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“Aren’t you ashamed of yourself? You, of all people, being the son of Duke Dark and taking a leak in the streets?” Lena said.

Truth be told, neither Leon nor Shady were people who would care about what is being said about them but the reaction Leon showed just now was carrying bad anger to it. First of all, he wasn't sure how Lena Hart managed to spot him from the crowd even with her magic and the second thing is that part of his subconscious is not a fan of getting associated with Duke Dark, his father.

"Hey, why don't you just turn around, let me go, and nobody needs to get hurt?" Leon said with a cold tone.

Lena was sure something was different about him but she didn't care either way. Leon Dark is just Leon Dark, a loser through and through.

"I am sorry, my Lord, but you are coming with me." She said.

"Are you sure about that?" Leon asked with a cunning look on his face, "Fine, what's in it for you anyway?"

"What do you mean?"

"Miss Lena, please. You seem too eager to capture me. Are you really that desperate to get his attention?"

Leon was talking but something devilish was in his airs making Lena uncomfortable. Above all, his words were hitting a nerve.

"I don't know what you…"

"Let's stop pretending, please. You were the first girl, right? The first one that our dear Crown Prince hanged around with, the first he slept with, and also… the first he left to find another."

"…"

"Oh, let's be honest, you were so cheap yourself. I remember it taking him one attempt before you making that dumb face and let him touch you. Hehehe, there was a meme going on about you in some social circles for some time. See what I'm talking about? You think capturing me will put you back in his good graces? Make you shine in a new light?"

"YOU ROGUE BASTARD!" Lena could hear no more and took out her blade as she charged at Leon aiming for his leg.

"Oh! How feisty!"

*Clank*

From behind, Leon pulled a sword that belonged to one of the academy guards from his Storage and swung it from the side parrying the rapier swiftly and stepping past Lena.

She covered some distance away from him knowing that it is dangerous to leave her back open. It seemed to her that Leon had some skill after all.

On the other hand, Leon didn't know what had gone into him just now provoking Lena as such. He was never the type to trash-talk as Shady but it seemed like something he could no longer resist as Leon… which was right on point, Leon from the game had a talent for harsh comebacks, a poisonous tongue in a way.

Lena was positive that Leon was different. He was not known to be the smiling type but rather more of a dark person. His personality was well known especially during the past month when he was going head to head with Prince Edward.

Also, he seemed like he had more ability than usual. She underestimated him and used her blade even though she is a Mage, not a Warrior. Still, he is an idiot to keep distance from her in a fight.

"Wind Reinforcement!"

Lena passed two fingers on the side of the rapier which suddenly gave off a wave of wind magic around it. The blade was enshrouded with swirling waves of Wind. Leon's eyes lit up as he saw that.

"Read!"

< Analyzing… 1% >

"Hya!"

Lena wasted no time as she waved the blade at him from a distance. This was a bit surprising as it almost broke his eye contact with her magic but he retreated further into the alleyway.

"That was dangerous." He said smiling.

"Surrender now!" Lena said in an infuriated tone.

"Don't be a killjoy! We're just getting started." He replied rather cheerfully.

"Wind Blade!"

This time, Lena used her magic in a different way than he didn't expect. She waved the rapier from distance rather than stabbing and it launched a blade of wind.

"Motherfu…"

It was too sudden for him as he was in close distance and the blade was too fast but thankfully, he passed it with a hair's width.

"You lost!"

Lena seemed sure of her win as she snuck upon him as he was dodging and wanted to restrain him from the back but that was a very stupid mistake.

"Power Attack!"

Leon didn't use that magic from his sword but rather, his elbow. The force that landed on Lena's pretty face was so overwhelming that her nose made a cracking sound as she was launched away with a blood trail of her nose.

As she crashed on the ground, she tried hard to protect her face and kept her rapier pointed at Leon to prevent him from countering but that was as far as she could do. The pain assaulted her even more making her almost want to retreat and recover but she can't let Leon escape. She can never.

On the other hand, Leon didn't attack her but rather kept watching from distance. He was still focused on analyzing the magic on her rapier.

< Analyzing… 52% >

"Hey, want to catch your breath? I sure want to." He said.

"You… you bastard!" Lena was not in the right mood for his sick smile as she stood up covering her bloody broken nose with one hand.

"Apologies, Miss Lena. I should have known better than to strike a lady on her face."

"You will… regret it." Her reply came full of contempt.

"Sure I will? I see I have more important things at the moment so why don't you and I just…"

"Wind Blade! Wind Blade!"

"Woah! Hold on…"

She was really annoyed just by hearing his voice. It was too much for her right now as the blood was boiling in her veins and she cared less about Leon's safety. Actually, he already has bad blood with the Prince so it wouldn't matter if he lost an arm or a leg or both.

< Analyzing… 78% >

"Almost there…"

Leon wasn't aiming to defeat her at the moment as it would be nice if he got his hand on her magic. He kept dodging and endured a tough situation. On the other hand, Lena learned the lesson and decided to keep a safe distance. She is clearly of a higher level and has higher stats but she can't compete with a Warrior in close range.

< Analyzing… 94% >

It is closer than ever now, Leon was barely avoiding Lena and the last Wind Blade grazed him badly yet he was readying himself to launch the right strike now. He had a plan and he will destroy Lena turning her right juicy levels into his experience points.

< Analyzing… 98%... 99% >

And he moved, lowering his posture as much as he could and pushed forward with his two legs.

< Analysis Complete! >

< [Wind Magic Lv.1] has been added to your status >

< You have learned [Wind Reinforcement] >

He ignored all the messages and focused the magic on his empty left waving it towards Lena's face. This was no Wind Magic but rather Earth, Leon used [Earth Magic - Earth Control] to throw sand in Lena's eyes.

It was too unexpected and successful. Lena wasn't even ready for the bizarre way Leon approached her but one thing can be said about Shady's skills, they are cartoonish. The imagination combined with ability and flexibility made everything Shady does seem like magic of its own but he was just getting started. He switched classes from Rogue and Mage to Warrior and Rogue while the left hand he used to cast magic was now equipped with the Mithril Dagger.

Instantly, his sword struck away Lena's rapier and his dagger raced to her heart. It was a good technique and an incredible attack yet nothing is 100% perfect.

"AAAAAH!"

Lena screamed from the pain as she was somehow able to stop the dagger with her free hand but on what cost? Her middle and ring fingers were in the way of the blade and they went flying.

"Annoying!"

Her scream was loud but Leon didn't back down and wanted to end her. The two discarded their swords at the same time as Leon was pushing the dagger forward with two hands and she used her second hand to hold the dagger's blade.

She fell on her back and Leon on top of her, both struggling to take the other's life.

"Die, please! I'm asking nicely." Leon groaned while speaking.

He was frustrated and a dark amount of anger appeared on his face as if the only thing in the world he cared about right now was taking Lena's life. The Mithril Dagger was piercing the skin of her neck as she kept screaming with her blood gushing yet to her luck, a voice interrupted the heated situation.

"Over there!"

Three figures came running from the other end of the alley. Leon was still engaged in his struggle with Lena resisting yet he had to end it. He freed one hand and struck Lena with a punch to her face to loosen her and sprung up running, he couldn't even kill her.

"Stop him!" One of the figures caught up to him but Leon dodged with flexibility and stabbed the man right in the neck.

The man was just a Lv.6 Guard.

"KILLER! HELP!"

This was no longer the time to fight. Every Knight outside the alleyway would charge in as soon as they hear the shouts. Leon started running in the other direction with the place around him becoming noisier. Luckily, he found another alleyway from the one he's in and took the turn then clutched on a wall climbing it up to the roof of a two-story building and ran opposite to the direction he came from.

Running on rooftops is hard and full of dangers. Most of the tiled roofs are very weak and would break if someone walked on them heavily making some awful noise. Even with his careful attitude, Leon had to dodge every bad possibility.

As he was near the place where he left Lena injured, he really wanted to throw something at her head as he didn't want her to track him again but there were three knights surrounding her.

"Huff! Huff! Huff! AAAARG!" Lena groaned like a dying pig as her hand was being wrapped by a bandage.

"Lady Lena, try to be still! You are losing blood."

"It… HURTS!"

The knights held her arm highly as they were patching her hand that lost its ring and middle fingers. She was in an agonizing situation until they were done and she sat resting her back to a wall while looking at her hand with agony.

"We will escort you out of here." A Knight spoke.

"No… I'll be… fine. A healer can put my fingers back! DAMMIT! IT HURTS!" Lena shouted angrily.

"Lady Lena, where is Leon Dark?" A senior knight asked her demandingly.

"I don't know, I used too much Mana fighting that jerk."

"He can fight?"

"That treacherous bastard! No, he can use a knife really well though… bring him to me before anyone else, understand?"

"I'll see what I can do, Lady Lena. Rest now."

Leon lowered his posture so he wouldn't get spotted and kept eavesdropping.

"He went that way." A guard came from the end of the and pointed.

"He will be walking straight into a patrol then. Tsk, this mess." The knight complained.

"If any of you can use [Aero Detection], you will find him. He is exceptionally thin and always walks while looking around." Lena spoke.

"Alright, I'll notify any nearby Wind Mage."

Leon found out the method they used to track him. He couldn't understand the principle of the spell but from the looks of it, Lena said it can detect his motions. In conclusion, it is a hyper-sensory ability that merges the senses with the surrounding air currents and sends feedback to the user on how the surroundings look like, anyone aware of his shape will surely find him. A terrifying thing indeed.

Leon retreated slowly on the roof and tried to avoid attention or the big gatherings of the guards. Now that his appearance is known, he must try to blend his way through this detection magic and break the patterns.

The plan was alright and all but there is always this factor that bites anyone in the ass as it can never be taken into consideration, the Unpredictable. While Leon was quietly traveling on rooftops, the world around him lit all of a damn sudden.

*Crackle* *Crackle*

*Rumble* *Rumble*

Of all the times, it had to storm at this damn moment. Once the lightning brightened the world, Leon was spotted from below in an instant.

"Up the rooftops! Catch the killer!"

"Shoot him down!"

Leon felt a violent urge to curse out loud but that was not the time for it. He started running out of sight trying to get away from the guards but they used whistles while running to gather the other Guards.

Knights and Soldiers started moving frantically towards the sound and flooding the alleys. Once they realized that Leon was up the roofs, they were aiming anything they had towards him.

*Swoosh* *Swoosh* *Swoosh*

Leon tried throwing a piece of clothes over the roof but it was suddenly penetrated with three bolts. Down the alley where that came from was five guards, three of them carrying crossbows. Now that they were used, it was to reload them quickly and get reinforcements.

"He's here, notify the others." A guard spoke as he aimed the crossbow down the ground and put his foot on the cocking stirrup to pull the string.

Two guards from the four did the same while the remaining one ran to call reinforcements thinking that Leon ran off. None of them could ever believe the second action Leon took was to jump down towards the guards who were completely exposed from the back.

The first lost his life when the Mithril Dagger went through the back of his neck.

< Level Up! >

The other two guards tried to react but Leon was faster, his second stab was right to the first guard's heart while the second guard had already finished loading the crossbow and aimed it towards Leon.

Leon firmly held the guard he just stabbed as a meat shield and pushed towards the other guards while charging from another direction himself. The second guard found a cold blade near his throat and…

*Slit*

Blood splattered everywhere as Leon simply killed the guard and took away his loaded crossbow.

"Over h…"

*Swoosh*

A guard came from behind and shouted but Leon cut him short by shooting him down with the crossbow right in the neck.

<Level Up!>

———————————
<Status>
- Name: Leon Dark
- Age: 16
- Race: Human
- Level: 6
- Class: Warrior (+10% STR)
- Class: Rogue (+10% AGI)
—————
<Attributes>
[STR: 10] [END: 11] [AGI: 11] [PRC: 12] [INT: 11]
———————————

Leon gazed at his stats briefly and a realization hit him.

"Will you look at that! Once I level up, all stats go up by one. It took me a few Guards around my level and a high leveled one to level up from Lv.4 to Lv.6 which means… if I kill more…"

He thought of a ridiculous idea but as soon as he was about to brush it away, a dark urge rose inside of him.

'Why not kill them? It is for the (my) greater good, right? And I am just… defending myself.'

It all sounded reasonable even though there was a sinister grin widening on his face that was covered with blood splatter. The idea sounded good, the chance to overcome this situation is just by piling up more kills to level up again.

It all became too clear. With this Mithril Dagger that can cut through any metal armor and a powerful crossbow in hand, this seemed like a good opportunity as any to do some XP Farming.

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