Some things can only be shown.

Rather than the pleasure of evolving, the mana was of too high quality for Leonardo's lacking normal body. It destroyed every vein and cell it ran through and mended it back together like a forceful rebirth.

[Just try to stay awake, it's a transformation that'll be worth the pain.] Azumi's voice faintly came his ear.

Leonardo's eyes were rolled back and he didn't stop convulsing even when a small puddle of blood formed around him. But nonetheless, he found the strength to flash a smirk to Azumi.

'My geisha, did you think  I would just take it the brute way? Just let myself soak in this mana, let it transform me randomly and pray to achieve the best possible result!?' 

"Cough!!"

A mouthful of blood-drenched his chest and legs.

Azumi looked at the man from above, then thought of the way he was writing on his phone after leaving the hospital and widened her eyes.

 [You don't mean!?]

His reply was a bloody smile.

 [Madman! You didn't even test to see if it works!]

Leonardo just laughed through bloody coughs ] and started to guide the mana within on a specific path.

When one awakens an authority, they instinctively follow the mana circulation method of their authority, while common mages have to buy, attain, or create one for themselves. Leonardo doesn't have one, because of lust's passive nature. But in the market, there's only generic circulation methods. These kinds are usually ten times slower and harder…but contrary to those methods that imitate natural Circulation methods, Leonardo was trying the opposite.

Azumi observed with attention.

 Instead of a method that builds a relationship and affinity with the elements, he chose to be neutral, and be resistant to it, The mana his body naturally gathers will have no natural attribute. He'll lack severely on elemental spells, but if he's right, his body will naturally build resistance and adapt itself against those same elements.

Leonardo's eyes shone and he formed a funnel-shaped hurricane of mana on the pit of his stomach, as the mana traversed through the body, he used minor spells to add elemental attributes to himself, earth, water, lightning and fire, those minor spells wreaked havoc underneath his skin and while the mana destroyed and rebuild his cells it created a natural, but fast, adaptive evolution to those elements.

They entered on the top of the mana funnel then were ejected from the bottom with strength., circulating evenly and rapidly on all parts of Leonardo.

The process started at three in the morning, He trembled like the tallest tree on a wind storm on the beginning, but at five in the morning, after two whole hours of destroying and rebuilding, his back stood straight and still as a rock.

Unlike before, his body was pristine clean and healthy, from the outside, you could only see a different glow on him, but Leonardo was stunned into silence, he became overwhelmed by how different his body felt. He imagined it would be like a disease-riddled 300-kilo fourty-years-old man would feel if he suddenly exchanged bodies with an athletic twenty-year-old.

'From water...to wine…' He murmured while looking at his palms in a daze.

Leonardo stood up and walked over to the window, the moonlight reflected itself in his eyes, as the cold morning breeze cooled his new lungs.

A simple, sincere smile emerged on face. But underneath it, an abysmal pool of stormy red flashed for a second.

Without even testing his strength, Leonardo sighed with pleasure and started cleaning the place, leaving the bed for last.

Cecilia was still in deep sleep above it. She barely even moved as he did all the work on the house.

He gently pushed both arms under her, one behind her knees and the other on her back. He placed her head in his chest and shoulders before raising the woman up.

He carried her to the bathroom and slowly placed her into the full tub, the incredible thing was that he had to wake her up as she didn't open her eyes even when submerged in the tub's warm water.

She reluctantly opened her eyes and met Leonardo's gaze.

"You couldn't endure a single night of fun, aren't you ashamed as a trained elite soldier?"

A blush emerged on her tired cheeks as she snorted. " I hope you enjoyed yourself because this is the only time, there won't be a second." She stated sternly

He nodded in a equal serious manner "Yes, I agree. We're childhood friends, we shouldn't let this hurt our relationship."

"Y-you agree? O-okay." She turned her face awkwardly but was startled when he laughed and closed in on her lips, it was a quick and light good-morning peck.

Leaving her blushing face behind, Leonardo went to the kitchen, after cleaning everything,it was 6:34 am,  still quite early, but when he pulled the fridge's door he saw a woman of chestnut hair and bright eyes, looking at him with incredulity.

 She gasped and covered her mouth, as if she just saw something unbelievable.

Leonardo went stiff at first, but then, still naked, he scratched his head and flashed her a coy smile. "Haha, morning mom, can you lend a thong to sis? I kind of ruined hers"

Fwoosh

"Ouch!?"

A bag of dog food was thrown on his forehead.

*****

In the living room of Helen's and Leonardo's house, he was eating a well-filled ham and mozzarella sandwich with gusto, while Helen alternated her stare between him and the silent as a tomb, and red as a tomato Cecilia.

"....Since when?" Helen asked, still in disbelief.

 Leonardo sternly started to answer;; "Well, the love comes from way back then bu-ouch!?"

Cecilia stomped on his feet in anger "There's no love! He just got me drunk and dragged me to that house!"

Helen turned her eyes to Leonardo and he just gave her the brightest good-boy smile to date. 

Helen chose to just massage the sides of her forehead.

Suddenly a faltering sleepy voice entered the kitchen. "Mom~ can you help me with my hair?"

Cecilia's eyes shone with stars as she jumped out of the table, "Little Hailey, I gotch you! Let's go!!"

"E-eh!?" In a second she was a the door pulling the sixteen-year-old and bolting away."

Son and mother were left behind at the table.

"She's engaged…to a navy major, an heir of a powerful man. It can get dangerous." Helen spoke sternly, trying to transpire her worry as well as possible,

Leonardo slowed down his eating and read it all on her face. Letting out a helpless sigh, he assumed a stern countenance and held her hand above the table.

A thousand things passed by his mind, he tried filtering through them all, but then he realized. What he showed her from the hospital un now, was just a significant improvement and not true reliability, it doesn't matter what he says she'll just keep worrying, and in fact, he can only make it worse.

He grew silent and turned his eye away to the window. With lust, his plans, and the magic theories he developed, he was nothing to be scoffed at… But Leonardo wasn't so arrogant as to say nothing could ever go wrong to him.  And only disgust covered his stomach at the thought of saying the usual hypocritical 'everything's going to be alright.'

It was then, he felt a soft hand on top of the one he used to cover Helen's.

He turned around, and the worry and care on Helen's gaze were more apparent. She must've thought his hesitation was due to fear and used her other hand to calm him. With that, he noticed something else; On all the seconds that passed from when she found them on the neighbor's house until now there was not a word of reprieve from her, not a single glance of contempt to him or Cecilia. Not even the slightest judging frown, only the purest form of worry.

Leonardo smiled, then laughed. He felt that, at least with the woman in front of him, he could truly be honest.

"...On the day of the incident, after I rested my back on that abandoned car, I realized something. No, someone pried my eyes open and shoved my face on the fact I chose to ignore all this time.-"

Helen felt it on her stomach as he started speaking, the feeling telling her that this was the true Leonardo, the one who was always hidden away by the timidness, the one who survived and came out alive...

Unconsciously a wide and insidious smile stretched across his mouth, and his eyes squinted into a maliciously amused gaze.

"As modern as we are; we never left the jungle. To keep mother and Hailey safely by my side, I have to conquer territory and hunt. Look at the last happening for exemple; Because I was weak, somebody took Cassie away from me, then another almost laid his golden lasso around Cecilia's finger…"

A chill crawled up Helen's spine.

Leonardo got up from the chair, walked around the table and kissed Helen's forehead with care.

"Mother should be at ease, as long as I'm the worst and most insidious in the jungle. I'll be able to keep what's mine and conquer whatever we come to desire… I just have to be the worst of them all."

Her eyes trembled at his words. He embraced her, knowing she would just worry more after bis words, but thinking of the barbecue and the people coming to it, he felt at ease, since she would see he was not just a rabbit amidst snakes.