RSTUM 100 (Patreon)

100: Reunited

At the gate of the Marth Fortress, Leon left behind a steaming pile of mess.

The Fortress was burning nonstop, the guards were scattered trying to save what they could save, and the Medjay team was shattered.

Minerva was rammed by the Bison and she was only knocked out a minute but this minute was destructive and she couldn't have guessed what happened if not for her assistant Milla telling her what went down.

As she hurried to the wall, she could witness Leon escaping past the bridge and the six Medjay agents flying after him. After that, the agents were ambushed by a group of elites and ultimately slaughtered. Those elites then took Leon and disappeared past the road.

"No no no no no no!" The Medjay Captain, the one who was posing as the Caravan Leader, went down on his knees as he saw his agents get killed.

He was gravely injured by Leon's crossbow and was in no condition to stand let alone chase. The other three agents with him were also injured in the fight with Leon but they were too late and too weak to do anything at this point.

"Medjay!" Minerva looked at the captain with furious eyes, "What just happened?"

The man was on his knees and holding his side but his eyes were almost going insane. He couldn't believe that six of his people, his mates, his friends… were taken… just in a matter of seconds.

Smitten by a hammer, cut by a sword, impaled by earth, shredded by the wind, trapped by magic, and stabbed by a dagger.

The images in his head were so cruel and twisted that he couldn't even feel anything until Minerva shook his body.

"Minister?" He looked at her as if he was touched by a banshee.

"Answer me! What is this mess?" She asked but he had no answer.

"Orders…" He said, "We were following orders."

"Whose orders?" She asked.

"The Medjay answers to no one…" He wanted to reply.

"Do you know who I am?" She asked, "I am Minerva. My father is High Minister Alden. My uncle is Judge Luther, your division's commander. Why was there a Medjay team following me and who are those people?"

"Orders…" The Captain answered, "Judge Luther's orders, guarding Minister Minerva and the elimination of Leon Dark."

"How many are there?" She asked.

"Every caravan has a team." He replied.

"Such a scale! This is a manhunt! Is this why you had rushed the returning pilgrims so you could use them as cover?" She almost got furious but she always knew the dirty business her uncle oversees.

She would ask them of the reason but she knew that this would cause problems if she pried too much into the affairs of the Medjay, the secret hands of St. Lanus.

"Recover the fallen, report to the nearest hideout. I'll heal you and cover for you." She said.

The captain was thankful and the other agents started to heal their wounds and get ready to disappear.

Minerva would have to stay with the Pilgrims Caravan and answer all the questions Baron Conri Marth would ask. Since there are many witnesses, she will claim that a team of mercenaries were among the pilgrims and they tried to subdue the fugitive but they lost some members and decided to chase him into the Godfrey land.

Still, Minerva couldn't shake the image of Leon from her head. This kid still seemed in his teens, disappearing like shadows, moving like wind, doing crazy stunts with little regard for the precious lives he takes.

His name is Leon Dark from the famous Dark Family and he is going to be her problem to solve.

***

Not only have they escaped but they were a fair distance away from the fight scene. Leon was injured and bled a lot so he passed out and now they are transporting him to a safe location.

There was little communication between Vadim and the others as he escaped Karanberg with Leon so they couldn't cooperate in finding a way to cross the Marth Bridge quietly. Vadim couldn't anticipate how far Baron Marth was driven by revenge to the point where he would hang posters even for the Archduchess.

Alternatively, Eleanor and the others were planning on using the magical traits of their Mithril Daggers to find Leon and Vadim before they entered the Marth Barony but they were late. Eleanor could have just Teleported him using her Space-Time Magic but Vadim didn't account for that and planted the idea of infiltrating the borders in Leon's head, which the latter carried in the most gruesome way possible.

Leaving a trail of blood and corpses in his wake, Leon, who was sleeping soundlessly near the campfire, proved once again how much of a changed man he had become.

Magic, killing, and mayhem. This Leon is truly not the Leon they once knew. They had to come to terms with that.

"So… we succeeded. We brought Leon back." Vadim said as he was sitting around the fires with the others.

They all looked at him, some nodded, however, they weren't celebrating.

They all felt something weird and had to understand what was going on with this feeling.

"It feels strange… after all this fighting. We brought Anna's youngest back with us." Erielle said as she looked at the sleeping boy, "Even I feel like a long time has passed."

"What is wrong with you all?" On the other hand, Eleanor seemed frustrated with this atmosphere, "We have planned for this moment many times, failed many times, and by the skin of our teeth we made it with the boy to safety."

"Yes, but… what's next?" Vadim asked with a face filled with worry, "Eleanor, we've done it but even you know who we just went up against. The Royals are one thing, the old hermits are another, but this? What is this?"

Vadim pointed to the man who was held by Eleanor's barrier.

Eleanor made sure that the barrier conceals sounds from going in or out and also made sure to restrain the man inside so he doesn't attempt to do anything.

"He was coming after Leon." Lance Dark said as he stood up with a senseless look in his eyes, "We interrogate him, find out who he is."

Lara Dark stood up with her older brother and they seemed determined to extract information.

"We don't know anything, ladd. We've to be careful." Vadim jumped ahead of Lance before turning around, "Eleanor, your husband must know something."

"We're out of contact range." Erielle said.

"I've sent a messenger bird to the palace so calm down now." Eleanor was the voice of reason in the group as she asked them to be calm.

"Damn this to hell!" Lance kicked a rock and walked away fuming with impatience.

"Aunt. You surely must have an idea, the Royal Palace must have some sort of agents, the elders also have some people that feed them information about the world. Those two factions were the only ones that wanted Leon. Who else might be affiliated with them?" Lara asked.

"They were also dressed like Pilgrims in a caravan where a Temple Minister was traveling." Vadim added.

"The Holy Light Temple?" Lance asked with an angry face, "They are also against Leon?"

"I can see them benefiting." Eleanor said, "Still, we don't know what their goal is and we have no idea who we are up against. This complicates things."

"Then we must take action to protect…" Lance wanted to retort but at that moment, he was interrupted.

"You're all noisy."

Leon's voice sounded and all eyes landed on him. He was lying on the ground with a passive face looking up at the sky.

"Brother, you were…" Lance wanted to rush at Leon but as Leon turned to him, he felt a cold stare.

"I don't know you." Leon said.

"Shesh!" Lara looked away knowing how difficult this would be for Lance who suddenly crumbled on his knees suffering from immense emotional damage.

"And acting without knowing is mere foolishness." Leon sat up and looked at Vadim, "You are shit at planning."

Besides Lance, Vadim crumbled on his knees suffering from immense emotional damage.

"Finally someone said it to his face." Erielle smiled.

"Hey, brother."

Aside from the immensely emotional Lance, Lara approached Leon quietly.

"We met that night in the city." Leon recognized her.

"I'm Lara, your sister." She said and sat beside him.

"I am sure Leon… the previous me… would have been very pleased to meet you." Leon said, "Still, the sooner we establish that I am not him, the better it is for everyone."

"See what I was saying." Vadim said.

Lance and Lara may have been the most recent to deal with Leon but he has proven to be difficult even to them.

"Now that we're all introduced, it is best we know what to do next." Leon stood up and walked to the cubicle barrier made by Eleanor to trap the Medjay agents.

"What magic is this?" He asked.

"It is a Barrier made by isolating space and time into a tangible mirror-like barrier." Eleanor replied with a simple answer enough to satisfy anyone of Leon's age.

"Ah, Space-Time! A reality-bending magic." Leon went up and touched the cubicle barrier with his hand.

It felt rather strange. The "Magic Shield" spell was similar to this but it felt like a pulse of energy that negates incoming threats. Leon was mystified by the fact that the magic had its own intelligence to specify what a threat is and react to it but knowing how sophisticated the System already is, Leon imagined that the Magic laws of the world worked in a similar fashion.

This "Barrier" spell, however, felt like it could set its own rules. It was less sophisticated than the "Magic Shield" but way more complicated in nature.

"Can I learn this spell?" Leon asked Eleanor.

They all looked at each other but they all must have heard about Leon's strange abilities.

"It takes time to learn such a spell but I'll teach you if…" Eleanor replied but Vadim tapped on her arm.

"Just watch." He said and fixed his eyes on Leon.

"Read!"

< "Space-Time Element: Barrier" >

< Reading… 1%… 33%... 78%... 100% >

< Reading Complete! >

< You have learned "Barrier"! >

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[ Barrier ] < Space-Time Element - ★★★★ >

Take control of a two-dimensional slice of Reality and freeze it in time and space to create a dimensional barrier. This dimensional barrier becomes under your control as long as you have the ability to imagine how to bend it. Depending on your INT, you can expand, reshape, multiply, and move this barrier according to your will. If you erect a three-dimensional barrier, you can control some of the laws of reality inside this barrier depending on the cost of Mana. This spell requires constant focus.

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Eleanor felt a great discomfort from her spell and felt it was being interrupted by something that was crawling under her skin before the feeling went away in mere seconds.

Once that was that, Leon raised his right hand and on it, he made a square-like barrier.

"Huh, look at that." Leon said in total wonder as he manipulated the new spell he learned in multiple ways.

Once he made it into a square, then a hexagon, then a circle, then he managed to make a three-dimensional shape of a ball, then he ended it with a cube just like the one Eleanor has made.

Aside from the talents Leon has displayed. This was just…

"Absurd!" Eleanor was attempting to keep her head together and understand what she just saw but she completely lost her focus and the cubical barrier she had made around the Medjay Agents was dispelled.

Being suddenly freed, the agent was also stunned but not Leon. He immediately expanded his barrier and caught the agent once again.

"Caught you! Can't let you run, my friend. I'm sorry." Leon said with a smile.

"Eleanor. Don't lose focus this soon." Vadim said as he poked her to wake up from her shock.

"Did Leon just… make a Barrier!" Lance was just as shocked as the rest but rather than being taken or terrified, he was smiling and on the verge of tears.

"I heard of it but I can't believe my eyes." Erielle said.

"What is it, mother-in-law?" Lara asked.

"Vadim said Leon has learned things and I have seen him do things but never in my life have I ever seen this. Knowledge Magic and the Space-Time Element." Erielle mumbled, "What a talent!"

All of that was happening as Leon was discovering that the Barrier would drain his Mana faster than anything he imagined.

"Alright. Would you please make another Barrier before I run out of juice?" He said.

"Right… I'll do it." Eleanor hurriedly erected another barrier around Leon's shaky Barrier before Leon would drop his.

"That's a lot of Mana gone." Leon said as he looked at his hand, "You guys are monsters."

"Monsters?" Eleanor looked at him and wanted to hit him on the head, "Leon, you learned a spell that takes four months to learn."

"This is amazing! Absolutely amazing, brother." Lance ran to Leon and held him by the shoulders, "Nobody will ever dare to look down on you with this talent."

"No touching, please." Leon quivered away from Lance. Unlike Lance, he is not a hugger.

"Alright, let's calm down." Vadim spoke, "There are a shit ton of things we don't know about Leon… this new Leon. And let me tell you this, we've spent two weeks on the road together so you better come to accept it. He's your brother, yes, but don't put your emotions before his."

Lance and Lara seemed hesitant but to them, Vadim's words are important to adhere to. In this group of weirdos, Vadim is the most people-person.

"I hate it when you talk about me like I am not here but I'll agree with Vadim, I hate nosiness." Leon said.

"Alright, brother." Lara said but Lance looked at her with a disagreeing expression. She nudged him and he put his act together.

"If this is what you want." Lance nodded reluctantly.

"Glad we're all on the same page." Leon went ahead and picked up his bag, "Time is of the essence, we need to leave."

"What about him?" Eleanor asked, pointing at the agent.

Leon turned to the agent and asked Eleanor to allow the sound to pass through.

"The Medjay trains their operatives to stay alive even under capture and return back with information about the enemy after rescue or escape. However, they don't give out information even under the extreme levels of torture." Leon said.

"The who?" Everyone in the camp looked at Leon with a puzzled face but only the agent's face was full of panic.

"The Medjay." Leon said, "I don't have information about their operation around these parts but I believe they serve a higher purpose. Devotees of sorts. They are like family to each other and their society isn't tainted by foreign influences unless by adoption. Actually, it is more of a clan or a tribe rather than an organization."

Leon recited the structure of the Medjay in front of the agent whose face took all the colors of shock.

"You said devotees? To the Temple of Light, you mean?" Eleanor asked.

"I am not aware whose influence they come under but the Medjay have served many masters and fought for many causes. Bodyguarding and Policing is one of their specialties so are sabotaging, assassinations, and many other criminalizing activities."

At that point, the agent was banging his fist against the Barrier and shouting something but Eleanor only allowed sound to go in, not out.

The man seemed desperate and agitated as he heard Leon recite everything like a Medjay-specialized encyclopedia.

"How do you know all that?" Erielle asked.

"If I answer you, you will keep asking questions until my ears bleed." Leon said with a smile.

"Fine. I won't ask you more questions." Eleanor added and the other nodded.

Leon smiled knowing that his answer will make them go crazy with questions but he didn't mind bugging them just a little bit.

"A lifetime ago, in what feels to be like yesterday, the Medjay was family to me." Leon said.

Everyone looked at Leon with widened eyes, even the agent who was just not believing what he heard and remained silent like the dead.

All the questions became stuck in their throats as they just promised Leon not to ask them. Leon felt a little naughty causing them blue balls and leaving them like this. However, only the Medjay agent needed answers.

Leon turned to Eleanor and asked her to let him into the barrier. She refused immediately but he assured her that he can hold his ground against that man if push came to shove.

They all exchanged looks with each other before allowing him in.

As Leon went in, a conversation between him and the Medjay agent happened where they couldn't hear what was being said.

Leon identified himself as a Medjay Captain named Shady and as the Captain of the Black Cobra unit. He explained that he was different because he came from someplace else. The agent didn't believe him and it almost escalated to violence but Eleanor immediately tightened her Barrier around the agent and before she takes Leon back out, he was already stabbing the agent in his heart.

"Sorry about that. I truly am." Leon spoke to the agent as the barrier was lifted.

"Leon." Eleanor shouted, "We could have dealt with him ourselves."

"I am sorry. I can't dishonor him like that." Leon shook his head and looked at the agent who was dying between his arms, "Forgive me, this is neither our fault. But know that your death won't be in vain and your name shall be written into the Book of the Dead."