Sailing across the ocean to reach this reef, takes a bit more time than it did to reach the Behemoth's lands. The Zeus & Hera familias practiced their techniques, and made sure their gear was kept in tip top shape. However, with Zald- for all intents, and purposes- was out of commission with his body rapidly eating away at itself, and his blade having a hole-ly experience… It would be difficult for him to do anything other than serve as a distraction.
Despite this, as if to tear the red threads of fate themselves, Zald offered training services to Leon. The two could be seen, training day and night. Leon pressed as hard as he could, but hardly managed to make Zald care about putting forth any effort.
"Damn, you're all something else."
"You're not bad yourself, but you're missing something crucial… a couple of things…"
"I know, I'm trying to make up for that." Leon balled his hand up into a fist, relaxed, and wiped his face off with a towel, promptly arriving courtesy of Idunn. "I leveled up as soon as I could. Looking back now, I can see that was a huge mistake. I missed out on so much potential growth."
"That's part of it for sure. However, you can just level up to compensate for it, so it isn't that big of a deal. The more important thing is that you're scared. Normal, but this kind of freight is the type to block your level up."
Leon was silent… He's right. I'm scared of them. We might be on the same level but I still feel like I'm trailing behind them… Hell, fighting Zald just now, it feels like there's a gap of two levels, and he's actively dying in front of me.
"I can see you're thinking in the right way. You're level 7, so I'll assume you've sensed it as well, correct?"
"Sensed?"
"The truth… A truth the gods refuse to give us straight answers for."
Idunn glanced at Zald, her thoughts written all over her face. "We can't-"
"I know you can't. But it doesn't change the facts behind these monsters, Evilus, and then the minimal response by those who aren't involved in the other problems." Idunn went silent.
"Say, why didn't you want to go get Shurry to heal you? Do you think it's impossible to recover?" Leon asked, taking a seat, exhausted after multiple days of non-stop training.
"You're his uncle, right? Idunn, you're his mother, right? Why don't you know the reason?"
"I've been too focused, and all I've heard are a few incomplete stories. He seems really close to that girl though, I'm sure there'll be something between them in the future."
Zald scowled at Leon. "To think, you gave us so much information, and still can't figure it out. Seems you have another barrier to overcome before you'll ever level up." Then he looked at Idunn… "It seems you weren't told the full story then, allow me to inform you…"
Zald relayed the complete story behind Ardee & Shurry. How intertwined they were, and how much Shurry had pushed himself to find and kill Evilus members responsible for killing Ardee's mother. He did so in far more gruesome detail than Hathor had previously explained the story. He then continued to tell just how long the two spent together, not a single waking, nor sleeping moment was spent apart.
"If that wasn't enough, that boy loves hunting more than Lyca does. It was a miracle we managed to stay in the city this time… Now imagine what would happen if we made our return, and I was suffering from this life ending injury?"
"Even a miracle wouldn't keep him away from coming here. Even if he had to run the distance on his own."
"Indeed. I do not wish for him to bear this burden. And so I'll bear my own for as long as needed. If it's demanded of me, I can survive in this condition for about a decade."
Leon sighed, gripped his sword, and stood back up. "Then, I'll do what I can. And start surpassing my limits as well. What those amazoness did to him…" His teeth clenched, grinding against each other as the scene re-entered his memory. "I'd never felt so much desire to kill someone as I did at that very moment…"
Zald smirked. "You seem to have found your answer. Come, let's go for round two."
Idunn watched, wiping the tears she thought to hide from the others. Hathor, did you know about that? And spare my feelings by not telling me… Or are you also unaware?
…
Two weeks at sea and the School District arrived at the meeting place with the Poseidon familia. Poseidon stood on the water's surface, a testament to his natural ability…
"They're here!"
""Finally!""
Maxim jumped down to the boat below, and cracked his neck. "Lord Poseidon, and his familia… I see some of you ladies are a bit immodest by city standards…"
"Don't worry too much, it just gets rather frustrating to have wet garments out here." One of the women stretched, arcing her back. "And it's way more fun like this." She smirked.
"I see. Well not like I give a damn, so long as you can fight…"
"In that case, we should discuss formations and the like before it wakes up again…" The captain said, looking around for the boy. "Where's that precious wolf boy? He'd have made this much easier."
"He's in Orario keeping it safe while we're out. So long as this thing isn't too much stronger than the Behemoth, there won't be a problem. That bastard was just big."
"Well, so is this bastard. Don't be too surprised when you see it."
The leaders discussed strategy, resources, and the best way to use every facet of their arsenal. But there was one piece of information that made Maxim flinch a little.
"You said that you rated this thing a level 10?"
"Yes, add in the water environment, it's a level higher."
"That can't be right. Your estimates must be off. That would make this thing less than a 10th the power of the Behemoth. Hell, Shurry would be able to kill it on his own if he went all out."
"What level was the Behemoth?"
"At least level 16. Any lower than that, and even if it was that big, I'd have been able to kill it in a single attack."
"Huh? But that's insane!"
"When one has development abilities, or skills to counter certain, various aspects of monsters, they tend to rate the monster lower than it really is. It's way more common than you'd think. Even Balor should really be rated as a level 8 monster rex, not 7. And I'm not being generous in this regard… Nor hyperbolic… Alright, let's move forward with the thought that the Leviathan is at least level 16. We might die otherwise."
"I- I understand." That creature could have, one shot, all of us at once, at any time… But it didn't? Why?