The Storm King

Chapter 380: Leon and Valeria

Leon stood in the center of his villa, not entirely sure how to proceed. Valeria was still in his guest room, but he could tell that she was awake; she was staring at the ceiling, eyes wide open, clearly thinking about something important. Given everything that had happened to her over the past few days, Leon couldn’t blame her for being a bit sleepless. She’d at least gotten some sleep for a couple of hours after their previous conversation, though.

But even though she was awake, Leon didn’t know how to approach her. She now knew that Adrianos Isynos had killed Artorias, even if Leon lied to her about the most damning details. He hadn’t intended to let even that much slip at the time, though, and he knew that he’d have to be very careful about bringing that topic back up, just in case she connected the dots and realized who he really was.

Still, it was an entertaining thing to think about. He wondered how she would react if she knew the truth. Elise claimed that Valeria liked him, but Leon doubted that that would have her choosing him over Justin. Assuming that was what he even wanted her to do.

With mounting frustration, Leon ran his hands through his hair, groaned, and made his way into the villa’s meditation chamber. He sat down and cast himself deep into his soul realm. It was time to train, but Leon knew that it wasn’t training that he needed right now.

Opening his eyes on his throne, Leon lightly jumped down and exited the lantern, finding Xaphan burning down below him. While working on his Mind Palace, Leon had decided to throw Xaphan a bone and converted his bare platform into a proper pavilion, first by changing the material of the platform from white stone into sparkling black granite polished almost to a mirror shine, then covered the whole platform surface with a dome supported by eight marble columns painted black on the bottom half and blood red on the top half.

Then, after expanding the area of the platform a bit to make more room for Xaphan, Leon depressed it down in the center, creating a pit where Xaphan could burn at his leisure. As a finishing touch, he placed a railing-baluster in between the columns—he didn’t think Xaphan was in any danger of falling from his pavilion, and Leon figured the demon wouldn’t have been injured even if he did, but it made for a pleasant aesthetic improvement with this finishing touch.

The demon was as satisfied as he could be with these measures, and he was at least a bit more comfortable than he had been. Leon didn’t know how demons usually decorated their own dwellings for comfort, and with Xaphan perpetually on fire, he had no ideas on that front, either. At the very least, Xaphan didn’t complain, so Leon considered it a job well done.

Flying down to the ‘fire pit’ that Xaphan now perpetually sat in within his pavilion, Leon sat down in a nearby chair and asked, “So, how’s it going, demon?”

Xaphan, lost in the midst of a healing meditation he entered into while Leon spoke with Elise, barely even acknowledged Leon’s presence for minutes. It was a long and awkward silence, but at this point, it was one that Leon was used to. He passed the time with gazing out over the halls of his Mind Palace that he’d constructed so far.

He’d mostly finished the outer layer of the top half of his Mind Palace, with halls encircling the lower portions of his mountain. A few smaller halls were closer to the top, and space had already been set aside for small forests and gardens. Of course, aside from murals and structural decorations, the halls themselves were mostly bare and unfurnished. Only a few of the rooms actually had any furniture in them, let alone anything of particular note.

It would take him a long time to give each of these halls purpose and to fill them according to that purpose. How long, he couldn’t say, but he knew that he had a lot of work ahead of him on that front.

On another note, his soul realm had grown to a diameter of almost two miles. He knew that the border for the seventh-tier was ten miles, so all else being equal, he would have about a fifth of the power reserves of the weakest of seventh-tier mages. That didn’t quite translate into direct magic power and battlefield prowess, but if he and the weakest of seventh-tier mages were to have a contest of pure magical endurance, the seventh-tier mage would beat him five times over.

Xaphan’s flames began to flicker and roil, and Leon allowed his attention to return to his demonic partner.

“Did… you say something, boy?” Xaphan growled with some irritation at the interruption.

“Just asking how it’s going,” Leon said as nonchalantly as he could manage.

“Fine on my end, slowly but surely regaining my lost power,” Xaphan muttered.

“Have you been enjoying this new chamber?” Leon inquired as casually as he could.

“It serves its purpose and is far cozier than what this platform was before,” Xaphan answered.

“There anything I can do to make it better? What do your dwellings out in the Void even look like?”

“I’m not entirely sure about other demonic realms, but the Plane of Fire that most Fire Demons reside upon is about what it sounds like: an entire plane made up mostly of fire,” Xaphan explained. The demon could make a guess why Leon was here, but he was willing to indulge the young human in his distraction for the moment.

“Really? How does that even work? Is there anything solid around, or is it just all fire everywhere?”

“We couldn’t well exist as a civilized people if we had no tangible materials,” Xaphan said as he adjusted his position to better suit the conversation; he could tell that this might be a long one, what with how Leon was fidgeting, and that he might not return to his healing meditations for a little while. “Think of it as an ocean made of fire. Fire Demons ‘swim’ through this ocean as a fish would through the water. Much like an ocean, the Plane of Fire has a bottom and most of the lesser demons who live there work in the mines extracting physical resources for their betters. Adding to our material wealth are a host of other lesser planes that encircle the Plane of Fire, which many of the more powerful demons will transport from other parts of the universe. Many other demons who are summoned by humans into the Nexus’ sphere of influence will bring back other items and resources, and sometimes material from the Nexus will be flung off into the edges of the universe during its Reconstitution.

“To put it simply, young human, we’re not as resource-poor as it may seem.”

“But you still need blood and worshippers? Or is that just to satisfy lust for power?” Leon asked, finding the entire concept of demon society fascinating, despite everything else that was going on right now.

“I suppose you can think of it that way,” Xaphan said as his tone turned bitter and spiteful. “Most demons have little imagination and are unable to summon the ambition to rise to the top as I did. Other worthless degenerates simply believe that no amount of power is too much, and so whore themselves out to the dregs of humanity just for a few drops of blood. Rarely do the more powerful demons do such things unless they’re truly bored or their lust for power overwhelms their reason.”

Leon chuckled a bit at Xaphan’s fairly harsh words. He knew that his partner had a strong dislike for blood sacrifices, and he was perfectly fine with that behavior. The last thing he wanted was a greedy demon demanding worship and sacrifice. Before he could ask Xaphan any further questions, however, the demon gave him a curious look and changed the topic of conversation.

“What are you doing here, boy?” the demon asked.

Leon paused for a long moment, wondering how exactly he should phrase his current problem.

“Valeria is still in my villa,” Leon said as he looked away from the demon and started to nervously fidget. “I’m not sure how to handle her, I don’t know what I should feel about her, and I don’t think that ignoring her as I have been is a good long-term plan…”

“You like this girl, do you not?” Xaphan asked as he had several hours before, only this time his tone was far stronger and demanded a proper answer.

“As I recall, you had a bit of a crush on her when the two of you were in the Knight Academy…”

“A fleeting thing, gone soon after leaving for my squireship,” Leon replied.

“Not in her case, I think…” Xaphan murmured as he lost himself in thought. “I once counseled you to remain distant from her for your own safety. However, you now possess a far greater amount of power, both personally and in your connections. Through me, you have even more… Perhaps it’s time to get closer to her…”

“Why would I do that?” Leon asked, though he could think of a few good reasons why getting closer to Justin’s daughter could be beneficial, if incredibly risky.

“Subvert her intentions. Play upon her affections. Get close enough to her that she willingly gives you information about her family and, if it comes to it, chooses you over her family.”

“Sure, and while I’m doing that how about I invite a snake into my home and contract a werewolf to watch over a flock of sheep…” Leon sarcastically replied, though his voice was quiet and a contemplative frown crossed his face. He didn’t like Xaphan’s idea; he wasn’t that manipulative, and neither did he want to be. Besides, manipulating Valeria as Xaphan was suggesting was far beyond what knew he was capable of, especially when looking at it from a skills perspective.

[Go slowly, then,] a voice said inside Leon’s head, and he turned around to see the Thunderbird perched on a boulder near the entrance to Xaphan’s pavilion. [Having this woman so close to you could be a great blessing, one that shouldn’t be thrown away so quickly. You can use that to seek your revenge…]

As she spoke, the Thunderbird quickly morphed into her human form clad in light golden robes and stepped into the lantern.

“You barely have any idea of who your enemy is, you don’t even know if this ‘Justin Isynos’ truly is the man responsible for your family’s death.” The Thunderbird drew closer to Leon, standing over his sitting form like a statue of a goddess towering over a temple supplicant. “Even if he was the weapon used, you don’t know how big his organization might be, where he comes from, the motivations behind his actions, or anything, really. To pass up on his daughter almost literally falling into your lap would be… unfortunate, to say the least…”

Leon groaned. He hated the idea of using Valeria like that, even if she was his enemy. Perhaps that was na?ve of him, but it was just how he felt. He could stab his enemies a thousand different ways, but such deceit just didn’t sit well with him.

If they were good enough friends, he might even be able to be completely honest with her, and she might reciprocate in kind.

“Very well, then, I’ll go and talk with her…” he said, rising to his feet. The risks that this decision came with scared the hells out of him, but there was an undeniable part of him that was also excited and thrilled at the idea.

“Best case scenario, you find yourself another wife who can add to your growing power,” Xaphan said with some pride in Leon’s choice.

“Worst case scenario, she immediately goes to her father, tells him who I am, and they murder me,” Leon countered as he made for the throne at the top of his mountain, making it clear enough without stating it outright to the Thunderbird that he wouldn’t be training this day.

Despite this, a smile crossed the Thunderbird’s bronze face, and she briefly glanced off into the mists where she could feel the other being out there watching.

As Leon’s consciousness returned to his physical body, the Thunderbird vanished into the Mists of Chaos, leaving Xaphan alone. Rather than return to his meditations, though, Xaphan decided to stay awake for a while and see how Leon’s situation turned out. He had to admit that watching things like this was quite entertaining, and he had to restrain himself from teasing Leon as he was so fond of doing.

For his part, when Leon awoke in his meditation room, he released his magic senses and saw Valeria up and about in her guest room. She seemed to be getting ready to leave, and Leon knew he hadn’t much more time.

He left his meditation room and, with as little hesitation as he could manage, walked right to her door and gave it a loud knock. He could through his magic senses see her pause as she was getting herself more presentable and stare at the door for what felt like a long time.

“Valeria,” Leon said just loudly enough for his voice to carry through the door. “I’d like to talk, if possible. And… apologize…”

He saw her quickly pull her silver hair back into a loose ponytail, straighten out her clothes which had wrinkled while she was lying down, and stiffly walk over to the door.

As she quickly opened it, her neutral expression broke down into one of sorrow and remorse, and she said, “I’m not sure you should be the one apologizing, given what one of my family members did to your father…”

Leon closed his eyes for a moment to keep a handle on his emotions, which wasn’t that difficult under normal conditions but under these circumstances was a titanic feat, and he briefly sighed.

“I spoke too quickly, I shouldn’t have sprung that on you like that,” he whispered. “We had an amicable relationship while we were in the Knight Academy, and I’m hoping we might return to that.”

Valeria stared at him, her eyes taking in every detail of his stony exterior, from his moderately tanned skin to his golden eyes. She sensed no deceit in him, and she subsequently nodded.

“I’d like that, too,” she softly said before giving him an inquisitive look, silently asking him where he wanted to talk.

“Can you talk and fight?” Leon asked.

That question got an unintentional smile out of Valeria, one she found incredibly difficult to suppress.

“I can,” she said, and Leon led her to his and Elise’s training room. It was set up much like a dojo, with a sparring ring in the center, washbasins near the door, and weapon racks lining the walls. The ring in Emilie’s estate was a raised platform of wood, stone, and cloth padding, and though Leon had a preference for sandpits after training with Trajan at the Bull’s Horns, he wasn’t able to convince Elise to allow their sparring ring to be turned into one—she believed, and rightly so, Leon had to admit, that if such a sandpit were to be created, sand would then get everywhere throughout the villa.

Upon arrival, Valeria immediately went for a short glaive with a pale white blade, a training weapon that was enchanted to stun instead of causing real damage. Leon chose a bastard sword of about equal size as his family’s Adamant blade. Then, the two walked into the ring together and faced off.

It was essentially a repeat of their very first proper interaction when Leon had challenged Valeria to a duel in front of the rest of the third-tier trainees of their cycle in the Knight Academy, only instead of a spear, Valeria now wielded her preferred weapon. Additionally, any trace of drunkenness that she had a few hours before was now gone; whatever the alcoholic substance was that had put her in that state clearly lacked the power to keep her fourth-tier senses dulled for too long.

However, as Leon stared into her clear, sapphire-like eyes, he realized that he was going to have to hold himself back a bit. She couldn’t use elemental magic, and it wouldn’t be a fair fight if he were to perform such magic when she could not. While she had accepted his challenge despite knowing the difference in their power, Leon wanted a clean fight, so he stifled his power down to the fourth-tier as best as he could. He wanted this to be a contest of skill, not power.

“How have things been going for you, recently?” Valeria suddenly asked as she readied herself for battle, striking a powerful defensive posture. “You let me whine about my life, but I never got to ask you how yours was going…”

Leon settled into his own stance as he spoke, easily taking up one of House Raime’s offensive stances, only changed a little bit by the Thunderbird’s instruction. His feet were set widely apart, his left foot forward while his right prepared to lunge. His blade was raised at his side and pointed straight at Valeria, ready to stab forward. Valeria, in contrast, kept the blade of her glaive out in front of her with her feet spread and her center of gravity lowered. Even with Leon’s greater strength, she was ready to block and deflect his attacks, to let him attack her at his discretion.

“Sounds like a lot to deal with,” Valeria said, her mouth curling into a smile of anticipation as she wa