~ Chapter 47: [Mark] ~

[Leonidas' point of view]

 I couldn't afford to waste any more time. The longer I lazed around on the floor trying to heal, the lower Cassandra's chances of survival were.

I had to hurry...

I had to catch up with that bastard and save my little sister from him.

“What are you doing, Leonidas? Your body... It's not healed yet!” aunty Eliza said with tears in her eyes when she saw me struggling to get back up on my feet.

She just saw me rearrange my bones, and without a good healing potion or spell, there was technically no way my bones could have fused back in that short amount of time. Well, if I was a normal human, but I wasn't.

“I'm fine...” I stubbornly refused to listen to her and barely managed to get up, but I was standing only on my right leg.

My wounds had yet to heal, and my right arm was numb. I didn't want to put any pressure on either of them because it still hurt like hell. It was so bad I wanted to just cry and not move until I was fully healed. I was doing my best to hold back the pain and clenched my teeth to stop myself from shouting.

If I didn't control myself, if I let out even a single whimper, my aunt would get too worried and could have even recklessly tried to keep me by force from moving around. For now, I was lucky the simple sight of my injuries held her captive in a weakened state.

The best time to leave was now because if she started to think about this situation more clearly, then she would come to realize that I, a ten-years-old child, would normally not be thinking straight given the current circumstances. It was actually rather impossible or highly improbable for anyone of my age to be able to go through this living torture like I just did. It was too unnatural.

If mother was here instead of her or maybe Luthecia or even father, they would have certainly done everything in their power to stop me from going. It would have been to the point of actually knocking me out or binding me with magic if I opposed them too much.

On another note, there was another problem with me leaving. Aunty would certainly not let me go on my own like this, but if no one was here when mother returned, there would be no way for them to find out where we were heading and what happened here. Writing a letter was too time consuming, so the best thing to do for now was to have aunty stay here while I went to find sister.

Erm... Then again, I know that I'll be able to find Cassandra somehow, but how will mother and father find me afterwards?! I thought.

The number of problems just grew with one more. Thus, I found myself in a pinch.

The only one who could find sister was me... probably.

The only ones who could fight and save us were mother, father, and aunty. So... how exactly were they going to find us?

After I took a deep breath in to calm down the pain and clear my thoughts, I looked into her eyes and asked “Erm... Aunty Eliza, do you have a way to track down someone?”

“Hm? Yes, but why do you ask?” she knitted her brows.

“Whew! That's a relief! Cast that spell on me... or IS IT a spell in the first place?” I asked.

“It's a spell called [Mark]. It's used by hunters to locate or claim ownership of a target. Almost every adventurer knows it in case they stumble upon a rare monster, but why do you want me to cast it on you?” she asked a bit confused.

I took a deep breath in to calm my pain. It appeared as though she had yet to realize what I intended to do despite some rather obvious signs, but with her current state of mind, I wasn't surprised. I would need to explain my plan clearly so she too would know what to do and not hamper me.

“Aunty, I'm going to tell you, but you'll have to listen to me until the end and trust me, alright?” I looked straight into her eyes with a clear determination in my own.

“Yes, what is it?” she nodded.

“Currently, the only one who can find the man who kidnapped my little sister is me. Don't ask how, just trust me that I can. However, I won't be able to defeat him on my own, so what I will do will be to try to stall for time and make sure he doesn't kill or harm Cassandra. That's why you have to come after me as soon as mother and father arrive home. Maybe with all three of you, we'll stand a chance at defeating him. Do you understand?” I asked her.

“I think so, but... how will you be able to find that man in your current state? Your arm... your leg... they're broken. Let alone running, you can't even walk properly.” she told me.

It was clear that in her current confused state, she couldn't understand how all of this was possible, but then again it would have been equally difficult to do so even if she was regular ol' self. What she said was basically true if I had the body of a normal child, but I was a variation of the human species, an evolved version.

Using my telekinetic ability, I lifted myself up to reduce the load on my feet, then I looked into her eyes and showed her a smile.

“Trust me, aunty, I can! I also have a Blessing, remember?” I told her.

This was a different type of 'blessing', but I technically didn't lie.

“Very well... I'll cast [Mark] on you, but whatever happens, Leonidas, do not engage the enemy. Do you understand?” she looked into my eyes with a serious expression on her face.

I nodded in reply.

Once she was done casting, I went and jumped out the window, surprising aunty again. My left leg's bones weren't completely healed, but I fell on my right leg, and with the help of my telekinesis ability, I was able to land as softly as a feather.

I'm sorry aunty, but I don't think I can keep that promise if worse comes to worse... I thought as I dashed towards the Chedelle Forest, where Alexandre Damascus had fled with my sister.

No matter what, I was going to stop that monster and save Cassandra!