Hiding himself from the direction the sound echoed from, Leon leaped over debris until he reached a ledge.
Peering over the ledge, a startled cry caught him.
In the direction the cry came from, he looked and saw Zoe, cornered against a rock by two wolf-like monsters with obsidian fur and eyes that glowed like molten slag.
Between her and the monsters, a pink light flickered, but with each impact from the monsters' claws, Leon saw the light splintering at the edges like stressed glass.
Every instinct screamed at Leon to run, but the terror he saw in her eyes was real, raw, and desperate. Not like the performative fear of Vera.
'What should I do?' he thought, seeing the expression on Zoe's face turn to that of someone about to be unmade while the light fractured continuously.
Thoughts of his father, the painter who helped others despite the mistreatment, surged in his mind.
Leon moved as the thoughts vanished from his mind, scanning the ruins for a weapon as he closed the distance.
Finding nothing, the memory of the golden sword flashed in his mind so immensely that he stared at his empty hands.
'How do I even make it appear?' he said low in his mind, feeling he had no idea how to call it forth.
Pain clawed at Leon so hard he began to feel as if he was the one being overshadowed by the monsters.
Gritting his teeth, he did the only thing he could think of: tapping into the well of fury—Tiger and his thugs, the ability thief, and these very monsters—and tried to push it out through his hands.
No light emitted from him but a static buzz that sounded like screaming into a locked vault hummed under his skin.
With a raw shout of frustration, Leon abandoned the attempt and simply charged forward.
He slammed his body into the lead monster's flank, throwing it stumbling aside. The creatures snarled, recoiling in surprise.
For a heartbeat, Leon thought it had worked.
Then the wolf lunged, its claws piercing through the ground like a freshly crafted sword. Leon barely blocked the claw.
The impact rattled through his bones and tore through his skin like forcing a three-foot sword into his flesh.
Blood sprayed from him, splashing onto the crimson earth.
The second monster's nose snarled as it circled Leon with a growl like a grinding sheet of turbine.
Even as blood poured from him, Leon stumbled forward. The pain was so profound his legs trembled with every step.
The circling monster surged. Zoe's barrier flared in a desperate blast, scattering sparks. And in that moment of distraction, the lead monster surged toward the now-unshielded Zoe.
It hooked a claw under her arm, lifting her, its jagged teeth aiming for her throat.
"Help!" Her voice echoed in a dying whisper that snapped through Leon's skull.
He surged forward again, forgetting his own wounds. Raw and uncontrolled light burst behind his eyes as he crashed his shoulder into the monster, making it loosen its grip.
Leon's collarbone cracked with the impact. But before he could breathe, the smaller wolf-monster slammed him to the ground.
Hot and absolute pain surged through him. Leon struggled, but the monster's claws only sank deeper into his shoulder, moving through his skin like they did in the ground.
Leon threw a clenched fist at the monster as he struggled to free himself. Then, thinking he'd won as the monster pulled its claw back, the sharp teeth sank into his neck, tearing Leon's flesh.
'Know who you are!' a thought—not his, but his father's voice—vaporized in his mind.
Sound died as Leon's vision blurred into a red haze, continuously darkening.
As he lay bleeding out, the world narrowing to a tunnel, a cold clarity washed over him. This was it… the frail vessel the hooded man had mentioned.
And in that breaking moment, the lock of the vault in him gave way. It wasn't a surge of anger or a conscious call. It was a surrender.
Leon stopped fighting the pain, the fear, and the concept of dying.
And in the hollow space that opened in his darkened vision, the gold light rushed in.
He didn't feel his skin tear; he felt it reweave, the golden light not just snaking over his wounds but sealing them from the inside out with threads of molten energy.
The pain didn't vanish; it was transmuted into a fierce, humming warmth, and in that instant, the monsters' growls returned to his ears, sharp and clear.
When his vision cleared, he saw Zoe kneeling defenseless, the monsters turning back to her slowly.
The sight sent a clean jolt through him, causing his bones to reconstruct themselves.
He rose, knuckles already clenched sharply.
"Hey!" His voice echoed like a thunderclap that shook not only himself but the entire land he stood on.
The monsters turned.
"Come and get me!" He crouched down, grabbed a stone, and hurled it. It struck the ground beside the lead monster, and they charged at him with deadly speed.
Leon swallowed and steadied his stance, the golden light now a steady glow beneath his skin and eyes.
The world seemed to slow as he moved. The smaller wolf monster leaped. Leon blocked, not a desperate parry but a precise deflection.
The bigger wolf monster's claw smashed into his face, tracing a line over his right eye. The impact was like a thunderclap in his skull, but his head didn't snap back.
Leon's neck muscles, thrumming with gold, held firm. He felt the force dissipate across his skin, which shimmered for a microsecond.
Touching his half-face, it was unbroken.
Blood plugged from his mouth, but he wiped it away and grinned, not in joy, but in dawning understanding that spread across his face.
At that moment he realized he wasn't just healing. He was becoming the resilient.
This time, Leon attacked. He dashed forward and struck the smaller monster with a clenched fist. The impact made black ichor seep from its temple, but Leon didn't stop. He struck again and again.
Before the third strike landed, the bigger wolf monster rammed him, sending him skidding back.
As he steadied himself, the spiraling dust clanging on him like an outfit, he saw Zoe rise.
This Zoe was different. It wasn't the silent Zoe he knew in the academy, nor was she the one he was saving. The terror was gone, replaced by a terrifying, placid calm.
Her eyes, when they flickered to his, held not gratitude but a recognition that seemed to scream in his mind.
As she moved, the air around her intensified, scorching with pure will.
While Leon charged toward the smaller monster, Zoe became a blur. She met the bigger one head-on. And with a single concussive strike, the monster dropped, lifeless.
After that strike, Zoe didn't pause. She surged toward the monster Leon had been pounding, leaped into the air, and then with a single airstrike, the monster's growl died.
The monster carted through the air and crashed into the rock face with a final, sickening crunch.
Silence fell, broken only by Leon's ragged breathing and the fading hum of energy in his veins, and the sweat dripping from him and landing on the ground.
He tilted his gaze from the lifeless monsters to Zoe, then blinked. Yet she stood amidst the settling dust, her gaze now analytical, almost assessing him as Feng had.
The helpless student he thought of was gone. And in her place was someone not filled with terror or fear… someone formidable.
She looked at his golden-lit arms, now fading to a soft ember-glow, and gave a single, slow nod.
It wasn't a sign of thanks but an acknowledgement that had only one meaning: I see what you are.