Chapter 22 - Zal the Fool

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If Leon was asked about the longest day he's ever been through, it most certainly would be yesterday to the point when he headed to bed, this happened.

< [Fatigue Resistance Lv.1] has been added to your Status >

"Yep, can't sleep now."

The day started with him deciding to become a Rabbit, the killing one to replace him, getting summoned for a test, succeeding it and doing a Rabbit job, almost getting caught by knights, driving them away, then making a shady deal with Jessica.

All in one day!

The fact that he only got one skill out of that day was plain unfair.

"Sigh! The situation is getting out of hand again."

He may have acted in control all that time but he is currently freaking out from the inside. He robbed a good amount of money from the Knight called Devon the other day, why didn't he just take it and head out of the city?

He could have escaped by now and no one would have found him.

But he didn't… it is driving him to the edge of madness.

If there is a reason for it then it is probably one that comes from a dark place deep within him that he almost has no control over. Something is telling him that he has unfinished business in this place. An attraction of sorts.

"Is it you?" Leon looked at the Ring which reappeared on his finger the moment he addressed it, "It is probably you, you bastard."

The Ring may be the culprit behind everything from when his heist went sideways to the revival of Leon and all that but there are many things that he needs to know. The Life he has now is meaningless if he doesn't know what to do with it or why he has those dark urges inside him. He needs to know the secrets of this Ring as soon as possible.

And then again, it brings him to the question he can't seem to figure out. Why is he truly here?

And then there are those Aristocrats. Some want him dead which is pretty obvious but others want him not dead. Not dead doesn't mean he would be free to do what he wants or anything of the sort. Maybe he is going to be used as some sort of bargain chip or something that he most certainly wouldn't like.

One a side note though, he never expected Knight Devon to honor his words and gather all the drawings they distributed. The reason why he returned late was to make sure that none of those drawings was left behind and thankfully, they didn't spread that much in the first place.

But why was that Knight so desperate to convince him that they are allies rather than enemies? Leon knows for a fact that there is a political faction out there that supports the Prince but will it really mobilize all those resources because someone insulted him? The image of the Prince is surely important but the whoring little fucker does not care for it, the reason why he did go after Leon in the first place was because of Nora Frye who kept turning down his offer and hung out around Leon in the Library of the Academy.

Nora Frye… the game made her look as if she was Leon's girlfriend or something but she wasn't any of the sorts, that's something this Leon is sure of. Her family is part of the regional aristocracy but the girl herself had a lot of smarts and potential… she's basically the library girl from any stereotypical pop culture fiction.

It doesn't make sense because in Leon's fuzzy memories, they were more like a study group or two who hung out together rather than anything else. Her quest's difficulty is the highest though and once she joins the party, she has a lot of potential as a Water Element Healer.

Still, this doesn't mean she is part of some sort of conspiracy but rather a mere excuse to cause some sort of turbulence between the Prince and Leon.

If so then there is one question that will solve this case and basically the question that solves most cases in the world…

Who will benefit?

Leon is indeed the son of the Prime Minister but that guy is on the side of the monarchy. From the other side of the family, Leon's mother is outside the political scene and there are no memories of her no matter how many times Leon tried to pull them out which is rather weird. In any case, the Dark family won't benefit from his death.

The Royal Family seems to be antagonizing him but the ones who are claiming to be his allies are the Knights of Duke Godfrey and the Archduchess. Nothing makes sense to him since he has no idea how they will benefit from him.

As nothing made sense, Leon decided to meditate for the rest of the night till morning. His head feels like a prison right now.

***

As the sun rose and the dawn turned into morning, Leon was sitting on his bed practicing meditation.

Nothing magical about it, just organizing his thoughts and calming his head. It always worked for him in the past, it worked now as well.

"Things became clearer at last."

He wasn't talking about the situation with the knights from last night, he switched his thoughts to a completely different subject.

Magic.

Yesterday afternoon, he gained a new magic skill. Light Magic.

Unlike the usual stereotypical four Elements, Light isn't something solid, liquid, gas, or plasma; it is basically photons of energy, radiation. The skill itself focuses on Visible Light but the Arcane Theory book does mention the Invisible Light which can't be perceived by the human eyes in normal conditions.

Leon knows that the Light which is magic revolves around the perceivable electromagnetic spectrum of the total electromagnetic radiation but if he can apply what he knows, he may open the door for Radio Waves magic or Microwaves magic… now there's nothing to miss from his previous life anymore. Still, he wasn't really a scientist and kept doing his best to recall those boring mandatory classes in the tech department.

The Arcane Theory went too deep in its explanations around the Photokinetic Manipulation and its natural application in both possible and impossible sides of the spectrum which made Leon retreat as fast as he could before falling into that nerd rabbit hole.

His only bright idea was combining magic and he was trying to combine many spells together especially from Combat Magic since its mental toll isn't as severe as the others but it still left him wondering.

For now, that was enough meditation on this accursed Arcane Theory, it is time to solve his life problems.

He found a fresh set of clothes and dragged his lax body into the saloon to see Jordi still sweeping off the floor.

"Good morning."

"Morning."

Jordi looked at him and laughed.

"It was just the same time yesterday when you were asking about moving up the ranks." He said.

Leon laughed as well.

"I think I was just lucky." He said, "Have you seen Jessica?"

"She just walked out."

"Alright, I am off."

Leon walked out of the saloon to see that Jessica was standing resting her back on the wooden post and wearing more than she usually does. She looked at him and hit him on the arm.

"Have you brought money?" She asked.

"I did. Why?"

"First, the Mercenary Hall takes registration fees then they will have to make sure you have equipment. Aside from that, we need money to get you an Appraisal Certificate from the Temple." She said.

"I have one from yesterday." He said as he took out the paper from his storage by pretending it was in his pocket.

"Show me." She extended her palm for him.

"Why does everyone want to look at it?" Leon took it back.

"Because even with it in your hand, the Mercenary Hall won't accept you." She took it from Leon by force as he allowed it anyway.

"What do you mean?" He asked.

"That." Jessica opened the paper and directly pointed at the {Rat} title on the paper, "The Mercenary Hall, the Chamber of Commerce, the Knights Hall and basically every respectful organization that follows the law can't recruit members of criminal backgrounds thus they always require one of these papers."

"Dang! You said something about that but I didn't think it was this bad." He scratched his head, "Even though this title is gone and there is a Rabbit in its stead now."

"Doesn't make any difference." She shrugged her shoulders, "Lucky for you, I know a guy."

"One guy?"

"Shut the fuck up and follow me."

***

"So… a Monkey?"

Leon and Jessica arrived at a rundown building deep in an alleyway where ghosts weren't even haunting. The place looked old and very quiet but Leon noticed a lot of traces of human activity around the entrance such as footprints and trash. What gave off that this place was that of a Monkey is the rough inscription carved on the wood of the door which may seem like some kid just played here with a knife but there was an older trace behind it that looked like a box with an x mark on it.

That box with an x mark means a Monkey. Basically, the tinkerers and the workers associated with the Syndicate. It is also part of the Black Market.

"What are we buying?" He asked.

"This guy over here in particular has a specific talent." Jessica said as she poked him, "Let's go."

The two walked through the narrow entrance of the old building and the scents of dust and mold rushed their smelling heavy with another distinctive toxic scent.

"Ink… and oils."

Leon figured out where he was immediately.

Just as they took the next turn to the first floor they saw, a large bald and bearded man stood in their way acting all Intimidating.

"We're here to see the Artist?" Jessica acted meek as she spoke.

The man didn't really reply and kept staring at her with no interest whatsoever.

"He's… not here?" She asked and tried to look at the door past him but he put his hand against her face.

"Back off, Rat." He spoke in a rough voice.

His single-handed push almost carried Jessica off her place and sent her backward but Leon held her back before she fell while looking at the man apathetically.

"That's no way to treat a girl." Leon said.

"Knock it off, Rat."

The Dog didn't bother less and wanted to do the same with Leon by pushing him by the face.

Just as the man's hand was almost this close, Leon's right held the man's hand from his middle finger and violently twisted it backward.

"ARG!"

The man's expressions widened as his body twisted to the side in order to cope with the pain but Leon kicked his knee and forced it down then with a switch-knife he picked from somewhere, he pinned in the man by jamming its tip into his nose. The man tried to hold Leon's knife arm away but Leon was way stronger despite the difference in size.

"I'm not a Rat." Leon said, "Get it?"

The man looked with fear between Leon and the knife before nodding lightly not to hurt his nose.

"Alright, Stevie, go tell your Boss there are customers."

Leon scared the man and kicked his ass as he started to run past the door he was guarding and went quiet.

Jessica looked at Leon who subjugated a giant in an instant and started reassessing her view of him.

"You know how to beat people." She admitted and looked away to keep some face after being told off by Dog this badly.

Leon didn't rub it and waited until the man came while lowering his head.

"The Artist will see you now."

Leon walked in right away making the man move out of his way by fainting a hit which caused the big guy to jump off scared. Jessica followed as she looked with indifference at the large bearded man that was on the verge of tears.

The place Leon entered was akin to a workshop with a messy atmosphere to it as the scent of paint and ink struck the hearts of those alien to such an environment as if it was grabbing them from within their chests and pressing against their lungs with its stink. On each corner, there were sticky substances thrown mindlessly in shapes and forms that would make this place feel like the inside nasal airway of a large creature rather than a room inside a building.

There were a number of paintings in this room mostly hung on different stands in a line facing one direction. As Leon walked past them, he spotted that they were all the same thing, only minor differences here and there.

"The first one over there seems more authentic. The rest are… different." He said mindlessly.

Yet his comment was the subject of a weird and sudden reaction.

"H- H- H- How do you know?"

The voice, which was stuttering and hoarse, came from a man who looked like a hobo who came from a dumpster… and smelled like a dumpster. Dark circles around his eyes, dirty clothing with unkempt long hair and unshaved beard.

"The Colors." Leon looked away from the man and explained, "Each painting varies from the other in color. None of them are authentic though despite the one at the front having more soul into it."

Even though Leon said so, the paintings looked amazing to Jessica and she never saw anything with such color and beauty. The way the sun was drawn as a bright bloom of color that almost captured its warmth with paint, the way the woman carried the son over her white wings, those wings which merged into the white of her dress fluttering with the vivid air as she flew over the green and blue world of seas, plains, and mountains.

It looked Divine.

"It's a replica… sadly." Leon said, "The first one was the best you managed to replicate but it felt less than the original to you thus you tried to recreate it once, twice, thrice… until." Leon pointed at the last one, "It fell out of grace."

"Grace!" Said the man in agony, "It will forever haunt me."

With sadness in his eyes, the man nodded as he kept looking at his deteriorating art.

"Grace… like the painting in the Holy Palace?" And as if it is common knowledge, Jessica reacted to the name.

"It is… nothing like the Holy Art that is kept in the heart of St. Lanus… a marvel of art that gave its creator immortality… and ruined all those who can paint afterwards" The man replied.

Leon looked at the man and used [Read].

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[ Zal ve Lanus - Lv.8 Hunter ]

- Age: 32

- Titles: {Expert Painter} {Monkey} {The Fool}

- Skills:

- Proficiency: (Talent: 41%)

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Mastery? Leon almost choked as he saw the man has a Skill under the description of Mastery. Mastery Skills are something beyond the Technique skills and from the game, these ones were unlocked by premium currency. Leon never complied with those evil micro-transactions but it was said that the moment those skills are upgraded to mastery, the characters become broken in all manners of fashion.

"Mr. Zal." Leon spoke.

"Y- Yes."

Leon held his breath and handed over the peper to Zal.

"I have some business with you."

"Yes… Yes… a Customer. Right!" The man started to wipe his hand in his clothes as he took the paper and looked at it, "A Rat? I thought… I thought you were some kind of Associate."

"A Rat is a thing from the past, I am afraid." He said, "Right now, I am a paying customer… and someone who knows talent when he sees one."

Leon's words were smooth and swift but the man laughed in mockery.

"I am afraid you need to… hehe… you need to get your eyes checked!" Said Zal as he faintly laughed and mocked Leon.

He still took the paper in and told Leon to wait, a few minutes passed and he came out with the paper as good as it was… the only thing missing was the {Rat} title.

"Now leave." He said kicking Leon and Jessica out.

Leon nodded but he took a few mental notes of everything in this place. This man he came across is a hidden gem, it is such a sad thing that he was this cursed.

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[ The Fool ]