Thud!
Leo crashed down onto his butt, breath tearing ragged from his chest, the seals ripped from his mouth and nose.
His lungs howled for air, aching with every frantic gulp as oxygen flooded in.... just enough to keep his vision from fading to black.
For a mont, he thought his brain would just flicker off and leave him there!!
Fucking dangerous!!
His face burned a furious red, veins standing out as his eyes bulged, stung, watering from the lack of air.
Still gasping, he blinked up at Essa... her silhouette sharp in the moonlight, curved blade glinting dangerously, the tip levelled inches from his face, almost teasing.
"You dead," she said quietly.
Leo let out a shaky, awkward sigh. "I-I... ah... ha... managed to hold three minutes, right?" he asked.
Essa’s weapon dropped a little as she finally let up, "Well, barely, I’d say... 2.54 minutes."
There was a tiny smirk in her words, but her eyes lingered over him, maybe a bit impressed.
Leo tried for a smile, but he was trembling, every muscle screaming. He truly felt as if he might just tip over and die right there... honestly, this had beco torture, the kind that carved deep and slow.
He’d been suffering through it so long, even after the others left him in this moon-soaked forest, left alone with her.
"How long are we supposed to train?" Leo asked, half-despairing, half-hopeful.
Essa blinked under her shadowed hood, "What ti is it?" she asked.
Leo fumbled for his watch, squinting at the numbers. "11.35?" he managed.
Essa nodded, "Well then, let’s go."
Relief burst inside Leo like a prisoner catching sight of sunlight after years in chains.
He nearly laughed, caught between exhaustion and wild freedom. He tried to stand, body aching for movent, but his legs had nothing left to give. They folded, useless, and he nearly went down again... until Essa caught him.
"Don’t push yourself," Essa said, her voice a low murmur. For a second, it felt almost gentle, not like her usual sharp commands.
Leo stared at her, mind fogged, trying to process the softness in her tone.
What the hell did she just say?
Don’t push yourself?
Woman, Who did this in the first place?
Essa coughed, suddenly awkward beneath her hood, looking away. "T-That’s different, and this is different, okay?"
Leo shook his head, dizzy from effort and confusion, "Anyway, let’s go," he managed. He tried to take a step on his own, but his knees buckled again!
Essa caught him, strong fingers circling his wrist. "Just lean on . I’ll walk with you," she whispered, not waiting for him to argue. She slid his arm over her shoulders, her hand finding his hip.... a slow, careful touch that sent an unexpected thrill up Leo’s spine.
Together, they moved through the battered forest.
Each step was slow, asured, their bodies pressed close.
They walked in silence, neither daring to speak.
Leo, on the other hand, felt slightly awkward, the mory of this morning’s dream lingering at the edge of his mind... too steamy, too dangerous to even say a word about it. And for Essa, it was... painfully real.
The way she acted before him now made her tense, her shoulders tight in fear!
Essa coughed, searching for a way to break the silence as her Master’s advice echoed in her head. Forcing her voice steady, she asked, "Say... What are you going to do after tomorrow?"
Leo blinked at the question, surprised. Honestly, he hadn’t thought of that until now.
"After everything is over, and if we win... what’s your future goal? Do you want to keep being a Mage, learning that unknown thod your parents left behind for you? Or..." She hesitated, her tone softening, "Are you going to continue your normal life? Spending ti with your girlfriends, studying, enjoying each mont, going to college, working a good job, earning well... like that?"
Leo stared blankly at the ground as they slowly walked on.
He really hadn’t thought this far ahead. The Relic, his deal with the devil—those were the only things that kept running through his mind.
But after that?
He didn’t know.
Was he supposed to live like a normal person?
Maybe spending ti with his family, grateful for whatever peace he could find?
Or... Was he ant to unravel the truth behind his parents’ mysterious deaths, and the secret Mana breathwork thod that itched beneath his body?
What was the reason for all of this?
Why did his parents die?
Was it sothing he wasn’t ant to discover? Or was it sothing he didn’t want to face at all?
Once his deal with the devil ended, he swore he’d return to a normal life. No... not that lonely path, not the isolated routine.
Rather, this one.
This life!! This version of Leo!
This was sothing he never got to experience in his previous life. Back then, he’d already tainted everything... too many loose ends, too many problems staining his na.
His life would never be the sa as here. This... this was different.
A life he had never truly felt before. Sure, there were hiccups, pain, loss, confusion, yet, for this life, it was worth dying a thousand tis.
That was what Leo felt deep inside, yet... sowhere in the corner of his mind, a whisper rose up, cold and insistent: he was nothing more than a thief who had stolen another man’s body, living as if it belonged to him.
So disgusting!!!
That disgust only grew as ti passed—a slow, unknown pressure crushing his chest as the days went by, as the people around him drew closer.
Fear and self-loathing mixed together, tightening inside him.
"Leo?" Essa’s voice snapped him out of his thoughts. He glanced at her, hesitated, then muttered,
"I... I don’t know," he said with a calm yet trembling tone. "I... I haven’t decided what I’m supposed to do... For now, I just want to do what I can... nothing else."
Essa halted her steps for a second before continuing, her gaze lingering on him.
"Why do you look so confused?" she asked, voice softer, almost curious.
Her words startled him again. He looked at her, uneasy. "I... I am confused now. Am I that readable? Or... is it sothing only you can see?"
He wondered how she always managed to read him so well... like, even before all of this began, she’d known he was going after Caelindra. She’d followed him. Even when saving Ophis, she’d found the right path... How did she always know him so deeply?
Just who was she, really?
Essa smirked under her hood before saying, "Who knows~ Anyway, tell ... why do you look confused?"
Leo sighed, realising she wouldn’t let this slide. He needed to say sothing... a lie?
"Well, I was just worried about the future... Valra is a mage; she might want to stick to the mage’s path. And Sakura... she’s a normal human, and if she found out about all this, she might be horrified.
I...I haven’t seen her since last ti, and it feels like she’s avoiding on purpose... Her parents hate ... Well, honestly, both my girlfriends’ parents hate , I suppose. Ahah..." He let out a hollow, bitter chuckle.
He wanted to lie, yet these were the painful freaking truths that he didn’t think of fully. Saying them out loud only made his situation feel heavier.
Leo sighed again. "Also... there’s Azrael..."
Essa flinched. "Azrael?"
Leo managed an awkward smile. "Well, didn’t you notice? She’s been approaching so bluntly, without any hesitation... like she wants to be my third girlfriend or sothing."
"Oh?" Essa’s eyes widened in surprise, but a chilling expression quickly settled beneath her hoodie.
Leo sighed once more, letting his gaze drift up to the starry night sky. "I wonder if they’ll all break up with ..." he muttered quietly.
Essa stared at his lost, confused expression—a man struggling to hold onto everything, even as it slipped out of reach.
That really was how he felt... No matter how hard he tried, everything seed to co too easily, yet... nothing stayed within reach.
It wasn’t as if he’d gone looking for girlfriends or anything like that, right?
Maybe... maybe it was because he wasn’t the real Leo.
Maybe that’s why fate didn’t want them to stay by his side.
A thief should know his place, shouldn’t he?
Was this fate trying to tell him sothing?
So many thoughts swirled inside him.
Essa, still watching his face, whispered under her hoodie, "If they decided to go for you even after knowing what they’re dealing with, I highly doubt they’ll break up with you now."
"Huh?" Leo blinked, uncertain if he’d heard correctly.
"Nothing... just don’t worry too much," Essa shrugged, but then her expression turned serious.
"You’d better not get near Dracula at this point."
"What do you an?" Leo frowned.
"I an..." Essa hesitated, searching for the right words.
"You’d better not fight against Dracula with a weak mind like yours... He’ll literally break you." Her tone carried the weight of soone who had seen it firsthand.
"We may not know the full extent of his powers yet, but... his eyes will pierce straight through your soul and pull out your deepest fear. With your current situation, you and Ophis are the most likely to be affected."
Leo frowned at her words.
Without another word, Essa scooped Leo into her arms like a princess. Even though Leo felt weird about it, he cald himself as she leapt from one spot to another... moving so fast, the world blurred around them. Before he could even gather his thoughts, they had already reached the house.
"That’s... fast. Looks like you’ve been training too?" Leo muttered as he landed on the ground.
Essa just shrugged, motioning for him to open the door. Leo walked to the door, glancing at his watch. The ti was almost 11:59.
"I hope they haven’t eaten without ," he muttered, feeling both anxious and hopeful.
Just as he reached for the knob and turned open the door—
BOP, BOP!!
PPPEEEE~
"""HAPPY BIRTHDAY, LEO!!!~"""
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