Book 1 Chapter 910

Leo's morning began exceptionally early.

It was the early dawn, before the sun had even risen.

Leo sat in seiza with his eyes closed in the backyard of his lodgings.

This place, the northernmost part of the continent, a land of extreme cold, always snows.

The mountain peaks are covered in never-melting eternal snow, and the wind that blows is always a sharp, bone-chilling gale.

When spring arrives on the continent, the extreme cold subsides, but it only gets a little warmer.

The snow doesn't melt.

Thus, when winter arrives, the winter in the northernmost part of the continent becomes endlessly harsh.

Now, in autumn, the continent's chill is reaching its peak.

Even for the elves who had settled here, the weather was harsh.

But even in that extreme cold, Leo was serene.

Even in the biting wind, he closed his eyes and concentrated his mind.

Despite wearing clothes far too thin to withstand the winter, he showed no sign of cold.

Without using aura, magic, or spiritual power at all.

He was enduring the extreme cold with his bare body alone.

Whoooosh!

An even stronger gust of wind blew.

Swoosh-

At that moment, Leo's red eyes, which had been peacefully closed, opened.

Then, blue pupils were visible.

"Black Rabbit, aren't you cold?"

Arga, who had been crouching with his knees drawn up in front of Leo, tilted his head and asked.

Arga's white tail swayed gently.

"I am cold."

Arga's head tilted further at Leo's calm answer.

"You're cold, so what are you doing sitting on the ground?"

"Concentrating."

"Huh?"

At Leo's words, Arga's gently swaying tail momentarily turned into a '?'.

And then, after a while, it turned into an '!'.

"Aha! You're practicing summoning magic!"

"You express emotions with your tail now?"

"Ugh! This, this is a trait of the cat beastman race!"

"You're the only cat beastman I've ever seen that does that!"

"How many cat beastmen has the Black Rabbit seen that you've seen so many… Ah!"

Arga, who was speaking, suddenly exclaimed.

And then he cautiously glanced at Leo.

He suddenly realized who Leo was.

'Usually, people who realize my identity can't help but pay attention, even if they try not to.'

The savior of the world, the hero of the beginning, the reincarnation of Kyle, and the one who can completely vanquish Erebus.

In other words, a great hero living in the present.

Those who learned of Leo's identity couldn't help but change their attitude, even if they pretended not to.

Even if they tried their best to treat him the same as before, it was unavoidable.

But Arga seemed to have completely forgotten that Leo was Kyle until just a moment ago.

Now that he'd realized it, he was watching Leo's reaction.

"It's the latest trend among cat beastmen!"

Leo grabbed Arga's ear, who made such an audacious claim.

"Where are you lying?"

"Let go! Let go!"

Arga irritably tried to shake off Leo's hand.

'He doesn't care about me being Kyle one bit.'

That's why their conversations were enjoyable.

"Are you a ridiculous fool, or incredibly bold?"

"Isn't it obvious? I'm incredibly bold! I'm the successor after Grand Warrior Azonia and then Arion!"

Arga declared proudly, lifting his chin.

"Just wait! I'll catch up to Arion and the Black Rabbit soon!"

Watching Arga, Leo stood up.

"You're definitely not like Arion at all."

"Not like him! Even if the Black Rabbit denies it, I'm the successor recognized by Arion!"

"Not being like him is a compliment."

Unlike Arion, who was always timid, Arga was always confident.

But Arga's confident demeanor resembled the ideal that the always timid Arion had wished for.

Arga's blue eyes looked straight at Leo.

Arga couldn't see the shadow of the great hero behind Leo.

For Leo, thanks to Arga like that, he felt at ease.

He had no desire to be treated as the savior of the world.

After all, it wasn't Kyle alone who saved the world.

'If it were something possible alone, there would have been no need to share the burden in the first place.'

That's why Leo selects many heroes with Melina.

That's why he chose Lunia, Ar, and Driana, inherited the legacies of great heroes, and helped countless hero candidates grow.

It's because Leo alone cannot defeat Erebus.

'He's not a being that can be defeated by brute force.'

Until now, he had defeated the fragments by luck, a combination of divine power, and various complex situations.

However, all the fragments of Erebus that had been vanquished so far were in a state of being stuck in the past.

The first fragment, which had only recently awakened.

A fragment of Nyx, an evil god defeated in the past.

Also, a fragment that used its past power while isolated from the outside through Silode's magic.

That's why they could be conquered.

'But there's no guarantee Erebus will stay in the past forever.'

Leo thought of the remaining fragments of Erebus.

One fragment whose whereabouts were still unknown, and a fragment in the world of creation that was still burning.

Especially the fragment in the world of creation was changing continuously as it burned.

So much so that it was difficult to imagine what form it would take when it burned down the entire world of creation and emerged into the real world.

'And the last fragment held by the Necromancer King.'

It's not safe to be relieved just because the seal isn't broken.

The things the Necromancer King was causing through that fragment were not ordinary.

'The exercise of divine authority, and the records of the legion.'

Even just that meant time was no longer on Leo's side.

'And even if the seal isn't broken, if the consciousness has awakened…'

Erebus might be devising a strategy to defeat Leo as well.

'I need to become stronger than I am now.'

He had to surpass his past self as soon as possible.

And he also had to lead the companions who would walk into the future together.

"I'm so busy, my head is spinning."

"The leader has to bear many things."

Arga grinned.

Leo looked at Arga and said,

"Grow up quickly and carry some of the burden for me."

"Hmph. I'm growing up majestically every day, so don't worry. Soon, I'll be so strong and beautiful that even the Black Rabbit will fall for me?"

Watching Arga with a smug expression, Leo chuckled.

"In that sense, if your summoning magic practice is over, let's have a match!"

*Thump*!

Watching Arga slap his palm with his fist, Leo said,

"I wasn't practicing summoning magic."

"Huh? Then did you practice magic?"

"I was practicing aura."

"You call sitting still with your eyes closed, enduring the cold wind, aura practice?"

Arga tilted his head as if in doubt.

His tail also turned into a '?'.

Seeing that, Leo said,

"Don't you meditate?"

"Why would I meditate?"

Seeing Arga's incomprehensible expression, Leo sighed and sat down in seiza again.

"Sit here."

Arga knelt in front of Leo.

"Watch carefully."

Leo opened his palm.

Along with it, gray mana flowed out.

"This is my mana."

"I know. All-class mana!"

"No. This is the power of purity."

"Purity?"

"Yes. My mana's characteristic is purity."

Leo said, looking at Arga.

"The primordial mana that can become anything. That's why I can be all-class."

"Ah."

Arga, who understood Leo's explanation, opened his eyes wide.

"So that's why the Black Rabbit's attacks strike Erebus!"

The characteristic of the primordial evil, Erebus, was black flames.

Those flames, which had burned without extinguishing since the beginning, were, in a sense, fundamentally pure.

Therefore, pure power was needed to extinguish those inextinguishable black flames.

"But purity? It doesn't suit the Black Rabbit at all!"

*Thwack*!

"Shiaaaak!!"

Arga, who said something he shouldn't have, was hit on the head and bared his fangs, glaring.

And he tried to bite Leo's hand that had hit his head.

Of course, his head was held by Leo and forced down, so he was forcibly seated.

With a deeply annoyed expression, Arga looked at Leo and asked,

"So? What does the Black Rabbit's mana characteristic have to do with meditation?"

"Look at this."

The gray mana soon transformed into gray aura.

It was Leo's signature aura, which Arga had seen many times before.

But after a moment.

Arga's eyes widened in surprise.

The gray aura immediately turned pure white.

"They say the color of aura is the color of the user's soul."

"Isn't that a hypothesis?"

"Yes. But I think it's somewhat true."

If nothing else, it's certain that aura is the user's foundation.

Then, how could it not be influenced by the soul?

That's why each person has their own innate aura color.

Of course, aura can change.

A representative example of a changed aura is Zeldjinger's flame.

Or inheriting the power of aura as a reward for conquering Hero Records.

But ultimately, the innate, unique color doesn't change.

Yet now, Leo's aura color had changed.

It wasn't that he had imbued it with an attribute, nor was he using the power of another obtained through conquest.

It simply changed from gray to pure white.

Leo said, looking at the flustered Arga,

"It's a form closer to the origin."

"A form closer to the origin?"

"Yes."

Leo's mana characteristic is purity.

But even if it's pure, the one manifesting the mana is ultimately Leo.

The pure mana becomes grayish due to Leo's influence.

"This is a kind of awakening."

"Awakening…!"

Arga swallowed dryly.

"Does aura gain new power?"

"Yes."

"So what power has this white aura gained?"

"It's become more pure."

"Huh? That's it."

"Yes. That's it for me. But…"

Leo said, looking down at the pure white aura.

"It will be an even deadlier blade against Erebus."

"Ah!"

Arga, letting out a cry of surprise, his eyes sparkled.

"Did the Black Rabbit think of a way to awaken aura?"

"No."

"Then it must have been Arion!"

"No. It was Lissinas."

"Huh? Lissinas?"

"Yes."

Leo nodded.

"Lissinas, as the King of Wisdom, possessed much knowledge."

Her infinite thirst for knowledge before her mission was one of her symbols.

"Lissinas had long contemplated ways for aura, magic, and spiritual power to approach their origins."

As a result, mages could approach their respective origins through the pursuit of truth in magic research.

Summoners could approach their origins through communion with the spirits and mythical beasts that make up the world.

Knights could approach their origins by understanding their inner selves through meditation.

"Oh. Then did the great heroes all approach their origins?"

"No. In my previous life, only Arion approached his origin."

"Really?"

Arga's expression brightened.

"Then Arion was the strongest among the great heroes!"

"Approaching the origin doesn't necessarily make you stronger."

Approaching the origin means understanding the essence of power.

But that doesn't necessarily lead to strength.

Leo said calmly.

"The ability Arion gained by touching the origin was 'precognition'."

"Precognition?"

"Yes."

Leo nodded.

"The realm of gods, no. Perhaps, at that moment, it even surpassed the omniscience of gods."

The power Arion gained when his super senses touched the origin was the ability to see the future.

Even a being close to omniscient and omnipotent like a god couldn't perfectly peer into the future.

"Then will I also be able to see the future like Arion?"

"That cannot be known."

Having said that, Leo gazed at Arga.

Arga was intently watching Leo's white aura, his tail swaying.

He seemed to be very interested.

"Want to give it a try?"

"Yes!"

Arga, with sparkling eyes, looked at Leo's face and hesitated.

Leo was smiling kindly.

'The Black Rabbit gave this kind of expression before, didn't he…?'

He remembered when Leo had waterboarded him.

"Ah, I just remembered I have something important to do."

Arga tried to slip away, but Leo was faster, grabbing his tail.

"Nyaaaah!"

"Where do you think you're going?"

"No! You'll just torment me again! I want to go!"

"You came as you pleased, but you're not leaving as you please."

"Noooooo!"

Arga's scream echoed.