After Michael and Asteria had left, Leon walked over to the pile of books and picked them up.
"More books? Huh, I wonder if they can raise my Intelligence stat." Leon hummed. He flicked through the first book on the pile, and after noting it was a theory book, he stuffed it into his spatial ring then turned to Dibella who was standing off to the side.
"How are you?" He asked her.
"...I feel... Peace." Dibella thought for a moment before speaking up.
"Peace?"
"Yes, peace. I am happy that I got to speak to Michael again. He gave me hope. Hope that Darwin is alive somewhere. Maybe he does not even remember our past, but I would like to see him again." As she spoke, tears ran down the side of her face. A white light suddenly began to envelop her body, and in a few moments, a sudden change had occurred!
"I forgot. She will not be one of your summons." All of a sudden, Michael's voice rang through the hall and Leon felt the link that tied her as one of his Undead summons snap, but he could still feel that she was alive. Instead, her spiritual make-up began to change as she returned to a singular individual.
It was a fascinating change to watch from Leon's end. And he did not mind it too much. While he was a bit sour at losing a strong summon, he still had others to fill in her empty post. And besides, he figured that she would still be his subordinate in the end.
"Oh..." Leon was taken aback. The former spider queen was a beauty. A sight for sore eyes. Her soft features made him dizzy.
"This..." Dibella was surprised when the light faded. She waved her hand, and Leon could see the mana in the air stirring, but nothing happened. She tried again, and this time, the mana actually moved to take the form of wind, creating a soft breeze that ran through the hall.
Leon watched with curiosity. Since his link with her had been cut off, he could not tell her thoughts anymore. So he asked, "What is it?"
"I-I can use magic again!" Dibella whispered and covered her mouth. She made a few more motions and released weak pulses of wind. She even made a weak water whip.
When Leon thought about it, he recalled that he had not seen her using magic before. All he knew was that she used to be a powerful mage before her imprisonment.
'Indeed, the System is a means to trap people from reaching above.' Leon arrived on the assumption that once again, the System was used to limit those under it. He guessed that it had played a part in disabling her magical prowess, while stripping her of her old skills. Now, she had regained her skills, but they were all low leveled. She would have to raise them up from the ground up again.
"What will you do now?" Leon asked her.
"I will train, and then when the time comes, I will follow you on the missions to the Dungeons so I can help save my old friends." She looked at him and nodded resolutely.
Leon nodded and turned around to leave, but he was actually genuinely relieved. He had thought that she would give a reply of leaving so she could 'find herself' or something similar. The loss of a high rank combatant would have been a bit painful.
"Alright. I will help you where I can." He said over his shoulder as he walked out of the throne hall. Dibella followed behind him, and the giant doors closed behind them.
Before long, they left the temple and were out in the open once again.
"Pick somewhere to stay. You can start working on your skills when you pick a place to stay. If you need anything from me, just get the attention of one of my summons." Leon told Dibella and turned to leave.
"Thank you!" Dibella said earnestly, and Leon waved at her over his shoulder. He was soon gone from her sight.
When Leon deemed that he had gone far enough, he came to a stop and summoned one of his summons, James. James had come a long way from the Mid C rank fighter that he once was. Now, he had reached High C rank, thanks to all the challenges that he had faced in the Tower of Trials.
"What do you wish for, Master?" James went down on a knee in front of Leon.
"Keep an eye on Dibella for me. Anything you think if suspicious, report to me immediately." Leon said sternly.
It might seem as if he did not trust her, but Leon felt it was necessary to be careful. If he messed up and she ended up being a ticking time bomb, then he would bear immense losses. Especially if she did anything radical like blowing up the town, or attacking the humans under him!
"As you wish." James nodded his head, and his body sunk into the shadows beneath him. In the blink of an eye, he was gone.
'Ah, I hope nothing ill comes of this.' Leon sighed in his mind and turned around.
Now that that was done, he had other things to do. With the top one to attend to at the top of the list being visiting the mana attracting runes that drew mana to power the Obsidian Pool.
Leon quickly descended into the underground realm and began walking through the halls. While the white tiles had covered the walls, the bright mana crystals still stuck out of them, lighting up the place brightly.
Leon walked briskly through the tunnels, and soon, he arrived at the deep pit that led down to the Obsidian Pool and the runic formation. A spiral staircase had been built to make it easier to descend down, so Leon quickly started heading deeper.
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