It wasn't arrogance. It was truth. He'd seen the gap, felt it in every clash of their weapons. Leon had survived by pushing himself beyond his limits, but even that came with its own consequences.
"I need to enter the Ascendant Stage," he murmured to himself. "Only at that level will these numbers have real meaning."
But even that wasn't his end goal. From the start, he had entered this trial to reach the Divine Stage.
"And the entry point to that…" He looked at his current rank—D-Rank—and exhaled through his nose. "...is S-Rank."
It felt like a distant horizon, but he wasn't discouraged. Sometimes he thought he was growing too fast, but whenever a real challenge came, he realized just how far he still had to go.
"I can't slow down now," he said quietly, steadying his breath. "Not when everything depends on this."
Then his gaze sharpened, the soft light reflecting in his eyes.
What he said next wasn't loud, but it carried weight, heavy with curiosity and quiet unease.
