The problem with the ancient grim however was that they were almost all hibernating or in locations that no one had been to. leon would have preferred ancient grim as an opponent since he would be able to go all out in an attempt to kill them but having another person on his level that he can't will work just fine. "i suggest you take the offer since you will also benefit from it as well." leon said to try and tempt winter into agreeing. she looked confused at that however "how do you mean?" she asked in confusion.
Leon grinned "you likely haven't actually fought an enemy on our level have you? see , much like whoever it was that i was fighting during that event you likely aren't aware of the differences between battles at our level and those between normal hunters." leon said with a wide grin. "there's a difference?" ironwood asked surprised. leon nodded "in a rather ironic twist , unlike normal hunter fights that are heavily reliant on precision and skill , fights at our level are almost entirely about pure unadulterated power. the reason for this is because of stamina and skill , to be specific how long you can last in battle and how well you understand your own power." he explained honestly.
"Not how precise you can use your power but rather how far can you push it. if battles at our level were fought at normal hunter levels the one who could last longer wins most of the time. as a result the most optimal way for people on our level to fight is to clash at full power head on to shorten the fight as much as possible." he finished explaining seriously. "is that why i feel so stifled when i use my powers?" winter muttered to herself after hearing what leon said.
Leon shrugged "dunno about that since your magic is from an outside source unlike my own but probably." he said casually. "so what do you say , want to go a few rounds? i can't promise i'll be gentle though." he said with a chuckle at the innuendo. winter gave him a glare at his words since she knew he said them intentionally. "fine then we can spar for a short while." she said eventually after seeing leon ignoring her glare entirely and just grinning away cheekily.
"Alright!" leon said excitedly. "now we just need to get to beacon lake in order to make sure we don't cause any problem for anybody." he said happily while heading for the door. "beacon lake?" winter asked confused. "the location of the previous beacon academy after i dropped a magical nuke on it. it's a big ass lake now , hence the name." leon said casually without stopping. when he stepped outside he whistled loudly drawing a few curious looks from the people of the city who were out and about until genesis showed up anyways at which point they all decided to mind their own business.
"ironwood can ride on genesis's back while you and i can just fly there or if you want to keep your powers secret still you could also ride on genesis's back." leon said before flapping his wing and taking off into the sky. the fact that winter didn't immediately follow him told him which option she chose which he could only shake his head at in disappointment. it only took a few minutes for leon and genesis to arrive at the huge black lake and another five just for winter and ironwood to stop gawking at the massive crater.
Once the spar actually began though leon demonstrated why she should stop holding back by skipping her across the entire lake like a stone. winter learned her lesson and went all out with her powers and rather interestingly her preferred element wasn't ice but rather lightning. this also made her a pain in the ass for leon to handle since using that element made her attacks ridiculously fast. the downside to lightning attacks became clear however when he covered himself in a cloud of hellflame to block her vision making her miss often.
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