Chapter 572: Meeting Veyr
(Planet Dodo, The next day)
After confronting Mu Fan, Leo made his way to Planet Dodo the following day, which happened to be both the Eleventh Elder’s home planet and the location where his next skill training was set to take place.
"Ayy yo cuz, how have you been?" Veyr called out the moment Leo arrived, his voice carrying that casual drawl he always had, as Leo allowed the faintest of smiles to tug at his lips before stepping forward to dap him up.
*DAP*
The sound of their palms colliding was followed by a short nod from each of them, the kind of greeting that carried the weight of familiarity, as if two old friends who hadn’t seen each other in weeks were simply picking up where they had left off.
"I’ve been good, how has the after-war clean-up been?" Leo asked, as Veyr let out a deep sigh that told its own story even before he spoke.
"I wish you were there, man, because it was nothing short of a migraine. Every single body in that army seems to have a will of their own, and it’s like I’m trying to control an army of ants that scurry and scatter in every direction at the slightest disturbance, instead of an army of intelligent humans who can follow orders without question," Veyr complained, as Leo let out a soft chuckle, already imagining the scene in his mind.
He had expected as much, since after-war cleanups on a planetary scale were never easy, while at the same time he was glad that Veyr was facing the mess head-on and doing his best to solve problems as they came without shying away from the chaos.
"Anyway, how did your training with the Second and Fourth Elder go? Did you manage to finish mastering the First Stage of [Enhance]?" Veyr asked, maybe half-expecting Leo to admit that he was stuck just like him, and maybe secretly hoping for it.
But unfortunately for him, they were simply not built the same.
"Yeah, I finished mastering both skills in full," Leo replied casually, as Veyr froze mid-step and stared at him.
"In full? You mean you completed [Enhance] in under a week?" he asked in disbelief, as Leo merely nodded in affirmation.
"Noo wayyy..." Veyr muttered, his tone almost offended, as Leo chuckled at his reaction.
"Damn cuz, I’m stuck on phase three even though I’ve been training the move for four months already. Bloody hell, you must be doing some freaky shit if you learnt it in under a week... or did you use [Life Absorption] to speed up your progress?" Veyr pressed, as Leo just shrugged his shoulders in that same nonchalant way.
"Do you really think I need to?" he replied, as Veyr brought his cupped fist in front of his lips, suppressing a chuckle.
"Damn cuz... I knew you were hard, but I didn’t know you were this hard," he said, as Leo extended his hand and the two dapped each other up again.
*DAP*
Throughout the entire exchange, Leo acted every bit the same as always, while making sure that not even a drop of the boiling bloodlust coursing beneath his skin leaked through.
Because this time his targets had to die in a way that would leave no trail pointing toward him, and for that to happen, the Cult needed to keep seeing the calm and chill Leo they thought they knew.
At least, on the surface.
"Welcome, Welcome, Welcome Dragons...." A new voice soon interrupted their conversation, as the Eleventh Elder finally stepped into view.
"Welcome to planet Dodo, I hope your journey here was pleasant, and once again, my heartiest congratulations for a successful war campaign," The Eleventh Elder said, as he bowed towards both Leo and Veyr, prompting the duo to pay back that respect in the same way.
"I’ve heard great praises about just how talented both of you are," the Eleventh Elder said, his eyes rotating between Leo and Veyr with a glint of approval, his smile stretching warmly as though he was genuinely delighted to have them here.
"So I’m excited to teach you my own forbidden skill."
The Elder clasped his hands behind his back, pacing with an almost theatrical calm as the dry breeze of Planet Dodo stirred his long sleeves.
"The skill I will teach you," he continued, "is neither offensive in nature, nor is it a movement technique. But make no mistake, its value is such that the history books themselves note it as a technique that the Timeless Assassin held close to his heart. A trick that’s simple in theory... yet lethal in execution."
His words pulled the focus of both Dragons like a magnet, Veyr tilting his head slightly while Leo’s gaze sharpened, the weight of his curiosity masked beneath his calm exterior.
"The technique I’m about to pass down," the Elder said, letting the pause draw their anticipation tighter, "is called [Disarm]. And it does exactly what its name suggests, it strips your opponent of their primary weapon. Not through the grind of blade clashes or the complexity of elaborate maneuvers... but with nothing more than a snap of your fingers.
No physical crossing of blades. No warning."
He raised his right hand, his fingers poised loosely, before snapping them with a crisp click that echoed faintly in the training hall.
*Snap*
Leo’s eyebrow lifted, his thoughts already parsing the implications.
If he could master a skill that disarmed his opponent before they ever crossed blades for the first time, then he could potentially have an easy way out of tough duels, where he could take on his enemies by surprise when they suddenly lost their weapons.
It surely wasn’t what he had expected when he landed on this planet to learn a forbidden skill, yet if it could be executed without setup and without exposing himself, then the strategic advantage it offered was immense.
This was the kind of skill that could turn a duel in the space of a heartbeat, and in Leo’s mind, that sort of an advantage was too good to pass on.
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