Chapter 27: Leon's style
Leon's crimson chains hissed with flames as he stuffed his empty flame spirits into them. His right sleeve evaporated as though it had never existed, giving him a different and wild aura. In Leon's case, he didn't just appear feral and powerful.
His appearance precisely mirrored what others could expect from him.
"I should find clothes with fire resistance… At least some blessing to keep them intact…." Gazing at his arm, Leon briefly understood why Louise liked short pants.
Ignoring this thought, Leon briefly went through all training he'd done with her, then split his focus like he usually did in his career on Earth. It wasn't the same, though, for Leon carried spirits who moved according to his wishes.
His weapon rattled and extended forward, hanging off his right hand.
In the corner of his eye, Leon saw Louise doing a splendid job against one of the bears, revealing their patterns and strength. Grasping what the first monsters were capable of, Leon took a guard, balling his hands.
He looked like a man who would gladly wrestle with the bear.
Provoked by that, the bear raised his body. He would eagerly befall that human!
"I'd rather not," Leon whispered as though he read the bear's mind, then extended his right hand. His chains went forth as though having their own consciousness, wrapping around the bear's front paw. "Ignite."
Shrilling, the flames burst out and melted into the bear's flesh. With them so tightly connected to the monster, Leon had the monster on his leash. He yanked his right arm and pulled him closer, forcing him to move according to his will.
But as it was unexpected and the crimson chains kept blazing, the bear fell onto his side, wailing. He shivered from the unbearable pain gnawing on his flesh and going for the bones: his heart felt cold.
Leon was not an enemy he could quickly deal with.
Could he even face him?
"Let's speed up the process." With a smile, Leon grasped his chains, confirmed the length, then threw the monster to the side, hitting and splintering a tree with this enormous mass of flesh.
He didn't find many problems doing such an absurd thing, for his body was packed with strength and abundant stats! It put some toil on him, though. Leon didn't think he'd be able to effortlessly repeat the process a few times in a row. His stamina and mana points had been running out crazily, after all.
Still, it meant that Leon could only resort to different moves — he had many of them!
Having the monster still on his leash, Leon controlled his chains and brought himself to the beast instead. It looked like someone was holding Leon by a hand and reeled him in.
Not wasting such an opportunity, Leon formed a fist and threw a superman punch at the bear upon his contact. His fist weighed more than all those three bears combined, his strength breaking bones and mauling organs from the inside.
But that much was expected as both Leon and the bear were of equal level.
The latter was a normal forest monster, and the former was born with peak humanity's body.
Knowing he was the bully in this scene, Leon decided to end the monster with the next move. For that, he wanted to cover his fist with the chains and punch to see the damage count.
When his chains returned to his side, Leon saw the paw sticking to them. "I guess you'll be a sacrificed card."
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"I'm level eighteen, Master!" Louise exclaimed, her eyes shining.
The party had spent around six hours in the forest and killed various enemies. They didn't need to rest since Louise and Leon grasped how to manage their mana and stamina.
The monsters didn't challenge them, too.
Other than bears, the party fought against the boars and birds. The boars were smaller and a little faster than their first opponents, but their pattern was much simpler and easier to deal with — Louise liked fighting against them the most.
On the other hand, the green-red birds irked Louise the most.
She couldn't easily get closer to them and had to deeply focus on hitting them. Not only did they spit grain mana bullets out of their beaks, but those monsters also protected each other, for two of them always picked up the wounded pal, lifting him to the skies.
In the first place, Louise was a close combat fighter. Those with long-distance attacks always annoyed her.
However, her master shocked the flying monsters with his flame spirits, taking their ability to fly at an unforeseen moment. From that moment, the leveling up became more straightforward, and the birds started avoiding the duo.
"Two more, and you'll catch up to me," Leon replied while enjoying his good mood, too. It wasn't just Louise's smile but also his inventory full of the bear cards. He had been smiling from ear to ear for a good while now.
He'd hoarded a solid number of those cards, which were ready for fusion development. His partner was ecstatic from leveling up, and both practiced against the real threat — could Leon's mood get even more enjoyable?
"Master!" Louise peculiarly called her master, sounding shy. "Thank you for giving me all of the monster's EXP points… Do you have any special wish?"
She lifted her eyes and looked deeply at Leon, her little hands clenched.
Because Louise had sworn to take care of their meals on their adventure in the forest, she couldn't offer her master her cooking skills: those were necessary and the work she had been entrusted to take care of. So besides that and her offensive strength, what else could Louise offer?
She thought of her tails and letting her master take a good nap on them, but it couldn't be her mentioning it!
Hence, the fox girl asked cutely.
Looking at her with a thoughtful expression, Leon soon smirked and extended his hand. "Give me back mine no pass."
"Eh?" Louise flinched and blinked, then her heart grew furious, "No!"
"But that's my special wish."
"No!"
"Louise… That's wrong, you know? Ah, going back on your word… That's so wrong."
"I won't give you that! I-It's mine!"
"Well, I guess you give me your no pass, then."
"I don't have a token…"
"It's not like a token is required."
"It is! It's proof…"
"…"
"So, make a token?"
"Me... Me no blacksmith..."
"Draw it?"
"…"
"Louise?"
The fox girl and the human stared at each other, seemingly unable to reach a consensus.
At last, it ended up with Louise feeding her master, which made Leon recall his girlfriend, Athena.
But she was nothing more than a memory, wasn't she? Better to keep that locked deep inside his heart and not let that time come out with a different woman tending to him.
On the other hand, Louise lost her shyness, and her spoon no longer trembled.
Their bond unconsciously tightened.
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