[A/n: If you leave a Comment / Vote, you will motivate the Author help promote this novel.]
Time has passed since Leon started experimenting on Magic and the results were between satisfactory and fascinatingly mysterious.
His life was like this; wake up, finish work as early as possible, train, eat, sleep.
Each one of his Attributes could be worked on separately in training. Strength training was mostly body-building training in which he used pull-ups and such as well as some heavy objects.
Endurance training required him to stand still in the backyard and carry pots of water by his fingers, above his head, on his arms, on one thigh, between the two thighs, and on the other legs foot, two tied to his shoulders. This endurance training was so Spartan that he would ask Jordi to add extra water to the pots from time to time in order to increase the pressure.
Training Agility was the pride and joy of any Medjay agent and he was already putting more effort into his agility and speed. He would run distances where he could not be seen ideally on the roofs in a free-style way and combine that training with Combat Magic techniques such as Leap and Rush.
Perception training was by far the most difficult and the one that happens at the start of each day. Leon's early schedule would lead him to take a bath in the river which he would use to take a few dives and try to navigate his way underwater or by detecting outside noises.
The last thing to train was Intelligence and Leon didn't do anything regarding it. The last time he increased a few points in Intelligence was one of the most painful experiences in his two lives.
The days went on and a full week has passed on this behavior. Leon didn't stray too far from the saloon that week not to bump into any of the knights looking for him and he was obviously very busy with his extensive and focused hellish training. Sadly, this wasn't even half of what the Medjay training manual used to have and he was completely dissatisfied with the results.
——————————
< Training Results >
- Strength: +3
- Endurance: +5
- Agility: +3
- Perception: +2
- Intelligence: -
- [Swimming Technique Lv.2] (NEW!)
- [Fatigue Resistance Lv.2] (NEW!)
- [Enhanced Stamina Lv.1] (NEW!)
- [Pain Resistance Lv.3] (UP!)
- [Physical Resistance Lv.2] (UP!)
- [Air Magic Lv.2] (UP!)
- [Earth Magic Lv.2] (UP!)
——————————
The training results may sound abnormal to achieve in one week but the one doing them was no one other than a person is a training freak. He even spent some of the money he has on nutritious food that is considered expensive in these parts of the district such as eggs, meat, and butter.
It was safe to say that he managed to gain some weight and his pale skin started to become more lively.
Also by the end of the week, he received 20 pennies of copper from Madam Ruth which are his weekly wage.
During the next day, Leon decided to take a break and just go slow with the work with Jordi as the two of them kept sweeping the sidewalk and the entrance of the saloon while the people were coming and going before noon.
"Yo, Jordi. With the pathetic wage we get from the Madam. How are Rats like us supposed to climb up the ranks?" Leon asked.
"Climb the ranks?" Jordi laughed with the side of his mouth as he took off his flat cap and started waving it at his face for air, "Don't tell me you were training like a crazy baboon those past few days so you can climb the ranks?"
"That was for my health. I needed to build up some stamina for the job." Leon said as he slapped Jordi's belly, "You need to do the same "
"Me? Nah. As long as everybody thinks they can beat me, I am no threat to anyone. That's how to survive as a Rat." Jordi said as he put his cap on and held the broom, "And stop dreaming about climbing the ranks when you can't beat the Dogs or outrun the Rabbits."
Jordi returned back to sweeping and Leon stood thinking.
He looked across the street to see four young men sitting on a few barrels laughing and drinking without a care in the world. Those were the Dogs who step in whenever the Saloon is having trouble and the Madam pays them handsomely to just loiter around all day and there are a ton of them on every street and around every business. As for Rabbits, Leon managed to spot a few of them coming and going thanks to his [Read] spell. Most of the Rabbits were either driving carts or running around doing incomprehensible errands.
The view of the Rabbits before was like gang runners but Leon realized they are much more. Some of them are Smugglers, others are Pickpockets and Thieves, they mostly run errands to the Syndicate Bosses and exchange messages between them. However, some of them have high Perception stats and they sit around in the saloons and public places watching and spying.
The job is perfect. The only question is, why is Leon still doing the Rat's job? What is he waiting for?
Jordi didn't know how to climb up the ranks because he simply will never know it. The underworld doesn't hand out invitations for promotions or such. One must find the opportunity and grab it.
A Rabbit is nearby, Leon already knew it. One of the Rabbits keeps coming and going between the Honey Saloon and some other place near the slum beside the city wall. Leon knew there was another Boss like Madam Ruth there somewhere but he didn't know the place.
This particular morning, the Rabbit came in to deliver something to Madam Ruth through Jessica and still sits in the saloon drinking. He looked like a man in his late thirties with a low posture wearing a dark blue suit with a brown cap that worsened the unsightly fashion terrorism he was portraying.
As Jessica went up and came down, the Rabbit kept giving her some creepy looks, and as she came and went. He even said something to her that caused her to ignore him as he kept his dirty smile while walking out.
"Yo, Jordi. Want anything from the market?" Leon asked as he tossed his broom to Jordi.
"What? No… wait. I just came from the market. You didn't say…" Jordi said in confusion.
"Sorry, just forgot about something I really really wanted." Leon said as he started walking away, "Cover for me."
Jordi was left in confusion as Leon disappeared between the crowd.
Leon was dressed in very common clothing that he bought the other day from the market with Jordi. Mainly brown pants and vest with a white shirt that doesn't stand between the crowd. Thanks to that, he wasn't spotted by the Rabbit he was following.
The Northern District in Karanberg was a dirty place all over. People were poor and crime was spread but moreover, the big streets were busy. The Rabbit's first stop after the Honey Saloon was in a café where many dogs sat around to play. The man in question seemed to be making some sort of a meeting thus Leon didn't linger around to not be spotted by the frequents of the place.
Nothing really happened until a few minutes had passed and the Rabbit took off with two dogs following him. It seemed that he needed some sort of security as he was going through the next turf.
The Rabbit and the Dogs surveyed their surroundings very well looking for anyone that smells like them and then they started walking down the side streets away from the crowded place. Leon was now certain that there is something important and the more he lingers around, the sooner the opportunity will arise.
Where was Leon following from? The Rooftops, of course.
Karanberg was a tightly packed city with not too many high buildings and most of them were easy to climb if one found a quiet spot with no prying eyes, especially if that someone had the [Leap] spell.
After a few turns, the opportunity Leon was waiting for finally arrived. A goon in the street seemed to have recognized the Rabbit and the two Dogs with him as he wanted to run and alert someone.
Leon watched as the two dogs chased that other goon in a nearby alley and cornered him.
"Alright now, Dan. Show me that face. Just a few punches and you'll be out for the day."
"Fuck you, Steve!"
"Tsk. Let's get him, Paul."
It seemed Steve and Dan here had history and from what it seemed, this is going to end badly for Dan.
Seeing the Rabbit catch up to the Dogs, he signaled them to end it quickly and they gang up on Dan as he tries to punch and kick all he could.
Paul and Steve cornered Dan and kept hitting him until he passed out. His face was stuck in the mud and he would at least need a few days to get up on his feet, not that Leon cared for this was his moment.
He jumped straight in action from the second story and his target was the Rabbit himself.
"What… you are…" The Rabbit felt Leon coming and almost recognized him but Leon's knee was already sinking in his face.
"What the fuck!"
"Another one! Come here!"
Steve and Paul saw the Rabbit knocked out and ran at Leon who was already aware of how they were going to attack.
Paul tried to catch Leon who was a bit shorter in both height and reach yet in less than a second, Leon punched Paul right in the throat and jumped at Steve.
Steve wasn't flexible enough to react as Leon drove his thumb into his left eye then pushed his head against the nearby wall and rendered him unconscious.
Only Paul remained aware yet he was on his knees choking from Leon's throat attack. He saw Leon coming at him and tried to pull out a knife from his vest while holding his throat but Leon caught his hand and twisted it hard forcing the knife out and grabbing it himself.
"Dan was quite the ruthless fellow. Outnumbered and disadvantaged yet he took care of the situation on the cost of a broken rib and various injuries here and there." Leon said as he took the knife and looked at Paul, "You might be wondering… how is Dan so sinister and ruthless?"
Leon walked behind the fallen Rabbit and stood up holding the knife.
"He saw a Rabbit of an enemy Boss coming through the back of the turf where he was loitering. He then ran away to call his guys but you guys cornered him in a dead-end alley. He was scared but he had this knife, wooden handle, sharp edge, reliable and can be found just about anywhere."
Leon retreated a few steps back then acted like Dan when he came running but he changed the events.
"Instead of being a cornered rat, Dan chooses to hide behind this… corner." Leon stood behind a very narrow corner between the building, "He then waits for the first one of you to come not seeing him and he jumps him BAM from the back with his knife."
At this moment, while the silenced Paul was watching, Leon fixes the position of the unconscious rabbit and…
*Stab*
… he stabbed the unconscious Rabbit at the back of his neck.
"Not an ideal place to stab but very deadly and can be hit with some of Dan's beginner's luck."
Paul shivered and retested in fear as he saw Leon push the corpse of the dead Rabbit to take a more believable position as the dead man bled out.
"Then you, Steve and Paul see what happens to the Rabbit they were supposed to escort and completely freaked out then attacked Dan out of rage. After all, their Boss won't sit still and will punish them severely for screwing up the mission. The two of them rush at Dan and pin him all the way here against the wall. You beat him mercilessly but… Dan still has the knife."
Leon runs and sits beside the unconscious Dan and thinks.
"Alright." He stood up, "You, Paul. Dan kicks you right in the nards."
Leon suddenly kicked Paul where the sun don't shine caused the incapacitated guy to groan in great pain.
"While you, Paul, are in such a sorry state, Steve gets distracted for a second enough for Dan to drive the knife right into Steve's… eye."
Acting all that he says, Leon drove the knife into Steve's eye which he popped making it penetrate as deep as it could get. Leon slowly dragged Steve to where he suits to be and took the knife of his eye and started to make more injuries with it on Steve's body to put some signs of a fightback.
"Now, you finally gain some power after the shattering strike you took and you seize the only chance to finish off Dan." Leon took the struggling Paul by the nape of his shirt and brought him in front of Dan, "You directly go for the knife arm with your left while trying to strangle Dan with the right. You almost succeed but…"
*Slash*
"Dan frees his right arm and slits your throat… making the blood splash over him… and he stays unconscious."
Leon let go of the lifeless body of Paul then put the knife in Dan's hand.
He took a step back and looked around to see if he missed anything. Everything was there, the stage was perfect, he would give himself ten points out of ten in the operation report.
"Man! I wonder how the old man is doing." He smiled as he thought of his boss from his past life when he would always rage when he exaggerates in the mission report of how awesome he was.
"Now! Let's not get ourselves distracted. Sorry, to keep you waiting Mr. Rabbit."
Leon walked to the dead Rabbit and flipped his body checking all his pockets. The look on Leon's face changed as he almost found nothing in the pockets but as he tried to fix the man's position back, his flat cap fell off on the ground and caught some of the blood around but one thing was interesting about it.
Leon picked the cap up and found a small envelope tied to a paper that was folded around and sealed with wax. On top of that, the envelope had a distinctive scent to it similar to a familiar perfume.
"Silly me. That's one way to send letters, Madam Ruth."
Leon took the cap in his pocket then looked around, it is time to get his early promotion.
———————————
Support the Author by Commenting, Considering Patronage or Joining Discord: https://linktr.ee/donovel
( Patron Chapters available: 2)
[A/N: If you leave a Comment / Review / Vote / Rate, you will help Motivating the Author and Promote the Novel.]
Madam Ruth, a mini-boss who runs a prostitution operation in the Northern District of Karanberg city for the Twilight Syndicate. Her job is a Crow.
Among the five categories of mini-bosses, Crows are very influential and have a lot of connections mainly due to their job as keepers. Crows pick expensive things and store them as trophies thus the Crows of the Syndicate keep ledgers, documents, and records as well as loads of cash.
Madam Ruth wasn't the most important or the most capable Crow in the flock but she was doing all she could to solidify her place and grow her wings wider.
Understanding that was crucial to the part Leon was about to play next.
The moment he took up the letter hidden in the flat cap, he disappeared from the murder scene he fabricated and jumped to the rooftops. There, he found a secure location and read the message without unsealing it.
How?
He used the spell [Read] of course.
Understanding many things about the situation at hand, Leon decided to act based on it and his next step was to hurry back to the Honey Saloon.
He made himself very visible this time when he arrived at the saloon on top of a roof. He jumped from one roof to the other making sure that he was seen by at least Jordi and a few customers. The moment he jumped down, he stumbled and started running towards the saloon.
"Leo, what's wrong?" Jordi tried to stop him but Leon kept going.
"Later, I'll tell you later."
As he passed the saloon's hall, he climbed the stairs real quick despite knowing how upset Ruth gets when he or Jordi climb up. Even Jessica tried to stop him but he was just fast and headed directly to Ruth's door.
"Madam! Madam! Something important." He spoke, shaky and worried with a pale complexion as he was drenched in a cold sweat.
"Leo, wait."
Jessica went behind him but Leon knocked on the door again. At that moment, Ruth opened the door with a demonic glare on her face almost wanting to tear Leon to shreds.
"I said you don't get up here!" She shouted right from the start.
"I am sorry, Madam. He won't come up ever again." Jessica wanted to grab Leon away but he didn't budge.
"Madam, I found this." He handed the flat cap to Ruth.
She took it, looked at it, glared at Leon then threw it at his face.
"What's with this dirty thing you dumb fool. You want to sleep in the street tonight?" She shouted.
"No, Madam." Leon showed the cap again to Ruth, this time showing her the letter tied inside.
He did take that letter out for a reason and showed it like it was. At first, Ruth frowned then immediately remembered what that is.
"This… how do you have it?"
It was a scary thought that the message she entrusted to a Rabbit just a while ago would arrive back in the hands of a Rat no less. She snatched it right away and dragged Leon from his shirt's collar inside.
"You two, out."
She even shouted at two girls who were apparently in her room sleeping on top of each other in a frozen state. She was like giving them some sort of business guidance or whatever. The two of them ran outside and closed the door allowing Leon to spot Jessica and Jordi standing outside before it was shut by the iron-faced Ruth.
She walked across the room in her sleeping dress as she took the message of the cap and checked it.
"You didn't peek inside?" She asked Leon in contempt.
"N- No, Madam." Leon replied in a fearful manner as he kept his eyes to the floor but momentarily taking sneak peeks at Ruth.
Ruth put the message on a table nearby then walked to Leon glaring at him. In an instant, she held him from the neck by her two hands and struggled while looking at her with fearful eyes.
"I know Todd was old for being a Rabbit but how did you get your hands on this! Speak now!" Ruth shouted in anger.
"Ack… sorry… madam!" Leon started choking and having it hard to speak causing Ruth to grab him with one hand and hit him with the other.
"Speak!"
"He… he was dead, Madam!" Leon said.
"Dead? Who killed him." She asked.
"I don't know, Madam… I was in the market… I saw him fighting some other guy… He was jumped on and stabbed then his friends hit the other guy but they got stabbed too…" Leon was panicking all over the place trying to tell a story yet it caused her to be more irritated.
"Focus!" She spoke sternly and snapped fingers at her face as she let go of him.
"I… I am sorry." Leon apologized.
"Now, tell me what happened slowly." She said.
"Alright." He touched his neck and breathed roughly, "I saw this man here in the saloon and I just understood that he is on a job for the Madam. I didn't even butt in. After he left this morning, I went to the market for some errands. The market near the big street where there is a café and that strange building."
"Yes, I know it. Keep going." Ruth nodded.
"Ah, there was some sort of fight happening in a side street where I was going to buy some stuff for myself. There, I saw that exact same man from this morning and another two chasing someone. They got into an alleyway and I didn't see them come out. I didn't even try to look but I saw a hat on the ground… that cap… and I recognized it as the one that man wore. There was that paper tide inside of it and it had the perfume Madam uses."
"That's it? What about Todd?" She asked.
"I… I tried to look deeper into the Alley and… I saw all… all four men…" Leon then covered his mouth, "It was so scary."
"What?"
"All four of them… they were dead!" Leon said in a face that couldn't believe what it saw, "I saw other men checking on the man Mr. Todd was chasing but once they felt my presence… I don't know, I just ran… I kept running away from the streets."
Ruth narrowed her eyes and looked at Leon. It was true that he looked like a mess as if he ran around the city twice.
"And you managed to escape those who chased you?" She asked.
"Yes. They lost me after running two streets." He confirmed.
"Not possible. Unless you know their streets better than them, you would have been held by their dogs." She looked at him with disbelief.
"Yes, that's why I ran on the rooftops and didn't get down until I was close to the Saloon." Leon said.
"Rooftops?"
"Yes, Madam."
Ruth looked at Leon trying to assess him and couldn't quite put her hand on what was amiss. His story is solid but running on Roofs? This felt strange to her but it wasn't unheard of. The only problem is that these things require a lot of skill that is very rarely found in the streets.
Then she decided.
"Go to your room. Don't get out till I say so." Madam Ruth said.
"This early?" Leon felt weird as he asked.
"You do what I say. Understood?" She shouted.
"Yes. Right away."
Leon walked out of her room and saw Jordi still standing in the stairway but Jessica returned behind the bar. Many eyes followed him as he went down and only Jordi walked behind him. Madam Ruth, on the other hand, called for Jessica and gave her a series of instructions.
Meanwhile, Leon returned to the shack behind the saloon and simply lied on his bed, as for Jordi, he chased after him.
"What happened? Where did you go?"
Leon looked at Jordi with a pale yet calm face.
"I saw something in the market…"
Leon didn't tell Jordi the long version and kept most of the details to himself yet he made sure that Jordi knew that he got into trouble, got chased, and managed to escape by running on the roof. The reason for telling him was to at least get a feeling of the situation since Jordi has more street experience than him in these parts.
Jordi couldn't believe what he heard and was clearly going to spread rumors in the saloon. If the rumor spreads between the workers, many of them will view Leo as trustworthy enough and if Ruth wanted to underpay him in his reward, she will have to think twice for her reputation as well.
Jordi indeed took the information Leon fed him and ran back to Jessica and Molly. The other Rats heard what Leon did and so did the dogs.
An hour passed and Leon got wind that Ruth left the saloon with some of her Dogs but she also sent a couple of them to watch Leon's shack while he was in there.
So far, nothing out of the ordinary happened and Leon only sat in the room reading one of the other books he has.
This has been exciting indeed. It took him back to simpler times when a mission was assigned, a package was acquired and a target was eliminated.
Between lying around and reading, Leon was bored out of his mind and sat straight looking at his hand.
"Ring, show up or whatever." He called.
On his right hand's ring finger, a ring indeed showed up. The ring made of gold and marvelous craftsmanship gave a hue of golden luster that would captivate the eyes and charm the souls even though the design was simply that of a cobra biting its own tail.
"So… you won't say anything to me?" Leon asked, "I have been struggling like this because of you. I can't take you off and no one other than me can see you. And you even gave me all that power and potential… should I be worried?"
His words fell on deaf metal as the Ring didn't even show a hint of a response. Rather, the ring was just doing what Leon says showing up and going away.
"At this point, I should be at least thankful that you're not trying to take over this body or turn me into a freak that keeps screaming Precious!" Leon laughed but he was too tired of finding no single clue to the ring that he just made it disappear while sighing.
——————————
[Ring of Relife] <Unique>
The Ring that passes the inheritance of an ancient Pharaoh.
- Stage 1 (Inheritance): Proof of Death.
- Stage 2 (???): ???
——————————
The only proof he has is this thing from the reading of the Ring. All it says is that the ring passed some Pharaoh's inheritance to him and the first stage confirmed that Death passed the inheritance.
There is a second stage that may give him more clues on the nature of the [Ring of Horus] but the more he thinks about it, the more he finds it illogical and disturbingly misleading.
In other words, this Ring wasn't meant for him since he has no clue on what to do. What was the myth about this Ring again?
The Myth of Isis and Osiris, he knows it well. Osiris was the King of Egypt and the brother of Isis, Set, and Nephthys. While Osiris married Isis and Set married Nephthys, Osiris grew more popular in the south causing his brother Set to envy him. When Nephthys cheated on Set with Osiris, this was the straw that broke the camel's back, and Set murdered Osiris. Many accounts describe the murder in many savage and brutal ways but the most popular one was that Set cult Osiris into more than 70 pieces and scattered them across the land. Isis and Nephthys gathered them back and put Osiris together then Isis sort of mated with him and became pregnant yet Set showed up again and killed Osiris one last time for good. It was said that Horus, Osiris' son grew up hidden in the Nile Delta where the trees were thick enough to hide him from Set and when he was old enough, he revolted against Set and overthrew him.
[A/N: The part up there is from the Myth of Isis and Osiris. The part afterwards is me mixing stuff from the Myth and my own narrative.]
But that isn't the main story regarding the Ring of Horus. The story was that when Isis was trying to resurrect Osiris, she had to steal the power of the Sun God, Ra, and make an Artifact with it. This Artifact was a crown made of feathers known as the Atef Crown or the Crown of Osiris which gave him the Lordship of the Underworld. Moreover, she created her famous wings, the Wings of Isis, and created something for her son Horus that looked like a ring. This last part wasn't really popular but some papyrus stated that these three Artifacts were made so that the King and his Queen and Prince rule the next world together.
"If this was meant for its wearer to reincarnate as a Prince then Leon was a busted choice. Where can I get my refund?"
He held his head where his hair started to finally grow after the rough shave he had that day. He may be lost in a different world but to access its resources and get information, he needs to climb the ladder up in this Syndicate and figure out what to do next. He won't be able to accomplish anything on his own no matter which angle he looks from and if Madam Ruth has a good head on her shoulders, she will see his value to be more than just a Rat.
If she doesn't, he already knows what's in the letter and can sell that information to the Rival Boss she is competing against. Of course things will be messy if he took it that way thus it is merely a Plan C, not even B.
Position, Money, Power, Ability, and Support. Those are the things he needs now and Support is the most crucial.
If things go well…
*Knock knock knock*
"Leo, the Madam is calling for you."
As the one who knocked on the door was one of the dogs and didn't just break in, the situation seemed to be escalating well.
He stood up and fixed his clothes.
"Coming!"
———————————
Support the Author by Commenting, Considering Patronage or Joining Discord: https://linktr.ee/donovel
(Patron Chapters available: 3)
Comment and Vote or Leon will start knocking on your door.
Você também pode gostar
Comentário de parágrafo
O comentário de parágrafo agora está disponível na Web! Passe o mouse sobre qualquer parágrafo e clique no ícone para adicionar seu comentário.
Além disso, você sempre pode desativá-lo/ativá-lo em Configurações.
Entendi