Chapter 181 Flight
The building Leo leapt from was almost 200 meters away from the closest part of the castle. It was also the closest building to the castle in the entire city.
The castle is built with a 4 meter wall around its perimeter and a large space between the wall and the castle itself.
The law also states that no buildings or structures are allowed to be built within twenty meters of the wall.
The castle is built this way with safety in mind. Everything is set up to prevent people from being able to get into the castle grounds without permission.
Of course, for someone with an ability like Leo, getting over the wall and reaching the castle isn't difficult.
'They really need to find a way to counter ability users in situations like this. Our enemies have abilities too and they will use them to infiltrate our cities and bases just as easily.' Leo thought as he was gliding over the castle walls.
'I think the current countermeasure is to have your own ability users stop them.' Dreifus said.
'I know that, I mean something that can be built that would stop them. Like how a large wall stops a regular person, we need a 'large wall' for abilities. Especially against flight and teleportation.' Leo replied.
'Abilities have only been around for a few months, something like that would take years to develop. It may not be possible until much later in time, when this kingdom and world are more advanced in science.' Dreifus said.
'Where exactly is it that you come from? You know about things that nobody else knows. The knowledge I recieved for my ability comes from the same place, doesn't it?' Leo asked.
This was a question that's been on his mind for a long time but he never really asked because he didn't want Dreifus to suddenly stop helping him because he was being nosy.
'I can't really remember... I know it was different than this place the technology, science... It was far more advanced.' Dreifus replied while straining himself to remember.
'So you're from... The future? Is that even possible?'
'I don't kow if that's right but sure, it could be possible. A few years ago you would have found it impossible to shoot lightning from your hands or fly without wings yet here you are, capable of both those things.'
'Fair point.' Leo said.' Alright, it's time to show you what my plan to save Energy but still remaining quite is.'
Leo had jumped so high into the air that even after using Glide and slowly coming back down he was still at least forty meters above the castle.
Now that he was above his target, he stopped using glide but continued to use Absorb and Redirect, both to replenish whatever he had used so far and to slow down.
He allowed himself to fall until he was around ten to fifteen meters away from hitting the castle roof. After falling like this and using Absorb his Energy had been completely replenished.
[Flight]
Leo's body lifted up and started moving in unnatural directions. He swooped to the side while choosing a place to land.
The two guards in the middle of the rooftop had just passed each other and there was now space between them.
He aimed for that spot and descended with speed, only to slow down just before impact and slowly glide down.
His landing was gentle and silent, just as planned. He stopped using Flight and checked his Energy to see how long he was using the skill.
[Energy 435/490]
'Fifety five Energy, I used it for eleven seconds then. In small uses like this, it's useful, otherwise it's just too costly to be effective.' Leo thought.
The Flight skill allows Leo complete control over his movement. To achieve this, he uses his Energy to manipulate his own trajectory and speed.
Skill like Attract and Repel are the most basic level of trajectory/speed altering. One could even look at it as though he was forcing something to move a certain way.
When something moves it creates kinetic energy, but if Leo is able to use previously obtained kinetic energy as a substitute, he can generate movement.
'I haven't been able to do this for very long so I can't affect other things freely yet, but Attract and Repel are the beginning of me being able to mimic telekinesis.' Leo thought.
He looked around at the cultists on the roof. There was one on each corner of the roof, keeping an eye on the castle grounds from above.
There were two cultists walking up and down the middle of the long rooftop with the intention of stopping someone who tries to do what Leo just did.
The two in the middle had recently crossed over the middle of the rooftop and were now walking away from Leo with their backs turned, each of them still within five meters of him.
[Wind Blade]
[Wind Blade]
A moment passed and two decapitated bodies now lay on the rooftop with their heads beside them.
The sound of their bodies and heads hitting the ground made some sound but after looking around it seems the others didn't notice the sound or didn't find it alarming.
The cultists on the corners were too close to the edge to kill with a Wind Blade since there was a chance their heads or bodies would fall over the edge and alert those below.
Knowing this, Leo chose the nearest one and snuck up behind him. With his attention focused elsewhere, Leo grabbed onto his head and twisted.
A slight crunching and snapping sound was heard as Leo snapped the cultists neck. He grabbed the body before it could fall and dragged it away from the edge before putting it down again.
He repeated this process for the remaining cultists on the roof, killing them all without raising any alarms.
Switching from Battle Aura to Aura, Leo was able to see all the down into the basement level of the Castle. The castle was more than 100 meters wide so he still wasn't able to see the entire castle at once.
He started on one side of the castle and walked across to the other side. About two thirds of the way to the other side, in the basement of the castle, a group of sixteen people were huddled together in a group.
'That must be them. I can't make out many details but based on the speed of their breathing and the way they're shaking, they seem terrified.' Leo said in his head.
'Well, you've found them but what now? Getting to them would be difficult, getting them out without raising any alarms would be impossible.' Dreifus said.
'I wasn't really thinking about all that. I wanted to see if they were here before making any decisions. You're not wrong though, getting them out would be very difficult.' Leo replied.
'So how will you do it?'
'I won't...' Leo said with a sigh.
'Wait, you're just going to leave then here?' Dreifus asked in a surprised tone.
'Yes, what else is there to do? I could charge in and try to save them but most would die during an escape.
Sneaking them out would be impossible and even if i managed to do it, they would notice and become alerted.
Anything I could do to help those people would make the mission to re-take the city tomorrow night less likely to succeed. Saving these people will jeopardize the rest of the city.' Leo explained.
'The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, is that it?' Dreifus asked with a slightly frustrated tone.
'That's right. Saving these people could mean the rest of the city can't be saved. I would help fifteen and doom a thousand, it's not worth the risk.' Leo said.
Leo started gathering the bodies of the cultists he killed and placing them all in one big pile. He brought the ones who had their necks broken and placed them near the corpses of the decapitated ones.
' What are you doing?' Dreifus asked.
' Getting rid of the evidence.' Leo replied.
[Fire Stream]
A steady stream of fire appeared in front of Leo's hand, engulfing the corpses in flames. He used the skill repeatedly over several minutes and eventually burned the corpses to ash.
The reason for bringing the cultists with broken necks to the decapitated ones was to keep the bloodied areas to a minimum.
The ones with broken necks didn't spill any blood and moving the decapitated ones would spread blood to other areas. Even the blood needed to be burned in order to cover up what happened.
'Won't they just find it suspicious that these guys disappeared?' Dreifus asked.
'Maybe. But they will most likely assume they just went inside early and abandoned their post. The other cultists will likely assume that's the case and won't even bother reporting it to the Imperium in charge.' Leo said.
He then turned to face the direction he had come from earlier and bent his legs, being him down into a crouching position.
[Leap]
[Glide]
'Let's head back to the bunker for now.'