Chapter 439: Strength
’Who dares to stop us?’
For a long time after that, Leon didn’t say a word as he meditated with the General’s last sentence.
On one hand he felt like he understood what the General meant, but on the other hand he felt that the sentence didn’t make any sense.
Leon sighed. ’So f*cking complicated’.
Despite his thoughts though, Leon knew that he was not stopping.
With or without the General’s last sentence, complicated or not complicated, he knew that nothing was going to stop him from pursuing his goal.
Even if the Director-Prime ended up being far more powerful than they expected, Leon was not going to give up. It wasn’t simply his goal or ambition anymore, regaining his memories was his obsession.
Nothing could stop him from that goal, not even a Civil War, not even the loss of millions of lives, and definitely not Epsilon.
Without knowing it, his grayish white ADE was already circulating subtly around his body with visible wisps.
He exhaled and toned it down, but he didn’t stand up to leave yet. Instead, he looked at Ren Nora again.
"General Sylvari Charr," he said calmly. "5 months ago, you called him weak. You said he is the weakest".
He paused, then he continued. "Was it just a psychological ploy to crush his resistance and win easily or were you saying the truth?"
Ren Nora’s eyes gleamed with mischievous emerald sparks. "What’s up with all the questions today? You rarely ask such questions before".
He leaned back on his chair and sighed. "Well, for what it’s worth, I wasn’t lying when I said that 5 months ago".
Ren Nora’s emerald eyes gleamed. "Sylvari is weak".
"Leon," he called without looking at him. "What do you understand by strength? What is its definition to you?"
Not expecting to be asked such a question, Leon grimaced as he thought.
Before he could answer though, Ren Nora continued. "To most Ascended, they think strength is all about Class, Rank, and abilities".
"But actually it’s not, I beg to differ".
He clenched his right hand into a fist, raised it and looked at it, then he said. "In the world of Ascended, strength is more about will".
"Why is it that when 2 E Rank NetRunner enemies meet and fight, one of them win and come out victorious? Why does their fight not always end in draws because they have exactly the same abilities?"
His lips slightly curled up. "It’s because of will".
"The difference is will".
"2 C Rank Ascended are not always equal, the difference is determined by will, determination, and their desperation to win".
"That’s what matters".
"That’s what separates a true warrior from every other Ascended".
Looking forward, he grinned and asked. "You still remember 132 years ago right?"
Leon looked at him without answering.
Ren Nora continued, his emerald eyes gleaming now. "When Sylvari came with his army, we faced overwhelming odds".
He laughed. "No bookmaker in history would have given us more than 2% odds of surviving, and can you blame them? No, we were vastly outnumbered and outmatched, but did it matter in the end?"
"No. We did it, we survived. You know why?"
Leon looked at him thoughtfully.
Ren Nora answered himself. "Will".
"If it was others in my position, the arrival of a C Rank Ascended would have made them despair. They would have given up, they would have lost the fight even before it actually started". His eyes gleamed. "But not me".
"132 years ago, even before Epsilon sent Sylvari to come take care of me, I already planned for the possibility of a C Rank Ascended coming".
"Preparation, that’s part of will and that’s part of strength".
"I knew there was no way for me and my Lieutenants to defeat a C Rank Ascended in a fair fight, so I created Purgatory". He grinned. "That’s strength".
"That’s innovation, and will births innovation".
"Innovation is strength, improvisation is strength. Being smart is strength".
Ren Nora finally looked at Leon again. "I don’t know if you remember but when he first came, I killed one of his Lieutenants right under his nose and he could not do anything about it".
"I was merely a D Rank NetRunner then".
He grinned. "That’s strength. That’s will".
His eyes pierced Leon with sudden intensity that made him shiver. "And talking of will," he grinned again. "You’re one of the strongest that I’ve ever met".
"Do you even know the kind of will and determination it takes for an E Rank Ascended to plot the downfall of a C Rank Ascended?"
Leon blinked.
Ren Nora continued with a smile. "Even I did not have such will when I was a mere E Rank Ascended".
"On paper, such a matchup is impossible but what happened?"
He grinned again. "You trapped a C Rank Ascended!"
"Leon, this is what true strength means".
"5 months ago, you encountered a Fluxmancer unprepared. Very few D Rank Ascended ever survive a dreamscape battle even while prepared, yet you did with no preparation whatsoever".
"I’m sure that battle gave you deep scars that you’re yet to fully recover from, but you survived out of sheer willpower. That’s strength".
He grinned again. "You fought Sylvari before I came, have you forgotten? What happened?"
"I survived". Leon finally answered.
"Exactly," Ren Nora nodded. "That’s what true strength means, that’s what it means to be strong".
"Now contrast it against Sylvari". His eyes gleamed with contempt.
"I’m strong, you’re stronger, but he’s weak". He shook his head. "Forget about the circumstances that it happened, as a C Rank Ascended, letting yourself fall into a trap laid by an E Rank Ascended is weakness".
"It shows his lack of situational awareness, improvisation, and his lack of preparation and those are all signs of weakness".
He sneered. "He got trapped and couldn’t even resist, he couldn’t cause you enough trouble. He gave in so easily".
"Once he lost all his power and abilities, he gave up. He became useless, totally defenseless, signs of a weak will".
He looked at Leon. "If you ever find yourself in a trap in the future, will you give up easily?"
Leon shook his head.
"What will you do?"
Leon’s black eyes gleamed. "I definitely won’t die easily, I’ll keep on fighting till my last breath. My brain works faster under pressure, I’ll keep thinking feverishly till I arrive at a conclusion to survive".
He felt that he finally understand what the General meant "I must survive". He said calmly.
Ren Nora looked at him for a few seconds in silence, then he grinned. "That’s exactly what I’m talking about, that’s strength. Inner strength".
"And Sylvari lacks it".
"5 months ago, he failed to kill you because of his lack of preparations".
"If I was him, I would have over-prepared, coming with my entire Beast Managerie in the case that the ’Glitch’ shows up".
"If he doesn’t, good. But if he does, I’ll be ready".
"Him underestimating his enemies led to his defeat 5 months ago; underestimating your enemies is another sign of weakness".
"Only fools underestimate their enemies".
"So yes, Sylvari is weak".
"Not just weak, he’s extremely weak".
For a long time after that, Leon didn’t say a word as he let the General’s explanation settle in his head. ’Will’.
After some time, he broke the silence again and asked. "What of Murphy? Do you think he’s weak?"
"No".
Leon hesitated slightly, then he asked. "What of Epsilon?"
Ren Nora turned and looked at him.
...
[Special Appreciation to Adamantis, ImperialJadeDragon, Darks4int, and byrdseede for the Golden Tickets!]
