Outsiders in Jellyfish Town

Three days later.

【Walking Meditation Lv1 (89/100) → Walking Meditation Lv1 (91/100)】

Leon slowly opened his eyes and exited his meditative state, the flowing light on the panel flashing by.

"91 experience points. Almost there..."

After three days of immersive cultivation, supplemented by the assistance of those Gramophone Golems, his meditation experience had soared, finally approaching the threshold of Lv2.

With just another day or two of cultivation, he would basically be able to level up Walking Meditation and acquire a new trait.

Leon let out a breath and looked at the Gramophone Golems that had once again scattered throughout the ruins.

Just as Leon had expected, these Gramophone Golems were programmed not to leave the ruins.

Over the past few days, although they often lingered near the main entrance, they had never stepped outside.

From the looks of it, there was no need to worry about them breaking out and causing chaos in Jellyfish Town.

Leon stood up and walked toward the corridor.

Suddenly, within the vision of his Radiance Perception, a figure rapidly approached him before revealing its form.

It was the Imperial Shadow Agent ordered to protect him, Doncic Davenport.

"Young Master Leon, there is a situation here that requires your attention."

Doncic got straight to the point, wasting no words.

"A situation?" Leon asked.

"Yes," Doncic said. "Just last night, a group of outsiders dressed in black robes arrived in Jellyfish Town, acting very suspiciously."

"As soon as they entered the town, they went into hiding and secretly rented a small attic near Zachary Manor."

"That attic has an excellent field of vision, allowing them to monitor the manor."

"I suspect they have learned of your presence here, Young Master Leon, and their goal is to assassinate you."

Assassination?

Another assassination attempt from the Nightmare Empire?

Leon's brow furrowed at first, but it soon smoothed out.

While dealing with the Nightmare Empire's assassins was indeed a bit of a nuisance, on second thought, these assassins were essentially walking experience packs.

If experience packs were delivering themselves to his door, there was nothing wrong with taking a little trouble to sign for them.

Leon looked up at Doncic. "Thank you for the warning, sir."

"It's nothing," Doncic said with a wave of his hand, sounding indifferent.

Initially, the instructions Doncic received were to protect Leon in secret without being noticed.

This was because His Majesty the Sage King did not want Leon to feel he had a crutch, which might lead to laxity or carelessness under the protection of a Diamond-rank thief.

The King's intent was for Doncic to act as a safety net, leaving everything to Leon to solve himself unless it was a matter of life and death, thereby tempering Leon's abilities.

However, after being detected by Leon's perception a few days ago, Doncic had moved from the shadows to the light.

His Majesty the Sage King had sent new orders. Doncic had thought the King would reassign him, but that wasn't the case.

The King's meaning was that since he had already moved into the open, he should remain there and stay by Leon's side.

Doncic speculated that it was likely because the abilities Leon had displayed already exceeded the King's expectations, so the King felt he no longer needed that specific kind of tempering.

After all, whether it was the crusade against the Mad Shark King, the execution of the traitorous nobles, or the discovery of his Diamond-rank self...

All of it indicated that Leon's capabilities and strength completely surpassed those of an ordinary Silver-rank priest.

At this moment, the reason Doncic warned Leon about the ill intentions of others was also that the talent and strength Leon had shown made him worth an early investment.

If one didn't invest in such a peerless genius now, then when?

Most importantly, besides having immense talent, Leon was frighteningly hardworking.

Over these three days, aside from basic activities to maintain his vital signs, Leon had been sitting in quiet cultivation the entire time.

Not only was he cultivating, but he also frequently entered the ruins to call back the scattered Gramophone Golems, putting pressure on himself.

It was like some kind of stress testing; he continued to cultivate with undivided attention amidst the pressure and mental shocks of the Gramophone Golems.

This youth was truly ruthless toward himself!

To have both talent and a freakish level of focused effort, while being so hard on himself...

In the future, Leon would surely become a great figure!

"Young Master Leon, do you need me to lead you to those assassins so we can strike first?" Doncic asked.

Leon pondered for a moment. He was feeling a bit lightheaded from his meditation practice, so going out to kill a few people for a change of pace was a good idea.

He turned to look at Alicia and nodded toward her.

Alicia understood his meaning. Her body melted like a swamp and seeped into Leon's shadow.

Then, Leon gave a slight nod and said, "I'll leave it to you, Mr. Doncic."

Doncic glanced at Leon's shadow twice, his heart chilling slightly.

"Not just Leon, even this girl guarding him is quite extraordinary. Such thief techniques... even I don't know them..."

Withdrawing his thoughts, Doncic bowed his head and said, "Then please follow me, Young Master Leon."

With that, Doncic's figure vanished from Leon's sight, entering a state of concealment.

Through Radiance Perception, Leon kept a lock on Doncic's position at all times.

Mental power flowed through his scepter as he cast 【Light Dust Flicker】, quickly following behind Doncic.

"Speaking of which, I'm still missing a divine art for concealing my form..."

Walking through the alleys of Jellyfish Town, Doncic could turn invisible, and Alicia could hide in his shadow.

Only he was left out in the open.

Leon felt that as a priest, he naturally had to be an all-rounder, proficient in everything.

"If I don't know a divine art, I'll just learn one. No big deal."

Thinking this, he pulled out a red fairy tale book from within the folds of his priest's robes.

Flipping through the book, he found a divine art recorded within called 【Refraction Distortion】.

This divine art was a modified version of the magic 【Refraction Warp】, created by a powerfully talented priest.

Its effect was to conceal one's form by bending and distorting light.

【Gaining insight into Divine Art: Refraction Distortion】

【Insight successful】

【Refraction Distortion +0】

【None → Refraction Distortion Lv0 (0/1)】

Several streams of light flashed across the panel, and Leon instantly mastered the divine art.

In addition to 【Refraction Distortion】, Leon found another divine art called 【Simulated Aura】.

The effect of this divine art was to simulate one's own aura to match the surroundings, blending in so as not to be detected by enemies.

Casting these two divine arts, Leon's figure and aura quickly vanished and became hidden, merging as one with his surroundings.

"Fixing what's missing—the ancients truly did not deceive me."

Leon nodded with satisfaction and resumed following Doncic's pace.

Sensing the change in the aura behind him, Doncic's eyelids couldn't help but twitch. "How bloody extravagant!"

To cast divine arts from the Red Fairy Tale before even encountering an enemy... this was too much...

The group of three traveled through several alleys in Jellyfish Town and circled around to the front of a small attic's door.

"Young Master Leon, the outsiders monitoring Zachary Manor are inside!" Doncic said.

Leon nodded slightly upon hearing this and slipped into the attic with Doncic.

According to Doncic, these outsiders were monitoring Zachary Manor, possibly to find an opportunity to assassinate him.

But Leon didn't want a "possibility." He wanted specific intelligence to ascertain the purpose of these outsiders.

Only then would he decide whether to kill them immediately or have a little chat before doing so.