Whatever the people standing beside James were whispering about, the murmurs were enough to make Leon feel mildly self-conscious — and Ira, catching fragments of it, kept glancing between him and the kneeling crowd with bright, curious eyes, clearly enjoying every second of it more than he was.
Beside James, Leon spotted Elowyn — the girl who had once summoned the Frost Veil Kirin, a beast that had genuinely impressed him back when it stood barely a notch below his own strength. Looking at it now, the creature seemed almost laughably weak by comparison. It sat curled beside her, the size of a small fox, shivering visibly the moment Leon's gaze landed on it.
