After defeating all the monsters, Barkus turned to Leon with a mocking smirk and said:
"So, kid, are you really that desperate to make sure I don't win?"
Leon smirked back, not missing a beat.
"You? Beat ? Look at this arsenal!" He gestured towards the backpacks stuffed with weapons behind him. "My victory is a fact! And you can't change that. You'd better prepare yourself for what Mom's going to do to you," he added, laughing, as if already imagining his father's impending punishnt.
Barkus, furrowing his brow slightly, took a step back and muttered under his breath:
"We'll see about that..."
anwhile, Arthur, who had been appointed judge, took a scorebook in hand and announced:
"Alright, here are the results. You all killed 60 goblins, and the final standings are as follows:
"First place goes to Leon with 17 points."
Leon frowned, visibly displeased by the announcent.
"What? Seventeen? But I killed 34!" he exclaid, throwing his arms up in disbelief.
"That's correct," Arthur replied calmly. "I only award 0.5 points per goblin. I assign different point values depending on the type of monster killed."
"Fine," Leon muttered, crossing his arms.
"Second place goes to Barkus with 10 points."
Barkus simply smirked, listening to the results.
"Third place goes to Nyx with 2 points.
"And in fourth place—Colin with 1 point," Arthur concluded as he closed the book.
Leon turned to his younger brother, raising an eyebrow in surprise.
"Whoa, Colin, you impressed !" He ruffled the younger boy's hair lightly. "Honestly, I didn't think you'd be able to take anyone down. How'd you do it?"
Barkus chuckled as he stepped up beside his son.
"Why are you so surprised? Don't you know everything about your brothers? Or did you forget who Colin looks up to as a role model?"
Leon scratched his chin in thought, then pointed to himself with a grin.
"That's , right?"
"Exactly," Barkus nodded. "And because of you, he's been training for at least an hour every day."
Leon, impressed by his younger brother's determination, exclaid with enthusiasm:
"Wow, way to go, Colin!" He gave him a big thumbs-up, smiling proudly.
Colin, slightly embarrassed but clearly pleased with the praise, mirrored the gesture, beaming back at his older brother.
However, the group's attention soon turned to Nyx. Barkus looked at him with a hint of disappointnt in his eyes.
"Nyx, you need to start training again. Colin's almost caught up to you, and he's the youngest," he said with a hint of reproach.
Nyx frowned, visibly stung by the remark, and muttered under his breath, trying to defend himself:
"I'm just not as serious as you guys! Besides, I'm still half-asleep. You think I'm that weak?"
But no one paid attention to his feeble excuses. The group moved on in silence, leaving Nyx trailing behind, lost in thought.
As they ventured deeper into the dungeon, taking down more and more monsters, Leon began to notice sothing strange. His father's points were rapidly catching up to his own. At first, he couldn't understand how it was possible.
"I know Dad's strong, but he only brought a sword..." Leon muttered to himself, heading towards his backpacks to check if everything was still there.
However, when he opened his supplies, he froze and then shouted:
"What the—?! Where's the dynamite? No, wait, where are the other backpacks?!"
At that mont, Luxion, his AI companion, erged from stealth mode. The tallic sphere floated into view, its voice calm and collected as always.
"I returned them to the ship," Luxion said.
Leon yelped in surprise.
"Ahh! Damn it! I forgot you were here!"
Taking a deep breath to calm himself, Leon frowned and glared at his AI.
"What do you an, 'you returned them'?"
Luxion, unperturbed by Leon's reaction, replied in its usual monotone:
"Your father requested it."
Leon stood there, his face shifting from shock to irritation. By now, everyone in the Bartfort family was familiar with Luxion and its counterpart, Cleare. Sotis they would chat with the AI, other tis they relied on it for various tasks.
"First of all, what exactly did he ask you to do? And second, why didn't you tell about this?" Leon demanded, clearly agitated.
"Your father asked to keep it a secret until you noticed the discrepancy yourself and inquired about it. He requested that I ensure you wouldn't be able to win," Luxion explained matter-of-factly.
Leon, stunned by the revelation, began loudly protesting:
"What? And why the hell did you listen to him? You're my AI!"
Luxion rose slightly, as if asserting its authority.
"That's true, Master. However, you seem to forget that one of my primary directives is to care for your well-being. I make decisions that I believe will benefit you."
Leon narrowed his eyes, sensing the conversation was headed sowhere unpleasant.
"And how exactly is this supposed to help ?" he grumbled, crossing his arms.
Luxion, unfazed, continued:
"Your father presented a compelling argunt."
"What argunt?!" Leon snapped impatiently.
"That to grow into a better person, you must occasionally face punishnt and learn from your mistakes. In this case, your mistake was failing to inform your mother about your plans. You frequently act in secrecy without considering the potential consequences."
Leon rolled his eyes, clenching his fists in frustration.
"And that's what you call 'care'?" he muttered through gritted teeth.
Luxion, ignoring his irritation, added:
"Additionally, your father believes that your overconfidence is making you less focused and more prone to overlooking discipline. He requested that I ensure his victory this ti to encourage you to reflect on your actions."
Leon froze, realizing that arguing with Luxion's logic was pointless. His father had planned everything from the start.
Luxion, showing no sign of remorse for its actions, spoke with a hint of finality:
"If you wish to avoid similar situations in the future, I recomnd starting with the basics: less secrecy and more attention to planning."
Leon waved dismissively, signaling that he didn't want to hear any more lectures.
"Alright, alright, enough with the morals. I get it..." he grumbled. "Actually, no! I'll show all of you who the real winner is!"
He declared, turning his back on the group, thinking to himself, They think I rely solely on technology? Just wait... I'll surprise them all.
Suddenly, a translucent clone of Leon burst out of his body, ready to prove his determination.
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