Path to Power: Rise of Leo Vance

Chapter 2

Leo did not stand up or try to run. Instead, he coughed softly. More blood pooled in his mouth. He spat the warm blood onto his left hand. Using his right index finger, Leo quickly smeared the blood across his palm. With three fast, precise strokes, he drew a strange symbol—a triangle with an eye inside it. 

It was a basic Arcane Ignition rune. To the Supreme Archon, it was magic meant for children. But with the polluted mana of this world and the weakness of this body, it was the best he could do.

"Drawing pictures with your own blood? Have you lost your mind?" Rat laughed. He raised the knife high above his head and lunged forward, aiming straight for Leo’s neck.

To the thugs, Rat moved fast. But to the ancient soul inside Leo, Rat was moving in slow motion. Zayin had fought demons that moved faster than lightning. This clumsy thug was nothing.

Leo tilted his head slightly to the right. The sharp blade missed his neck by a single inch, slicing only the empty air. 

Rat's eyes widened in shock. “How did he dodge that?”

Before Rat could pull his arm back, Leo moved. His body protested. His muscles burned, and his bones groaned in pain, but his soul forced the body to obey. Leo pushed himself off the ground and drove his left hand—the hand with the bloody rune—directly into the center of Rat’s chest.

"Arcane Ignition," Leo whispered softly.

The bloody rune on his palm flashed with a sudden, violent violet light. 

BOOM!

A localized shockwave of concussive force exploded from Leo's hand. The sheer power of the blast pushed the rain away, creating a dry circle in the air for a split second. 

The blast hit Rat like a speeding truck. The horrible sound of a dozen ribs shattering at once echoed in the alleyway. Rat’s feet left the ground. He flew backward through the air, traveling over ten feet before he crashed heavily into a large metal dumpster. 

Rat slumped down the side of the dumpster and hit the ground. He did not move. He was completely unconscious, his chest bruised and sunken. 

Silence fell over the alley, broken only by the sound of the falling rain. 

Briggs and Gordo stood frozen like statues. Their mouths hung open. They looked at Rat, then looked back at the skinny, bleeding teenager who was now slowly standing up. 

"What..." Briggs stammered, dropping his baseball bat. His hands were shaking. "What did you just do? What are you?"

Leo stood tall. The rain washed the remaining blood off his face. His dark eyes locked onto Briggs. The pressure coming from the boy was terrifying. It felt like standing in front of a hungry lion. 

"Trash," Leo said. His voice was different now. It was no longer the shaky, frightened voice of a teenager. It was smooth, cold, and carried the heavy weight of an ancient king. "Leave my sight before I decide to turn you into dust."

Gordo, the giant man, whimpered. He turned around and ran out of the alley as fast as his legs could carry him. 

Briggs took one last look at Leo's cold eyes. Panic took over his mind. He didn't say a word. He turned and sprinted after Gordo, splashing loudly through the puddles, desperate to escape the monster wearing a boy's face.

Leo watched them run away. He did not chase them. He simply stood there until they turned the corner and disappeared into the dark city streets. 

Once they were gone, the violet light completely faded from the air. 

Suddenly, a wave of intense, blinding pain crashed over Leo. He gritted his teeth as his legs gave out. He collapsed hard onto his knees, splashing into the muddy puddle. 

He looked down at his left arm. The sleeve of his school uniform was torn. The muscles in his arm were twitching violently, and blood was leaking from his pores. 

“Ah,” Zayin thought, breathing heavily. “The recoil. I used too much magical force. This mortal vessel cannot handle even one percent of my soul’s true power. If I cast another spell like that without refining these bones first, my arm will explode.” 

He needed to heal, and he needed to gather better mana. But first, he needed to understand exactly what kind of trouble this dead boy had left for him.

Leo slowly crawled over to where Rat was lying unconscious by the dumpster. He ignored the pain in his body as he reached into the thug's leather jacket. He pulled out a wallet, taking the cash inside, but then his fingers brushed against a folded piece of paper in the inner pocket.

Leo pulled it out and unfolded it. Even in the dim light of the streetlamp, he could read the words. It was a hit-list, printed on thick paper. 

At the top of the page, there was a name: [Leo Vance - $50,000 Debt.]

Someone had taken a thick black marker and drawn a dark line straight through his name. They had expected him to die tonight. 

But it was the name written below his that caught Leo's attention. The name was circled in bright red ink, meaning it was the gang's next target. 

Maya Vance.

As Leo read the name, a sudden flood of memories crashed into his brain. They were not his memories. They belonged to the original Leo. 

He saw a smiling young woman with warm brown eyes and messy hair, handing him a plate of cheap scrambled eggs. He saw her working two jobs, coming home exhausted just to pay the rent so he could go to school. He felt a deep, overwhelming warmth in his chest. “Sister. My only family.”

In his past life, Zayin had no family. He had focused only on supreme power, and because he was alone, he was betrayed. 

But now, this body remembered the deep love of a sister. Maya was the only person in this cold world who cared for this fragile boy. 

Leo slowly stood up. He crushed the hit-list in his fist. The cold, logical mind of the Supreme Archon merged perfectly with the protective anger of the teenage boy. 

"Maya Vance," Leo whispered into the rain. 

If this Obsidian Cartel thought they could touch the family of the Supreme Archon, they were greatly mistaken. He would not just heal this body. He would rebuild it into a weapon. He would master this polluted world.

And he would start by tearing the Obsidian Cartel apart, piece by piece. 

Leo turned his back to the alley and began to limp toward the city lights. He needed to get home. He needed to get to Maya before they did.