Leon did not spend much time in the Armstrong Family's residence. After all, he still had two more stops to make aside from this, and he had not forgotten about his one week deadline that he gave himself.
A rank beings were not indecisive people. Their minds and wills had already been hardened and firmed up during their journey to that level. So, Jet was able to make a decision quickly.
"I will come with you." The young man decided.
"Great! Let's get going. We need to get to Rivera within a week." Leon clapped his friend on the back.
"A week?!" Jet was stunned.
"Yes, it is urgent. I have already promised to be there in a week's time." Leon replied with a sly grin.
"Wait, Leon." Dion stopped Leon as he turned to leave. "Do you mind taking on more people?" The man asked with a critical gaze.
"Hmm, more will be better, especially if the reason I am thinking of is why I have been asked to come over and render my services." Leon rubbed his chin.
Dion also understood and nodded his head. "Then please, let these two follow you." He waved two people forward, a man and woman who looked to be in their forties. They had firm expressions and the A rank auras they radiated were a bit unstable, a sign of a recent advancement.
"This is Daven and Aurora. They recently advanced to A rank and were not able to participate in the war. I will have to bother you to help me take care of them. Whatever happens on the battlefield will not be held against you." Dion asked respectfully.
"It's fine. I can take care of them to a certain extent, but I won't hold their hands." Leon nodded and sized them up.
"Thank you for entertaining our request, Sir Leon." They both said with an honorific that was not too formal, but still showed that they respected him.
"It's fine, it's fine. And no honorifics, please. You are all my friends." Leon smiled. "Now, come. We need to get going." He turned around, and after bidding farewell to the Armstrong family, he took to the skies with the three Armstrong family members behind him.
As he left, Dion, Gael and Dorian, the three most senior members of the family all gathered together and looked at Leon's departing back.
"That boy... Jet told me he's only twenty." Gael sighed.
"His strength is monstrous. His talent is even more astounding." Dorian mirrored his brother's thoughts.
"Hmph! Don't worry, our golden boy is not too far behind. Not to mention, they are good friends. Surely, Leon will not leave Jet out of the good stuff. That is why he even came to invite Jet to Rivera. Whatever the Elves are paying will surely be good stuff." Dion crossed his arms and snorted.
"You are right." Both Dorian and Gael nodded at the same time, also crossing their arms like their father.
.
.
The four people moved quickly. When they were a reasonable distance away from the Armstrong mansion, several dark figures quickly approached them. Jet, Daven and Aurora all raised their guards until they realized that the dark figures were just Leon's summons.
"Hello, Jet." Kaladin greeted Jet while Nero simply nodded his head in greeting. Grokus did not even turn to say anything.
"Ah, hey Kaladin." Jet greeted the summon. He was family with most of Leon's elite summons. During the war, he had interacted with them on more than one occasion where he had come to know them better and understand that they were not just mindless constructs of magic. They had their own personalities, likes and dislikes.
Daven and Aurora curiously stared at Leon's summons. They had heard a lot about them from Jet and the others that had gone to fight during the war, but this was the first time that they were seeing them physically.
Kaladin's gaze shifted to the two unfamiliar faces and he nodded. "Nice to meet you." He said and turned forward. His words surprised the two newly advanced A ranks. They had not expected him to directly address them. Unlike Jet who knew the nuances of the summons to a greater degree, these two were clueless.
"Just treat them as you would any other person." Jet noticed their surprise and advised with a chuckle.
"Oh, alright."
Leon listened to this without saying anything. He simply focused on his flight.
Time passed by quickly and after a whole day of flight, the group arrived at the border of the Gublin Empire, which was settled in the center of the Central Continent.
"We are here to visit Leonidas." Leon said.
"You want to ask him to tag along too?" Jet turned, confused. Why would Leon come here to recruit the emperor of the Gublin Empire.
"Oh, no. Not him. I came here for a different reason haha." Leon chuckled. He did not come to ask for Leonidas to join him on this trip. It would needlessly implicate the Gublin Empire if its Emperor were to join in a war on a different continent where it did not concern him.
"I came here to ask for his advice on this matter and also to just settle some matters." Leon replied. The matter he wanted to settle was that of the Despair Dungeon that was in his hands. At first, he did not really care about returning it, but as he came to know Leonidas and others from the Gublin Empire better, her felt that it would be wrong to take such a large source of their income and political power from them.
He was here to rub minds with Leonidas and work out a settlement for the return of the rights of the dungeon to the Gublin Empire. He never had the thought of giving it back for free. That would just be a stupid waste. It was like throwing privileges and money down the drain. There was no way he would do that. If he did, then he would knock on his own skull to look for the common sense within it.
Their presence was quickly noticed by the A ranks that were stationed in the border regions to protect the empire against invasions. Several powerful auras burst out as hidden teleportation formations quickly transported them from their postings to intercept Leon and the others.
"Identify yourselves!" A mid A rank bellowed as he appeared in the sky along with five other people.
"It's me." Leon revealed his aura and identity.
"Oh, Your Excellency, Leon Cromwell. How can we help?" The man in front was familiar with Leon's identity and close ties with Leonidas and his attitude quickly had a roundabout.
"I want to meet with Leonidas as soon as possible. It's very important." Leon said.
"Oh, I see. Follow me, then. I am not sure if the Emperor is free at the moment, though." The man said and turned around to lead Leon to a teleportation formation. The thought of Leon leaking its location did not even cross his mind.
Leon and the others followed the man to a formation while his comrades split up and returned to their posts.
Soon, Leon appeared in front of the palace on where the main seat of the Gublin Empire was founded upon. He looked around, amazed at the large number of Beastkin that were moving around.
The Gublin Empire was almost a safe haven for the Beastkin in this world. The largest concentration, about 60 percent of all the Beastkin in Datar, lived or conducted business within the Gublin Empire. The Beastkin that would be rare and a novel sight in other parts of the world were as numerous as grains of sand within the borders of the Gublin Empire.
"Welcome to the Roaring Palace, please follow me. His Majesty is aware of your presence and is waiting for you." A palace guard greeted Leon and the others on arrival. He bowed his head respectfully in front of all the A ranks that outmatched a small B rank like himself.
Leon nodded and followed after him while taking in the exterior of the palace it was extremely luxurious and carried the same gravitas that a place of its stature should carry.
At the front of the tall palace walls, a giant wolf head was mounted onto it as part of its construction. It was painted golden and glistened grandly under the sunlight.
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