked.

"I would prefer to think that he was working on the Move and watching me perform it gave him insight." Devon thought as he murmured.

"But still… Leon's Proficiency is 7%, it is too low for him to be able to use it as fast as you. How did you lose him?" Eleanor asked.

"Well, I have pride in my Proficiency being over 70% but unlike 100%, I still go through some time to prepare before using a move such as Leap again." Devon explained.

"Yes, I already know, why are you telling me this?" Eleanor said hinting at Devon to get to the point.

"That's it, your Highness. I don't know how but Lord Leon didn't stop for just a second after jumping…"

"Say what?" Eleanor was taken aback.

"There is more!" Devon tried to sound less weird while saying this but he asked in the end, "Your Highness, is there any way in Combat Magic to use the Leap move in… let's say… Double Jump?"

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