Leo's grip locked down on the monster's claw, feet buried into the cracking earth, muscles coiled like steel cables. But as he strained against the sheer weight of the beast, his mind drifted.
Back.
To the fight with the Dragon Lord.
He had defeated it. With the Astral Sword.
It didn't make sense.
"Hey, Ai," he said through gritted teeth, eyes still fixed on the monster's glowing eyes. "How come I can't use the Astral Sword now?"
Ai's voice came from the side, calm as ever. "It was a construct," she said, "made by the Astral Sovereign that can only be wielded inside an Astral Plane."
He grunted, jaw clenched. That checked out.
He twisted his stance, his boots grinding against stone, and with a forceful exhale, shoved the monster away.
The impact cracked the ground. A thunderclap of pressure rippled outward. Dust exploded into the air. Trees bent from the force. Branches rattled. Even Ai took a step back.
Roxanne, still seated, stared in stunned silence. The monster was massive, far beyond normal. Yet Leo had tossed it like it was nothing. Like it was just weight.
The monster rose again.
Its hulking form blocked out the forest light. Black scales shimmered with a dull, sick sheen. Its tails, six in total, coiled tightly behind it like whips ready to strike. Each movement of its limbs came with a metallic creak, like old armor under strain.
Then a pulse, slow and heavy, started to appear.
Roxanne sucked in a sharp breath.
Crimson light bled from the monster's body, like smoke turned to fire. The temperature around them dropped. The air thickened with a suffocating chill. Her breath misted in front of her lips. Her skin prickled.
Enraged
The monster grew larger.
Muscles bulged. Claws elongated, obsidian black, and razor-edged. Its many eyes burned brighter now, not calculated. Feral. Rabid.
Leo didn't flinch.
Raised his arms.
The monster roared again. Louder this time. Birds fled from the trees, wings flapping in frantic rhythm. The roar echoed for miles, a jagged sound of rage and pain.
Then it charged.
Each footfall split the earth.
Another wooden sword appeared on his side.
He grabbed it.
Narrowed his stance.
His sword began to glow. Faint at first, then brighter, wrapped in shimmering mana. Roxanne recognized it. That light. That pressure. She had seen it before. She knew what came next.
The monster's claw came down in a blur.
Leo swung.
Snap!
The sword broke.
Shattered.
It didn't even touch the monster before it splintered in his grip.
Not all weapons could take mana, not truly. Some could hold it for a while. A few rare ones could tolerate it longer. But even those had limits.
Arcanites had none.
They were made for it.
Their cores absorbed mana directly, adjusting and growing with their adventurer. That's why, in battle, their partners could push them to incredible limits. They didn't just hold mana.
They respond to it.
In return, Arcanites offered their forms. Swords, spears, bows, even claws. Any shape the adventurer required.
But each transformation came at a cost. A significant chunk of mana was needed to complete the change. Too much swapping could drain even the most gifted user. Most adventurers stuck to one main weapon form. The one that fits their class.
Even system users weren't exempt from that logic.
And now, Leo was weaponless again.
The monster swung.
Leo caught the blow with his bare hands.
Stone split beneath his boots.
Dust shot upward like smoke. Rocks flew. Branches cracked.
But Leo stood firm.
Roxanne's heart beat faster. Not from fear. Not anymore.
From something else.
Something older.
Something… familiar.
She'd seen that stance before. Felt it, even through hundreds of failed pacts. That force of will. That presence. That silent command.
Her instincts stirred.
She remembered every failure.
Every hand that touched hers, shaking.
Every adventurer who passed out trying to complete the pact.
The process itself was simple.
Stand close.
The adventurer made their intent clear. With words, or with presence.
If the Arcanite accepted, the magic circle would appear, lighting the ground in pale white-blue. The Arcanite would raise their hand.
The adventurer would kneel.
They'd kiss the hand. Ritual, tradition, and mana focus all in one.
Mana would begin to pour into the Arcanite's core. If the transfer reached completion, the pact was sealed.
But hers never completed.
She'd seen men collapse at her feet, pale and gasping. Some didn't wake for hours. Some barely survived the drain.
Eventually, the attempts stopped.
Her name turned into a whisper of warning.
And yet—
She couldn't take her eyes off him.
Leo, back still to her, hands buried into the monster's claws, wasn't bending.
He held.
He endured.
She felt it again, that tug. That pull in her chest. Her core.
It wanted him.
Despite everything. Despite the failures, despite the shame, her magic surged. Not wildly. Not in defiance.
In recognition.
She rose.
Slowly. Cautiously.
The air around her felt different now. Heavier. But not in a crushing way. It hummed, like a current waiting to be tapped.
What if I fail again?
The question echoed in her mind like a bell rung too many times. Each footstep she took brought more of it forward. Every failed memory, every fallen adventurer.
But Leo didn't falter.
Even now, in the monster's grasp, he stood like a pillar.
She moved closer.
Close enough to feel the heat of the battle. The vibration of power clashing against power. The raw tension strung tight in the space between them.
The monster roared again. The red aura surged.
Leo didn't move.
And Roxanne kept walking, eyes locked on the man who might finally be the one.