The Black Necromancer

Leon, oblivious to the others who coveted the order that he had only just come to know about, soon left the temple after having a good discussion with Michael. They had discussed mostly about Leon's path going forward and what he would do.

Most of this discussion had to do with Divinity and the like. One thing Leon had been curious about was why there was no stat for this higher energy, and how the System still worked on him even after he had broken free of its binds that were supposed to restrict his path to ascension.

"I don't understand what you mean when you say I need to shed my former self and build myself up with Divinity." Leon had expressed his confusion.

"It is simple, yet difficult to explain." Michael scratched his cheek in thought. "You see, the mortal beings in this world, both those who can manipulate mana, and those who cannot, are all made up of one of the most basic and fundamental building blocks of reality - Mana. To ascend to Godhood, you will need to strip yourself of every ounce of this building block, while simultaneously rebuilding and restructuring yourself with Divinity." Michael tried to explain.

It took Leon some time, and a few more explanations, but he was finally able to understand what it meant. When he did, his next question was up. It was something that had bugged him, especially since he still did not completely trust Michael. While Michael was on his side, that was only because their goals aligned at this point. Leon had not forgotten that he owed Michael a good beating one day. If, for whatever reason, they fell out of each other's favor, then they were sure to turn into enemies. Therefore, Leon wanted to know the answer to what was on his mind.

"Why do I still have the System interface if I have supposedly 'broken past its bindings'?" Leon asked.

"Because I made it stick with you. It's basically just a scale to quantify your strength in numbers. Nothing else. You should have noticed that you do not have any levels anymore. You can no longer level up. Now, you need to do things the old fashioned way, like how we did things back in the Era of Gods, and fumble through the dark, feeling things out for yourself." Michael replied smugly.

"But why should I fumble when I can rely on you to point a torch through the darkness for me?" Leon inquired.

"Because my path may not be the right one for you. No divine being's path is the same. Everyone has their own path, and the point of it all is to prove that their path and the choices they made are superior to that of others." Michael replied seriously. This question was one that touched more closely on the essence of their 'Godhood'. The whole point was to reach the vaunted path of True God. Only those who turned their Divinities into Laws and became True Gods could claim that their path was the right one.

Leon nodded as he processed this bit of information. It was easy enough to understand what Michael meant. However, that did not mean that it was easy to ascend to Godhood. Many had failed and lost their lived while rebuilding themselves with this higher energy. Many had wandered the wrong path, only to end up at a dead end.

He did not want to be like those failures. He wanted go further, go higher, and achieve his goals.

After a long but fruitful discussion, Michael had called an end to their meeting under the excuse that he had other godly matters to attend to. He had left, leaving Leon to do his own thing.

"That was a fruitful discussion." Leon hummed as he stepped out of the temple. He had spent a long time testing out his abilities, and had spoken for a couple of hours with Michael, so morning had already come around at this time.

Leon looked around before heading straight to his mansion that was only a short distance from the temple. He wanted to check on Elena.

Bang!

The moment Leon stepped into the mansion, a loud crashing sound rang out. However, he was not shocked, as he could already accurately identify the auras of the people in the mansion. Aside from a few White Millipede guards and cleaners, the only other people in the mansion were Elena and Mica.

Just the people he wanted to see.

Leon quickly climbed up the stairs and walked over to the room that the two of them were in. From here, he could already tell what was happening inside. He sighed and pushed open the door just as another crashing sound rang out as Mica fell to the ground from the ceiling. The shadows in another corner of the room warped and Elena's upper body appeared from the shadow's depths.

"Leon?!" Elena was surprised, but had a happy look on her face. Mica simply turned upright, as he had fallen on his back earlier.

"I can see you two are enjoying yourselves." Leon said dryly.

"Ehehe." Elena chuckled with a blush and looked away while pulling the rest of her body out of the shadow. She quickly got to her feet and patted down the night gown she was wearing.

"She refused to stay in bed like you said!" Mica came over to Leon's side and reported Elena to him. Leon sighed and patted the young dragon's head before turning his gaze back to the red haired Beastkin.

"Is that so?" Leon asked her, fixing her with an unentertained look. He was not impressed at all.

"You can't blame me! The war is still ongoing. I can help!" Elena argued.

In the past months after she joined in the war efforts, she had grown very quickly, not only in levels, but also in terms of her mind and real life experiences.

"I know, but that does not mean you should risk your life. Especially when it is not necessary." Leon crossed his arms.

"That doesn't mean I should sit down and do nothing either." Elena crossed her arms as well, putting up a tough front.