That's one thing to cross off the list, Leo thought, unable to stop his gaze from wandering all over the bathroom. The excitement of seeing everything so clear yet so different during the night just wouldn't leave him. The new color palette will take some getting used to.
Without even moving his gaze away from the broken bathroom tiles, he tried to focus his mind on something else in the meantime. Like for example, practicing his old skills with his newfound control.
He tested most of them when his Mind attribute ascended, but back then, he didn't have much time to do more. Now, with the whole night ahead of him, he could progress his mastery over almost every skill he possessed. Hell, he might as well experiment a bit and find a way to evolve a skill or two.
Wishful thinking. Not that it will stop me from trying. Leo grinned, flexing his Essence. The energy answered right away, the tug of war from before the ascension almost nonexistent. First things first. Kiss of Death.
Minutes flew by as he entered a trance. Even with his eyes open, his focus remained solely on the Essence swirling around his body, listening to his every command. He formed skill after skill, each time doing it faster than before.
With each attempt, he discovered more and more flaws within his abilities. These imperfections, which he had never noticed before, were now laid bare before him, taunting him. And so he crushed them all to dust, leaving only perfection behind.
Sometime during his experimentations with Decoy, he yawned, breaking his focus. He blinked, suddenly having to fight the urge to close his eyes. It had been a while since he felt such a strong wave of exhaustion hitting him all at once.
Right... I haven't devoured anything for quite some time now, Leo noted with another yawn. Should have expected this, especially after getting injured and not sleeping for a few days straight.
Leaning hard against the wall, he slipped his eyes shut, thoughts of practicing his abilities forgotten. Darkness slowly crawled into his mind, lulling him to sleep for the first time in about seventy-two hours. Even Hunter gave in, falling into the embrace of the dark.
After all, even monsters have to rest sometimes.
You managed to survive the Night outside a Safe Zone. Zero Voidlings or survivors killed. Congratulations.
Limit Break reactivated. Devour reactivated. Your soul has recovered.
Leo groaned, popping his joints as he stretched his arms. While it definitely wasn't the worst morning he had experienced, being abruptly jolted awake by a blaring alarm from the System also didn't make it particularly pleasant.
At least it didn't let me sleep through the day. That's always something. He sighed and proceeded to unbarricade the door. He had yet another long day ahead of him. Doubt those will stop anytime soon. Like they say, there's no rest for the wicked.
Bursting out of the ruined house, he ran through the almost empty neighborhood until a familiar forest came into view. It wasn't long until he reached the same clearing from yesterday.
Empty... Leo clicked his tongue. In their hurry, he and Holden forgot to agree on a meeting spot for today. Not ideal, but also nothing to worry about. Safe Zone it is. I need to see Adam anyway.
Carefully, he wrapped the scarves around his head, leaving only his eyes peeking through the gap. Still an imperfect cover, but until they found something better for him, it had to do.
Wonder who will greet me this time, he mused, sprinting back into the forest. The Safe Zone appeared in his sight even faster than yesterday, which was expected since his injuries had mostly healed overnight.
He knocked on the back door and took a step back just as it swung open, revealing a familiar redhead.
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"Great, you're here," Clara said and even offered him a small smile instead of the usual scowl. "Wait a moment. I will get Holden. Then we can go over today's plan again."
Yet, even after saying that, she didn't move. Instead, she kept looking at him as if someone had kicked her puppy.
"What?" Leo raised a nonexistent eyebrow, almost expecting the same answer as the last time they saw each other.
Clara swallowed, finally meeting his gaze. "Listen... I know I made a right bitch outta myself yesterday. I was scared, and my mind kinda shut down when I Identified you. Guess my defense mechanism is to be a reckless idiot," she muttered the last part before shaking her head. "What I want to say is I'm sorry for attacking you and acting like a brat... Bygones be bygones?"
Huh... Leo blinked. Honestly, I didn't expect this. Even if she's doing this just to make today's trip easier, that's still nice. And here I thought I would need to spend a day with a female version of Tyler. Glad to be wrong sometimes.
As Clara kept waiting for an answer, he tilted his head. "Not going to apologize for calling me ugly though?"
Evidently, that wasn't enough to surprise the woman, as she took it in stride and only arched an eyebrow. "Have you seen yourself in a mirror, Hale? Besides, you called me ugly, too."
Leo nodded. "Fair enough. And don't sweat it. Whatever happened yesterday, happened. That's all there is to it... And, hey... It's not like there aren't other people out there who will react the same or worse."
"Thanks," Clara muttered. "With everything going on, I just wanted to clear the air between us. Better chances of me surviving out there if you know I don't plan to shoot you in the back."
Leo snorted. "You don't?"
The woman shrugged. "Not now, maybe not ever. You are working with us, after all. And despite your appearance, I'm not stupid enough to spit in your face again when you're helping us… even if you are doing this just to save your family."
Brutally honest. I really was wrong about her. Leo laughed again. "Good to hear that... Now, you should probably get Holden. We've been standing here for a bit."
"Right..." Clara coughed. "We will be back in a sec." And with that, the door closed, leaving him alone.
That's definitely taking a spot in the top ten of the weirdest conversations I've ever had.
"We will wait by the exit, Hale," Holden motioned to the warehouse's back door. "Try to be quick about it."
Leo nodded, and the leader, along with Clara, walked away, leaving him with Ava right before Adam's room. Holden didn't really want to delay their outing to the Shadow Tail nest, but even he could see the advantage of letting him try to talk with his godson again.
Glancing at the tall woman, Leo took a deep breath. "Well, let's hope it will go better than the last time."
"Don't say that." Ava glared. "Whatever you did, he is better now. But just in case, I'm going first now."
Leo grimaced, not liking the idea. He didn't want to think about Adam hurting Ava, but based on what had happened last time, it was still a possibility. I will just need to be fast.
"All right, ladies first then." He bowed, and Ava scoffed as she passed him and opened the door.
"Adam," she called as they stepped inside. "Look who came with me. It's your uncle, Leo."
On the other side of the room, the small boy raised his head, a small orb of black Essence disappearing from his hands. "Uncle?" Adam muttered, his mismatched eyes coming to meet Leo's violet ones. "You are here!"
Not seeing the same dangerous glint in the boy's eyes, Leo came a bit closer and took a knee. "Hey, kiddo. How are you?"
Adam stood up and, with all the delight only a child could muster, ran towards him. "Uncle!" the boy squealed and hugged him around the waist without hesitation. Obviously, having a monster as an uncle didn't register in the kid's mind.
"Got ya," Leo whispered, tentatively returning the embrace. A tear pricked his eye, but he just blinked it away, tightening the hug. "I missed you, buddy."
Still attached to his chest, Adam replied. "Really? But Mum said you were here yesterday. You should have come, Uncle!"
Leo frowned and glanced at Ava, who only shook her head.
So he doesn't remember... Maybe that's for the best.
"You know, uncle?" the boy spoke again, retreating from the embrace. "I saw you in my dreams. You are so cool there! Killing all those monsters. I want to be like that too! That's why I'm practicing and eating all the monsters they give me."
Leo winced. Okay, didn't expect that, even if I probably should. Better doesn't mean going back to normal, after all... And dreams? Why do I have a bad feeling about this?
"That's great, kiddo," he told the boy, hoping to skip over a part of this conversation. "And what exactly did you see in your dreams?"
"Everything, uncle!" Adam answered, and if it weren't for his cheery tone, it would sound quite ominous. "I saw you fight the freaky stone spider. Run away from a massive monster. And the best one... you killing the huge white ant! It was awesome!"
Oh shit...