"Still, it's surprising that you can bring the fruit with you. After all, there are numerous monsters in the area; it's hard to get past them." Leonardo smirked, looking at Theo's face.
Theo fell silent for a moment and recalled what happened.
"Let's go!" The real Theo shouted and ran together with the rest of the group. Meanwhile, Theo's clone had used his Metamorphosis and turned into a green snake.
He was crawling onto the tree while walking them from afar.
'Luckily, I have upgraded my Metamorphosis. I can do more than this…' The clone thought while smiling inwardly. He then moved toward the other two fruits and swallowed them, making his body bulge due to the size of the fruit.
Theo didn't care and utilized the snake's body feature to store both fruits before jumping into the snow.
Because he could sever the connection of the senses between his real body and his clone, he didn't feel anything from the snow.
In other words, he could move normally under the snow, allowing him to come out of the forest safely.
Of course, he didn't want to say anything regarding his Metamorphosis. In fact, he only used Metamorphosis once in front of everyone.
It was at the family competition and he made it look like he was using his Illusion to make his body look like an eagle just to defeat Ignazio.
That was the only instance.
And the one who knew his true Metamorphosis was only Maya due to their fight in Thersland.
He always believed Metamorphosis would become handy at some points. Like this time, no one realized it was him and he felt happy that the number of forms he could use increased.
Recalling the scene, Theo looked away with a smile. "Well, I have my own way."
"Fair enough. You shouldn't tell anyone about your trump card." Leonardo nodded and shrugged. "Anyway, I won't say what you have done is wrong as long as you think it is right. That's just a subjective opinion after all."
Theo nodded and said, "Though, I need to reach Supreme Rank as soon as possible."
"Hmm, with how things are going on, you should be fine within a year. No, should I say, you will be fine as long as you're still learning under me…" Leonardo narrowed his eyes.
"Well, that's similar to my prediction. That's why I'm going to speed up my training and increase my levels." Theo thought for a moment. "I will probably take a subjugation mission later without the help."
"Fair enough. I don't think you want to collaborate with other influences for the time being. It's good to stay mysterious because it means your enemies will need to observe you first."
"Yeah. If it's alright, I want to impose an information lockdown from the War God Family." Theo narrowed his eyes.
"Oh boy, that's gonna cost you." He smirked. "Not that I mind though since you will call me Grandfather soon. Hahaha."
"At the very least, if the War God Family is hiding my information, it can extend my time." Theo shrugged. "For now, I am working to make sure nothing goes wrong for the next twelve months."
"Fair enough. With the help of the War God Family, it's gonna be easy to stop all influences from coming to Italy for a year." He nodded. "Let's see. I can help with that for three devices."
"Okay. I will take it." Theo agreed without hesitation.
"Good. Do you need anything from me?"
"Not really. I am just worried about the next international mission. The War God Family still rules Italy, so the next two missions will surely be fine. However, it will be different if I go to another country."
"Well, I have a suggestion for you."
"What? Either going to Russia or the US?"
"So, you know…" Leonardo shrugged.
"I can see that much." Theo sighed. "I am sure that the empress is willing to take me in for the international mission. Or if I am a bit bolder, I can go to the Wind Emperor himself. With this, we can solve the grudge between us, and everybody will be happy.
"Though, the current relationship makes it quite dangerous for me to go there, so there is one safe haven as a backup plan." Theo squinted his eyes. "Star and Starry Groups. I can simply go to the US and I'm sure they will be more than happy to welcome me."
"Indeed. It seems you have planned your schedule for a year."
"Yeah. Just need a few more decisions depending on the situation."
"In that case, you have two options. It's either you go to the mission now or around November. If you go now, the tension will continue rising and something bad might happen because some will be reckless enough to attack you.
"If you choose the latter, the situation has gotten calmer and you can limit those who are planning to fight you. However, this also means they're more prepared than ever."
"Yeah." Theo scratched the back of his head, knowing it was a hard decision. "Though, I prefer the latter."
"Hmm?"
Theo smiled. "I just need to prepare something to shift their attention."
"Oh, boy." Leonardo chuckled. "I'm looking forward to it."
Theo shrugged. "Anyway, I am planning to rest for three months to sharpen my current two senses. In April, I will go to the other side to increase my level to 420-450 in one go. So, I won't be coming back for two to three months."
"You're going to waste your precious training time with me?"
"I need to do that." Theo sighed. "First of all, Agata needs to be at least a level 450 Illusionist to keep up with everything going on."
Agata agreed as she didn't mind wasting the time Theo gave her to train under Leonardo.
"That's my schedule for now. So, I will be here until April."
"Well, that's interesting."
"Yeah. I want to be as close as possible to the Supreme Rank before any influences make their move." Theo nodded and rose from the chair. "It's time to go back to training then."
"Okay."