“She is smart and impressive, giving away such an opportunity for the sake of her family,” Leo muttered as he watched Sheila run out of the room. 

[Are you going to agree with her request?] Luxia asked.

“I don’t know, I am not sure if it’s a good thing. I mean, I am not even sure if I have enough strength to take care of myself. It would be dumb to take that kind of responsibility. Also, I don’t even know if I can trust them,” he said as he shook his head lightly.

[Still, they can be useful to you, right? You should at least try and see.]

“Let’s say they do prove to be useful; how long can they stay useful?” Leo asked.

“I mean I have you, so I am bound to improve quite quickly. I am still not clear how the people of this world train, but I don’t think they can keep up with me. In the end, they would become nothing but a burden, and worse they could become a weak point that my possible enemies could use against me,” he said.

“Meanwhile, if I choose to live selfishly, I can be as carefree as I want. I can fight at the south, drink at the north, fuck at the west, and sleep at the east. I can do whatever I want wherever I want without having to care about anything. Doesn't that sound awesome? I could avoid a lot of trouble and have a lot of fun by staying with me, myself, and I,” Leo said in a half-joking tone.

[I see, but those should be more your fears than your real thoughts, right? If they were, you would have rejected her at once. Also, you wouldn’t think that building an organization of your own is more interesting.]

“You are right. I don’t think I can live such a lonely life. First, I don’t want it and second, I may be able to run away now but what about after and after and after… There is bound to be a time when I would end up growing too attached to someone and be unable to just leave them behind,” Leo said as he knew that he wasn’t the kind of emotionless machine who has complete control over his emotions. 

“Putting the emotional side aside, it is already clear that I can’t deal with everything alone. I may be able to easily defeat people of the same rank or higher, but I won’t have the luxury to only fight those kinds of opponents I can deal with alone.”

“Today, the fact that I had Celia beside me certainly made it easier for me, and more importantly, without Leila’s help, I could have suffered a greater loss before being able to defeat Blake,” Leo said as he was aware of how ugly the situation could have turned without Leila’s help. Her first attack that stopped Blake from displaying his full might and the last spell that sealed his magic away were the determining factors in that fight. Without them, who could say for sure who would have come out on top in that confrontation? 

“But, above that, what really worries me is the existence of other reincarnator in this world. I don’t know what kind of benefits they will receive but I don’t think theirs would be that much inferior to me. Do you think I can beat such a reincarnator alone if they have a huge army backing them up? Maybe or maybe not. But it is better to prepare for the worst.” Leo said as he brought up the real cause of his concerns. 

“Lastly, if I really want to find my sister in this vast world or bring my mother here, I will need a lot of help. And if I do find them, it would be better if I already build a safe place for them.”

[That’s a clever way to think. What about joining an organization then? Instead of building everything from the ground up, you could worm your way through the higher position and make the organization yours.]

“Hehe, not even talking about whether an organization that would take me in exists, this is the last thing I want. Yes, by joining a powerful organization, I can get myself a backer and obtain enough time to grow up peacefully, but I would also increase the risk of my secret being exposed to the same people supposed to protect me,” he said with a derisive laugh, “What do you think will happen once someone discovers I can evolve every time I rank-up? Or that I can get stronger by killing people.”

“Anyway, no matter what I am going to do, the first thing I am going to focus on is my personal strength. Being able to deal with everything on my own should be my first option,” he said as he understood the importance of strength in this world. If he wasn’t strong, would Celia trust him so much, would Leila have thought that it was a promising idea to cooperate with him, or would Sheila want her clan to come under him? Probably, no. Each of those girls was smart and none of them would have paid attention to him if he was weak.

“At the same time, I can surround myself with a bunch of powerful followers to help me whenever I have to face something I can’t deal with by myself. Whether I end up with a small team of elites or an empire-sized organization is something that would be up to the future.”

“Worst comes to worst if it is really something my companions and I are completely powerless against, I can consider taking asylum in some big shot organization.”

“Anyway, all those things I am talking about are mere plans. There is this saying in my world; the best-laid schemes o’ men and mice often go awry.”

[So…]

“I should just stop overthinking and continue to get as strong as I can. If I am strong enough, I can do anything I want. And right now, if I want to get strong, I need to start thinking about my next evolution.”

[So, you can’t wait anymore uh,] Luxia said with a chuckle.

“I am dying to know. I need to at least check the evolution paths that I have,” he said as he called the system windows out and opened the evolution tab.

“Hey, look, more interesting choices popped out this time,” Leo said as he quickly scrolled through the lengthy list of evolution paths he could choose from. While some useless ones didn’t even improve his bloodline ranking, he quickly found some that looked impressive and attracted his attention.

[-Gold Maned Lion

-Purple Tailed Scorpiocore

-Royal Storm Griffin

-Demonic Sand Lion

-One Horned Shadow Demon]

[Are you not going to read their descriptions,] Luxia asked as Leo closed the windows. 

“Not now. If I do that, I will start running around to complete my evolution. Unfortunately, I am not in the right state of mind now and I need to rest. I mean, I haven't even taken a break since my last evolution that happened a night ago,” he said with a bitter smile.

[Ok, I understand.]

“Still, there are two things I need to do before going to rest,” he said and first opened his inventory to check for any useful items he still hadn’t used until now.

[Inventory: Lesser health potion x3, Lesser stamina potion x3, Lesser mana potion x3, Double exp card x2, Rank E dungeon crystal x1, Skill upgrade card x1.] 

{A/N: There has been a slight change. Double exp cards only work in system dungeons.}

“It looks like I had some good things in store and didn’t take advantage of them.” Leo sighed as he saw the items collecting dust inside his inventory. While the potions were useless, he was sure the remaining item could have been extremely useful. For example, the dungeon crustal or the exp card were things he could have used to strengthen himself without taking too much risk, alas.

[It was your fault that you started running around too soon,] Luxia mocked.

“Sigh, I will take care of this when I wake up. And then this.”

 [Savior 2.0

Mission introduction: A savior mission again? Hero one day Hero forever. Is that what you think? What are you playing at? Is your brain not receiving enough air because of your costume? Do you think you are some kind of hero sent to bring salvation to the world? Do you think you can afford to play Hero when you are not even sure if you could keep your own life? Today, it is slaying the evil orc to save a maiden in distress. Ah, you have a grudge against the orcs too. Justice with a sliver of vengeance. Are you an Avengers or Batman? And what will it be next? Are you going to start a quest to slay some demon king? Or sacrifice yourself to save the world? Anyway, this system doesn't care, just make sure to not die too soon.

Clear conditions: Protect the Redwater settlement and slay the orc chief Yag'arz.

Rewards: A brand new hero costume with a bright red cape, it is superman approved.

Punishment: You will wish to be dead.]

“Look like nothing changed with this one too,” he sighed as he saw that the cheeky mission introduction was still the same. 

“Alright, I’m done,” Leo said as he curled into a ball and closed his eyes to take a well-deserved rest. 

[Rest well.]

“Looks like he is finally done,” Celia said as she suddenly appeared beside Leo.

[Uh! How?] Luxia muttered, startled by Celia's sudden presence.

[How come neither of us noticed her? What is she trying to do?] she pondered as she cautiously watched Celia, ready to act if she were to try anything too suspicious. 

“So, this is the form you reincarnated in, Cael sure wanted you dead,” Celia said as she crouched beside Leo, her blue eyes flickering with a green light as she looked at him with a weird mix of love and regret.

“I am sorry, you got dragged in your sister's mess once again,” she sighed and finally picked him up, gently stroking his fur. All this while Leo continued to sleep completely unaware of everything happening around him.

[The fuck!? Celia is Leo’s sister!] Even Luxia couldn’t help but curse when Celia dropped that bombshell.

[No, wait, something’s wrong, this isn’t Celia,] she said as she calmed down and was finally able to notice the slight difference between the Celia she knew and the one holding Leo. Celia's temperament was mild and warm, while the one in front of her felt like an inviolable existence that stood above all and deserved the utmost respect. The two were clearly different people. 

[Possession!] Lucia concluded.

“I tried my best, but even with all my strength, I still failed to protect you. I knew it was never about you, it always was about myself. I should have brought mom and you. Had I done that, I could have avoided this mess, right?”

“Unfortunately, I can’t help you too much. Asking Nox to bless you was all I could do. But it would seem even that was not needed,” Celia said as her gaze lost all its warmth and turned extremely cold.

“You, the things inside Leo. I don’t know why you are helping my brother or what you want from him, but you better not harm him. You don’t want to know how scary I can get when I am angry,” she threatened.

“Just keep helping him and everything would be alright…… for the two of you,” she said, 

“Alright, I trust that you wouldn’t tell him anything that you heard tonight. Wish you good luck for what is to come,” she said as she put him down and vanished from the room.

After leaving Leo, Celia appeared in front of her house and stood there silently.

“Who are you?” Celia said, finally confronting the person who trapped her inside her body. 

“You are me,” Anna answered with a light chuckle. 

[A/N: Anna is Leo’s sister's name.]

“What the heck are you talking about?” Celia asked, unable or too scared to understand the meaning behind those three words. 

“To be more precise, you are my clone or my reincarnation if you prefer. A small piece of my soul I sent in the mortal world,” Anna said, “But as you lived a different life and never had access to my memories, you could say that you are also a new and completely different being.” 

“Why should I believe you?” 

“Why would I bother lying to a mere mortal?” Anna retorted scornfully. 

“Why did you …… why did you create me?” 

“Because I need to have someone monitoring my brother and make sure he doesn’t do anything that could harm him or me.”

“You are surely a loving sister, going through the pain of tearing your soul just to keep an eye on your brother.”

“Hehe, a loving sister, I am indeed one. Anyways, just do what I ask you to.”

“Do I have a choice?”

“Do I sound like I was making a request?”

“What if I don’t want to?”

“Don’t worry, I won’t treat you badly, as long as you listen to me,” Anna said, “Don’t try to go against me. I unlocked part of your memory so you should understand what I can do if things don’t go my way.”

“I understand.”

“Good girl. Oh, one last thing. A single word and you die.” Anna said and soon after left Celia's body.

“Tsk, I wonder whether I should pity or envy you for having such a sister,” Celia, who got back control over her body said as she slowly went into her house.