After the refugees were settled down in their temporary abode, Leon and his grandparents had a quick, early dinner.
Leon has been thinking of his earlier encounter with the two orphan children.
Grandma Elizabeth saw that Leon was listlessly staring into thin air. "Little Leon, are you thinking about something? Perhaps you have another weird invention in mind?"
Leon was snapped out of his reverie by his grandma's inquiry. "No. it's nothing grandma. I was just thinking about the limit of possibilities that the people of the North may have to offer."
Lord Oliver is confused by what Leon meant. "What are you talking about Little Leon? The people who come to the North do not have such rare talents. If they had one, they would not even bother to come here in the first place."
Leon thought so as well when he first came to tour the town center. But the unexpected meeting earlier had such a great impact to Leon that he thought there may be the possibility of finding talented people among the young children.
"I was not talking about the all the people in the whole territory, Grandpa. I was just thinking that we need to gather the younger generation of the territory. Grandpa, please allow me this one. Just once so I can verify the authenticity of my theories." Leon pleads to Lord Oliver.
Lord Oliver loves Little Leon dearly and he could not possibly deny the young lad's road to success. "Alright Little Leon I will organize an event for the young children of the territory. Why is it that you are trying to actively support these people? The North has always adopted a fair treatment towards them."
Leon decided not to hide his earlier encounter. "Grandpa, I just met two talented children among the refugees earlier. They have lived in the mountain village all their life. It seems that they are at least the 3rd generation of their family tree."
Lord Oliver and Grandma Elizabeth are confused by Leon's statement.
"Little Leon, explain further. I still don't understand why you would want to know their limits." Grandma Elizabeth requested.
Leon decided to express his theory. "If my line of thought is correct, those children may have a different aptitude when compared to their predecessors!"
Lord Oliver is shocked by Leon's bold claim. "Little Leon, how are you supposed to know that they have a different aptitude? Aptitude is supposed to be inherited through the family origin right?"
Leon can neither agree nor disagree.
Shell Aptitude is indeed proven to be highly genetic. But, the fact that Leon's system corresponds to an advanced version of techniques in the real world, means that there is a definite way for any human being to utilize Shell Energy.
Leon spoke of his thoughts and theories. "While it is indeed proven by research that aptitude is greatly inherited from the parents, it does not take away the possibilities of an error occurring along the way."
Leon continued on his theory. "A human being is incapable of achieving perfection, there are always flaws throughout a person's lifetime. If that imperfection manifests genetically, what do you think does that imply towards the characteristics of the offspring?"
Grandma Elizabeth immediately understood as soon as Leon finished. "It means that we are unable to perfectly gauge the aptitude of a person and what that person is capable of when looking at them using a standard system."
"Bingo!" Leon exclaims at his grandma's conclusion.
Lord Oliver also chimes into their discussion. "If what you are saying is indeed true, then there were multitudes of talented people throughout history that was wasted by a faulty system."
"Right." Leon can attest to this fact.
A large population of the world lives in poverty. Not many can break through from a difficult situation, especially when you have only yourself to rely on.
Lord Oliver, as the Lord of the Northern territory has seen this fact throughout his years of leadership.
"And assuming that all of these are real, then there can be some fearsome people that may have discovered their strength by themselves, ridiculed by society as trash and overcame those odds and worked towards building a force of their own to demolish the standard system." Lord Oliver began to sound more specific with his words.
"Ri-right? Grandpa? Why specifically would they need to destroy the current system? It is currently a stable system with a huge efficacy rate in searching for talents." Leon tried to understand the line of thought that his grandpa was taking them but he was unable to connect.
Grandma Elizabeth is shocked by the sudden implications of this facts. She rose to her feet as she looked at her husband, wide eyed. "You don't mean!!??"
Lord Oliver responds with a grim nod.
Leon is confused and terrified by the sudden course of events. "What is it? It seems that there is a problem with our current subject?"
"Little Leon, you probably should not know of these things right now. It is for your own safety. We will tell you when the time is right." Grandma Elizabeth told Leon with a worried smile.
Lord Oliver appears concerned within his thoughts. He advised Leon. "Little Leon, stay home for a while until the bandit problems are completely solved."
Leon is dismayed by his grandfather's sudden decision. "Aww, Grandpa. It is so boring to stay in the house all the time. I am stronger already and I can control my abilities better thanks to Grandma's guidance."
Lord Oliver remains firm in his stance. "No, Little Leon. It is best for everyone that we stay in a safer environment. You to, dear Eliza. Please accompany Leon while he stays at home."
Grandma Elizabeth nods in affirmation. She sends Leon to his room upstairs. "Come Little Leon, let us retire early tonight. We have a long day tomorrow. The Guard Captain is still out to get the bandits so you will be training at home tomorrow."
Leon is dismayed but he decides to follow their advice. "Okay. Good night grandma. I will go up now."
...
On the way to his bedroom, Leon is approached by a maid.
The maid seems to be specifically looking for Leon as she was standing in front of the staircase. "Young Lord, good evening. I am a maid from the Oliver kitchen. Head Chef Arnold said he had something to ask you. He sent me to get your response."
Leon thought of something and spoke to the maid. "The Head Chef needs something? Alright, I will go there now. Lead the way."
Leon is currently thinking of distracting himself from boredom so he decided to head towards the kitchen personally.
...
In the kitchen, the only people left are the dishwashers and some cleaners. The rest of the staff have already retired for the day.
Arnold is currently in front of a stovetop, looking at it intensely as though to carve its appearance in his mind.
The stovetop was the one Leon developed. The Oliver couple decided to allow its initial use within the Oliver kitchen as it was such a waste not to use it when it was there.
Leon saw that Arnold was currently focusing his all towards the stove. He came close and spoke. "Hey, Arnold. It has been a while."
Arnold was surprised by the sudden voice but immediately recovers as soon as he saw that it was Leon. "Young Lord! You are here! Can you believe what I am seeing?! Look! This stove. I am sure this was the stove you took with you, right?! It has been a few days and I am still amazed by this gadget!"
Arnold was too overly excited. It was true that the new stove was the one Leon took to his room that day and redeveloped into a new type of stove.
Arnold was still reeling in his own excitement. "Young Lord, how is it possible that this stove was changed greatly? Perhaps, this is a new technology? Is this currently the new trend for cooking stoves? What an amazing discovery!"
Leon is shy with all the praise that Arnold was giving him. "Actually, Arnold. This technology is currently unknown. Only the Oliver Manor has this piece of technology for now."
Arnold is even more shocked by this revelation. "What?! This piece of technology is even developed in the North?! Only the Oliver family have this technology available?! Young Lord, is it possible to get more of these?"
Leon thought for a while. Arnold is lady Issa's father. He has a dedicated attitude and is earnest in his work. Perhaps it would help him more if I gave him a new one.
"Arnold, actually.... I think I can do something with your request but you need to provide the stove to use." Leon told Arnold.
Arnold is puzzled by Leon's words. It seems to imply that Leon knows the person behind the piece of technology and he can even ask favors from the person.
Arnold immediately agreed to Leon's request. "No problem Young Lord. For this piece of technology, I could live well for a hundred years as long as I have one by my side. By the way, is it possible that you know the inventor of this stove well Young Lord?"
Leon is startled by Arnold's quick mind. An enthusiast is definitely someone to be feared. Arnold's passion for cooking can be attributed to it but he has a sharp wit to go with it.
Leon thought within himself. 'Grandpa still does not wish to publicize any technology I develop. The North is not ready for them yet. I should be careful.'
Leon decided that keeping the details secret is the best for now. "Ahahaha! Surely you jest Arnold. It is just that the man who created this owes me a favor so I can ask him for some help with this issue. You should be very thankful, that man is quite eccentric, he doesn't take favors kindly, except for me of course!"
Leon decided to create an anonymous person with a fake personality to cover up his story.
Leon was about to continue with his cover up story when there was a sudden commotion outside. "Bandit attack! Bandit attack! Get into position men! Ready for the defense!"
There was suddenly a lot of crying and screaming outside the Manor. Leon went out from the back door of the kitchen to inspect the surroundings.
As Leon takes a peek, he saw a servant that was injured by an arrow on the leg was being chased by an armed bandit. Leon quickly activates [Shell Inspection] and [Shell Utilization].
Leon decided to go with Strength Enhancement and Speed Boost as he is still not well versed with long ranged Shell techniques.
Leon immediately arrives in front of the bandit and punches him on the stomach. "You villain, take this! Ha!"
"Kwuoo!" The blow sends the bandit flying towards the bushes.
Leon has become stronger throughout his 1 week training with Uncle Dylas. He is now capable with some basic strikes using his fists and a sword.
Leon pursued the target but when he reached the bandit, he saw that he was foaming in the mouth and is twitching intermittently. The blow must have caused a lot of damage internally.
'I have finally become a little bit stronger.' Leon thought internally as he clenched his fists. He remembered that there was still an injured servant.
Leon dashes forth towards the servant and saw that he was hiding behind one of the boxes. "Hey, are you alright?"
The servant responds to Leon. "Young Lord, thank you very much for saving me! I am alright. You need to go back inside Young Lord! The bandits have infiltrated the town. There is chaos everywhere!"
Leon is concerned by the servant's words. He comes closer to verify the truth. "Is that true? Did you see how many of them came?"
The servant is shivering as the arrow is lodged on his leg near the knees, but he musters the strength to answer. "Young Lord, I did not see well as it was dark but I counted at least a group of 50 or more bandits must have come."
'50 bandits. There are less than I thought.' Leon is confused as to why the bandits would even come near the Oliver manor that is heavily guarded by warriors.
Leon decided not to head to town for now and bring the servant for treatment. "Come, let's get you treated and cleaned up."
"Thank you Young lord. You saved this man's life. I will never forget this favor that you gave me tonight until the day I die!" The servant told Leon.
Leon is touched by the man's loyalty but there are more pressing issues to tackle. "Yeah, never mind that favor. We need to get you to a doctor quickly."
Leon called a maid for help. "Is there anyone?! Maid! Maid! Come out, a man needs some help over here!"
A scared pair of maids slowly peeked from inside the kitchen and saw Leon helping the injured servant. They immediately went out to take over and bring the man inside the manor.
Leon had another look towards the town. He can hear sounds of battle and cries for help.
The chaotic night have just begun.