Leon sat cross legged as he immersed himself in his routine meditation session. Wisps of black and white energy floated around him, sinking into his skin before floating back out, sometimes coming back with more energy, and sometimes with less. The atmosphere around him was charged with energy and not many people dared to come close.
It had been a couple of days since the siege on Black Iron Fort. The army that Leon led had hopped to a couple of other Elven bases and demolished them, but none of them were as powerful as Black Iron Fort.
Also, the effects of the capturing of Councilman Russo had begun to show already. The Elves were in a panic. A Councilman had been captured in the first week of the war. If this was not a blatant blow to the pride of the Elven defenders, then what could be?
The morale of some Elves had dropped so much that when they encountered the rebels, they simply surrendered if they saw that they were no match for the rebel army. Though there were a few who valiantly fought for their empire. Some of them even killed themselves in a bid to wipe out their enemies alongside themselves!
The short bout against Elante had given Leon some food for thought. Leon had felt that Elante's level was slightly higher than his own, and during the fight, he had gotten a bit of food for thought, which he was currently meditating on. The best path for growth was to test one's strength against others, and then learn from the shortcomings that were revealed.
Now that Leon had somewhat surpassed the limits of the System, he now had to forge his way forward on his own. Every step was long and arduous, requiring him to put in the best of his effort.
As Leon forged ahead, he learned more about Demigods. Vera also possessed a lot of knowledge about this, as the Elven Empire had produced many of them over the years.
There were stages to a Demigod's growth. Every twenty percent of the conversion of mana to Divinity represented a major step in the level of the Demigod. Although there were no official terms used to refer to each stage, it was still recognized by most.
Leon had currently just gotten past the twenty percent mark. As long as one had enough talent, this would not be much of a problem. However, the next parts were not as easy. Ever since then, he had discovered that his growth speed had slowed down by at least three times.
He had gotten past the twenty percent mark before leaving Fort White. That was incredibly fast! But since then, he had only reached twenty five percent, and his growth had been incredibly slow.
"Ha..." He let out a breath of charges air. Dense and heavy mana escaped his lips and mixed with the Divinity. He inhaled deeply and all the lingering energies were sucked up by him.
Whoosh!
A strong wind blew from nowhere as he opened his glowing eyes.
'Still so little growth...' Leon thought to himself with a hint of disappointment.
"It's still fast enough." A sudden voice sounded behind Leon, making him jump and spin around, a spell already forming on the tips of his fingers.
"Oh! It's you!" Leon's eyes went wide when he saw who it was. The familiar gunmetal hair and sharp blue eyes sparkled under the lightning of the room that Leon was meditating in.
"Indeed, it is. It has been a while." Michael replied with a reserved smile.
"Where have you been?" Leon asked. "Wait, you seem different." He paused.
Michael's smile turned sly. "Yes, I have ascended to the level of a Major God. The me that you know, and the me of now are not on the same level." After he spoke, Michael allowed a portion of the weight of his Divinity to wash over Leon and reveled in the dazed look that came over Leon's face.
"Uhm... Congratulations? I guess?" Leon was a bit confused as his mind recovered from being slammed by the truck-like force of Michael's will.
"Thank you." Michael smiled again.
"So, that's why I wasn't able to get a hold of you since." Leon nodded, finally coming back to his senses.
"Yes, I needed to focus my mind on what was more important at the time. Now that I have reached this level, we can gain some major concessions from the other Gods, one of them being regaining my former allies and subordinates from the Era of Gods." He said.
"What? So no more free dungeons for me?" Leon was a bit taken aback. He had been waiting for Michael's missions so he could gain control over more dungeons and increase the strength of his army. Now it seemed as if his aspirations and plans would be all for naught.
"Not necessarily. I know how important it is for your forces to be powerful enough here in the mortal realm, so I will still hand over the ownership of those dungeons to you in due time." Michael replied.
"That's a relief." Leon sighed.
Michael nodded and looked around, taking in the room that Leon was in. "So, tell me, what is going on here?" He asked, obviously referring to the ongoing war that Leon was participating in.
"Ah, about that. The oppressed among the Elves, as well as some other races that support them, are rebelling against the rulers of Rivera. I was asked by a certain someone to assist the rebels. Of course, I am being paid well." Leon gave a short explanation.
"A certain someone?" Michael raised an eyebrow.
"Yes, the Crown Princess of Rivera, to be precise." Leon grinned. He did not need to worry about leaking information when it came to Michael. If the Fate God wanted, he could easily find out about it.
"I see. Well, this is a good opportunity for you. Make the most out of it, we will discuss about your path upwards when the war is over." Michael patted Leon's shoulder and turned around, vanishing in a curtain of silver light.
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