Seeing they were trapped, one of the two standing men stretched his hands toward Leon. A gigantic fireball materialized—a sphere of roaring flame so massive that Leon had to cast a reinforced barrier to prevent the back-draft from hurting the children. The flame possessed enough potency to level the entire village.
He launched the inferno toward Leon, but as the fireball reached the hooded man, it suddenly shrank into a tiny spark and disappeared, leaving the attackers paralyzed with shock.
Draken launched a surprise attack from behind. In a single, fluid motion, he smashed both of their heads into the stone ground, knocking them out instantly.
"Nice one, Draken. Quick thinking," Leon said, praising his companion's efficiency.
"I am honored, My Lord," Draken replied with a deep bow.
The three bandits were bound, and Leon alerted the Village Chief. Soon, the entire village gathered within the stone hut, having been informed that their tormentors had finally been caught. The villagers praised Leon's prowess, and some brought offerings; the problem that had threatened their lives for so long had finally been resolved.
The Chief eventually gathered the courage to ask the question that bothered him. "Forgive my curiosity, but what kind of skill user are you? You've used high-speed healing, earth manipulation, and the children said you stopped that fire attack. What is your true skill?"
"Oh... Uh..." Leon started, but he was suddenly interrupted by one of the bandits waking up. It was the third man—the one who hadn't even had the chance to show his skill before Draken silenced him.
"Oh, you're awake," Leon said instead, relieved to have successfully dodged the Chief's question.
He walked over to the bandit and spoke coldly. "There is no time for long talk. Who sent you? What do you need the children for, and where are the others?"
"And why would I tell you that?" the bandit spat, bursting into a mocking laughter. "You're not finding them. You'd have to kill us first."
Leon laughed back, a chilling sound that made the bandit pause. "What makes you think I need you to speak?"
Leon reached out and touched the man's forehead. With that single contact, he scanned through the bandit's neural pathways, filtering every memory until he had the information he needed.
"Interesting," Leon said confidently. "So, you don't know the actual whereabouts of the children, nor do you know the location of the main hideout. You just kidnap them and sell them to another group."
"But... but how? How did you know that?" the bandit gasped in horror.
"Oh, I scanned your mind and filtered your thoughts," Leon said with a calm smile. "I also know you were supposed to meet your buyers soon at the nearby waterfall."
"You... you can read minds?" the bandit panicked.
The villagers, too, stared at Leon with a new kind of intensity. Leon wondered why they looked so terrified; compared to the other skills in his arsenal, reading a mind seemed minor. However, the Chief took several steps back, his face pale with dread.
"Mind control users... they shouldn't exist," the Chief whispered in fear. "They never did."
Throughout history, no one had ever possessed the ability to read or control minds. It wasn't a myth or a forbidden art; it simply did not exist. There was no way around it—Leon had said too much. No lie could save him from the villagers' terrified gaze, so his only option was to go rescue the missing children immediately.
"Hmm... I'll go find the kids. Bye!" Leon said as he disappeared. Draken had transformed back into his small form before the Chief was alerted, and Leon teleported away with him. The villagers panicked, some muttering from the crowd, "He can teleport, too!"
Leon appeared near the waterfall. The buyers were already waiting; he could see them from afar, and they even had a chariot with them. Leon paused; they needed a plan if they were going to bring the entire operation down. Suddenly, a crazy idea entered his head. He shapeshifted into one of the bandits. "We're going to play their game," he whispered.
Draken transformed into his humanoid form, and with a wave of his hand, Leon changed Draken into a male child. He created a chain to bind him. "I'll be selling you off, and when you get to their base, call out to me telepathically and I will be there. It's the only way to stop all of it and save the kids," Leon added.
Draken didn't object—after all, it was the perfect plan. Leon walked out with the now-transformed Draken on his shoulders, the "child's" mouth sealed.
"You finally returned. What took you so long, and where are your men?" a man with a fully covered face asked.
"Oh, they got caught in a fight, but I escaped. You shouldn't worry, though; they'll be out soon. After all, the villagers are weak," Leon responded. "We didn't want to keep you waiting, so I went ahead without them."
"Don't bore me with the details. Here you go." The man handed a stack of gold to Leon. "That's fifty gold coins for the child. We hope you can get us more next time."
"Sure, we'll do better next time," Leon replied as he turned around and left. They dropped Draken, who was playing the part of an unconscious child, inside the chariot and departed.
They soon arrived at a cave that led underground. The doorway was so carefully crafted that it looked hidden in plain sight. They parked outside the cave and took Draken inside. They entered the lowest part of the cave, dropped him in a dungeon, and left. Draken signaled Leon, who teleported inside the cell instantly.
"Wow, they keep you in a cage... Anyways," Leon said as he changed Draken back. Draken transformed into the little monster and hopped on Leon's shoulder as Leon teleported them out of the cell.
They began their search for the missing children and soon found a gigantic door. "Hmm... I'm certain all their dark secrets are in here, since it's so heavily sealed. Should we check it out, or should we continue our search for the children?" Leon asked.
"Since we're already here, let's take a look, My Lord," Draken replied.
"Alright... let's see what those monsters are hiding," Leon said. He walked right through the door like a ghost, taking Draken inside with him. But the scene left them in total dismay.
"The... the missing children... they're all here. But what... what is this?" Leon asked, bewildered by the sight of the horrors in front of him.
"They're monsters... or humans... or... or both," Draken replied.
"They are hybrids," Leon muttered, his anger beginning to stir slowly. "Human-monster hybrids."