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A/N: A slightly shorter chapter today, but believe me it's pure fire.
Please note that I have slightly edited chapters one through five. The story now flows a bit more naturally. Feel free to re-read chapters 1-5 if you'd like.
Trust me when I say, YOU WON'T REGRET IT 💯.
Now sit back, relax and enjoy the show.
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LeoNova barely twisted aside, feeling the blade graze his collarbone. His dagger lashed out in retaliation.
The attacker's free hand intercepted his wrist, fingers clamping down with vise-like precision, forcing his arm into an unnatural angle. Bones cracked. Pain flared.
LeoNova didn't scream, only exhaling a low grunt.
The attacker's grip loosened just slightly, almost imperceptibly, but it was enough.
LeoNova twisted free with a sharp jerk, his tendons protesting as he ripped his wrist from the vise-like hold.
The pain was sharp, bright, but already fading. His golden eyes locked onto his assailant's shadowed face.
LeoNova stepped back, staggering slightly. Still clutching his dagger throughout the painful ordeal, his eyes never leaving the hooded figure.
Panting slowly, LeoNova straightened his posture against the wall, the faint ache in his wrist already dissipating like morning mist.
The attacker didn't press further, observing silently, his stance almost playful. He lowered his blade with deliberate slowness, the steel catching the last rays of sunset like a smear of blood.
LeoNova's thoughts buzzed, 'So, this is the strength of an adventurer.' The realization burned brighter than the fading pain.
His wrist throbbed, but LeoNova kept his grip firm on the dagger.
The attacker hadn't even broken a sweat. Every move had been precise, lethal. Every wound inflicted would've killed a normal man. LeoNova's fingers flexed around the dagger's hilt, knuckles whitening.
Without a Falna, he was nothing but a freakishly durable cockroach in this world, still crushable if the boot came down hard enough, and yet.
His lips curled into a wild grin.
'I'll never give up, not now, not ever!' The thought surged through his mind like a second pulse.
'I will get stronger!'
'I WILL, carve my own path!'
'I WILL STAND.... AT THE VERY PINACLE OF THIS WORLD!!'
The very earth seeming to tremble in sync with his surging emotions. The air itself vibrating around his small form.
Then, a sharp sensation reverberated throughout his entire body, as if a thin layer of glass had shattered within the very essence of his soul.
For a split second, a soul renting pain unlike anything he's ever felt before, rippled throughout every fiber of his being.
LeoNova gripped his chest in excruciating agony. His eyes and mouth opened wide, breath caught in his throat.
He was unable to make a single sound, as if his very lungs refused to function.
His golden eyes dilated.
His head bowed forward as he went completely still.
The attacker's eyes narrowed as he resumed a defensive stance. Not knowing what to make of the sudden turn of events.
Time itself seemed to stop as the atmosphere froze with tension.
Without warning, Leonova's form started trembling, His pulse spiked sharply, his heart audibly drumming in his chest as his breath resumed in ragged bursts.
Something primal uncoiled behind his ribs, molten and electric, spreading through his veins like wildfire. The dagger in his hand pulsed with sudden heat, the blade glowing faintly like a sliver of captured sunlight.
The cloaked figure stiffened, his fingers tightening around his sword's hilt, knuckles bleaching white beneath worn wraps.
Something was wrong. The alley's air crackled like ozone before a lightning strike. His battle-honed instincts suddenly screamed danger.
LeoNova's head rose mechanically, his golden eyes fluttering open, they weren't just glowing anymore. They burned.
The cloaked figure's grip on his sword shifted, subtle, imperceptible, but his stance coiled tighter, muscles priming for a decisive killing strike. His instincts, honed across countless Dungeon delves, howled at him to end this *now!*.
LeoNova's dagger flared brighter, bursting into dazzling golden light.
Then suddenly, veins of raw electricity spiderwebbed across the blade, arcs of golden lightning crackled between his fingers.
His golden irises pulsed with an unnatural luminance.
Arcs of energy licked up his arms like serpents made of pure thunder. Strands of his hair lifted without wind, suspended as though caught in an invisible storm, each follicle humming with charged energy.
The air itself thickened, golden sparks skittering across his small form, snapping against the alley's damp brickwork with sharp, crackling pops.
Each breath LeoNova drew rumbled in his lungs like Thunder.
He lifted his free hand up before his eyes. Observing as tiny filaments of lightning danced between his fingers as he clenched his fist.
No pain, only a buzzing, vibrating hum beneath his skin as if his very blood had been replaced with liquid lightning.
His golden hair, still standing rigid, crackled with the same energy now wreathing over his body in erratic arcs.
The attacker stood frozen, gripped by a primal fear that coiled in his gut like a serpent.
Cold sweat prickled his skin as his hairs stood on end. His eyes widening like saucers.
His blade trembled unconsciously, only for a few seconds, before crushing the hesitation beneath his will. 'No, I must end this!' he growled under his breath, steeling his resolve.
The attacker's blade blurred forward, a silver streak aimed straight for LeoNova's neck. Absolutely no hesitation. No mercy. His instincts screamed that whatever was happening had to be severed at the root *now!*. His cloak fluttered as he moved, its dark edge catching the eerie glow of the crackling electricity.
LeoNova's eyes captured his movements in frames, as if he were rushing forward in slow motion. The steel crept towards him, his eyes telegraphing the strike's trajectory before it even finished forming. Time didn't slow, *he* accelerated, his brain processing information at almost lighting speed. His body thrummed with raw, untamed power. Then, he moved.
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A/N: How's everyone liking the fic so far?
Leave your comments and reviews on the story. Your support would be very much appreciated 🙏.
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