Unlimited Power - The Arcane Path

"...What?" Leon frowned.

"My life is over now…" The girl said. "I helped you to prevent you from damaging the archives, but none will accept that as an excuse."

"... Surely your grandfather won't let something happen to you." Leon said.

"Most likely... grandfather will be the one to give the sentence." The girl looked down and trembled a little. "We are at war against the harvesters and traitor in times of war are...

Leon sighed, it wouldn't be weird if she ends being executed, and by the look of things, her grandfather wouldn't lift a finger to help her. Maybe he didn't care about family after losing his wife, or perhaps he had other descendants, either way, that girl was doomed. Leon was fully aware that he was an idiot; he was an idiot to the point of considering helping her because thanks to her, he obtained a lot of knowledge. He couldn't let someone who helped him die like that... she probably actively helped him imagining that would happen, but even so, Leon felt like that was the only thing he could do... to bring a person who didn't have any offensive power to the world below the city.

"... Are you sure of that?" Leon sighed again. "The world below is far worse than you can imagine. The air is dense, there is the poison mist, the gravity will make you tire yourself faster and the food... don't even ask about the food."

"It seems worse than I imagined, but I don't want to die." The girl said. "Besides, I'm tired of my life here. I sleep only six hours every day and work fourteen hours... however, since my memories are constantly being erased, I feel like I live only eight hours every day. I endured this for ten years, but I'm tired of it."

Leon didn't consider that, but it looked like it wasn't a good way to live. Essentially, she was just a slave of the research center.

"Why did you accept a job like that?" Leon asked.

"I didn't... my grandfather forced me to work here." The girl said.

It looked like her grandfather could win the title of the worst grandfather ever with ease... Anyway, she didn't have any offensive skills, but perhaps she could make herself useful with the other skills she has.

"All right, let's visit your house to take a few things you will need to live down there," Leon said. "My name is Leon, by the way."

"My name is Darya. Thank you for giving me the chance to live." Darya slightly bowed her head.

"I wonder if you hit your head somewhere..." Leon said. "To ask to accompany the man who said that would cut your neck just a few hours ago."

"Although you said, you never pointed your spear to my head," Darya said. "So, I noticed you were just bluffing."

"... Maybe I was confident that I could attack you fast enough, even without being ready to strike." Leon frowned.

"But I didn't feel like you were serious when you threatened me," Darya said. "I was only scared because you were the invader of the rumors and because you smell like a monster."

"Lucky you, then. If I smelled like the poison mist, you probably would have died. "Leon said. "I guess I need to train my acting skills... by the way, I'm not a traveler or an invader. I'm more like a victim of a kidnapping."

Time was running out; soon, the streets of the city would become brighter. Despite that, Leon couldn't speed up things to return. So, he just waited in an alley for Darya to come. Before she could return, the four warriors under Eadmund's command appeared.

"What are you doing? Soon the people of this city will begin to leave their houses." A random warrior said.

"The girl will come with me. I'm waiting for her." Leon said. "Thanks to her, I obtained valuable information, so I cannot leave her behind, considering that she may be executed for it."

"… Although the villagers won't mind your presence, I don't think they will welcome her." The warrior said.

"That's not a problem, you guys already helped me, and I already helped you guys," Leon explained. "I don't have intention in overstaying my welcome."

Those four warriors realized that Leon had no intention of getting himself involved in the villagers of warriors in the lower world. Mostly because he intended to clear dungeon after dungeon until he obtains the power to face the harvesters... his plan was close to madness, but they knew Leon was a little mad. He spent several weeks trying to learn a spell, failed but invaded the city above anyway.

When Darya returned, she trembled when she saw Leon surrounded by four-man who looked like bodybuilders and armed with very powerful magic weapons. In her place, Leon would probably feel the same way since she was 1,50 meters tall, and those guys were much taller than her.

Much to Darya's surprise, those four didn't do or say anything. Even though they were more or less like mortal enemies after what their ancestors did... the four warriors didn't look at her angry or annoyed. It was hard to say for sure if they were neutral because she was someone who didn't do anything to them directly, or it was because they had no idea what Leon would do.

Regardless, after a few minutes, they returned to the utility hole they used and used the sewers to reach the lower world. But before that, Darya spent a few seconds looking at the city... she was finally free of her old life where she couldn't do anything but obey orders since she wasn't strong. Despite that, she hesitated a little because things would become easier... from that day onward, she would have to run for her life because she was now a traitor.