Editor : Amethyst00



Leo's morning began very early.

In the early dawn, before the sun had even risen.

Leo sat cross-legged in the backyard of his lodging, eyes closed.

This land, located at the northernmost tip of the continent, was perpetually snowy.

On the mountain peaks, eternal snow that never melted had taken root, and the winds that blew were always as sharp and cold as blades.

When spring arrived on the continent, the harsh cold slightly weakened, but it only became a bit more bearable.

The snow never melted.

As winter came, the winters in the far north of the continent became unimaginably severe.

Now in autumn, the chill across the continent was reaching its peak.

Even the elves who had settled here found the weather difficult.

But amidst the severe cold, Leo remained calm.

Even in the knife-like winds, he kept his eyes closed, focusing his mind.

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

He used neither aura, mana, nor spirit power.

He endured the extreme cold with only his bare body.

Whoooosh—!

A fiercer wind blew through.

Sllk—

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

What was revealed were blue pupils.

"Black Rabbit, aren't you cold?"

Aru, crouching in front of Leo with her knees tucked in, tilted her head and asked.

Aru's white tail swayed gently.

"I am cold."

To Leo's indifferent response, Aru tilted her head even more.

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

"Concentrating."

"Hm?"

At Leo's reply, Aru's tail, which had been swaying gently, turned into a "?".

And a moment later, it turned into a "!".

"Aha! You're training summoning magic!"

"You're expressing emotions with your tail now?"

"Ugh! T-this is a trait of cat beastkin, okay?"

"Of all the cat beastkin I've seen, you're the only one who does that."

"How many cat beastkin could you have possibly seen, Black Rabbit… Ah!"

In the middle of speaking, Aru suddenly flinched.

Then she started glancing at Leo cautiously.

She had suddenly remembered.

Who Leo really was.

'Normally, once someone realizes my identity, they can't help but be overly conscious of it.'

The savior of the world, the Hero of Beginnings, the reincarnation of Kyle, the only one who could fully defeat Erebos.

A true great hero of the current era.

Those who learned of Leo's identity inevitably changed their behavior, even if they tried not to.

But Aru had really seemed to forget, just a moment ago, that Leo was Kyle.

Only now was she realizing it and showing signs of hesitation.

"It's a recent trend among cat beastkin!"

Leo pulled on Aru's ear as she shamelessly made excuses.

"Lying like that again?"

"Let go! Let go!"

Aru frantically tried to shake off Leo's hand.

'She doesn't care at all that I'm Kyle.'

That made conversations with her enjoyable.

"I can't tell if you're an idiot or just incredibly bold."

"Isn't it obvious? Incredibly bold! I'm the successor of the Grand Warrior Azonia and Lord Aaron!"

She declared loudly, lifting her chin proudly.

"Just wait! I'll soon catch up to Lord Aaron and Black Rabbit too!"

Seeing her, Leo stood up.

"You really don't resemble Aaron at all."

"What do you mean! Even if you deny it, I'm the acknowledged successor of Lord Aaron!"

"Not resembling him is a compliment."

Unlike Aaron, who was always timid, Aru was always confident.

But her confident demeanor resembled the ideal Aaron had always dreamed of.

Aru's blue eyes stared straight at Leo.

She didn't see the shadow of the great hero behind him.

Thanks to that, Leo felt comfortable.

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

After all, Kyle wasn't the only one who saved the world.

'If I could have done it alone, I wouldn't have needed to share the burden.'

That's why Leo and Melina selected so many heroes.

Why they chose Lunia, Aru, and Drianna, passed down the legacies of the great heroes, and helped countless hero candidates grow.

Because Leo alone couldn't defeat Erebos.

'He's not something that can be defeated by strength alone.'

So far, they had been able to defeat the fragments due to divine power and various favorable circumstances.

But all the fragments of Erebos they'd defeated until now were stuck in the past.

The first fragment had barely awakened.

The fragment of Nyx, an evil god who was defeated in the past.

A fragment that relied on past power, isolated from the outside world by Sylord's magic.

That's why they had been manageable.

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

Leo thought of the remaining fragments of Erebos.

One whose location was still unknown, and one that continued to burn in the world of Dawn.

Especially the fragment in the Dawn world, which was constantly changing as it burned.

Once it burned away the Dawn world and emerged into the real one, no one could predict its form.

'And the fragment held by the Lich King.'

Even though the seal hadn't broken, they couldn't be reassured.

The events the Lich King was causing with that fragment were too ominous.

'The exercise of authority, and the record of the Legion.'

Just those alone meant time was no longer on Leo's side.

'And even if the seal hasn't broken, if its consciousness is awakened…'

Erebos might be crafting a strategy to destroy Leo.

'I have to become stronger.'

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

And he had to lead the comrades who would walk with him into the future.

"So much to do, it's overwhelming."

"That's what happens when you're the boss."

Aru grinned.

Leo looked at her and said:

"Hurry up and grow strong so you can carry some of this burden."

"Hmph. I grow more valiant every day, so don't worry. Soon I'll be strong and beautiful enough to make even you fall for me, Black Rabbit!"

Seeing Aru puff up with pride, Leo chuckled.

"In that case, if your summoning training is done, how about a sparring match?"

Smack!

As Aru clapped her fists together, Leo said:

"I wasn't training summoning."

"Huh? Then were you training magic?"

"I was training aura."

"You were sitting still with your eyes closed in the cold wind, and that was aura training?"

Aru tilted her head in confusion.

Her tail turned into a "?".

Leo asked:

"Don't you meditate?"

"Why would I meditate?"

Seeing Aru's expression of complete misunderstanding, Leo sighed and sat cross-legged again.

"Sit here."

Aru kneeled in front of him.

"Watch closely."

Leo opened his palm.

Gray mana flowed out.

"This is my mana."

"I know. All-class mana!"

"No. This is the power of purity."

"Purity?"

"Yes. The trait of my mana is purity."

Leo looked at Aru and said:

"Primordial mana that can become anything. That's why I'm an all-class."

"Oh."

Aru's eyes widened in understanding.

"So that's why your attacks can harm Erebos!"

Erebos's trait as a primordial evil was black flame.

That flame, burning eternally since the beginning, was pure in a fundamental way.

Therefore, to extinguish that never-ending black flame, a pure power was needed.

"But purity? Doesn't suit you at all, Black Rabbit!"

Bonk!

"Shaaaa!!"

Aru hissed and glared after getting smacked on the head for her comment.

Then she tried to bite Leo's hand that had hit her.

Of course, Leo held her head and forced her to sit.

Looking sulky, Aru asked:

"So? What does your mana's trait have to do with meditation?"

"Watch this."

The gray mana soon turned into gray aura.

Aru had seen this signature aura of Leo's many times.

But then—

Aru's eyes widened.

The gray aura turned pure white.

"They say the color of aura reflects the soul of the user."

"Isn't that just a theory?"

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

Even if not everything is known, aura clearly reflects the foundation of its user.

So it couldn't help but be influenced by the soul.

That's why everyone had their own innate aura color.

Though aura could change.

For example, the altered form of aura like Zerdinger's Flame.

Or when one inherited another's power through Hero Record rewards.

Still, the innate color never changed.

But now, Leo's aura color had changed.

Not by attributing a new property or using someone else's power.

It had simply shifted from gray to pure white.

Seeing Aru's bewilderment, Leo said:

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

"Closer to the origin?"

"Yes."

Leo's mana trait was purity.

But even so, it was still Leo who manifested that mana.

So pure mana, influenced by Leo, turned gray.

"This is a kind of awakening."

"Awakening…!"

Aru gulped.

"So aura gains a new power?"

"Yes."

"Then what power does this white aura have?"

"It's more pure."

"Huh? That's it?"

"Yes. That's all for me. But…"

Leo looked down at the pure white aura.

"To Erebos, it will be an even more deadly blade."

"Ah!"

Aru's eyes sparkled.

"Did you think up this way to awaken aura, Black Rabbit?"

"No."

"Then it must've been Lord Aaron!"

"No. It was Lysinas."

"Huh? Lady Lysinas?"

"Yes."

Leo nodded.

"Lysinas was called the Wise Queen and possessed great knowledge."

Before her mission, her boundless thirst for knowledge was one of her defining traits.

"She thought for a long time about how aura, mana, and spiritual power could become closer to their origins."

As a result, mages sought truth through magic research.

Summoners connected with spirits and magical beasts that made up the world.

Knights, through meditation, understood their inner selves and approached their origin.

"Ohh. Then all the great heroes must've reached their origin?"

"No. In our past lives, only Aaron reached his origin."

"Really?"

Aru beamed.

"Then Lord Aaron must've been the strongest of the great heroes!"

"Reaching one's origin doesn't necessarily make you stronger."

To reach the origin is to understand the essence of one's power.

But that doesn't always equate to greater strength.

Leo calmly said:

"When Aaron touched his origin, the power he gained was foresight."

"Foresight?"

"Yes."

Leo nodded.

"God's domain… no, perhaps for that moment, he surpassed even divine omniscience."

When Aaron's extrasensory perception touched the origin, he gained the ability to see the future.

Even gods, close to omniscience, couldn't perfectly foresee the future.

"But does that mean I'll be able to see the future like Aaron?"

"That, we don't know."

With those words, Leo quietly looked at Aru.

She was wagging her tail, staring at Leo's white aura with fascination.

She seemed truly interested.

"Want to try it?"

"Yes!"

As she looked at Leo's face, her eyes sparkled, then froze.

Leo was smiling kindly.

'Didn't Black Rabbit smile like this before too…?'

She suddenly remembered when Leo had waterboarded her.

"Ah, I just remembered something important!"

Aru tried to slip away, but Leo caught her tail faster.

"Nyaaaaah!"

"Where do you think you're going?"

"No! You're gonna torture me again! I'm leaving!"

"You can come and go as you like, but leaving is a different matter."

"Noooo!!"

Aru's screams echoed through the cold air.