CHAPTER 145: EX 145. BLACK DRAGONIC ART

Leon sat alone in the common area, his legs stretched across the low couch, back half-sunk into the cushions. The only sound in the room came from the quiet hum of the wall console and the soft ticking of a nearby clock.

Elizabeth had taken Nikko to her room a few minutes earlier for what she dramatically called "girl talk." Her only rule? "You’re not allowed to eavesdrop, interrupt, or knock." She even winked on her way out, dragging a hesitant Nikko along with the confidence of someone who already knew how the conversation would end.

Leon didn’t mind. Honestly, he needed the break.

"Time to share my points," he muttered.

It was strange, if not shocking, that after a major battle like that Leon still had a full load of Attack Points.

Not one had been depleted.

His lips pulled into a faint smirk.

But it faded just as quickly.

"No... I shouldn’t get full of myself," he said quietly. "Taking out demons without burning through attack points shouldn’t be a miracle. It should be my baseline. If I want to survive what’s ahead, this... " he looked down at his hands, fingers curling into fists, "...this has to become normal."

With a deep breath, he opened his Status Panel.

and shared the points.

---

[Status Panel]

Name: Leon Kael

Race: Human

Age: 19

Class: Warrior

Rank: E-Rank

Talent: {Attack} — EX Rank

Status: Normal

Health: 100%

[STATS]

Strength: 2169 2179 (+10)

Senses: 1702 1742 (+40)

Vitality: 1944 1984 (+40)

Stamina: 1614 1624 (+10)

Speed: 1641 1641 (+0)

Aura: 1951 1951 (+0)

Affinity: Force(I)

[Skills]

[EXTREME ART]

[Inventory]

---

"Tch..." Leon scoffed, leaning back again. "The boost my normal attack points are giving me... it’s barely enough now."

He’d reached that point, the place where casual growth slowed, and every bit of progress started costing more than it gave.

"If I want real gains, it can only be with a stress multiplier."

His eyes closed, fingers drumming against his leg as silence wrapped around the room again.

"There’s only one option left now." he opened his eyes slowly.

"The only way for me to grow faster again..."

He stood up, his voice steady.

"...is to return to the trial world."

****

Leon had already spent more than thirty days in the real world. Long enough his body to stabilize after his teleportation.

"I originally planned to gather enough credits to purchase a pass for the teleportation fee..."

"But since I’m getting promoted to Azure Colonel tomorrow... it won’t be a problem anymore."

The trial world was free For first-timers. But after that, the Federation demanded credits, and plenty of them. Unless you bore a title high enough to justify the drain on national resources, like Azure Colonel or above, the gateway would remain sealed.

"The trial world will be enough to give my talent the boost it needs. I might also discover new features of the talent."

{Attack} was more than a talent to just add points. It was far more, and Leon had discovered most of its features by accident: the stress multiplier, as well as debuff and time immunity.

"There has to be more," he thought. "And if there’s any place to uncover it, it’s the trial world."

That was the only stage brutal enough to pull the truth from his bones.

He sat up suddenly, brow furrowing.

"That’s right," he said aloud, glancing toward the hallway. "I need to ask Lizzie for her Dragon Art."

The thought had slipped his mind in all the quiet.

Leon rose from the couch in one smooth motion.

"They should be done by now," he thought, stepping off toward her room.

****

Leon stepped up to Elizabeth’s door and gave it a light knock out of courtesy, even though he knew she never locked it when she was inside. He turned the handle and pushed it open casually.

Then froze.

His eyes locked on the scene.

Elizabeth sat on the bed, straddling Nikko’s waist, hands busy massaging the Supreme’s chest. Her voice came with an infuriating calm.

"You have to be used to this," she said, fingers kneading gently. "Leon really likes to grope from behind. If you can’t handle this, you won’t be able to satisfy him much."

Nikko, red-faced and stiff, didn’t resist. She just sat there in stunned silence as Elizabeth continued her "lesson."

Leon blinked. Then quietly shut the door and turned around like nothing happened.

’I’ll just ask for the art later...’

Back in the common room, he sank onto the couch and sighed.

’After today, I should probably tell Lizzie not to spoil Nikko too much.’

He picked up a glass of water and took a sip, letting the silence settle around him.

Luckily, he didn’t have to wait long. As footsteps echoed from the hallway, and the two girls appeared, Nikko’s face was back to its usual cold, unreadable slate, and Elizabeth was smiling as if she hadn’t just been molesting the Governor’s daughter.

’They’re good at acting.’

Elizabeth raised a brow. "Hope you didn’t have to wait long."

"No," Leon said, setting the glass down. "I had enough time to think about a few things."

He stretched slightly, then looked at her. "Elizabeth, I’ll need the art now."

"Sure," she replied. "Lemme go get it ready."

She walked off toward her room.

Leaving Nikko, still standing near the entryway.

"You know mastering multiple arts isn’t beneficial in the long run," she said quietly, her gaze meeting his. "You can only use one art to rank up. And I just gave you multiple recently."

Leon nodded slowly. ’Right. She doesn’t know about my original art.’

Nikko had been there when it was created during the sparring match, but she didn’t know that it was created. She had assumed he just unlocked something new, not creating an entire art.

’Guess I have to tell her.’

So he did. He kept it brief, explaining how Extreme Art devoured the essence of other arts, how it could grow by consuming them, evolving something unique from their fragments.

When he finished, Nikko stared at him like she was seeing a ghost.

"You... created this art," she said slowly, "the day you asked me to spar?"

Leon nodded.

"...Yes."

For someone so composed, Nikko looked blown away. Her expression didn’t break, but her body language gave it away, the slight shift of weight, the way her hands twitched.

"How does one even create an art..." she muttered, almost to herself.

Just then, Elizabeth returned and handed Leon a folded piece of paper. "Here. Took me a while to put it into writing, but it’s all there."

Leon unfolded the sheet.

The moment his eyes scanned the ink, a notification flashed across his vision in pale blue.

[System Notification]

Do you want to learn Black Draconic Art?

Y/N

He didn’t hesitate.

Yes.

The second he confirmed, a storm of information burst through his mind like a dam breaking.