"Boss! Are you alright? I just heard when I returned that the phoenix of Kaen Sect had come!"
Leon ran into the mansion screaming in a panicked voice as he darted for the mansion's living room to find Duan Cai sitting peacefully in his air as usual while sipping on a cold cup of tea. It looked so calm that it would be hard to notice Duan Cai had even been attacked at all. No matter how many times people tried to assassinate Duan Cai he had never once been hurt so it was not something shocking to Leon at this point. The only shocking this was the fact that Duan Cai had the tendency to act as if nothing happened at all.
Does he even comprehend fear at all? If he slips up and makes a mistake one day.. Leon sighed to himself as he covered his face with his palm. He felt overwhelmed from exhaustion just thinking about the whole concept.
"La Mia Stella, silence is a beautiful thing. Please, do not ruin that for me. I already got rid of one annoying pest today.." Duan Cai slowly picked up a colored candy from the coffee table and popped it into his mouth. The sweet flavor was something he was starting to grow fond of when it came to mortal edibles.
"I should have been here! Forgive me, sir!" Leon bowed slightly to apologize. If he had been aware of Juniper directly coming to their territory he would have never left the mansion today and taken care of the situation himself regardless of if he had to risk his own life in doing so.
"That is exactly why I had you remove yourself today." Duan Cai smiled while holding his tea cup to his lips. His eyes were shut as if he was thinking about something.
"Sir? If you knew he was going to come directly here why would you send me away?!" Leon grit his teeth.
"Because I know how reckless you are and with your level currently there is no reason for you to be. I can take care of myself, but if I have to baby sit you while doing so.."
"Sir?" Leon felt like he was being called weak. He thought he was a great fighter and he had been in many fights in the past. It was a fact that Leon had grown up as part of the underworld of society and had been a boss of his own men back before he met Duan Cai, but he was looking down on Leon's ability was what it sounded like to Leon. He clenched his fist as he bit back the urge to punch Duan Cai at that moment after hearing such a thing.
Duan Cai could see how hurt Leon looked from the words he had just said to him. At the moment he could not help but to wonder if he had been a bit too harsh on the mortal. He knew well how hard Leon worked to please him even though Duan Cai enjoyed teasing the man very highly. It was a highlight in his daily life to watch Leon's many expressions. There was a limit to mortals though so he knew he had to tread carefully or he could cause one of his most important pawns to fall by mistake. Leon was too valuable to Duan Cai to loose.
"I know well what you are capable of, Leon. You are not a.. weak.. man. But your limits are still far easier to be breached than mine and I will not allow you into a situation where I could potentially loose you. If you want to stay by my side in the future if fights occur than I suggest you work on raising your cultivation talent quicker. I do not need weak talents around me."
The words might have sounded harsh, but they also gave off a sense that sounded to Leon as though his boss cared about his life and was worried. It was something that sparked something in Leon. A boss that cared about his subordinates life before his own? It was not something that was easily found in the underworld and was something that Leon could respect. If Duan Cai was willing to care about his life it just gave him all the more reason to feel like he should care about Duan Cai's as well.
That should be enough to calm the mind of this mortal.. Duan Cai thought to himself as he sat his tea down and began to leave the room. There was no further words from Leon about what had happened while he was out. Not a simple hint of frustration or retort that he should allow Leon to fight more during times that required a fight to happen and that surprised Duan Cai. If that was all it took to get the man to be quiet he felt like he could have just said something like that sooner to make him calm his nerves.
It was not as simple as Duan Cai imagined though. The words of encouragement to get stronger or Duan Cai would always force Leon to stay out of his fights and fight alone only fueled a fire in Leon to get stronger. His desire to fight for the sake of his boss had been fed a fuel that would burn stronger over time as if a beast of war had just been awoken inside of him. If Duan Cai wanted him to be a weapon worthy of being wielded in battle than he desired to become the best damn weapon Duan Cai had at his side.
Blood, sweat, tears, or wounds did not matter to Leon after that moment. He would tolerate it all to force himself forward for the sake of Duan Cai. There was no way he would allow himself to always be pushed to the side in the future. Even if a god himself came down to destroy Duan Cai it only meant to Leon that he should push himself to the brink and destroy that god. Leon was not willing to be looked down upon and disappoint Duan Cai in the future.
"I must get stronger." Leon muttered to himself as he made a fist with both of his hands and released his fiery aura slowly to look over his own aura with determination. Hints of sparks shot from his aura that carried a hint of gold to them. It was a beautiful mix of gold and red that could easily become admired by onlookers if they saw it, but it was something that had always embarrassed Leon and even earned him the nickname sparky from Duan Cai that he hated with a passion. He was the ember mage of the underworld society and his boss thought of him as sparky like a dog. It was embarrassing and pissed him off every time he heard that name called.