Chapter 145: A lot more than I thought

"No," Medusa said, sharper now. "You don’t, actually. You have a brother hunting you, a continent full of bounty hunters, and apparently somewhere to be. Don’t pretend this is the moment for a history lesson."

Leon studied her for a long moment. Whatever she was avoiding, it clearly wasn’t a small detail. The tension in her shoulders, the way she’d deflected instead of answering outright, told him enough on its own.

"Fine," he said finally. "If you don’t want to talk about it... maybe later then. You owe me that much, at least."

Medusa didn’t answer, though she didn’t argue either, which he took as close enough to agreement.

He let the matter drop for now, turning his attention back to the window still glowing faintly in front of him, scrolling down through the rest of the entry properly for the first time.

The stat boost alone made him pause.

Eight thousand vitality. Twelve thousand endurance. Six thousand mana. He’d gotten used to large numbers over the past day, Hermes’ boots alone had pushed his agility into territory that made the figures feel almost abstract.

However seeing Aegis’s own contribution laid out in full, after everything the ring had already been quietly providing even while locked, hit differently.

"This is..." he started, trailing off as he scanned further down toward the skill list.

Eight skills. Two of them SSS-rank.

He’d known the shield was strong. What he hadn’t expected were the new passive effects and skills he got.

"This is a lot more than I thought it’d be," he said finally, looking back up at her.

Medusa’s expression shifted slightly at that, some of her earlier guardedness easing into something closer to satisfaction.

"Did you think I was exaggerating? Back when I said I could unlock the full power of Aegis?"

"No," Leon admitted, "I wasn’t actually."

"Good," Medusa said, a faint, genuine smile tugging at her mouth for the first time since she’d woken up. "Means you’ll actually be careful with it."

He thought back to the fight with Teon, to the way the sky itself had torn open and pressed down on him with a weight he’d barely survived, even with Aegis straining at half its actual strength.

If he’d had access to something like Absolute Sanctuary back then, the entire confrontation might have gone differently.

"I could have used this earlier today," he said quietly, more to himself than to her.

"You didn’t have it earlier today," Medusa said. "You have it now."

Leon nodded slowly, closing the window finally, letting the glow fade from his vision.

He flexed his hand once, feeling the ring settle more naturally against his finger than it ever had before, the connection between them humming at a completely different frequency than it had even an hour ago.

"Thank you," he said, and meant it, despite everything that had happened between the moment he arrived here and now.

Medusa studied him for a moment, something unreadable behind her eyes.

"Don’t thank me yet," she said.

Leon huffed out a short, tired laugh. "Fair enough."

He glanced around the quiet field one more time, the earlier violence of their confrontation already feeling distant against the stillness that had settled back over everything.

Whatever answers still sat unresolved between them, the question about Athena chief among them, he had enough for tonight.

"I meant what I said," he told her, rising to his feet. "I’ll come back. Properly."

Medusa looked up at him, her expression caught somewhere between hope and the same old wariness she’d carried since the moment he’d first arrived.

"I’ll hold you to that," she said.

Leon nodded once, then closed his eyes, reaching for that same faint, familiar pull back toward his own body, letting it carry him away from the field and back toward the quiet hotel room waiting for him in Aldreth.

Immediately, he reappeared on his bed, his head crashing against the pillow.

He exhaled, his lips curling into a warm smile.

Now that he thought about it, a lot had happened today, from him killing his father to getting teleported to this continent.

Then from there, he met Iris at the library, and the broadcast by the player association about him.

Despite his high attributes, he felt very tired, and before he knew it, his eyes closed, and for the first time since the start of the day, he slept off.

*

Leon woke back up in his room, rolling his shoulders as he sat up.

Whatever exhaustion that he felt yesterday was completely gone, and he felt like a brand new person.

He swung his legs off the bed and sat there a moment, running through what was in front of him. Aegis was his now. Fully. He hadn’t actually tested any of it yet.

He stood, flexing his hand, the ring catching the morning light.

’You’re up early,’ Medusa said.

’Didn’t realize you were still listening,’ Leon thought back.

’I’m always listening. Comes with the territory.’

’Comforting,’ Leon thought dryly.

He crossed the small room, giving himself space, and focused on the ring.

"Impenetrable," he said quietly, testing the word aloud.

A faint green glow spread outward from his skin, wrapping around his entire body in a thin, translucent layer.

Leon froze, staring down at his own arm, at the color pulsing gently across it.

It looked exactly like the barrier Medusa had used against him the night before. The same shade. The same faint shimmer.

’Recognize it?’ Medusa asked, amusement threading through her voice.

"You used this on yourself," Leon said out loud, forgetting for a moment he didn’t need to speak aloud to talk to her.

’Same authority,’ she said. ’Same source. Did you think I was pulling that power from somewhere else?’

Leon turned his hand over, studying the glow more closely. It felt solid somehow, even though nothing visibly separated his skin from the air around it.

He pressed his other hand against his forearm, feeling a faint resistance, like pushing against water.