Timeless Assassin

"Uhm… so, I have some good news, and some bad news, which do you want first?" Leo asked cautiously, as Soron and Charles simultaneously raised an eyebrow in expectation.

"I suppose it's better to start with the good news," Leo continued after swallowing hard, as he forced the words out with an uneasy gulp, "because maybe that will make the bad news a little easier to digest."

He inhaled slowly before dropping the revelation.

"I… have in my possession a slab of Origin Metal stolen from Zhanrok."

The words landed like a thunderclap, as both Soron and Charles shot upright in their seats, the wood scraping violently against the stone floor while their eyes widened in disbelief.

"You have WHAT?" Charles roared, as his hand shot out and clutched Leo by the collar, lifting him halfway out of his chair while his voice cracked with shock.

Leo looked aside, refusing to meet his eyes, as he repeated with a strained tone, "I have a slab of Origin Metal… not literally on me, but here in the Cult, and I can retrieve it anytime you want. I mean… in case you want it, Lord Soron."

Charles released him with a shove, his breath ragged with disbelief, while Soron dragged a trembling hand through his thinning hair, his lips curling into a frail yet grateful smile, as though silently thanking the heavens for granting him this moment.

*Burst*

In Soron's eyes, Leo became wreathed in a sudden bloom of golden aura, the brilliance flaring so sharply it felt almost divine.

And in that instant Soron understood with absolute clarity, that whether he chose to accept the slab of Origin Metal and endure the agony of trying to forge it….. Or whether he decided that his old body was not strong enough for such an adventure, and hence chose to pass on this opportunity, would determine how he spent the last few years of his life.

"I took the metal from Zhanrok's grave back when I was inside the Time-Stilled World," Leo admitted quickly, as if afraid Charles might throttle him again. "It was probably the most thrilling mission of my life, and the good news is… there were two slabs, one of which I still have."

His words faltered as his eyes flickered nervously between them. "But the bad news is… I gave the other to Dupravel, who in turn passed it on to the God Mauriss as part of some elaborate deal."

The admission struck heavier than the good news, as silence filled the room like smoke choking the air, until Charles's patience snapped once more.

"YOU GAVE A SLAB OF ORIGIN METAL TO MAURISS?" he shouted, his voice rough with fury, as he seized Leo by the collar again, dragging him forward until the table rattled beneath their weight.

"Like I said, it wasn't me directly," Leo protested quickly, raising his hands in surrender, "I gave it to someone, who gave it to someone else, and I didn't know any better at the time!"

Soron lifted a frail hand and placed it gently on Charles's shoulder, as his calm voice broke through the tension. "It's fine, Charles. The boy clearly didn't understand the weight of what he carried."

Charles huffed angrily as he released Leo again, his fists curling tight while he sank back into his seat, his chest rising and falling heavily with frustration.

"You're a well of secrets, boy," Charles muttered with bitter sarcasm, as his sharp gaze refused to leave Leo's face, "and every single day I learn something new about you."

Leo gave his most innocent smile in return, while the threads of golden intent still flickered faintly in the air, and yet the innocent expression on his lips fooled neither of them.

"Well, regardless…. I suppose this is a cause for celebration. It does not matter if the enemy holds the same capability as us, so long as we too possess one half of the metal.

So from that perspective, you have done well." Charles remarked, his words carrying a rare note of approval, as Leo let out a sigh of relief.

"I have dreamed of the day I would lay my hands on my father's Origin Blades, for with them in my grasp I could finally exact the revenge that has eluded me for two millennia…" Soron began, his tone soft yet steeped in melancholy.

"You have no idea how long and hard I searched for even the faintest trace of Origin Metal.

Two thousand years of endless effort, and all I was ever able to gather was a mere twenty grams—an amount so pitiful it could never hope to forge even the smallest of blades. And yet you, a mortal still climbing the rungs of power, managed to retrieve a full slab…"

He gave a hollow chuckle, shaking his head slowly.

"It is almost laughable how fate moves its pieces, though I suppose one might call it competence instead.

To rob Zhanrok's grave and to walk away with his most prized treasure, that surely would not have been an easy feat.

But if you could achieve that while still being mortal, then perhaps Charles is not wrong in his assessment of you.

If nurtured carefully enough, you may truly go far… farther than most can imagine."

With that, Soron lifted his cup and drained what remained of the tea, as for a brief moment his frail body seemed stirred by fresh vitality, his eyes sharpening as they locked onto Leo.

"You are suffering from 'Existential Overload', aren't you? And the only intent color beyond your reach… is Golden?"

Before Leo could respond, Soron's body flared in Leo's vision, enveloped by a thick golden aura that shimmered with the weight of fate itself.

"Well then, son… since you have rendered me such a great service, I shall grant you the chance to claim a reward unlike any other. My only question is… do you dare accept it?" Soron asked, as a golden thread of intent shot outward, bridging his chest to Leo's, as Leo's eyes widened in awe.

This was it—the final color he needed to perceive before completing his mastery over the [SevenFold Revelation Codex]. And now it lay right before him, within his grasp.

"Yes… yes, I dare," he replied, too swept away in the moment to even ask what the opportunity entailed, as Soron let out a slow, heavy exhale.

"I only hope he grants you a chance…" Soron murmured, his voice low with something almost like prayer, before rising to his feet and guiding Leo deeper into the castle.

As he opened doors inside his home, that hadn't been opened in dozens of centuries.