"Don't tell me that!" Claire flared up, her aura radiating a silver heat that scorched the nearby leaves. "You think you could humiliate me and just get away?"
"If I wanted to leave right now, I could," Leon replied calmly, his voice steady despite the mounting pressure. "And you wouldn't be able to find me."
Suddenly, a massive barrier dome slammed into existence, trapping both of them inside. Claire had manipulated the very atoms of the surrounding air and earth to forge a reinforced structure from nothing.
"Like I said," Claire countered, her eyes glowing with resolve, "you won't get away from me this time."
She was poised for a world-shattering battle, but Leon had no interest in fighting his sister. He offered a gentle smile from beneath his hood and spoke softly. "Maybe in the future, we will have the battle you desire. But today is not that day. See you around... stranger."
In a flicker of white light, he teleported away instantly. Claire, realizing that even her absolute matter-barrier couldn't hold him, fell to her knees. She stared at the empty space where he had stood and muttered in bitter disappointment, "Once again, he has bested me."
Deep in the woods, Leon slowed his pace. He could still sense his sister's presence—a turbulent, angry flame in the distance. He wasn't ready to reveal himself; he believed he still had much to learn about the "Writer's" path. Until his training was complete, facing his family felt like an impossible task.
"Young Lord, you cannot run from her forever," Yudris said, manifesting silently behind him. "She will only continue to blame herself if you keep vanishing like a ghost."
"I know," Leon replied, staring at his hands. "But if I indulge her in a battle and she loses, it would hurt her pride even more."
"Maybe. Or maybe it won't," Yudris replied, her tone maternal yet firm. "If you defeat her, she will believe she wasn't good enough and train even harder to grow stronger. But if you keep avoiding her, she will blame herself for her incompetence and lose all confidence. I believe it is best that you give in to her challenge once in a while."
Leon grew quiet, weighing her words against the memory of Claire's frustrated face. "Fair point, Yudris. I'll take her seriously next time. But for now... let's call it a day."
With a snap of his fingers, he brought a literal hut into existence from the ether. He stepped inside, retiring for the night to the quiet sounds of the forest.
The next morning, Leon walked to a nearby stream to bathe. Since arriving in the Silver Kingdom, this had become his sanctuary. The water was crystalline, the grass was a vibrant, healthy green, and the melodic chorus of the early morning birds provided a rare delight. It was a brief moment of normalcy for a man who had spent his life as a god-like anomaly.
While Leon bathed in the cool waters of the sanctuary, Draken wandered off. The Dragon King, now bound in service, went hunting for their early morning meal. He soon spotted a wild boar—the perfect breakfast for his master—but his current small form was ill-suited for the hunt. Shifting into his towering humanoid form, he snapped the boar's neck in a single, fluid motion.
His speed and reflexes were impeccable. Draken slung the carcass over his shoulders, but as he turned to head back, he stumbled upon Ron and Prince Lloyd. The two Emerald Kingdom elites had ventured into the woods for a quick view of the infamous stream before their departure.
"It's a... it's a dragon!" Ron stammered, her eyes wide.
"It looks humanoid," Lloyd added, his voice tight with tension.
Ron acted instantly, weaving a barrier around them while long, jagged tree spines erupted from the earth to pin the dragonoid in place. "Don't move!" she screamed, though her curiosity was piqued. "What... what are you?"
Draken remained calm, remembering Leon's strict command to avoid combat with humans. "My apologies, but I cannot engage in any form of combat now. Do excuse me," Draken replied, effortlessly ripping the wooden restraints from his skin like they were mere threads.
In a blink, he prepared to leave. He hoisted the boar and moved at lightspeed, but as he attempted to break through the barrier, the world turned gray. Time froze.
"And where do you think you're going?" Lloyd asked, his voice echoing in the stillness. He turned slowly, walking toward the dragon. "You didn't answer the question." He reached out, intending to pull the creature deeper into the stasis of his frozen time, but to his horror, Draken simply stepped back.
"You are a Primordial Skill user; Time Manipulation is your specialty," Draken noted, turning to face him. "But I promised my Master I would avoid confrontation. Perhaps another time."
Lloyd stumbled back, paralyzed by terror. Not only was this monster faster than his natural perception, but it was also immune to the absolute authority of a Primordial Skill. "What... what are you?" Lloyd gasped.
"That should be the least of your worries," Draken said, walking away. The frozen time shattered. Ron, who had perceived nothing of the exchange, was stunned to see the dragonoid suddenly far behind her and Lloyd on the ground in a state of panic.
Ron unleashed her own Primordial power: Life Creation. She instantly manifested a White Dragon—a feat that could rival a high S-Rank in power. The creature shrieked and lunged at Draken. Draken didn't even pause; he drew his obsidian claws and, in a flash of incomprehensible speed, decapitated the White Dragon in one move.
"It can't be... a White Dragon is comparable to an S-Rank, and he killed it in an instant," Ron muddled, shaking herself back to reality. With a wave of her hand, she commanded hundreds of nearby birds, insects, and forest monsters to swarm Draken.
But as the horde descended, a calm voice muttered: "Be gone."
Instantly, the swarm scattered, the creatures flying off in separate directions as if their very instincts had been rewritten. Ron stood in disbelief, and Lloyd remained on the ground, unable to comprehend how his Time Manipulation—supposedly unique to one user per era—had been bypassed.
Amidst the chaos, a man in white emerged from the trees, his face hidden beneath a hood.
"Draken, what are you doing?"
The Dragon King immediately dropped to one knee and bowed. "My Lord, I went hunting for a meal but encountered these two. They possess Primordial Skills and prevented me from leaving. My apologies for keeping you waiting."
The monster that had just deleted an S-Rank level threat had a master. Lloyd scrambled back toward Ron, his heart hammering. "Who is he?"
"I don't know," Ron replied, her eyes fixed on the hooded figure. "But whoever he is, he is no small fry."
Leon looked up at them. Beneath his hood, he recognized them instantly—it had been five years since he had seen his best friend, Ron, and his bitter rival, the Prince. But he was in no mood for a reunion with his past life.
"My apologies for the inconvenience. We shall take our leave," Leon said, turning his back to them.
"Wait!" Ron shouted, her voice trembling with a mix of fear and wonder. "Who... who are you? And what is that thing?"