Timeless Assassin

(Dream World, Leo's POV)

"Five more minutes to go, boy," the Timeless Assassin said, his gray eyes narrowing as his smile softened with both finality and weight.

"You can ask me one more question, so make it count."

He said, as Leo's throat tightened, but he wasted no time.

"I'm about to ascend to the Transcendent Tier soon. According to you… what should I focus on once I get there?"

Leo asked, as the Timeless Assassin rubbed his chin in thought, his expression far more serious now than at any point during their talk, as though considering not just what to say, but also what not to say.

As after a long silence, he finally nodded.

"At the Transcendent Tier you are no longer a mere mortal, yet you are not truly on your way to becoming a God either.

It is the bridge tier, the foundation upon which Monarchs and Demi-Gods are built, and while you may feel tempted to race ahead, you must remember that a weak foundation dooms the structure above it."

He leaned closer, his voice steady as stone. "So, I would say focus at the Transcendent Tier you should focus on three main things."

He raised one finger.

"First, push your physical and mental limits to their absolute peak. Most warriors rush their promotion, believing speed of ascension equals strength, but the truth is that those who hollow themselves out along the way, often crumble when the weight of higher realms falls upon them.

At Transcendent, I would say you should test yourself. Strain every circuit, every nerve, every thread of your soul until it sings with pain and growth.

If you wish to stand at the pinnacle, you cannot afford to leave any part of yourself unsharpened."

He said, before raising a second finger.

"Second, seek versatility over flash. Learn skills that grant you function, adaptability, and unpredictability in battle, and avoid the temptation of techniques that only serve one narrow purpose, for at the higher tiers, such skills fulfill no real purpose.

Beyond the Monarch tier, all battles will be fought not with named techniques, but with laws themselves.

Laws of flame, laws of gravity, laws of time. Moves will lose their meaning. The only skills that will matter are those that mold seamlessly into your style, amplifying your natural rhythm rather than boxing you into a rigid script.

So when building your foundation, only learn skills that compliment you and give you more versatility and not moves that you have to actively set up to use during battle."

Finally, he raised a third finger, his expression softening, his words carrying the weight of a gift rather than simple advice.

"And third… the most important. When you wake, go to Soron. Ask him for the meditation manual called the [Emperor's Suppression Manual].

Pursue it as your core, since you have already mastered the basic stages of aura.

With this, you will not only sense the aura that surrounds others, but will also gain the ability to manipulate it.

If mastered, you will be able to crush the hearts of armies without lifting your blade and silence the courage of Monarchs before they can even swing.

Learning it will be difficult, unbearably so, but that is the difference between an average warrior and an exceptional one: control.

If you can master aura, you can dictate the flow of battle before it begins, so at the Transcendent Stage, I'd say that's the ideal outcome."

Leo's heart raced, every word etched into him like scripture, as he committed it all to memory.

"You're a talented boy. You remind me of my sons, Kaelith and Soron, when they were still young and brimming with hunger."

He said before reaching out, as he ruffled Leo's hair as though he were no more than a mischievous child.

"If I were still alive, I would take you under my wing and shape you myself. But I am not. So instead, I leave you these fragments of my wisdom in hopes that you will treasure them, and use it to avoid some pitfalls on your road to become the strongest."

The dreamscape around them began to shiver as the Timeless Assassin said those words, their time together unfortunately coming to an end.

"When you wake up…" the Timeless Assassin's voice lingered like an echo, soft yet resounding in Leo's bones, "tell Soron… tell my boy that his father is proud of him, and that I am waiting for the day he tells me the story of his life with his own lips."

He said, as the dream crumbled entirely, the green fields and the blue skies dissolving into a rush of white, as Leo's eyes snapped open once more inside Soron's treasure room.

"What happened? Did he talk to you?" Charles asked eagerly, as soon as he woke up, as though ready to shake the answer out of him if Leo delayed the response for even a heartbeat.

*Sigh*

Leo let out a long, steady exhale, his chest rising and falling as though the dream still lingered in his lungs, before finally giving a small nod.

"Yeah," he admitted quietly, his tone carrying both awe and exhaustion.

"He did talk to me. He taught me some invaluable lessons… things I'll carry with me forever. And right before he sent me away, he also gave me a message for Soron."

He turned, his gaze settling on the God before him, his eyes steady, his voice firm as he repeated the final words.

"He said… tell Soron that his father is proud of him, and that he's waiting for the day you tell him the story of your life yourself."

The words seemed to echo in the treasure room, as Soron froze where he stood, his frail fingers trembling around the edge of his robe, his pale lips parting but no sound escaping.

Charles's eyes widened, darting between Leo and Soron, the hardened commander suddenly stripped of his composure, as silence fell—heavy, reverent, and unbroken.

For the first time in centuries, Soron lowered his head, a faint shiver passing through him as though the weight of two thousand years had just grown both lighter and heavier for him at once.